Could a Florida Doctor Really Be Part of the Haiti Coup Plot?
A mysterious self-described doctor who has lived on-and-off in Florida for decades has been accused of leading the plot to assassinate Haiti president Jovenel Mose in order to take the presidency for himself. Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 63, is the latest suspect linked to the assassination of Mose, who was brutally murdered at his home last week. Dozens of people have been implicated and arrested in the days following the assassination, but, on Sunday, Haitian authorities publicly named Sanon as the leadership figure in an alleged attempted coup. However, there are significant gaps in the official version of events. [Sanon] arrived by private plane in June with political objectives and contacted a private security firm to recruit the people who committed this act, Haitis national police chief, Lon Charles, said Sunday. The police chief named a shadowy private Venezuelan security company based in Florida called CTU as the firm Sanon worked with, but Charles didnt offer any explanation for how an obscure self-described doctorwho filed for bankruptcy in Tampa in 2013could have feasibly led a complex and expensive plot to take over the Haitian government. There are some signs that Sanon may have set his sights on power. The Washington Post resurfaced a YouTube video from 2011 titled Dr. Christian SanonLeadership for Haiti, which puts forward the doctor as a potential new leader. There was also a website called Haiti Lives Matter which reportedly said Sanon should lead a new coalition. In the old YouTube video, the speakerwho appears to be Sanon himselfcondemns Haitis leaders as corrupt, complaining: They dont care about the country, they dont care about the people... We cant take it any more. We need new leadership that will change the way of life.  But the Miami Herald obtained public records which cast doubt on whether Sanon had the means to organize a coup. He has several inactive businesses in Florida, and, although he describes himself as a doctor, he has no medical license in the state. Bankruptcy records show he was making a salary of $60,000 in 2013 and had $400,000 in debt. Some suspects arrested in the assassination have claimed they were paid as much as $3,000 a month to take part in the plot, and Haiti authorities havent explained how Sanon could afford to bankroll a coup. Authorities claimed they discovered damning evidence during a raid at Sanons home, including a D.E.A. cap. The assassins who killed Mose falsely identified themselves as Drug Enforcement Administration agents before the shooting. Police also said they found boxes of bullets, shooting targets, and several Dominican Republican license plates. The initial mission that was given to these assailants was to protect the individual named Emmanuel Sanon, but afterwards the mission changed, said the national police chief Lon Charles, adding that the initial plan appeared to be to arrest the presidentnot to assassinate him. According to the Associated Press, Charles claimed that, immediately after Mose was killed, one of the arrested suspects phoned Sanon, who then contacted the supposed intellectual masterminds of the plot. Charles didnt offer any information on who Sanon was allegedly working with. The announcement of Sanons arrest came shortly after FBI and Department of Homeland Security officials landed in Haiti to offer assistance in the aftermath of the assassination.