PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, CMC – Fritz Alphonse Jean, a member of the Presidential Transitional Council (TPC), has confirmed that he is the unnamed Haitian government official whom the United States government has imposed visa restrictions on for allegedly supporting gangs and other criminal organizations in the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country.
Washington had announced earlier this week that the Haitian government had been sanctioned for obstructing the Haitian government’s fight against terrorist gangs designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
Amid media reports that he had been sanctioned, Jean, an economist and former central bank governor who recently served a rotating term as president of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, told a news conference that the United States’ accusations against him were untrue.
He insists that he has no connection whatsoever to any gang and believes there are other reasons behind the US State Department’s move.
“As soon as we began to consider the possibility of changing the head of government, members of the Council received threats of visa cancellations and other sanctions from the representative of the United States Embassy and the Canadian Ambassador,” Jean told reporters.
He said that his office had provided the press with excerpts of messages exchanged via WhatsApp with the Canadian Ambassador to Haiti as well as the American Chargé d’Affaires, Henry Wooster, in which they allegedly made it clear that if the Transitional Council did not abandon the idea of replacing Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, certain advisors would be subject to diplomatic sanctions, including visa cancellations.
But Jean told reporters that the international sanctions would not deter him from continuing his fight and questioned the reasons for the support given to Prime Minister Fils-Aimé.
The US State Department had said it would “revoke any currently valid visas held by this individual” and that the policy, first announced in October 2022, targets individuals and their family members who provide financial or material support to gangs and criminal organizations operating in Haiti.
“The United States remains committed to supporting Haiti’s stability and expects measurable progress toward free and fair elections. The Haitian people have had enough with gang violence, destruction, and political infighting,” said the State Department, adding, “the Trump administration will promote accountability for those who continue to destabilize Haiti and our region”.
Fils-Aimé and the transitional presidential council have been under pressure to hold general elections before the council’s mandate expires, and the Provisional Electoral Council has set tentative election dates for August and December of next year.
Last month, the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Dimitri Herard for his support of the Haitian gang coalition, Viv Ansanm.
OFAC also said it “designated” Kempes Sanon, leader of the Bel Air gang, a constituent gang of the Viv Ansanm alliance.
OFAC said Viv Ansanm contributes to the violence and instability within Haiti and that the action “underscores the critical role of gang leaders and facilitators like Herard and Sanon, whose support enables Viv Ansanm’s campaign of violence, extortion, and terrorism in Haiti.
“The United States is committed to holding accountable the violent terrorist gangs that endanger the Haitian people.”
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