PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Protests over the cholera epidemic faded Friday, but young men burned tires and threw rocks at police near government buildings amid surging anger over a disease that has killed more than 1,100 people.
Frustrations simmered as the medical-aid group Doctors Without Borders issued a statement that “despite the huge presence of international organizations in Haiti, the cholera response has to date been inadequate in meeting the needs of the population.”
The aid group, which has been one of the primary responders to the epidemic, said that other international organizations have failed to provide enough safe water or soap, build enough latrines and waste-disposal sites, or remove dead bodies. It also criticized groups for not reassuring people that the disease is treatable.
Cholera had never before been confirmed in Haiti, and fears spurred by the arrival of the disease have led to attacks on treatment facilities and riots against United Nations peacekeepers, whom many suspect of having brought the disease to Haiti.
The small-scale protest Friday in the capital, Port-au-Prince, was far more muted than those of the day before, when demonstrators attacked foreigners’ cars.
