Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/FLORIDA: United States authorities have arrested four suspects in Florida on Tuesday for their alleged role in a plot to assassinate Haitian President Jovenel Moise in 2021.
Moise’s assassination created a political void in the Caribbean nation, emboldening powerful gangs that act as de facto authorities in large parts of the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince.
According to the US Justice Department, eleven people were now in US custody and have been charged with murder by a grand jury in South Florida.
Three new defendants, Antonio Tony Intriago, the owner of Counter Terrorist Unit Security; Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, and Walter Veintemilla, the head of Miramar-based Worldwide Capital Lending Group, are accused of supporting a plot to kidnap or kill Haiti’s president, according to a briefing from US authorities.
US officials
According to US officials, the fourth defendant, Frederick Bergmann, is accused of conspiring to smuggle ballistic vests for former Colombian soldiers who allegedly carried out the fatal shooting of Moise.
Their investigation focuses on the deadly plot’s weapons, financing, and ballistic vests. Pretel Ortiz is a Colombian-American citizen, while Intriago is a Venezuelan-American businessman. According to the US Justice Department, both were detained in South Florida.
According to officials, Veintemilla, a US citizen, lent over $170,000 to CTU Security to fund their operations in Haiti. The arrests and charges were first reported by the Miami Herald and the New York Times on Tuesday. According to Intriago’s lawyer, he intends to enter a not-guilty plea at his bond hearing on Tuesday.
Since the assassination, Haitian gangs have expanded their territory. The ensuing violence has rendered much of the country off-limits to the government and resulted in regular gunfights with police. The United Nations proposed sending a “rapid action force” to Haiti in October to combat escalating violence from armed gangs whose turf battles have killed hundreds and displaced thousands.
The latest arrests come just a day before leaders of the Caribbean bloc, CARICOM, meet for a three-day conference, where the situation in Haiti is expected to be a major topic.
