Eric Jean Baptiste, a former presidential candidate and political party leader in Haiti, has been shot and killed, a party official said on Saturday.
The killing stunned many in a nation already in crisis.
Baptiste was killed on Friday in the community of Laboule in the capital, Port-au-Prince, along with his bodyguard, said Ricardo Nordain, spokesman for his Rally of Progressive National Democrats party, which was founded in 1979 by former Haitian president Leslie Manigat.
Photo: AFP
Baptiste also owned one of the biggest lottery companies in Haiti, Pere Eternel.
No one has been arrested.
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry said that he and others were revolted by the killing.
“The horrific assassination of the political leader Eric Jean Baptiste and his bodyguard has once again plunged the Haitian nation into turmoil. We strongly condemn this heinous crime against this patriot, this moderate politician committed to change,” he wrote on Twitter.
The UN Integrated Office in Haiti echoed Henry’s sentiments, saying it condemned the killing as it demanded justice and called on local authorities to improve the country’s deepening insecurity.
“Jean Baptiste was a committed politician, serving the consolidation of democracy and the rule of law in Haiti. His murder constitutes an attack on these fundamental values,” the office said.
The killing occurred in an area where the Ti Makak gang, which means “Little Macaques,” is fighting with the Toto gang for control of territory. The community is near Pelerin, where Haitian president Jovenel Moise was assassinated in his private residence last year.
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