President Biden Denies Haiti’s Request for Military Aid amid President Jouvenal Moïse’s Assassination

Haiti’s Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph has declared a state of emergency in the country and asked the U.S. to send soldiers for protection.

“We need U.S. troops to help us provide security to the population, to efficiently confront the COVID-19 pandemic and to assist in the investigation of Mr. Moïse’s assassination,” Joseph’s spokesman said.

The late president Moïse had named a new prime minister the day before he was killed, but Joseph “took charge” after the president was dead.

As Christian Headlines previously reported, Moïse was killed on Wednesday in an attack by an armed group of 28 men. The president’s wife, Martine Moïse, was critically wounded in the attack.

“I am alive, thanks to God,” she said in an audio message on Twitter. “I am alive, but I have lost my husband, Jovenel. … In the blink of an eye, the mercenaries entered my home and riddled my husband with bullets … without even giving him a chance to say a word. I am crying, it is true, but we cannot let the country lose its way. We cannot let his blood … have been spilled in vain.”

Moïse was 53.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in an interview with CNN last week that Moïse’s assassination was “a tragic tragedy.”

“It’s a horrific crime, and we’re so sorry for the loss that they are all suffering and going through, as many of them are waking up this morning and hearing this news,” she said. “And we stand ready and stand by them to provide any assistance that’s needed.”

Related:

Haiti President Jovenel Moïse Assassinated as Violence Overtakes the Nation’s Capital, Displacing Thousands

Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Alex Wong/Staff

Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.