SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 27 April 2024, Saturday |

Martine Moise, widow of assassinated President, returns to Haiti

After being treated in a Miami hospital for injuries sustained during the July 7 attack at their private property, Martine Moise, the widow of Haiti’s killed president Jovenel Moise, returned to the Caribbean nation on Saturday for his funeral.

When assassins armed with assault weapons assaulted Jovenel Moise’s residence in the hills above Port-au-Prince, he was shot dead, throwing the country into chaos and triggering a frantic quest to find the perpetrators.

Martine Moise returned to the Haitian capital’s Toussaint Louverture international airport on Saturday, wearing all black attire, a bullet proof vest, and her right arm in a sling, according to the Prime Minister’s office. Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph greeted her.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Claude Joseph, greets First Lady Martine Moise, who has arrived in Haiti for her husband’s funeral, according to the Prime Minister’s office.

Martine Moise, who was in Miami earlier this week, wrote that she was still coming to grips with her husband’s murder and thanked a “team of guardian angels” for guiding her through the ordeal.

Earlier on Saturday, the important Core Group of international ambassadors and representatives had urged “the formation of a consensual and inclusive government”.

“To this end, we strongly encourage the designated Prime Minister Ariel Henry to continue the mission entrusted to him to form such a government,” the group said. Henry, who Moise designated Prime Minister shortly before being killed, has not been sworn into his position and the country is being led by Joseph.

The Core Group is made up of ambassadors from Germany, Brazil, Canada, Spain, the United States, France, the European Union and special representatives from the United Nations and the Organization of American States.

“As Haiti faces serious dangers, the members of the group express the wish that all political, economic and civil society actors in the country fully support the authorities in their efforts to restore security throughout the country,” it said.

The group also called for the organization of “free, fair, transparent and credible legislative and presidential elections as quickly as possible”.

Senior opposition Senator Patrice Dumont, one of only 10 sitting lawmakers in the normally 30-seat Senate said on Thursday that fair elections cannot be held for at least a year due to the influence of violent gangs and a compromised electoral council.

On Friday a Colombian police chief said the assassination may have ordered by a Former Haitian Justice Ministry Official, citing a preliminary investigation that has implicated Haitian-Americans and former Colombian soldiers.

    Source:
  • Reuters