USA announced the imposition of travel restrictions five Haitian citizens and seven of his direct relatives for being linked to street gangs and other criminal organizations on the island.
He US State Department Secretary Antony Blinkenindicated that this measure “sends a clear message” of the commitment to Washington “for root out corruption and impact the behavior of bad actors whose influence sustains lawlessness in Haiti”.
Blinken expressed that these additional sanctions are part of the support for the haitian people “by continuing to promote the accountability of people who promote violencethe corruption and the instability”.
“The Department continues to identify individuals and their immediate family members who may be subject to visa restrictions under this policy.. Our actions today demonstrate that there are consequences for those who incite violence and unrest in the country,” reads a statement from the State Department.
He condemned “in the strongest terms the violent gang activity” and expressed his “deep concern” about the situation in the country, referring to the activity of armed gangs.
“We continue to support Haitian citizens, organizations and public servants who are committed to generating hope and opportunity for a better future in their nation,” Blinken said.
Along with these designations, the Department of State It also included the President of the Haitian Senate, joseph lambertwho has already been sanctioned by the United States and Canada, Rommel Bellunder section 7031(c), another visa restriction policy that is made against persons with direct or indirect participation in significant corruption or a serious violation of human rights.
On February 14, the United States arrested four suspects in the assassination of the Haitian president in Florida. Jovenel Moise in 2021, according to a federal prosecutor indicated during a press conference held in Miami.
Three of those arrested are charged with conspiring to kill and kidnap to a person outside the United States, a crime for which they are exposed to life imprisonment.
It’s about the Venezuelan Antonio Intriago, the Colombian Arcángel Pretel Ortiz and the American Walter Veintemilla.
Intriago and Ortiz ran two Miami security firms, known as CTU, allegedly involved in the plan to overthrow Moïse and replace him with Christian Sanon, a Haitian-American citizen.
Veintemilla joined the plot as a financier through his company Worldwide Capital Lending Groupbased in South Florida.
The fourth detainee, the American Frederick Joseph Bergman Jr.is accused of helping to finance the coup and of collaborating to send CTU bulletproof vests to Haiti without complying with US export regulations.
Moïse, 53, was shot dead by an armed commando in July 2021 at his private residence in Port-au-Prince, without the intervention of his bodyguards.
“It seems that money and power, but above all money, were the opportunities that fueled the plot,” the prosecutor said. markenzy lapointe during the press conference.
According to him, Intriago, Ortiz and Veintemilla concocted the assassination plan in exchange for contracts to build infrastructure in Haiti, provide security forces and military equipment to a government led by Sanon.
(With information from Europa Press and AFP)
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