On July 7th, 2021, the Haitian president, Jovenel Moise, was assassinated in his own home. Many residents in Haiti were shocked, but some were not surprised by such a catastrophic event. Haitians have been going through tough times in their own country, and this grim assassination wasn’t what most Haitians were concerned with. Multiple groups in the country started to thrive more and more after the assassination, and it doesn’t seem like this conflict will be ending any time soon. There have been clashes between police forces, along with other government branches versus armed groups. There have been terrible fights, with quantities of other Haitians right in the middle of this warzone.

This assassination wasn’t just out of the blue, according to mutliple sources. “He told me a lot of people were spending a lot of money to murder him.” a Haitian senator stated. The Haitian senator, presumed to be Joseph Lambert, was close friends with the president. The president would respond to most of the senator’s questions and would prove his point out loud, responding that “this is reality.” Most of the Haitians in power were close friends with the president at the time. However, they did not want to disclose their identity or information any further. 

Most describe the president as a powerless man, not isolated and not in control, and that he was being swayed by gangs that sought to take to the streets with violence. Some Haitians even said that the president lacked skills in some aspects of his career, and wasn’t truly against the gang violence that surrounded and caused heavy problems that Haiti still faces today. 

Guy Francois, someone who stepped up to speak about the situation, used to serve with the president as a minister of citizenship. He explained that the president “…was putting things in order. Here, when you put things in order, you die.” Some had very negative thoughts of the president, and saw his death as a good impact to have in Haiti. But some would lead you to believe that this was only the beginning of the downfall that Haiti would soon follow some day.

Gang warfare sprawled in vast majorities across Haiti, where resources like water and foods were considered to be scarce in those territories. You would run the risk of getting kidnapped, mugged, or even killed in the gang’s territory. The only explanation for these barbarous acts dwindles down to the main source that everyone is scrounging for in Haiti. Power.