Wife of assassinated Haiti president speaks out
The wife of the assassinated president of Haiti has spoken out from her hospital bed in Miami, Florida, posting two images of herself as she recovers from gunshot wounds to her arms and leg.
“I still don’t believe that my husband has gone like this before my eyes without saying a last word to me. This pain will never pass,” Martine Moïse wrote in a translated message.
Ms Moïse was taken to the US for treatment following the assassination of her husband, President Jovenel Moïse, on 7 July. They had been married for 25 years.
The 47-year-old’s entire right arm was covered in bandages in the images.
In a post written in English, she added: “Thank you for the team of guardian angels who helped me through this terrible time. With your gentle touch, kindness and care, I was able to hold on.”
The Haitian first lady also released an audio statement on 10 July in which she said “mercenaries” had killed her husband with a hail of gunfire.
“You have to be a notorious criminal without guts to assassinate a president like Jovenel Moïse with impunity without giving him the chance to speak. You knew who the president was fighting against,” she said.
Mèsi ak tout moun ki ap ede mwen priye pou mwen rejwenn lavi.
Paske tout tan ou lopital lavi’w nan men Bondye ak doktè.⁰Mwen menm Martine Moïse mwen poko kwè Mari mwen ale konsa devan je’m san ke li pa di mwen yon dènye mo, doulè sa a pap janm pase. pic.twitter.com/ojdMEG79nA
— Martine Moïse (@martinejmoise) July 15, 2021
The investigation has led to 23 arrests so far, with three suspects having been killed. Who ordered the president’s murder and why remains unclear. Former Colombian commandos make up about 20 of the suspects.
The New York Times reported that Haitian authorities believe that the suspects met in Florida and the Dominican Republic during the months leading up to the assassination to plan how to rule the nation after the president had been killed and his power dissolved.
Thank you for the team of guardian angels who helped me through this terrible time. With your gentle touch, kindness and care, I was able to hold on. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! pic.twitter.com/wOOyj527bP
— Martine Moïse (@martinejmoise) July 15, 2021
The Pentagon has stated that some of the Colombian individuals were once trained by the US armed forces.
Lt Col Ken Hoffman said on Thursday that a “small number” of the Colombians involved in the assassination had been trained by the US military when they were members of the Colombian armed forces.
The former soldiers trained by Americans have not been identified, and what kind of training they received, or how many they were, has not been disclosed.
Haitian officials have claimed that doctor and pastor Christian Emmanuel Sanon who spent his time in Florida and Haiti worked with the other suspects to take power once Mr Moïse had been murdered.
Mr Sanon is in custody after a raid of his residence where law enforcement found six holsters, around 20 boxes of bullets, and a Drug Enforcement Administration cap. The hitmen who attacked the president’s residence in the capital of Port-au-Prince posed as members of the US agency.
But Haitian authorities haven’t specified how Mr Sanon was planning to seize power once the president was dead.
Haitian authorities are also investigating if the president’s own security detail were part of the conspiracy They detained the head of security at the presidential palace on Thursday.
Colombian authorities have said the security chief often visited their country on his way to other nations in the lead-up to the assassination.