Haiti asks US for troops after president’s assassination

Bloomberg

Haiti requested help from US troops to stabilise the country after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise plunged the Caribbean nation into political uncertainty.
Prime Minister Claude Joseph confirmed Haiti had requested assistance from the US military to protect infrastructure and prepare for elections in an interview with the Associated Press.
Officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security will travel to Port-au-Prince to assess the situation and lend support, White House Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said as more details emerged about the Colombian-led hit squad implicated in the crime.
Haiti’s police say they detained 19 men: 17 Colombians and two US citizens of Haitian descent, and killed four. The police say 28 people were part of the hit team, allegedly led by retired Colombian soldiers, which carried out the first murder of a sitting Haitian president in more than a century. It remains unclear who ordered the attack.
Moise’s assassination further destabilises the poorest nation in the Americas, which has been gripped by gang violence,
kidnappings, protests and the pandemic. It hasn’t had a functioning legislature since 2020 and the head of the Supreme Court — who might have replaced Moise — recently died due to Covid-19.
Amid the request for assistance, interim Prime Minister Joseph’s leadership position remains in doubt. Haiti’s senate, currently comprised of only a third of its usual members, nominated its head Joseph Lambert to be interim president, Reuters reported.
Joseph said that he had spoken to Colombian President Ivan Duque, who had “promised full collaboration” in resolving the crime. Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano also acknowledged that the international police agency Interpol had made a formal request for information about the suspects.
At first, the raid seemed to be meticulously planned and carried out, as the heavily-armed killers pretended to be US Drug Enforcement Administration agents to gain access to Moise’s residence in the hills outside of Port-au-Prince. A judge who visited the scene told local media that Moise had been shot at least 12 times. Moise’s wife was also wounded, and was medically evacuated to South Florida.
But it appears their escape plan fell through. Less than 24-hours after the crime, Haiti’s police had killed a handful of suspects and rounded up others. At least two presumed mercenaries were caught by angry mobs, tied with rope and marched through the streets. Eleven others were found hiding on the grounds of the Taiwanese Embassy, near Moise’s home.
Police presented the men, sitting on the floor with their hands bound behind their backs. They also showed a cache of automatic weapons, machetes, sledgehammers, radios and what appeared to be Colombian passports that they said had been taken from the group. Local newspaper Le Nouvelliste said officials had also recovered the hard drive that stored security footage at Moise’s residence, as well as his checkbook.
One of the men Haitian police presented as an alleged member of the squad was identified as Manuel Antonio Grosso, who Colombia media said is a former paratrooper and member of the special forces.
Colombian troops are considered among the world’s toughest after having fought against local guerrillas in jungles and mountains for more than five decades.