Michel Joseph Martelly was the Haitian president in the wake of the catastrophic 2010 earthquake, from 2011 until he resigned in 2016. Haiti has been unstable for decades, but since the 2008 hurricane season and 2010 earthquake the situation has become dire—half of Haiti’s 11.5M residents are facing hunger, 578,000 are displaced by gang wars, and criminal groups control around 80% of the capital city. U.S officials believe that Martelly contributed to the ongoing Haitian crisis by using his political influence to launder money, traffick drugs, and sponsor violent gangs during his presidency. The sanction, imposed in August of this year, will prevent Martelly from accessing his U.S. assets or making any transactions involving an American individual or corporation.
My initial thought upon reading this article was, “If he resigned in 2016, why are we sanctioning him now?”. So, I researched a bit further. Despite the drug trafficking allegations dating back to even before his presidency, the real strain on U.S relations with Martelly began in 2021 with the assassination of his successor, Jovenel Moïse. Since the assassination, various countries (including the U.S) have been offering assistance to Haiti in an attempt to decrease violence in the country. One part of this has been helping to establish a transitional government, led by Prime Minister Garry Conille, to keep the government running until a proper election can be held. Martelly has recently said that he is considering reentering the Haitian political scene, which poses a threat to the transitional government because Martelly is a rival of Conille. This means the sanction is really meant to strip Martelly of some of his power to prevent him from attempting to get back into politics.
The sanction may prevent Martelly from causing further detriment to Haiti’s already perilous situation, but it does nothing to hold Martelly accountable for the damage he has already caused. Many Haitians are calling for a more direct approach to punish Martelly for his actions, and I would agree. Between the drug trafficking crisis in the U.S and the overall humanitarian crisis in Haiti, Martelly’s wrongdoings have caused destruction worth much more than just blocking him from his U.S assets. Even if it means the U.S government must find a way to charge Martelly directly and try him in American courts, he needs to be put in jail for what he has done to harm both Haiti and the U.S.