7 ms·

> “A group of unidentified individuals, some of them speaking Spanish, attacked [...]” This is peculiar. Might just be too early for the dust to have settled,

> “A group of unidentified individuals, some of them speaking Spanish, attacked [...]” This is peculiar. Might just be too early for the dust to have settled, but both tagesschau.de [1] and Le Monde [2] report both Spanish and English for to be spoken by the attackers. Edit: The Guardian [3] also quotes only Spanish, but later speaks of an English-language announcement on a megaphone. Guess we'll have to wait for a bit until things converge to The Truth™ here. [1]: https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/amerika/haiti-praesident-moise-mord-101.html https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/amerika/haiti-praesident-m... [2]: https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2021/07/07/haiti-le-premier-ministre-annonce-l-assassinat-du-president-jovenel-moise_6087360_3210.html https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2021/07/07/hait... [3]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/07/haiti-president-jovenel-moise-reportedly-assassinated https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/07/haiti-presiden...

ecedeno 5y ago
Here they have the video where you can hear that announcement: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article252616688.html https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas...
- black_puppydog 5y ago
  You mean the megaphone part, right? Yeah, that seems to be it. I'm just curious because all four outlets I checked marked the "Spanish" or "English and Spanish" as direct quotes so I'm not sure if they got different sources or what happened.
  - neom 5y ago
    The New York Post (ugh) has a longer version, and it doesn't include the American voice at the start shouting about DEA operations. https://nypost.com/2021/07/07/haitian-president-jovenel-moise-assassinated-in-his-home/ https://nypost.com/2021/07/07/haitian-president-jovenel-mois...
  - RobertoG 5y ago
    What the megaphone guy says? I can't understand it.
    - elliekelly 5y ago
      I think: “DEA operations everybody stand down. DEA operations everybody back up, stand down.” The speaker definitely has a Southern American accent. The caption under the video makes it sound like the speaker was part of the security(?) team responding to the intrusion/assassination which is perhaps why there is confusion about the assailants speaking Spanish/English.
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
      - londons_explore 5y ago
        I doubt a response team in Haiti speak English with that accent - let alone would use English over a megaphone. Could the megaphone be a pre-recorded recording designed to delay identification of the perpetrators?
        tablespoon 5y ago
        > I doubt a response team in Haiti speak English with that accent - let alone would use English over a megaphone. Could there be some kind of DEA SWAT team or something that was stationed there that may have been called? > Could the megaphone be a pre-recorded recording designed to delay identification of the perpetrators? Could be. One possibility is that is there were Americans involved, but they were private mercenaries (e.g. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/aramroston/mercenaries-assassination-us-yemen-uae-spear-golan-dahlan https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/aramroston/mercenaries-...). It sounds like there are also similar private Latin American mercenaries (e.g. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/26/world/middleeast/emirates-secretly-sends-colombian-mercenaries-to-fight-in-yemen.html https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/26/world/middleeast/emirates...). The Miami Herald article says the Haitian government is saying these were mercenaries, not DEA agents. It also sounds like this president was highly unpopular and arguably illegitimate, so he likely had a lot of enemies. It's not inconceivable that some those may have decided to hire a mercenary group for an assassination. Maybe they hired a mixed group, which would explain the use of Spanish and English.
onetimemanytime 5y ago
Poor country but still a LOT of money to be made for certain elements. Probable someone paid a hit squad to do the deed for a reason or another. A lot of people have that kind of money to pay for killings, so that is not an issue. What comes after can be... Someone that follows Haitian politics could tell us the power struggle inside the country.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
LeifCarrotson 5y ago
It is a peculiar clue. For context, the majority language in Haiti is Haitian Creole, a French-derived local dialect. About half of the population, typically those better educated, involved in business, or involved in government, also speak French. Spanish and English are extremely minor languages in comparison. Spanish is spoken throughout Central America, including across the land border on the divided island in the wealthier Dominican Republic, and English is used by travelers and tourists. With a comparable economic disparity and ongoing immigration dispute, it would be analogous to an attack in Mexico by a group of unidentified individuals, some of them speaking English - the implication seems to be that the group is not native to Haiti. (Note that I did some fact checking, but I have no special or particularly recent knowledge here; this is speculation based on historical demographics - I haven't paid attention to Caribbean politics much at all in the past decade).
- e12e 5y ago
  > the implication seems to be that the group is not native to Haiti. Pure and wild speculation - but Spanish and English is what one would expect from graduates of the school of Americas/Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) or CIA/DEA training programs. Although I suppose at this point former graduates are running their own training under various cartels etc.
  - cpursley 5y ago
    Bingo
  - sudosysgen 5y ago
    That's possible, but Moise Jovenal was relatively buddy buddy with the state department. It could also be random mercenaries.
- cogman10 5y ago
  I have a sister that lived in the DR for a few years. Here's a bit of context from what I recall. * The Dominican Republic is the second poorest nation in the northern hemisphere. Haiti is the poorest. (so yes, technically wealthier, but not exactly swimming in the dough). * From what my sister describes, the people of the DR HATE the Haitians. * The DR itself is filled to the brim with corruption.
spoonjim 5y ago
Keep in mind that this would also be the easiest way to cast the assassins as “outsiders.” Trust but verify.

ecedeno 5y ago

Here they have the video where you can hear that announcement: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article252616688.html https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas...

black_puppydog 5y ago
You mean the megaphone part, right? Yeah, that seems to be it. I'm just curious because all four outlets I checked marked the "Spanish" or "English and Spanish" as direct quotes so I'm not sure if they got different sources or what happened.
- neom 5y ago
  The New York Post (ugh) has a longer version, and it doesn't include the American voice at the start shouting about DEA operations. https://nypost.com/2021/07/07/haitian-president-jovenel-moise-assassinated-in-his-home/ https://nypost.com/2021/07/07/haitian-president-jovenel-mois...
- RobertoG 5y ago
  What the megaphone guy says? I can't understand it.
  - elliekelly 5y ago
    I think: “DEA operations everybody stand down. DEA operations everybody back up, stand down.” The speaker definitely has a Southern American accent. The caption under the video makes it sound like the speaker was part of the security(?) team responding to the intrusion/assassination which is perhaps why there is confusion about the assailants speaking Spanish/English.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - londons_explore 5y ago
      I doubt a response team in Haiti speak English with that accent - let alone would use English over a megaphone. Could the megaphone be a pre-recorded recording designed to delay identification of the perpetrators?
      - tablespoon 5y ago
        > I doubt a response team in Haiti speak English with that accent - let alone would use English over a megaphone. Could there be some kind of DEA SWAT team or something that was stationed there that may have been called? > Could the megaphone be a pre-recorded recording designed to delay identification of the perpetrators? Could be. One possibility is that is there were Americans involved, but they were private mercenaries (e.g. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/aramroston/mercenaries-assassination-us-yemen-uae-spear-golan-dahlan https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/aramroston/mercenaries-...). It sounds like there are also similar private Latin American mercenaries (e.g. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/26/world/middleeast/emirates-secretly-sends-colombian-mercenaries-to-fight-in-yemen.html https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/26/world/middleeast/emirates...). The Miami Herald article says the Haitian government is saying these were mercenaries, not DEA agents. It also sounds like this president was highly unpopular and arguably illegitimate, so he likely had a lot of enemies. It's not inconceivable that some those may have decided to hire a mercenary group for an assassination. Maybe they hired a mixed group, which would explain the use of Spanish and English.

onetimemanytime 5y ago

Poor country but still a LOT of money to be made for certain elements. Probable someone paid a hit squad to do the deed for a reason or another. A lot of people have that kind of money to pay for killings, so that is not an issue. What comes after can be... Someone that follows Haitian politics could tell us the power struggle inside the country.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

LeifCarrotson 5y ago

It is a peculiar clue. For context, the majority language in Haiti is Haitian Creole, a French-derived local dialect. About half of the population, typically those better educated, involved in business, or involved in government, also speak French. Spanish and English are extremely minor languages in comparison. Spanish is spoken throughout Central America, including across the land border on the divided island in the wealthier Dominican Republic, and English is used by travelers and tourists. With a comparable economic disparity and ongoing immigration dispute, it would be analogous to an attack in Mexico by a group of unidentified individuals, some of them speaking English - the implication seems to be that the group is not native to Haiti. (Note that I did some fact checking, but I have no special or particularly recent knowledge here; this is speculation based on historical demographics - I haven't paid attention to Caribbean politics much at all in the past decade).

e12e 5y ago
> the implication seems to be that the group is not native to Haiti. Pure and wild speculation - but Spanish and English is what one would expect from graduates of the school of Americas/Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) or CIA/DEA training programs. Although I suppose at this point former graduates are running their own training under various cartels etc.
- cpursley 5y ago
  Bingo
- sudosysgen 5y ago
  That's possible, but Moise Jovenal was relatively buddy buddy with the state department. It could also be random mercenaries.
cogman10 5y ago
I have a sister that lived in the DR for a few years. Here's a bit of context from what I recall. * The Dominican Republic is the second poorest nation in the northern hemisphere. Haiti is the poorest. (so yes, technically wealthier, but not exactly swimming in the dough). * From what my sister describes, the people of the DR HATE the Haitians. * The DR itself is filled to the brim with corruption.

spoonjim 5y ago

Keep in mind that this would also be the easiest way to cast the assassins as “outsiders.” Trust but verify.