Assassination threatens to destabilise Haiti further

Significance

The assassination follows months of political turmoil and rising gang violence and comes just weeks before elections, scheduled for September 26. Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who has taken charge of the country, said yesterday that measures were being taken “to guarantee the continuity of the state and to protect the nation".

Impacts

• Further political assassinations would exacerbate unrest.
• The Dominican Republic has closed its border, fearing a migrant surge; the situation will bolster public support there for a border wall.
• The UN Security Council meets today and may authorise emergency action in Haiti; any substantial redeployment, however, would take time.