MIAMI – Four more people have been arrested in connection with the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise which also injured his wife Martine Marie Etienne Joseph in 2021, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe.
The arrests bring the number to a total of 11 suspects in custody since the slaying and attack in their home in Petion-Ville, Haiti.
Moise and his wife were both shot multiple times but she survived the attack and was flown to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, where she was treated.
All four suspects live in Florida – one in Tampa and three in the South Florida area including the owner of a security company, Antonio Intriago who allegedly hired ex-Colombian soldiers to assassinate Moise, prosecutors said.
Intriago, 59, and the former Colombian soldiers were involved in a conspiracy to assassinate the Haitian president in hopes to reap lucrative contracts under a new administration once Moise was killed, prosecutors allege.
“This was both a human tragedy and an assault on core democratic principles,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew G. Olsen.
Intriago was arrested on several charges including conspiracy to kill or kidnap a person outside the United States, and his company’s representative Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, a Colombian-born resident living in Miami also faces charges in the assassination plot.
Florida-based U.S. financier Walter Veintemilla, 54, of Weston, Fla., is accused of funding the operation, and a fourth suspect, Frederick Joseph Bergmann Jr., 64, of Tampa, is accused of smuggling goods including 20 CTUbranded ballistic vests disguised as medical X-ray vests and school supplies, prosecutors said.
Claude Joseph, who was serving as prime minister when Moïse was killed, applauded the news of the latest arrests.
“Justice must prevail,” he tweeted.
Other suspects linked to Moise’s assassination included James Solages and Joseph Vincent, two HaitianAmericans who were among the first arrested in 2021 and Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a pastor.
The assassination led to a whirlpool of violence and anarchy in Haiti, where gangs have taken control over the capital, Port au Prince, and several other cities in the Caribbean nation.
As a result, South Florida has seen a huge surge of Haitian migrants fleeing the social disorder and risking their lives in treacherous waters.
For Haitian migrants living in the U.S., President Biden extended the Temporary Protective Status (TPS) last year and placed a moratorium on deportations to Haiti which was originally set to expire this month.
Biden’s move was inspired by the efforts of U.S. Congresswoman Frederica Wilson and Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, both Democrats from South Florida.
The TPS affects over 50,000 Haitian migrants living in the U.S.
"Haiti has fallen into a more profound political uncertainty since the death of President Moïse," Wilson said. "There is still no elected president, legislators, or mayors." Cherfilus-McCormick, who is of Haitian descent, said due to the failed leadership by the de facto government of Dr. Ariel Henry, the people of Haiti are being terrorized, raped, murdered, and kidnapped daily by emboldened gangs financed and supported by powerful elites.
“Over the past several months, the pervasive insecurity has resulted in massive protests against the government’s complicity and failure to protect citizens," Cherfilus-McCormick said. "It would be unconscionable to send anyone back to Haiti at this time.”
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