Haiti’s national police brought 15 arrested Colombians and the two US citizens in the capital Port-au-Prince. Interim police chief Leon Charles said eight other Colombians were still at large and three were killed.
The Haitian police also broke into the Taiwanese embassy in Port-au-Prince and arrested 11 suspects. This was announced by the Taiwanese embassy on Friday. The action went smoothly. Without any hesitation, Taiwan’s embassy gave the Haitian police the green light for the action.
Unlike most other countries, Haiti has had full official relations with Taiwan for 65 years. The Caribbean state is thus one of Taiwan’s 15 diplomatic allies. China sees Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic and tries to diplomatically isolate the island.
It was said from Bogota that apparently at least six of the Colombian participants were “former members of the national armed forces”. Colombia’s Defense Minister Diego Molano said he had instructed the police and the army to work with the Haitian authorities. The background to the attack remained unclear.
Arrested injured
The arrested people were seen sitting on the floor by the Haitian police with handcuffs on. Some of them were visibly injured. On a table were items that had been confiscated: several automatic weapons, machetes, sledge hammers, Colombian passports and cell phones. At least two of those arrested were captured by angry crowds, videos on social media show.
Head of state Moise (53) was shot dead in his residence on Wednesday night. His wife Martine was seriously injured and brought to the US city of Miami, a good 1000 kilometers away, for treatment.
