[ad_1]
BOGOTÁ, Colombia – Several of the central figures being investigated by Haitian authorities in connection with the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse met in the months leading up to the murder to discuss rebuilding the ailing nation an once the president left power, according to Haitian police, Colombian intelligence agents and participants in the discussions.
The meetings, conducted in Florida and the Dominican Republic over the past year, appear to connect a seemingly disparate set of suspects in the investigation, linking a doctor and a 63-year-old pastor, a security equipment salesman and a broker. in mortgages and insurance. in Florida.
All have been identified by Haitian authorities as leading players in a sprawling plot to kill the president with the help of more than 20 former Colombian commandos and seize political power in the process. It is not known how they were able to achieve this, nor what powerful support they had to make this possible.
But interviews with more than a dozen people involved with the men show that the suspects had worked together for months, presenting themselves in grandiose and often exaggerated terms as well-funded, well-connected middlemen ready to lead a new Haiti with Influential Americans. support behind them.
Haitian officials argue that Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a doctor and pastor who divided his time between Florida and Haiti, conspired with others to take the reins of the country after Mr. Moïse was killed. During a search of Mr. Sanon’s home, they say, police found six holsters, around 20 boxes of bullets and a DEA cap – suggesting it linked him to the murder because the hitmen who hit the home of Mr. Drug Enforcement Administration agents.
Haitian authorities took him into custody but provided little explanation as to how Mr. Sanon – who was not in elected office – planned to take over after the president was killed. It was also difficult to understand how he could have hired a team of mercenaries to lead the assault, given that he had filed in Florida for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2013.
But interviews show that several of the main suspects met to discuss Haiti’s future government once Mr. Moïse was no longer in power, with Mr. Sanon becoming the country’s new prime minister.
“The idea was to prepare for that eventuality,” said Parnell Duverger, a retired assistant professor of economics at Broward College in Florida, who has attended a dozen meetings on Zoom and in person with Sanon and other experts to discuss the future government of Haiti.
“At the time of the meetings, he was going, we all thought, to become Prime Minister,” said Mr. Duverger, adding that Mr. Sanon had presented himself as having the support of Democratic and Republican politicians in the United States, the most powerful international donor.
At no time did anyone discuss, let alone a plan, a coup or an assassination, Duverger said. “I would have stopped attending if anyone had mentioned a coup, let alone a murder.”
On the contrary, he added, the expectation at the meetings was that President Moïse – who had faced months of scorching street protests demanding his impeachment – would ultimately have no choice but to step down. . Mr Duverger, 70, described the meetings as cabinet-like sessions meant to help Mr Sanon form a potential transitional government once that happened.
Mr. Duverger said he believed Mr. Sanon was innocent. But as to his claims to be a prime minister on hold, he added: “I keep wondering, there must be something wrong with me for being so naive. I believed him. I believed so, because I believed that a new transitional government was necessary in Haiti.
Among those attending the meetings, Duverger said, were at least two other key suspects who have since been identified by Haitian authorities as central figures in the plot. One of them was Antonio Intriago, owner of the private security and equipment company that hired the former Colombian commandos and brought them to Haiti.
The other was Walter Veintemilla, who runs a small financial services company in Miramar, Florida called Worldwide Capital Lending Group. On Wednesday, Haitian authorities accused him of having helped finance the assassination plot.
Haitian officials are investigating whether the president’s own protection force also participated, and on Thursday the security chief of Mr. Moïse’s palace was taken into police custody. Colombian officials say he made frequent stops in Colombia on his way to other countries in the months leading up to the assassination.
Neither Mr. Intriago nor Mr. Veintemilla, both based in Florida, responded to repeated requests for comment through their companies and relatives. We do not know where they are and whether the Haitians have sought to accuse them of any crimes. But Haitian and Colombian officials say that in late May, after some of the former Colombian soldiers hired by Mr. Intriago arrived in Haiti, he and Mr. Veintemilla met in the neighboring Dominican Republic with Mr. Sanon.
Haitian and Colombian officials said on Wednesday that a photograph showed the three men meeting with another central suspect in the investigation: James Solages, a Haitian-American residing in South Florida who was arrested by the Haitian authorities shortly after the assassination.
It is not clear whether any of the talks resulted in an infamous plot that led to the death of Mr Moses. Haitian police provided little concrete evidence, and US and Colombian officials familiar with the investigation said their agents in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, were unable to interview most suspects detained Wednesday morning, forcing them to rely on the accounts of the Haitian authorities.
Another participant in one of the meetings with Mr Sanon also said there was never any hint of a plot to kill the president.
“Never !!! never !!! Never !!!” the participant, Frantz Gilot, consultant for the United Nations, said in a text message, adding that around 20 people were present. “Sanon presented himself as a potential candidate,” he said, “and spoke about his dream and his vision for Haiti.
More than a dozen interviews with relatives of Colombian commandos – as well as an audio recording of how the soldiers’ mission in Haiti was presented to them – show that several of the main suspects greatly exaggerated their experience and abilities. financial, and were deeply mistaken in minus some of the Colombian soldiers they hired.
In April, Mr. Intriago’s company, CTU Security, contacted a retired Colombian army sergeant, Duberney Capador, and asked him to form a group of ex-commandos to “protect important people in Haiti ”, according to Mr. Capador’s sister, Yenny Caroline Capador.
“We will help the country’s recovery, in terms of security and democracy,” wrote Mr. Capador in a recruitment pitch that he then sent to other former soldiers on WhatsApp. “We are going to be pioneers.
Mr Capador contacted his vast network of military buddies, most of them in their early 40s, recently retired from the armed forces and struggling to find well-paying jobs in Colombia.
The New York Times interviewed 15 family members of Colombian soldiers involved in the attack, as well as 14 men who had been recruited for the operation but ended up not going in June – in some cases because they were part of a second wave of the men due to arrive at a later date, they said.
In interviews, several wives of the recruits said that Mr. Capador assured the men that the operation was backed by an American company – and in some cases even told them it was supported by the United States government – and had promised to pay the men $ 2,700 per month. , a life-changing sum.
Many former soldiers jumped at the chance, agreeing to take the post even though some did not know where they were going or who they would specifically protect, according to family members.
A group of about two dozen Colombians arrived in Port-au-Prince between early May and June 6, according to interviews with relatives. Mr Capador told the recruits they would fight criminal gangs, secure crucial infrastructure and protect dignitaries and investors, with the backing of a large American company.
Instead, they found themselves confined to a cabin and spent the following month exercising indoors, taking English classes and cooking, said the relatives, who remained in daily contact with recruits. Colombian officials said Thursday that Sanon also met with leaders of former Colombian soldiers soon after they arrived in Haiti in May.
In mid-June, the ex-soldiers were introduced to a Spanish speaker claiming to represent Worldwide Capital, the name of Mr Veintemilla’s company, according to a recording made by one of the former Colombian soldiers. During the same session, the speaker introduced Mr. Solages, the now detained American of Haitian descent, describing him as a seasoned international investor leading the reconstruction of Haiti.
The speaker then introduced Worldwide Capital as a multinational conglomerate with 200 subsidiaries that has worked with governments on security and reconstruction in dozens of countries around the world, including the United States, Spain, Somalia and Iraq.
There is little indication that Worldwide Capital, which operates from a small suite in a suburban Florida business center, has played a significant role in major global projects. The company’s websites, which claim to offer generic financial services like mortgages and insurance, don’t mention any notable offers.
And the owner of the company that hired the Colombian commandos, Mr. Intriago, has a history of debts, evictions and bankruptcies. Several relatives of Colombian soldiers said they never received their promised wages.
After the assassination, 18 of the Colombian soldiers were detained by Haitian authorities and accused of participating in the murder. Three other Colombians, including the recruiter, Mr. Capador, were killed within hours of the president’s death.
“What happened there?” said the wife of one of the former soldiers detained, speaking on condition of anonymity for the sake of her safety. “How does it end? “
Reporting was provided by Mirelis Morales of Miramar, Florida; Sofia Villamil from Bogotá, Colombia; Edinson Bolaños from Villavicencio, Colombia; Zolan Kanno-Youngs of Washington; and Catherine Porter.
[ad_2]
Source link