Latin America Leaders Weigh In On Assassination Of President Of Haiti

By NAN Staff Writer

News Americas, WASHINGTON, D.C., Thurs. July 8, 2021: Latin American leaders are among those around the world expressing shock and disbelief at the brazen assassination of the President of Haiti in his private residence.

Leaders from Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela and Bolivia are among those who have condemned the murder.

Argentina’s Foreign Ministry reaffirmed its solidarity with Haiti and expressed its rejection of the use of violence while Boliva’s President, Luis Arce, sent condolences to the Haitian people.

“Argentina hopes that peace and tranquility will soon be recovered in the country and asks for respect for democratic institutions,” the Argentine ministry statement said. “It calls for the perpetrators of the crime to be quickly identified so that they can be held responsible for their actions.”

Colombia President Ivan Duque called the act cowardly and full of barbarity against the entire Haitian people. And he urged the Organization of American States to send an urgent mission to Haiti to “protect the democratic order.”

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador expressed condolences at a news conference in Mexico City on Wednesday.

“We embrace the people of Haiti for the regrettable assassination of the president of that country and his wife, it is something we regret very much,” he said.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera “called for unity and peace to strengthen democracy and find a way out of the serious crisis Haiti is enduring.”

Peruvian leader Francisco Sagasti said the killing “must not go unpunished.”

And Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza offered his “unconditional solidarity” on behalf of the Venezuelan people.

Moise, 53-year-old, was killed by gunmen posing as DEA agents, who invaded his private resident at 1 a.m. on Wednesday, July 7, 2021.

In videos circulating on social media, the gunmen – whose faces cannot be made out – can be heard yelling that they were the U.S. DEA as they entered Moise’s guarded residence under cover of nightfall before bursts of shots rang out. A U.S. government source has denied the DEA had anything to do with the assassination.

The current prime minister has declared a two-week state of emergency and also announced the launch of a manhunt for the killers as authorities in the country said the gunmen spoke English and Spanish, and appeared to include foreigners.