In the case of the murdered Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, more leads lead to Colombia. The chief of the local police said the perpetrators did not know the true aim of the mission. The US is not planning a deployment to the Caribbean island.
As has been rumored for a few days, the USA does not want to send troops to Haiti to stabilize the country after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. The government of the Caribbean state had asked the ex-occupying power USA to do so. That is not currently on the agenda, said US President Joe Biden. The United States would only send marines to Haiti to secure their embassy.
Didn’t assassins know what they were doing?
New information about the attack came to light from Colombia: A large number of the alleged perpetrators are said to have not known the true aim of their mission. In the joint investigation by the Haitian and Colombian authorities, two Colombians were identified as the organizers of the attack on the spot, as the head of the Colombian National Police, Jorge Vargas, said at a press conference in Bogotá. After interrogating Haitian investigators, they told the other members of the commando that it was a matter of arresting Moïse and handing it over to the US anti-drug agency DEA.
The 53-year-old head of state was attacked and shot in his residence on the night of July 7th. His wife was seriously injured. According to the police, 26 Colombian mercenaries and two Americans of Haitian origin carried out the murder. Only a small group of an estimated seven Colombians went into the presidential residence, said Vargas.
The perpetrators pretended to be DEA agents. The drug agency has said one of the suspects was a past informant for the agency. However, none of them acted on behalf of the DEA.
“Small Numbers” had enjoyed US training
The two US citizens, three Haitians and 18 of the Colombians were arrested and three more Colombians were killed. A “small number” of those arrested have in the past participated in training and education programs of the US military as active members of the Colombian armed forces, a spokesman for the US Department of Defense said at the request of the DPA news agency. The Washington Post reported about it.
According to the police, one of those arrested is a suspected mastermind: a Haitian doctor who lived in the United States. The 63-year-old is accused of hiring the mercenaries through a US-based private security company owned by a Venezuelan. He wanted to replace Moïse. According to Vargas, the two identified organizers of the attack and another Colombian met the doctor. One of them received $ 50,000 from the United States.
Investigators also received information from Colombians who were recruited for the mission but did not go to Haiti, Colombian President Iván Duque said on La FM radio station. In addition, the authorities had contacted a man who had traveled to Haiti and returned. The FBI is also involved in the investigation.
More than 15,000 Haitians on the run
The act exacerbated an already existing political crisis in the poor Caribbean country. The interim prime minister and foreign minister Claude Joseph has so far been accepted as head of government by the international community, although Moïse appointed a successor as prime minister shortly before his death. The Colombian radio station Caracol reported that Joseph is the investigators’ main suspect. Haiti’s interim police chief Léon Charles rejected this in a video message.
Presidential and parliamentary elections are planned for September in Haiti. Its feasibility is questionable because of the security situation. In the capital Port-au-Prince, fighting between gangs for control of areas has forced around 15,500 people to flee since June, according to UN figures.
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