Ex-military were conned into assassination of Haitian leader, Colombia’s president says, though some were willing participants

Colombian President Iván Duque has revealed that a small pocket of his country’s ex-military arrested over the assassination of Haiti’s Jovenel Moïse knew about the plot in advance, while others in the group were blindsided.

Moïse was killed in his home on July 7 by gunmen – allegedly a squad of foreign mercenaries, including Colombians and Haitian-Americans. The president’s wife was seriously injured in the shooting.

New information released by the Colombian police on Thursday said two former soldiers had prior insider knowledge of the mission to assassinate the Haitian president.

“We know that Colombian citizens Germán Rivera and Duberney Capador participated in the planning and organization of what was initially an alleged arrest operation of the president of Haiti and for this, they contacted more people in our country,” police chief General Jorge Luis Vargas said.

The two ex-soldiers allegedly recruited other Colombian former military personnel through three domestic companies that have ties to security services in the Middle East.

Following the assassination, 18 Colombian nationals were detained and three killed by Haitian police. Another three are being sought by the authorities for their alleged involvement in the death of the president.

In an interview with Colombian broadcaster La FM on Thursday, Duque said a small group among those arrested in Haiti over the killing had known of the plot to murder Moïse. The Colombian president said many among the group of former servicemen who had traveled to Haiti had not been briefed as to what the mission really entailed, and instead were duped into believing they were to serve as bodyguards.

“Everything indicates that a significant number of the people who arrived in Haiti were blindsided, taken as if on an alleged protection mission, and others, a small group apparently, had detailed knowledge of the criminal operation and the intention to kill the president of Haiti,” the president said.

According to Colombian police intelligence, the attack on the Haitian president had been planned since November 2020 from offices in Miami, US. The original intent had been to kidnap Moise, oust him from power, and replace him with Prime Minister Claude Joseph.

On Thursday, the Pentagon said some of the Colombian ex-soldiers allegedly involved in the assassination had received US military training, though the exact number has not yet been confirmed.

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