JIM WYSS Bloomberg News
Haiti requested help from U.S. troops to stabilize the country after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise plunged the Caribbean nation into political uncertainty.
Prime Minister Claude Joseph confirmed Haiti had requested assistance from the U.S. military to protect infrastructure and prepare for elections in an interview with the Associated Press.
Officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security were traveling to Port-au-Prince to assess the situation and lend support, White House Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Friday as more details emerged about the Colombian-led hit squad implicated in the crime.
Haiti’s police say they detained 19 men: 17 Colombians and two U.S. citizens of Haitian descent, and killed four. The police say 28 people were part of the hit team, allegedly led by retired Colombian soldiers, which carried out the first murder of a sitting Haitian president in more than a century. It remains unclear who ordered the attack.
Moise’s assassination further destabilizes the poorest nation in the Americas, which has been gripped by gang violence, kidnappings, protests and the pandemic. It hasn’t had a functioning legislature since 2020 and the head of the Supreme Court — who might have replaced Moise — recently died due to COVID-19.
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