Haiti Says Farewell To Its Slain President

CapHa�tien, Haiti, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jul, 2021 ) :Mourners gathered Friday to say farewell to Haiti's slain president under tight security, just over two weeks after his assassination rattled a country mired in poverty, corruption and political instability.

Moise, who was 53 when he was shot dead in his home in the early hours of July 7, is being interred in Cap-Haitien, the main city in his native northern region.

As police patrolled relatively calm streets, relatives of Moise, government officials, supporters of the slain president and diplomats gathered at the site of the open-air funeral, which was expected to last several hours.

Moise's coffin was draped in the red, white and blue Haitian flag and the presidential sash, and surrounded by flowers. Military guards kept watch. Large screens were set up for mourners to watch the event.

Moise's widow Martine -- who was seriously wounded in the attack that killed her husband, and required treatment in the United States -- was due to speak, as was one of his sons, the government said.

US President Joe Biden sent a high-level delegation to the funeral, including his ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, and his new special envoy to Haiti, Daniel Foote.

So far, more than 20 people have been arrested, most of them Colombians, and police say the plot was organized by Haitians with political ambitions and links outside the country.

But the case remains murky, with many unanswered questions, such as how no members of the presidential security detail suffered injuries in the brazen assault.

Haitians have expressed shock that those tasked with protecting the president and his home failed him so abjectly.

The impoverished Caribbean nation is riddled with crime and powerful gangs -- problems that were exacerbated during Moise's presidency Earlier this week, clashes broke out in Cap-Haitien when police chief Leon Charles visited ahead of the ceremony. He was booed and heckled while inspecting security arrangements for the funeral.

Local residents blame the police chief for not protecting Moise, whose death has rekindled long-standing tensions between the north of Haiti and the west.

Those issues stem in part from historic racial divisions dating back to French colonialism between northern blacks who are descendants of slaves and lighter-skinned Haitians of mixed race living in the south and west.

Some residents have even set up barricades on roads leading to Cap-Haitien to keep people from the capital Port-au-Prince from attending the funeral.

"We are going to do everything we can to honor him the way he deserves, in line with his importance for our city," said Cap-Haitien Mayor Yvrose Pierre.