Who assassinated Haitian President Jovenel Mose?
THE President of Haiti has been killed in an "inhumane and barbaric act" after months of anti-government protests and a "foiled coup". The Haiti president was reportedly assassinated by "foreigners who spoke England and Spanish". The Prime Minister of Haiti, Claude Joseph, confirmed the attack and said that a group of individuals stormed the private residence of President Jovenel Mose, 53, and shot him dead at 1am on July 7, 2021. Joseph's statement said: A group of individuals who have not been identified, some of whom were speaking Spanish, attacked the private residence of the President of the Republic and fatally injured the Head of State." In February 2021, opposition politicians nominated their own president in an effort to drive out Mose whose five-year term they insist had expired. Joseph Mcne Jean-Louis, 72, a judge, said that he accepted the nomination. On February 7, the day they said his term was supposed to end, Mr Mose claimed that a coup had been foiled to overthrow his government and kill him, 23 people were arrested including a senior police officer. The nation of more than 11 million people had grown increasingly unstable and disgruntled under Mose's rule. Haiti's economic, political and social woes have deepened, with gang violence spiking heavily in the capital of Port-au-Prince, inflation spiralling and food and fuel becoming scarcer at times in a country where 60 per cent of the population makes less than $2 a day. The president faced steep opposition from swathes of the population that deemed his mandate illegitimate, and he churned through a series of seven prime ministers in four years. PM Joseph was slated to be replaced in early July, after only three months in the post. In addition to presidential, legislative and local elections, Haiti was due to have a constitutional referendum in September after it was twice postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The killing comes days after Moise appointed Ariel Henry, a neurosurgeon who studied in France, as Haiti's new prime minister. Henry, 71, has been part of Haiti's coronavirus response and previously held posts in the government in 2015 and 2016 as interior minister then social affairs and labor minister. Haiti's First Lady was also shot but has survived the attack. President Moise's wife Martine has been taken to hospital. Prime Minister Claude Joseph said he was now in charge of the country. Condemning the inhumane and barbaric act, Joseph called for calm, saying the police and the countrys armed forces had taken control of the security situation. He said: All measures have been taken to ensure the continuity of the State and to protect the Nation. Democracy and the Republic will win out.