Exclusive CNN interview with the first lady of Haiti

Haiti's First Lady Describes Her Husband's Murder 4:13

(CNN) -

When Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was brutally murdered in his room last month, there was only one witness there who saw him.

And it turns out I knew him better than anyone.

Martine Moïse, the first lady of Haiti, was found bleeding on the floor next to the body of her husband, Jovenel Moïse, on July 7.

But he survived the mysterious attack and is now urging the international community to act to bring the killers to justice.

During an interview she gave to CNN in South Florida on Sunday, Ms Moïse - who is still dressed in mourning, and her arm is bandaged from the wrist almost to the shoulder - described chilling details of the attack and demanded help. the world to solve the murder.

"Someone gave the order and someone paid the money. Those are the people we are looking for. I want the help of the United Nations Security Council to find those people," he said.

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Ms. Moïse is the only eyewitness to her husband's murder.

He is also the only other known victim.

His elbow and forearm are shattered by a hail of bullets he received when the attackers entered the presidential suite.

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The first time she knew something was wrong was when she and her husband heard gunshots outside their home around 1 a.m. Once they realized the armed men had entered the home, they tried to hide on the floor behind his bed, he said.

But at that moment, even Moïse did not believe what was about to happen.

"At the time, I didn't even think they were going to be able to get into the room we were in, because we had about 30 or 50 security guards (in the house)," he said.

They did, however, enter a massive security breach that the Haitian authorities have yet to explain.

At least two high-ranking security chiefs are currently in prison, including the presidential security chief, Dimitri Herard, and the palace's security coordinator, Jean Laguel Civil.

This is how Jovenel Moïse's head of security was formed 4:39

Moïse said that, from where she was lying on the ground, her arm broken and bleeding in multiple places, she could only see the shoes of those who had entered.

He estimates that about twelve men entered the room, speaking in Spanish and looking for something specific.

"They went into the room to look for something, because I heard them say 'It's not that, it's not that ... that's it' (in Spanish). Which means they found what they were looking for."

Only then did they notice the president, who was on the floor, and made a phone call that was fatal, he recalled with devastating calm.

"He was alive at the time. They said he was tall and thin and black, and maybe the person on the phone confirmed to the attacker that it was him. Then they shot him on the ground," he said.

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Her husband will be shot 12 times and found bullet holes in his face, torso, legs and arms, according to an initial report by investigators.

The attackers never addressed the president directly, and Mr. Moïse said nothing to them in the moments leading up to his execution, according to his wife.

"Once the president was shot, that's when I thought, 'It's over for both of us.' And I closed my eyes, you know, I didn't think about anything else. I thought, 'It's over. This is our last day,'" he said. .

But the attackers left without shedding any more blood.

Moïse thinks they thought she was dead.

Even after the attack, the security guards tasked with protecting Haiti's first family did not arrive.

It was a maid who finally found Ms Moïse in the room soaked in blood, and asked her to bring one of her husband's ties to serve as a tourniquet on his arm, she said.

Finally, a team from the National Police arrived to take her away, first to a local hospital that she barely remembers and then by plane to a Miami hospital with her children.

Investigation of the assassination in Haiti takes an unexpected turn 1:09

Moïse said that when he left his home in the early morning darkness, he was struck by the absence of the usual guards on the compound's grounds.

There are usually dozens of guards posted around the house, he says, and their bedrooms are in fact in the basement of the house, to ensure a smooth shift rotation.

"The guards weren't leaving without an order. Maybe they got an order to leave, this is what I think (happened)," he said.

"I've been thinking a lot about how this could have happened."

"It would have been 50 against 28, we had more security than them (...) I think the president died with the hope that his security team would come," he said.

Haitian authorities had previously said that not a single guard was injured when the attackers broke through the main gate, crossed the compound, through the main gate and searched the president's bedroom.

In the ongoing investigation, what the presidential security guards know, saw or did are key questions.

At least 24 police officers are under investigation, according to Haitian Police Chief Leon Charles.

Twelve were arrested and four were accused of working closely with the group of alleged Colombian mercenaries suspected of carrying out the attack, according to National Police spokeswoman Marie Michele Vernier.

However, as previously reported by CNN, judicial investigators were not allowed to meet or collect the testimony of any guards who witnessed the attack.

Haitian authorities are not short of suspects in the assassination plot: at least 44 people are in custody now, including 18 Colombians and at least three US citizens.

But despite the arrests of a Florida-based pastor and a former Haitian Justice Ministry official who are accused of coordinating parts of the attack, no clear ringleader or motive has yet emerged.

None of the suspects have even been formally charged.

Ariel Henry sworn in as Prime Minister of Haiti 2:08

The first lady - who spoke quietly and with precision in Haitian Creole, French and English in turns - was composed and caring, a transformed woman in front of the empty-eyed hospital patient seen in photos tweeted from her account. officer in the days after the murder.

Her face showed little emotion as she recounted the bloody night, beyond a brief wry laugh at the suggestion that the masterminds of the murder are among the suspects identified so far in the Haitian authorities' investigation.

The real masterminds are still at large, believes Ms Moïse.

"The people who arrested are the people who pulled the trigger. They wouldn't have pulled the trigger without warrants. So the main characters we need are the people who paid for it. And the people who gave the warrant," he said.

Moïse is not sure that local authorities will be able to discover the truth on their own.

He asserts that what the Haitian people need is an independent UN-led investigation. What the Haitian people need, he said, is an independent UN-led investigation and that potentially the case will one day reach the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Officials from the US and Colombian governments are already supporting the ongoing investigation into the murder, and their involvement is widely cited in the capital, Port-au-Prince, as key to its credibility.

However, the investigation is opaque, and several sources close to it have told CNN they are uneasy about repeated protocol violations, failures to protect investigators from death threats, and battles over access to key evidence. .

New video shows suspects in Moïse's murder 3:02

"Planning for months to kill a president and not letting anyone around him know about it is a terrible thing. This showed me that the security and intelligence systems of my country need work. If these people had been there for months and we would have had a system intelligence that worked, the president would have known, "Moïse said.

There are more vile forces at play than incompetence, Moïse believes. 

"There are powerful people in Haiti. And because of their power, I'm not sure the current investigation can find answers," she said.

Her late husband was a controversial figure.

Civil society leaders accused him of trying to consolidate power by refusing to hold elections, weakening democratic protections and turning a blind eye to gang violence.

He also made dangerous enemies among the country's powerful oligarchs by trying to end or rewrite lucrative contracts with the state, his wife said.

Speaking at the president's funeral in the northern city of Cap Haitien last week, the first lady warned that bloodthirsty "birds of prey" were still free in Haiti, hoping to drive away to the next possible reformers.

This was the funeral of Jovenel Moise in Haiti 2:18

"Is it a crime to want to free the state from the clutches of the corrupt oligarchs? Is this a great crime?" He said.

"Jovenel has shown us the way, he has opened our eyes, so let's not let the blood of our president spill in vain," he added, in one of several statements that fueled rumors that he could one day run for office. post.

Moïse dodges questions about his own presidential ambitions with the grace of veteran politics, but he doesn't shy away from politically charged issues.

She argued, for example, that the interim government should rush to hold new elections, as well as the constitutional referendum that her husband defended, which gives more powers to the presidency.

Civil society leaders argue that the elections will be neither fair nor free in the current climate of insecurity, which has included widespread kidnappings and gang forces.

However, the elections are scheduled for the end of September.

"I think that, with the elections coming up, with the constitution that is also changing, we will have a better country," Moïse told CNN.

"Not in five years, probably not in 10. But we have hope."

Jovenel Moïse's widow says goodbye to her husband in Haiti 0:46

For the immediate future, she insists that she will focus on her children, their recovery, and ensuring that the international community that has intervened so often on Haiti's issues now guarantees the Caribbean country a top-notch, independent murder investigation. .

Even though she is dwarfed by her new entourage of burly American private security agents and must face an overwhelming series of medical procedures to regain the use of her damaged arm, she is ready to fight.

"That's what gives you hope. You fight," he said softly.

"I'll ask and ask and ask until I get it," he added.

Etant Dupain contributed to this report.