A retired Colombian army soldier was found guilty of conspiring to assassinate Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, which led to enormous unrest in the Caribbean nation, by a federal judge in Miami on Friday. The commander was given a life sentence.
Prosecutors in the United States have described this as a plot to hire mercenaries to kidnap or kill Moïse, who was killed on July 7, 2021, at his private home near the capital Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Germán Alejandro Rivera GarcÃa, 45, is the second of 11 accused perpetrators imprisoned and charged in Miami to be sentenced in this case.
- Advertisement -
In September, Rivera also referred to as “Colonel Mike,” entered a guilty plea for his involvement in and support of an attempt to assassinate the president of Haiti. He was reportedly informed that the president would not be kidnapped but rather killed, and on the day of the killing, he was a member of a convoy that was driving to Moïse’s home, according to court papers.
Rivera signed a cooperation agreement with U.S. authorities, which could have resulted in a reduced sentence. Currently, he faces the maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
On occasion, U.S. attorneys ask judges to lessen a conviction if they find that the convicted individual cooperates with their investigation.
The sentence was given by Federal Judge José E. MartÃnez during a brief hearing in Miami that lasted less than thirty minutes.
Once the judge agreed to suggest that the Colombian be kept in a federal prison in South Florida, as he had requested, she replied, “Good luck to you, Mr. Rivera.”
Moments before, in June, businessman Rodolphe Jaar, who is Haitian-Chilean, was found guilty of Moïse’s murder and given a life sentence. In the meanwhile, the December sentencing date is scheduled for former Haitian senator John Joel Joseph. In the US, there are eight more defendants who will go on trial in 2024.
Wearing a beige shirt and pants meant for prisoners, Rivera arrived at the hearing. He was sitting next to his lawyer, listening to the judge’s decision while wearing handcuffs and ankle shackles.
When the court asked the Colombian whether he had anything to say, he declined to speak. “Not at the moment, your honor,” Rivera said.
The allegations state that Rivera, Jaar, Joseph, and a few other people—roughly twenty Colombian citizens and a few dual-American citizens—participated in the scheme. The conspirators revised their original intention to assassinate the Haitian president instead of kidnapping him. According to investigators, the plotters had planned to get contracts under Moïse’s successor.
Upon his residence being broken into by attackers, Moïse was slain. The late president passed away at the age of fifty-three.
As the newest investigating judge continues his questioning, over 40 suspects in the case are still being held in Haiti and have been imprisoned for more than two years following the killing. 18 former Colombian soldiers who are being held in detention in Haiti are among those who were detained following the murder.
Joseph Félix Badio, a major suspect who had worked for the government’s anti-corruption unit and Haiti’s Ministry of Justice, was apprehended by police last week, which gave the case a boost. After more than two years on the run, he was apprehended in Port-au-Prince, the country’s capital.
Haiti has seen an increase in gang violence after the killing, prompting the prime minister to call for the deployment of military forces. Early in October, the U.N. Security Council decided to assist in combating the gangs by sending a multinational force under Kenyan leadership.
