By InnerKwest – Haiti Historian – August 17, 2025
A 10-year security-and-tax deal in Haiti gives a private firm sweeping power over borders and revenue. Is this stabilization—or a soft reboot of the old customs receivership playbook?
What’s Actually Been Agreed
Erik Prince’s company, Vectus Global, has secured a 10-year arrangement with Haiti’s interim government. The mandate covers both military-style operations against heavily armed gangs and the eventual management of border taxes and customs points. The firm has already begun deploying a few hundred personnel, equipped with drones, helicopters, snipers, and maritime units, to retake gang-held territory and secure key trade corridors.
Once secured, these border crossings will funnel revenue back into the Haitian treasury—at least, that’s the plan.
Why This Is Explosively Political
Handing over tax collection—the backbone of sovereignty—to a private security contractor is politically radioactive. For Haitians with long memories, this arrangement echoes the U.S. occupation that began in 1915, when customs houses and national revenues were commandeered under the guise of “stabilization.” Then, as now, the justification was that gangs, pirates, or political chaos had compromised the state’s ability to govern.
The difference today is that this is framed as a Haitian decision, signed by transitional authorities. But in the eyes of critics, the optics remain disturbingly similar: a nation’s fiscal lifeblood rerouted through outside actors.
Then vs. Now: Patterns in the Playbook
| Dimension | 1915 Occupation | 2025 Arrangement |
|---|---|---|
| Authority | U.S. Marines imposed direct receivership | Private firm contracted by Haitian government |
| Money Flows | Customs revenue steered to foreign banks | Revenue pledged to Haitian treasury (unclear oversight) |
| Assets Seized | Gold reserves and customs houses taken | No seizure, but operational control ceded |
| Oversight | U.S. high commissioner | Private chain of command with limited scrutiny |
The Critical Questions
- Will this arrangement have a clear exit strategy or sunset clause?
- Who will audit the money flowing through border gates once contractors take over?
- How will human rights and rules of engagement be enforced if civilians are caught in the crossfire?
- What happens if the arrangement collides with the UN-backed, Kenya-led policing mission also operating in Haiti?
- Who ultimately benefits from the pipeline—Haitian citizens, foreign creditors, or global elites?
Editorial Stance
Haiti desperately needs both security and revenue. But customs sovereignty is the crown jewel of statehood. To entrust it to an armed private company is to walk a knife’s edge between rescue and receivership. Without radical transparency, ironclad milestones, and a firm handoff date, this deal risks repeating a century-old cycle of economic control dressed in the language of stability.
Editor’s Note : Since publication, additional analysis has surfaced about the risks embedded in Haiti’s tax collection arrangement. Four dimensions are worth noting:
- Tax Collection by Force: Border points may become militarized tax gates, with poor traders facing armed enforcement.
- Why This Is Explosive: Such enforcement blurs civil governance with mercenary power, inflaming sovereignty concerns.
- Historical Resonance: It recalls the U.S. occupation of 1915, when customs houses were controlled by foreign powers.
- What’s at Stake: If enforcement appears as extortion under foreign arms, legitimacy could collapse and resistance could ignite.
💰 The “Tax Collection by Force” Risk
- Vectus Global’s mandate explicitly covers retaking and securing border crossings. These are places where gangs currently dominate and siphon off tariff and customs revenue.
- Once secured, Vectus is tasked with restoring state revenue collection—in practice, that means contractors standing at the gates, controlling flows of goods, vehicles, and people.
- If merchants, traders, or migrants can’t pay the duties, the only enforcement tool contractors have is armed coercion. This sets up a scenario where impoverished people face weapons over obligations that might be unaffordable or unclear.
⚖️ Why This Is Explosive
- Sovereignty & violence: Tax collection is normally the role of a civil authority with courts and due process—not a private force with rifles.
- Humanitarian flashpoint: Many Haitians at the borders are poor traders, informal workers, or families moving goods in survival economies. Militarizing that interaction risks violent confrontation.
- Optics: For ordinary Haitians, this could look like a foreign army extracting money at gunpoint, echoing colonial-era customs houses.
🕰️ Historical Resonance
This is what makes the comparison to Woodrow Wilson’s 1915 occupation so powerful:
- Then, U.S. Marines controlled customs houses and ensured Haiti’s revenues went where Washington wanted.
- Now, armed contractors may be the ones demanding duties at chokepoints, with Haitians seeing little improvement in their daily lives.
🚨 What’s at Stake
If this enforcement turns into a pattern of guns at the gate, it won’t just inflame local resentment—it risks sparking wider rebellion. In fragile states, the moment taxation feels like extortion under foreign arms, legitimacy collapses.
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