Jovenel Moïse funeral : Haiti president's hometown holds ceremony amid violence
Moise was assassinated at his home in Port-au-Prince on July 7
The body of slain Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was returned to his hometown Friday for a private funeral amid heavy security following violent protests and fears of political volatility in the Caribbean nation.
Martine Moïse arrived to cries of "Justice! Justice!" as she headed straight to her husband's casket, climbing the stairs and stopping in front of it. Her right arm in a sling, she lay her left arm on the casket and then brought it to her heart as she stood there in silence. Her eyes filled with tears as her three children joined her.
Minutes later, a group of supporters grabbed a large portrait of Moïse and paraded with it as the police band began to play the national anthem over loud wails.
As the ceremony began, hundreds of protesters clashed with police outside the private residence. Shots erupted and tear gas and black smoke wafted into the ceremony. Protesters' cries carried over religious leaders speaking at the funeral.
Earlier, cries of "Assassin!" filled the air at the arrival of Haiti's National Police Chief León Charles. Haitians clad in somber suits, shiny shoes and black and white formal dresses shouted and pointed fingers at the neighboring seating platforms where Haitian officials and foreign dignitaries sat above at least a dozen men with high-powered weapons.
"You didn’t take any measures to save Jovenel! You contributed to his killing!" one woman yelled.
On the grounds below, one Moïse supporter threatened Charles: "You need to leave now or we’re going to get you after the funeral!"
Newly appointed Prime Minister Ariel Henry arrived after to cries of, "Justice for Jovenel!"
White T-shirts and caps emblazoned with his picture were distributed to supporters the day before what is expected to be the final ceremony to honor Moïse, who was shot several times on July 7 during an attack at his private home that seriously injured his wife, Martine.
"This is something that will be engraved in our memory," said Pedro Guilloume, a Cap-Haitien resident who hoped to attend the funeral. "Let all Haitians channel solidarity."
Moïse’s body arrived shortly after dawn at his family’s seaside property where the funeral is being held. Six officials carried the brown casket up a stage where they saluted it and stood before it in silence for several minutes before draping a large red and blue Haitian flag over it.
Before the funeral began, a man wrapped himself in a large Haitian flag and approached the casket, crying out, "We need to fight and get justice for Jovenel!" Next to him, a man carrying a T-shirt commemorating Moïse joined in as he yelled, "Jovenel died big! He died for me and for the rest of the country…We’re not going to back down."
The funeral comes days after a new prime minister supported by key international diplomats was installed in Haiti — a move that appeared aimed at averting a leadership struggle following Moïse's assassination.
Henry, who was designated prime minister by Moïse before he was slain but never sworn in replaced interim prime minister Claude Joseph, and has promised to form a provisional consensus government until elections are held.
On Thursday, violent demonstrations hit neighborhoods in Cap-Haitien as groups of men fired shots into the air and blocked some roads with blazing tires. One heavily guarded police convoy carrying unknown officials drove through one flaming barricade, with a vehicle nearly flipping over.
A priest who presided over a Mass on Thursday morning at Cap-Haitian’s cathedral to honor Moïse warned there was too much bloodshed in Haiti as he asked people to find peace, noting that the poorest communities are affected.
On Thursday evening, Martine Moïse and her three children appeared at a small religious ceremony at a hotel in Cap-Haitien where Henry and other government officials offered their condolences.
"They took his life, but they can’t take his memories," said a priest who presided over the ceremony. "They can’t take his brain. They can’t take his ideas. We are Jovenel Moïse."
Moïse was sworn in as Haiti’s president in February 2017 and faced increasing criticism in recent years from those who accused him of becoming increasingly authoritarian. He had been ruling by decree for more than a year after the country failed to hold legislative elections.
Authorities have said that at least 26 suspects have been arrested in the killing, including 18 former Colombian soldiers. Police are still looking for several more suspects they say were involved in the assassination plot, including a former rebel leader and an ex-senator.
For about 10 minutes, Haitian President Jovenel Moïse attempted to call security forces to counter the early morning raid that unfolded at his home earlier this month before he was assassinated, according to a report.
SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (July 25th, 2021)
2 Kings 4, 42-44; Ps. 145; Eph. 4, 1-6; Jn. 6, 1-15. By +Guy Sansaricq
For the next four weeks we will be meditating prayerfully on Chapter 6 of St. John’s Gospel. The text begins with the stunning miracle of the multiplication of the loaves. Jesus feeds a multitude of five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fishes. That mighty deed is used to introduce Jesus’ fantastic teaching on the “BREAD OF LIFE.”
This miracle is to be seen in the light of two similar mighty deeds reported in the Old Testament: first, the manna in the desert and second, the feeding of 100 people by Prophet Elijah with a handful of barley. In both cases, God fed hungry crowds with very little.
The details reported by John bring forth great teachings:
1. a) Jesus does not create the food out of nothing but uses the little resources of the people. The little merchant boy had to give up his 5 loaves and 2 fishes with great trust in Jesus who appears to require FAITH before performing his mighty deed.
2. b) The Apostles are used to PUT ORDER in the crowd. The crowd that is being fed must not be in disarray. Likewise, The CHURCH must also be an organized body.
3. c) Also God’s gift is abundant. There were 12 baskets of leftovers.
4. d) After the miracle Jesus escapes from the crowd who wanted to make of Him their
KING. The do-gooders must not seek human honor nor political stature.
Man’s spirit needs to be fed just like his body. We are called to hunger for the bread of life.
*Announcement of Daniel Foote as Special Envoy for Haiti*
The Department of State is pleased to announce that Ambassador Daniel Foote, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, will serve as its Special Envoy for Haiti. The Special Envoy will engage with Haitian and international partners to facilitate long-term peace and stability and support efforts to hold free and fair presidential and legislative elections. He will also work with partners to coordinate assistance efforts in several areas, including humanitarian, security, and investigative assistance. Additionally, the Special Envoy will engage stakeholders in civil society and the private sector as we pursue Haitian-led solutions to the many pressing challenges facing Haiti.
The Special Envoy will, along with the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, lead U.S. diplomatic efforts and coordinate the effort of U.S. federal agencies in Haiti from Washington, advise the Secretary and Acting Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, and coordinate closely with the National Security Council staff on the administration’s efforts to support the Haitian people and Haiti’s democratic institutions in the aftermath of the tragic assassination of Jovenel Moïse.
Special Envoy Foote brings extensive diplomatic experience to this role – including as Deputy Chief of Mission in Haiti and as the U.S. Ambassador to Zambia. The Department congratulates Special Envoy Foote as he takes on his new role and thanks him for his continued service to his country.
Battle for Power in Haiti Extends to Lobbying in Washington
Rival political figures and interests are doling out big sums to the influence industry to win support from the United States even as problems in Haiti remain unsolved.
July 21, 2021
The Haitian government had been ramping up its spending on Washington lobbying in the months before the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.Federico Rios for The New York Times
WASHINGTON — The struggle for power in Haiti after the assassination of the country’s president has spilled onto K Street, where rival Haitian politicians, business leaders and interest groups are turning to lobbyists to wage an expensive and escalating proxy battle for influence with the United States.
Documents, interviews and communications among Haitian politicians and officials show a scramble across a wide spectrum of Haitian interests to hire lobbyists and consultants in Washington and use those already on their payrolls in the hopes of winning American backing in a period of leadership turmoil in Haiti.
A group text chat in the days after the killing of President Jovenel Moïse that included Haitian officials, political figures and American lobbyists showed them strategizing about countering American critics and potential rivals for the presidency and looking for ways to cast blame for the killing, according to copies of the messages obtained by The New York Times and confirmed by some of the participants. The chat began before the assassination and originally included Mr. Moïse, though it appeared to take on a more frenetic tone after he was gunned down in his home this month.
The texts and other documents help bring to life how lobbyists from firms including Mercury Public Affairs — which was paid at least $285,000 in the second half of last year by the Haitian government — are working with allied politicians to position successors in the wake of the assassination.
In addition to Mercury, lobbying filings show that Haiti’s government is paying a total of $67,000 a month to three other lobbyists or their firms, some of which have retained additional lobbyists under subcontracts.
At the same time, competing political factions are looking for ways to develop backing in Washington for their own candidates. One former Haitian lawmaker had a series of discussions about hiring a lobbyist to push the United States to recognize Haiti’s Senate president as the country’s interim leader. A different would-be leader expanded the American political team he assembled to seek support in Congress and from wealthy donors for a possible presidential campaign.
Several other Haitian politicians and interest groups approached lobbyists, political consultants and fixers offering fees as high as $10 million or more for their help.
One prominent lobbyist, Robert Stryk, signed a contract in the days after the assassination to represent a prominent Haitian business interest.
Mr. Stryk — who has worked as a fixer of sorts for foreign clients from whom other lobbyists keep their distance, including targets of sanctions and criminal inquiries in Angola, the Democratic Republican of Congo and Venezuela — would not identify his client in Haiti. But he said he was helping the client attract private investment from the United States to Haiti in an effort to shape the debate about the country’s future.
“All of the various personalities are jockeying for position, in the hopes that the United States could elevate their stature in some way,” said Christopher Harvin, a former Bush administration official who works as a lobbyist and political consultant for clients around the world.
It is not clear yet how much effect the influence campaigns might have. But the lobbying push is the latest example of the scale and reach of Washington’s influence industry and its role in seeking to sway foreign policy. Especially in countries heavily reliant on the United States for financial aid and other backing, governments and deep-pocketed interests have long paid handsomely for help winning support in Washington — or at least the appearance of it — sometimes leading to criticism that they are more focused on currying favor in Washington than addressing problems at home.
The dynamic is stark in Haiti, where a quarter of the population is acutely hungry, despite billions in international assistance since an earthquake devastated the country in 2010.
The Haitian government had been ramping up its spending on Washington lobbying in the months before the assassination as Mr. Moïse faced mounting criticism over his efforts to write a new Constitution and hold elections while the country was convulsed by violence, with thousands of protesters demanding he leave office.
As members of Congress voiced criticism, a lobbyist for the Haitian government recommended in the group text chat days before the assassination that “we should make a formal request” for Haiti’s prime minister “to visit and meet with Blinken in DC,” referring to Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken.
The chaotic power struggle created by the killing of Mr. Moïse has only intensified the drive for United States government support.
Haiti’s president pleaded with top officer during raid: ‘Come save my life’
The suspected assassins were made up of Haitians, Haitian-Americans and former Colombian soldiers. The shooting occurred at Moïse's Port-au-Prince home on July 7.
The attack on the 53-year-old "was carried out by foreign mercenaries and professional killers — well-orchestrated," and that they were masquerading as agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Bocchit Edmond, the Haitian ambassador to the U.S., said.
The paper said it along with the McClatchy Washington Bureau spoke to "at least three people" who received calls from the president’s house on that morning. The paper said it is still a mystery how the team managed to get past several layers of security at the home.
None of the president’s security guards were hurt.
"When I send you to protect a president, I don’t send you to live, I send you to die protecting him," one member of the security detail told the paper.
So far, police have detained more than 20 suspects they say were directly involved in the killing, including a contingent of former Colombian special forces soldiers. Other suspects were killed by authorities as they closed in.
The Associated Press contributed to this report