Haiti is on the verge of “total chaos” as coordinated gang violence continues to escalate, the UN’s top Haitian envoy warned on Monday, April 21, 2025.
Special Representative María Isabel Salvador told ambassadors in the Security Council that a “deliberate and coordinated” campaign is being waged by organized crime groups to expand territorial control and paralyze the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Recent gang attacks have targeted previously unaffected areas such as Delmas and Pétion-Ville, while the storming of the town of Mirebalais marked the fifth prison break in less than a year.
“At this critical juncture, all Member States must increase support to Haiti’s security forces, particularly the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission – not as a matter of choice but of necessity,” she said.
“The country needs us more than ever,” she added.
How We Got Here
Understanding the past helps us understand the present and future. Haiti’s troubled past helps us understand its troubled present and, according to the UN, its more troubled future.
When Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492, and before he again sailed the deep blue sea in 1493, he landed on the island of Santo Domingo and established a Spanish colony there.
Then, in the late 1600s, the Spanish began focusing on Central and South America and away from Santo Domingo. As a result, French adventurers settled on the island, resulting in considerable tension. To settle the affair, Spain ceded the western portion of SD to France, which called the colony Saint Domingue.
Had the future Haiti remained in Spanish hands, it may have become like its neighbor, the Dominican Republic. This former Spanish colony is the most prosperous and stable country in the Caribbean. Despite their cruelties, the Spanish were generally good colonial masters who prepared regions for self-government, economically and politically.
The French, on the other hand, usually saw their overseas colonies as areas to exploit. The French took most of Haiti’s natural resources. A satellite photo of modern Haiti looks like a moonscape. Furthermore, the French allowed no self-government.
So, when slaves revolted in 1791 and established an independent republic in 1804, it was good news and bad news. Freedom, which is perhaps the best news of all, was the obvious good news. But the infant republic had no experienced leaders and no money. Making matters worse, its status as a slave republic made it something of a pariah. The United States did not extend official diplomatic recognition until 1861. Foreign investment to expand infrastructure and services was unavailable.
The combination of corruption, political instability, poor infrastructure, lack of health care, and lack of education has made Haiti one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.
Current Situation in Haiti
Haiti’s current problems are probably a result of natural disasters and self-inflicted wounds. The country is too unstable to absorb such punishment.
The 2010 earthquake that devastated much of the country is well-chronicled. The country was still in recovery mode when Hurricane Matthew, the deadliest Atlantic storm in more than a decade, hit Haiti in 2016.
These events delayed national elections, allowing corruption to further take root. Eventually, Jovenel Moïse, who was closely associated with corrupt officials and violent gangs, became president in 2017. In 2018, protests over high fuel prices, probably due to supply and demand issues, became protests against Moïse. He was assassinated in 2021.
By that time, gang violence, which was exacerbated by another strong earthquake, had become a gang war. In 2023, kidnappings, mostly of doctors, lawyers, and wealthy individuals, jumped 72%. Gangs usually killed these victims if ransoms were not paid. As a result, many of these individuals fled the country, further hampering efforts to pull the country out of its crisis.
Private Military Contractors in Haiti
American private military contractors must operate in the midst of all this chaos. They mostly provide security, supervise aid distribution, and expand the country’s infrastructure.
Presidential assassinations are a clear indication that security has completely broken down. Private military contractors fill in the gap. They usually provide deterrence security. Tough guys with machine guns often deter the most determined would-be assassin or other malefactor.
Security contractors do more than give a man a fish. They teach him to fish by training their replacements. This training is especially important in anti-insurgency/gang warfare environments. They don’t teach these skills at military academies.
Since the 2010 earthquake, overseas donors have given generously to the people of Haiti. Unfortunately, many of these gifts do not reach the people. To a corrupt politician, a shipment of foodstuffs or medical supplies might as well be a shipment of money. These items usually end up on the black market.
Quite simply, most Haitian government officials cannot be trusted. So, private military contractors oversee aid distribution. Some of them provide armed security. Most of them unload cargo. Once the cargo is on the way to its proper destination, the rest of the aid distribution process is largely downhill.
Almost all construction contractors carry hammers instead of rifles. Frequently, a sponsoring country, like the United States, splits construction costs with Haiti. This arrangement, or a similar one, allows contractors to build badly needed hospitals, schools, roads, bridges, and so on. The construction has political benefits as well. If people believe the government cares about them, they’re less likely to join violent anti-government gangs.
A few construction contractors carry guns. A construction site in Port-au-Prince requires much tougher security than a construction site in Portland.
Injury Compensation Available
Regardless of a contractor’s duties and designation, a contractor is usually a family’s primary or only source of income. Since most households have virtually no savings, any income disruption is financially devastating. This effect is especially hard on injured victims who are trying to recover and return to work.
To ease the financial and emotional pressure, the Defense Base Act, which applies to contractors who are injured overseas, includes a lost wage replacement benefit. The categories are:
- Temporary Total Disability: Most victims cannot work while they recover. Until they recover and their doctors clear them to return to work, the Defense Base Act pays two-thirds of their average weekly wage (AWW), at least in most cases.
- Temporary Partial Disability: Many TTD victims “graduate” to this category once they begin physical therapy. At that point, many victims can work part-time. In these cases, the Defense Base Act pays two-thirds of the difference between their current and former AWW.
- Permanent Total Disability: The AWW is difficult to calculate in all disability matters, and especially in PTD matters. The AWW must reflect not only prior wages, but likely future wages, such as potential pay increases. The DBA pays two-thirds of future lost wages in permanent disability situations.
- Permanent Partial Disability: These cases, which often involve the loss of a digit or limb, are quite tricky. Some of these injuries are disabling in some situations. For example, if Mike loses his hand, he can probably train security forces but not work in the field. The definition of “disability,” which is basically a medical condition that precludes employment, is tricky as well.
Insurance companies often dispute the amount of lost wages in these situations, mostly because they often use boilerplate actuarial tables that are usually accurate, but not always accurate.
For more information about other DBA benefits, contact Barnett, Lerner, Karsen, Frankel & Castro, P.A.