Colombia Confirms13 Of Its Ex-Soldiers Among The Assassination Suspects

Colombia confirms13 of its ex-soldiers among the assassination suspects

Colombian officials revealed that two groups of its residents, suspected of taking part in the assassination of Haiti’s president, came to the country via the Dominican Republic.

iexclusive News Nigeria reports that a fuller picture of the group that Haiti accuses of assassinating President Jovenel Mose has emerged.

As officials in Colombia’s defense ministry named 13 suspects by name and stated that all were former Colombian military officers.

According to officials, two people have been dead, and the remaining 11 are being held. Some had gone to Haiti as early as May, according to them.

Former members of the Colombian military, which receives significant money and training from the US military, have previously worked as hired shooters.

Colombians are appealing to those seeking military assistance since they frequently have years of experience fighting left-wing rebels and drug traffickers within their own nation — and are frequently educated by US experts.

Colombian officials condemned the incident and said they were doing everything they could to help the Haitian government find the truth. Colombian officials were examining four businesses, they believed had recruited people for the operation.

according to Gen. Jorge Luis Vargas, the chief of the national police.

According to documents obtained by The New York Times, one of the suspects, Francisco Eladio Uribe, was being probed for homicide by the country’s special peace court last year.

Mr. Uribe was suspected of being involved in a scandal known in Colombia as “false positives,” in which hundreds of military personnel were accused of killing civilians and claiming they were combat deaths in order to demonstrate success in the country’s long civil conflict.

In an interview with W Radio, a lady described as Mr. Uribe’s wife stated that the couple had been married for 18 years and had three children, and that he had left home one day after informing her he had “a very fantastic employment chance.”

She said her spouse was investigated but cleared in the military affair.

According to Colombian officials, several of the accused departed Bogotá in May and flew to Panama before flying to the Dominican Republic and then to Haiti.

Others, according to officials, arrived in the Dominican Republic in early June before traveling to Haiti. Hispaniola, a Caribbean island shared by the two countries, is located in the Caribbean.

General Luis Fernando Navarro stated that the accused left the military between 2002 and 2018 and were involved in “mercenary activities” with “purely pecuniary” motivations.

According to John Marulanda, the director of the union for retired military officials, it is unclear whether the persons recruited for the operation were aware of the specifics of the assignment entrusted to them.

Colombians, according to Paul Angelo, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who analyzes security issues, have a history of being recruited into illegal activity since they frequently have limited options once they leave the armed forces.

What you need to know..

“Colombia is a country that for far too long had military conscription, which landed disproportionately on the shoulders of the country’s poorest men,” he remarked. 

“When an economic underclass is trained only how to fight and conduct military operations, those talents do not easily transfer to the civilian sector, save in the private security realm.”

A former Colombian army officer, who did not want to be recognized, stated that a mercenary who traveled abroad might easily be paid around $2,700 per month, compared to a military salary of around $300 per month — even for soldiers with years of combat experience.

“It’s not just Haiti; it’s Kabul, Mexico, Yemen, and the Emirates,” he stated over the phone, naming the places where former Colombian soldiers had gone.