Haiti was in a crisis of poverty, violence and corruption. Now the president has been shot in his house. The perpetrators are said to have posed as US anti-drug officials.
According to the police, four alleged perpetrators were killed and two arrested after the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.
However, the background to the attack initially remained unclear – as did the successor to the head of state. The government of the Caribbean state declared a state of siege and state mourning for 15 days. Foreign Minister Claude Joseph signed both decrees on Wednesday as transitional prime minister. Moïse had named Ariel Henry as Joseph’s successor in the office of Prime Minister on Monday, but Henry had not yet been sworn in.
On Wednesday night (local time), unknown persons broke into the residence of the 53-year-old head of state Moïse in a suburb of the capital Port-au-Prince and shot him. His wife Martine was injured and brought to the US city of Miami, some 1,000 kilometers away, for treatment, Haiti’s ambassador to the United States, Bocchit Edmond, told international media. According to initial findings, the attackers were foreigners who posed as members of the US anti-drug agency DEA.
According to the Haitian Embassy in Washington, it was a well-coordinated attack by a well-trained and heavily armed group. Joseph said in an address to the nation that the perpetrators spoke English and Spanish. Haitian Creole and French are Haiti’s official languages.
Joseph called for people to keep calm. The situation is under control. Port-au-Prince airport has been temporarily closed. The streets were reportedly unusually empty on Wednesday, but gunshots could be heard repeatedly. The state of siege allows the government, among other things, to use the military for police tasks and to restrict civil rights.
Haiti – the poorest country on the American continent – was already in a deep political crisis. Since a parliamentary election planned for October 2019 was canceled due to violent protests against Moïse, among other things, there has not been a functioning parliament there since January 2020. Moïse has since ruled by decree.
Neither Henry – who would have been the seventh Prime Minister in office – nor Joseph and his predecessor Joseph Jouthe could therefore be constitutionally confirmed as head of government. The Supreme Court is also weakened – the presiding judge René Sylvestre died a few weeks ago. Presidential and parliamentary elections and a constitutional referendum are due to take place in Haiti on September 26th. With the referendum, Moïse wanted to strengthen the role of the head of state.
Joseph phoned US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday, both sides announced. Joseph promised to hold a dialogue with the opposition leaders to ensure peace and quiet and to hold the elections according to the current schedule. According to his office, he also met with representatives of the so-called core group of the international community in Haiti, which also includes the German ambassador. Joseph assured them that his leadership of the Council of Ministers would ensure the functioning of the state and that he had the situation under control.
Many opposition officials believed that Moïse’s term ended in February. Moïse then announced on February 7th that there had been an attempted coup and murder plot against him and announced 23 arrests – including a Supreme Court judge. The 2015 presidential election was canceled due to fraud and Moïse was only sworn in after a new election a year later. The five-year term of office of the banana entrepreneur from the conservative “Bald Head” party would therefore not have come to an end until next February, as did the still influential, former occupying power USA.
Protests against Moïse have paralyzed Haiti time and again over the past three years. He was accused of corruption and links to violent gangs. Bloody fights by such gangs for control of parts of Port-au-Prince have displaced more than 14,700 people since the beginning of June, according to UN figures.
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