Haïti à Travers les Pages

  Haitian Industrialist Andre M. Apaid Rebuts Drug and “Mass Grave” Allegations in Police Deposition By Patrick Prézeau Stephenson * (Le français suit) OTTAWA - In a sworn deposition dated November 25, 2025, Haitian businessman André M. Apaid moved to rebut a swirl of social‑media claims that he, his family, or their companies were involved in drug production or in concealing human remains on family property outside Port‑au‑Prince. The 14‑page statement, addressed to the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police (DCPJ) and the anti‑narcotics unit (BLTS), lays out a timeline of business ventures, regulatory filings, and the abrupt halt of operations following Canadian sanctions and rising gang violence. Core denial and family ties Apaid “formally” denies any involvement with marijuana or cocaine and rejects assertions about a supposed pit with human bones on the family’s 30‑hectare property in Santo 19 (Habitation Du Jour). He notes that his brother‑in‑law, Charles Henri “Ch...

  Breaking Haiti’s Gang Grip Requires More Than Force. It Demands a Fracture Strategy. By Patrick Prézeau Stephenson (Le Français suit) Port-au-Prince isn’t merely unsafe; it is structurally contested. Bus drivers pay “taxes” at improvised checkpoints, fuel depots become leverage nodes, and parents negotiate daily which streets feel survivable. In this landscape, the instinct—to “get tough,” to stage sweeping dragnets or emulate the iron‑fisted theatrics seen elsewhere—echoes loudly in foreign capitals and diaspora forums. But Haiti’s problem is not simply a deficit of force; it is the surplus of an alternative governance economy. Any serious plan to “break the backbone” of the gangs must focus less on headline arrests and more on collapsing the scaffolding that keeps criminal power upright: money streams, political patrons, logistics corridors, narrative control and coerced community dependence. The hard truth is that firepower-focused responses in fragile institutional envi...

  U.S. Labels Haitian Gangs as Foreign Terrorist Organizations — A Policy Shift we Long Argued Was Inevitable By Patrick Prézeau Stephenson (Le Français suit) Port-au-Prince, Haiti — April 19, 2025. In a sweeping move that reshapes the U.S. approach to Haiti’s security crisis, the Trump administration has announced plans to formally designate Haiti’s most powerful criminal networks—including the infamous Viv Ansanm coalition and the rural-based Gran Grif armed group—as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) [1]. As one of the earliest analysts to publicly argue that these gangs met the threshold for terrorism, I believe this decision—though politically fraught—is long overdue. The implications are profound. Under the new classification, the U.S. will be able to pursue not only gang members but also those who enable them—from arms traffickers and money launderers to complicit Haitian politicians and business elites. Anyone found providing "material support" to these groups wi...

  Biden Administration's Sanctions on Michel Martelly: Strategic Punishment or Political Maneuvering? By Patrick Prézeau Stephenson   (Le Francais suit) The Biden administration's recent sanctions against former Haitian President Michel Martelly have raised eyebrows across the Caribbean and within political circles in Washington. As the U.S. government levels serious accusations of drug trafficking, money laundering, and gang sponsorship against Martelly, questions abound about the true motivations behind this move. Is this a calculated effort to punish a former ally who fell out of favor, or is it a strategic maneuver aimed at bolstering Vice President Kamala Harris's prospects as she potentially gears up for a presidential run? The Sanctions: A Serious Accusation On August 20, 2024, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against Michel Martelly, citing his involvement in drug trafficking and his connections with violent gangs in Haiti. These sanctions ar...