New development in the investigation into the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse: the United States got hold of one of the main suspects in this murder at the top of the state, arrested Tuesday morning during a stopover in Panama, while being sent home to Colombia from Jamaica. The man was arrested there in October after entering the Caribbean country illegally.
Mario Antonio Palacios – that’s his name -, 43, a former member of the Colombian army, appeared Tuesday afternoon in federal court in Miami where he was charged with “conspiracy to provide material support having resulted in the death of a foreign leader “and” conspiracy to kidnap and kill a foreign leader, “the US Department of Justice said in a statement. He is the first suspect in the assassination of the President of Haiti last July to be officially charged.
Jovenel Moïse was shot dead on the night of July 6 to 7, 2020, by an armed commando composed mainly of Colombians, possibly sponsored by Haitian interests, in his official residence in Port-au-Prince. The presidency of Mr. Moïse was contested in a context of political crisis amplified by endemic corruption and by the threat of criminal armed groups whose influence would be very strong on the functioning of the Haitian state.
A comprehensive survey of New York Times recently highlighted the fact that Jovenel Moïse was also preparing to denounce powerful politicians and entrepreneurs in the country to fight once and for all corruption and the influence of drug traffickers at the highest point of the Haitian state. The president had drawn up a list of names that his killers seized to make her disappear on the evening of the murder, according to his wife, Martine Moïse, who was at the scene and who survived the attack.
Of the 44 people arrested by Haitian authorities since the president’s death, none have been charged to date. A suspect died of COVID-19 while four others, former police officers, were provisionally released on Tuesday by judge Gary Orélien in charge of the investigation.
In December, in the pages of Duty, Joverlein Moïse, son of the former president, denounced the “parody of justice” which followed the assassination of his father and deplored the silence of the international community, including Canada, in front of this crime which, under the circumstances, risks going unpunished.
According to a Haitian police report, Mario Antonio Palacios is suspected of having been part of the commando of 26 armed mercenaries who entered the presidential residence to shoot Mr. Moïse. In interview with Colombian magazine SemanaMr. Palacios admitted entering the room of the former Haitian president on the evening of the murder, but assured that he was not responsible for his death. He is the only member of the commando to have managed to leave Haiti after the assassination.
Extradition refused
His extradition to Haiti was rejected by Jamaica last Friday due to a request made by Haitian authorities that did not meet the country’s legal requirements, said Paula Llewellyn, the country’s chief prosecutor. According to information cited by The Guardian, Haiti demanded his extradition for armed robbery, without mentioning the involvement of Mr. Palacios in the murder of the president.
Last November, Haiti’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Claude Joseph, was sacked after having worked insistently to bring the former Colombian military man before Haitian justice. Tuesday, on Twitter, Mr. Joseph described as “not in the right direction”, the arrest of the former Colombian soldier by the United States. “I urge the Haitian authorities to collaborate with the American authorities so that […] this main suspect in the assassination of President Jovenel be extradited to Haiti to answer questions for justice, ”he added.
1er January, the former minister deplored the return of Mr. Palacios to Colombia by Jamaica while denouncing the absence of “political will to advance the investigation into the assassination of Jovenel Moïse” in his country.
Mario Antonio Palacios was deported to Colombia on Monday from Jamaica before being arrested by agents from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI on the way to Panama. The conditions for his transfer to American soil have not been specified.
Another major suspect in the death of Jovenel Moïse, Haitian businessman Samir Handal, was arrested in Turkey last November. Before Christmas, Turkish authorities acknowledged receipt of documents supporting the suspect’s extradition request to Haiti.