THE assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise has sent shockwaves throughout the Caribbean and the world at large. According to media reports, the President was killed in an attack on his Port-au-Prince home in the early hours of Wednesday, July 7, 2001. His wife, First Lady Martine Moise was also seriously injured in the attack and is currently receiving medical attention in the United States.

This is indeed sad news and even though the motive for the killing is still to be fully determined, it is widely believed to be the work of highly trained and armed mercenaries.

Guyana’s President Dr. Irfaan Ali has strongly condemned the assassination which he described as ‘a horrific act and a tragedy for Haiti and the Caribbean region as a whole.’ Several other world leaders have condemned the killing, including United States President Joe Biden, who described the killing as ‘henious and worrisome.’

The brutal and cold-blooded assassination of the late President can only be described as cowardly and must be condemned by all. Such actions have no place in civilised and law-governed societies and no effort should be spared to bring those responsible to justice. So far, security forces in the country have shot dead four suspected killers and captured two others.

Haiti’s interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph described the killing as a hateful, inhumane and barbaric act, and pledged to do everything possible to maintain law and order. He blamed the killing on heavily trained and armed individuals and pledged to do everything possible to bring those responsible to justice.

Haiti is a member of the Caribbean Community, having been admitted as the 15th member state on July 2, 2002. It got its independence from France on January 1, 1804, but remains one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere. As a country it has experienced over the decades, more than its fair share of political and constitutional trauma. President Moise himself in recent months faced massive and violent protests over his plans to hold a constitutional referendum aimed at strengthening his presidency.

As noted by President Ali, the killing compounded the disquieting political and constitutional crisis in the country and will in no way help to find a solution to the current political impasse in the country. Such murderous actions, he said, are repugnant to the values of the regional integration movement and incompatible with the democratic values and constitutional rule.

The Caribbean, it should be noted, does not have a culture of political assassinations and regime change through undemocratic and unconstitutional means. Except for a few dark spots, the region by and large has an entrenched culture of democratic rule and political stability. The assassinations of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop of Grenada in 1983 and Dr. Walter Rodney of Guyana under the Forbes Burnham presidency in 1980 continue to remain lasting stains on an otherwise stable and democratic architecture of the Region.

This latest assassination of President Moise will certainly go down as yet another shameful and disgraceful episode in our Caribbean political landscape and, regrettably, another setback for political stability in Haiti. This is an assault not only on the foundations of democratic and constitutional rule in Haiti, but in the entire Region and must not be allowed to take root.