By GARRY PIERRE-PIERRE

General Raoul Cédras of the Haitian Army, Army Chief of Staff Philippe Biamby of the Haitian National Police, and Chief of the Haitian National Police Michel François of the Haitian National Police conducted a bloody revolution in 1991 that deposed freely elected President Jean Bertrand Aristide.

Following prolonged talks to return to democratic rule, the international community, headed by the United Nations, placed a crippling blockade on Haiti in order to force the junta leaders’ hands. The term blockade was unfamiliar to Haitians at the time, and few understood what it meant.

I recall the reaction of a rank-and-file officer questioned by local media when asked about the ban.
‘If it arrives by air, I’m going to kill it,’ the soldier responded flatly. ‘If it comes by water, I’ll fire at it.’

That film would have gone viral in today’s society. While I haven’t heard such a profound misconception of what an embargo is in a long time, there now appears to be a comparable misunderstanding of what it means for the international community to place penalties on Haiti’s cabal of gang leaders, business moguls, prime ministers, and senators.

I’m frequently asked why former President Michel Martelly and two of his prime ministers, Laurent Lamothe and Jean Henry Ceant, are still free after the US, Canada, and Switzerland imposed economic sanctions on them for alleged ties to gang leaders and suspected drug activity in Haiti.

For one reason, economic sanctions are the responsibility of the Treasury Department, not the Justice Department, in the United States and most likely in other nations. The goal is to drain a suspected wrongdoer’s financial existence by freezing their assets, which include real estate possessions, luxury products, and bank accounts. Jailing them does not mean that their crimes, which they instruct others to perform, will stop.

According to my sources, the penalties imposed on these Haitians appear to be having the desired effect. Martelly, the talkative one, has gone quiet. He is depressed about his money position and lives under duress. He has maintained a low profile during the normally profitable holiday party scene that he once ruled as a performer.

Lamothe, for his part, is in the same situation and has no access to his funds, including a South African bank account. He has turned to Twitter to defend himself, requesting that foreign officials provide evidence of his illegal actions. Ceant has followed suit.

You have a cynical face, as we Haitians like to remark in our metaphorical manner. These leaders understand that the sanctions are not arbitrary because these countries honor the rule of law and see no reason to target Haitians without evidence.

These sanctioned men, I think, were taken off guard. They had not expected to be the focus of any sanctions, believing that their well-honed game of deceiving the diplomatic employees in Haiti and Washington had somehow shielded them from the reach of the law. After all, they are the gatekeepers, and the embassy’s rotating foreign employees rely on them for information about Haiti.

These diplomats may appear naive and readily duped, but the reality is far from that. With such arrogance, the sanctioned group failed to conceal their assets before the authorities seized on them. The Treasury Department went after the gang leaders first, which seemed ridiculous because we all know Jimmy “Barbeque” Cherizier has no bank accounts and a travel ban will not stop him from continuing to lead his G9 gang’s rule of terror in the nation.

With the criminals in bed

I, for one, was shocked to see the penalties imposed on lawmakers and elite members such as Gilbert Bigiot and Sheriff Abdallah. As we’ve chronicled here and elsewhere, every president and prime minister from Rene Preval to the present regime has coddled and played footsie with the gangs.

Initially, lawmakers and businessmen used these gangs to resolve personal grievances. The gangs effectively supplanted the dissolved Haitian military, abbreviated FADH, as the shock soldiers of political opponents and business competitors. It was a scheme similar to a mob leader ordering a kill on an adversary through his lieutenant.

No political contender can run for office without the backing of at least one of the gangs that rule their area. Parliamentarians and presidential candidates gave gangs large sums of money to ensure their victory.

However, the power dynamic has changed, with gangs making the decisions and wielding power on par with their previous clients. As a result, in this scenario, rather than the absurdist play, Haiti has been made unlivable, and people are escaping to a secure refuge, lawfully or illegally. Anywhere to get away from the everyday barrage of gang wars.

Continue to impose penalties

I pray that sanctions continue to fall on these bad players for their illegal actions and for turning Haiti into a hellscape. Sanctions will convey a clear message and establish a standard that offenders cannot function with freedom in Haiti’s new global order. If you are an elected official or a businessperson who associates with offenders, you may face penalties and other legal consequences. The era of freedom is over.

At least, that is the lesson I aspire to instill in future leaders. Too many of them appear to shift rapidly from altruism to gangsterism once in government. Sanctions are tools in the hands of those resolved to paralyze the nation until they obtain what they desire — economic and political hegemony in which no one gains except themselves.

There is also the problem of reinstating security and eliminating gangs, of which more than 200 have spread throughout Haiti. That choice is complex, and it will not be made casually, because international players understand that if the past is precedent, they must plan meticulously in order to accomplish whatever it is they want to do. When it comes to Haiti, they understand that there is no space for mistake.

I’m curious what the gang bosses will do when the military arrives. Will they fire at it if it arrives by air or water, as that soldier speculated? They may have to. But things would not go well for them.