ARRESTED US NATIONALS SAY KILLERS HAD NO PLAN TO ELIMINATE PRESIDENT MOISE

Fri 09 July 2021:

A 28-member hit squad made up of Americans and Colombians assassinated President Jovenel Moise, Haitian police said Thursday as the country lurched into political chaos.

Two US citizens who were arrested in Haiti are a U.S. citizens from Florida, James Solages and Joseph Vincent, on suspicion of involvement in the assassination of President Jovenel Moise said that he was not supposed to be eliminated, Justice of the Peace Clement Noel said.

James Solages, 35, (left) and Joseph Vincent (right) are both US citizens of Haitian descent, and were arrested along with 15 Colombian nationals over Wednesday’s brazen assassination of President Moïse’s mansion in the hills above Port-au-Prince

“Plizyè nan prezime asasen ki ta fè pati kòmando ki touye Président Jovenel Moïse Lakay li yè maten an,anba kòd lapolis nan moman an la.”
Some of the suspected killers who were part of the command that killed President J. Moïse.They are under Police custody
Source:@tripotaylakay pic.twitter.com/wiLtVPUiz9

— Dr. Celucien L. Joseph, PhD (@doctorlou1978) July 8, 2021

Police paraded some of the suspects before the media Thursday, along with Colombian passports and weapons they had seized. The head of the Haiti’s National Police, Leon Charles, vowed to track the other eight down.

“It was a team of 28 assailants, 26 of whom were Colombian, who carried out the operation to assassinate the president,” Charles said at the press conference in Port-au-Prince.

“We have arrested 15 Colombians and the two Americans of Haitian origin. Three Colombians have been killed while eight others are on the loose.” Previously authorities had said four of the suspects had been killed. Charles did not explain the discrepancy.

Moise was shot dead in his private residence on Wednesday morning, and his wife was injured in the attack. The Haitian police have reportedly identified 28 suspected murderers, most of them Colombian citizens. The Haitian law enforcement apprehended 17 suspects, including two Haitian-born US citizens, identified as James Solages and Joseph Vincent.

“They said that they were translators.

The mercenaries’ goal was to arrest President Moise under the warrant of an investigating magistrate, and not kill him,” Noel told the Nouvelliste newspaper, citing the suspect’s testimonies.

The precise nature of the warrant was not elaborated. The news outlet said that Solages claimed to have found out about the job on the internet and arrived in Haiti a month ago, while the other alleged assassins did so three months ago.

Investigators searching the suspects’ vehicles found firearms and US cash, including a server of a video camera that was installed in Moise’s residence, and his wife’s checkbook, the official said.

Six Colombians In Haiti Plot

At least six members of the hit squad that assassinated Haiti’s president at his home appear to be Colombian ex-soldiers, Defense Minister Diego Molano said Thursday.

“The initial information indicates that they are Colombian citizens, retired members of the national army,” Molano said in a video sent to news media.

He said he ordered the army and Colombian police to help in the investigation of the case.

First Lady In Stable Condition

Haitian First Lady Martine Moise is in stable condition in a hospital in the United States receiving treatment for wounds suffered during the attack on her husband, late president Jovenel Moise, acting Haitian Prime Minister Claude Joseph said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Haitian Ambassador to the United States Bocchit Edmond told media that the country’s first lady was urgently transported on a private chartered airplane to Miami, Florida. According to the local media, Martine Moise suffered gunshot wounds to her arm and thigh, and had a serious injury in her abdomen.

“We can report that the health condition of the first lady is stable, and she is still in a US hospital,” Joseph said.

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