American private security executive Erik Prince will deploy hundreds of mercenaries to fight gangs in Haiti in the coming weeks, according to a new report.
Reuters reported on Thursday that Prince's company, Vectus Global, will intensify operations in the besieged country in the next weeks in coordination with local police, deploying several hundred fighters from the U.S., Europe and El Salvador.
The development is part of a broader agreement between Prince and the Haitian transitional government, which also involves keeping forces in the country for 10 years and eventually get access to its tax-collecting system.
Speaking to the outlet, Prince said that once the situation in the country is stabilized, the company 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.
The United Nations said in early July that gangs have "near-total control" of the country's capital. Ghada Fathy Waly, executive director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, told the body's Security Council that about 90% of Port-au-Prince is now under gang control. He added that areas that had so far escaped violence, like southern Haiti, are now seeing sharp increases in violence.
"And in the east, criminal groups are exploiting land routes, including key crossings like Belladere and Malpasse, where attacks against police and customs officials have been reported," the official added.
UN Assistance Secretary-General Miroslav Jenca added that the "ongoing gang encirclement of Port-au-Prince is "pushing the situation closer to the brink." "Without increased action by the international community, the total collapse of state presence in the capital could become a very real scenario," Jenca said.
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