In the days since president Jovenel Moïse’s assassination last week, Haiti’s situation has become increasingly uncertain. Questions remain over the tragic incident, as a power struggle plays itself out in the Caribbean island nation of 11 million. Haiti, the world’s first independent Black republic, already faced acute problems before Moïse’s murder: political protests, gang violence, crushing poverty, rising COVID-19 cases and no vaccine doses. Here’s your guide to what’s happening in Haiti.
What do we know about the assassination?
Haiti’s acting prime minister, Claude Joseph, said the president’s private residence in the upmarket Petionville neighbourhood of the capital was stormed on 7 July by “a highly trained and heavily armed group”. A judicial magistrate in Petionville, Carl Henry Destin, said Moïse’s body had 12 bullet wounds. Moise’s wife was also shot and evacuated to Miami for medical treatment. She subsequently tweeted a recording in which she accused shadowy enemies of organising the assassination to prevent democratic change.
The Haitian authorities claim Moïse was murdered by foreign mercenaries as part of a conspiracy involving Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a 63-year-old doctor, living in Florida. Haiti’s police chief Léon Charles announced the arrest of Sanon on Monday, claiming he had flown into Haiti on a private plane in early June with “political objectives”.
