Haiti’s president shot and killed – VG

First lady Martine Moïse is also said to have been injured in the same attack. The extent of the damage is currently unknown.

Several international media, including the news agencies AP and AFP, refer to an official statement from the Haitian government.

It states that the presidential residence was attacked by unidentified people who are said to have spoken Spanish.

“I condemn this ugly, inhuman and barbaric act,” said Haitian acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph in a statement.

The attack is also confirmed by the Haitian embassy in Canada in a statement on Twitter.

It is with great sadness that we can confirm the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, writes the Haitian embassy.

– Our hearts go out to the presidential family and to the whole nation.

The 11 million inhabitants of the Caribbean country are currently experiencing increasing political and economic instability, and the country is ravaged by gang crime.

Last week, 15 people were killed in the capital Port-au-Prince.

Moïse has ruled Haiti since February 2017, more than a year after the original presidential election. The October 2019 election was canceled, in part as a result of widespread protests against Moïse.

The president has ruled by decree since the previous National Assembly’s term expired in January last year. The opposition in the country has accused him of trying to impose dictatorship. The president himself has rejected this.

Last week, the UN Security Council demanded that a new election be held as soon as possible.

Without political background

– Moïse was an entrepreneur with no particular political background, but who was elected president in 2017. He has been accused, among other things by many journalists, of having been deeply involved in corruption. This is part of the background for the protests that have taken place in the country, says Johan Hindahl, senior adviser at Norwegian Church Aid

Ever since February 7, protesters have been demanding that Moïse resign when his formal term ends.

– There has been a dispute in the country about the extent to which his presidency has expired. Many in the opposition thought his president’s time expired in February because then his ordinary term expired, Hindahl says.

– He himself has meant that he should remain in office for another year as this corresponds to the time that elapsed from the election until he was installed.

The country is characterized by extensive gang crime and the political opposition has close contact with the gangs, Hindahl says.

– The presidency of the country is quite powerful. The fact that the president has been able to rule the country with decrees after the parliamentary term was over is an example of that, Hindahl believes.

Among America’s poorest

In May, Haiti’s then-Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe abruptly resigned.

– The resignation of the government, which I accepted, will enable us to address security issues and continue discussions with the goal of reaching a necessary consensus to achieve political and institutional stability in our country. Minister Claude Joseph has been appointed prime minister, President Moïse wrote on Twitter.

The country is among the poorest on the American continent. According to the AP, 60 percent of the population has a daily income of less than 18 kroner. At the same time, inflation is rising, and food and petrol are becoming increasingly expensive.

In 2010, around one million people became homeless a powerful earthquake which hit the country.

Between 200,000 and 300,000 people lost their lives as a result of the earthquake.

Money that arrived in the country to help after the earthquake in 2010, many believe has ended up in private pockets of, among others, contractors.

The case is being updated.

–