Shortly after 1a.m. on July 7, a team of around thirty heavily armed assailants disguised as D.E.A. agents stormed President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti’s home, unwavered by his 100-person, heavily-armed security team. It was only after the assailants entered the compound that gunfire began. The reason why a team outnumbered almost three to one by security and personnel were able to pull off such an endeavor unscathed remains up to speculation at this moment. Shortly after entering the president’s home, the assailants open fired, killing President Jovenel Moïse and injuring his wife. Prior to his assassination, it is believed that President Moïse had been tortured. According to Justice of the Peace Carl Henry Destin, the home had been robbed of documents and other valuable items.
Twenty of the assailants have been detained as of now, two of whom were identified as American citizens. According to Ambassador Bocchit Edmond, the assailants are presumed to be “well-trained professionals, killers, commandos.” Both American assailants are of Haitian descent and residents of Florida. The figurehead of this assasination is currently suspected to be Florida resident Christian Emmanuel Sanon. It is presumed that his goal was to stage a coup d’etat and declare himself leader of Haiti. Over twenty Colombians have also been tied into this investigation, two of whom were killed while being detained. Many of the Colombian assailants have been identified as former soldiers. The attack had been planned at a hotel in a suburb of Port-au-Prince over the course of a month, however the goal of said plan is currently disputed. According to Clément Noël, a judge involved with the case, the assailants claim the goal of the attack was to bring President Moïse to the National Palace, but not murder him. However, the legal incentives for the assailants to lie about their motive leaves room for doubt.
Léon Charles, Haiti’s National Police Chief, stated on July 11 that “[Christian Emmanuel Sanon] arrived by private plane in June with political objectives and contacted a private security firm to recruit the people who committed this act.” Chief Charles then named private Venezuelan security company CTU (which is based in Florida) as an assisting party in the plot. Private planes and security teams, however, are not cheap. Sanon, who owns several inactive businesses in Florida and is $400,000 in debt, could not afford to pay for such services with only his annual salary of $60,000. Many detained assailants claim they were paid $3,000 a month for their services. With a confirmed team of at least thirty assailants, Sanon would have had to spend more than the entirety of his annual salary every three weeks just to employ his team. According to Police Chief Charles, promptly after President Moïse had been killed, the assassins called Sanon who then made another phone call to an unknown party.
Now Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph has officially taken control of the government and Sanon is taking the blame as the investigation wraps up. The current goal of Prime Minister Joseph is to regain control and stability within the government, so it is in his best interest to close the investigation quickly and move on. To many Haitian citizens, however, many of the same problems that existed under President Moïse are expected to remain. Any substantial changes to way of life or political climate due to the assasination seems improbable.
According to Dr. Grene, Fieldston English teacher as well as Co-Founder and US Director of the Andrew Grene Foundation, “This kind of event would have thrown most countries into a tailspin; in Haiti, to an extent, there is a feeling of ‘plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose’ [the more things change, the more they stay the same].”
A sudden change in leadership is detached from the more immediate dangers of poverty, violence, and natural disaster that many Haitian people face daily. In Haiti, it is not uncommon for workers to go unpaid for months or be forced to relocate from their homes in order to avoid gang violence. Grene said that the gangs within Haiti act as “paramilitary organizations that effectively administer enormous swaths of the population.”
Pierre Espérance, the executive director of the Haitian National Human Rights Defense Network, refutes Prime Minister Joseph’s vision of unity for Haiti in the near future by claiming, “The crisis will continue, insecurity will continue, and the gangs will continue.” The new cabinet includes several of the same people from President Moïse’s governing party. Both the new Prime Minister and new foreign minister were members of President Moïse’s governing party as well and now are aiming to seize control over the government. According to Grene, “Until the people are convinced they really can play a true electoral role, rather than being stirred up by demagogues, I honestly don’t know what the path [forward] would be.” For most Haitian people, medicine remains inaccessible, social mobility impossible, affordable and adequate education rare and access to reliable electricity a luxury.
Historically, US involvement exacerbates issues of these kinds. Grene said that “We don’t take the time, nor do we have the interest, to really learn what’s best for a given territory; we foreground what’s best for the US, and the end result is we prop up folks like the mujahideen, or Saddam Hussein, or Noriega – it’s kind of an unbroken string of blowback.”
Living conditions in Haiti have followed a downward trend for the past few years and it seems as if the nation will continue on this path even with new leadership.
Dr. Grene, who had arranged to visit Andrew Grene High School of Cité Soleil this past Sunday for graduation was forced to postpone “because of unrest in the area adjoining the school… the streets are literally impassible, with barricades and active unrest. Students cannot come into nor leave the area.”
Of course it is still possible for an incoming president to make radical changes, however it is more probable that the government remains detached from the needs of the society it theoretically exists to represent.
Despite all that the Haitian people face, there is still hope. As final exams approached for the students of the Andrew Grene High School, Head of School Ricot Pierre provided the students with a place to sleep near the school so they could take their exams safely. “The folks we work with down there are nothing short of incredible. A beacon to what tenacity, bravery, and commitment can make happen…” said Grene.
Although times may be tough for the Haitian people and have been consistently for decades, compassion and hope will always find a way to allow wonderful things to happen. In 2020, despite being in the midst of a global pandemic in the deeply impoverished area of Cité Soleil, the Andrew Grene High School achieved a 100% passing rate on the Philo exams, a milestone that seemed way out of reach only a decade ago.
