Ex-Colombian Soldier Pleads Guilty in Haiti President's Assassination

A man stands next to a portrait of slain Haitian President Jovenel Moise placed on a memorial at the city hall in Cap-Haitien, Haiti July 22, 2021. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
A man stands next to a portrait of slain Haitian President Jovenel Moise placed on a memorial at the city hall in Cap-Haitien, Haiti July 22, 2021. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
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Ex-Colombian Soldier Pleads Guilty in Haiti President's Assassination

A man stands next to a portrait of slain Haitian President Jovenel Moise placed on a memorial at the city hall in Cap-Haitien, Haiti July 22, 2021. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
A man stands next to a portrait of slain Haitian President Jovenel Moise placed on a memorial at the city hall in Cap-Haitien, Haiti July 22, 2021. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

A former Colombian soldier pleaded guilty Friday in a US federal court to conspiracy to assassinate Haitian President Jovenel Moise, who was shot dead in 2021 in Port-au-Prince.

Mario Antonio Palacios, 45, pleaded guilty in a Miami federal court after entering into a cooperation agreement with prosecutors.

Until agreeing to a plea deal, he had for months denied having had any role in the assassination of the former president.

On July 7, 2021, Moise was shot and killed in his private residence at the age of 53 by a commando of more than 20 people, most of them Colombian mercenaries, as his guards failed to intervene.

According to the indictment, Palacios entered the president's house with the mercenaries and stole money and jewelry.

The prosecution, however, said he only played a minor role in the conspiracy and that he had no decision-making power within the group, AFP reported.

His lawyer, Alfredo Izaguirre, presented Palacios as a simple bodyguard and said he was sure that his client could avoid the maximum sentence of life behind bars.

The sentence will be handed down on March 1.

The US justice department has ruled that the case -- in which 11 people were arrested and charged -- falls within its jurisdiction because part of the assassination plot was hatched in south Florida.

So far, three people have been sentenced to life imprisonment in the case: former Haitian senator Joseph Joel John; a businessman of Haitian and Chilean nationality, Rodolphe Jaar; and another retired Colombian soldier.

The operation initially aimed to kidnap the president but evolved into a full-fledged assassination, according to court documents.

Moise's death plunged Haiti deeper into chaos. The Caribbean state was already prey to gang violence, but these days gangs control 80 percent of the capital Port-au-Prince, and the number of serious crimes has reached record levels, according to the UN representative in the country.



Multiple Quakes Leave Casualties in Guatemala, Cause Landslides

Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
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Multiple Quakes Leave Casualties in Guatemala, Cause Landslides

Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

A series of dozens of earthquakes were recorded in the span of hours in Guatemala, leaving two dead when rocks fell on their vehicle, authorities said. Landslides left several others buried.

More than 37 earthquakes and aftershocks with magnitudes ranging from 3.0 to 5.6 were reported in Guatemala Tuesday afternoon, said Edwin Rodas, director of the National Institute for Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology.

The tremors resulted in the evacuation of buildings, landslides, and minor property damage, officials said, adding they were felt as far away as El Salvador.
The two men killed were traveling in a pickup truck on a local road in the department of Escuintla when the rocks fell from a hillside onto the vehicle, firefighters said, according to The Associated Press.

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo said at a press conference Tuesday that the main epicenter of the quakes was in the department of Sacatepéquez, with aftershocks in the regions of Escuintla and Guatemala department.

At least five people were buried by landslides, but emergency responders were able to rescue two, he added.

The National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction declared an orange alert, the second-highest on the emergency scale.

The US Geological Survey reported a 4.8 magnitude earthquake at 3:11 p.m. local time, 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) southwest of the town of Amatitlán, south of Guatemala City, with a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles). It then reported another 5.7 magnitude quake 3 kilometers (2 miles) northwest of San Vicente Pacaya, a municipality in Escuintla, in the south-central region of the country.

Another 4.8 magnitude quake was reported 6 kilometers (4 miles) northwest of Palín, also in Escuintla.