What Are International Sanctions Against Haiti Actually For?

Around a hundred individuals sanctioned for corruption, drug trafficking, and collusion with gangs continue their activities in Haiti and elsewhere, with little concern

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Sanctioned for corruption by the United States, former Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Salvador Lamothe owns a company actively operating in Florida three years after the announcement of American sanctions against him. This year, he launched a public offensive against his « detractors, » threatening some with legal action.

Michel Martelly, for his part, under sanction by the American Department of the Treasury for drug trafficking and sponsorship of gangs in Haiti, is the subject of no legal action or public investigation to date, either in Haiti or in the United States.

Former Haitian senator Rony Célestin was sanctioned by Canada for his alleged support of gangs and by the United States for corruption. Yet he is the subject of no formal proceedings in Haiti related to those sanctions.

This is a trend.

Since 2020, several countries and international bodies have put in place sanctions regimes targeting around a hundred Haitian personalities and entities.

Nearly six years later, the majority of those concerned continue their activities without worry, according to an analysis by AyiboPost.

Despite serious public allegations, the Haitian justice system, under successive governments, refuses to investigate the powerful personalities implicated.

Canada’s sanctions list contains 34 names.

In an interview granted to AyiboPost in April 2026, Ottawa’s ambassador, André François Giroux, lamented that no investigation has been opened in Haiti targeting sanctioned individuals. He also revealed the absence of any formal « request for judicial cooperation » from the Haitian justice system.

The Haitian justice system has, however, been active.

In March 2026, the Court of Appeal of Port-au-Prince cleared former senators Youri Latortue and Joseph Lambert, who had been indicted notably for embezzlement of public funds, unlawful conflict of interest, and obstruction of justice.

Both men are nevertheless subject to foreign sanctions — including American ones — for drug trafficking and collaboration with criminal networks.

The Haitian justice system also annulled, last November, an order issued against Romel Bell, a former director general of the General Customs Administration (AGD), cited in a damning United Nations report and sanctioned by the United States for his alleged involvement in serious acts of corruption. This decision « constitutes proof that the Haitian justice system remains the greatest obstacle » to the fight against corruption, denounced the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH) in a report.

« It is clear that the sanctions are not doing us much good, insofar as the sanctioned individuals have remained very powerful in Haiti, » observes Rosy Auguste Ducena, program director at the RNDDH.

In reality, the sanctions « go no further than a decision written on a sheet of paper, » the human rights defender continued.

The sanctions and serious allegations do not morally isolate the individuals in question.

This year, American Chargé d’Affaires Henry Wooster met with several members of the Haitian private sector, including Reynold Deeb, who was sanctioned by the Canadian government for financing armed gangs, participating in money laundering, and contributing to corruption.

Contacted by AyiboPost, the United States Embassy in Haiti did not dispute that the meeting took place.

In an email, the institution specified: « Regarding the meeting attended by Chargé d’Affaires Wooster, our policy prohibits us from disclosing information pertaining to private diplomatic meetings. »

During an interview granted to AyiboPost, diplomat Wooster, responding to a question about this meeting, stated: « I think we need to stop demonizing the private sector here. »

According to the American representative, this sector, often described as « repugnant, » must continue to create jobs in the country.

The profile of those sanctioned — prominent entrepreneurs and politicians — appears to play a role in the silence of the Haitian justice system, according to analysts.

Reynold Deeb is among the wealthy businessmen sanctioned by Canada, a close partner of the United States on the Haiti issue since 2022. Deeb and his family continue to do business in the United States.

In July 2025, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) included US Agricom Inc., a family-owned company, in an official trade mission to the Dominican Republic.

Canada was also criticized in 2024 for having sought, obtained, and thanked Deeb for his assistance in the evacuation of Canadian nationals in Haiti.

« The sanctions imposed on Haitian personalities have produced no effect, » analyzes lawyer and director of the Je Klere Human Rights Defense Foundation, Samuel Madistin.

« Some of those sanctioned control every avenue of power with the support of the international community, » according to the jurist, who underscores Haitians’ lack of trust in the international community.

According to public reports, a large portion of the sanctioned individuals have devised corruption strategies to avoid paying taxes, bribed state officials, and financed and participated in mass crimes by supplying weapons to gangs.

Successive justice ministers in Haiti have cited the need for sanctioning countries and international institutions to repatriate the files of those sanctioned for legal follow-up.

In an interview granted to Radio Télé Métropole in August 2024, for example, the then-Minister of Justice, Carlos Hercule, commenting on the sanctions imposed on Haitian personalities, indicated that he had « received nothing official. »

This is a false problem, since the justice system can open a formal investigation on the basis of public allegations, legal experts point out.

According to Ducena of the RNDDH, « the diligent party in this matter is the Haitian state. » It is the state’s responsibility to request that other countries share their files in order to bring the truth to light.

As part of this investigation, AyiboPost sought comment from the Ministry of Justice. The institution did not respond.

According to an analysis by the civic engagement movement Ayiti Nou Vle A, evaluating the impact of international sanctions in Haiti, the effectiveness of sanctions faces major challenges such as: the ability of sanctioned individuals to circumvent the measures, and the existence of support networks allowing them to continue their activities.

Despite the absence of concrete action by the justice system in Haiti, some members of the private sector, as well as certain sanctioned politicians and individuals, can no longer visit the United States or face administrative barriers that sometimes oblige them to use front men to conduct business in certain countries.

In January 2026, an AyiboPost investigation revealed the termination of a contract between the Canadian clothing company Gildan and the subcontracting firm Premium Apparel.

This company is run by businessman André « Andy » Apaid, sanctioned by Canada since June 2023 for « serious violations of human rights. » These sanctions are « one of the main reasons » for the break with Gildan, a source close to the matter confided to AyiboPost.

A close associate of businessman Pierre Réginald Boulos — arrested by American immigration services in July 2025 — specified to AyiboPost that the latter is no longer a shareholder of the supermarket chain Delimart Online LLC, which was administratively dissolved in the United States in the course of an investigation published in February 2026.

Lamothe, for his part, cannot visit the United States but continues to operate his company there.

According to Florida’s Division of Corporations (Sunbiz) records consulted by AyiboPost, the company Equity Savvy Ventures, LLC, managed by Lamothe, continues to file its annual reports, even though he was designated in June 2023 by the American State Department for « significant acts of corruption. »

According to the official Sunbiz website, which tracks the activity of commercial entities, the former Haitian official has headed this Miami-based entity since its founding on March 4, 2021.

The annual report dated April 18, 2025, consulted by AyiboPost, shows that Lamothe is a director and authorized person of Equity Savvy Ventures, LLC, still « active » in Florida.

In an email sent to AyiboPost, Florida’s Division of Corporations stated that the institution has only an « administrative document-filing function » and « is not authorized by law to regulate individual businesses or to conduct investigations. »

Like the politicians in power in Haiti, those sanctioned invest heavily in lobbying, primarily in the United States.

AyiboPost found that Laurent Lamothe signed a contract with American lobbying firm Qorvis LLC for approximately six months, entering into force on August 22, 2023, at a monthly cost of 23,000 US dollars.

Financed by Equity Savvy Ventures, LLC, this lobbying activity aimed to contest the American sanction by engaging « influential figures in Washington, decision-makers at the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and Congress, as well as influential media outlets and think tanks. »

The objective: to obtain the lifting of the visa ban on the former Minister of Planning and External Cooperation, Lamothe.

Contacted by AyiboPost, Laurent Salvador Lamothe explained: « None of the entities with which I am associated are subject to OFAC restrictions, and their legal and administrative status in the United States remains fully compliant with applicable laws and regulations. »

He also stated that he has contested the « allegations » relating to the visa restrictions, which, according to him, rest on « no judicial decision or due process. »

The United Nations has sanctioned around ten Haitian personalities. The United States follows with 20 sanctioned individuals and entities, the European Union with twelve, and the United Kingdom with eleven. The Dominican Republic has also sanctioned 39 personalities in Haiti.

Most of these individuals — like Prophane Victor, arrested following an investigation by the Central Directorate of Judicial Police concerning his alleged ties to gangs — are contesting the sanctions.

About ten people sanctioned by Canada have contested the sanctions, Ambassador André François Giroux told AyiboPost.

« Fourteen of the thirty-four have initiated this process. Some are more advanced than others in the proceedings. […] I believe that in one or two cases, the matter has even gone all the way to a Federal Court ruling, which confirmed the merits of our minister’s ministerial decision. »

By : Jérôme Wendy Norestyl

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