[ad_1]
Haiti has asked Washington and the UN for troops to secure its ports, airport and other strategic sites following the murder of President Jovenel Moise.
Léon Charles, head of the Haitian National Police (C), gives orders on a walkie-talkie as the crowd surrounds the Pétionville police station where armed men have been accused of being involved in the assassination of President Jovenel Moses.
FBI and Homeland Security agents have agreed to participate in the investigation into Moise’s murder, but say there are no plans to provide military assistance.
Since he was shot dead at his home in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday, the country has been plunged into a political crisis.
Mathias Pierre, the Minister of Elections, said a request for security assistance to the United States was raised during a conversation on Wednesday between Acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph and United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Haiti has also made a force request to the United Nations Security Council, Pierre said.
A letter from Joseph’s office to the US embassy in Haiti, dated Wednesday and seen by Reuters, requested the dispatch of troops to support the national police in restoring security and protecting key infrastructure across the country.
A similar letter, also dated Wednesday, was sent to the UN office in Haiti.
“We were in a situation where we thought the country’s infrastructure – port, airport and energy infrastructure – could be a target,” Pierre told Reuters.
Another objective of the request for security reinforcements would be to allow the conduct of the presidential and legislative elections scheduled for September 26, said Pierre.
The UN political mission in Haiti received the letter and it was under review, said José Luis Diaz, spokesperson for the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.
“Sending troops under all circumstances would be the responsibility of the Security Council (15 members),” he said.
The United States and Colombia have said they will send law enforcement and intelligence officials to aid Haiti after a number of their nationals are arrested for the murder of Moise.
But the United States rejected Haiti’s request for troops. A senior US administration official told Reuters: “There are no plans to provide US military assistance at this time.”
The hunt continues
Haitian police said the assassination was carried out by a commando unit of 26 Colombian mercenaries and two Haitian-American mercenaries. The two Americans of Haitian descent have been identified as James Solages, 35, and Joseph Vincent, 55, both from Florida.
Seventeen of the men were captured – including Solages and Vincent – after a shootout with Haitian authorities in Pétionville, the hillside suburb of the capital Port-au-Prince where Moise resided.
Three others were killed and eight are still at large, Haitian police said. Authorities are looking for the brains behind the operation, they said.
Haitian officials have not given a motive for Moise’s murder or explained how the assassins managed to outsmart his security service. He had faced mass protests against his regime since taking office in 2017 – first over allegations of corruption and his management of the economy, then over his growing grip on power.
Moise himself had spoken of the dark forces at play behind the unrest: political colleagues and corrupt oligarchs who believed his attempts to clean up government contracts and reform Haitian politics were against their interests.
Emergency state
The Haitian government declared a 15-day state of emergency on Wednesday to help authorities apprehend the killers, but has since urged businesses to reopen.
Moise’s murder has caused confusion as to who is now the rightful ruler of the country of 11 million people, the poorest in the Americas.
“The assassination… created a political and institutional vacuum at the highest level of the state,” said Haitian opposition politician André Michel. “There is no constitutional provision for this exceptional situation.”
The 1987 constitution stipulates that the president of the Supreme Court is to take over. But there is no one currently in this role. There is also no sitting parliament, following the postponement of the elections in 2019.
Just this week, Moise had appointed a new prime minister, Ariel Henry, to succeed Joseph, although he was yet to be sworn in when the president was killed.
Joseph appeared to take charge of the situation, but Henry – who is viewed more favorably by the opposition – told Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste that he did not view Joseph as the legitimate prime minister.
(with press wires)
Source link
