The first lady of Haiti, Martine Marie Etienne Joseph, passed away this Wednesday after being shot.
Martine was hospitalized after an unidentified group attacked her private residence and immediately assassinated her husband, President Jovenel Moïse.
This occurred Tuesday night amid a growing political and economic crisis and an increase in gang violence.
Prime Minister Claude Joseph condemned the “detestable, inhuman and barbarous act” and affirmed that the Haitian National Police and other authorities had the situation in the Caribbean country under control.
Discontent and instability had been on the rise in the country, of more than 11 million people, during Moïse’s tenure. Their economic, political, and social problems have worsened, and gang violence has exploded in Port-au-Prince. Inflation has also risen, and both food and fuel are becoming increasingly scarce. 60% of the population earns less than two dollars a day.
Haiti has yet to recover from the devastating 2010 earthquake and Hurricane Matthew, which hit the country in 2016.
Moïse, 53, had been ruling by decree for more than two years after the country failed to hold a scheduled election, which led to the dissolution of Parliament. Opposition leaders accused him of trying to increase his power, for example, by passing a decree that limited the powers of a court that audits government contracts or with another that created an intelligence agency that only responded to the president.
