Two arrested Americans claim they were just 'translators' in the assassination plot, a Haitian judge
Source: New York Times
Two arrested Americans claim they were just ‘translators’ in the assassination plot, a Haitian judge says.
By Catherine Porter and Frances Robles
July 9, 2021, 4:46 a.m. ET
Two Americans arrested in connection with the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti this week said that they were not in the room when he was killed and that they had worked only as translators for the hit squad, a Haitian judge said on Friday.
Clément Noël, a judge who is involved with the investigation and who interviewed both men soon after their arrest, said that neither was injured in the assault.
One of the Americans was identified as James J. Solages, a U.S. citizen who lived in South Florida and previously worked as a security guard at the Canadian Embassy in Haiti. The other was identified as Joseph Vincent, 55.
Judge Noël, speaking by telephone, said that he could not provide details on the wider plot or a possible motive, but said the two Americans maintained that the plot had been planned intensively for a month.
. . .
“They were all wearing the same boots,” said Justice Dieudonné.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/09/world/americas/two-arrested-americans-claim-they-were-just-translators-in-the-assassination-plot-a-haitian-judge-says.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur
= new reply since forum marked as read
if the supposed assassins were Colombians, they probably spoke Spanish?
It would seem they spent a lot of time swaggering, and trying to look tough.
. . .
Mr. Solages, 35, is a native of Jacmel, a city in southern Haiti, and lived in Broward County, the Florida county that includes Fort Lauderdale. He was the president of a small charity organization that said it focused on giving grants to women in his home city. But federal tax records show that he claimed to work 60 hours a week on an organization that in 2019 took in just over $11,000.
The organization, Jacmel First, says that its primary objective is reducing poverty and promoting education and better health systems in Haiti. His biography on his website said that he was a consultant, building engineer and “certified diplomatic agent.”
He also claimed to be chief commander of the bodyguards for the Canadian Embassy in Haiti. A Canadian government official said that Mr. Solages was briefly a reserve officer for a security company that had a contract to protect the embassy in 2010.
By the end of Thursday, as photographs of Mr. Solages in custody in Haiti circulated online, the charity group’s website had been taken down. So was a Facebook page that showed Mr. Solages in sharp suits.
James J. Solages
He looks like he’d care a lot about “women in poverty” 
Haiti president Jovenel Moise was assassinated by hit squad from Colombia and the US, police say
Jovenel Moise was reportedly assassinated by a heavily armed hit squad of 26 Colombians and two Haitian Americans
People cheer as a police car drives past the station where the men accused of being involved in
the assassination of President Jovenel Moise are being held (Photo: Getty)
By Zaina Alibhai
. . .
Eleven of the suspects were arrested after breaking into the Taiwanese embassy in Port-au-Prince, near to the residence where Mr Moise was killed, Taiwan’s foreign ministry said.
The US State Department said it was aware of the reports of the arrest but could not confirm if any US citizens were detained.
The Colombian government said the Colombians involved in the assassination were retired members of its military but did not release their identities.
. . .
The president’s daughter hid in her brother’s bedroom during the attack, and a maid and another worker were tied up by the attackers.
More:
https://inews.co.uk/news/world/haiti-president-jovenel-moise-assassinated-hit-squad-colombia-us-1094640?ITO=newsnow
and he was refusing to leave office. Of course a president whose term has ended and him denying it can only happen in a third-world country, right?
don't get charged or punished less even if all they do is wait outside with motor running.
rocktivity
09 July 2021 - 19:26
BY REUTERS
Image: Valerie Baeriswyl/Reuters
Police and intelligence agencies in the United States and Colombia are investigating links to the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise, after arrests of their nationals by Haitian authorities.
. . .
Police in Haiti said the assassination was carried out by a squad of 26 Colombian and 2 Haitian-American mercenaries. The two Haitian Americans were identified as James Solages, 35, and Joseph Vincent, 55, both from Florida.
Seventeen of the men were captured after a gun battle with Haitian authorities in Petionville, a hillside suburb of the capital Port-au-Prince, while three were killed and eight are still at large, according to Haitian police.
Authorities are still hunting for the masterminds behind the operation, they said.
Two U.S. law enforcement sources, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss an active investigation, said that agencies were looking into U.S. connections to the killing , but declined to comment specifically on the two suspects.
The sources said U.S. agencies were not assisting in the investigation in Haiti because Haitian officials had not requested their help.
Haitian officials have not given a motive for Moise's killing or explained how the assassins got past his security detail. He had faced mass protests against his rule since taking office in 2017 - first over corruption allegations and his management of the economy, then over his increasing grip on power.
Moise himself had talked of dark forces at play behind the unrest: fellow politicians and corrupt oligarchs who felt his attempts to clean up government contracts and to reform Haitian politics were against their interests.
More:
https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/world/2021-07-09-us-colombia-probe-links-to-haitian-presidents-killing-after-arrests/
By AFP Published July 9, 2021
A crowd gathered outside the Petionville police station wehre suspects in the assassination of the Haitian president are being held - Copyright AFP Peter Louis GUM
Robenson Geffrard with Daxia Rojas in Washington and Amelie Baron in Paris
A 28-member hit squad made up of Colombians and Americans murdered President Jovenel Moise, Haitian police say, but little is known about who masterminded the assassination and their motives as the investigation pressed on Friday.
. . .
“The president of the Republic, Jovenel Moise, was assassinated by his security agents,” former Haitian senator Steven Benoit said on Magik9 radio Friday.
“It is not Colombians who killed him. They were contracted by the Haitian state.”
– Political chaos –
The attack has further destabilized the poorest country in the Americas, plagued by insecurity.
Two men are now vying to lead the country of 11 million people, more than half of whom are under age 20. There is no working parliament now.
One of Moise’s last acts as president was to appoint on Monday a new prime minister, Ariel Henry. He had not taken office when Moise was killed.
Several hours after the assassination, Henry’s predecessor, interim premier Claude Joseph, declared a national “state of siege” for fifteen days and said he was now in charge.
While the opposition has accused Joseph of power-grabbing, the United Nations envoy to Haiti, Helen La Lime, has said he had authority because Henry had not been sworn in.
The country was already in the midst of in an institutional crisis: Moise had not organized an election since he came to power in early 2017 and as the country has had no parliament since January 2020, Moise had been ruling by decree.
Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/world/mystery-swirls-around-haiti-leaders-murder/article#ixzz709IgtvmM
Because they're actually CIA agents?
rocktivity
