By: Staff Writer
July 9, 2021
In the aftermath of Haitian president Jovenel Moise’s assassination on early Wednesday morning, information is spilling out that the Moise was the victim of Venezuelan mercenaries.
Sources around the situation told Caribbean Magazine Plus that president Moise had “a lot of enemies.” Particularly he named a recent car dealership owner, Reginald Boulos, as someone with recent animosity towards Moise in a long list of other enemies.
In March of this year, Fantom 509 members, a gang of masked police officers, looted Universal Motors car dealership in Port-au-Prince and set a fire inside it Wednesday.
Boulos, the owner, said without providing evidence that President Jovenel Moïse is to blame. “It’s a conspiracy and Jovenel Moïse is the author,” Boulos said.
Boulos, who’s also the leader of a political party, MTVAyiti, has blamed the government before for other wrongdoings.
Moise was alleged to have been using his secret police to terrorize, kidnap and kill opponents or people that disliked his policies.
Sources also told CMP that Moise was a murderer and dictator, the kind of leader that would “smile in your face and then kill you seconds afterwards. He was not to be trusted.”
This kind of animosity is typically fuelled by opponents of political figures, but information did suggest that Moise was having problems letting go of power in Haiti.
Moise has maintained that his term of office runs until February 7, 2022, but others claim it had actually ended on February 7, 2021. The disagreement stems from the fact that Moise was elected in a vote that was cancelled for fraud, and then re-elected a year later.
Moise, 53 is a father of two, a son and daughter. He was first elected president of Haiti in 2015, garnering 32.81 percent of the vote. As no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote, a second round was mandated by law. However this was repeatedly postponed, and eventually cancelled.
Elections were then rescheduled for November, 2016 where Moise then won 55.60 percent of the vote making him president elect of Haiti until his assasination this past week.
Violent protests have been ongoing in Haiti for the past 12 months as Haitians have called for the ousting of Moise even though he won the second election more convincingly than the first. Haiti’s Catholic Church slammed the government’s failure to act over the unrest, with stinging comments decrying Haiti’s “descent into hell”.
In April, Moise’s government resigned with Moise saying at the time in a tweet, “The resignation of the government, which I accepted, will make it possible to address the glaring problem of insecurity and continue discussions with a view to reaching the consensus necessary for the political and institutional stability of our country. Minister Claude Joseph has been appointed PM.”
It is so ominous that upon the announcement of Moise’s death by hitmen’s bullets, it was Joseph having to tell the world that Moise is dead.
Joseph told reporters that president Moise and his wife, Matine, were shot in the ambush where she is in hospital. Matine was flown to South Florida for further treatment Thursday afternoon where she is listed in stable but critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Joseph also said after the assassination was conducted commandos who were of ‘white and Spanish speaking origins. However, this has not yet been confirmed, which leaves the speculation around Venezuelan mercenaries ever rifer in the air.
Haiti has historically has had cordial relationships with Venezuela going back to the Hugo Chavez administration with Haiti being a signatory of the PetroCaribe oil deal with the South-American oil giant.
Also, after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Venezuela pledged $1.3bn in aid in addition to cancelling $395m in Petrocaribe debt.
Things started to turn when Moise not only recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as president of Venezuela he turned his back on sitting Venezuelan president Nicholas Maduro, who is even more notorious than Moise is being alleged to be.
The Venezuela government has not responded to the allegations and no one could give any information to Caribbean Magazine Plus on whether the Venezuelan mercenary link is true or not, however from what sources understand that it was a mix of Venezuelan, Colombian and Haitian mercenaries who carried out the assassination.
As of Thursday, security forces in Haiti have shot dead four suspected killers of President Moise and captured several others, as the brazen assassination threatened to plunge the already impoverished, crisis-hit Caribbean nation deeper into chaos. Out of the several captured, two were Haitian-Americans James Solages and Joseph Vincent, both naturalized citizens from Haiti. At least six others were Columbian as well as unconfirmed reports that three more had American passports.
Police General Director Leon Charles described the four people killed as “mercenaries” and said that security forces were locked in a fierce gun battle with the men who assassinated the president at his home overnight.
Seventeen people have been “caught,” Charles said. Haitian police are looking for at least eight more people.
Separately on Thursday, Colombia’s Defence Ministry announced at least six alleged attackers were retired members of the Colombian Army.
Additionally, three police officers who were held hostage have been released, according to authorities. The investigation is ongoing.
As of now Haiti is locked down all ports closed including airports on the order of Joseph. The Dominican Republic has reinforced its borders.
No traffic being allowed into Port Au Prince where President Moise was assassinated.
The atmosphere is one of shock and mourning however chaos, protests and violence has not erupted. However, this may change in an instant considering Haiti’s longstanding instability.
Edwing Charles, former minister for youth in Haiti, told Caribbean Magazine Plus that: “Since the assassination the country has become very chaotic. We don’t know which way to turn. The situation for children becomes even more difficult as hunger, misery and despair is currently raging in this space of earth.”