I’ve been staying abreast with the news surrounding the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, and I wanted to consolidate my findings.

On Wednesday, July 7, 2021, at 1:00 a.m., President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in his home in Petion-Ville, a suburb in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Moïse was shot sixteen times, along with his wife/First Lady, Martine Moïse, who was also shot but survived. She’s currently in critical condition and has been sent to a Miami hospital for treatment.

According to NPR, the Haitian ambassador to the United States, Bocchit Edmond, stated that the attackers posed as agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which helped them gain access to Moïse’s home. Edmond argued that the murder was carried out by well-trained professionals, killers, and commandos who spoke Spanish. These professionals consisted of more than two dozen people, retired members of the Columbian military and two Haitian-American citizens, according to CNN. Twenty-eight suspects have been reported to be in connection with the assassination, and twenty, so far, have been arrested.

United States troops have been requested to help protect infrastructure, ports, airports, and energy systems, by way of the Haitian government. And Haiti’s acting Prime Minister, Claude Joseph, has requested United Nations troops to help secure the country’s ports, airports, oil terminals and assist with electoral security and further investigation of the murder.

The retired members of the Columbian military reportedly traveled to Haiti through the Dominican Republic, from the Bogota El Dorado airport to the Punta Cana airport, according to the Columbian National Police Chief General, Jorge Vargas.

“Two of them, Giraldo Duberney Capador, who was killed during an operation by Haiti Police, and Alejandro Rivera Garcia, detained by Haiti Police, flew from Bogota to Santo Domingo via Panama on May 6 and from Santo Domingo flew to Port-au-Prince on May 10.”

Columbia’s President, Iván Duque, has offered to work with Haiti in finding all of those responsible for President Moïse’s assassination. According to The Haitian Times, President Duque made the following comments on his Twitter account:

“I just spoke with the Prime Minister of Haiti Claude Joseph.”

“We express our solidarity and support at this time. We offer all our collaboration to find the truth about the material and intellectual authors of the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.”

However, many Haitians and Haitian-Americans are skeptical of the arrival of Columbian police officials. Serge Jeudy replied to Haiti’s Prime Minister’s office Twitter handle with “Don’t be too naive.”

Prime Minister Joseph has declared a two-week “state of siege,” which means fifteen days of martial law in Haiti. He fully supports the continuation of this year’s elections and also urges all residents to remain calm in light of this traumatic event. But this will be hard for many to do, seeing as how Haiti was facing a political crisis before President Moïse’s assassination.

A political commentator from the University of Virginia, Robert Fatton, stated the following:

“You have this situation where the institutions are not working, where the economy is stagnated … the politics has been extremely volatile. The current government has been challenged by the population. There have been massive accusations of corruption.”

“So you name it, in terms of instability and institutional decay, you have it at the moment in Haiti.”

One can only send prayers to the country of Haiti and its residents at this moment.

I will keep you all updated on any new information. Feel free to comment below if you’d like to discuss.

Until Next Time…

(Sources)

Photo Credit: Aleteia

Cheryl, O. (2021, July 9). Haitians skeptical of Colombians’ offer to assist in Moïse’s assassination. The Haitian Times. https://haitiantimes.com/2021/07/09/colombian-president-vows-to-help-haiti-find-assassination-masterminds-sending-officials/. 

Diaz, J. (2021, July 8). What We Know About The Assassination Of Haiti’s President. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2021/07/08/1014105912/what-we-know-about-the-assassination-of-haitis-president. 

Hu, C., Vital, L., Pozzebon, S., & Regan, H. (2021, July 10). Haiti assassination allegedly involved Americans and retired members of Colombian military, officials say. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/09/americas/haiti-moise-assassination-july-9-intl-hnk/index.html.