Injured first lady returns home after treatment in Miami to plan funeral

Ten days after her husband, Haitian President Jovenel Moise, was killed in a brazen middle-of-the-night attack inside their private residence, Haiti’s first lady, Martine Moise, returned to Haiti on Sunday.

Moise, who was wounded in the arm during the attack, was medevaced on July 7 to Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport and immediately taken to Jackson Health System’s Ryder Trauma Centre, where she underwent surgery.

Moise’s right arm was in a sling when she stepped onto the tarmac at Toussaint Louverture International Airport at the end of a charter flight from Miami with members of her family. She was greeted by acting

Prime Minister Claude Joseph and other members of her late husband’s administration.

Before leaving Miami, Moise thanked the doctors and nurses at Jackson with a message posted to her personal Twitter account.

‘‘Thank you to the team of guardian angels who helped me through this terrible time,’’ she said.

‘‘With your gentle touch, kindness and care, I was able to hold on. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!’’

On Saturday, Joseph announced that planning was under way for a July 23 state funeral for the slain president.

His burial will take place in the northern city of Cap-haitien, near where he was born and where he began his career as an entrepreneur. Martine Moise is expected to help in the planning, along with a committee announced by the government.

More than 20 people have been arrested by Haitian police in connection with the attack, including 18 Colombians and five Haitians, several of whom have ties to South Florida.

While the investigation remains ongoing, questions linger about the night the president was killed and his wife attacked. Among them: What happened to the security guards assigned to them and how did the commandos manage to enter the private residence in the Pelerin 5 neighbourhood with ease?

Haitian police say they are searching for several suspects, including five Colombian commandos who remain at large and several Haitian nationals.

– TNS