Pandemic, political tension, urban violence, hurricanes. Haiti was already in a general state of instability when its leader suffered a violent end on July 7, 2021. President Jovenel Moïse was 53 years old when he died from an assassination inside his home.
The country's prime minister, Claude Joseph, announced the tragic end of President Jovenel Moïse. He declared that the statesman had been shot dead in the early morning hours in his own home. Moïse's house is in the nation's capital Port-au-Prince.
The First Lady, Martine Moïse, was injured in the attack and hospitalized in a critical condition. The police and army have been called in to investigate the crime.
In a recent interview with El País, the president said he felt threatened by oligarchic groups in Haiti. According to Moïse, they were planning a coup d'état to remove him from power.
"They control the country's main resources, they have always installed and removed presidents and they use the streets to cause destabilization," Moïse told the Spanish newspaper.
Jovenel Moïse explained that his government's decisions "are very bad for those who feel powerful and untouchable." He'd won the presidential election in 2016, but his victory was not officially recognized until a year later.
In February, Jovenel Moïse announced the arrest of 23 people allegedly involved in a plot to attack his government and his life.
The situation in the country is critical. In addition to the poverty experienced by a large part of the population, hundreds of people were killed or kidnapped in Port-au-Prince in June alone. For months, there have been protests in the streets calling for the departure of Jovenel Moïse, as many considered his five-year term to be over.
Jovenel Moïse was born on June 26, 1968, in Trou-du-Nord, Haiti. Son of a seamstress and a trader, he had the opportunity to study Political Science at the Quisqueya University.
After completing the studies, he started a project to provide drinking water to marginalized rural families. He was also one of the founders of the Haitian Energy Company which invests in solar and wind energy in certain areas of Haiti.
Moïse owned a vast banana plantation and created thousands of jobs, but he was also accused of money laundering.
In his campaign for president, Moïse ran for the centre-right Tèt Kale party. He advocated policies that were quite progressive, such as universal education and healthcare and the development of bio-ecological agriculture.
In the photo, Moïse appears with Bolivian President Evo Morales, at a Latin American event in Lima (Peru) in 2018.
As president of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse participated in several important world events. In the photo, he poses next to the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, during the G7 summit in 2018.
In 2018, Queen Letizia of Spain visited Haitian schools financially supported by her country. The first lady, Martine Moïse, dressed in red, stands next to Jovenel Moïse.
In 2017, President Moïse got a visit from other European monarchs: Queen Mathilde and King Philippe of Belgium.
Jovenel and Martine Moïse also met with Pope Francis at the Vatican. The religious leader mentioned Haiti in his prayers in April 2021: "My thoughts go especially to you, dearest Haitian sisters and brothers: I express my closeness and would like the problems to be definitively resolved for you. I pray for that."
On the day of Jovenel Moïse's assassination, Haitian Prime Minister Claude Joseph declared a state of siege in the country. He also called for tranquillity among the Haitian public - a population of 11 million - in a statement broadcast on television.
