– Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse Assassinated
– 2 American missionaries killed in Haiti’s plane crash
Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse has been assassinated Wednesday. His wife Martine Moïse was also injured. This is happening months after religious leaders called on him to step down as the country battles rising political tensions and violence. He was 53.
Interim Premier Claude Joseph told The Associated Press that Moïse was assassinated in an attack on his private residence early Wednesday, which he described as a “hateful, inhumane and barbaric act.”
The late president’s wife, first lady Martine Moïse, was also shot and is currently receiving treatment at the hospital.
“The country’s security situation is under the control of the National Police of Haiti and the Armed Forces of Haiti,” Joseph said. “Democracy and the republic will win.”
In a message to the people of Haiti, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in an interview with CNN Wednesday that Moïse’s assassination “is a tragic tragedy.”
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was among the first world leaders to respond to the assasination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse. He called the assassination “abhorrent.” through a statement on Twitter.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the assassination “is a stain on Haiti” and a “sorrowful time” for the Caribbean.
Moïse was murdered as he chased after an aggressive agenda that included rewriting the country’s constitution, The New York Times said. It was not a move that was supported by the United States or some local religious leaders. It was feared that he was setting the nation down a path toward authoritarian rule and threatened the nation’s democracy.
Moïse was reportedly proposing a Constitution that would grant Haiti’s president immunity for any actions taken while in office. However, many Haitians felt a need for a new Constitution even if they were critical of Moïse’s agenda.
The Bishops’ Conference of Haiti said the proposed changes to the country’s Constitution while in the middle of a national socio-political crisis were not wise, Vatican News reported. In a Feb. 2 statement, the conference argued that violence had escalated under Moïse’s rule, and the Haitian people were bearing the brunt of it.
In March, the Haitian Conference of Religious echoed the alarm raised by the country’s bishops and called on Moïse to step down as his political opposition claimed that his five-year term had expired on Feb. 7.
By April, the Catholic Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince said Haiti was facing a “descent into hell” after 10 people, including seven clergy members, were abducted by kidnappers demanding a $1 million ransom.
Despite the calls for him to step down, Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse maintained that his term would not expire until February 2022 because he wasn’t sworn in until 2017.
In similar news, Plane Crash in Haiti has killed 6 people, including 2 American missionaries.
A report on Premier Christian News said, missionaries Trent Hostetler, 35, and John Miller, 43, were in Haiti to work at a mobile clinic. In the evening on Friday, both men got on a plane with four others, traveling from Port-au-Prince to Jacmel.
Hostetler’s pregnant wife, Erica, and their three children got on a previous plane with some friends. The first plane could not take anymore, so the 2 missionaries got on a second plane. The first flight made it safely to Jacmel. The second plane, however, crashed, killing everyone on board.
Gospel To Haiti, a Christian organization based in the U.S., broke the tragic news on its Facebook page.
“Please pray! This is a very sad day for everyone at Gospel to Haiti,” the group posted about the 2 American missionaries.
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