Haitian police have arrested Reuters in the assassination of the president

By Andre Paultre and Sarah Marsh

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – Haitian police said on Sunday that one of the alleged headaches was the arrest of Haitian President Jovenel Moise for hiring mercenaries to oust and replace Moise.

Moise was shot dead Wednesday morning at his home in Port-au-Prince, described by Haitian authorities as a unit of killers made up of 26 Colombians and two Haitian Americans, plunging the troubled Caribbean nation into a mess.

National Police Chief Leon Charles told a news conference that the arrested man, Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 63, went to Haiti on a private flight in early June, assisted by hired security guards, and wanted to take the president.

He did not explain Sanon’s motives beyond saying they were political, but added that he was in contact with him when one of those arrested was arrested. Sanon also contacted other “intellectual perpetrators” of the murder, Charles added.

“The role of these attackers was initially to ensure the safety of Emmanuel Sanon, but then the mission was changed … and one of the attackers was ordered to arrest the president of the republic,” Charles said.

Public records online show a man named Sanon who was working as a doctor in Florida, but it was not immediately known whether he was the same man or not.

It was also not clear why Sanon wanted to overthrow Moses, as his assassination is the last of the reverse chains for the struggling country, which has sought international help.

Washington has rejected a request for troops in Haiti, although a senior US official said on Sunday that the technical situation was sending a team.

Haitian police have arrested 18 Colombians and 3 Haitian Americans, including Sanon, as a result of the murder, Charles said. Five Colombians are still at large and three were killed, he added.

The alleged killers told investigators to arrest him there, not to kill him, the Miami Herald and a person familiar with the matter said Sunday.

A source close to the investigation said two Haitian Americans, James Solages and Joseph Vincent, told investigators that they were translators from the Colombian command unit that had ordered his arrest. But when they arrived, they found him dead.

Following the news, some Colombians said they went to work as Haitian security personnel, including Moses himself.

The Miami Herald reports that Colombian detainees have said they have been hired to work in Haiti by Miami CTU Security, a company run by Venezuelan emigrant Antonio Enmanuel Intriago Valera.

Charles stated that CTU was used to hire some Colombian suspects, but did not provide details.

CTU and Intriago could not be asked to comment immediately.

A number of phone numbers associated with the company in public records sent calls to an answering machine that referred to the fictional television character Jack Bauer in the “24” TV series that countered terrorism.

The recorded message read, “Thank you for calling CTU security. Please leave a message or text to Tony Intriago. For Jack Bauer, wait for next season. Thank you for calling and have a great day.”

Among the social media profiles that seemed most intriguing was the photo of Facebook (NASDAQ 🙂 showing a man with a tactical gear pointing to a high-powered rifle. The Instagram photos showed ammunition, guns and tactical training people.

END VIOLENCE

Photos and X-ray images posted on social media over the weekend in photos taken from Moise’s autopsy showed bullet holes, a broken skull and a body littered with other broken bones, highlighting the savage nature of the attack.

Reuters could not independently confirm its authenticity.

Through social media, Haitians in several parts of the capital Port-au-Prince were organizing protests this week against interim Prime Minister and acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph.

Jose’s right to lead the country has been questioned by other top politicians, threatening to exacerbate the uproar that the poorest country in America is suffering.

One of the leaders of the Haitian gang on Saturday, Jimmy Cherizier, a former police officer known as Barbecue, said his men would take to the streets to protest the murder.

Cherizier, head of the so-called G9 federation of nine gangs, said police and opposition politicians conspired with the “stench of the bourgeoisie” to “sacrifice” Moses.

There were heavy shootings in the capital last night as gang violence escalated in recent times, displacing thousands of people and hampering economic activity.