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The political effort never included a plan for a violent overthrow, those involved said. Two men who attended meetings with Sanon called him a thoughtful politician with a genuine interest in the betterment of the country. And a letter sent at the end of May to a senior official at the US State Department described a serious project which had the support of Haitian leaders who “represent about 80% of the population”.
But according to Colombian and Haitian authorities, Sanon had a secret plan B. Haitian police allege that Sanon recruited more than two dozen men who stormed the residence of Jovenel Moise, the assassinated president, in an attempt to s ‘seize power.
Sanon met two Colombian commandos leading the operation in May, the Colombian police chief said Thursday, and the group’s initial plan was to arrest the president and hand him over to the US Drug Enforcement Agency.
Sanon was arrested this weekend in Haiti during a raid on a house where, according to a source close to the investigation who is not authorized to discuss the incident, the police recovered boxes of ammunition, 24 unused shooting targets and a cap labeled “DEA. Sanon told police he was unaware of the attack, CNN reported Wednesday. CNN has been unable to contact Sanon or others arrested since the assassination.
The assassination and the intrigue surrounding the police investigation reads like a novel when compared to Sanon’s political campaign overboard, people involved in the political process have said.
In an interview on Wednesday, Parnell Duverger, an economist and former university professor in Florida, said he had attended several online meetings starting in 2020 where Sanon and a group of other Haitian experts worked out an agenda for a transitional government in which Sanon would be Prime Minister. .
According to Durverger, Sanon told the group he had the support of the United States and the international community in his leadership bid, although he provided no evidence to support this claim.
The group operated on the assumption that the Haitian president would eventually step down as protests across the country mounted, inaugurating the interim government, Duverger said. There was never any discussion of an attempted coup, he said.
“The Zoom meetings brought together, in my opinion, an assortment of specialists and good people who were very knowledgeable in their field – be it agriculture or education, who are quite knowledgeable – and who have in fact devised a government program that would be quite successful if implemented, ”said Duverger.
Other sessions were held in person. A meeting in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which Duverger said took place in early May, brought together Antonino Intriago and Walter Veintemilla, two men who officials say have played key roles in the recent past. ‘assassination.
Intriago, a Venezuelan living in South Florida, heads the security company which police say supplied the men who carried out the assassination. Sanon had hired CTU, the company, to recruit the men, authorities said. CNN was unable to reach CTU and Intriago.
Veinemilla, according to company records in Florida, is the chairman of the Worldwide Capital Lending Group, a company which Haitian police said on Wednesday helped “raise money so men can do the acts.”
In a statement sent to CNN on Thursday, Worldwide Capital Lending Group denied any involvement in the plot, saying it had provided a loan that included funding “the private security of Dr. Sanon and other Haitian dignitaries due to the ongoing violence in Haiti “after being approached by Sanon and current and former Haitian elected officials,” to help secure funding for power plants and other infrastructure projects in Haiti.
“At no time during a meeting or conversation with Dr. Sanon or with any of his representatives was there any mention, discussion or suggestion of an assassination plot against President Moise. or the intention to use force to bring about a change of leadership in Haiti, “the company said.
“Contrary to some media reports, no representative of Worldwide Capital Lending Group has attended meetings in the Dominican Republic or Haiti at any time,” the company added.
Duverger said the meeting in Fort Lauderdale was held to discuss “financing the construction of the infrastructure needed in Haiti to achieve sustainable economic development in 30 years or less.”
The New York Times was the first to report on the meetings behind Sanon’s political campaign.
Earlier this year, Sanon changed his plan and reportedly told the group he wanted to become Haiti’s president instead of prime minister, according to Duverger.
The plan was detailed in a letter to a senior State Department official in late May.
Signed “the people of Haiti,” the letter was posted on a now defunct website that advocates Sanon’s leadership in a transitional government and warns of an impending crisis at Moise’s hands.
“Moise has shown that he intends to use his power, intimidation and large-scale brutality to expand and extend his control over Haiti by establishing a new ‘Constitution’ in just a matter of weeks,” the letter said. , which was first reported by DailyMail.com, says. “We pray that this does not happen, but time is running out; as you know a ‘fuse’ has been blowing since February 7th! Something needs to be done soon.”
A State Department spokesperson referred CNN to Haitian authorities for comment on the investigation, but added that they “receive a steady stream of correspondence.”
“We are actively engaging with Haitian-American individuals and groups in informal conversations. We also receive a steady stream of correspondence, ”the spokesperson said.
“We have long supported Haitian political leaders and civil society who come together to strengthen democratic institutions and achieve an inclusive solution that will facilitate peace and stability,” they said.
There are indications that the support for Sanon described on the website and in the letter may have been overstated. A United Nations consultant featured prominently on the website as part of a coalition supporting the doctor’s leadership said in an interview that he was unaware of his presence on the site and had met Sanon once.
Frantz Gilot, the consultant, said he discussed topics related to criminal justice in Haiti during a meeting in January with Sanon and more than 20 others involved in the political effort.
But he said he was “not interested” in the project.
“Someone has put my name on this site,” he said. “I am not a supporter of Mr. Sanon or his team.”
An official of the UN mission in Haiti is also displayed as a supporter of Sanon. Messages left with the official were not answered.
Duverger said regular Zoom meetings ended earlier this year. At the time, Sanon’s desire to lead and improve Haiti seemed real, he said. But with the news of Sanon’s assassination and arrest, his opinion changed.
“At the moment, I don’t believe anything that came out of this man’s mouth. I think we were all going for a ride,” said Duverger.
CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.
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