BOGOTA – Colombian Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva fulfilled an official agenda in Haiti on Friday that includes a visit to the prison where 17 former Colombian soldiers are being held for their alleged involvement in the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.
The Colombian Foreign Ministry announced in a statement that with the recent opening of a consulate in Port-au-Prince, after two decades of embassy closures, it intends to provide assistance to Colombian residents and especially those who are in prison . .
According to family members and the Colombian Ombudsman's Office, the former Colombian military personnel remain detained in Port-au-Prince prison without formal legal proceedings, in precarious health and nutritional conditions and overcrowded conditions.
Moïse was murdered in the early hours of July 7, 2021 when a group of unknown assailants broke into his private home, shot him and seriously injured his wife Martine, who survived. The former Colombian soldiers were captured in Port-au-Prince hours after the crime.
Last year, Colombian President Gustavo Petro apologized to Haiti for the assassination of its president Moïse “by Colombian mercenaries” and suggested strengthening bilateral ties.
In July, when two years had passed since the killing, the relatives asked the Colombian government in a statement for help in setting up an independent court in a third country and coordinating a humanitarian flight for the relatives to review the conditions in which the prisoners are found.
The Haitian government also arrested more than 40 people for their suspected involvement in the killing, including 18 former Colombian soldiers. Germán Alejandro Rivera García, one of those arrested, was extradited to the United States and sentenced to life in prison in October for conspiring in Haiti and the United States to hire mercenaries to kidnap or kill Moïse.
The Colombian Foreign Minister's official agenda includes a meeting with Prime Minister Ariel Henry, his Haitian counterpart Jean Victor Généus and other members of the Cabinet.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.