The U.S. Embassy in Haiti is calling for security reinforcements after riots broke out in response to a government plan to raise fuel prices by 50 percent.
A U.S. Defense official told NBC News that the U.S. Embassy in Haiti is requesting additional Marines and State Dept. security personnel “to augment the existing forces at the Embassy” amid the riots in the capital of Port-au-Prince.
Additionally, according to Fox News, roughly 120 Americans are believed to be staying at a Port-au-Prince hotel where protesters attempted to bypass security and set the building on fire.
CNN reports that 13 Marines have been mobilized to fulfill the embassy’s request.
Protests erupted on Friday just hours before the government price hike was set to raise fuel prices by 50 percent.
After three days of violence, burned store fronts, looting, and clashes between police and protesters, calm has fallen on Port-au-Prince, but only because the taxis and bus services are on strike.
The Haitian government’s decision to raise the price of transportation fuel was prompted by the International Monetary Fund’s recommendations for the government to cut subsidies for fuel. The government decided not to implement the plan after the violence broke out.
The IMF, which is overseeing a plan to improve the country’s social services and infrastructure, came to a preliminary agreement with the Haitian government earlier this year to transition away from subsidies.
“This will include measures to improve tax collection and efficiency, and to eliminate excessive subsidies, including on retail fuel,” according to the IMF.
Other reforms will seek to stem the losses of Haiti’s public electricity company, which has amounted to a sizable portion of the public deficit, the international fund said in February.
U.S. fuel oil exports to Haiti doubled earlier this year. The U.S. Commerce Department updated its analysis last month on the potential for U.S. energy exports to the island nation.
It says Haiti has substantial renewable energy potential, but faces “significant challenges” in gaining access to clean and renewable energy. The country receives 85 percent of its electricity from imported fossil fuels.
The Trump administration’s main focus is on improving Haiti’s electricity infrastructure, saying there is at least a $5 million opportunity there if a U.S. company were to export services and equipment.
“There is an urgent need to repair and expand existing power plants throughout the country,” according to the Commerce Department’s Exports.gov website.
