Port-au-Prince.- The former Haitian presidential candidate and general secretary of the Rassemblement des Démocrates Nationaux Progressiste (RDNP) party, Eric Jean Baptiste, was assassinated this Friday night in Port-au-Prince along with his bodyguard.
The Prime Minister of Haiti, Ariel Henry, has “strongly condemned this heinous crime” and has offered his condolences to the relatives of Baptiste, whose vehicle was shot on his way to his residence in Pétion- ville, an upper-class residential area.
Baptiste, who also Baptiste also owned one of the biggest lottery companies in Haiti, “Pere Eternel”, and his bodyguard were taken to a medical center but did not survive their injuries.
No one has been arrested so far.
The Laboule 12 area, a wealthy area of Haiti, has been controlled for some years by the Ti Makak armed group, which killed former senator Yvon Buissereth a few months ago.
Eric Jean Baptiste, who already escaped an assassination attempt years ago, succeeded Mirlande Hyppolite Manigat as head of the RDNP party in 2018.
He was also known for running a foundation named after him, which works in various neighborhoods and precarious regions of the country.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry offered his condolences to Jean Baptiste’s family on Saturday.