Haiti’s president was killed inside his home. Here’s what to know about Jovenel Moïse
Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was killed during an armed attack that also left his wife injured early Wednesday at his home above the hills of Port-au-Prince.
The 53-year-old president had faced mounting protests over his governance amid a deepening political and constitutional crisis, including questions about his legitimacy and accusations that he used armed gangs to remain in power. He was also accused of corruption in a wide-ranging probe on how Haiti spent nearly $2 billion in U.S. from Venezuela’s Petrocaribe funds.
Here are some things to know about Moïse:
What to know about Haitian President Jovenel Moïse
▪ Jovenel Moïse was a businessman from northern Haiti and political protégé of former President Michel Martelly.
▪ He was Haiti’s 58th president.
▪ Moïse came into power in 2017 in a low-turnout Haitian presidential election that had been the subject of fraud allegations, cancellations and rescheduling. He campaigned under the moniker Neg Bannan Nan, or the Banana Man, a reference to his farming roots. He had never held elected office.
▪ Moïse was ruling by decree since January 2020. He amassed an enormous amount of power that alarmed everyone from opposition figures to human rights and democracy defenders to the European Union and Washington.
▪ He issued a slew of executive orders, including declaring common protest tactics as terrorism and creating a national intelligence agency. In the last few months, he was pushing a controversial referendum to change Haiti’s constitution, despite objections from the U.S. and declarations by Haiti legal experts that it’s illegal.
▪ His assassination happened a day after he named a new prime minister, Dr. Ariel Henry, to take charge as head of the government and prepare the country for elections in the next two months for president, a new parliament and local government officials.
▪ Opponents were disputing his right to continue serving in the presidency this year. They argued Moïse’s presidential term ended on Feb. 7 because of a clause in the Haitian constitution and because his first year was taken up by an interim president after the election had to be rerun because of fraud. Moïse argued his term would end on Feb. 7, 2022, because the presidency is five years, according to the same constitution. He’d been in office for four years and five months.
Moïse rarely missed a chance to attack Haiti’s business community, blaming it repeatedly in speeches for the country’s electricity woes and his political troubles. In one famous speech, he told Haitians that after God, there was no one but him. He was referred to by political opponents as “Aprè Dye” — After God.
▪ In February Moïse announced the arrests of 23 people, including a former presidential candidate, a high-ranking police inspector and a judge on the country’s highest court. He accused them of plotting a coup to overthrow him and kill him.
This story was originally published July 7, 2021 at 10:18 AM.
