Florida lawmakers and immigrants respond to the assassination of Haiti

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STATEWIDE — With so many Haitian Americans among their voters, Florida lawmakers responded quickly on Wednesday to news of the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moss.

What you need to know Florida lawmakers, legislators, and immigrants are reacting to the assassination of Haiti’s president. The Orlando area has the fourth largest number of Haitian immigrants in the US The Tampa area ranks tenth in US Senator Rubio: The assassination “will only lead to more hardships for the Haitian people”

Moyes’ killing and the shooting and wounding of his wife, Martin Moyes, came after months of protests as opposition leaders demanded Moyes step down.

Opponents argued that the president’s term expired in February 2021, and reportedly suggested he was setting Haiti on a path back to authoritarianism.

“The assassination of Haitian President Moise was an appalling act and stands as a clear call for swift and decisive action to bring political stability and peace to a nation in crisis,” U.S. Representative Val Demings, an Orlando Democrat, said in a statement. Twitter.

It called for “full transparency and an independent investigation” into the shooting.

In May, Demings joined three other members of Congress to announce the formation of Haiti’s House of Representatives bloc. In a press release at the time, Demings quoted the four members as saying that they would “raise and listen to the Haitian voices that must shape a democratic future that serves all Haitians, not the few.”

With 39,000 Haitian immigrants, the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford metro area has the fourth largest population in the United States, according to the Immigration Policy Institute, citing 2018 data.

Haitian immigrant Wilna Destin, a resident of Central Florida, said she was praying early Wednesday morning when she received the news of Moyes’ assassination.

“It was very upsetting,” she told Spectrum News. “It’s a sad moment.”

Destin said she is concerned for the safety of her mother, family and friends who still live in Haiti. She also worries about the “street poor” who lack help and communication.

“It’s very scary,” she said.

At the start of a coronavirus news briefing, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, husband of Representative Val Demings, offered his “condolences to President Moise’s family and to those residing here within Orange County from Haiti.”

Southeast Florida is by far the largest population of Haitian immigrants in the United States. The Immigration Policy Institute said that in 2018, the Tampa Bay area was the 10th most populous, with 9,000.

US Senator Marco Rubio, a Miami Republican, condemned on Twitter the “cold-blooded murder of President Moyes”.

Rubio added that the assassination “will only lead to more hardship for the Haitian people and further destabilize the country.”

The cold-blooded murder of the president of #Haiti in his home, in the middle of the night, bears all the signs of a carefully planned premeditated murder by foreign mercenaries.

Those behind this heinous crime must be identified and brought to justice.

– Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 7, 2021

Reports said that gunmen killed the president and wounded his wife in their home in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The shootings threatened to plunge the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere into deeper political turmoil.

The event creates another crisis for Haiti, as President Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigned from the presidency under US pressure in 2004 and where an earthquake killed at least tens of thousands of people in 2010.

“It’s sad that a country that really needs hope and help is now on a hiatus,” said Tim Detellis, president of Orlando-based New Missions, which says it establishes churches and services in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

U.S. Representative Frederica Wilson, a Democrat who represents parts of South Broward and North Miami-Dade counties, urged President Joe Biden to appoint a special envoy “who can play a role in facilitating the deployment of key diplomatic resources.”

Biden said in a statement that the United States “offers its condolences to the people of Haiti, and we stand ready to assist as we continue to work for a safe Haiti.”

US Rep. Charlie Crest, D. St. “I pray for peace and unity during this difficult time,” Petersburg wrote on Twitter.

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