() — Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Saturday that his country is responsible for helping Haiti because Colombian mercenaries were involved in the July 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.
“I want to go to Haiti, it is an issue where Colombia has a joint responsibility, first because Haiti was the one that helped us to be a free country in the past, and second because Colombian mercenaries traveled to kill the president, unleashing a crisis still worse than the one that already existed,” Petro told reporters while attending the 28th Ibero-American Summit in the Dominican Republic.
“I want to take a good look at this co-responsibility, that is why I want to go to Haiti, speak with its government and certain actors in Haitian society that allow a democratic path to be established,” Petro said.
The president pointed out that the Haitian people must solve their own crisis, “but they need democratic help, not weapons-based help.”
According to Haitian authorities, dozens of people were involved in Moïse’s death, including 26 Colombians and two Haitian Americans.