How Kevin De Bruyne helped bring down the Haitian government | OneFootball

On Saturday, Jack Guy Lafontant resigned as Prime Minister of Haiti following days of violent protests in the country and Kevin De Bruyne is partly responsible.

The unrest began when the Haitian government revealed plans to eliminate fuel subsidies, which would have resulted in a drastic increase in the price of fuel.

The announcement sparked mass protests, with streets in the capital Port-au-Prince barricaded with debris and burning tires. At least seven people were killed and dozens of businesses looted during three days of rioting.

So what does De Bruyne have to do with all this? Richard Ensor, a journalist for the The Economist, has the story.

Given their own nation’s lack of success on the international stage, the Haitian people have adopted Brazil as their unofficial national team.

The government’s announcement of the fuel hike was announced 10 minutes into Brazil’s World Cup quarter-final clash with Belgium and, according to Ensor, they figured the people would be so distracted by celebrating Brazil’s victory that they wouldn’t notice.

But a certain Belgian midfielder had other ideas.

Brazil lost 2-1 and five minutes after the game ended, the rioting began.

“They thought Brazil would win and while people took to the streets to celebrate, you would have some protests over the gas, but not like this,” Senator Patrice Dumont is quoted as saying by the Miami Herald.

“[President] Jovenel Moïse failed to consider that above everything else, politics is not what’s in your head, it’s what you’ve done.

“There has been no improvement in anything in the country that has been the result of the government.

“In his mind, he thinks he has done something serious. Up until now, he’s not living in reality.”

Prime Minister Lafontant is now gone and, at the time of writing, Haiti has no functioning government.

De Bruyne, meanwhile, is on his way for a well deserved summer holiday, and is probably totally oblivious to the impact his goal in Kazan had on a country some 10,000km away.