Shot at the funeral of Jovenel Moise | Violent farewell to the assassinated Haitian president

The funeral of President of Haiti Jovenel Moise took place this Friday in the city of Cap Haitien, in the presence of Martine Moise, the president’s widow. Despite strong security measures, gunshots were heard during the ceremony and participants had to evacuate under a cloud of tear gas. As investigations into the assassination continue with statements from those believed to be involved in the attack on the president.

A large police deployment covered the streets of the city of Cap Haitien in the North Department of Haiti. The city was the scene of violent episodes, this Friday the tension was concentrated around the point where the farewell ceremony of Moise, 53, was taking place. Moments before the start of the event, the crowd began to curse National Police chief Léon Charles, shouting “murderer” as the Police used tear gas to disperse the burning tire barricades. , located nearby, according to the local newspaper. Haiti Gazette.

During Moise’s homily, tear gas was felt and later inside the compound where the funeral was taking place gunshots were heard. The participants had to go out between a cloud of gas released by the police. “The presidential delegation is safe and sound after the reported shooting at the funeral. They are all back in the United States,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

Moise’s coffin, covered with the national flag and the presidential sash, was exhibited in a flowery esplanade and under the care of Haitian Armed Forces soldiers. The president’s widow, Martine Moise, who was seriously injured in the attack on her husband, was present in Cap Haitien, her arm in a sling after being treated in a hospital in Florida, in the southern United States. The widow arrived accompanied by her children and an important safety device. In front of the coffin, he took off his mask and kissed the flag that covered the sarcophagus.

“You have been abandoned and betrayed. Your murder exposed (the) ugliness and cowardice ”, declared Martine during the civil ceremony in honor of Moise which was held in Cap Haitien, where he will be buried this Friday.

Representatives of foreign delegations, the diplomatic corps and members of the Haitian government were present at the ceremony and offered their condolences to the former first lady. United States President Joe Biden sent a high-level delegation to the funeral, including his United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield and his new Special Envoy for Haiti, Daniel Foote, who arrives on the island a entrusted with the mission of helping to promote the organization of elections.

So far, some 28 people – 26 Colombians and two Haitian-Americans – have been linked to the command that assassinated Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise. Haitian police say the plot was organized by people with political ambitions and ties outside the country. This Thursday, the Ecuadorian Walter Veintemilla, owner of the Miami Worldwide Capital Lending Group firm and financier of the operation in which Moise was assassinated, He admitted to contributing money but not to kill the president but to promote change in the country. Veintemilla is planning legal action against the Haitian authorities who pointed the finger at him for financing the plot.

Veintemilla’s lawyer, Robert Nicholson, assured that his client was on an appointment with Haitians and foreigners currently under investigation, including Doctor Christian Emmanuel Sanon, considered one of the intellectual authors of the crime and now detained. Veintemilla acknowledged that Worldwide Capital Lending Group raised around $ 172,000 from investors and handed it over to Sanon, and that it had previously awarded a similar sum to Antonio Intriago, owner of CTU Security LLC, originally referred to as the company that recruited the accused Colombian mercenaries. of the operation.

Nicholson said his client’s role was to fund the expenses of Sanon’s presidential aspirations and that Sanon would reimburse him with future contracts once he was in charge of the Haitian executive. “Neither Worldwide Capital nor Mr. Veintemilla knew of any alleged assassination plot,” Nicholson insisted.

While the US State Department confirmed that six of the Colombian citizens arrested for their alleged participation in the assassination had received military training in the United States, “to date, the state and the Department of Defense have identified six people who may have been involved in the conspiracy and previously participated in US military training and education programs while serving in the Colombian military, ”Foreign Ministry spokesman Ned Price said.

This week, several ceremonies in honor of the assassinated president took place in Port-au-Prince. One of them was in the presence of Ariel Henry, the new Prime Minister, who took office Tuesday with the promise to restore order to organize the elections demanded by the Haitian population. Haiti currently does not have a functioning parliament and has only a handful of elected senators, with majority terms having expired.