October 21, 2024
To:
• The Honorable Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• The Honorable Gina Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce
• The Honorable Anthony Blinken, Secretary of State
• The Honorable Merrick Garland, Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice
As the violence in Haiti escalates to unthinkable levels, I write this open letter to urge the U.S. government to take immediate and corrective action. The terror that armed gangs are inflicting upon innocent human beings—shooting into crowds, burning bodies, and using human remains to intimidate—it torments the heart. The flow of arms into Haiti must be stopped immediately.
While I deeply appreciate the recent calls from U.S. Senators and Congress members to address arms trafficking to Haiti, the current measures, though vital, are insufficient to combat the magnitude of the violence that is taking place. As gangs continue to gain access to more weapons and more ammunition, precious Haitian lives are being lost in excruciating numbers. The time for an extreme corrective measure is now.
In particular, I strongly recommend the immediate suspension of all vehicle shipments to Haiti. As noted in the Senate’s memo, vehicles have become optimal hiding places for smuggled weapons. The numerous hidden compartments and crevices within cars make them ideal vessels for trafficking arms, posing a significant challenge for customs authorities. Suspending vehicle shipments will remove a critical avenue that gangs have been exploiting for years.
I respectfully call on U.S. government officials to consider the following actions:
1. Halt all non-essential shipments to Haiti. Only shipments from verified food manufacturers should be allowed into the country. This will prevent arms from being smuggled in alongside essential goods submitted by individual actors.
2. Suspend shipments to the Dominican Republic from the United States. The porous border between the two countries is a major route for arms smuggling into Haiti. Stopping shipments to the Dominican Republic will cut off another source of weapons for the gangs.
3. Deploy a multinational force unit to known trafficking zones. This unit must be equipped to intercept arms shipments and prevent the flow of illegal weapons into Haiti. These efforts should target the sea routes, land borders, and other known entry points where arms are trafficked.
This situation in Haiti has reached the point where only the most drastic measures will sufficiently address it. The brutality of the gangs calls for an immediate and comprehensive response, one that matches the scale of the crisis. A full suspension of shipments to both Haiti and the Dominican Republic, combined with multinational intervention, can severely disrupt the gangs’ supply chain and allow Haitians to reclaim a sense of peace—when the sound of birdsong filled the air, instead of the relentless crackle of machine guns day and night.
Sincerely,
Luthiençia Baptiste
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