Haitian Citizen Admits to Assassination of Former President

Court documents revealed that Chilean Haitian citizen Rodolphe Jaar pleaded guilty today, Friday, before a U.S. judge to three charges related to his role in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, who was killed in July 2021 at his home. Jaar is one of eleven defendants in the case, including businessmen accused of aiding in the procurement of vehicles and weapons from Florida and former Colombian soldiers accused of assassinating Moïse in his bedroom. The U.S. Department of Justice stated that Jaar was accused of assisting in supplying weapons to Colombians who also stayed at his controlled property and aiding them while they were hiding from Haitian authorities. He was arrested in January 2022 in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. Court documents indicated that sentencing for Jaar, who may face life imprisonment, is scheduled for June 2 in Miami. The assassination of Moïse created a political vacuum in the Caribbean nation and emboldened powerful gangs that control vast areas of the country, exacerbating a humanitarian crisis that has displaced at least 160,000 people.