Almost all major highways of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince were blocked on Monday by protesters who were unhappy with the fuel shortage at gas stations and rising gas prices, TASS reported referring to the Hoy newspaper.

Protesters built barricades from tires and set fire to them in several areas of Port-au-Prince, and threw stones at the police. They blame President Jovenel Moïse, who, according to the protesters, is involved in corruption in this situation.

Due to road closures, tanks with available gas were unable to reach gas stations. This led to their closure until the end of the day.

At the end of August, Haiti's fuel sector companies warned that they could stop selling gasoline if the country's authorities did not cover their debts. According to them, the government owes about $ 100 million, which creates problems for the companies themselves and impedes their negotiations with banks on loans. The authorities of the Caribbean country previously paid subsidies to gasoline sellers in order to lower prices for the population, a significant proportion of whom live below the poverty line.

The Republic of Haiti, with a population of about 10.6 million, is the poorest state in the Western Hemisphere. In February, mass protests began in the country, their participants demand the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse, blame the authorities for the increase in inflation, corruption of officials and the general deterioration of the economic situation in the country.