Power vacuum rattles Haiti in wake of president’s assassination

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Pressure is mounting on the man who claims to be Haiti’s leader in the aftermath of the president’s assassination, with at least two other officials claiming to be the legitimate head of government amid a race to fill the political power vacuum.

Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who is ruling Haiti with the backing of lean police and military forces, has pledged to work with the opposition and allies of President Jovenel Moïse, who was killed Wednesday at his private residence.

He faces two rivals: Ariel Henry, whom Moïse designated as prime minister a day before he was killed, and Joseph Lambert, the head of Haiti’s dismantled Senate, who was recently chosen by a group of well-known politicians to be provisional president.

Meanwhile, a coalition of main opposition parties called the Democratic and Popular Sector presented its own proposal Tuesday for the creation of what it called the Independent Moral Authority. It would be made up of human rights activists, religious leaders, academics and others who would be charged with reviewing and merging all proposals.

Also on Tuesday, members of Haiti’s civil society announced that they were working on a proposal for a smooth transition and declined to say whether it supports a specific person to lead Haiti.

“We don’t want them to reduce us to who should do what,” said Magalie Georges, a teacher and union leader.

Lambert was supposed to be sworn in Sunday as a symbolic act, but the event was canceled at the last minute because he said not all his supporters could be present.

Joseph, Henry and Lambert met Sunday with a U.S. delegation that included representatives from the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security who flew to Haiti to encourage dialogue “to reach a political accord that can enable the country to hold free and fair elections,” the White House’s National Security Council said.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the delegation received a request for additional assistance, but she did not provide details. Haiti’s request for U.S. military help remains “under review,” she said. Psaki suggested that political uncertainty on the ground was a complicating factor as the administration weighs how to help.

“What was clear from their trip is that there is a lack of clarity about the future of political leadership,” Psaki said.

Haiti is also seeking security assistance from the United Nations. The UN has been involved in Haiti on and off since 1990, but the last UN military peacekeepers left the country in 2017.

Few details of the meeting between the U.S. delegation and the three men have emerged, although Lambert said he was urged to work together with other actors whom he did not identify.

“I am not looking for personal glory. We have the country first in mind,” he told Radio Télévision Caraïbes.

The deepening political instability comes as Haitian authorities continue to probe the assassination with help from Colombia’s government. Twenty-six former Colombian soldiers are suspected in the killing, and 23 have been arrested, along with three Haitians. Léon Charles, head of Haiti’s National Police, said five suspects are still at large and at least three have been killed.