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excerpt from article on developments in Haiti, left out what we already know, this is interdasting background material on the recently assassinated president:
No One Knows Who’s in Charge of Haiti
Fear and uncertainty follow a presidential assassination in the midst of a constitutional crisis.
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Moïse certainly had no lack of enemies. The 53-year-old former banana exporter, who took office in 2017, faced mass protests throughout almost his entire tenure. These were originally sparked by the revelation of the Petrocaribe scandal, in which he and other officials are alleged to have embezzled as much as $2 billion in funds from a program meant to provide Haiti with subsidized oil from Venezuela. The funds had been intended to rebuild the infrastructure and agricultural sector of a country still reeling from a series of natural and man-made calamities including the earthquake, hurricanes, and a cholera epidemic introduced by U.N. peacekeepers.
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That original corruption scandal had turned into one of democratic legitimacy: Moïse had been ruling by decree since dissolving most of Parliament in 2020, and local and parliamentary elections have not been held since then. There are only 10 elected officials in the whole country, all senators. His own term theoretically ended in February of this year, but he said he should hold office until February 2022, since his own inauguration had been delayed.
At the time of his death, he was in the process of organizing a constitutional referendum in September—it had been delayed twice because of the pandemic—which would strengthen the power of the presidency. Constitutional referenda are barred by Haiti’s 1987 constitution, and the opposition accused Moïse of trying to make himself a dictator.
Amid the power vacuum and political chaos, the country is facing an acute malnutrition crisis, and it has barely even begun vaccinating its population amid a worsening COVID-19 outbreak. There’s been an alarming spike in gang violence and kidnappings in Port-au-Prince, with rival armed groups fighting for control of territory, forcing thousands to flee. Last month, one of the most powerful gang leaders, Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, declared a “revolution” against Haiti’s government and the economic elite, through critics say gang leaders like Cherizier are actually terrorizing Moïse’s opponents and in a tacit alliance with the government.
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No matter who was behind the assassination, the next question becomes who is actually leading Haiti right now. When I asked Clesca that question, she laughed and said, “I don’t think anyone knows that.” According to the constitution, the president of the Supreme Court is supposed to take charge in the event of the president’s death, but the president of the Supreme Court died of COVID-19 last month. The country’s prime minister might be expected to take charge at a time like this—but further complicating matters, Moïse named a new interim prime minister, Ariel Henry, just two days ago, replacing Claude Joseph, who had only been in that office since April.
Henry has been on the radio claiming to be in power today. He is a respected neurosurgeon who led the country’s cholera response, but given the circumstances of his appointment, the fact that he hadn’t been sworn in yet, and the fact that there’s effectively no Parliament right now to approve him, his legitimacy is questionable. (For what it’s worth, Wikipedia currently lists Joseph as acting president, with no sourcing.) ....
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/07/haiti-president-assassinated-moise-covid.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab