Haitian President Jovenel Moïse had been killed in a 'well-coordinated attack by a highly trained and heavily armed group.'
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Despite Joseph's assurances that order would prevail, there was confusion about who should take control and widespread anxiety among Haitians. Authorities declared a"state of siege" in the country and closed the international airport. The assassination will only further complicate the situation for a country that was already grappling with a deteriorating economic and political crisis, CBS News' Pamela Falk reported. remain high in Haiti, where few have been vaccinated against the disease. Food and fuel prices are high thanks to inflation, and more than half of the population lives in poverty.
The parties added that they hope the National Police will take all necessary measures to protect lives and property, and they called on Haitians to be"extremely vigilant." Former President Michel Martelly, whom Moïse succeeded, called the assassination"a hard blow for our country and for Haitian democracy, which is struggling to find its way.""The country's security situation is under the control of the National Police of Haiti and the Armed Forces of Haiti," Joseph said in a statement from his office."Democracy and the republic will win.
The United Nations Security Council will meet Thursday morning to discuss the assassination, according to the France Mission."I thought there was an earthquake, there was so much shooting," said the woman who spoke on condition of anonymity because she fears for her life."The president had problems with many people, but this is not how we expected him to die. This is something I wouldn't wish on any Haitian.
"At this hour, we don't know who did this, what their end game is, what else they have planned," he said, noting that Moïse had a long list of enemies."There were a lot of people who wanted him gone. And there were a lot of people whom he wanted gone." Haiti's economic, political and social woes have deepened recently, with gang violence spiking heavily in Port-au-Prince, inflation spiraling and food and fuel becoming scarcer at times in a country where 60% of the population makes less than $2 a day. These troubles come as Haiti still tries to recover from the devastating 2010 earthquake and Hurricane Matthew that struck in 2016.