Sometime Haitian official murdered near his home

Haiti’s former Secretary of State for Population, Dr. Laurent Beaugé was assassinated this week, according to a Friday statement from former Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Despite his medical career and training as a lung specialist, he was known for his political commitments and pushed for a national census before the collapse of Henry’s government last year, according to the Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste. Beaugé served as the national coordinator of the Non-Aligned Sector movement, according to a social media post by the Haiti Information Project, a news aggregator.

Beaugé was young and fiery with unshakable convictions, Henry wrote. Beaugé hoped to fight in the battle the people of Haiti are waiting for, but good seeds have been sown and will grow, Henry added of his former cabinet member.

What were the circumstances of the death? After Beaugé dropped his child off at school, people on a motorbike attempted to kidnap him not far from his house, according to the Haiti Information Project. As the doctor attempted to flee, the kidnappers shot at him and fatally wounded him.

He was killed on a street near his home, Le Nouvelliste reported, citing a statement by a government official and video footage circulating on social media. A local radio station shared a video appearing to show his SUV abandoned in the middle of the road.

The island nation suffered severe instability for over a year after violent gangs all but overthrew the ruling government. Henry resigned as prime minister in early 2024 amid the surging violence which has continued. Armed gangs in Haiti killed over 5,500 people last year and injured over 2,000 more, according to a February report from the United Nations. The report showed that over 1,700 people were killed in gang attacks in the last four months of 2024 alone, with over 400 more injured.

Dig deeper: Read my report from last November on the FAA stopping all flights in and around Haiti after bullet holes were found in exiting commercial aircraft.