The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

THE assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse has triggered mourning among Haitians in The Bahamas and around the world, with some local activists urging unity during this trying time.

Local activists in the Haitian community Louby Georges and ‘Lady T’ yesterday told The Tribune it was unfortunate that a visionary leader with Haiti’s best interests at heart was senselessly killed.

As he expressed sadness about the situation, Mr Georges questioned how Haiti could be considered safe if its own President was not immune to violence.

“It doesn’t get any worse than this,” Mr Georges said yesterday.

“If the first among citizens, the first among many, citizen one, the President of the country is not safe, then who is safe in a place like Haiti?

“We’ve seen the news stories and seen videos circulating on social media of the violence in Haiti. Persons are in fear.

“You have foreigners choosing not to travel to Haiti because they fear that they can be hurt or lose their lives. This just makes things so much worse for Haiti and pushes the country that has been trying for so long to catch itself. The situation pushes them back even further.”

He continued: “As it relates to the President. . .it speaks to his vision and his work. I think this heinous act, this cowardice act actually validates him and his work.

“He made the ultimate sacrifice. He was willing to die. He was willing to challenge the status quo. He was willing to sacrifice himself for the betterment of his country.”

He said the assassination of Moïse marked a sad day for Haiti.

“Everyone is in mourning right now and as popular or unpopular, liked or disliked, as people would portray the sentiments towards the president to be right now, the Haitian people for the first time in a very long time are all of one accord. They are all angry and infuriated. This touched them all. We have to unite now like never before.”

Another activist who asked to be identified only as Lady T said while the situation is disheartening, Haitians everywhere must come together and pray that the situation turns around.

She said: “It’s really devastating and heartbreaking to see such a great leader that was trying to take his country and the people to a better state killed.

“With him in power you could see progress in the country.

“So, right now where Haiti is going we could only pray that God smiles down on the country. We could only hope that things turn around for the better.

“This is the time for us to pray for Haiti. I would suggest that we pray and unite and stand together and see how well we could overcome this situation.”

International news reports said yesterday that two men believed to be Haitian Americans — one of them purportedly a former bodyguard at the Canadian Embassy in Port au Prince — were arrested in connection with the assassination.

According to the Associated Press, Mathias Pierre, Haiti’s minister of elections, told the news outlet that James Solages was among six people arrested in the 36 hours since the brazen killing of President Moise by gunmen at his home in the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday.

Four other suspected assailants were killed in a gunfight with police and two are still missing, Mr Pierre said. Earlier authorities had said seven suspects were killed.

According to AP, Mr Pierre would not provide additional details about Solages’ background, nor would he provide the name of the second Haitian-American he said was arrested.

Solages describes himself as a “certified diplomatic agent,” an advocate for children and budding politician on a website for a charity he established in 2019 in south Florida to assist residents.