At least two Haitian Americans are among six men who have been arrested in the assassination of Haiti’s president early Wednesday, officials said.
Haiti’s minister of elections Mathias Pierre identified James Solages, as one of the two Haitian Americans. He did not provide additional details about Solages’ background, nor provide the name of the second Haitian American.
Pierre told The Associated Press said that the four other men are from Colombia. The oldest suspect is 55 and the youngest, Solages, is 35, he said.
Seven other suspected assailants were killed in a gunfight with police, according to Haiti’s director of National Police Léon Charles.
Solages described himself as a “certified diplomatic agent,” an advocate for children and budding politician on a website for a south Florida charity he established in 2019 to assist residents.
On his bio page for the charity, Solages said he previously worked as a bodyguard at the Canadian Embassy in Port au Prince. On a LinkedIn page with his name and photo, it says Solages graduated with a bachelor’s degree in IT and lists his skills as: military police, mechanical electrical, and plumbing (MEP), and electrical troubleshooting.