The main suspect in the murder of the President of Haiti is becoming more and more mysterious

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Port-au-Prince, Haiti (Associated Press)-a doctor. A church pastor. A failed Florida businessman filed for bankruptcy.

The emergence of new details about a person considered to be a key figure in the killing of the President of Haiti deepens the mystery of the assassination, which makes this country of more than 11 million people face an uncertain future.

Local authorities confirmed that the suspect is Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 62 years old, Haitian, who expressed his desire to lead the country in a YouTube video. However, he is not well known in Haitian politics. His colleagues stated that President Jovenel Moïse was killed in an attack last week, causing serious injuries to his wife Martina. Deceived by those who are really behind.

A Florida friend of Sanon told the Associated Press that the suspect was an evangelical Christian pastor and a licensed doctor in Haiti, but not in the United States. For security reasons, the colleague, who asked not to be named, said that Sanon told him that he was approached by someone claiming to represent the US state and the Department of Justice, and they hoped to appoint him as president.

He said that this plan was only to arrest Moise, and if Sanon knew that Moise would be killed, he would not participate.

“I assure you,” the colleague said. “This should be a mission to save Haiti from hell with the support of the US government.”

Echoing these sentiments is the Florida pastor, Pastor Larry Caldwell, who said that he worked with Shannon from 2000 to 2010 to establish a church and medical clinic in Haiti. He did not believe that Shannon would be involved in violence.

“I know the character of this man,” Caldwell said. “You take a person like this, and then you will say that he was involved in a cruel murder, knowing that it is connected to that will make him go to hell? … If someone is willing to stand in the gap and help his country , That’s a Christian.”

The chief of the Haitian National Police, Leon Charles, said that the murderer of Moise was protecting Sanon, and he accused Sanon of cooperating with those who planned the assassination.

Charles said that the police found a hat with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration logo, 20 boxes of ammunition, gun parts, four Dominican Republic license plates, two cars and letters in Sanon’s home in Haiti.

Twenty-six former Colombian soldiers are suspected of killing, 23 have been arrested, and 3 Haitians. Charles said five suspects are still at large and at least three have been killed.

An official from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration told the Associated Press that a suspect in Moise’s assassination was sometimes a confidential source of the agency. After being killed, the suspect contacted his DEA contacts and was urged to surrender. . The official said that an official from the Narcotics Enforcement Administration and the US State Department provided information to the Haitian government, resulting in a suspect and another individual surrendering and being arrested, but their identities were not confirmed.

At the same time, General Jorge Luis Vargas, Chief of the Colombian National Police, stated that CTU Security, a Florida company, used its corporate credit card to purchase 19 air tickets from Bogota to Santo Domingo for Colombian suspects. Vargas said most people arrived in the Dominican Republic in June and moved to Haiti within a few weeks.

He said that Dimitri Hérard, head of general security at the National Palace in Haiti, flew to Colombia, Ecuador and Panama a few months before the assassination, and Colombian police are investigating whether he was involved in recruiting mercenaries. In Haiti, as part of the assassination investigation, prosecutors are seeking to interrogate Ellard.

Charles said that Sanon had ties to CTU Security, which recruited suspects in the murder case. He said that Shannon flew to Haiti in a private jet in June, accompanied by several accused gunmen.

Charles said the suspects were told that their job was to protect Shannon, but they were later ordered to arrest the president.

Charles said that after Moise was killed, a suspect named Sanon, he contacted two people believed to be the plotters. He did not specify the mastermind or whether the police knew who they were.

Sanon’s colleagues said that he recently participated in a meeting in Florida with Sanon and more than a dozen other people, including Antonio Enmanuel Intriago Valera, a Venezuelan immigrant who went to Miami to manage CTU Security. He said that some people gave presentations on rebuilding Haiti, including its water supply system, converting garbage into energy, and building roads.

He said that Sanon asked why the security team who accompanied him to Haiti were all Colombians. Sanon was told that Haitians were untrustworthy and the system was corrupt, the colleague said. He said that Sanon called him from Haiti a few days before the assassination, saying that the Colombian had disappeared.

“I am alone. Who are these people? I don’t know what they are doing,” the colleague quoted Sanon as saying.

The colleague added that Shannon is “completely easily deceived.” “He thinks God will save everything.”

Sanon used to live in Kansas City, Missouri and Florida, where he filed for bankruptcy in 2013 and claimed to be a doctor in a YouTube video titled “Haiti Leadership” in which he condemned the country’s leadership They were corrupt and accused them of depriving them of their rights. The resources of the country.

However, records show that Shannon has never been licensed to practice medicine or any other occupations covered by the Florida Department of Health.

Sanon stated in court documents filed in his 2013 bankruptcy case that he was a doctor and pastor of Tabarre Evangelical Tabernacle in Haiti. He said he holds shares in companies including the non-governmental organization Roma-Haiti, Haitian Radio, and medical facilities in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

At the time of his bankruptcy, he and his wife reported monthly income of $5,000, a house in Brandon, Florida, worth about $143,000, and mortgages exceeding $367,000. A federal bankruptcy trustee later determined that they had concealed the ownership of approximately 35 acres of land in Haiti from creditors.

Florida records show that Sanon has founded about 12 businesses in the past 20 years, but all have failed, including businesses related to medical imaging, physical therapy, fossil fuel trading, real estate, and vegetarianism.

At the time of Sanon’s arrest, more and more politicians challenged Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who is currently in charge of Haitian affairs with the support of the police and the military.

U.S. officials, including representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice and Homeland Security, met with Joseph on Sunday, appointed Prime Minister Ariel Henry and Joseph Lambert, Haiti’s disbanded Senate Speaker, and supporters appointed them as interim president to challenge the law. The White House National Security Council said Joseph.

It said that the delegation also met with the Haitian National Police and reviewed the security of critical infrastructure.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the delegation received a request for additional assistance. She said that the deployment of US troops is still “under review”, but also hinted that the political uncertainty in Haiti is a complicated factor.

“It is clear from their travels that the future of political leadership lacks clarity,” Psaki said.

US President Joe Biden stated that he is closely monitoring developments and added: “The Haitian people deserve peace and security, and Haitian political leaders need to unite for the benefit of the country.”

At the same time, UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhanhak said that Haiti’s request for security assistance is under review.

The United Nations has been involved in Haiti affairs on and off since 1990, but the last group of United Nations military peacekeepers left the country in 2017.

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Fox reports from Washington and Spencer reports from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Associated Press writers Manuel Rueda in Bogotá, Colombia, and Evens Sanon in Port-au-Prince contributed to this report.

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