Haitian police hunt down Moses’ killer as fears of chaos grow Latin American news

Haitian security forces have shot dead four alleged killers of President Jovenel Moise and captured two others, the country’s police chief said on Tuesday, threatening to plunge the already impoverished and crisis-ridden Caribbean nation into chaos.

Police Chief Leon Charles described the four dead as “mercenaries,” and said security forces were embroiled in a fierce gun battle with the men who killed the president at his home last night.

“We blocked it when they left the crime scene,” Charles said in television comments. “Since then, we’ve been fighting with them.”

“They will be killed or apprehended.”

Moise, a 53-year-old former businessman who took office in 2017, was shot dead and his wife, Martine Moise, was seriously injured when his ex-husband was rushed to the couple’s home in the hills above Port-au-Prince around 1 p.m. time on Wednesday (05:00 GMT).

Bocchit Edmond, the U.S. ambassador to Haiti, said the gunmen were well-trained “foreign mercenaries” and said they disguised themselves as agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) when they entered the darkly guarded Moses’ house.

According to the U.S. embassy, ​​the DEA has an office in the Haitian capital to support the government in narcotics programs.

Moses ’wife, Martine, was in a stable but serious condition and was evacuated to Miami for treatment, the ambassador added.

“Barbaric Action”

The killings that led to the condemnation of Washington and neighboring Latin American countries amid political unrest, the rise of gang violence, and the growing humanitarian crisis in America’s poorest nation.

Interim Prime Minister Joseph Claude, who has taken over the country’s leadership, said the killers speak English and Spanish – the majority in Haiti speaks French and Haitian Creole.

“I’m calling for calm. Everything is under control, ”Joseph said on television along with Charles. “This savagery will not go unpunished.”

The Haitian government has declared a two-week state of emergency to help find the killers.

In his first interview with The Associated Press news agency, Joseph called for an international investigation into the murder and said elections are scheduled to take place later this year. He also pledged to work with Moses ’allies and adversaries.

“We need everyone to move all countries forward,” Joseph said. The president said he was a “man of courage” who spoke out against “some oligarchies in the country” and “we believe these things are without consequences.”

Haiti, a country of about 11 million people, has struggled for stability since the fall of the Duvalier dynasty in 1986, and has faced a number of coups and foreign interventions. For the past year, Moise has been ruling by decree after the election and in recent months has called on the opposition to step down, saying it was heading into another bleak era of authoritarianism.

Since taking office in 2017, Moses has received calls for resignation and mass protests — first for allegations of corruption and the management of the economy, then for control of power.

Recently, he directed that the situation of gang violence was deteriorating, with rights activists saying that policies and business leaders are linked to those used by armed groups for their own purposes.

Global concern

In the U.S., President Joe Biden condemned the death of Moses and said the situation in Haiti (which is 1,125 miles off the coast of Florida) is worrying. “We are ready for Haiti as long as we continue to work for a safe and secure Haiti,” he said.

The Dominican Republic said it was closing the border and strengthening security in the area, but said the border was “completely quiet.”

“This crime is an attack on the democratic order in Haiti and the region,” said Luis Abinader, President of the Dominican Republic.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the killing and stressed that “the perpetrators of this crime must be brought to justice,” according to the spokesman. The UN Security Council, meanwhile, expressed tremendous shock and sympathy over Moise’s death on Thursday to assess the situation ahead of a closed-door meeting between the US and Mexico.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) expressed concern on Wednesday that violence could backfire on efforts to combat COVID-19 in Haiti, one of the few countries in the world that has not yet released a single shot of the coronavirus vaccine.

Power gap

In Port-au-Prince, the usually bustling streets were empty on Wednesday and the airport was closed to gunfire.

According to local reports, a caravan of ambulance vehicles traveling to Moses’ body was forced to change course due to gunfire and roadblocks.

As Haiti becomes politically polarized and increasingly hungry, fears of a breakdown of order are spreading, especially when the assassination of Moses occurred in pure power.

Earlier this week, he was appointed prime minister to replace Joseph – who was just the interim leader – but official Ariel Henry has yet to be sworn in. And it would be the Supreme Court of the Supreme Court that provided support for stability in a crisis that resulted in the recent death of COVID-19.

The children are walking on an empty street in front of the cathedral that was destroyed by the 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince (Haiti) on Wednesday, July 7, 2021. [Joseph Odelyn/AP]

In an AP interview, Joseph said he had spoken to Henry three times and agreed that he was the same for now.

“He was actually appointed but he never took office,” Joseph said of Henry. “I was the prime minister, I was in office. That’s what the law and the constitution say. “

However, in a separate AP interview, he appeared against Henry Joseph. “It simply came to our notice then. There is a bit of confusion, ”he said. “I am the Prime Minister in office.”

In late Wednesday, an unusual issue of the official magazine said the prime minister and his cabinet, the Jose government, would assume executive powers until a new president is elected, according to the Haitian constitution.

Presidential, legislative and local elections are scheduled for September, and Moise said that along with a controversial referendum on the new constitution, it will eventually help bring political stability to the country.

Alex Dupuy, a sociologist at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, Haiti, said the best scenario would be for the acting prime minister and opposition parties to come together and hold elections.

“But in Haiti, nothing can be taken for granted. It depends on how the current balance of power in Haiti behaves, ”he said, saying the situation is dangerous and unstable.

The main opposition parties said they were very excited about the murder.

“In this painful situation, the opposition political forces strongly condemn this heinous crime that is in line with democratic principles,” they said in their statement.

The parties added that they hope that the National Police will take all necessary measures to protect their lives and property, and called on Haitians to be “very vigilant”.