UPDATED2 US men, ex-Colombia soldiers held in Haiti assassination
By EVENS SANON, DÁNICA COTO and JOSHUA GOODMAN
1 of 22
Suspects in the assassination of Haiti's President Jovenel Moise are displayed to the media at the General Direction of the police in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, July 8, 2021. Moise was assassinated in an attack on his private residence early Wednesday. (AP Photo/Joseph Odelyn)
Léon Charles, chief of Haiti’s National Police, said Thursday night that 15 of the detainees were from Colombia.
The police chief said eight more suspects were being sought and three others had been killed by police. Charles had earlier said seven were killed.
“We are going to bring them to justice,” the police chief said, the 17 handcuffed suspects sitting on the floor during a news conference on developments following the brazen killing of President Jovenel Moïse at his home before dawn Wednesday.
Colombia’s government said it had been asked about six of the suspects in Haiti, including two of those killed, and had determined they were retired members of its army. It didn’t release their identities.
The head of the Colombian national police, Gen. Jorge Luis Vargas Valencia, said President Iván Duque had ordered the high command of Colombia’s army and police to cooperate in the investigation.
“A team was formed with the best investigators ... they are going to send dates, flight times, financial information that is already being collected to be sent to Port-au-Prince,” Vargas said.
The U.S. State Department said it was aware of reports that Haitian Americans were in custody but could not confirm or comment.
The Haitian Americans were identified by Haitian officials as James Solages and Joseph Vincent. Solages, at age 35, is the youngest of the suspects and the oldest is 55, according to a document shared by Haiti’s minister of elections, Mathias Pierre. He would not provide further information on those in custody.
Solages described himself as a “certified diplomatic agent,” an advocate for children and budding politician on a website for a charity he started in 2019 in south Florida to assist people in the Haitian coastal town of Jacmel. On his bio page for the charity, Solages said he previously worked as a bodyguard at the Canadian Embassy in Haiti.
Canada’s foreign relation department released a statement that did not refer to Solages by name but said one of the men detained for his alleged role in the killing had been “briefly employed as a reserve bodyguard” at its embassy by a private contractor. He gave no other details.
Calls to the charity and Solages’ associates at the charity either did not go through or weren’t answered.
Witnesses said a crowd discovered two of the suspects Thursday hiding in bushes in Port-au-Prince, and some people grabbed the men by their shirts and pants, pushed them and occasionally slapped them. An Associated Press journalist saw officers put the pair in the back of a pickup and drive away as the crowd ran after them to a nearby police station
“They killed the president! Give them to us! We’re going to burn them,” people chanted outside.
The crowd later set fire to several abandoned cars riddled with bullet holes that they believed belonged to the suspects. The cars didn’t have license plates, and inside one was an empty box of bullets and some water.
Later, Charles urged people to stay calm and let his officers do their work. He cautioned that authorities needed evidence that was being destroyed, including the burned cars.
Officials have given out little information on the killing, other than to say the attack was carried out by “a highly trained and heavily armed group.”
Not everyone was buying the government’s description of the attack. When Haitian journalist Robenson Geffrard, who writes for a local newspaper and has a radio show, tweeted a report on comments by the police chief, he drew a flood of responses expressing skepticism. Many wondered how the sophisticated attackers described by police could penetrate Moïse’s home, security detail and panic room and escape unharmed but then be caught without planning a successful getaway.
A Haitian judge involved in the investigation said Moïse was shot a dozen times and his office and bedroom were ransacked, according to the Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste. It quoted Judge Carl Henry Destin as saying investigators found 5.56 and 7.62 mm cartridges between the gatehouse and inside the house.
Moïse’s daughter, Jomarlie Jovenel, hid in her brother’s bedroom during the attack, and a maid and another worker were tied up by the attackers, the judge said.
Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who assumed leadership of Haiti with the backing of police and the military, asked people to reopen businesses and go back to work as he ordered the reopening of the international airport.
Joseph decreed a two-week state of siege after the assassination, which stunned a nation already in crisis from some of the Western Hemisphere’s worst poverty, widespread violence and political instability.
Haiti had grown increasingly unstable under Moïse, who had been ruling by decree for more than a year and faced violent protests as critics accused him of trying to amass more power while the opposition demanded he step down.
The U.N. Security Council met privately Thursday to discuss the situation in Haiti, and U.N. special envoy Helen La Lime said afterward that Haitian officials had asked for additional security assistance.
Public transportation and street vendors remained scarce Thursday, an unusual sight for the normally bustling streets of Port-au-Prince.
Marco Destin was walking to see his family since no buses, known as tap-taps, were available. He was carrying a loaf of bread for them because they had not left their house since the president’s killing out of fear for their lives.
“Every one at home is sleeping with one eye open and one eye closed,” he said. “If the head of state is not protected, I don’t have any protection whatsoever.”
Gunfire rang out intermittently across the city hours after the killing, a grim reminder of the growing power of gangs that displaced more than 14,700 people last month alone as they torched and ransacked homes in a fight over territory.
Robert Fatton, a Haitian politics expert at the University of Virginia, said gangs were a force to contend with and it isn’t certain Haiti’s security forces can enforce a state of siege.
“It’s a really explosive situation,” he said.
___
Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Goodman reported from Miami. AP videographer Pierre-Richard Luxama in Port-au-Prince contributed to this report.
2 Americans Are Among Those Arrested In The Assassination Of Haiti's President
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
July 8, 2021
People pressure police on Thursday to hand over men who were arrested and the bodies of two men who were brought in by police after they were killed by police in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.Joseph Odelyn/AP
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Two men believed to be Haitian Americans — one of them purportedly a former bodyguard at the Canadian Embassy in Port au Prince — have been arrested in connection with the assassination of Haiti's president, a senior Haitian official said Thursday.
Mathias Pierre, Haiti's minister of elections, told The Associated Press that James Solages was among six people arrested in the 36 hours since the brazen killing of President Jovenel Moïse by gunmen at his home in the pre-dawn hours Wednesday.
Four other suspected assailants were killed in a gunfight with police and two are still missing, Pierre said. Earlier authorities had said seven suspects were killed.
Pierre would not provide additional details about Solages' background, nor would he provide the name of the second Haitian-American he said was arrested.
Solages describes himself as a "certified diplomatic agent," an advocate for children and budding politician on a website for a charity he established in 2019 in south Florida to assist residents.
On his bio page for the charity, Solages said he previously worked as a bodyguard at the Canadian Embassy in Haiti. Calls to the foundation and Solages' associates at the charity either did not go through or were not answered.
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WORLD
What We Know About The Assassination Of Haiti's President
"The pursuit of the mercenaries continues," said Léon Charles, director of Haiti's National Police, in announcing the arrest of suspects. "Their fate is fixed: They will fall in the fighting or will be arrested."
Witnesses said two suspects were discovered hiding in bushes in Port-au-Prince on Thursday by a crowd, some of whom grabbed the men by their shirts and pants, pushing them and occasionally slapping them.
Police arrived shortly afterward to arrest the men, who were sweating heavily and wearing clothes that seemed to be smeared with mud, an Associated Press journalist at the scene said. Officers placed them in the back of a pickup truck and drove away as the crowd ran after them to the nearby police station.
Once there, some in the crowd chanted: "They killed the president! Give them to us. We're going to burn them!"
One man was overheard saying that it was unacceptable for foreigners to come to Haiti to kill the country's leader, referring to reports from officials that the perpetrators spoke Spanish or English.
The crowd later set fire to several abandoned cars riddled with bullet holes that they believed belonged to the suspects, who were white men. The cars didn't have license plates, and inside one of them was an empty box of bullets and some water.
Police walk among people during a protest Thursday in Port-au-Prince against the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.Joseph Odelyn/AP
At a news conference Thursday, Charles, the police chief, asked people to stay calm, go home and let police do their work as he warned that authorities needed evidence they were destroying, including the burned cars.
Officials did not address a motive for the slaying, saying only that the attack, condemned by Haiti's main opposition parties and the international community, was carried out by "a highly trained and heavily armed group."
Haiti's prime minister orders the international airport reopened
Prime Minister Claude Joseph assumed leadership of Haiti with the backing of police and the military and on Thursday asked people to reopen businesses and go back to work as he ordered the reopening of the international airport.
On Wednesday, Joseph decreed a two-week state of siege following Moïse's killing, which stunned a nation grappling with some of the Western Hemisphere's highest poverty, violence and political instability.
POLITICS
Even Before Jovenel Moïse's Assassination, Haiti Was In Crisis
Inflation and gang violence have spiraled upward as food and fuel grew scarcer in a country where 60% of Haitians earn less than $2 a day. The increasingly dire situation comes as Haiti is still trying to recover from the devastating 2010 earthquake and Hurricane Matthew in 2016 following a history of dictatorship and political upheaval.
"There is this void now, and they are scared about what will happen to their loved ones," said Marlene Bastien, executive director of Family Action Network Movement, a group that helps people in Miami's Little Haiti community.
She said it was important for the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to take a much more active role in supporting attempts at national dialogue in Haiti with the aim of holding free, fair and credible elections.
Bastien said she also wants to see participation of the extensive Haitian diaspora: "No more band-aids. The Haitian people have been crying and suffering for too long."
Haiti had grown increasingly unstable under Moïse, who had been ruling by decree for more than a year and faced violent protests as critics accused him of trying to amass more power while the opposition demanded he step down.
The question of who will succeed Moïse remains unanswered
According to Haiti's constitution, Moïse should be replaced by the president of Haiti's Supreme Court, but the chief justice died in recent days from COVID-19, leaving open the question of who might rightfully succeed to the office.
Joseph, meanwhile, was supposed to be replaced by Ariel Henry, a neurosurgeon who had been named prime minister by Moïse a day before the assassination.
Henry told the AP in a brief interview that he is the prime minister, calling it an exceptional and confusing situation. In another interview with Radio Zenith, he said he had no dispute with Joseph. "I only disagree with the fact that people have taken hasty decisions ... when the moment demands a little more serenity and maturity," he said.
WORLD
The Slaying Of Haiti's President Has Thrust The Struggling Nation Deeper Into Turmoil
Moïse had faced large protests in recent months that turned violent as opposition leaders and their supporters rejected his plans to hold a constitutional referendum with proposals that would strengthen the presidency.
On Thursday, public transportation and street vendors remained scarce, an unusual sight for the normally bustling streets of Port-au-Prince.
Marco Destin, 39, was walking to see his family since no buses, known as tap-taps, were available. He was carrying a loaf of bread for them because they had not left their house since the president's killing out of fear for their lives.
"Every one at home is sleeping with one eye open and one eye closed," he said. "If the head of state is not protected, I don't have any protection whatsoever."
Destin said Haiti has always been a complicated country and that he wasn't sure what the upcoming days would bring. "Haiti doesn't know what direction it's heading in right now," he said. "To be honest, I don't know what the solution is. There's always been a fight for power."
Gunfire rang out intermittently across the city hours after the killing, a grim reminder of the growing power of gangs that displaced more than 14,700 people last month alone as they torched and ransacked homes in a fight over territory.
Robert Fatton, a Haitian politics expert at the University of Virginia, said gangs were a force to contend with and it isn't certain Haiti's security forces can enforce a state of siege.
"It's a really explosive situation," he said, adding that foreign intervention with a U.N.-type military presence is a possibility. "Whether Claude Joseph manages to stay in power is a huge question. It will be very difficult to do so if he doesn't create a government of national unity."
Joseph told the AP that he supports an international investigation into the assassination and believes elections scheduled for later this year should be held, as he promised to work with Moïse's allies and opponents alike.
"Everything is under control," he said.
People pressure police on Thursday to hand over men who were arrested and the bodies of two men who were brought in by police after they were killed by police in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.Joseph Odelyn/AP
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Two men believed to be Haitian Americans — one of them purportedly a former bodyguard at the Canadian Embassy in Port au Prince — have been arrested in connection with the assassination of Haiti's president, a senior Haitian official said Thursday.
Mathias Pierre, Haiti's minister of elections, told The Associated Press that James Solages was among six people arrested in the 36 hours since the brazen killing of President Jovenel Moïse by gunmen at his home in the pre-dawn hours Wednesday.
Four other suspected assailants were killed in a gunfight with police and two are still missing, Pierre said. Earlier authorities had said seven suspects were killed.
Pierre would not provide additional details about Solages' background, nor would he provide the name of the second Haitian-American he said was arrested.
Solages describes himself as a "certified diplomatic agent," an advocate for children and budding politician on a website for a charity he established in 2019 in south Florida to assist residents.
On his bio page for the charity, Solages said he previously worked as a bodyguard at the Canadian Embassy in Haiti. Calls to the foundation and Solages' associates at the charity either did not go through or were not answered.
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WORLD
What We Know About The Assassination Of Haiti's President
"The pursuit of the mercenaries continues," said Léon Charles, director of Haiti's National Police, in announcing the arrest of suspects. "Their fate is fixed: They will fall in the fighting or will be arrested."
Witnesses said two suspects were discovered hiding in bushes in Port-au-Prince on Thursday by a crowd, some of whom grabbed the men by their shirts and pants, pushing them and occasionally slapping them.
Police arrived shortly afterward to arrest the men, who were sweating heavily and wearing clothes that seemed to be smeared with mud, an Associated Press journalist at the scene said. Officers placed them in the back of a pickup truck and drove away as the crowd ran after them to the nearby police station.
Once there, some in the crowd chanted: "They killed the president! Give them to us. We're going to burn them!"
One man was overheard saying that it was unacceptable for foreigners to come to Haiti to kill the country's leader, referring to reports from officials that the perpetrators spoke Spanish or English.
The crowd later set fire to several abandoned cars riddled with bullet holes that they believed belonged to the suspects, who were white men. The cars didn't have license plates, and inside one of them was an empty box of bullets and some water.
Police walk among people during a protest Thursday in Port-au-Prince against the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.Joseph Odelyn/AP
At a news conference Thursday, Charles, the police chief, asked people to stay calm, go home and let police do their work as he warned that authorities needed evidence they were destroying, including the burned cars.
Officials did not address a motive for the slaying, saying only that the attack, condemned by Haiti's main opposition parties and the international community, was carried out by "a highly trained and heavily armed group."
Haiti's prime minister orders the international airport reopened
Prime Minister Claude Joseph assumed leadership of Haiti with the backing of police and the military and on Thursday asked people to reopen businesses and go back to work as he ordered the reopening of the international airport.
On Wednesday, Joseph decreed a two-week state of siege following Moïse's killing, which stunned a nation grappling with some of the Western Hemisphere's highest poverty, violence and political instability.
POLITICS
Even Before Jovenel Moïse's Assassination, Haiti Was In Crisis
Inflation and gang violence have spiraled upward as food and fuel grew scarcer in a country where 60% of Haitians earn less than $2 a day. The increasingly dire situation comes as Haiti is still trying to recover from the devastating 2010 earthquake and Hurricane Matthew in 2016 following a history of dictatorship and political upheaval.
"There is this void now, and they are scared about what will happen to their loved ones," said Marlene Bastien, executive director of Family Action Network Movement, a group that helps people in Miami's Little Haiti community.
She said it was important for the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to take a much more active role in supporting attempts at national dialogue in Haiti with the aim of holding free, fair and credible elections.
Bastien said she also wants to see participation of the extensive Haitian diaspora: "No more band-aids. The Haitian people have been crying and suffering for too long."
Haiti had grown increasingly unstable under Moïse, who had been ruling by decree for more than a year and faced violent protests as critics accused him of trying to amass more power while the opposition demanded he step down.
The question of who will succeed Moïse remains unanswered
According to Haiti's constitution, Moïse should be replaced by the president of Haiti's Supreme Court, but the chief justice died in recent days from COVID-19, leaving open the question of who might rightfully succeed to the office.
Joseph, meanwhile, was supposed to be replaced by Ariel Henry, a neurosurgeon who had been named prime minister by Moïse a day before the assassination.
Henry told the AP in a brief interview that he is the prime minister, calling it an exceptional and confusing situation. In another interview with Radio Zenith, he said he had no dispute with Joseph. "I only disagree with the fact that people have taken hasty decisions ... when the moment demands a little more serenity and maturity," he said.
WORLD
The Slaying Of Haiti's President Has Thrust The Struggling Nation Deeper Into Turmoil
Moïse had faced large protests in recent months that turned violent as opposition leaders and their supporters rejected his plans to hold a constitutional referendum with proposals that would strengthen the presidency.
On Thursday, public transportation and street vendors remained scarce, an unusual sight for the normally bustling streets of Port-au-Prince.
Marco Destin, 39, was walking to see his family since no buses, known as tap-taps, were available. He was carrying a loaf of bread for them because they had not left their house since the president's killing out of fear for their lives.
"Every one at home is sleeping with one eye open and one eye closed," he said. "If the head of state is not protected, I don't have any protection whatsoever."
Destin said Haiti has always been a complicated country and that he wasn't sure what the upcoming days would bring. "Haiti doesn't know what direction it's heading in right now," he said. "To be honest, I don't know what the solution is. There's always been a fight for power."
Gunfire rang out intermittently across the city hours after the killing, a grim reminder of the growing power of gangs that displaced more than 14,700 people last month alone as they torched and ransacked homes in a fight over territory.
Robert Fatton, a Haitian politics expert at the University of Virginia, said gangs were a force to contend with and it isn't certain Haiti's security forces can enforce a state of siege.
"It's a really explosive situation," he said, adding that foreign intervention with a U.N.-type military presence is a possibility. "Whether Claude Joseph manages to stay in power is a huge question. It will be very difficult to do so if he doesn't create a government of national unity."
Joseph told the AP that he supports an international investigation into the assassination and believes elections scheduled for later this year should be held, as he promised to work with Moïse's allies and opponents alike.
"Everything is under control," he said.
ByAFP
PublishedJuly 8, 2021
Security forces member exchange gunfire with armed men next to the Petionville police station in Port-au-Prince on July 8, 2021 - Copyright AFP Munir UZ ZAMAN
Robenson GEFFRARD
Police in Haiti on Thursday hunted down suspects in the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, with four alleged perpetrators killed and one American among those arrested as the country lurched into chaos.
The poorest country in the Americas now has no president or working parliament and two men claiming to be in charge as prime minister.
The streets of the capital Port-au-Prince were tense, and shops, banks and gas stations closed, with no immediate information on who killed the president or why. The main airport was also closed, as was the border with the Dominican Republic.
United Nations envoy to Haiti, Helen La Lime, speaking from the Haitian capital, said four members of a group that attacked the president’s private residence early Wednesday and shot the president have been killed by police and six others were in custody.
“I’m also aware that a larger group of possible perpetrators have taken refuge in two buildings in the city and they are now surrounded by the police,” La Lime told journalists in New York via video conference.
Mathias Pierre, Haiti’s elections minister, said the arrested American was of Haitian origin, although he did not confirm press reports identifying the man as James Solages.
“Among the assailants, six are in the hands of the police,” National Police Director Leon Charles told a press conference.
“We already have the physical perpetrators in hand and we are looking for the intellectual perpetrators.”
The country is observing two weeks of mourning for the death of Moise.
– Where was his security? –
“Jovenel Moise was not terribly popular, but he was the president. He cannot be killed as if he were just an ordinary citizen,” said a 55-year-old man in Port-au-Prince, who gave his name only as Paul.
A 28-year-old woman named Julia said she was wary of the police claims that foreign mercenaries killed the president.
“Where were the well-equipped police who watch over the president night and day? Why didn’t they react?” she asked.
In the Petionville neighborhood of the capital on Thursday, a crowd brought two men to a police station and called for them to be lynched.
In total, four men said to be in on the killing were being held at the police station, but it was not confirmed that they were actually suspects in the assassination.
Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph has declared a national “state of siege” and said he was now in charge.
Joseph has only been in his post as prime minister for three months, and was due to step down within days after Moise named a replacement on Monday.
Joseph’s replacement, Ariel Henry, said Joseph “is no longer prime minister in my opinion.”
“Does a country have several prime ministers?” asked Henry.
Moise’s wounded wife, Martine, was treated at a local hospital then rushed by air ambulance to the Ryder Trauma Center in Miami. Joseph said her situation was stable.
During the assassination, a maid and another domestic staff member were reportedly tied up by the commandos who allegedly shouted “DEA operation” as they burst in.
– Political meltdown –
Haiti’s ambassador to Washington, Bocchit Edmond, said the killers were “professional” mercenaries disguised as US Drug Enforcement Administration agents.
Joseph on Wednesday said the president was “assassinated at his home by foreigners who spoke English and Spanish.”
The unpopular Moise had ruled Haiti by decree after legislative elections due in 2018 were delayed.
As well as presidential, legislative and local elections, Haiti was due to hold a constitutional referendum in September this year after it was twice postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
US President Joe Biden condemned the killing as “horrific” and said Washington was ready to assist in any way.
Washington also called for Haiti to proceed with the elections, with the State Department spokesman saying a fair vote would “facilitate a peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected president.”
Moise, a successful businessman, campaigned for power as a populist and was sworn in on February 2017.
The end date of his mandate became the source of a standoff, as Moise maintained that his term of office ran until February 7, 2022, but others said it ended on February 7, 2021.
The disagreement arose after Moise was elected in a 2015 vote that was cancelled for fraud, and then re-elected in November 2016.
Without a parliament, the country fell further into crisis in 2020. Many fear Haiti could be set for deepening violence.
“How much worse can hell get?” asked Haiti expert Irwin Stotzky at the University of Miami.
“Haiti faces even more violence and death and failure as a democratic nation than ever before, which is hard to imagine given its recent and chaotic history.”
Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/world/gunfights-as-haiti-police-track-suspects-after-presidents-slaying/article#ixzz7049GYymC
Assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moise: what we know
By AFP
July 8, 2021
Haitian police and forensics experts look for evidence outside the presidential residence after Jovenel Moise was shot dead - Copyright AFP HECTOR RETAMAL
Robenson Geffrard with Cyril Julien in Washington
The assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moise has plunged the impoverished Caribbean nation into crisis.
Here’s what we know about the attack:
– The assassination –
Early Wednesday, around 1:00 am local time, gunmen attacked Moise’s heavily guarded private residence in the capital Port-au-Prince.
Moise was shot dead and his wife, Martine, critically wounded. She was rushed to a local hospital and later evacuated to Miami for treatment.
Magistrate Carl Henry Destin told the Nouvelliste newspaper that Moise had been shot 12 times and his office and bedroom ransacked.
The motive and identities of the assailants are unknown.
A businessman, Moise, 53, was elected president of Haiti in 2016 on a pledge to boost the economy of the poorest country in the Americas.
He took office on February 7, 2017 but has presided over a deteriorating political and security situation with gangs running rampant and constant political tensions.
The end date of Moise’s mandate had been in dispute with the late president maintaining that his term of office ran until February 7, 2022, but others saying it ended on February 7, 2021.
– The assailants –
Haiti’s interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph said the assassination was carried out by “foreigners who spoke English and Spanish.”
Haiti’s ambassador to Washington, Bocchit Edmond, said the killers were “professional” mercenaries disguised as US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents.
Haiti’s police chief Leon Charles said the security forces engaged the suspected assailants in a gun battle on Wednesday.
Four gunmen were killed by police and two suspects taken into custody, while other members of the hit squad are at large, Charles said.
– State of siege –
Joseph, the interim prime minister, declared a “state of siege” in the country, giving himself increased powers for a 15-day period.
Moise had been governing by decree, without a parliament, since January 2020 and had named a new prime minister, Ariel Henry, on Monday, just two days before his death.
Henry, who had not yet assumed his duties, was the seventh prime minister named by Moise in four years and is claiming that he — not Joseph — is the rightful premier.
In addition to political instability, Haiti has been gripped recently by an increase in gang violence including kidnappings for ransom.
Since June, clashes between rival gangs in the western part of Port-au-Prince have paralyzed traffic between the southern part of the country and Haitian capital.
On June 30, 15 people died in a gun battle in the city including a journalist and an opposition activist.
– International concern –
The assassination of the Haitian president has left the international community pondering the future of a country plagued by political instability, poverty and natural disasters.
Fearing further unrest, the UN Security Council, the United States and European nations called for legislative and presidential elections to be held as scheduled on September 26.
A constitutional referendum was also planned for September 26. It had been initially scheduled for June 27 but was delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The international airport in Port-au-Prince was closed to prevent the assailants from fleeing the country.
The neighboring Dominican Republic shut its border with Haiti and stepped up security along the frontier.
Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/world/assassination-of-haitian-president-jovenel-moise-what-we-know/article#ixzz7049S3duI
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