Reports from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo indicate the M23 armed group has detained American national Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater. Prince was allegedly arrested earlier this week in Uvira, reportedly accompanying a coalition of forces that had re-entered the city. Sources claim Prince, along with his security detail, was taken from a hotel to an undisclosed location. The M23 coalition has not confirmed or denied these allegations.
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Vectus Global, a security firm led by Blackwater founder Erik Prince, is preparing to deploy hundreds of combatants from the US, Europe, and El Salvador to Haiti to combat the country’s gangs. The firm has been operating in Haiti since March and aims to help authorities regain control of key areas, with a 10-year deal reportedly including a role in Haiti’s tax-collection system. This deployment, which includes snipers, specialists, and equipment, has sparked concerns from human rights advocates who worry about the outsourcing of solutions and a further weakening of Haitian institutions. Despite Vectus’s existing presence and drone deployment, gangs continue to hold strategic dominance, raising questions about the effectiveness of this private military intervention and its impact on the Haitian police and the UN-backed security force.
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Erik Prince’s plan to deploy forces in Haiti for a decade to combat gangs and collect taxes, well, it certainly raises a lot of eyebrows, doesn’t it? The concept itself, a private military company effectively running security and revenue collection in a sovereign nation, is something out of a dystopian novel. Yet, here we are, with Erik Prince, a known associate of Donald Trump, seemingly poised to do just that. The scale of this undertaking is substantial.
Considering his history with Blackwater, the private military company infamous for its involvement in Iraq, it’s hard not to view this development with a degree of skepticism.… Continue reading