There weren’t many things that could make Haiti less stable and more politically tumultuous. This, unfortunately, was one of them.
According to Acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph, “A group of unidentified individuals, some of them speaking Spanish, attacked the private residence of the president of the republic and thus fatally wounded the head of state.” Prime Minister Moïse’s wife, Martine Moise, was also shot in the attack but is currently undergoing treatment. The attack was carried out very early in the morning at 1 AM local time (Eastern Standard Time).
Since taking office in 2017, the late Prime Minister Moïse faced accusations of authoritarian intent from his political rivals. These claims, the layperson, were enforced by the fact that Moïse had been governing via decree while the country failed to produce legislative elections.
International “peacekeeping” efforts have done little to stifle the rampant gang violence in the Caribbean nation – made all the worse by shortages of fuel, food, and other essential goods brought on by supply-line disruptions due to covid. Port-au-Prince itself, Haiti’s war-torn capital, is dotted with no-go zones where police have simply forgone patrolling. The Dominican Republic was announced that it is closing its borders to Haiti amid the ongoing chaos.
This attack has garnered widespread attention and lead to a bevy of theories regarding the attackers’ motives, founded and otherwise.
The situation being what it is – with a now headless nation ravaged by poverty and cartel-like activity spreading like fire in the million-strong capital city alone – the United States, having declared a closing of its embassy on the 30th of June, will likely be looking to accelerate that process.