U.S. authorities have arrested four more people allegedly connected to the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. Two U.S. citizens and a legal permanent resident living in South Florida, and one U.S. citizen living in Tampa were arrested, including the owner of a Miami-area security company that hired ex-Colombian soldiers for the mission.
Moïse was shot 12 times at his private home near the capital of Port-au-Prince, and his wife was struck by gunfire, but she survived the attack.
Via NBC Miami:
Antonio "Tony" Intriago, owner of CTU Security, is charged with conspiracy to kill or kidnap a person outside the U.S. among other charges, along with company representative Arcangel Pretel Ortiz.
Florida-based U.S. financier Walter Veintemilla is accused of funding the operation. A fourth suspect, Frederick Joseph Bergmann Jr., is accused of smuggling goods.
"It is extremely important to bring (them) to justice," said Markenzy Lapointe, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. "We will deliver justice in the courtroom."
A squad of former Colombian soldiers hired by CTU are among suspects who carried out the July 2021 attack, which authorities say originally was envisioned to be a coup rather than an assassination. The motives and ultimate masterminds of the attack remain unclear.
CTU stands for Counter Terrorism University.
The four men initially plotted to oust Moïse and replace him with their chosen puppet, Christian Emmanuel Sanon. But as the plot formed they realized that Sanon had neither the constitutional qualifications nor the popular support of the Haitian people to become President, so they shifted their support from Sanon to a former Haitian Supreme Court judge. This new candidate contracted with CTU and Worldwide to serve the companies’ financial interests upon becoming President.
The DOJ also alleges that in June, 2021, the plot progressed from forcibly removing Moïse from power to assassinating him. In particular, the conspiracy began to focus on assassination after an unsuccessful effort to seize President Moïse on a return trip to Haiti and spirit him away by airplane to a location outside the country.
"Today, individuals who we allege participated in the planning, financing, and orchestration of the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse will face justice in an American courtroom," Attorney General Merrick Garland said. "The court documents unsealed today outline an alleged plan by the defendants, some of whom were operating within the United States, to remove President Moise from office by either killing or kidnapping him in order to replace him with a candidate who would serve their political goals and financial interests. The Justice Department will not tolerate individuals plotting violent attacks from U.S. soil that undermine the rule of law abroad."
This sounds like a script from a movie.
