The US sanctions the head of the Haitian Senate for drug trafficking

United States prosecutors claim to have evidence that the head of the Senate in Haiti and a former senator are involved in drug trafficking, which led the Treasury Department to impose sanctions on both Antillean legislators on Friday.

Those involved are Joseph Lambert, current acting head of the Senate, and Youri Latortue, who served in the legislative seat until 2018.

“The United States and our international partners will continue to take action against those who facilitate drug trafficking, enable corruption, and seek to profit from the instability in Haiti,” Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement.

The measures have been taken in conjunction with the Canadian government, the Treasury said. The accusations point to Lambert for his criminal forays over two decades. “During this time, Lambert used his position to lead and facilitate cocaine trafficking from Colombia to Haiti and to facilitate impunity in Haiti for other drug traffickers.”

Meanwhile, it reports that “Latortue has been involved in trafficking cocaine from Colombia to Haiti and has directed others to participate in violence on his behalf.”

The sanctions involve the freezing of assets and properties in the US and block those in which they control at least half of them.

a difficult landscape

Since last September, Haiti has lived a wave of violence which has led to the closure of streets and institutions after the suspension of the public subsidy for fuel prices.

Criminal gangs seized the island’s main port. and the UN sanctioned against the most powerful leader of the gangs, Jimmy Cherizier, alias Barbecue.

According to United Nations agencies, gang members have resorted to rape and kidnapping -among other criminal actions- to intimidate the population.

The UN Security Council has been reporting on the possibility of sending an international contingent to assist Haiti in a humanitarian manner, which although it has been done at the request of the current governmentalso It has been rejected by an important part of civil society.

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