Tag: erik prince

Erik Prince Involved In Deadly Drone Attacks In Haiti

The US-installed government in Haiti has turned to American mercenaries, including Erik Prince, to fight against armed groups that now control nearly all of Port-au-Prince. Drones operated by Prince’s firm have killed hundreds, but no high-value targets. 

According to the New York Times, Prince’s company has been operating drones in Haiti since March in an operation aimed at killing gang members. The Times notes the Haitian government has not announced any successful operations due to the program. 

Pierre Esperance, who leads the National Human Rights Defense Network, told the Wall Street Journal that more than 300 people have been killed in drone strikes over the last three months.

Additionally, Prince is ramping up for a larger operation. He is looking to send 150 mercenaries to Haiti this summer and has already shipped the arms to the nation. 

While now called Constellis Holdings, Prince’s defense contracting firm was initially named Blackwater. The company became infamous in 2007 when some of its mercenaries opened fire on civilians in Iraq, killing 17. 

Prince is a long-time ally of the US President, and the contractors responsible for murdering the Iraqi civilians were pardoned by Trump during his first term. 

Details of the current agreement between Prince and the Haitian government are unknown. The State Department denied that it is currently paying Prince. Although the US is funding Haitian police forces and Kenyan soldiers deployed to Haiti to help transfer power to the government. 

The current government in Port-au-Prince was installed by Washington last year after the collapse of the Ariel Henry administration. Henry was forced from power after he left Port-au-Prince to sign an agreement with the Kenyan government that allowed Nairobi to deploy its troops to Haiti. 

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Erik Prince Busted In Illegal Libya Gun-Running Scheme That Included “Assassination For Hire”

Erik Prince is the wealthy scandal-plagued mercenary who seems never go away from the headlines. The founder of the notorious Blackwater private security company has since been involved in shady schemes and arms dealing everywhere from China to UAE to Syria to Venezuela. He currently heads the Hong Kong-listed Frontier Services Group, providing ‘security services’ across the globe.

And now it’s been revealed that he’s deeply involved in the still-raging war in Libya. No less than the United Nations is alleging he’s overseeing a major arms dealing program in support of eastern Libya warlord Khalifa Haftar who has for years waged war to take over Tripoli. The findings are detailed in a confidential UN report.

“The confidential report to the Security Council, obtained by The New York Times and The Washington Post, and partly seen by Al Jazeera, said on Friday that Prince deployed a force of foreign mercenaries and weapons to renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar, who has fought to overthrow the UN-recognized Libyan government, in 2019,” according to the latest reporting.

While Prince has typically avoided legal consequences for the past scandals he’s been at center of, the UN findings could bring potential international travel restrictions or even sanctions by the world body. This scenario is likely given there is currently a strict UN arms embargo on the country (something however that’s repeatedly violated by governments like France and the UAE and others).

“The $80m operation included plans to form a hit squad to track and kill Libyan commanders opposed to Haftar – including some who were also European Union citizens,” The New York Times found in reviewing the UN report.

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