Mystery surrounds suspected mastermind of Haiti presidential assassination plot

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A Haitian man arrested under suspicion of playing a leading role in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse appears to have presented himself as a potential leader of the impoverished Caribbean nation for as long as a decade.

Police say Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 63, planned to assume the presidency and hire some of the men involved in the attack on Moïse as his security team. Sanon, who reportedly has lived on and off in Florida for about two decades, landed in Haiti on a private plane in early June with “political objectives,” Haiti’s police chief, Léon Charles, told reporters Sunday. He recruited the team through a Venezuelan security firm based in the United States, but its mission changed when one member was presented with an arrest warrant for Moïse.

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