The US-installed government in Haiti has turned to American mercenaries, including Blackwater founder Erik Prince, to fight against armed groups that now control nearly all of Port-au-Prince. Drones operated by Prince’s firm have killed hundreds, but no high-value targets.
According to the New York Times, Prince’s company has been operating drones in Haiti since March in an operation aimed at killing gang members. The Times notes the Haitian government has not announced any successful operations linked to the program.
Pierre Esperance, who leads the National Human Rights Defense Network, told the Wall Street Journal that more than 300 people have been killed in drone strikes over the last three months.
Additionally, Prince is ramping up for a larger operation that would see 150 mercenaries sent to Haiti this summer, and has already shipped the arms to the nation.
While now called Constellis Holdings, Prince’s defense contracting firm was initially named Blackwater. The company became infamous in 2007 when some of its mercenaries opened fire on civilians in Iraq, killing 17.
Prince is a long-time ally of the US president, and the mercs responsible for murdering the Iraqi civilians were ultimately pardoned by Trump during his first term.
Details of the agreement between Prince and the Haitian government are unknown. While the State Department denied that it is currently paying Prince, the US continues to fund Haitian police forces and Kenyan soldiers deployed to the country to help the government reclaim control of the capital city.
The current government in Port-au-Prince was installed by Washington last year after the collapse of the Ariel Henry administration. Henry was forced from power after he left Port-au-Prince to sign an agreement with the Kenyan government that allowed Nairobi to deploy its troops to Haiti.
Henry was Washington’s choice to lead in Port-au-Prince after the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. Under Henry’s rule, gangs and armed groups increasingly took control over Port-au-Prince, leading the Biden administration to back the Kenyan deployment to restore order.
However, the presence of Kenyan forces has not changed the tide in Port-au-Prince, as the gangs have only grown stronger over the past year. Last month, Human Rights Watch reported that the Haitian government only controlled 10% of the capital.
