The TLDR: The brazen murder of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse has thrown the already beleaguered country in turmoil. There are now 20 suspects in custody and big troubling questions about who really killed Moïse. A political tragedy has now become an intrigue-filled mystery worthy of a Tom Clancy thriller.

A short history lesson

In case, you don’t remember your childhood geography classes, Haiti is located right next to the Dominican Republic, and off the coast of Cuba:

And here’s the history:

• A former French colony, Haiti gained independence in 1804—but was never recognised by the US until 1862 in case it gave American Black slaves the wrong idea. 
• In 1915, the US sent troops to build back the country after its President was assassinated—and stuck around for another 20 years, controlling the country’s economy and government. 
• Fast forward to 1994: Bill Clinton sends in troops again, this time to restore Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power after he was deposed via a military coup.
• In January 2010, an earthquake killed over 200,000 people, and the United Nations deployed peacekeepers to help rebuild Haiti.
• The UN troops instead imported a cholera epidemic that killed 10,000 and infected almost 800,000 Haitians.
• The UN withdrew in 2017—which is when banana exporter-turned-politician Jovenel Moïse took office as the president of Haiti.

A land of extreme poverty: The average income is $5 a day, and many people live on much less. Haiti’s government is no less poor, and often struggles to provide basic services like trash collection or to hold timely elections. At least 20% of its budget comes from foreign loans—which gives the International Monetary Fund great control over its economy.

About Jovenel Moïse: He was essentially a dictator-in-the-making, according to experts:

“Moïse had been ruling by decree. He effectively shuttered the Haitian legislature by refusing to hold parliamentary elections scheduled for January 2020 and summarily dismissed all of the country’s elected mayors in July 2020, when their terms expired.”

Over the past few years, he has arrested prominent leaders, and attacked neighbourhoods that oppose his rule. Armed gangs prey on civilians with impunity, some of them through kidnap-for-ransom rackets. In fear of the rising violence, Haitians have been streaming toward the US border.

The big controversy: this year was over the length of Moïse’s presidential tenure—which was supposed to end in February. But Moïse argued that since he was not able to take office until 2017—due to political chaos triggered by charges of election fraud—he has the right to serve his five-year term. Seen as a ruse to unlawfully stay in power, the move sparked widespread anger and protests.

The assassination of Moïse

The killing: Around 1 am on July 7, a group of assassins entered his residence and tied up Moïse’s guards, the housekeeper and butler. They shot the president 12 times with high-caliber bullets, with one shot directly in his forehead. His eye had also been gouged out. The interim prime minister Claude Joseph says he was first tortured, and also this:

“Photos and X-ray images posted on social media at the weekend said to be from Moïse's autopsy showed his body riddled with bullet holes, a fractured skull and other broken bones, underscoring the brutal nature of the attack.”

The suspects: According to Haitian authorities, the unit of assassins was made up of 26 Colombians and two Haitian Americans. So far, 20 have been arrested, and three killed in a gun battle. Eleven of them fled after the killing, and sought refuge in the Taiwanese embassy—where they were later arrested. At least two were caught by a mob of angry citizens armed with machetes:

The big question: Are they the killers?

In recent days, a number of questions have been raised about the official version of events. And new details have raised new doubts.

Doubt #1: The two Haitian Americans arrested as part of the assassin squad insist that they were hired as translators for the Colombians—who had an arrest warrant. But when they arrived to arrest Moïse, they found him dead. Supporting their story: A Colombian newspaper claims a source told it that security footage from the presidential compound showed the Colombians arriving between 2.30 and 2.40am on Wednesday: “That means they arrived one and a half hours after the crime against the president.”

Doubt #2: Relatives of the Colombians say they came to the country after being hired by security firms for $2700/month to provide protection to wealthy Haitians. One of these is CTU Security, a low-profile company based in Miami—run by a Venezuelan émigré, Antonio Enmanuel Intriago Valera. Intriago seems to run a small operation selling security paraphernalia—though he often made all sorts of claims, according to a Miami Herald investigation:

“At times... Intriago claimed to have connections to or to have worked directly for U.S. agencies. A person claiming to have known him back in Venezuela said Intriago… would boast of being a paid mercenary and a coordinator of special forces, but most people did not take those claims seriously.”

But as the Herald’s investigation concludes, “There is nothing in Intriago’s public footprint to indicate that he had either the money or the scope to train dozens of private soldiers to raid the private residence of the Haitian president and kill him.” OTOH, it also acknowledges that Miami has become “sort of a Star Wars bar for would-be liberators and for-hire warriors.”

Doubt #3: The Colombians hardly behaved like highly trained assassins, as NPR notes:

“Rather than acting like a clandestine hit squad and keeping their whereabouts a secret before departing for Haiti, a few of the Colombian army vets posted on Facebook photos of themselves at tourist sites in the Dominican Republic. What's more, hours after Moïse was killed the Colombians apparently offered no resistance as they were rounded up in their hotels by Haitian police and civilians.

 

‘These were so-called elite commandos,’ Luis Moreno, a former acting U.S. ambassador in Haiti, told The Wall Street Journal. ‘And they ran away a couple of blocks and were caught, allegedly by civilians? Why did they all get caught, almost immediately?’”

Doubt #4: The entire operation was way too easy—which has raised suspicions among ordinary citizens:

“‘This was planned by people who know him and people who know the house,’ Raymond claimed, voicing bewilderment that none of Moïse’s bodyguards were reportedly injured during the assault. ‘Not even his dogs!’ Raymond added.”

A prominent Opposition leader echoed a similar claim: “The president was assassinated by his own guards, not by the Colombians.”

The bottomline: On the request of Haiti, the United States is sending senior FBI and Department of Homeland Security officials to help with the investigation. The Colombian government has also sent personnel to determine whether its citizens are innocent. But it remains to be seen whether any of the parties involved care about uncovering the truth—or just protecting their agenda.

Reading list

Miami Herald did an excellent investigation into CTU Security—which hired the Colombians. NPR reports on the various questions being raised about the real killers. The Guardian looks at how Colombians have emerged as popular guns-for-hire around the world. New York Times looks at the political crisis triggered by Moise’s death—with two men vying to be prime minister. The Conversation has five essential points you need to know about Haiti’s history. Vox looks at the history of US intervention in the country.