Haiti leader’s slaying exposes role of ex-Colombian soldiers

BUCARAMANGA, Colombia (AP) — As the coronavirus pandemic squeezed Colombia, the Romero family was in need of money to pay the mortgage. Mauricio Romero Medina's $790 a month pension as a retired soldier wasn't going far.

Then came a call offering a solution.

When Romero answered the phone on June 2, another veteran, Duberney Capador, offered what he said was a legal, long-term job requiring only a passport. But Romero had to make a decision fast.

"Talk about it with your family and if you are interested, see you tomorrow in Bogota, because the flight is the day after tomorrow," Romero's wife, Giovanna, told The Associated Press, recalling the conversation.

A month later, Romero and Capador were dead and 18 Colombians were reportedly in custody, accused of taking part in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. It's a case that dramatizes Colombia's role as a recruiting ground for the global security industry — and its murkier, mercenary corners.

Colombia's Defense Ministry says about 10,600 soldiers retire each year, many highly trained warriors forged in a decades-long battle against leftist rebels and drug trafficking cartels. Many — including a number of those involved in Haiti — have been trained by the U.S. military.

Those soldiers make up a pool of recruits for companies seeking a wide range of services — as consultants or bodyguards, in teams guarding Middle Eastern oil pipelines or as part of military-like private security in places like the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan. The UAE paid Colombian veterans to join in the battle against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

"Colombian former (soldiers) are very well trained and ... may be cheaper or more accessible than other sorts of trained, specialized manpower," said Silvana Amaya, a senior analyst focused on the Andean region for the global security firm Control Risks.