PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s government raised the prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene, pushing the cost of daily survival even higher in a country already trapped in a spiraling humanitarian crisis. The price hike lands hardest on people who have the least room to absorb it: workers, market sellers, parents, and families already living on the edge while the machinery of power keeps moving the burden downward.
Who Pays for the Price Hike
For Alexandre Joseph, 35, a factory worker in Port-au-Prince, the government’s fuel-price increases have turned commuting into unpaid labor. He said the war in distant Iran means he now has to walk two hours to work and the same distance home each day because he can no longer afford public transportation. On a recent morning in Haiti’s capital, Joseph said, “The government raised the prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene, hitting my family. I now am unable to feed my two children on the salary I have.”
Joseph said he plans to sell soft drinks at night from his home to try to earn more money, but even that comes with the grim arithmetic of scarcity. “We’re also going to reduce the way we normally eat,” he said. That is the hierarchy in plain sight: decisions made above become hunger below.
The AP article said the conflict in Iran has caused oil prices in Haiti to surge, disrupting critical supply chains, doubling transportation costs and forcing millions of undernourished people to cut back on already scarce meals. Haiti is described as the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere, and experts warn the higher oil prices will deepen a spiraling humanitarian crisis.
What the Apparatus Calls “Adjustment”
On April 2, Haiti’s government announced a 37% increase in the cost of diesel and a 29% increase in the cost of gasoline. Those figures are not abstract. They show up in the price of a ride, the cost of food, and the distance a worker has to walk because transit has become a luxury.
Erwan Rumen, deputy country director for the United Nations World Food Program in Haiti, said, “The consequences are huge,” and added, “It’s one of the most fragile countries in the world.” He said almost half of Haiti’s nearly 12 million inhabitants already face high levels of acute food insecurity and that, in recent months, about 200,000 people dropped from the emergency phase to the acute one. Rumen also said, “What is a bit frightening is to see that so many efforts could be basically wiped out by things that are completely out of our control,” and, “This part of the population is extremely fragile. They’re on the verge of collapsing completely.”
The language of “efforts” and “out of our control” sits beside a reality where people are expected to endure the consequences anyway. The crisis is not evenly shared; it is concentrated among those already stripped bare.
Gangs, Aid, and the Limits of Managed Relief
The article said gang violence has exacerbated hunger, with armed men controlling key roads and disrupting the transportation of goods. It said an increase in food prices will worsen hunger in a country where gangs easily recruit children whose families need food and money. Emmline Toussaint, main coordinator of Mary’s Meals’ BND school-feeding program in Haiti, said gas stations in some regions are selling fuel 25% to 30% higher than even what the government stipulated because of gang violence and difficulties with trucks trying to access certain areas.
Toussaint said the U.S.-based nonprofit is forced to use boats and take longer and multiple roads to feed the 196,000 children they serve across Haiti to avoid armed groups. She said, “The humanitarian crisis that we’re facing right now is at its worst,” and, “So far, we are doing our best not to step back. Now, more than ever, the kids need us. … Most of them, it’s the only meal they receive.”
That is the aid landscape in miniature: a nonprofit trying to route around armed control, while children depend on the one meal it can deliver. The article does not describe a solution from the top, only improvisation under pressure.
Fedline Jean-Pierre, a soft-spoken mother of a 7-year-old boy, said she was considering raising the prices of carrots, tomatoes and other produce she sells at an outdoor market in Port-au-Prince. “People are not buying now because they don’t have money,” she said, adding that she likely would have no choice but to increase prices to survive. “I have a child to feed.” Jean-Pierre, 35, said she and her son have lived for two years in a cramped and unsanitary shelter among the record 1.4 million Haitians displaced by gang violence in recent years. She said, “The government doesn’t do anything for me,” and, “Gas is up now, meaning everything will go up.”
Street vendor Maxime Poulard said he buys charcoal from suppliers to resell at a higher price. He said he occasionally sells two bags of charcoal a day, but thinks he soon will only be able to afford to buy half a bag to resell. “Traveling is expensive; eating is expensive; everything is expensive,” he said. “I’m not sure if I will be able to hold on much more.”
Protest, Barter, and the Price of “Order”
The article said nearly 40% of Haitians are surviving on less than $2.15 a day, according to the World Bank, and that Haiti’s economy contracted for the seventh consecutive year, with inflation reaching 32% at the end of fiscal year 2025. It said Haitians dragged burning tires and other debris to block streets and protest the fuel-price increase in Port-au-Prince on April 6, where an estimated 90% of the city is controlled by gangs. Local media reported gunfire as some Haitians forced the drivers of small colorful buses known as tap-taps to disembark their passengers.
Marc Jean-Louis, a 29-year-old tap-tap driver, said passengers are increasingly bartering fares, but he cannot afford to offer discounts. “All the money is going toward gas,” he said, calling on the government to reduce prices “so that everyone can breathe.”
Rumen said the World Food Program has been unable to reach 60,000 people in Haiti’s central region who are awaiting aid, and that a powerful gang recently attacked the area, killing more than 70 people, according to the United Nations. “We’re going to have more needs and less resources,” he warned.
Allen Joseph, program manager for Mercy Corps in Haiti, said rising oil prices are crushing the country’s fragile economy. “The families already spending most of their income on food will face impossible tradeoffs,” he said. He warned the increase will affect access to basic services, including potable water, and said, “This is not an abstract inflation. It will directly impact survival.”
The article was by Evens Sanon and Dánica Coto. Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.