Colombian ex-soldier pleads guilty in plot to kill Haitian president
By Sarah Morland
Sept 7 (Reuters) - Aretired Colombian army officer pleaded guilty in a U.S. court on Thursday to conspiringand supporting a plotto kill Haitian President Jovenel Moise, shot dead in his bedroom two years ago, a brazen assassination that created a destabilizing power vacuum.
According to the signed U.S. court document, GermanRivera, known as Colonel Mike, was part of the convoy which headed towards Moise's hillside Port-au-Princeresidence on July 7, 2021, days after he relayed information thatthe plan was not to kidnap Moise but instead to kill him.
The documentalso says Rivera provided material support, training and personnel to support Moise's kidnapping or murder. The case's criminal docket details three counts for materially supporting the plot and conspiracy.
SinceMoise's death, armed gangs have greatly expanded their controlacross the impoverished Caribbean nation.
Escalating turf warfare, largely centered around the capital, has driven a humanitarian crisis leaving some 200,000 internally displaced, according to U.N. estimates, amid frequent shootings, ransom kidnappings and sexual violence.
Meanwhile, the unelectedgovernment of Prime Minister Ariel Henry has struggled as critics accuse it of corruption.
Rivera is one of 11 defendants in the case, which includes businessmen accused of helping obtain vehicles and firearms from Florida.
Rivera's plea follows a that of Haitian-Chilean citizen Rodolphe Jaar, who in June was sentenced to life in prison after he said he had provided funds that were used to buy weapons and bribethe president's security detail.
"The battle for justice is intensifying," Martine Moise, the late president's widow who was wounded during the attack, wroteon social messaging platform X. "It will continue as long as thepeople, thirsty for justice, don'tget the expected results."
Rivera's sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 27 at the U.S. District Court in Miami.
Reporting by Sarah Morland; Editing by David Alire Garcia and David Gregorio
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