The situation in the Caribbean is very tense and chaotic the day after President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated.
The police promise to find all those responsible.
– The hunt for the mercenaries continues, says police chief Léon Charles after announcing the arrests.
– Their fate is decided: They will fall in battle or be imprisoned, he says.
A government spokesman confirmed on Thursday that a US citizen of Haitian origin was among the six arrested. There is also another, unnamed, Haiti American, according to the spokesman.
Lots of shots
Authorities have not provided evidence of the suspects’ alleged involvement in the attack.
Haiti’s ambassador to the United States has claimed that the killers are well-trained and heavily armed foreign mercenaries. Police have not provided any details about the suspects, other than the American’s name. Nor has the authorities stated a possible motive.
According to a judge involved in the investigation, Moïse was shot a dozen times, and the perpetrators searched his office and bedroom.
Bound
The judge, Carl Henry Dastin, says the president’s daughter hid in her brother’s bedroom during the attack.
A domestic worker and another employee were tied up by the perpetrators, who are said to have been American agents.
Haiti’s first lady Martine Moïse was seriously injured in the attack. On Thursday, she was sent to Miami, USA, where she is now being treated at the Jackson Health System’s Ryder Trauma Center.
Surrounded
Several suspects are said to have been surrounded by security forces in the capital Port-au-Prince on Thursday.
– I am aware that a large group of possible perpetrators have sought refuge in two buildings in the city, and they are now surrounded by the police, says UN special envoy Helen La Lime.
Acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph has declared a two-week state of emergency after the assassination. The assassination attempt on the president has shaken Haiti, which is struggling with high poverty, violence and political unrest.
The country has become increasingly unstable under Moïse, who has ruled by decree for over a year.
Ruled by decree
The killing could lead to more chaos and unrest in Haiti, which is already plagued by gang crime, rising inflation and demonstrations by the opposition, which has accused Moïse of being authoritarian.
The country has been without a popularly elected national assembly since January last year after the election the previous autumn was canceled.
Moïse claimed to have averted both coups and assassination plots, but was himself accused of fabricating this to justify his increasingly authoritarian leadership style and to use brutal methods against political opponents.
Last week, the UN Security Council asked Haiti to hold elections as soon as possible.
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