Haiti President, Jovenel Moise, Assassinated

Haiti’s President, Jovenel Moise was shot dead at his private residence overnight by unknown assailants.

The country’s Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph announced Moise’s death in a statement released Wednesday. He said:

At around 1 am on Wednesday, July 7, a group of unidentified people, including some speaking Spanish, attacked the private residence of the president, mortally wounding the head of state. The First Lady suffered bullet injuries…

Joseph said he was now in charge of the country. He condemned the “inhumane and barbaric act” and called for calm, saying the police and the country’s armed forces had taken control of the security situation.

Moise had been ruling Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, by decree after legislative elections due in 2018 were delayed and following disputes on when his own term ended.

Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince had been suffering an increase in violence as gangs battle one another and police for control of the streets.

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