Haiti is in upheaval after the assassination Wednesday of President Jovenel Moise and the shooting of his wife, first lady Martine Moise, who is in critical condition and is reportedly headed to Miami for treatment.

Stepping in to replace Jovenel Moise is interim prime minister Claude Joseph, who has condemned the “inhumane and barbaric act,” and called for calm in the Caribbean nation.

Moise appointed Joseph as interim prime minister on April 14 after the resignation of Joseph Jouthe.

But little is known of Joseph. According to his LinkedIn page, he served as a visiting assistant professor at the Department of Public Policy at the University of Connecticut and earned a doctorate in public policy from the Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy at The New School in New York. He also taught at Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York.

The Miami Herald ran an op-ed in March in which Joseph praised Moise for working to stabilize Haiti.

“To make it possible for the next administration, and those thereafter, to govern effectively and deliver the positive change for which the people of our country have waited and suffered for far too long, we have to fix our faulty foundation. We have to prevent the same cycle from occurring again: political deadlock, chaos, instability, repeat” the op-ed read.

"Before leaving office next February, President Moise is working to deliver constitutional change, and it will mean something. It will give our country a chance."

Joseph has 14 thousand followers on Twitter. He has not posted a comment Wednesday following Moise's assassination.

Moise began his term as Haiti's president in February 2017. He faced calls for his resignation in 2019.

Haiti has a population of 11.4 million and about 60% of its people live in poverty. The country has struggled amid the pandemic. UNICEF said in May that severe acute childhood malnutrition is expected to more than double in 2021 due to the pandemic, rising crime and a lack of resources.