Mercenaries who killed the Haitian president on display along with their weapons, cell phones and passports
Miami, July 10 (RHC)-- Law enforcement and intelligence agencies are probing ties of two Haitian-American men and a group of Colombian mercenaries to the assassination of Haiti President Jovenel Moise in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince as a manhunt for a number of gunmen believed to be still at large continues.
The United States, Colombia and Interpol are joining a fast-moving investigation of the assassination after Haitian police arrested 17 members of a 28-man hit squad that Haitian police said assassinated President Moise on Wednesday.
Three Colombian mercenaries were killed and eight others were still being sought by Haitian police. The U.S. is sending FBI agents and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials to Port-au-Prince.
“In response to the Haitian government’s request for security and investigative assistance, we will be sending senior FBI and DHS officials to Port-au-Prince to assess the situation and how we may be able to assist,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. “The investigation is being led by Haitian police forces on the ground,” Psaki added.
Police paraded some of the suspects before the media on Thursday, along with Colombian passports and weapons they had seized. The head of Haiti’s National Police Leon Charles pledged to track down remaining gunmen as authorities launched an international investigation.
Haitian police identified the two Haitian-Americans as James Solages, 35, and Joseph Vincent, 55, as part of the heavily armed force that attacked and killed Moise in his Port-au-Prince home on Wednesday. Haiti First Lady Martine Moise was wounded in the attack and is being treated in a US hospital in Florida.
Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, now has no president or working parliament and two politicians have claimed to be in charge as the country lurched into political chaos.
Colombia President Ivan Duque said on Friday he spoke by telephone with interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph to offer solidarity and pledge cooperation in the investigation. “We offer all the collaboration to find the truth about the material and intellectual authors of the assassination of President Jovenel Moise,” Duque tweeted in Spanish.
