Eric Jean Baptiste (13 August 1970 – 28 October 2022) was a Haitian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

who served as the leader of the

Rally of Progressive National Democrats The Rally of Progressive National Democrats (french: Rassemblement des démocrates nationaux progressistes, RDNP) is a political party in Haiti. History The RDNP was founded in 1979 by then exiled president Leslie Manigat. It was registered of ...

from 16 August 2018 until his death on 28 October 2022. He was a candidate in the 2015 presidential election, representing the ''Mouvement Action Socialiste'' (MAS) party.

Biography

Eric Jean Baptiste was born in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

, Haiti. He was the youngest child in a family of seven children. Jean Baptiste was brought up in a Christian family. On 15 March 1990, Jean Baptiste created his first company, lottery business Père Eternel Loto, when he was 19 years old. On 24 January 2018, Jean Baptiste left the Mouvement Action Socialiste party. He was the leader of the

from 16 August 2018 until his

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

Death

Jean Baptiste was assassinated on the way to his home in the Laboule 12 area on 28 October 2022, when his car was shot up. The Ti Makak and Toto gangs had been fighting for control of the area at the time of his death. His bodyguard was also killed in the attack. Jean Baptiste had survived a shooting in 2018, suffering a bullet wound. Former senator

Yvon Buissereth Yvon Buissereth was a Haitian politician. He was assassinated in 2022 amidst unrest in the country. A former senator, he became a social housing official. He was found dead along with his nephew by their burned vehicle. Officials blamed gang viole ...

was assassinated and his body was set on fire in the same area a few months earlier.

References

1970 births 2022 deaths 21st-century Haitian politicians Politicians from Port-au-Prince Assassinated Haitian politicians Deaths by firearm in Haiti People murdered in Haiti 2020s assassinated politicians {{Haiti-bio-stub