(Port-au-Prince) The wife of the assassinated Haitian president, Martine Moïse, returned to Port-au-Prince on Saturday to attend her husband’s funeral, the government said.
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Wounded in the night attack that claimed the life of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7, she was evacuated to a hospital in Miami, Florida.
«The 1re dame @martinejmoise has just arrived in Haiti as part of the preparations for the national funeral “of her husband, scheduled for July 23, tweeted Saturday the Secretary of State for Communication, Frantz Exantus.
Arriving aboard a private plane, she got off the plane surrounded by bodyguards, under a gray sky and gusts of wind, according to a video posted on the internet.
Arm in a sling, bulletproof vest over her black clothes, Martine Moïse, 47, was greeted by the interim Prime Minister, Claude Joseph.
This one promised to do justice to her husband, whose death aggravated the chaos in this country of the Antilles, plagued by violence and misery.
Shadow areas
Ten days after the tragedy, the investigation has advanced but many gray areas remain.
Haitian police arrested around 20 people, including several former Colombian soldiers accused of having been part of the commando that came to kill Jovenel Moïse.
The apparent ease with which the attackers managed to kill him aroused suspicion, four officials of his security team were also jailed and 24 officers subject to precautionary measures.
The director general of the national police of Haiti, Léon Charles, assured Friday to work with international investigators, in particular agents of the American federal police force to identify the instigators of the assassination.
Haitian police have already arrested a 63-year-old Haitian doctor, long established in Florida, Christian Emmanuel Sanon, whom they suspect to be one of the masterminds of the crime.
Colombian police, who are also investigating, said a former Haitian justice ministry official, Joseph Felix Badio, had ordered Colombian mercenaries to assassinate the president.
The Haitian authorities have launched a wanted notice against him, as well as against former Senator John Joel Joseph, both being described as “dangerous and armed” individuals.
Pray for Haiti
In an audio message broadcast shortly after the tragedy, Martine Moïse had promised to continue “the battle” of her husband, whose authoritarian drift had yet been criticized.
More recently, she had posted pictures of herself on her hospital bed, and thanked the “guardian angels” who helped her “hold on” after the assassination.
Friday, about forty people, especially women dressed in blue, one of the colors of the Haitian flag, had gathered in front of his hospital in Miami, with signs “Soignons Haiti”.
“We are there to pray for the first lady and for Haiti”, explained one of them, Regina Martin Archat.
The country is the poorest in America and the pandemic has made the crisis even worse. Armed gangs are increasing hostage-taking and de facto controlling certain areas.
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