The United States condemns the “heinous” assassination of Haitian leaders, saying it is ready to help Reuters

Authors: Patricia Zengerle and Daphne Psaledakis

WASHINGTON (Reuters)-U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he was shocked by the “heinous” assassination of Haitian President Giovinel Moys and the injuries to his wife Martin at home, saying it was a shock. People are worried and say his government needs more information.

53-year-old Moise was shot and killed https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/haitian-president-shot-dead-home-overnight-pm-2021-07-07 and his wife were shot high by unidentified gunmen The use of caliber weapons in his private residence overnight has aroused concerns about the chaos in the impoverished Caribbean country, which has been plagued by rampant gang violence and facing a constitutional crisis.

Biden said in a statement: “We condemn this heinous attack, and I sincerely wish the first lady Moyes recovery.” “The United States expresses its condolences to the Haitian people. We are ready to help and we will continue to help. Work hard for a safe Haiti.”

Biden told reporters at the White House: “We need more information, but the situation in Haiti is very worrying.”

Haiti’s Ambassador to the United States, Bocchit Edmond, told Reuters https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/haitian-assassins-falsely-claimed-be-us-drug-agents-envoy-us-says-2021-07-07 In an interview, he said that after the assassination, his government would welcome US security assistance.

Edmund said that the gunman cited video clips held by the government and mistakenly referred to himself as a DEA agent, but added, “They can’t be a DEA agent.”

State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the report that the attacker was an agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration was “absolutely wrong.”

Price said at the daily press conference that he has no updates on the aid to announce, although Washington is prepared to respond to the request and is “prepared and willing” to support the Haitian authorities’ investigation.

“What we will continue to do is maintain the democratic system in Haiti,” Price said, listing the $75.5 million in aid and other support provided to the country.

Years of instability

Members of Congress condemned the attack and called on the government to take action.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio called on the Biden administration to help bring the murderer to justice. Rubio’s hometown of Florida is home to a large number of Haitian Americans, and he met Moise while traveling to the country in 2019.

Rubio said in a statement: “We cannot allow this cowardly and evil attack to bring greater suffering to the Haitian people and further destabilize their country.”

The Democratic co-chair of the Haiti Caucus of the House of Representatives said that the attack “sounded a clarion call” for action to bring stability and peace to the country.

“We also call for a completely transparent and independent investigation of this criminal act,” said four members of Parliament-representatives Val Demings, Yvette Clarke, Andy Levin and Ayanna Pressley in a statement.

U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Michele Sisson and Acting Assistant Secretary of State Julie Chung for Western Hemisphere Affairs held an emergency briefing for some congressional Democrats on the Port-au-Prince incident.

The opposition in Haiti accused the United States — Haiti’s largest foreign donor — of treating Moise with leniency because he supported US foreign policy. Moise has faced resignation and large-scale protests over corruption charges, his management of the economy, and his growing control of power.

Washington sent troops to Haiti in 1994 to oust a military government and return its elected president, former parish priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide, to power. But since then, the country has been fighting political instability and a series of natural disasters .

Since then, the US government has reduced its involvement in Haiti, and the UN peacekeeping operation ended in 2019.