Assassinate Haiti president Jovenel Moïse Wednesday plunged the Caribbean country into turmoil-a country already in crisis due to alarmingly high levels of violence, poverty and political instability.
Haitian security forces continued on Thursday with a group of gunmen who were suspected of killing the president at his home and severely wounding him and his wife Martine Moïse. Haitian officials said that so far, security forces have killed four “mercenaries” in connection with the assassination.
“The hunt for mercenaries continues,” said Leon Charles, chief of the Haitian National Police, on Wednesday night. “Their fate is destined: they will fall or be arrested in battle.”
Moise’s death occurred in Haiti against the backdrop of worsening political instability, gang violence, inflation and high coronavirus infection rates. These troubles also appeared when the country tried to recover from a disaster. 2010 earthquake with Hurricane Matthew, It happened in 2016.
According to reports, earlier Wednesday, a group of “unidentified” gunmen armed with assault weapons entered Mois’s private residence on the outskirts of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince and killed the president. The current acting prime minister of Haiti, Claude Joseph.
The Haitian judge Carl Henri Destin told the Haitian newspaper, Newman, A maid and another family worker were bound by the attackers on the way to the president’s bedroom.
He said the president was hit at least 12 times by large-caliber guns and smaller 9mm weapons.
Haitian police are still in a gun battle with the attackers behind the president’s assassination
Destin added that Moïse’s daughter was also at home during the attack, but hid in the bedroom and escaped unharmed.
Joseph said that there is still no information about who might have carried out the assassination, but the gunman speaks English and Spanish. Most of the Haitian population speak French or Haitian Creole.
Joseph added that after the attack, the first lady was airlifted to Miami, Florida for treatment, and she was in stable condition.
According to Haiti’s ambassador to the United States, Bocchit Edmond, the assassination was carried out by “trained professional commandos” and “foreign mercenaries” who were disguised as agents of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
According to the US Embassy, DEA has an office in the Haitian capital to assist the government in its anti-drug program.
Residents living near the president’s house Tell the Associated Press She heard the attack.
“I thought there was an earthquake and so many shootings,” said the woman, who declined to be named because she was worried about her life. “The president has problems with many people, but this is not the way we expect him to die. This is what I don’t want any Haitians to happen.”
Officials said the Haitian police and army managed to track down the presumed assassins and fought fierce battles with them late on Wednesday night.
The Haitian police chief said that four people suspected of participating in the assassination were shot dead by the police and two others were arrested.
Charles added that the three police officers who were taken hostage have been released.
The death of Mois made people wonder who is the legal leader of this country of 11 million people, which shares Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic.
Although Moise is dead, his party retains power. Joseph Moise was provisionally appointed as prime minister in April after the resignation of the former prime minister and currently controls Haiti.
The 1987 Constitution stipulated that the President of the Supreme Court should take over. At the same time, the unanimous amendment says whether it should be the prime minister or the parliament should elect the president.
But to make matters more complicated is that the President of the Supreme Court died last month of COVID-19 due to a surge in the number of infections in one of the few countries around the world that has not yet started a vaccination campaign.
Due to political turmoil, Haiti failed to hold legislative elections at the end of 2019, so there is no current parliament.
Moise just appointed a new prime minister, Ariel Henry, to succeed interim prime minister Joseph, even though he had not yet been sworn in when the president was killed.
However, Henry Tell the new paper He no longer believes that Joseph is the legitimate prime minister, and he should resume the role of Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“I think we need to talk. Claude should stay in the government I will have,” Henry said.
read more: Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated by mercenaries at home
The Dominican Republic said on Wednesday that it would close the border with Haiti and strengthen security due to fears of the collapse of order in the country.
The UN Security Council is scheduled to hold a closed-door meeting on the situation in Haiti on Thursday.
Since taking over, Joseph has also declared that Haiti is under “siege” for 15 days. During this period, the security forces increased their rights to conduct searches and seizures and detain related personnel. Some civil rights have also been suspended, including the right to protest and hold large gatherings.
Why is Moise so controversial?
Moise had been in office for four and a half years before he was killed.
When he took office, he promised to strengthen institution building, fight corruption, and bring more investment and employment opportunities to the country. However, critics accused him of becoming more and more authoritarian.
He said his five-year term should have ended in 2022. But his critics, including human rights organizations and clergy, insisted that his term ended in February this year.
When he refused to resign from the presidency, protests surged and many people asked him to resign. Moise said he plans to amend the Haitian Constitution to allow him to stay in office longer.
Earlier this year, he disbanded the parliament, saying that the term of most members has ended. He also forced three Supreme Court judges to retire early.
Moise pursued comprehensive constitutional reforms to increase presidential powers. He plans to vote on the referendum and his successor in September.
Tamanisha John, a Caribbean studies scholar at Florida International University, said in an interview with Reuters that Moise had long lost the trust of the Haitian people.
What does the international community say about Canada?
The assassination aroused shock and condemnation from leaders in Latin America, Europe and the United States, while calling on the troubled Caribbean country to remain calm and united.
On Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined world leaders in condemning the assassination of Moise.
In a statementTrudeau said he was shocked and sad when he learned of the assassination.
The statement read: “We hope that the first lady Martine Moïse, who was injured in the attack, can fully recover. Our hearts are with her because she grieves for the loss of her husband.
“In these difficult and uncertain times, Canada and the Haitian people stand together. Our two countries are united by a strong friendship, which is based on lasting people-to-people ties. Canada has a deep and long-term relationship with Haiti. Commitment, we are ready to provide any assistance it needs.
Canada also issued an announcement Opposing a trip to Haiti on Wednesday, calling the situation in the country “unstable” and warning that it could “deteriorate rapidly.”
Members of the Canadian Haitian community mainly live in the French-speaking province of Quebec. They say that they are now more and more concerned about the future of this Caribbean country.
Marjorie Villefranche, executive director of La Maison d’Haiti, said: “It’s really shocking because we didn’t expect this to happen, and it’s terrible because it’s not a very democratic way to remove the president.” A Haitian community group based in Montreal.
According to Liberty City, the assassination of Moise has now left a deeper power and political vacuum in a country already affected by political and economic instability.
— Documents from David Lao of Global News, Associated Press and Reuters
© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
