A former Colombian military officer has been charged in the US in connection with the assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse last July.
Mario Antonio Palacios, 43, is accused of having “participated in a plot to kidnap or kill the Haitian president”, the US justice department said. He appeared at a Miami court on Tuesday to hear the charges against him.
Mr Moïse was shot dead on 7 July by gunmen who stormed his residence in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. While several arrests have been made in Haiti in connection with the killing, Mr Palacios is the first suspect to face charges.
In a statement on Tuesday, the US justice department said a complaint was filed in the state of Florida accusing Mr Palacios, along with a group of about 20 other Colombian nationals and dual Haitian-American citizens, of “conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping” outside the US.
It said the group was alleged to have “initially focused on conducting a kidnapping”, but that it “ultimately resulted in a plot to kill” Mr Moïse.
