The assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse at his private residence on Wednesday has fueled unrest in the Caribbean country and deepened fears of larger-scale political violence.
Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who said the president had been "assassinated by cowards," called on the nation to "remain calm" and tried to reassure the Haitian people and the world that the police and army were taking control of the situation.
But Joseph's words did not dispel fears of possible chaos.
"There's no parliament, nowhere is the Senate, and there's no president of the Supreme Court," said Didier Le Bret, the former French ambassador to Haiti. ”
A history of political violence in Haiti
In Port-au-Prince, Haitians holding photographs of François and Jean-Claude, who ruled Haiti for 20 years, held up pictures of their father and son.
Haiti has long been rife with rampant crime and violence, and Moiz's assassination is the extreme result of years of turmoil in the country. Haiti was once a slave colony notorious for the brutality of its owners. In 1803, the slave revolt defeated Napoleon Bonaparte's army and Haiti won its independence from France. But in the two centuries that followed, Haiti was caught in a cycle of dictatorships and coups, with the country impoverished and weak enough to provide basic services to many people.
For nearly three decades, Haiti suffered terribly under the dictatorship of François Duvalier, nicknamed Papa Doc, and his son Jean-Claude, nicknamed Baby Doc. In 1990, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a pastor from a poor background, became Haiti's first democratically elected president. But in less than a year, he was deposed in a coup and was not reinstated until 1994 with the help of thousands of U.S. troops.
Aristide was re-elected in 2000, but was forced to step down after another armed uprising and went into exile. He called it a "kidnapping" orchestrated by international forces, including the U.S. and French governments.
Earthquakes, cholera, corruption
In February, a church in Port-au-Prince was severely damaged in the 2010 earthquake.
In 2010, a devastating earthquake that leveled much of the country was seen as an opportunity for the government to strengthen its own rebuilding capacity, restore damaged infrastructure, and start over. More than $9 billion in humanitarian aid and donations continued to pour in, along with about $2 billion worth of cheap oil and loans from then-powerful ally Venezuela. International aid organizations rushed to help with reconstruction efforts.
But those funds have not put Haiti on a new path — many experts believe that the country's situation has gotten worse since reconstruction began. Cholera outbreaks occurred shortly after the earthquake that killed at least 10,000 Haitians, which was linked to the entry of infected UN peacekeepers. The United Nations did not recognize the involvement until many years later, but it was protected by diplomatic immunity from international conventions and refused to bear legal responsibility.
Michel Martelly, a former pop singer who became president in 2011, has been accused of massive corruption and mismanagement of funds used for reconstruction.
The report submitted by the Haitian court-appointed auditor details that most of the $2 billion Venezuela lent to Haiti over eight years has been embezzled or wasted. President Moiz, an obscure fruit exporter before entering politics, was also implicated in a report for his involvement in a case of misappropriation of road construction funds.
The intolerable Haitian people took to the streets
In 2019, protesters in Haiti's Les Cay district demanded moiz step down.
In the years that followed, in the face of a persistent economic downturn, rising crime rates and corruption, Haitians, who could not stand the government, protested and demanded Martelli's resignation. But he retained power, and at the end of one term, he chose Moiz as his successor in the 2015 election.
Moiz's path to the throne was tainted from the start. His campaign was accused of fraud and corruption, and he didn't formally take power until 14 months after voters voted, and the electoral tribunal failed to find evidence of massive election irregularities. When he took office in 2017, he also faced corruption allegations related to Venezuelan aid.
In the years that followed, Moiz used his control over the justice system to dismiss the allegations and weaken opposition that never acknowledged his electoral victory. As a result, the government has become increasingly paralyzed and came to a complete standstill in early 2020, when the entire country is facing the threat of COVID-19.
Leadership crisis, power vacuum and COVID-19
Last year, Moiz appeared at his private residence in the Petionville district on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince.
The disagreement between Moiz and the opposition over his presidency has turned into a full-blown political crisis, leaving Haiti with neither a parliament nor a new election date. As the crisis continued, Moiz came to power by unpopular decrees, further weakening the legitimacy of his government. Protests against his rule intensified.
With the spread of COVID-19 cases, the political impasse has severely damaged the country's already weak health care system. Haiti remains the only country in the Western Hemisphere that has not been able to receive any COVID-19 vaccines, and is now struggling to cope with the recent surge in infections. The official number of COVID-19 deaths is relatively low due to limited testing capacity, but aid workers say hospitals are overcrowded.
Crime syndicates and a reign of terror
In 2019, Jimmy Chryzil (center left, red), nicknamed "Bbq," walked through a neighborhood in Port-au-Prince.
Haiti's power vacuum is gradually being filled by organized crime bosses who have occupied parts of the capital over the past year and imposed a reign of terror. Kidnapping, looting and gang violence have left parts of Haiti unregulated, many Haitians are afraid to leave their homes, aid agencies are forced to reduce their activities and many in the country depend on them for survival.
Advocacy groups argue that the surge in gang violence is linked to political impasse in Haiti, accusing prominent politicians of colluding with organized crime gangs to intimidate rivals and settle old accounts in the absence of a functioning government.
Last month, one of Haiti's biggest gang leaders publicly declared war on the country's traditional magnates, calling on people to loot well-known businesses.
"The money from banks, stores, supermarkets and dealers is all yours," Jimmy Cherizier, a gang leader known for his nickname "Barbecue," said in a video on social media. "Go get back what belongs to you."