Latest news with #VectusGlobal
Los Angeles Times
13 hours ago
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Blackwater founder to deploy nearly 200 personnel to Haiti as gang violence soars
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The security firm of former U.S. Navy Seal Erik Prince will soon deploy nearly 200 personnel from various countries to Haiti as part of a one-year deal to quell gang violence there, a person with knowledge of the plans said Thursday. The deployment by Vectus Global is meant to help the government of Haiti recover vast swaths of territory seized in the past year and now controlled by heavily armed gangs, said the person, speaking to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the plans. The company, which provides logistics, infrastructure, security and defense, is run by Prince, a major donor to President Trump. Prince previously founded the controversial security firm Blackwater. The deployment was first reported by Reuters. Vectus Global also will assume a long-term role in advising Haiti's government on how to restore revenue collection capabilities once the violence subsides, the person said. In June, Fritz Alphonse Jean, then-leader of Haiti's transitional presidential council, confirmed that the government was using foreign contractors. He declined to identify the firm or say how much the deal was worth. Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, head of Haiti Observatory at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, said the operations would violate U.S. law unless the U.S.-based private military company had permission from the U.S. government to work in Haiti. 'In the absence of a coherent, jointly led Haitian and international strategy, the use of private firms is more likely to fragment authority and sovereignty than to advance resolution of the crisis,' he said. A Trump administration official said the U.S. government has no involvement with the hiring of Vectus Global by the Haitian government. The U.S. government is not funding this contract or exercising any oversight, said the official, who requested anonymity to discuss the situation. The office of Haiti's prime minister did not return a message for comment, nor did members of Haiti's transitional presidential council. The private contractors, which will come from the United States, Europe and other regions, are expected to advise and support Haiti's National Police and a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police officers that is struggling to suppress gang violence. The U.N.-backed mission has 991 personnel, far less than the 2,500 envisioned, and some $112 million in its trust fund — about 14% of the estimated $800 million needed a year, according to a recent U.N. report. The upcoming deployment of private contractors comes after the recent appointment of André Jonas Vladimir Paraison as the country's new police director general. Paraison once served as head of security for Haiti's National Palace and was involved in a new task forced created earlier this year made up of certain police units and private contractors. The task force has operated outside the oversight of Haiti's National Police and employed the use of explosive drones, which some human rights activists have criticized. Diego Da Rin, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, said that while there's an obvious need for more anti-gang operations, 'there is a risk of escalating the conflict without having enough personnel to extinguish the fires that Viv Ansanm can ignite in many places.' Viv Ansanm is a powerful gang federation created in September 2023 that saw the merging of gangs, including G-9 and G-Pèp — once bitter enemies. The United States designated it as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year. The gang federation was responsible for coordinating a series of large-scale attacks early last year that included raids on Haiti's two biggest prisons that led to the release of some 4,000 inmates. Viv Ansanm also forced the closure of Haiti's main international airport for nearly three months, with the violence eventually prompting then-Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign. Jimmy Chérizier, a leader of Viv Ansanm and best known as Barbecue, recently threatened Paraison. 'Viv Ansanm has a military might that they don't always show,' said Da Rin, the analyst. At least 1,520 people were killed and more than 600 injured from April to the end of June across Haiti. More than 60% of the killings and injuries occurred during operations by security forces against gangs, with another 12% blamed on self-defense groups, according to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti. Gang violence also has displaced some 1.3 million people in recent years. Coto writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Joshua Boak in Washington contributed to this report.
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First Post
17 hours ago
- Business
- First Post
Blackwater founder Erik Prince's hired guns to target Haiti's gangs amid growing chaos
Prince's new security firm, Vectus Global, which is already present in Haiti, will intensify its operations in the Caribbean nation to help authorities battle heavily armed criminal groups and win territories back from them US President Donald Trump's backer and private military contractor Blackwater's founder, Erik Prince, will lead a mission in Haiti to combat gang violence in the country. The mission will include combatants from the US, Europe and El Salvador who will be deployed to the violence-torn country soon. Prince's new security firm, Vectus Global, which is already present in Haiti, will intensify its operations in the Caribbean nation to help authorities battle heavily armed criminal groups and win territories back from them, according to a report by Reuters. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Since February 2024, Haiti's capital has been largely isolated from the rest of the country after armed groups launched a coordinated offensive against the government, ousting the prime minister and seizing control of much of Port-au-Prince. According to the United Nations, over 1,500 people were killed between April and July, most of them in the capital. The majority of these deaths occurred during security force operations, with about a third resulting from drone strikes, which the government has recently begun using to target armed groups. Who is Erik Prince? Prince, a former US Navy Seal, founded the Blackwater military security firm in 1997. He sold the company in 2010 after Blackwater employees were convicted of unlawfully killing 14 unarmed civilians while escorting a US embassy convoy in Baghdad's Nisour Square. The men were pardoned by Trump during his first term in the White House. Since Trump's return to the White House, Prince has advised Ecuador on how to fight criminal gangs and struck a deal with the Democratic Republic of Congo to help secure and tax its mineral wealth. What will his company do in Haiti? A person familiar with the company's operations in Haiti told Reuters that Vectus would intensify its fight against the criminal gangs that control large swathes of Haiti in the coming weeks in coordination with the Haitian police, deploying several hundred fighters from the United States, Europe and El Salvador who are trained as snipers and specialists in intelligence and communications, as well as helicopters and boats. Vectus's force includes some French and Creole speakers, the person said. With inputs from Reuters
Al Jazeera
19 hours ago
- Business
- Al Jazeera
Blackwater founder Erik Prince to send forces to Haiti to fight gangs
A private security company run by Blackwater founder Erik Prince will send hundreds of fighters to violence-racked Haiti to combat the country's gang violence problem and restore its tax collection system, according to United States media reports. Prince, a controversial figure who is a major donor to Donald Trump, revealed details of the new mission for his company, Vectus Global, in an interview with the Reuters news agency on Thursday. A person with knowledge of the plans also confirmed details to The Associated Press news agency. Prince told Reuters that he expected Vectus Global, his US-based private security firm, which provides logistics, infrastructure and defence, would regain control of gang-held roads and territory in Haiti within about a year. 'One key measure of success for me will be when you can drive from Port-au-Prince to Cap-Haitien in a thin-skinned vehicle and not be stopped by gangs,' he told the news agency. He said the company would also be involved in creating and implementing a system to tax products crossing Haiti's border with the Dominican Republic once security was restored. 'Several hundred' personnel For years, Haiti has been plagued by violence and insecurity as powerful armed gangs, often with ties to political and business leaders, have vied for influence and territorial control – a situation that worsened dramatically after the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise. The deployment of a United Nations-backed, Kenya-led police mission last year has failed to restore stability. Earlier this month, the government announced a three-month state of emergency in several parts of the country in response to the crisis. Vectus Global began its operations in Haiti in March, Reuters reported, mostly through the use of drones in coordination with a government task force. But it was set to significantly increase its activities in the coming weeks in coordination with Haitian police, Reuters reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. The source said the company would deploy 'several hundred' personnel from the US, Europe and El Salvador who were trained as snipers and intelligence and communications specialists, along with boats and helicopters. The AP, citing a person with knowledge of the plans, said the deployment would entail 'nearly 200' personnel as part of a one-year deal to tackle gang violence. It said Vectus Global would also take a 'long-term role' in advising Haiti's government on restoring tax revenue collection once the gang violence was addressed. Prince told Reuters that Vectus Global had a 10-year contract with the Haitian government, but would not comment on how much it was worth. The Haitian government has not commented on the reports, but in June, the then-leader of Haiti's transitional presidential council, Fritz Alphonse Jean, confirmed that the government was using foreign contractors. The Haitian government has identified restoring tax revenue as a key factor in tackling the country's problems. Taxation at the border used to account for half of the country's tax revenue, but gang control of transport links has hurt trade and badly affected vital government revenue streams, impacting the delivery of basic services, a report commissioned last year by Haiti's government and international organisations found. Blackwater's track record of abuses The involvement in Haiti of Prince, a former US Navy Seal who is the brother of former US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, has prompted concerns, especially given the controversial past of his previous company, Blackwater. Prince founded Blackwater, a private military company, in 1997. The company gained global notoriety for its actions in Iraq, with four employees convicted over the September 2007 killings of 14 Iraqi citizens in Baghdad's Nisour Square. The contractors were later pardoned by Trump during his first term in the White House. Prince sold Blackwater in 2010, but has remained active in the private security industry. Since Trump's return to the White House, he has consulted with Ecuador on how to combat gang violence, and reached a deal with the Democratic Republic of the Congo to help secure and tax mineral wealth. 'Resorting to private military companies cannot be seen as a solution to insecurity in Haiti,' Gedeon Jean, head of Haiti's Center for Human Rights Analysis and Research, told AP. 'The use of private companies has often resulted in human rights violations.' Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, head of the Haiti programme at Geneva-based Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, told AP that Vectus Global's mission in Haiti would violate US law unless it had permission from Washington to proceed. He said its involvement was more likely to complicate the crisis in Haiti than fix it. 'In the absence of a coherent, jointly led Haitian and international strategy, the use of private firms is more likely to fragment authority and sovereignty than to advance resolution of the crisis,' he said. A Trump administration official said the US government had no involvement with the hiring of Vectus Global by the Haitian government, and was not funding or exercising any oversight of the mission, the AP reported. Earlier this year, a team from US security firm Studebaker Defense ceased its operations in Haiti after two personnel were abducted, likely due to corrupt police officials, The New York Times reported.
The Guardian
19 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Blackwater founder Erik Prince to send hundreds of fighters to strife-torn Haiti
Hundreds of combatants from the US, Europe and El Salvador will reportedly be deployed to Haiti in the coming weeks to battle the country's gangs as part of a mission led by the controversial Blackwater founder and Donald Trump backer Erik Prince. According to Reuters, Prince's new security firm, Vectus Global – which has been operating in the violence-ravaged Caribbean country since March – is preparing to intensify its activities there to help authorities win key roads and territories back from heavily armed criminal groups. 'One key measure of success for me will be when you can drive from Port-au-Prince to [the northern city of] Cap-Haïtien in a thin-skinned [non-armoured] vehicle and not be stopped by gangs,' Prince, who said he had struck a 10-year deal with Haiti's government, told the news agency. Under the agreement, Vectus will reportedly be given a role in Haiti's tax-collection system. Haiti's capital has been largely cut off from the rest of the country since February 2024, when armed groups launched a joint offensive against the government, toppling the prime minister and commandeering virtually the whole city. According to the UN, more than 1,500 people were killed between April and July, mostly in Port-au-Prince. The majority were killed during security force operations and a third in drone strikes, which the government has started using to target armed groups. A source familiar with Vectus's Haiti operations told Reuters its deployment would include snipers, intelligence and communications specialists, helicopters and boats. The use of private military contractors to fight Haitian crime groups has caused alarm among human rights advocates and observers, even if the security situation has become so dire that many Haitians have been calling for some form of foreign intervention. 'People are desperate for solutions, for help, for anything … People are willing to accept things they wouldn't have been willing to accept not that long ago because of the desperation,' said Jake Johnston, the author of Aid State: Elite Panic, Disaster Capitalism, and the Battle to Control Haiti. 'I can understand the level of trauma and desperation. But is this really a solution?' Johnston asked, predicting Vectus's operation was unlikely to go well. Johnson called the deployment another example of Haitian problems being 'outsourced' to foreigners instead of strengthening Haitian institutions such as the police. 'What kind of a message does [this use of private contractors] send to … domestic forces that are underresourced and feeling like they are not supported?' Romain Le Cour, the head of the Haiti Observatory at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, called the move 'a severe institutional setback' to Haitian police and the UN-backed security force sent there last year. Le Cour believed deploying foreign contractors would 'deepen the strategic isolation' of Haiti's police and the Kenya-led policing mission as they tried to regain control. Prince's group – which uses the slogan 'we don't just advise, we act' – has been working in Haiti since March. According to Reuters, it has been deploying drones in coordination with a taskforce led by the prime minister. '[But] after six months of deployment, gangs continue to hold strategic dominance,' Le Cour pointed out. The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know. If you have something to share on this subject you can contact us confidentially using the following methods. Secure Messaging in the Guardian app The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said. If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select 'Secure Messaging'. SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post If you can safely use the tor network without being observed or monitored you can send messages and documents to the Guardian via our SecureDrop platform. Finally, our guide at lists several ways to contact us securely, and discusses the pros and cons of each.
CBC
a day ago
- Business
- CBC
Haiti looks to Erik Prince's security firm Vectus Global to help battle gangs
Social Sharing The security firm of former U.S. Navy SEAL Erik Prince will soon deploy nearly 200 personnel from various countries to Haiti as part of a deal to quell gang violence there, a person with knowledge of the plans said Thursday. The deployment by Vectus Global is meant to help the government of Haiti recover vast swaths of territory seized in the past year and now controlled by heavily armed gangs, said the person, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the plans. The company, which provides logistics, infrastructure, security and defence, is run by Prince, a major donor to U.S. President Donald Trump. Prince previously founded the controversial security firm Blackwater. The deployment was first reported by Reuters. Long-term advisory role expected Vectus Global also will assume a long-term role in advising Haiti's government on how to restore revenue collection capabilities once the violence subsides, the person said. In June, Fritz Alphonse Jean, then-leader of Haiti's transitional presidential council, confirmed that the government was using foreign contractors. He declined to identify the firm or say how much the deal was worth. Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, head of Haiti Observatory at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, said the operations would violate U.S. law unless the U.S.-based private military company had permission from the U.S. government to work in Haiti. "In the absence of a coherent, jointly led Haitian and international strategy, the use of private firms is more likely to fragment authority and sovereignty than to advance resolution of the crisis," he said. A Trump administration official said the U.S. government has no involvement with the hiring of Vectus Global by the Haitian government. The U.S. government is not funding this contract or exercising any oversight, said the official, who requested anonymity to discuss the situation. The office of Haiti's prime minister did not return a message for comment, nor did members of Haiti's transitional presidential council. Struggle to suppress gangs The private contractors, which will come from the U.S., Europe and other regions, are expected to advise and support Haiti's National Police and a UN-backed mission led by Kenyan police officers that is struggling to suppress gang violence. The UN-backed mission has 991 personnel, far less than the 2,500 envisioned, and some $112 million US in its trust fund — about 14 per cent of the estimated $800 million US needed a year, according to a recent UN report. The upcoming deployment of private contractors comes after the recent appointment of André Jonas Vladimir Paraison as the country's new police director general. Paraison once served as head of security for Haiti's National Palace and was involved in a new task forced created earlier this year made up of certain police units and private contractors. The task force has operated outside the oversight of Haiti's National Police and employed the use of explosive drones, which some human rights activists have criticized. Diego Da Rin, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, said that while there's an obvious need for more anti-gang operations, "there is a risk of escalating the conflict without having enough personnel to extinguish the fires that Viv Ansanm can ignite in many places." Viv Ansanm is a powerful gang federation that saw the merging of gangs, including G-9 and G-Pèp — once bitter enemies. The United States designated it as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year. Jimmy Chérizier, a leader of Viv Ansanm and best known as Barbecue, recently threatened Paraison. "Viv Ansanm has a military might that they don't always show," said Da Rin, the analyst. At least 1,520 people were killed and more than 600 injured from April to the end of June across Haiti. More than 60 per cent of the killings and injuries occurred during operations by security forces against gangs, with another 12 per cent blamed on self-defence groups, according to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti.
