Four men, including principals of South Florida-based companies, were convicted Friday of conspiracy in the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. U.S. prosecutors stated the plot was driven by a desire for “power, influence, and profit through violence,” and that the conspirators “hoped to enrich themselves with a new government.” The assassination contributed to “extraordinary turmoil” in Haiti.
Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, Antonio Intriago, Walter Veintemilla, and James Solages were found guilty of conspiring to kill or kidnap Haiti’s elected leader and providing material support for the plot. They were also convicted of violating the U.S. Neutrality Act and face potential life sentences.
Ortiz and Intriago were principals of Counter Terrorist Unit Federal Academy and Counter Terrorist Unit Security, collectively known as CTU. Veintemilla was a principal of Worldwide Capital Lending Group. Both companies are based in South Florida, which U.S. prosecutors identified as a “central location for planning and financing” the operation to oust Moïse.
James Solages, a CTU representative in Haiti, coordinated with Christian Sanon, a dual Haitian-American citizen whom investigators say was initially favored by the conspirators to replace Moïse. Sanon is slated to face trial at a later date.
Capital's Reach and Profit Motive
The assassination occurred on July 7, 2021, when approximately two dozen foreign mercenaries, primarily from Colombia, attacked Moïse’s home near Port-au-Prince. Moïse’s wife, Martine, was wounded during the attack and subsequently flown to the U.S. for medical treatment. Martine Moïse testified at the trial, which began in Miami in March this same year, recounting her husband’s last words: “Honey, we are dead.”
Defense attorneys for the convicted men argued that their clients were manipulated and believed they possessed a legitimate warrant signed by a Haitian judge. They claimed the men thought they were “liberating Haiti” from Moïse, who they asserted had overstayed his presidential term. This narrative attempted to legitimize the violent overthrow of an elected leader.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason Reding Quiñones affirmed the jury’s verdict, stating, “These defendants pursued power, influence, and profit through violence,” and “They supported a conspiracy that crossed borders, destabilized a friendly nation, and ended with the murder of a sitting president.”
The State's Selective Enforcement
The U.S. legal system has secured convictions for individuals involved in the plot, asserting its jurisdiction over actions planned on its soil. This enforcement, however, occurs while the broader structural conditions enabling such interventions and the resulting “extraordinary turmoil” in Haiti persist into the fifth year of the conflict.
In Haiti, 20 individuals, including 17 Colombian soldiers, face charges related to the assassination. However, the ongoing investigation in Haiti is stalled by “gang violence, death threats and a crumbling judicial system.” This stark contrast highlights how the “rule of law” is applied differently, with the U.S. prosecuting elements of a plot hatched within its borders, while the nation directly impacted struggles with systemic collapse.
At least five other individuals have already pleaded guilty in the U.S. conspiracy case and are currently serving life sentences. The trial focused on the individual culpability and profit motives of the conspirators, rather than the underlying economic and political structures that facilitate the destabilization of nations for capital accumulation.