Jovenel Moïse, Haiti's embattled president, killed at 53

By DÁNICA COTO and EVENS SANON

Associated Press

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, a former banana producer and political neophyte who ruled Haiti for more than four years as the country grew increasingly unstable under his watch, was killed on Wednesday. He was 53.

Moïse was assassinated at his private home during “a highly coordinated attack by a highly trained and heavily armed group,” interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph said. His wife, Martine, was injured in the attack and remains hospitalized.

“Haiti has lost a true statesman,” Joseph said. “We will ensure that those responsible for this heinous act are swiftly brought to justice.”

A businessman from northern Haiti, Moïse had no political experience before being hand-picked by former President Michel Martelly as the ruling Tet Kale party's official candidate in 2015 elections.

Campaigning under the nickname “Neg Bannan Nan” — “Banana Man” in Haitian Creole — he promoted achievements that included launching a banana-exporting joint venture with help from a $6 million loan approved by Martelly’s administration. As a businessman, he also distributed drinking water and established a renewable energy project in various towns.

Moise won the 2015 presidential vote, but the results were thrown out following allegations of fraud, leading to a period of political limbo, including the appointment of an interim president. Moise later won November 2016 elections, although voter turnout was only 21%.

He took office in February 2017, pledging to strengthen institutions, fight corruption and bring more investments and jobs to the Western hemisphere’s poorest nation.

“It’s really important to change the lifestyle of these people,” he said of impoverished people in Haiti’s rural areas.

But his administration was soon plagued by massive protests, and critics accused him of growing increasingly authoritarian.

Moïse had been ruling by decree for more than a year after Parliament was dissolved and lawmakers failed to organize legislative elections. He was widely criticized for approving decrees, including one that limited the powers of a court that audits government contracts and another that created an intelligence agency that answers only to the president.

Political and economic instability had deepened in recent months, with widespread protests paralyzing the country of more than 11 million people. In addition, gangs in the capital of Port-au-Prince have grown more powerful, with more than 14,700 people driven from their homes last month alone as gangs set fire to homes and ransacked them.

In addition, 15 people were killed during a June 29 shooting rampage in the capital, including a journalist and well-known political activist. Officials blamed a group of rogue police officers but have not provided any evidence.

Moïse is survived by his wife and three children.

Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Associated Press writer John Rice in Mexico City contributed to this report.