A cousin of Colombian President Iván Duque’s national security adviser, Rafael Guarín Cotrino, is reported to be one of the mercenaries who carried out the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse on July 7.
This was informed by the Colombian official himself through a statement circulated by diverse media platforms. In the statement, Guarín stated that although there exists a blood relation, he has never met or had any contact with said relative.
“My father informed me that Mr. Mauricio Grosso Guarín is a son of one of his ten siblings,” declared Rafael Guarín in the text of his statement. ”I do not know this person, nor have I ever had any contact with him in my life, not even at a family level.”
Rafael Guarín commented that he consulted his father when he had learned that, among the murderers of the Haitian president, there was a Colombian citizen with the second surname Guarín who was a native of Sogamoso, the ancestral town of Guarín’s family.
Comunicado de prensa del Consejero Presidencial para la Seguridad Nacional, @RafaGuarin: pic.twitter.com/09ouRnntJ1
— Consejería Presidencial para la Seguridad Nacional (@SeguridadNalCo) July 10, 2021
“The judicial authorities must carry out an investigation and determine the corresponding responsibilities,” stated Guarín. ”The perpetrators of the abominable murder of President Jovenel Moïse must be brought to justice and handed the highest possible sanctions.”
Mercenaries
Haitian authorities have reported that a total of 26 Colombian mercenaries participated in the assassination of Jovenel Moïse, of whom 18 have been captured, while three fell during the clashes and another five remain at large.
Other members of the mercenary group have American, Haitian and Serbian nationalities. Moïse was assassinated in the early hours of July 7 reportedly with 12 shots; and it has been alleged that he was tortured before his death.
Rafael Guarín, who denies having any relationship with his cousin arrested in Haiti, had previously served as Colombia’s deputy minister of National Defense, judicial attorney, and university professor, and he is also a lawyer.
Featured Image: Mauricio Grosso Guarín (left), one of the mercenaries arrested in Haiti for killing President Jovenel Moïse, and his cousin, Rafael Guarín (right), national security adviser to President Duque of Colombia. Photo courtesy of RedRadioVE
(RedRadioVE) by José Manuel Blanco Díaz
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/GMS/SC
José Manuel Blanco Diaz
Vice President of the Radio Miraflores Foundation |radiomiraflores.net.ve | Presenter of | UCV Social Communication | UCV announcer
