US envoy to Haiti resigns over ‘inhumane’ deportations and ‘catastrophic’ political meddling
https://www.rt.com/usa/535649-biden-env ... ortations/
23 Sep, 2021
Migrants, many from Haiti, wade across the Rio Grande river from Del Rio, Texas, to return to Ciudad Acuna, Sept. 22, 2021 © AP / Fernando Llano
US Special Envoy to Haiti David Foote has quit his job over the Biden administration’s removal of thousands of illegal Haitian immigrants. Foote also disagreed with the US’ backing of de-facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
Foote wrote in his resignation letter on Thursday, first reported by PBS.I will not be associated with the United States’ inhumane, counterproductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees and illegal immigrants to Haiti, a country where American officials are confined to secure compounds because of the danger posed by armed gangs to daily life,
he added, suggesting that the US deliverOur policy approach to Haiti remains deeply flawed, and my policy recommendations have been ignored and dismissed, when not edited to project a narrative different from my own,
to Haiti’s government, as well as food and medicine to its people.immediate assistance
Around 14,000 Haitian migrants crossed into Texas from Mexico last weekend, setting up camp under the International Bridge in the town of Del Rio. The Biden administration has since started flying these migrants back to Haiti, though some have been apprehended and released into the US with instructions to report to immigration authorities at a later date, as is the administration’s standard procedure with border-crossers.
The precise numbers of those released versus those flown home are unclear, though anonymous officials told the Associated Press https://apnews.com/article/immigration- ... 9594df3ec6 that migrants have been released into the US on a
despite seven daily deportation flights operating as of Wednesday.very, very large scale,
Conservatives have hammered the Biden administration over this ‘Catch and Release’ approach, an Obama-era policy reinstated by Biden in January after it was suspended by former President Donald Trump. However, liberals have also slammed the administration for refusing entry to the Haitians, and for using border guards on horseback to turn them away from the frontier in Del Rio.
Foote is not the only person without a job over the border debacle. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Wednesday that several of these mounted Border Patrol agents
accusing them ofwere placed on administrative leave and will not be interacting with any migrants,
It is unclear what measures Psaki was referring to, as rumors of these officers whipping migrants https://www.rt.com/usa/535372-haitian-m ... ips-reins/ went viral in recent days but were subsequently found to be false.using brutal and inappropriate measures against innocent people.
Meanwhile, a chorus of top Democrats have demanded a halt https://www.rt.com/usa/535487-democrats ... ortations/ to the deportations. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and former presidential hopefuls Rep. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) and Julian Castro are among those asking Biden to stop sending the Haitians back. All three have cited poverty and political upheaval in Haiti as factors behind the flood of migrants into the US. Already among the world’s poorest countries, Haiti recently suffered a devastating earthquake and the assassination of its prime minister, Jovenel Moise.
Foote referenced the aftermath of Moise’s assassination in his resignation letter, stating that the US’ backing of current de-facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry was an ill-advised intervention in the country’s affairs.
he wrote.More negative impacts to Haiti will have calamitous consequences not only in Haiti, but in the US and our neighbors in the hemisphere,
Foote was appointed special envoy to the Caribbean nation in July, following the death of Moise.
_______________
Who's behind the assassination of the Haitian president?
16 JUL 2021
https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/who-s ... dent-48442
Jovenel Moise, a political outsider coming from humble origins, was assassinated by Colombian mercenaries apparently under the payroll of a US security firm. ( Robenson Sanon / Reuters )
A US-based security firm appears to be central to Jovenel Moise’s killing by a professional team, which allegedly includes Haitian-Americans and ex-Colombian soldiers.
Haiti’s controversial President Jovenel Moise, whose legal presidential term ended in February according to some https://www.wsj.com/articles/haiti-pres ... low_a_pos1 accounts, was killed on July 7 by a hit squad, which had people from Colombia, the US and Haiti.
Before the assassination, Moise aimed to change the country’s constitution through a June referendum, which was rescheduled to September under US pressure, as anti-government protests hit the country. Washington is Haiti’s most powerful supporter in the international arena. In September, the country’s presidential election will also be held.
While the president, who allegedly collaborated with the country’s brutal gangs https://www.wsj.com/articles/haiti-pres ... low_a_pos1 to suppress dissent, clearly fell victim to the assassination plot, all other details continue to be enigmatic to outside observers, leading to confusing reports about what actually happened in the day of the killing, who did that and why.
Here is a brief explanation on the alleged actors of the assassination plot:
Who were the killers?
According to both Haitian and Colombian officials, https://www.wsj.com/articles/ex-soldier ... eatst_pos3 the actual assassins were former Colombian soldiers, some of whom were trained by the US military. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/15/worl ... stody.html There were allegations that one of the attackers shouted with an American accent on the night of the assassination that the raid was a
DEA operation,
referring to America’s Drug Enforcement Administration.
The two leaders of around two dozen former Colombian soldiers that raided Moise’s private residence in Port-au-Prince, were Germán Alejandro Rivera and Duberney Capador. Both of them were killed during clashes between the hired mercenaries and the Haitian security forces on the night of July 7.
Capador, who appeared to be the primary recruiter of Colombian ex-soldiers, sent a picture of himself to his sister https://www.washingtonpost.com/investig ... rity-team/ prior to the assassination, wearing a t-shirt with a CTU emblem on it. The CTU is a Miami-based US security firm which has
in various conflicts from Iraq to Bolivia and Colombia, according to the Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/investig ... rity-team/extensive experience in military and law enforcement special operations,
Colombian officials believe that ex-Colombian soldiers involved in the assassination plot received money from the US. Colombia's National Police Director General Jorge Luis Vargas speaks during a news conference in Bogota on July 15, 2021. (Luisa Gonzalez / Reuters)
Haitian officials said that the same two Colombians and others were hired by Antonio “Tony” Intriago, the head of the CTU and an American citizen. Walter Veintemilla, another American and the owner of Worldwide Capital Lending Group, also allegedly financed expenses of the CTU-led Colombian force in Haiti prior to the assassination.
People representing Veintemilla claimed https://www.washingtonpost.com/investig ... rity-team/ that the presence of Colombian mercenaries in Haiti was related to a project to create a security force for the protection of Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a pastor who also happens to hold both American and Haitian citizenships.
Sanon projected himself as the next leader of Haiti following the supposed fall of Moise and asked both Veintemilla and Intriago to form a security force to protect him, according to documents obtained by the Post.
An enigmatic alliance
According to Haiti authorities, three Americans, Intriago, Veintemilla and Sanon were seen together in some pictures apparently with Colombian mercenaries. The CTU, which is a crucial component of the assassination plot according to Haiti officials, gave no response to any media inquiry until now.
Veintemilla’s firm and other American acolytes of Sanon remarked that the Haitian pastor would come to power by a peaceful transition despite giving no clear explanation on how that could happen.
Tires burn after being set on fire by protesters upset with growing violence as police patrol and try to put out the flames and clear the road for vehicles in the Lalue neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, July 14, 2021. (Matias Delacroix / AP)
said Parnell Duverger, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/15/worl ... rld%20News an American retired adjunct economics professor, who appeared to prepare an economic development plan for Sanon’s Haiti.At the time of the meetings he was, we all believed, going to become a prime minister,
Duverger reflected on his past conduct with Sanon, who appeared to create an impression on his counterparts that he was backed by both Democratic and Republican politicians in the US.I keep asking myself, there must be something wrong with me for being so naïve,
But if the aim to form a security force had been protecting a Haitian-American pastor with great political ambitions, why would that force have ended up killing the Haitian president?
While the Americans involved have no response to that question, Haitian officials suspect that Sanon backed by Veintemilla and Intriago planned the assassination plot, using Colombian mercenaries as hitmen. Colombian authorities also said that Rivera, one of the ringleaders of the assassination plot, received payment coming from the US, apparently either from the CTU or Veintemilla’s Worldwide Capital, the CTU’s co-financier of Sanon’s project.
Sanon, who is also known for his humanitarian work, was arrested by Haitian authorities after the killing of the president. He was accused of being the main conspirator of the July 7 attack. Sanon denies any involvement saying that
according to an anonymous source, https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/14/amer ... index.html who is involved in the murder investigation.he doesn't know anything at all,
A Colombia-based TV station also accused https://www.euronews.com/2021/07/16/hai ... the-assass the interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who is currently in charge of the country, as being one of the men behind the assassination. Haitian police deny that claim.
Even if Veintemilla’s account regarding the protection of Sanon, who does not hold any elected office, were true, there would be another problematic aspect in the story concerning how Sanon will pay back the American firms. Veintemilla’s firm accepted that Sanon will pay back both Worldwide Capital and the CTU after becoming the president of Haiti, using the country’s public assets.
said a draft contract https://www.washingtonpost.com/investig ... rity-team/ between Sanon and American firms circulated on June 22.The Parties agree that the source of funding for amounts due to Consultant pursuant to this Agreement shall be from the proceeds of monetary assets seized by Haiti due to the efforts of Consultant and/or its Subcontractor,
Haiti is the poorest country https://news.yahoo.com/haiti-poorest-co ... ometers%20 across the American continent, hit by gang violence, corruption, economic stagnation and political disorder.