Dieuline Gedeus in Port-au-Prince, Junior Racine in St. Marc and Sony Louis in Leogane contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON / PORT-AU-PRINCE / ST. MARC. / LEOGANE, HAITI —Angry protesters in Cite Soleil, a slum in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, ransacked the headquarters of the security forces Friday as they again called for the resignation of President Jovenel Moise.
A mobile video sent to VOA's Creole service showed protesters with chairs, gas drums and other items, walking out of the building. It was not clear if the security forces were in the building.
"In a few minutes we're going to set fire to the base, because we're not playing — we want Jovenel Moise to resign without conditions," said a looter, who did not want to appear on camera.
Flaming roadblocks
Near Canal 11 Radio-TV station in Port-au-Prince, flaming tires and rocks blocked the road.
Opposition group Viv Ayiti (Long Live Haiti), in concert with the PetroChallengers, an assortment of anti-corruption young professionals and millennials, called for people to mobilize to demand the president's resignation.
A masked protester wields a machete during a protest to demand the resignation of President Jovenel Moise in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sept. 27, 2019.
"We've reached the final phase of this second revolution and that's the battle we'll be waging," Biron Odige, a member of Viv Ayiti, told VOA Creole. He said protesters would be using anything they could find, including bottles and broken shells, to wage war against the government.
Nou Pap Domi (We Aren't Sleeping) posted its simple demands in a tweet that said, "Resignation. Trial. Prison. Restitution. Transition."
In Gonaives, a reporter said angry protesters, armed with machetes, had taken to the streets and were heading to the center of town.
Protesters also filled the streets of St. Marc to demand that the president step down.
'We can't take it anymore'
"We're tired of this system; we've suffered too much," said a protester who wore a Haitian flag scarf on his head and a flag draped around his torso. "We don't have schools, we don't have infrastructure, we don't have hospitals. This system has to go. We, the youth, are tired of this. We can't take it anymore," he told VOA Creole.
The opposition said the protesters would remain in the streets until the president resigned. Allegations of corruption have surrounded his administration. The unrest plaguing Haiti forced Moise to cancel a trip this week to the U.N. General Assembly in New York, where he was expected to deliver a speech.
The Western Hemisphere's poorest country also has been plagued by food and fuel shortages, double-digit inflation and a weakening currency.