- After the assassination of President Giovinel Mois, Haiti has asked the United Nations to send troops to protect its ports, airports and other strategic locations.
- The United States has indicated that it will send the FBI and other agents to Port-au-Prince.
- The police said that a strike team composed of 28 Colombians and Americans carried out the attack, but they are still looking for its planner.
An official said on Friday that Haiti has asked Washington and the United Nations to send troops to protect its ports, airports and other strategic locations after the assassination of President Giovenel Moise, creating a power vacuum in this crisis-hit Caribbean country. .
Two days after Moise was shot and killed at his home, the United States has indicated that it will send the FBI and other agents to Port-au-Prince.
After the killing, “we thought that mercenaries might destroy some infrastructure to create chaos… In our dialogue with the US Secretary of State and the United Nations, we made this request,” Election Secretary Matthias Pierce Er told AFP.
The U.S. State Department and the Pentagon both confirmed receipt of “security and investigation assistance” requests, and stated that officials were still in contact with Port-au-Prince, but did not specify whether troops would be deployed.
The United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A UN diplomatic source said earlier that it is necessary to pass Security Council resolutions as required by Haitians.
Washington has expressed its willingness to help the Haiti investigation, and White House spokesman Jen Psaki added on Friday that senior FBI officials and other officials will travel to the Caribbean as soon as possible.
As the situation developed, people began to question who might have planned this bold assassination. Most members of the Columbian and American assault team were either dead or detained, and there was no clear and public motive.
Amidst the uncertainty, three men were touted as potential leaders of this country of 11 million people, and more than half of them were under the age of 20. There is no working council.
After days of paralysis in the capital, Port-au-Prince saw people returning to the streets timidly, with shops opening and public transportation resuming on Friday morning-but still in fear.
People are scrambling to stock up basic necessities in supermarkets and line up to buy propane for cooking, in anticipation of more instability.
“I don’t know what will happen tomorrow or the day after tomorrow… I am preparing for the bad days ahead,” Port-au-Prince resident Marjorie told AFP as she and her husband were hoarding supplies in a store.
On Friday, gang violence that prevailed in the former French colony also rose again, with clashes between groups paralyzing a major highway.
According to Flightradar data, the city’s airport was closed after the attack, but it appears to have reopened.
As the shock of the killing faded away, many people in the poorest countries in the Americas were demanding answers.
“Foreigners come to this country to commit such crimes. We Haitians are shocked,” a resident of the capital told AFP.
“We need to know who is behind this incident,” he added.
The police said that a strike team composed of 28 Colombians and Americans carried out the attack, but they are still looking for its planner.
Moise’s security team is in a state of tension and has been summoned to appear in court.
Others speculated that security personnel might have been involved in the killing, which added to the confusion.
“The President of the Republic, Jovenel Moise, was assassinated by his security personnel,” former Haitian Senator Steven Benoit said on Radio Magik9 on Friday.
“It was not Colombians who killed him. They were infected by the Haitian government.”
The last thing Moyes did as president on Monday was the appointment of a new prime minister, Ariel Henry. When Moise was killed, he had not yet taken office.
Hours after the assassination, Henry’s predecessor, Claude Joseph, said he was responsible.
Although the opposition accused Joseph of seizing power, the United Nations said he had power because Henry did not take the oath of office.
Later on Friday, a third option was proposed.
In order to get rid of the so-called “institutional and political vacuum,” the Senate voted to pass a resolution allowing Senator Joseph Lambert to become interim president.
But the announcement is not binding. Although it does have some support from opposition politicians, the current senators are not enough to pass the resolution legally.
Before the assassination, Haiti was already in an institutional crisis.
Moise has not organized elections since he took office in early 2017, and since January 2020, the country has not had a parliament. Moise has always ruled by decree.
Some of the alleged attackers, including two Americans, have been arrested. Officials said on Friday that three people had been killed and at least five people were still at large.
The United States has stated that it is aware of the arrest of American citizens, but declined to comment further.
Colombia said on Friday that it is believed that 17 former Colombian soldiers were involved and will cooperate with the investigation.
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