The Assassination of Jovenel MoĆÆse
By Yves Engler – Jul 9, 2021
Jovenel MoĆÆse was a violent and corrupt tyrant. While his passing may not elicit much sympathy, the Haitian presidentās assassination should not be celebrated.
Backed by Washington and Ottawa, MoĆÆse appears to have been killed by elements within his own violent PHTK political party. The well-organized operation was probably bankrolled by one of the countryās light skinned oligarchs and almost certainly carried out with support from inside the government. Police controlled the road to his house yet thisĀ videoĀ shows a convoy of armed men moving methodically up the hill towards the presidentās residence. The presumed assassins announced that they were part of a US Drug Enforcement Agency operation.
Incredibly, the president and his wife were the only individuals hurt in the operation. None of MoĆÆseās direct security were harmed. Nor were any police. Reportedly, aĀ dozenbullets riddled his body.
MoĆÆse was extremely unpopular. Little known before former president Michel Martelly anointed him PHTK presidential candidate, important segments of the oligarchy had turned against MoĆÆse. So had most of the right wing Haitian political establishment. During his mandate MoĆÆse appointed seven different prime ministers, including a new one on Monday. Previous interim prime minister, Claude Joseph, now claims he is in charge of the government, which isĀ disputedĀ by recently appointed (though not sworn in) prime minister Ariel Henry. The day after the assassination Joseph met the āCore Groupā, which is a collection of foreign ambassadors (US, Canada, Spain, France, Germany, Brazil, UN and OAS) that wields immense power in Haiti. Afterwards the UN special envoy for Haiti, Helen La Lime, a former US State Department official,Ā said JosephĀ will lead the country until a planned September election.
While much of the establishment had turned against MoĆÆse, few among the impoverished masses ever supported him. Since massive anticorruption protests began in July 2018 a strong majority of Haitians have wanted MoĆÆse to go. Protesters were enraged by the Petrocaribe corruption scandal in which the MoĆÆse and Martelly administrations pilferedĀ hundreds of millionsĀ of dollars. Between mid 2018 and late 2019 MoĆÆse faced multiple general strikes, including one that shuttered Port-au-Prince for a month.
For a year and a half MoĆÆse has been ruling by decree and his already limited constitutional legitimacy expired February 7. In response a new wave of mass protests began.
During his mandate there have been a number of horrific state-backed massacres. At the end of April Harvardās International Human Rights Clinic and LāObservatoire HaĆÆtien des crimes contre lāhumanitĆ© published aĀ reportĀ titled āKilling with Impunity: State-Sanctioned Massacres in Haitiā. It documents three ābrutal attacksā by government-backed gangs that left 240 dead in neighborhoods known for resistance to MoĆÆse.
The scope of the violence and lawlessness has worsened in recent weeks. Gang violence has engulfed entire neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince, displacing thousands of women and children. On June 29 reporter Diego Charles, activist Antoinette Duclair and 13 others wereĀ killedĀ in a violent attack.
Itās unlikely Canada had a direct hand in MoĆÆseās assassination. In fact, Canadian officials were likely unhappy about the killing. But, that doesnāt mean Canadian hands arenāt all-around the crime scene.
Ottawa has strengthened the most regressive and murderous elements of Haitian society. In 2004 the Canadian government helped sabotage the most democratic election in Haitian history. 7000 elected officials were overthrown when the US, France and Canada destabilized and then ousted the elected president.
After backing a 26-month coup government that killed thousands, the US and Canada tried to block social democratic candidate RenĆ© PrĆ©val from becoming president. That failed. But they undercut PrĆ©val when he attempted to raise the minimum wage and joined the subsidized Venezuelan oil program Petrocaribe. After the terrible 2010 earthquake they took advantage of the governmentās weakness to sideline PrĆ©val and impose the PHTK in a rushed āelectionā.
In February I wrote about Canadaās role in enabling Haitian corruption and violence after it came to light that PHTK senator Rony CĆ©lestin stashed nearly $5 million in MontrĆ©al property. The story quoted Haitian-Canadian author Jean āJafrikayitiā Saint-Vil who explained: āThe PHTKĀ regime headed by Michel Martelly and his self-described ābandi legalā (legal bandits), came to power thanks to fraudulent elections organized, financed and controlled by the foreign occupation force established in Haiti since the coup dāĆ©tat of February 2004. The planning meeting for the coup dāetat and putting Haiti under trusteeship was organized by Canadian Minister for La Francophonie Denis Paradis. The Ottawa Initiative on Haiti [January 31-February 1, 2003] succeeded in overthrowing the legitimate President as well as 7,000 elected officials from the regionās most impoverished country. The elected officials were replaced by bandits such as āSenatorā Rony CĆ©lestin.ā
Offering an even more stark way of understanding Canadaās relationship to violence in Haiti Saint-Vil asked, āCanĀ you imagine [Hells Angels leader] Maurice āMomā Boucher and [serial killer] Carla Homolka installed as Senators in Canada by fraudulent elections led by a coalition of Haitian, Jamaican, Ethiopian diplomats in Ottawa?ā Few Canadians would be happy with such an outcome, but itās a troublingly apt description of US, Canadian and French policy in Haiti.
It may turn out that the CIA or another arm of the US government had a hand in MoĆÆseās assassination. But, itās more likely MoĆÆse was killed in an internal PHTK struggle over political power, drug routes, pillaging state resources, etc. Or maybe there was a dispute over some gang alliance or act of violence.
A presidential assassination in the middle of the night with the probable involvement of other elements of the government reflects that deterioration and criminal nature of the Haitian state. Itās the outgrowth of the US and Canada empowering the most corrupt and violent actors in Haiti.
Washington and Ottawa support the most retrograde elements of Haitian society largely out of fear of the alternative: a reformist, pro-poor, government that seeks out alternative regional arrangements.
Canadian officials āknowingly support drug traffickers, money-launderers and assassins in Haitiā,Ā tweetedĀ Madame Boukman in February. āThat is the only way Canadian mining vultures can loot Haitiās massive gold reserves.ā
It may be hard to believe, but that description is not far from the mark.
Featured image:Ā Ā Haitian president Jovenel MoĆÆse and Trudeau
Yves Engler
Yves Engler is Montreal-based writer and political activist. In addition to ten published books, Engler's writings have appeared in the alternative press and in mainstream publications such as The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, and Ecologist.
