LOOKING INWARD

Ex-Haiti Justice Ministry Official Ordered Hit on President: Police

Colombia’s General Jorge Vargas based his assessment on a preliminary investigation.

A Colombian police chief said Friday that a preliminary investigation into President Jovenel Moïse’s assassination showed that former Haiti Justice Ministry official Joseph Felix Badio may have ordered the hit. The investigation is being conducted by Haitian and Colombian officials, with some assistance from Interpol. General Jorge Vargas said Badio allegedly issued the kill order to two former Colombian soldiers three days before Moïse’s death. The soldiers, Duberney Capador and German Rivera, had initially been contracted for security services before allegedly being pulled into the plot. Capador was killed following the attack, while Rivera was among the 18 Colombians captured, according to Reuters. Badio’s location is unknown.

Multiple current and former Haitian officials are suspected of being involved in the killing. Dimitri Herard, the chief of palace security, was arrested Thursday, while a former Haitian senator was implicated by the country’s police chief.