U.S. weighs Haiti’s request for troops
Sent officials to meet with rivals for leadership
BOGOTA/PORT-AUPRINCE • The United States is still reviewing a request for troops made by Haiti’s interim prime minister Claude Joseph to help secure key infrastructure after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Monday.
Psaki said Haiti’s political leadership remains unclear and that it was vital for the country’s leaders to come together to chart a united path forward.
Moise was shot dead early on Wednesday at his Port-auprince home by what Haitian authorities describe as a unit of assassins formed of 26 Colombians and two Haitian-americans. Haitian police said on Sunday they had arrested another key suspect.
The death of the president has plunged the troubled country into deeper turmoil, and U.S. officials travelled there Sunday to assess the situation and meet three politicians who have staked competing claims to take charge.
“What was clear about their trip is that there is a lack of clarity about the future of political leadership,” Psaki said at a news briefing.
Haitians in parts of Portau-prince were planning protests this week against interim prime minister and acting head of state Claude Joseph, according to social media posts.
Joseph’s right to lead the country has been challenged by two other senior politicians, prime minister-designate Ariel Henry and Senate President Joseph Lambert.
Emily Horne, a spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, said the U.S. delegation held a joint meeting with the three men.
During the talks, the U.S. representatives encouraged open and constructive dialogue to reach an agreement to enable Haiti to hold free and fair elections, Horne said.
On Sunday, Haitian police said they had detained one of the suspected plot masterminds, 63-year-old Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a Haitian man whom authorities accuse of hiring mercenaries to oust and replace Moise. They did not explain Sanon’s motives beyond saying they were political.
On Monday, Haitian police issued an arrest warrant for a Colombian retired soldier, apparently in connection with the alleged plot.
Colombian police said on Monday they could not share any hypothesis about the death of Moise and that they respect the Haitian state’s autonomy. So far 18 Colombians tied to the case have been arrested and three more killed.
Families of some of the Colombians, many ex-soldiers, have said their relatives were hired as bodyguards, not as mercenaries, and that they did not kill Moise.
The men were contracted to protect Sanon, and were later presented with a warrant to arrest Moise, Haiti’s National Police Chief Leon Charles said Sunday.