What is Haiti facing after the assassination of the president?
4:00
(CNN) -
Investigators from the United States and other nations join the criminal investigation into the assassination of the president of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse, after days of dizzying intrigue.
Moïse was killed at his home on Wednesday in an egregious incident for which authorities continue to investigate the motives, the media and the masterminds.
At least 28 people are suspected of participating in the attack, of which 26 are Colombians and two Americans, according to government data.
Minute by minute: assassination of the president of Haiti;
Colombian detainees, suspects killed and state of siege
But in some sectors of the capital, Port-au-Prince, there is a deep distrust of the official version of the crime.
Influential former legislator and opposition politician Steven Benoit, for example, told CNN on Saturday that he refused to believe the information provided by the remaining government, currently led by interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph.
Benoit has gained local and international notoriety for his insistence that the Colombian detainees were nothing more than luckless scapegoats for an unidentified local perpetrator.
However, in the sunny lobby of a Haitian radio station, he also acknowledged to CNN that he had no direct evidence to support the theory.
He was called to appear before the Haitian state prosecutor on Monday in connection with the investigation.
advertising
The unresolved questions in the investigation of the assassination of the president of Haiti
Sister of one of the suspects in the murder of Jovenel Moïse in Haiti speaks
That same day, the sister of a retired Colombian sergeant - who was identified as a suspect and who died in a clash with Haitian security forces - spoke to offer new details about her brother, including text messages from the day of Moïse's murder. .
He also said that he did not believe his brother could be involved in the assassination, citing a telephone conversation they had on the day of the president's death.
People cheer as a police vehicle passes in front of the police station where, since July 8, men who are accused of being involved in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, in Port-au-Prince, have been detained.
International aid could give people more confidence
But international assistance in the ongoing investigation in Haiti could foster greater public confidence in its findings and impartiality, not to mention boost its progress, multiple people in the capital, including sources within the Haitian police, told CNN.
The US and Colombia assigned experts to the search in Haiti, and despite his skepticism, former lawmaker Benoit said on Saturday that he looked forward to hearing the final results of the investigation.
"The good news is that the FBI is here, the equivalent of the Colombian FBI arrived yesterday. They are professionals. And I hope that before Monday morning, before going to the prosecution, the truth is known," said Benoit.
Haiti's first lady makes an apparent first public statement
In an audio statement posted to her verified Twitter account on Saturday, Haiti's First Lady Martine Moïse - who was also shot in the attack at the couple's private residence and taken to Miami for treatment -, seemed to give his first words of what happened.
The Secretary of State for Communications of Haiti, Frantz Exantus, confirmed to CNN that the audio is the voice of Martine Moïse.
According to Reuters, other people, including the Minister of Culture and Communications of Haiti, Pradel Henriquez, also confirmed that it is the voice of Martine Moïse.
CNN has not been able to independently confirm the authenticity of the audio.
"In the blink of an eye, the mercenaries entered my house and killed my husband," said the first lady, who was said Wednesday to be in a stable but critical condition.
"We know who the president was fighting against," he said, without further clarifying.
"They sent a group of mercenaries to assassinate the president inside his own home while he was with his family, because he was fighting for better roads, water, electricity, a referendum and the next elections at the end of the year."
And he warned that there are "other mercenaries" who "want to assassinate the president's dream, who want to assassinate the president's vision, who want to assassinate the president's idea for the country."
He encouraged his followers not to let that happen, saying: "I am determined to stand my ground because the fight he was leading was not his own battle, it was a battle for the nation; we must keep fighting."
Building shot reveals what confrontation was like in Haiti 1:01
Research aid in Haiti
In the days after the assassination, Haiti made several requests for international assistance for security in the country and the investigation of Moïse's death.
On Saturday, a special Colombian police unit arrived in the country to assist in the murder investigation, according to Haiti's Communications Secretary Frantz Exantus.
The Colombian National Police also confirmed to CNN that the director of the country's National Intelligence Agency and the director of the Police Intelligence Division are in Haiti, along with Interpol personnel assigned to the Colombian police.
The reinforcements came after Colombian authorities previously stated that at least 13 retired members of the Colombian Army who traveled to Haiti in recent months are believed to be involved in the killing, as well as the injuries, of Martine Moïse.
US aid "soon" to arrive, but no plans for military to arrive
High-level agents from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security will also be dispatched to the troubled nation "as soon as possible" to help determine how and why President Moïse was assassinated, according to the White House press secretary. Jen Psaki.
However, the US reported on Saturday that despite a request from the interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph's government, it has no intention of sending troops to Haiti.
"There are no plans for military assistance at this time," a senior US government official told CNN.
With no further attacks on key infrastructure like ports and energy - vulnerable areas that the Joseph government cited in its request for foreign troop support - the Haitian government takes the Pentagon's statement in stride, he said. Elections Minister Mathias Pierre told CNN.
"If I trust the Pentagon's statement, it is rather a prudent decision," said Pierre.
"So far things are normal here, there is no chaos, but we are still in a volatile situation."
Haiti in crisis as theories about the assassination of the president fill in the information gaps
A political landscape that changes day by day
Meanwhile, political maneuvering in the vacuum left by Moïse's death may have its own disorienting effect on observers, as potential challenges to the leadership of acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph emerge and dissipate.
Joseph vowed to stay in power until presidential and legislative elections are held in September.
"That is our job, and that is what we intend to do," said Pierre, adding that doing so would honor Moïse's memory.
It is true that Haiti desperately needs elected legislators, after Moïse repeatedly failed to hold elections at various levels of government.
Parliament became dysfunctional in January 2020, when the terms of two-thirds of the 30 members of the Senate chamber expired, leaving only 10 senators in office.
But critics of the government say the country is not in a position to hold a fair and free vote, with extreme gang violence preventing much movement in Port-au-Prince.
A short-lived challenge
On Friday, the handful of remaining Senate members appointed one of their own, Senator Joseph Lambert, to the post of interim president of Haiti, posing a direct challenge to the current interim leadership, albeit short-lived.
Less than 24 hours later, he appeared to back down, saying on Saturday his oath had been postponed without giving a new date for the event.
"The senators decided to postpone the oath this afternoon. They all want to be present to actively participate in the appointment," he said in a tweet on Saturday, before adding: "There is an urgent need to rebuild hope in the country."
CNN's Caitlin Hu, Etant Dupain, Natalie Gallon and Matt Rivers reported from Port-au-Prince. Stefano Pozzebon, from CNN, reported from Bogotá; DJ Judd, from Washington; and Radina Gigova, from Atlanta. CNN's Sugam Pokharel also contributed to this report.
HaitiJovenel Moise