Haitian Prime Minister says he was the target of an assassination attempt

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Port-au-Prince (AFP) – Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry told AFP on Monday in an interview that he was the target of an assassination attempt during the weekend’s national day celebrations.

“An attempt has been made against me personally. My life has been in the crosshairs,” said Henry, who has ruled the country de facto since the July assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

Clashes between police and armed groups erupted on Saturday during official celebrations in the city of Gonaïves, some 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of the capital Port-au-Prince, where Haiti’s declaration of independence was signed over 200 years ago.

Photos provided to AFP by Henry’s office show a bullet mark on the windshield of his armored vehicle.

The events come weeks after groups of citizens and armed gang members in Gonaïves vehemently voiced their opposition to Henry’s visit to their city.

“I knew I was taking a risk,” Henry told AFP in a telephone interview.

“We cannot let bandits of all origins, driven by the lowest financial interests, blackmail the state,” he said.

Long plagued by poverty, natural disasters and gang violence, the Caribbean nation has been without a functioning parliament and with a crippled justice system for two years, and Moise’s assassination has only exacerbated the crisis. .

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