A new trip around the Haitian capital offered us a more accurate view on the situation of its population. We can say that in the city are well seen marked contrasts caused by the earthquake that struck last Tuesday, January 12th essentially, the Western Department of the country.

The constant flow of people has increased throughout the city. It has emerged the known “maches” or sales people that were always present everywhere. In the less affected areas have also opened some drugstores, trade locals and sale of canned or bottled drinks, soda from different national and foreign brands their doors some pharmacies, local trade and sale of canned or bottled drinks, soda water and various local and foreign brands, and fuel dispensing facilities.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people who lost their homes continue to be concentrated in parks, plazas and open space as in the city. Their situation is precarious but not has lacked health care because they have come to the collaborators of the Cuban Medical Brigade and the Haitian doctors graduated in Cuba, where many specialties currently enrolled.

Food aid is still inadequate, despite the tons of food that have arrived by Toussaint Louverture International Airport. Maybe somebody has some money to shop with sellers who have settled improvised on its outskirts.

It attracts the attention the traffic of any kind that has intensified in the winding streets of Port au Prince. Cars of all types, tap-tap (popular trucks transporting people) buses and trucks, many of the UN forces (MINUSTAH), the International Red Cross and Crescent, as well as rescue groups who came from various countries.

This makes the excessive travel distances that in last days were performed in only 15 or 20 minutes today become crossings delayed 50 minutes or an hour. Adding to this the breaking of specialized vehicles to continue with the work of debris removal, in which probably other lifeless bodies will be found.

A discordant note was the presence in the downtown area of the city of U.S. troops, who took the place of business as General Hospital and set up a security cordon to not allow passage inside and move the entry to a dozen Haitians who were there.

Puerto Principe remains without electricity, lying on the ground that the lead wires and long useless. However, it is noteworthy that they did not stop the few traffic lights operation located in some of the corners. They feed on something that never fails in this Caribbean island the sunlight.

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