PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The assassination of President Jovenel Moïse seemed to have thrown an already turbulent nation into chaos on Wednesday, with a muddled line of succession. Here is a look at the situation:
WHO WAS
THE ASSASSINATED PRESIDENT?
Jovenel
Moïse was a 48-year-old businessman and political neophyte when he was sworn in
as president of Haiti on Feb. 7, 2017. The former banana producer inherited a
nation in turmoil — one that had gone a year without an elected leader in
place. He leaves it in chaos as well.
Taking
office, he pledged to strengthen institutions, fight corruption and bring more
investment and jobs to the hemisphere’s poorest nation. “We can change Haiti if
we work together,” Moïse said on the grounds of what used to be the national
palace — one of many buildings obliterated by a January 2010 earthquake that
killed thousands of Haitians.
But
togetherness never arrived, and his administration was plagued by massive
protests from the start. Even his initial election in 2015 was annulled,
forcing a re-do that he also won. Critics accused him of growing increasingly
authoritarian. He had been ruling by decree for more than a year after
dissolving a majority of Parliament in January 2020 amid a delay in legislative
elections.
In
February, Moïse told the U.N. Security Council that powerful oligarchs had made
seven attempts to overthrow him. He also announced that month that about 20
people had been arrested in an assassination plot. But an appeals court later
rejected the claim and released the accused plotters, who included a judge and
a police inspector general.
WHAT DO
WE KNOW ABOUT THE ASSASSINATION?
Details
so far are slim. Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph said highly trained
gunmen, some speaking Spanish or English, killed the president at his home. The
first lady also was shot and wounded. He said police and the armed forces were
controlling security. A resident who lives near the president’s home compared
the sound of the shooting to an earthquake.
Bocchit
Edmond, the Haitian ambassador to the U.S., described the attackers as “well
trained professional commandos” and “foreign mercenaries” who were masquerading
as U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents. He did not comment on possible
suspects or motives and said Haiti has asked the U.S. government for assistance
in the investigation.
Hours
after the killing, authorities announced that police had killed four suspects
and arrested two others. Officials, however, gave no details on their
identities or possible motive.
WHAT IS
THE SITUATION IN HAITI?
The
country has struggled with political instability — along with dire poverty and
crime — since the end of the brutal dictatorships of Francois and Jean-Claude
Duvalier from 1957 to 1986.
Criminal
gangs this year have driven thousands of people from their homes, protesters
demanding Moïse’s ouster in 2019 shut down much of the economy and the country
has yet to begin vaccinating its 11 million people against the new coronavirus,
which is surging.
Bruno
Maes, Haiti’s representative for the U.N.’s children agency, last month
compared the gang situation to guerrilla warfare, “with thousands of children
and women caught in the crossfire.” Pierre Espérance, executive director of the
Haitian National Human Rights Defense Network, said gangs control about 60% of
the country’s territory.
Police
and the military, too, have been troubled, often targeted by gangs. Masked
officers who said they belonged to a disgruntled faction stormed several police
stations in March to free comrades who’d been accused of participating in a
coup attempt. The army was re-inaugurated only in 2017. It had been disbanded
in 1995 after the fall of a dictatorship.
Political
strife has deepened since Feb. 7, when opposition leaders claim Moïse’s legal
term had expired — five years after he would have taken office if the initial
vote had been allowed. Moïse argued it ends in February 2022 since he wasn’t
sworn in until 2017.
The
government has been without a formal prime minister since April, when Joseph
Jouthe resigned amid a spike in killings and kidnappings. His replacement has
not yet been approved by the parliament.
With
Moïse ruling by decree, the government has scheduled new elections for
September and a possible runoff in November. The government also has pushed a
referendum on a new constitution that critics allege might allow the president
to extend his power. But that vote has also been delayed.
WHAT’S
NEXT?
Authorities
have closed the international airport and declared a state of siege.
Under
the Haitian Constitution, the president of the Supreme Court would temporarily
take over. But he recently died of COVID-19. The National Assembly would then
select a new leader. But that’s not possible because there’s effectively no
current legislature: The terms of the lower house members have all expired as
well as two-thirds of those in the Senate.
That
leaves the acting prime minister, Joseph, in charge along with his fellow
government ministers, according to Haitian attorney Salim Succar, once chief of
staff to former Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe.
But
Joseph had only an interim role. Moïse was killed a day after he nominated
Ariel Henry, a neurosurgeon, as Haiti’s new prime minister. He had not been
confirmed, however. The uncertainty could create more volatility ahead of
general elections later this year.
***Associated
Press writer Ben Fox in Washington contributed to this report.
https://apnews.com/article/caribbean-haiti-assassinations-health-coronavirus-pandemic-582ab8f6979d5f3ce91ff626645508e9