American private security executive Erik Prince said he plans to keep mercenaries in Haiti for 10 years and eventually get access to the country's tax-collecting system, according to a new report.
Speaking to Reuters, Prince said he reached an agreement with the country's transitional government, who he is helping fight the armed gangs that control most of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Once the situation in the country is stabilized, he said, his company, Vectus Global, will be involved in the design and implementation of a program to tax goods imported across the country's border with the Dominican Republic.
Prince told the outlet that he expects to regain control of the country's roads and territories within a year. "One key measure of success for me will be when you can drive from Port-au-Prince to Cap Haitian in a thin-skinned vehicle and not be stopped by gangs," he said in a passage of the interview.
Prince began getting involved earlier this year, with The Washington Post reporting in April about an effort to deploy explosive-laden drones to fight gangs. InSight Crime added that the attacks began as gangs were seeking to advance towards the offices of the Prime Minister and the Transitional Presidential Council. Other neighborhoods under their control have then come under fire as well.
Reuters reported that Vectus will intensify operations in the country in the next weeks in coordination with local police, deploying several hundred fighters from the U.S., Europe and El Salvador.
The Trump administration, on its end, is now offering a $5 million reward for Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier, a top gang leader leading attacks against the embattled government.
"He's a gang leader responsible for heinous human rights abuses, including violence against American citizens in Haiti," said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro when discussing the development this week. He leads the powerful Viv Ansamn gang coalition.
Chérizier was sanctioned in December 2020 by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for leading armed groups during attacks in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince. He was then designated a global and foreign terrorist earlier this year, and the gang a "Foreign Terrorist Organization."
Chérizier also made headlines this week after a North Carolina truck driver was indicted for allegedly assisting him in his attempt to overthrow the government in the beleaguered Caribbean country.
Bazile Richardson, born in Haiti, has been accused of providing weapons and money to Chérizier. Two unnamed associates have been charged as well.
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