Former Colombian military man arrested in the United States for the murder of the president of Haiti pleaded not guilty

It was learned that Mario Palacios, the former Colombian military man arrested in the United States and linked to the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Mosie, pleaded not guilty in a brief hearing before federal judge Lauren Louis in the courts of downtown Miami.

When Palacios pleads not guilty, he seeks the prosecution to present all the evidence it has to charge him and thus take more time to prepare his case and present witnesses. It should be mentioned that if found guilty he would have a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, for now the courts must set a date for the commencement of the trial, which could be several months from now.

Currently, he has been in federal prison in Florida since the beginning of the year, was arrested in Jamaica where he had fled after the murder and in October 2021 he voluntarily requested to speak with US authorities.

In the early morning of July 7, Haitian President Jovenel Moise was assassinated by a group of mercenaries. The murder became relevant in Colombia when it became known that a group of former soldiers were involved in the case and that 18 of them had been captured. The process involved Palacios, who had escaped from the scene of the crime, arrested in Jamaica in October after the Haitian National Police published an announcement of his search and capture in July.

The Colombian was part of a group of 20 Colombians and other Haitian-Americans who participated in a plot to kidnap or assassinate the Haitian president.

It should be recalled that the Haitian National Police published in July 2021 a search and arrest announcement against Palacios, because according to data from the investigation, Palacios had entered Moise's residence at the time of the assassination and fled. However, he denied that he was part of the crime.

“I don't know who killed him. I say this from the heart for my family, for my children. I don't know who killed him because when I got to that room there were already the Yepes commandos and Mr. Romero,” the former soldier noted.

In October, the Colombian authorities announced that Palacios, who had hitherto been classified as a “dangerous subject”, had been captured in Jamaica, due to the collaboration between the two Caribbean countries. In addition, on several occasions the Colombian government has said that many of the former soldiers were deceived and did not know that they were going to participate in a murder.

The Colombian is one of two defendants who have appeared in Miami courts for his alleged involvement in the assassination of the president of Haiti. The other is Haitian-Chilean businessman Rodolphe Jaar, who is facing the same charges and who according to the prosecutor's office would have helped a group of Colombians obtain weapons to carry out the crime.

For now, the trial continues against the 18 Colombians detained in Haiti, however, it has been reported that they do not have access to self-defence and that they have been mistreated in the island's prison. At the time, Palacios said: “I am afraid for what they might do to me, but also because of what they might do to my family,” and also reported that one of his colleagues was stabbed by the Haitian police and others were beaten with the guns of the uniformed.