Haiti First Lady Returns Home To Plan Funeral After Husband’s Assassination
Haiti first lady Martine Moïse returned home Saturday (July 17), nearly two weeks after her husband President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated by intruders at their private estate in a bold middle-of-the-night attack that left her critically wounded.
According to the Miami Herald, the 47-year-old first lady, who was wounded in the right arm, was flown to Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport after the attack on July 7 and immediately taken to Jackson Health System’s Ryder Trauma Center, where she underwent surgery.
On Saturday, the emotional widow, her arm in a sling, returned home, arriving at Toussaint Louverture International Airport at the end of a charter flight from Miami with members of her family, the Herald writes. She was greeted by acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph and other members of her late husband’s administration.
The first lady will help prepare for her husband’s funeral with a government committee, according to the report. The Prime Minister announced Friday (July 16) that a funeral for the slain president is scheduled to be held on Friday, July 23 at the northern city of Cap-Haïtien, near the president’s birthplace and where he began his career as an entrepreneur.
More than 20 people have been arrested in connection with the president’s assassination, including 18 Colombian and five Haitians, several of whom have ties to South Florida, the Herald reports.
In an effort to prevent further unrest, representatives of several nations issued a joint statement Saturday pushing for elections to be held before the end of the year.
“As Haiti faces serious dangers, the members of the group express the wish that all political, economic and civil society actors in the country fully support the authorities in their efforts to restore security throughout the territory, including in areas currently plagued by gang violence, to hold free, fair, transparent and credible legislative and presidential elections as soon as possible, and to ensure that every citizen receives adequate services of the State,” the statement reads.
