U.S. Sends FBI Team to Haiti to Investigate Moise Assassination

[Judi Lynn]

1h ago

Jim Wyss, Bloomberg News



PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI - JULY 08: Citizens take part in a protest near the police station of Petion Ville after Haitian president Jovenel Moïse was murdered on July 08, 2021 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Moise was killed and his wife injured during an attack to their home in the nation's capital on Wednesday. Haiti remains in turmoil as new authorities are still to be defined and assassins identified. (Photo by Richard Pierrin/Getty Images) , Photographer: Getty Images/Getty Images South America

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. is sending federal agents to Haiti to investigate the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, as more details emerge about the Colombian-led hit squad implicated in the crime.

Officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security will travel to Port-au-Prince to assess the situation and lend assistance, White House Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Friday. The move comes after Haitian authorities called for international help in solving the murder.

Haiti’s police say they detained 19 men: 17 Colombians and two U.S. citizens of Haitian descent, and killed four. The police say 28 people were part of the hit team, allegedly led by retired Colombian soldiers, which carried out the first murder of a sitting Haitian president in more than a century. It remains unclear who ordered the attack.

Moise’s assassination further destabilizes the poorest nation in the Americas, which has been gripped by gang violence, kidnappings, protests and the pandemic. It hasn’t had a functioning legislature since 2020 and the head of the Supreme Court -- who might have replaced Moise -- recently died due to Covid-19.

More:
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/u-s-sends-fbi-team-to-haiti-to-investigate-moise-assassination-1.1627407

[Judi Lynn]

1. Haiti requests US security forces to guard infrastructure amid turmoil

BY LAURA KELLY AND REBECCA BEITSCH - 07/09/21 06:11 PM EDT

The Biden administration has received a request from Haiti to provide U.S. security forces to the Caribbean nation to guard critical infrastructure, according to two congressional sources, as the country grapples with an unpredictable security situation following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse earlier this week.

The federal government did not comment on specifics of the assistance it is providing to Haiti, but said that the U.S. is responding to requests from Haitian police for investigative and security assistance, with senior FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials being dispatched to the country.

“In response to the Haitian government's request for security and investigative assistance, we will be sending senior FBI and DHS officials to Port-Au-Prince as soon as possible to assess the situation and how we may be able to assist,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday.

“We’re providing resources in terms of women and man power, but also financial resources is part of what our objective is as well,” she added.

More:
https://thehill.com/policy/international/562349-haiti-requests-us-security-forces-to-guard-infrastructure-amid-turmoil