The people of Haiti watched President Jovenel Moïse laid to rest on Friday, July 23, 2021. The funeral event witnessed random gunfire, unruly crowds, and considerable commotion outside of the security cordon. Many delegations attended the state funeral. The commotion outside of the cordon motivated the U.S. and U.N. delegations to leave the funeral before it was finished. The U.S. delegation was a disgrace. Leaving early because of some gunfire well outside the cordon is one issue that plagues weak U.S. administrations and officials. I am confident the security detail for the delegation led by our U.N. ambassador had the security of the movement well in hand. The true reason the delegation decided to leave early will likely never be known. Protocol calls for the U.S. delegation to be led by an administration official; president or vice president. Moïse was a head of state, assassinated in his home. The president or vice president should have led the U.S. delegation to a state funeral. Was Vice President Harris busy on Friday? The U.S. delegation appeared to be led by the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Think of the optics for the thousands of Haitians who are bewildered at who killed their president. Who couldn’t find the time to show up for a state funeral? Who left early?
Very few additional details have surfaced about the identity of the attackers, and nothing has surfaced about who ordered and paid for the attack. The festering issue remains, some of the assassins had direct links to DEA, FBI, and the United States Department of Justice? Who will benefit from the assassination also remains hidden. Silence on these few known details is not acceptable. No information on the facts surrounding the assassination causes the wound to the nation to fester. Failure to explain the events, conduct a thorough and credible investigation and address this atrocity will cause more rumors and unrest in Haiti. It will feed the propaganda machines of hostile nations who will use the silence of the U.S. government to fan the flames, and erode an already damaged U.S. government position in Haiti and the region. The world is watching the Biden administration, and they are showing weakness, a lack of resolve and moral authority.
Cuba, another important Caribbean nation, is experiencing the most significant, and widespread, public unrest in decades. Between Nov. 24 and July 21 three Cuban military generals died, and their bodies were cremated? This generates questions about who they were; active duty or retired? Why did they die and why were they cremated? Was it COVID? The one thing the communists are not afraid to do is hold trials, convict and execute their own disloyal officers. If these three were involved in something security or loyalty related, you can bet the rent they would have been arrested, tried and executed publicly. The regime in Cuba has a serious health issue with the spread of COVID, and they are using draconian methods to contain the spread and hide the seriousness of the issue from the public. There are almost no vaccines available on the island, and drug protocols to treat COVID are also all but unknown. Why doesn’t the U.S. government deliver vaccines to the island, with labels that this medicine is a gift for the people of Cuba from the people of the United States? Just a thought.
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