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The president of Haiti has been killed in an attack at his home and his wife has been injured, an official has said.
The interim prime minister said Jovenel Moise had died in an assassination at his private home in the Caribbean country.
He said the first lady, Martine Moise, has been taken to hospital.
Dr Claude Joseph, the interim prime minister, said on Wednesday the attack was carried out by a group of unidentified people during the night.
It comes amid deepening political and economic stability and a spike in gang violence in Haiti.
This “gangsterization” occurred without parliamentary sanction. On January 13, 2020—a day after the 10th anniversary of Haiti’s devastating earthquake—parliament’s terms ended, leaving President Moïse to rule by decree. One such decree came in November as the wave of kidnapping increased: the president outlawed some forms of protest, calling it “terrorism.”
Haiti’s ruling Tèt Kale party got its start in 2011, when bawdy carnival singer Michel Martelly was muscled into the election’s second round by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the United Nations Special Envoy and co-chair of the Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission (IHRC) Bill Clinton.
This support from the Clintons, the United States, and the so-called Core Group (including France, Canada, Brazil, the European Union, and the Organization of American States), never wavered, despite the increasingly clear slide toward authoritarianism. In 2012, Martelly installed allied mayors in all but a handful of towns. Then parliament’s terms expired in 2015, the five-year anniversary of the earthquake, with promises of holding elections never materializing. The vote that did finally lead to the election of Martelly’s hand-picked successor, Jovenel Moïse, was fraudulent. Yet the United States and the Core Group continued to play along—and offer financial support—until finally the electoral commission formally called for its annulment. Because of international pressure, the final round was held weeks after Hurricane Matthew ravaged large segments of the country. It was the lowest voter turnout in the country’s history.
Having to thank his friends in high places, Martelly’s reconstruction effort focused on providing opportunities for foreign capitalist interests to invest in tourism, agribusiness, sweatshops, and mining. Not surprisingly, donors to the Clinton Global Initiative made out like (legal) bandits.*Ironically, $4 billion available to help fund this disaster capitalism was from Venezuela’s PetroCaribe program, which offered low-cost oil and low-interest loans. With the Haitian state safely under the Clintons’ watch, the transformative potential of this alternative to neoliberal globalization and example of South-South solidarity was squandered. Cue foreign mainstream media’s focus solely on “corruption” of this complex movement demanding #KòtKòbPetwoKaribe? Where are the PetroCaribe funds?
Videos taken by people in the area of the president’s home in the neighborhood of Pelerin 5, above the hills in the capital, suggested that the assailants claimed to be DEA agents, the Herald reported.
“DEA operation! Everybody stand down! DEA operation! Everybody back up, stand down!” someone with an American accent is heard saying in English over a speaker, the news outlet reported.
Residents reported hearing high-powered rounds being fired and seeing black-clad men running through the neighborhoods, according to the Herald, which also cited reports of an exploding grenade and drones buzzing overhead.
The brazen attack happened a day after Moïse named a new prime minister, Ariel Henry, to prepare the nation for elections in the next two months for president, a new parliament and local government officials.
originally posted by: elementalgrove
a reply to: elementalgrove
Buckle up, this story is going to get wonky!
Haitian President Killed by Group Who Claims to be DEA agents.
Videos taken by people in the area of the president’s home in the neighborhood of Pelerin 5, above the hills in the capital, suggested that the assailants claimed to be DEA agents, the Herald reported.
“DEA operation! Everybody stand down! DEA operation! Everybody back up, stand down!” someone with an American accent is heard saying in English over a speaker, the news outlet reported.
Residents reported hearing high-powered rounds being fired and seeing black-clad men running through the neighborhoods, according to the Herald, which also cited reports of an exploding grenade and drones buzzing overhead.
The brazen attack happened a day after Moïse named a new prime minister, Ariel Henry, to prepare the nation for elections in the next two months for president, a new parliament and local government officials.
It was unclear who would succeed Moise as president. He had appointed a new prime minister this week who has yet to be sworn in. The head of the Supreme Court of Justice - another contender for the job, according to the constitution - died last month of COVID-19 and has yet to be replaced.
But with Haiti politically polarized and facing growing hunger, fears of a breakdown in order are spreading. The Dominican Republic said it was closing the border it shares with Haiti on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.
“This crime is an attack against the democratic order of Haiti and the region,” Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader said.