Blackwater Founder to Deploy 200 Personnel to Haiti as Gang Violence Soars

The security firm of former U.S. Navy SEAL Erik Prince will deploy nearly 200 personnel from several countries to Haiti under a one-year deal to help quell worsening gang violence, the Associated Press (AP) reported, citing a source with knowledge of the plan.

The firm will also assume a long-term advisory role in rebuilding the government’s capacity to collect revenues once stability is restored. (Photo: Gage Skidmore Flickr)

The deployment by Vectus Global, Prince’s logistics and defense company, aims to help Haiti’s government regain territory seized over the past year by heavily armed gangs.

The firm will also assume a long-term advisory role in rebuilding the government’s capacity to collect revenues once stability is restored, the source said.

Prince, a major donor to President Trump, previously founded the controversial private military contractor Blackwater. In June, Fritz Alphonse Jean—then leader of Haiti’s transitional presidential council—confirmed the government was working with foreign contractors.