By: Quijana Jynnyll Samilo
The U.S. government charged a retired Colombian soldier as one of the key suspects in the assassination of Haiti's President Jovenel Moise, justice officials said on Tuesday.
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| Photo by Orlando Barria via The Guardian |
Mario Antonio Palacios, a 43-year-old ex-soldier, is indicted for conspiracy to commit murder or for kidnapping outside the United States, as well as providing material support that he personally knows or intends to be used in a plot to kidnap or kill the Haitian President.
Palacios spoke voluntarily with U.S. authorities in October and stated that he was hired to travel to Haiti to provide security and participate in an alleged operation to arrest the President, a complaint by US prosecutors revealed on Tuesday.
The complaint further declared that the plot against Moise primarily pursued the objective of “kidnapping of the president as part of a purported arrest operation," but has ultimately evolved into a plot to kill.
Palacios was detained at a Panamanian airport late Monday and extradited to the United States. He appeared at a federal court in Miami last Tuesday afternoon but did not enter a plea. Court granted him counsel based on limited income after responding to questions related to his income and property, most notably owning a house in Cali, Colombia, and obtaining an army pension amounting to nearly $370 per month.
If convicted, Palacios would receive a maximum sentence of life imprisonment but court-appointed lawyer Alfredo Izaguirre also claimed that his client would probably plead not guilty at the preliminary hearing.
Moreover, the suspect is scheduled to appear in court again on Jan. 31.
Moise was murdered in his private residence on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince last July 7, 2021, with the authorities later claiming that they have intercepted the assailants, four suspects reportedly killed in a gunfight by the police and two others arrested.
The assassination has left a political void that threatens to deepen an already existing turmoil in Haiti, in which there is prevalent public unrest due to lack of security, soaring gang violence, and a series of kidnappings.
Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who has functioned to run the country since Moise's killing, was also reportedly targeted in an assassination attempt during last weekend's national day celebrations.
The office of Haiti’s Prime Minister recently issued a brief statement saying that “Henry wants justice to prevail; not only for the former President but also his family as well as our nation.”
As of writing, more than 40 suspects of the killing have been detained, with 19 retired Colombian soldiers including Palacios as per today. However, the authors of the attack remain unknown.
The Colombian government contends that the majority of the ex-soldiers were duped and thought they were on a legitimate mission to provide protection and that only a few knew it was a criminal mission.