Front Burner - Who killed Haiti’s president?

Episode Date: July 14, 2021

Following President Jovenel Moïse's assassination last week, Haitian police have arrested more than 20 people and say they’re beginning to piece together a fuller picture of who carried out the killing — and who ordered it. But many people are questioning the official narrative.

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. Hi, I'm Jamie Poisson. Since the Haitian President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in his home last Wednesday morning, the Haitian government says it has begun piecing together a fuller picture of who carried out the killing and who ordered it. Police have arrested at least 20

suspects for the shooting and killed three others. And authorities have detained a doctor they say is one of the masterminds behind the plot. But many people are raising questions about the government's narrative here. Today, Weedlore Marancore is here to help us unravel what is known so far about the plot to kill Haiti's president and the many, many questions that remain. Weedlore is a Haitian journalist and the editor-in-chief of the Aibo Post, and he was on the show last Thursday to talk about the assassination. You can find that episode in our feed. Hi, Weedlore. It is great to have you back on the podcast. Thank you. Thank you for making the time. It's good to be back.

So let's start by just going over what the Haitian government says happened here. So who do they accuse of masterminding Jovenel Moise's killing? And who do they allege actually killed him? Okay so the name that emerged from the police investigation is a man named Emmanuel Sano. We know some informations about him for instance we know that he's been going on and out of Haiti and he's based in Florida and that he got humanitarian activities in Haiti and in the Dominican Republic. Officials suspect that the arrested man wanted to oust the president and take over himself. A raid on his home revealed 20 boxes of bullets, a list of the hit squad members and a DEA hat, according to police. He arrived in Haiti on a private plane to fulfill political objectives. We have some information also about, you know, who was with him at the time that, you know,

these attacks occurred. He is accused of selecting these Colombians and allegedly two other Haitians to kill the president. He had had contact with a private security company to recruit some of the people who committed this act. Most of these folks are now with the authorities, including the two Haitians-Americans and most of the Colombians. Five of these Colombians are in the run right now, and three are dead, according to the latest reports of the authorities.

Okay, and so I just want to make sure that I've got it here. So basically what they're saying is that this guy, Emmanuel Sinan, he was the brains behind the plot. And then this group, 26 Colombians, two Haitian Americans, actually carried out the assassination. They were the ones who actually shot the president and were there that night. Correct? I mean, correct. If I can just add a caveat, it's what is coming out from the investigation of the Haitian National Police, because it's very important that we all know the skepticism that is arising all over this country with regard to what the authorities are saying about this investigation. There is growing doubt over the acting government's version of

events and confusion over who actually is or should be running the country. Some are suspicious, saying they see the hallmarks of an inside job. And I want to get to those questions with you in just a minute. But like, why do the authorities say that this man, Sinan, this Haitian doctor and pastor who is living mainly in Florida, why did they see he wanted to kill President Moise? Well, that's one of the questions that arises. We know that, you know, about 10 years back, you can sort of trace the ambition, the political ambition of this gentleman. And you can see videos of him on YouTube, for instance,

where he's posturing as a potential leader for Haiti. If you talk to young people, you're talking about hope, they laugh at you because they don't think anybody can bring them hope. Because the people they have hope on, it just turns their back away from them. I will bring hope to them. Why I will bring hope to them? Because I see their sufferings. I see what they're going through. And we've talked to some folks who knew him

all the way until, you know, a couple of weeks back. We would tell you that he planned to run as president on the next election. We are supposed to have elections in Haiti next September. So he, for instance, we talked to one of his economic advisors who was saying that, well, I helped him put together a plan for his economic agenda. But at the same time, I'm very skeptical that he would sign up for something like that. And another piece of information that I think is important is during the last press conference of the authorities, they talked about two other alleged co-masterminds behind the attack, but they did not give any name. name so we don't know a lot about these two other folks who allegedly you know conducted this with Emmanuel Sanon. So we've got Sanon and allegedly, I guess, these two other masterminds. And the group of the 26 Colombians and the two Haitians, where are they right now?

Where are they right now? You know, because I know in the 24 hours following the assassination, there was this huge gun battle, right, with some suspects not far from Moise's residence. And that some people tried to hide nearby. And what do we know about what happened there and what happened to these individuals? Okay, so what happened during that night, what happened since about 1 a.m. in the morning of last Wednesday is almost a complete mystery. But if you talk to people in the area where the president was killed, they will tell you that they saw some of these Colombians going in and out of the area right after the time that they were supposed to have killed the president. I have, you know, talked to people who said that they saw them at one, two,

you know, talk to people who said that they saw them at 1, 2, 3, 4, and sometimes 5. I have even someone who said they were there at about 6 in the morning. So we don't really know why would they kill someone and then hang out in a fashion that suggests they were not in running. in a fashion that suggests they were not in running. And interviews with their family give people a sense that they did not know what was happening. They thought they were there for securing some sort of VIP. And then when the police came and shot them, they were a little bit confused. That's what you can feel when you interview folks who know them. So the five orders that are not are, if they are still in Haiti or if they already are out of the country. Okay, you mentioned that the families of some of these

Colombian former soldiers have spoken to the media and that they're disputing the idea that these men were in Haiti to kill the president or that they had ever done anything like this before. As bullets slammed into the concrete walls around the group, one fighter called his sister. He told me they were in a house, she says, under siege, under fire and fighting. She added he's not a killer. And I'm wondering if you could talk to me a little bit more about what else we've been hearing, about what these men may have thought that they were there to do instead of kill the president. I mean, for instance, the two Haitian Americans, right,

who were there, and one of them was questioned right after he surrendered to the police. And now we are learning that he surrendered because he had a contact with DEA and they told him that he should surrender. So one of the things that he said to the prosecutor who interviewed him, which I find very interesting, is, you know, we were there to arrest the president. That was the order.

The order was not to kill the president. And he said he did not enter the house. The Colombians entered the house, and one of them came back to the house to tell him that the president was already dead when they got there. So we are still waiting for answers. And I think a lot of Haitians here are waiting to know how these people get to the president's house and killed allegedly the president. And no guards from the security detail of the president was wounded. We've not seen anything, any proof of that, or any report that suggests it is the case.

And then, if I ever kill a president, I will not hang out in his area undisturbed for several hours. So I wanted to know why they were there and why they were not running, why they were apparently, I mean, giving the appearance that they were not very disturbed or anything. And that brings us to the state that we were in, And that brings us to the state that we are in, which is a state where you have a narrative being pushed by the prosecutors, being pushed by the Haitian authorities, and a lot of people in the general population asking pointed questions about the gaps in the story. investor. then free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. Hi, it's Ramit Sethi here. You may have seen my money show on Netflix. I've been talking about money for 20 years. I've talked to millions of people and I have some startling numbers to share with you. Did you know that of the people I speak to, 50% of them do not know their own household income?

That's not a typo. 50%. That's because money is confusing. In my new book and podcast, Money for Couples, I help you and your partner create a financial vision together. To listen to this podcast, just search for Money for Couples. this podcast, just search for Money for Cops. So you've got all these sort of like big, big question marks around these kind of bizarre circumstances. You know, as you mentioned, we have the Colombian soldiers, some of whom their family members have been interviewed, and they're saying, as you mentioned, that they didn't go there to assassinate the president.

They thought that they were going there to protect a VIP. And then this Haitian American who has been interviewed, and he's saying that they, he thought that they were going there to like arrest the president. And then, of course, like you just said, there are lots of questions like why was nobody protecting the president injured? How are these guys just able to kind of waltz up, you know, and be able to do this? This is like the most heavily protected man in Haiti. So like what are Haitians thinking could have happened here? Well, I can quote the former and very influential senator in Haiti.

His name is Stephen Brunois. And he went on to the radio right after the assassination of the president to say that he thinks, you know, the president was killed by his own security. And you are seeing more and more people using this narrative to say that the government and the Haitian National Police is not completely frank with regard to what happened. But I want to stress here that I don't have the facts. I just have the speculation and the gaps in the story and, quite frankly, the legitimate questions that everybody should ask from the prosecutors, from those who are investigating this, so we can have more answers. One thing that is probably important to note is yesterday the ex-senator who went to the

radio to suggest that the president was probably killed by his own security. Actually, he said it as it was a truth. He was questioned yesterday by the prosecutor, while this same prosecutor has yet to listen to the heads of security for the president, Dmitry Irur, which, according to several reports, including the Colombian government, went to Colombia several times that year. So I just want to make sure I heard you correctly there. You're saying that the head of security for the president had gone to Colombia many times this past year. And so now people are asking questions about why, why that is the case. Correct. Correct. Correct. And I just want to know for our listeners before we keep going, it's not actually uncommon for

former members of the Colombian military to end up being hired by private security firms or private military contractors, because they're one of the best trained and best funded militaries in Latin America. There's lots of funding from the US, lots of combat experience from decades of conflict, which is probably worth noting. And I also think it's worth knowing, and I wanted to ask you about this, is that there is this company that seems to be involved. It's a Miami-based company called CTU. And the allegation from the government is that this company was hired by the doctor, Sinan, and they're the ones that hired all of these mercenaries, essentially, from Colombia.

What do we know about this company, CTU? We don't know a lot about this company, and I would not want to go into details that I'm hearing and not yet confirmed. But what we know is this company is a Venezuelan company, but it's based in the U.S. And Emmanuel Sano would hire at least some of these people from this company. And the narrative at the time would be that they would provide security to him personally. security to him personally. And the prosecutors in the case said that the mission will change when one of them, just one of them, would be presented with a warrant to arrest the president. It's not yet clear that all of them knew about this IRS warrant, or all of them knew, quite frankly, about what happened. I mean, we are still looking for more information with regard to this company and the role that it played

knowingly or unknowingly. Okay. And just also probably worth noting when we're talking about this company, Dubonnet Capador, one of the former soldiers in Colombia, he sent his sister the selfie where he was wearing his work uniform. It's literally a T-shirt with a logo that says CTU, the security company. And I guess, I don't know, probably just worth saying here, firstly, to me, it seems very strange that you would send your family a selfie in that shirt if you knew that you were in Haiti to kill the president. You know, I don't want to retread too much of what we've talked about, but just for you as a journalist, what are maybe like the two or three most important questions that you would want answered right now? Oh, I have so many questions. I mean, I guess two or three.

It seems impossible. That was maybe not a fair question. Yeah, I mean, the first question is, I do want to know how did they enter the house of the president without any casualties from the security detail? That's the first question for me. I would like to know how Mr. Sano, who declared bankruptcy in 2013, was able to pull out something like that. I mean, several of these guys reported having a salary thousands of US dollars. It's a very expensive endeavor. And you would want to have someone who is very powerful behind this. I would like to know how he paid for that, and if he had help. I mean, actually, if he is part of this, and he had help from someone else, I'd like to know. I'd like to know if he's not a front and being manipulated by other people. Of course, these are questions. I

don't have facts for them, but these are the questions, the two main questions that I think I'd like to have answer for. Okay. And I just, I hadn't heard that he had declared bankruptcy in 2013. Wow, this is really a shocking story. And, Lidlur, I really want to thank you for trying to help us make sense of it today, and I hope that you'll come back on really soon and keep us updated. Well, my pleasure. Pleasure. All right, that is all for today. I'm Jamie Poisson. Thanks so much for listening to FrontBurner, and we'll talk to you tomorrow.