Mercenaries who took part in the assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise
Port-au-Prince, July 14 (RHC)-- Several of the people suspected of involvement in the assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise worked as U.S. government informants, according to a new report.
Citing people briefed on an investigation into the killing, CNN reported that U.S. investigators were grappling with an increasing number of Florida links to the hit squad that killed President Moise at his private residence in the capital, Port-au-Prince, last Wednesday.
Haitian authorities say the operation involved at least 28 people, many of them Colombian mercenaries, who were hired through a Florida-based security company. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) admitted in a statement that at least one of the suspects “was a confidential source to the DEA.”
“Following the assassination of President Moise, the suspect reached out to his contacts at the DEA,” it said, claiming that the organization had then urged the suspect to surrender to Haitian authorities. The DEA also claimed that none of the attackers operated on behalf of the agency.
Other suspects also had U.S. ties, including as informants for the FBI, according to the sources. The FBI merely said it uses “lawful sources to collect intelligence.” On Sunday, the White House sent a delegation of law enforcement and national security officials to Haiti, where they met with government and police officials. They also met with political leaders, including interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who has now taken control of the country, and Senate President Joseph Lambert.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that the team had warned about the country’s instability in the wake of Moise’s murder. “What was clear from their trip is that there is a lack of clarity about the future political leadership,” Psaki said.
The U.S. said Joseph had requested the deployment of troops to help secure key infrastructure in the country. Haitian Elections Minister Mathias Pierre also confirmed that the request had been raised in a conversation between Joseph and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday.
Currently, three U.S. citizens are under arrest for their involvement in the assassination, according to Haitian authorities. U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies are investigating why the Haitian-American men took part in the killing operation.
