In a bold and controversial move, the Haitian government has enlisted the services of Vectus Global, a private security firm led by former U.S. Navy SEAL and Blackwater founder Erik Prince, to tackle the country’s spiraling gang violence. The deal, first revealed on August 14, 2025, by Reuters and confirmed by the Associated Press, marks a dramatic escalation in Haiti’s efforts to reclaim territory and restore order in a nation battered by years of lawlessness and political instability.
Vectus Global’s deployment, which is set to last at least one year, will involve nearly 200 highly trained personnel from the United States, Europe, El Salvador, and other regions. Their mission: to support Haiti’s embattled National Police and a struggling U.N.-backed multinational force—currently led by Kenyan police officers—in a campaign to wrest control of vast swaths of the country from heavily armed gangs. According to the Associated Press, the private contractors will also be tasked with advising the Haitian government on reestablishing its vital revenue collection systems once the violence subsides.
Erik Prince, a figure who has long courted controversy due to his role at Blackwater and his close ties to former President Donald Trump, told Reuters that the measure of success for the operation would be simple but profound: “One key measure of success for me will be when you can drive from Port-au-Prince to Cap-Haïtien in a thin-skinned vehicle and not be stopped by gangs.” Prince did not disclose the financial details of the contract but indicated that part of the agreement would include establishing a taxation program for goods crossing Haiti’s border with the Dominican Republic, a critical step in rebuilding the nation’s shattered economy.
The timing of this private intervention is hardly coincidental. Just days before the announcement, Haiti’s government declared a three-month state of emergency in the West, Artibonite, and Center departments—the regions known as Haiti’s rice basket—following a surge in gang attacks that have devastated the agricultural heartland. According to the United Nations human rights office, more than 1,000 people were killed, over 200 injured, and 620 kidnapped in these regions from October 2024 to June 2025. The violence has displaced more than 239,000 people in the central region alone, with a staggering 1.3 million forced from their homes nationwide in recent years.
The appointment of André Jonas Vladimir Paraison as Haiti’s new police director general on August 15, 2025, further underscores the government’s sense of urgency. Paraison, who previously served as head of security for Haiti’s National Palace and was on duty during the assassination of former President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, now faces the daunting task of coordinating with both the U.N.-backed mission and the incoming private contractors. Paraison replaces Normil Rameau, who was criticized for failing to contain the gangs that now control up to 90% of Port-au-Prince and for repeatedly warning about the severe underfunding of the police force.
Vectus Global’s involvement in Haiti began in March 2025, when the company started working alongside a special task force created by the prime minister. This group, which includes certain police units and private contractors, has reportedly used explosive drones in its operations—a tactic that has drawn criticism from human rights activists concerned about the potential for civilian casualties and a lack of oversight. The Associated Press notes that this task force has operated outside the traditional structures of the National Police, raising questions about accountability and the long-term implications for Haitian sovereignty.
The scale of the challenge cannot be overstated. The U.N.-backed mission, which was envisioned to deploy 2,500 personnel, currently fields fewer than 1,000 and has raised only about 14% of the $800 million needed annually to sustain its operations. Meanwhile, the gang federation Viv Ansanm, designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. earlier this year, continues to orchestrate large-scale attacks. Formed in September 2023 by merging rival groups G-9 and G-Pèp, Viv Ansanm was responsible for a series of assaults in early 2024, including raids on Haiti’s two largest prisons that freed some 4,000 inmates and the forced closure of the main international airport for nearly three months. According to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti, at least 1,520 people were killed and more than 600 injured between April and June 2025 alone, with over 60% of casualties occurring during security operations against gangs.
Despite the urgency, the decision to contract Vectus Global has not been without controversy. Some Haitian officials and international observers argue that outsourcing security to a private firm could further fragment authority and undermine the country’s sovereignty. As Fritz Alphonse Jean, the former leader of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, cautioned in June, “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.”
Questions about foreign influence have also surfaced. Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, head of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime in Haiti, remarked, “It’s hard to imagine them operating without the consent of the Trump administration.” However, both the U.S. State Department and the White House have flatly denied any involvement, funding, or oversight of Prince’s contract with Haiti. As a White House official told Reuters, “The U.S. government has no involvement with the private military contractor hired by the Haitian government. We are not funding this contract or exercising any oversight.”
For Prince, this is not the first foray into complex and controversial security operations abroad. He has previously worked with the Trump administration to combat gangs in Ecuador and secured a deal to defend and tax mineral resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo. His legacy, however, is forever tied to the Blackwater scandal in Iraq, where four employees killed 14 unarmed civilians in Baghdad in 2007—a tragedy that led to the company’s sale in 2010 and the eventual pardon of the guards by President Trump.
Back in Haiti, the stakes could hardly be higher. The newly inaugurated president of the transitional council, Laurent Saint-Cyr, is tasked with steering the country toward elections by February 2026, but the immediate focus is on restoring security and basic governance. While Prince and his team are preparing to ramp up their efforts with commandos, helicopters, and boats, some Haitian officials insist that the solution lies not in privatized force but in bolstering the resources and legitimacy of Haiti’s own security institutions.
As the world watches, Haiti stands at a crossroads—caught between the promise of swift, if controversial, foreign intervention and the enduring struggle to build a stable, self-reliant future. The coming months will reveal whether this gamble pays off or deepens the country’s already profound challenges.
