U.S. sanctions former Haitian president Martelly for role in drug trade

“Today’s action against Martelly emphasizes the significant and destabilizing role he and other corrupt political elites have played in perpetuating the ongoing crisis in Haiti,” Bradley T. Smith, the department’s acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.

State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said Tuesday that the sanctions demonstrate the United States’ “resolve to promote accountability for all individuals whose activities contribute to gang violence and destabilize the political environment in Haiti, regardless of their rank or stature.”

Martelly could not immediately be reached for comment. His Miami-based lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.

Gang violence has long been a reality in Haiti, and gangs have long had backers in the country’s political elite. But the heavily armed groups have grown in size and influence since the assassination in 2021 of President Jovenel Moïse and now control at least 80 percent of Port-au-Prince.

Some 400 Kenyan police officers arrived in Haiti earlier this year as part of a U.N.-approved international security mission to beat back the gangs and put the country on the road to new elections, but so far, it has had little success.

The United States in recent years has imposed sanctions on gang leaders and the politicians and business leaders who support them. But the sanctions on Martelly, a popular singer nicknamed “Sweet Micky” who splits his time between Haiti and Miami, are viewed as particularly significant.

“This is good news,” said Pierre Espérance, director of Haiti’s National Human Rights Defense Network. “I hope these sanctions serve as a warning to those in power today. … Haiti has been under Martelly’s influence for too long, and the [Haitian Tèt Kale Party] remains very powerful.”

Martelly came to power in 2011. U.S. officials pushed the Haitian government to include Martelly in the presidential runoff and to exclude another candidate from the ballot, even as Martelly faced allegations of corruption and drug trafficking.

After the election, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton commended Martelly’s campaign and his “emphasis on the people and their needs.” In 2014, President Obama welcomed Martelly to the Oval Office and praised his leadership.

Martelly hasn’t held political office since 2016, but some believe he may be considering another presidential run. He has remained an influential figure in the country’s politics, including by picking Moïse to be his successor.

Canada imposed sanctions on Martelly in 2022, a move U.S. officials praised. A U.N. panel last year accused him of using “gangs to expand his influence over neighborhoods to advance his political agenda, contributing to a legacy of insecurity, the impacts of which are still being felt today.”

“There’s always a lot of emotion with each sanction because I’m not used to seeing the powerful in this country face sanctions or legal [consequences] for their actions,” said Emmanuela Douyon, a Haitian justice activist and development policy specialist. “The history of this country is one of impunity. Every time I see even a small step taken toward justice, I rejoice.”

The sanctions are important, she added, because they “confirm that the country is not cursed, but rather, that impunity and corruption have allowed certain individuals to capture the state and its resources to manage criminal affairs, economic interest and political ambitions, all while the country collapses, people die, others flee and those who remain live in fear.”

Vélina Charlier, a political activist in Haiti, greeted news of the sanctions on Martelly “with a sense of relief.”

“We need to remember that the U.S. was responsible for bringing him to power,” she told The Washington Post, “so they are now cleaning up their own mess.”