Haiti in upheaval: President assassinated
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A squad of gunmen assassinated Haitian President Jovenel Moise and wounded his wife in an overnight raid on their home Wednesday, with police killing four suspects and arresting two others hours later amid growing chaos in a country already enduring gang violence and protests of his increasingly authoritarian rule.
Three police officers held hostage by the suspected gunmen were freed late Wednesday, said Leon Charles, chief of Haiti’s National Police.
Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph said the police and military were in control of security in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas where a history of dictatorship and political upheaval have long stymied the consolidation of democratic rule.
Joseph called for an international investigation into the assassination, said that elections scheduled for later this year should be held and pledged to work with Moise’s allies and opponents alike.
“We need every single one to move the country forward,” Joseph said. He alluded to enemies of the president, describing him as “a man of courage” who had opposed “some oligarchs in the country, and we believe those things are not without consequences.”
Despite Joseph’s assurances that order would prevail, there was confusion about who should take control and widespread anxiety among Haitians. Authorities declared a “state of siege” in the country and closed the international airport.
The normally bustling streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince, were empty Wednesday. Sporadic gunshots were heard in the distance, public transportation was scarce, and some people searched for businesses that were open for food and water.
Bocchit Edmond, the Haitian ambassador to the United States, said the attack on the 53-year-old Moise “was carried out by foreign mercenaries and professional killers — well-orchestrated,” and that they were masquerading as agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The DEA has an office in the Haitian capital to assist the government in counternarcotics programs, according to the U.S. Embassy.
Moise’s wife, Martine, was in stable but critical condition and was being moved to Miami for treatment, Edmond said in Washington.
Haiti has asked the U.S. government for assistance with the investigation, he said, adding that the assassins could have escaped over the land border to the Dominican Republic or by sea.
The Dominican Republic said it was closing the border and reinforcing security in the area, describing the frontier as “completely calm.”
Joseph is likely to lead Haiti for now, though that could change in a nation where constitutional provisions have been erratically observed, said Alex Dupuy, a Haiti-born sociologist at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.
The best scenario would be for the acting prime minister and opposition parties to come together and hold elections, Dupuy said.
“But, in Haiti, nothing can be taken for granted. It depends how the current balance of forces in Haiti plays out,” he said, describing the situation as dangerous and volatile. Haiti’s police force is already grappling with a recent spike in violence in Port-au-Prince that has displaced more than 14,700 people, he said.
U.S. President Joe Biden said he was “shocked and saddened to hear of the horrific assassination,” and condemned “this heinous act.”
“The United States offers condolences to the people of Haiti, and we stand ready to assist as we continue to work for a safe and secure Haiti,” Biden said in a statement.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the assassination and stressed that “the perpetrators of this crime must be brought to justice,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The Security Council scheduled an emergency closed meeting on Haiti for Thursday.
The U.S. Embassy in Haiti said it was restricting U.S. staff to its compounds and closed the embassy Wednesday.
Haiti’s economic, political and social woes have deepened recently, with gang violence spiking in Portau-Prince, inflation spiraling, and food and fuel becoming scarcer in a country where 60 percent of the population makes less than $2 a day. These troubles come as Haiti is still trying to recover from the devastating 2010 earthquake and Hurricane Matthew in 2016.