The government and members of the political opposition are no longer pretending. They haven't spoken since the talks were halted last December in the presence of the CARICOM Eminent Persons Group. Between protests in Port-au-Prince and some provincial cities and the approaching February 7, both parties are crossing their fingers and waiting in silence.

"There is no discussion between the Collective of January 30 and the government," said agronomist Jean André Victor, MOPOD leader and member of the political organizations coalition of January 30, to the newspaper on Thursday. For him, it's not just about February 7. "In this country, anything can happen at any time. The government had a deadline; that deadline has expired, and now it's about mobilization," he asserted.