Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise has been the victim of an assassination attempt at his private residence on Wednesday. The news was confirmed by the country’s acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who has proclaimed a siege in the country.
President Moise, 53 were shot dead when a herd of attackers entered his home around 1 am. His wife, Martine Moise has also been injured in the attack. The first lady is currently being transferred to a Miami hospital for treatment, said the acting Prime Minister, who termed the assassination as a “heinous, inhumane and barbaric act.”
Although Ms. Moise is stable, her condition is still critical, Ambassador Bocchit Edmond said in a press conference. In conversation with CNN, Edmond said that the Haiti Police have killed four and arrested two suspects in connection with the tragic killing of President Jovenel Moise.
He further added that the authorities are in the process of getting to the bottom of things and deducting the exact number of people who took part in brutally assassinating the Haiti President. The suspects who have been detained and killed were all foreigners and the authorities are trying to determine their nationalities, affirmed Edmond.
Additionally, Edmond claimed that Haiti’s people have also had a role to play in the killing of the President. This suggestion is primarily based on the suspects’ mode of travel as local vehicles were used to commute to the house of Mr. Moise.
The elicited video footage from the crime scene shows them conversing in Spanish, while they pretended to be Drug and Enforcement Administration agents. Edmond said they were still unclear about the attacker’s whereabouts. If they had left, it wouldn’t have gone unnoticeable as Haiti would have observed a plane leaving and the airport has been sealed ever since the attack, articulated Edmond.
Amid the ongoing violence, acting prime minister Joseph asked the citizens to maintain their cool and “let the authorities do their work.” Calling it a “sad day” for the nation, he affirmed that the killers would be found and punished.
Many political figures and authorities around the world took to social media to express their condolences on the assassination of the Haiti President. U.S President Joe Biden penned down his profound grief on the attack and condemned the “heinous attack” on the governing body.
U.K Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was both “shocked and saddened” at the sudden death of Moise. Even the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez took to Twitter and called for a way to reemerge from the “crisis” that has left the country in pieces.
Meanwhile, there is no clarity on the successor of the Haiti President. The President of the Supreme Court would have rightly been replacing him but he recently passed away due to Covid-19. Thus, the line of succession in the country is blurred and remains to be seen.
