The suspects in the killing of Haitian President Jovenel Moise, consisting of Colombians and Haitian Americans, said that they intended to arrest and not assassinate the victim, according to the Miami Herald and a source knowledgeable with the topic said on Sunday.
The President was shot to death on Wednesday at his residence in Port-au-Prince. Behind the crime were a group of assassins involving 26 Colombians and two Haitian Americans, Haitian authorities said. The incident has further buried the already troubled nation into turbulence.
The struggling Caribbean nation seeking international aid has faced a recent strike with the murder.
Haiti has asked Washington for troops, which the latter rejected. But on Sunday, a senior US official said that Washington will be helping Haiti assess the state of affairs through a technical team.
According to the Miami Herald, citing those who have talked with the 19 arrested people, said that the suspects came to get the President to bring him to the presidential palace.
The two Haitian Americans named James Solages and Joseph Vincent shared to the investigators that they served as the translators for the Colombian unit armed with an arrest warrant, a source said. However, they came to the location and found the subject dead.
The Haitian police have not responded to a comment.
The crime happened after reports that there were some Colombians, Moise included, that claimed they had gone to serve as security personnel in Haiti.
In the report by Miami Herald, arrested Colombians claimed that they were paid to work for a certain CTU Security based in Miami and operated by Venezuelan emigre Antonio Enmanuel Intriago Valera.
A contact number listed under the company in public records delivered calls to an answering machine which contained Jack Bauer’s name, a fictional TV character who battled terrorism, Channel News Asia reported.
“Thank you for calling CTU security. For Tony Intriago please leave a message or send a text. For Jack Bauer wait for the next season. Thank you for calling and have a great day.”
