Widow of assassinated Haitian president arrives in Miami for treatment
Haiti's first lady, Martine Moise, was seriously wounded in the assault in which her husband, President Jovenel Moise, was shot dead.
The first lady of Haiti, Martine Moise, arrived on Wednesday at the Fort Lauderdale executive airport, north of Miami (USA), to receive treatment after being seriously injured in the assault in which her husband, President Jovenel Moise, was shot and killed.
The Haitian ambassador in Washington, Bocchit Edmond, had previously spoken with some media about the possible transfer of the first lady to Miami for treatment.
Videos from local South Florida media show that the Trinty Air Ambulance plane that brought first lady Martine Moise landed at around 3:30 p.m. today (19:30 GMT) at a Fort Lauderdale executive airport.
According to the Local 10 television channel, the first lady has stable but "critical" vital signs and will receive care at Baptist Hospital.
Before the arrival of Martine Moise, not yet officially confirmed, Florida congressmen and leaders of the Haitian community expressed their fear that the situation in Haiti would deteriorate further.
Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, representative of the district where the large Haitian community is concentrated in South Florida, urged the acting Prime Minister of Haiti, Claude Joseph, to ask US President Joe Biden to provide "security additional "to your country.
Wilson, from the Democratic Party and with strong ties to Haiti as the representative in Congress of the district where Little Haiti is located, urged the Haitian people to "remain calm during this international crisis and to unite to save their nation," wrote the congressman on Twitter.
Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio said the "cowardly cold-blooded assassination of President Jovenel Moise will only bring more hardship to the people of Haiti and further destabilize the economy."
The Consulate General of Haiti in Miami, which serves a community that reaches some 400,000 people throughout Florida, was closed, according to Efe, and the only signs of the assassination were the flag at half mast and a bouquet of flowers that someone left at the gate.
Efe called the consulate to confirm the first lady's trip, but received no response.
Some residents of Little Haiti expressed to local media their fear that violence would break out in the oldest republic in America and at the same time the least developed country on the continent.
"Violence calls for violence and it is not a solution for the isis of the country," said Father Reginald Jean-Mary, pastor of Notre Dame D'Haiti parish.
President Biden on Wednesday condemned the "atrocious" assassination of the Haitian president and said that it is a "very worrying" sign of the state of the political crisis in Haiti.
Frederica Wilson declared herself "shocked" by the murder and vowed not to create "further havoc for a nation with an already extremely complex situation."
Haiti has suffered a strong political crisis since mid-2018 and experienced its most serious moment to date on February 7, the day on which Jovenel Moise denounced that the opposition, with the support of some judges, was plotting a coup.
At the same time, insecurity has been aggravated especially since the beginning of June by territorial struggles between armed gangs vying for control of the poorest neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince.
In 2018, there were 687,000 people in the United States who were born in Haiti, according to institutions dedicated to immigration.
The number more than tripled from 1990 to 2018, especially after the 2010 earthquake.
Haitian immigrants are, among the Caribbean, the most numerous after Cubans, Dominicans and Jamaicans.
The Haitian ambassador in Washington, Bocchit Edmond, had previously spoken with some media about the possible transfer of the first lady to Miami for treatment.
Videos from local South Florida media show that the Trinty Air Ambulance plane that brought first lady Martine Moise landed at around 3:30 p.m. today (19:30 GMT) at a Fort Lauderdale executive airport.
According to the Local 10 television channel, the first lady has stable but "critical" vital signs and will receive care at Baptist Hospital.
Before the arrival of Martine Moise, not yet officially confirmed, Florida congressmen and leaders of the Haitian community expressed their fear that the situation in Haiti would deteriorate further.
Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, representative of the district where the large Haitian community is concentrated in South Florida, urged the acting Prime Minister of Haiti, Claude Joseph, to ask US President Joe Biden to provide "security additional "to your country.
Wilson, from the Democratic Party and with strong ties to Haiti as the representative in Congress of the district where Little Haiti is located, urged the Haitian people to "remain calm during this international crisis and to unite to save their nation," wrote the congressman on Twitter.
Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio said the "cowardly cold-blooded assassination of President Jovenel Moise will only bring more hardship to the people of Haiti and further destabilize the economy."
The Consulate General of Haiti in Miami, which serves a community that reaches some 400,000 people throughout Florida, was closed, according to Efe, and the only signs of the assassination were the flag at half mast and a bouquet of flowers that someone left at the gate.
Efe called the consulate to confirm the first lady's trip, but received no response.
Some residents of Little Haiti expressed to local media their fear that violence would break out in the oldest republic in America and at the same time the least developed country on the continent.
"Violence calls for violence and it is not a solution for the isis of the country," said Father Reginald Jean-Mary, pastor of Notre Dame D'Haiti parish.
President Biden on Wednesday condemned the "atrocious" assassination of the Haitian president and said that it is a "very worrying" sign of the state of the political crisis in Haiti.
Frederica Wilson declared herself "shocked" by the murder and vowed not to create "further havoc for a nation with an already extremely complex situation."
Haiti has suffered a strong political crisis since mid-2018 and experienced its most serious moment to date on February 7, the day on which Jovenel Moise denounced that the opposition, with the support of some judges, was plotting a coup.
At the same time, insecurity has been aggravated especially since the beginning of June by territorial struggles between armed gangs vying for control of the poorest neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince.
In 2018, there were 687,000 people in the United States who were born in Haiti, according to institutions dedicated to immigration.
The number more than tripled from 1990 to 2018, especially after the 2010 earthquake.
Haitian immigrants are, among the Caribbean, the most numerous after Cubans, Dominicans and Jamaicans.
