(July 7) The assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise follows a bitter constitutional power struggle in the poorest country in the Americas. The dispute had prompted months of widespread street protests, bloody clashes with police and opposition accusations that Moise was using heavy-handed tactics to cling to power. The long-troubled Caribbean nation of 11 million people -- located a little over 700 miles from Florida -- is suffering with the pandemic (it’s failed to vaccinate a single citizen), raging gang violence and kidnappings, and a faltering economy. The 2015-2016 presidential election was so chaotic that Moise, the eventual winner, wasn’t sworn into office until Feb. 7, 2017 -- 15 months after the initial first-round vote. As a result, Moise said his five-year term would run until Feb. 7, 2022. A coalition of opposition groups said his term began when his predecessor, Michel Martelly, stepped down on Feb. 7, 2016, and therefore ended on Feb. 7, 2021. In February, the government announced that almost two dozen people had been arrested for plotting a coup. Moise governed by decree after January 2020, when parliamentary terms expired without scheduled elections being held. The opposition said Moise was illegally amassing power and making laws in violation of the constitution. “I am not a dictator,” Moise told Haitians on Feb. 7. Among his most controversial initiatives was the creation of an intelligence service that reported directly to him. He also broadened the definition of “terrorism” to include fires and roadblocks -- common forms of protest. Non-governmental groups said Moise and his cronies dragged their feet on corruption investigations and colluded with violent gangs, sometimes to squelch dissent. --- Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake