Moïse's widow charged in relation to his murder

Feb. 20, 2024

A Haitian judge charged 51 people in the assassination conspiracy that culminated in the 2021 murder of President Jovenel Moïse — including his widow, Martine, who was wounded in the attack that killed her husband. The indictment obtained by media yesterday accuses the former first lady of complicity in the assassination and associating with criminals. It also charges Claude Joseph, who briefly led the country after Moïse’s death and former national police chief Léon Charles, who led the initial investigations into the murder.

The allegations against Martine Moïse stem from former Justice Ministry official Joseph Felix Badio — who, according to the indictment, was working for the plotters who promised to nominate him minister of the interior after the president’s removal, reports the Washington Post. The indictment does not accuse her of planning the killing nor does it offer any direct evidence of her involvement, notes the New York Times.

The indictment, dated Jan. 25, was obtained by AyiboPost, an online Haitian news website, and raises questions about the former first lady’s account that she hid under the bed during the attack that killed her husband.

The indictment also notes that a couple of days before the attack, Martine Moïse cleared out her things from the National Palace. A witness alleges that two days after the assasination, she told the palace’s secretary general that her husband “had not done anything for us” as president and she wanted to succeed him in office with the help of then-Prime Minister Claude Joseph, reports the Miami Herald.

The judge’s indictment notes that the former first lady not only refused two invitations to appear before the judge’s chambers to answer questions about her husband’s killing, but her statements about “are so ensnared by contradictions that they ultimately discredited themselves.” (Miami Herald)

The indictment could further inflame tensions in Haiti, which is currently governed without a single elected official, and where gangs exert violent territorial control over large swathes of the country.

A separate case on Moïse’s killing is being tried in Miami, where six of 11 defendants have pleaded guilty to a plot to send Colombian mercenaries to kidnap Moïse, a plan that at the 11th hour was changed to a plot to murder him, reports Reuters.

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Regional Relations

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El Salvador

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Guatemala

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Colombia

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Peru

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Correction: Yesterday I quoted an Associated Press article saying massive Mexican protests in defense of the National Electoral Institute were organized by opposition parties. While opposition to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was a unifying factor in the protest, the demonstrations were in fact convoked by civic groups and citizen movements.