Haiti progresses in assassination investigation, amid many questions

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The criminal investigation into the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise has made significant progress. Still, many questions remain to be clarified on Wednesday, two weeks after the assassination.

According to the investigations, the assassination was committed by a commando team of 26 Colombian mercenaries who broke into the presidential residence in the early hours of July 7 without encountering any resistance from the security forces guarding the mansion, located in the Pelerin sector of Port-au-Prince.

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These are the Haitian police’s main findings in an investigation. They collaborate with authorities from the United States and Colombia, countries where some of those arrested come from.

Moïse was shot dead in the attack, and his wife Martine was wounded. She has already left the hospital in Miami (USA), where she was treated for her wounds. She has returned to Haiti to organize her husband’s funeral, scheduled for Friday in the city of Cap-Haitien, in the north of the country.

THE NUMBERS OF THE POLICE OPERATION

For the moment, 26 people have been arrested, including 18 Colombians, mostly retired military, and 2 Haitian policemen and 6 civilians, some of them with dual U.S. citizenship.

Three other Colombians were killed in shootouts with Haitian police in the two days following the crime.

At least 10 suspects are at large, including 5 Colombians and 5 Haitians, the latter accused of involvement in the planning.

Police have applied precautionary measures against 23 of the guards assigned to the security of Moise’s residence on the night of the attack, including 7 who are “in isolation”, although not formally detained.

THE MAIN CHARACTERS

Christian Emmanuel Sanon: doctor residing in the United States. The alleged mastermind of the operation. According to the version of the Haitian Police, he aspired to assassinate Moïse to replace him as head of state. He is under arrest.

Joseph Felix Badio: former official of an anti-corruption agency under the Ministry of Justice. He is identified as the coordinator of the operation on the ground. He is considered the most dangerous of the fugitives.

Dimitri Hérard: head of security at the Presidential Palace. He made several trips to Colombia this year for unknown reasons. He is one of the policemen in isolation.

Antonio Emmanuel Intriago Valera: Venezuelan, director of CTU Security, based in the U.S. Suspected of hiring Colombian mercenaries. Has not been arrested.

THE DARK SPOTS IN THE PLOT

The money trail is the main focus of the investigation at the moment. It is considered a fundamental point to uncover those responsible for having financed this complex and million-dollar operation.

For the moment, the police have fingered a U.S.-based loan company, Worldwide Capital Lending Group, for allegedly financing the operation, and accuse former senator John Joël Joseph, whereabouts unknown, of being the treasurer.

One of the points of the investigation that generates the most incredulity in Haiti is the version offered by the Police about the alleged plans of Dr. Sanon to take over the Presidency after the assassination.

Doubts arise because it has not been explained how he intended to execute this alleged plan, because Sanon, resident in Florida, was totally unknown in the political milieu of his country of birth.

The Haitian police have not clarified the sequence of events on the night of the crime and still keep under lock and key the recordings of the security cameras of Moïse’s residence, which would help shed light on the role of the agents who guarded it.

In any case, the police already consider it a fact that several agents of the armed force participated in the plot to kill Moïse.