Silvio Herasme Peña, Dominican ambassador in Haiti, believes theft was the motivation for the killing of the 45-year old José Rafael Jiménez Núñez, chauffeur of the Dominican consul in Haiti. He said that Jiménez was careless about his personal safety, when he went alone to make a bank deposit. At the time of his assassination while driving the consulate car, he had with him US$6,000 that would be deposited. Ambassador Herasme attributed the killing to the crime wave in Haiti. He said he does not believe there are any political connections to the murder. He said the Dominican embassy is working closely with the Haitian authorities to assist these in finding the murderers. He urged an increase in efforts of Haitian authorities to guarantee safety of foreign delegations. So far, in Haiti most foreign delegations, including the Dominican delegation, have their own security forces after the Haitian police declared themselves incapable of guaranteeing adequate protection. El Siglo newspaper quotes an anonymous high-ranking officer saying that the situation would be better if several local authorities were not involved in illegal actions. He attributed the present increase in delinquency to the increase of the influence of drug trade barons and the return of Haitian criminals from the US. Leo Reyes reporting for El Siglo says that today in Haiti it is easier to buy a marijuana cigarette than a plantain.
