Retired Colombian army officer German Alejandro Rivera pleaded guilty on Thursday in a US court to conspiring to kill Haitian President Jovenel Moise in 2021.
Rivera’s plea follows a that of Haitian-Chilean citizen Rodolphe Jaar, who in June was sentenced to life in prison after he said he had provided funds that were used to buy weapons and bribe the president’s security detail.
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Moise was shot dead in his bedroom two years ago, a brazen assassination carried out by a convoy which headed towards Moise’s hillside Port-au-Prince residence on July 7, 2021, days after he relayed information that the plan was not to kidnap Moise but instead to kill him, that Rivera was a part of.
According to the signed US court document, Rivera, also known as Colonel Mike, provided material support, training and personnel to support Moise’s kidnapping or murder. The case’s criminal docket details three counts for materially supporting the plot and conspiracy.
The assassination led to further destabilization of the already unstable country. Armed gangs have greatly expanded their control across the impoverished Caribbean nation.
Rivera’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 27 at the U.S. District Court in Miami.
Rivera is one of 11 defendants in the case, which includes businessmen accused of helping obtain vehicles and firearms from Florida.
