VOA collaborator was one of the journalists killed in Haiti in the attack on a hospital

A collaborator of the Voice of America was one of those killed in a gang attack during the reopening of the largest public hospital from Haiti’s capital earlier this week.

Another journalist was also killed in the attack and seven more were injured, underscoring the dangers facing media workers in a nation that has been plagued by gang violence for years.

Marckendy Natoux was a marketing manager for the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) and also served as freelancer of the Creole Service of the VOA and other media in Haiti, exercising his polyglot abilities, as he spoke French, Spanish, English and Creole.

Natoux began working for USAGM in 2022 and dedicated himself to publicizing the work of VOA Creole, according to the journalist’s colleague at USAGM, Iscar Blanco.

“He always offered a smile to everyone and a helping hand to anyone who needed it,” Blanco told the VOA.

Natoux is remembered as someone who was always willing to help his colleagues and community members. Blanco recalled how Natoux was always willing to help when journalists needed a microphone, a cable or anything else. And on weekends he often volunteered to help the local community, according to Blanco.

“I am sure that he will always be remembered for his dedication to his work, but beyond work, for his love as a father, husband and friend,” Blanco added.

Natoux is survived by his wife and two children.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it was “horrified” by the attack.

Jimmy Jean, reporter for the online television outlet Moun Afe Bonalso died in the Tuesday morning attack. One police officer was killed and another wounded in the shooting at Haiti State University Hospital, known locally as General Hospital.

“We send our deepest condolences to the families of those murdered and call on Haitian authorities to quickly bring these killers to justice,” a CPJ spokesperson said in a statement this week.

The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), a Miami-based nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting freedom of the press and expression in the Americas, condemned the attack in the strongest terms.

“Our sincere condolences and solidarity with the families and colleagues of the murdered journalists, in a country where the press does its work under total vulnerability and without the minimum security guarantees,” expressed the president of IAPA, José Roberto Dutriz, director general of La Prensa Gráfica, in El Salvador.

Carlos Jornet, second vice president of IAPA and president of the entity’s Freedom of the Press and Information Committee, said that “the violence of criminal groups, political instability and generalized insecurity continue to impact all aspects of life in the country.”

Jornet, director of the Argentine newspaper The Voice of the Interioradded that “it is necessary for the authorities to carry out a detailed investigation to identify those responsible and prosecute them under the full weight of the law.”

The Haitian Association of Journalists called the attack “a macabre scene comparable to terrorism, pure and simple.” The association also asked “the authorities to act with caution in their hasty decision-making, to avoid exposing journalists and other people who accompany them in their events to danger.”

A local gang leader named Johnson “Izo” Andre, of the Viv Ansanm, or Living Together, gang coalition, posted a video on social media claiming responsibility for the attack.

Members of the Viv Ansanm street gang coalition, which has taken control of much of the Haitian capital, surrounded the hospital and opened fire through a metal door. The gangs later said they were angry that the government had announced the reopening of the hospital without their permission.

According to the United Nations, in 2024, more than 5,300 people have died from gang-related violence in Haiti, and more than 2,100 people have been injured from gang-related violence.

[Con información de Liam Scott, VOA]

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