The political tension surrounding Haiti’s presidential term dispute exploded into a dramatic confrontation on February 7, 2021 — the date the opposition said Moïse’s term should have ended — when the government announced it had foiled an alleged coup attempt. President Moïse announced that security forces had arrested 23 people, including a Supreme Court judge, a senior police officer, and several other figures, on charges of conspiracy against state security.
The allegations were met with deep skepticism by the opposition and by human rights organizations, who argued that the supposed coup plot was a fabrication designed to justify political repression and deflect attention from the constitutional question of whether Moïse was still legitimately the president. The arrest of a sitting Supreme Court judge — an institution the opposition had cited as supporting the argument that Moïse’s term had ended — was seen as particularly alarming.
Moïse used the alleged coup attempt to justify a wave of arrests and to consolidate his political position. Several of those detained were prominent figures whom the government accused of plotting to establish an alternative government on the date the opposition said the presidential term expired.
The events of February 7 marked a sharp escalation in the political confrontation and represented, for many observers, a turning point toward outright authoritarianism. With the judiciary under attack, the parliament absent, and opposition leaders threatened with arrest, the space for legitimate political opposition to the Moïse government had narrowed dramatically.