July 13, 2021—With Haiti’s political and economic future in flux following the assassination of President Jovanel Moïse last week, the GER offers a brief primer on who he was.
Jovanel Moïse
Age: 53 years
Party: Haitian Tèt Kale Party, a center-right party
Family: Married with three children
Career: Politician and Banana Exporter
Moïse, whom even critics have said wanted to end monopolies that favored the country’s elites, also reputedly looked to make money off of government contracts for his banana company (NY Times, July 7).
He presented himself as a reformer and battler of corruption who wanted to change the constitution to better serve the people. The country scheduled three elections this year, including a constitutional referendum, a legislative contest, and a presidential election.
Sugar and Bananas
Moise said he grew up on his father’s sugar plantation and gained personal wealth as a banana exporter.
It is critical to remember that even before Moïse, Haiti was the poorest country in Western Hemisphere. According to worldpopulationreview.com, Haiti’s per capita GDP is only $671. According to the World Bank, it was $1,172 in 2010 when the country was rocked by a major earthquake.
Haiti is still trying to recover from the quake, which killed hundreds of thousands of people. Since then it suffered a cholera outbreak accidentally brought to the country by U.N. aid workers, Hurricane Matthew in 2016, and political unrest. It also does not have an active COVID-19 vaccine program in place, according to many sources.
Interview
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