Haitians are 'shocked' and 'dumbfounded' by president's assassination, which throws the embattled country into further chaos
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- The assassination of Haiti's president has left Haitians feeling even more distressed about their country's future.
- The president had many enemies, but the motivations for the killing remain unclear.
- One top expert on Haitian politics told Insider he's "shocked" and "dumbfounded" over the killing.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
The assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse by gunmen in his private residence early on Wednesday has injected a profound level of uncertainty into a country already suffering from years of political and economic instability.
Though Haiti has experienced all manner of crises in its modern history - coups, US interventions, a devastating earthquake - the country hadn't seen a presidential assassination for over a century.
"I was absolutely shocked," Robert Fatton, a native of Haiti and an expert on Haitian politics at the University of Virginia, told Insider of his reaction to Moïse's killing.
"I'm quite a pessimistic guy, but I didn't expect any assassination," Fatton added. "The idea that you have, what are for all practical purposes, foreign mercenaries coming into the country, going to the house of the president and killing him - that to me was absolutely shocking. It was completely out of the ordinary."
'We are really at the brink of catastrophe'
Joseph Odelyn/AP Photo
With Moïse dead, Haiti's political future is even more up in the air. Haiti's constitution states that the president of the country's highest court takes over when there's a presidential vacancy. But Haitian Chief Justice René Sylvestre recently died of COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Haiti now effectively has two men claiming to be prime minister. Moïse was set to swear in a new prime minister, Ariel Henry, before he was killed. Since his assassination prevented that from occurring, the country's interim prime minister, Claude Joseph, seemingly remains in power. Haiti also currently doesn't have a functional legislature or parliament.
"We are really at the brink of catastrophe," Fatton said, noting that his family members in Haiti don't go out anymore because of the security situation. Violent gangs occupy downtown Port-au-Prince after forcing people out of their homes, and the government is not equipped to remove them.
During Fatton's last visit to Haiti in 2019 he saw people rummaging through the garbage for food.
"It's distressing ... it hurts," Fatton said of the violence and poverty plaguing his country amid ongoing political turmoil. "It's a chaotic environment and people are enduring, they're struggling."
'Dumbfounded'
Details on why the assassination was carried out and who was involved remain hazy, though Moïse had no shortage of adversaries.
"He made a lot of enemies ... And he alienated too many people," François Pierre-Louis, a native of Haiti and expert on Haitian politics at Queens College at the City University of New York, told NPR. "The assassination could have come from anywhere."
Moïse took office in February 2017 after a tumultuous and prolonged election cycle. Leading up to his death, there was a heated constitutional dispute over the length of Moïse's presidential term.
The opposition accused Moïse of staying in power beyond his 5-year term of office, claiming it began in February 2016. Moïse maintained that his term did not begin until he was sworn-in, and that it would expire in February 2022 - a position that was accepted by the US government. But Moïse's refusal to step down prompted protests.
He also faced backlash over the fact he'd been ruling by decree since January 2020 after dissolving parliament and postponing elections.
In February, 23 people were arrested over what officials described as an attempted coup. "The goal of these people was to make an attempt on my life," Moïse said at the time.
Just days before Moïse was killed, the United Nations Security Council issued a statement expressing "deep concern regarding deteriorating political, security and humanitarian conditions in Haiti."
Sabin Johnson/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
At least six people - including two men believed to be Haitian Americans - had been arrested over Moïse's killing as of Thursday afternoon. Four were also killed in a firefight with police. The Haitian government said that the assassins posed as US Drug Enforcement Agency agents to gain entry into Moïse's home, and spoke both English and Spanish (the main languages in Haiti are French and Creole).
Though Fatton underscored there's no concrete evidence on who carried out the assassination, he said rumors are spreading that Colombian drug cartels were involved. "It's speculation," Fatton said, adding that he's "dumbfounded" by the assassination and that he doesn't see anyone benefiting from Moïse's killing in terms of the current political situation. With Moïse gone, the opposition has lost a scapegoat or target to blame for all the country's problems.
People in Haiti are "completely confused" about the killing, Fatton said, while raising questions about the security failures that allowed the assassins to get into the president's private residence.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday condemned the assassination as a "heinous act," as congressional lawmakers urged his administration to take a different approach to Haiti. The Biden administration has pushed for new elections in Haiti, which critics say couldn't happen in a meaningful way under the recent circumstances.
Democratic Rep. Andy Levin of Michigan, co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus and a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in a statement said that Moïse's assassination was a "devastating if not shocking example of the extent to which the security situation in Haiti has unraveled." Levin urged the Biden administration to "pursue a new policy toward Haiti that puts the will and wellbeing of the Haitian people first."
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