The US has rejected Haitian troops following the assassination of the president of Reuters

By Steve Holland and Andre Paultre

WASHINGTON / PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – The United States on Friday rejected requests by Haitian troops to protect key infrastructure when alleged foreign mercenaries assassinated President Jovenel Moise, despite pledging to help with the investigation.

On Wednesday morning, at his home in Port-au-Prince, the killing of Moses by an army group deepened Haiti’s political crisis https://www.reuters.com/article/us-haiti-politics- timeline-idAFKCN2ED1F6 which could increase hunger, gang violence and the occurrence of COVID-19.

Haitian Election Minister Mathias Pierre said in a conversation on Wednesday between interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blink that a request for U.S. security assistance had been received. Pierre also called on the United Nations Security Council to force Haiti.

But a senior U.S. administration official said “there is currently no intention to provide U.S. military assistance.”

In a letter sent by Joseph’s office to the U.S. embassy in Haiti on Wednesday and reviewed by Reuters, he called for sending troops to help the national police restore security and protect major infrastructure across the country after Moses ’assassination.

A similar letter, seen on Wednesday by Reuters, was sent to the UN office in Haiti.

“We were in a situation where we thought the country’s infrastructure (port, airport and energy infrastructure) could be targeted,” Pierre told Reuters.

Another goal of the request to strengthen security would be to make it possible to move forward with the September 26 presidential and legislative elections, Pierre said.

The UN political mission in Haiti received the letter and said it was being investigated, said Jose Luis Diaz, a spokesman for the United Nations Department of Political Affairs and Peacebuilding.

“In any case the sending of troops (15 members) should be decided by the Security Council,” he said.

WITH BALLET

The United States and Colombia said they would send law enforcement and intelligence officials to help Haiti after several of its citizens were arrested for the murder of Moses.

Haitian police say the killings were carried out by a commanding unit of 26 Colombians and two Haitian-American mercenaries. Two Haitian-Americans, James Solages, 35, and Joseph Vincent, 55, were both from Florida.

Seventeen of the men – including Solages and Vincent – were captured after a gunfight with Haitian authorities took place in Petionville, on the hillside of the capital Port-au-Prince, where Moses lived.

According to Haitian police, three others were killed and eight remain at large. Authorities said they were looking for the heads of the operation.

The judge investigating the case told Reuters that Moise was found lying on his back on the floor of his bedroom. The door to the residence was forced open while other rooms were stolen.

“His body was riddled with bullets,” said Pet Henryville District Court Judge Carl Henry. “There was a lot of blood around the body and on the stairs.”

Haitian officials have not given a motive for the murder of Moses and have not explained how the killers overcame his security details. He has had mass protests against his rule in 2017 since taking office in 2017 – first over allegations of corruption and the management of the economy, then due to his greater control over power.

Moses spoke of the dark forces behind the unrest: corrupt oligarchs and politicians who felt attempts to clean up government contracts and reform Haitian policy were acting against their own interests.

COMMAND UNIT

The United States on Thursday pledged to send senior officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security to Haiti as soon as possible to assess the situation and see better how they can help, the White House said.

A State Department spokesman said: “We know that two U.S. citizens have been arrested in Haiti and we are closely monitoring the situation.”

Colombia’s head of national intelligence management and national police intelligence director will travel to Haiti with Interpol to assist in the investigation, Colombian President Ivan Duque said on Friday.

Colombian investigators found that 17 of the suspects had withdrawn from the Colombian army between 2018 and 2020, Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Luis Fernando Navarro told reporters on Friday.

Colombian national police director Jorge Luis Vargas said initial investigations showed 11 Colombian suspects had traveled to Haiti from the resort town of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.

The other two flew to Panama, before heading to the Dominican capital Santo Domingo and the city of Port-au-Prince, Vargas said.

POLITICAL CONTROL CONFUSION

The Haitian government declared a 15-day state of emergency on Wednesday to help authorities catch the killers, but has since called for the business to reopen.

Shops, gas stations and commercial banks reopened on Friday. The streets were quiet, although some supermarkets supplied people with uncertainty.

The death of Moses has sparked confusion over who is the legitimate leader of the country of 11 million people, the poorest in America, who reflects more deeply on the political crisis.

Even before Moses ’death, the country had only 11 elected officials – himself and 10 senators – because he postponed legislative elections in 2019 amid violent unrest.

Parts of the opposition and civil society no longer recognized him as president because of his disagreement with his mandate.

Jose has taken control of power so far. Election Minister Pierre said he would keep that task until the September 26 presidential and legislative elections.

But Jose’s authority is under debate by multiple political factions. In the last move, a third-third of the Senate on Friday nominated himself, Joseph Lambert, to serve as interim president.

Senators also asked Joseph Ariel Henry to take over the post of prime minister, a doctor who is considered a candidate for consensus. Moses started this week to form a unity government, but he still vowed.

“The Senate secretariat will write to national and international organizations and the Director General of Police and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inform Haitian-accredited embassies,” Lambert told Reuters.

Henry told the Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste this week that he does not consider Joseph the legitimate prime minister.

“The assassination … has caused a political and institutional vacuum at the highest state level,” said Haitian opposition politician Andre Michel. “There is no constitutional provision for this state of emergency.”