Former Haitian intelligence officer ordered to kill president, Colombia says

Colombian officials on Friday identified a former Haitian intelligence official as the man who ordered two former Colombian soldiers to kill Haitian President Jovenel Moïse this month.

Former intelligence official Joseph Felix Badio first told two Colombian soldiers that they were going to “arrest” the president, General Jorge Luis Vargas, head of the Colombian national police, told a conference Press.

But days before the operation, he said, the plan changed. Mr. Badio told former soldiers Duberney Capador and Germán Alejandro Rivera Garcia that “what they had to do was assassinate the president of Haiti,” General Vargas said.

Colombian officials did not describe the source of the information. Earlier this week, Colombian intelligence and foreign ministry officials told the New York Times they had been unable to interview the Colombian suspects.

Haitian police have published a “wanted” notice for the arrest of Mr. Badio, accusing him of murder. Haitian police also accuse him of organizing logistics, procuring vehicles and coordinating the operation of the assassination squad.