(Français)
In Haiti, political transitions are a very lucrative business for their leaders. This has been going on repeatedly for 40 years, but with de facto Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé taking the reins, corruption and illegality have reached new heights.
The tactics employed are too outrageously brazen to ignore. They aim is to blame everything on smuggling, insecurity, and “gangs.” This corrupt government has been very tricky and might have been able to pull off their swindle without a hitch. But Haitian citizens have begun to take notice of these long-term contracts, involving strategic sectors of Haiti’s economy, awarded to foreign firms for exorbitant sums in their names.
The issue at hand is three contracts that Fils-Aimé and his cronies have signed, supposedly to combat Haiti’s insecurity, smuggling, and corruption, and to build three “model” prisons. However, these contracts, for which the Haitian state is paying hundreds of millions of dollars, are in reality nothing but black holes. They only allow the current administration to line its pockets, while the problems remain unchanged.
Evergreen Trading System Limited and Alex Stewart International
The first example is the contract signed with the foreign company Evergreen Trading System Limited to bring order to Haiti’s customs outposts on the borders between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, specifically Malpasse (West Department), Ouanaminthe (North Department), and Belladère (Central Department).
According to the contract’s terms of reference (TOR), this initiative aims to strengthen national security at the borders in order to optimize tax and customs revenues. (Seizing Haiti’s customs system, its main revenue source, was also the first thing U.S. Marines did when they invaded Haiti in 1915.) The contract is supposed to allow the State to more effectively combat transnational crime, smuggling, and, of course, tax evasion. It’s an appealing sales pitch, but the reality is much darker.
This contract will cost the Haitian state the staggering sum of almost $543 million over the next 10 years, but nothing concrete has been observed since it was approved in February. It was signed with Vincent Gordon, CEO of Evergreen Trading System Limited, and Enrique Segura, President of Alex Stewart International, whose website offers “customs revenue optimization” as one of its services.
Meanwhile, “Evergreen Trading System Limited” (sometimes reported as “Systems”) does not even appear to have a website. As Haïti Liberté reported in August 2025, the only website that has a somewhat similar name is not functional, casting doubt on the company’s credibility.
Evergreen’s CEO, Vincent Gordon, is a partner in the London-based law firm of Holman Fenwick Willan LLP (HFW), and he is based in Abu Dhabi. It’s all a little spooky.
While Haitian customs have brought in a lot of state revenue in recent years, they have also been vulnerable to corruption. This is particularly true at the three Dominican border crossings where, in reality, the state has little to no control. Malpasse and Belladère are completely in the hands of criminals and armed groups who rule the roost. In Ouanaminthe, the Prime Minister’s cronies, the notorious commercial and financial oligarchy, control the flow of goods into and out of this customs post, a major source of foreign currency.
The two contracted firms which are supposed to solve this problem are dodging the issue, stating that they are not yet operational. Therefore, they say, what is happening today falls under the jurisdiction of the Haitian authorities, not theirs.
From a strictly legal standpoint, they are correct. Indeed, the Superior Court of Accounts and Administrative Disputes (CSCCA) gave the government the green light to finalize the contract months ago. And immediately, the key government ministers — namely, Economy and Finance, Justice and Public Security, National Defense, Interior, and Territorial Administration — signed the contract on the State’s behalf, thus freeing the authorities and the companies involved to begin work on installing the equipment necessary to identify fraudsters and smugglers.
In the major ports of Miragoâne, Saint-Marc, Port-de-Paix, Port-au-Prince, and Cap-Haïtien, Gonaïves, Petit-Goâve, and Saint-Louis du Sud, Evergreen Trading System Limited is also supposed to install fixed and mobile scanners to apprehend traffickers of illicit goods and unscrupulous and corrupt exporters.
It should be noted that this contract includes the deployment of a range of technological equipment, including scanners, satellite surveillance, helicopters, and more. Meanwhile, smuggling continues on a massive scale along the entire 243 miles of land borders shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Windward Wyoming LLC
The second emblematic case is the contract signed with Windward Wyoming LLC, a subsidiary of Windward Holding Limited, itself a U.S. company registered… in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a petro-monarchy located on the Persian Gulf, right in the heart of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. (As we noted earlier, Evergreen Trading System Limited also has its CEO in the UAE.)
According to the contract’s TOR, this security company was tasked with restoring peace and security in Haiti by fighting armed groups.
The company is reported to be linked to mercenary magnate Erik Prince’s Vectus Global, which is the soldier-of-fortune outfit currently working with the Haitian National Police (PNH) to carry out deadly drone and armed unit attacks on poor Haitian neighborhoods, as Haïti Liberté as been documenting.
Photo: API
The Je Klere Foundation (Open Eyes Foundation or FJKL), headed by Marie Yolène Gilles and Samuel Madistin, brought the scandalous contract to light in a lengthy Mar. 4, 2026 report.
According to the FJKL’s investigation, Fils-Aimé’s administration has already paid a colossal sum of $35.5 million in seven consecutive installments for a contract that will cost Haitian taxpayers $52 million.
At the same time, it has been revealed that Windward Wyoming LLC‘s personnel are to be deployed in three key locations across the country to combat gangs. These areas of operation are located in the West, where Vitelhomme, 400 Mawozo, Chen Mechan, Ti Lapli, and Izo hold sway. Next, in the North, with a naval base and a logistics site. Finally, in the Central Plateau, where the security company will have a training ground for its agents and a command unit.
It is in this strategic area connecting Haiti’s North and South that the company will establish its headquarters as well as build barracks and a helicopter base.
But here’s the rub! Despite the fine promises from the authorities and Windward Wyoming’s officials, over one year after the deal was signed, not a single point stipulated in the contract has been fulfilled. All the supposedly “Lost Territories” of the Republic under the control of local armed group leaders remain under their control. These include the Martissant neighborhood in the capital’s south, controlled by Izo; Croix-des-Bouquets in the north, overseen by 400 Mawozo and Chen Mechan; and the Tabarre area, controlled by Vitelhomme. Not to mention lower Delmas, Barbecue’s stronghold (although his house/headquarters was blown up in January).
Yet, for the past year, since March 2025, these areas have been subjected to relentless, murderous, almost daily, drone attacks and other incendiary devices, as well as death squads riding in armored cars, with very little to show for it. The report’s authors cite as evidence that none of the three main roads leading to Port-au-Prince or north (National Route 1), south (National Route 2), or central plateau (National Route 3) have been cleared.
These roads remain the exclusive domain of armed groups, who claim a right of way over each one. Yet, they are the most important roads in the country. The report notes that even Toussaint Louverture International Airport, located on the capital’s outskirts, remains closed, and the same is true for the ports. The report also mentions the most dramatic cases: the damage inflicted on the population by operations carried out using kamikaze drones and armored cars by this security company’s mercenaries.
Finally, the FJKL investigators note that any money spent without any results would have been more effective if it had been allocated to the country’s security forces, particularly the Haitian Armed Forces (FADH), because at least 15,000 new soldiers, or even more, could likely have been recruited.
The report indicates that the mercenaries paid to do the dirty work were unwilling to take any risks. It cites the case of the Battle of Kenscoff a few months ago, in which no Windward Wyoming LLC agents participated. According to the report’s authors, all of them categorically refused to launch an assault on the armed groups holding the hill, despite the PNH command’s insistence on reinforcements.
Metric Correctional Facility S.A, Metric Management Inc.and Transcaribbean Energy Partners & Consulting S.A.
Finally, we come to the third contract. Here again, it was the FJKL that leaked the information to the public. This contract concerns the construction of three modern prison facilities in Haiti. For this, the Haitian state signed with three firms: Metric Correctional Facility S.A, Metric Management Inc., and Transcaribbean Energy Partners & Consulting S.A.. They would build three detention centers in Morne Casse, near Fort-Liberté in the Northeast, in Source Matélas near Arcahaie in the West, and in Pasquette near Jacmel in the Southeast.
However, this time the CSCCA rejected the government’s proposal, refusing seven times to approve the project. Despite the Court’s opposition, Fils-Aimé put out a call for tenders to contract the firms in question to build these penitentiary facilities. According to a source at Le Nouvelliste, the CSCCA remains skeptical about the provision the authorities intend to use to justify various procedures related to this contract.
“The Court expresses reservations about the provision stipulating that the Haitian state, under its sovereign guarantee, must repay not only the initial loan but also any loan intended for the construction of additional or supplementary infrastructure. Such a clause transfers unlimited risk to the Haitian State and must be strictly regulated by a precise definition of the infrastructure concerned, the establishment of a financing ceiling guaranteed by the State, and the requirement of prior validation by the competent authorities (MEF, CSCCA) before any new debt is incurred. Based on all of these unfavorable opinions dated Jul. 25, 2025, Aug. 21, 2025, Sep. 16, 2025, Sep. 30, 2025, and Dec. 10, 2025, and all of these remarks that have not been taken into account by the granting authority, the Court concludes that the interests of the Haitian State are not sufficiently protected in this concession project. It recommends that the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) initiate the tendering process in accordance with the provisions of the law of June 10, 2009, which establishes the general rules relating to public service concession agreements, in order to recruit companies for the construction of penitentiary centers that meet the country’s needs,” reports Le Nouvelliste on Mar. 9, 2026.
But what is most shocking about this lucrative contract with Metric Correctional Facility S.A., Metric Management Inc., and Transcaribbean Energy Partners & Consulting S.A. — all U.S. companies — is the cost to Haiti and the duration of the concession. After verification with the institution located on Rue de la Réunion in Port-au-Prince, this contract is valued at about $85.5 million, and the de facto government – unelected and illegitimate, with no popular mandate – intends to grant a 50 year concession to the firms that win the negotiated tender. Specifically, this consortium of companies — Metric Correctional Facility S.A., Metric Management I., and Transcaribbean Energy Partners & Consulting S.A. — will be responsible for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of these three correctional facilities.
The Legal Questions and the CSCCA
However, according to the FJKL’s Samuel Madistin, a guest on Magik 9‘s morning show on Mar. 9, 2026, who consulted the contract at the CSCCA, the institution’s reservation regarding the duration and amount is not binding on the government. Madistin, a lawyer, although opposed to the contract’s application, acknowledges that Fils-Aimé and his confederates can technically disregard the CSCCA by citing this excerpt from the contract:
“In terms of financial guarantee, the concessionaire is only required to have 25% of the project amount. The balance can be obtained through loans in Haiti and abroad, secured by an irrevocable, unconditional, and sight letter of credit issued by the Bank of the Republic of Haiti upon formal request from the Ministry of Economy and Finance; Haiti commits to paying a minimum occupancy rate of seventy-five percent (75%) of each penitentiary building put into service (even if unoccupied); Haiti commits to paying the concessionaire twenty-two U.S. dollars (USD 22.00) per inmate per day for fifty years; and his amount may be adjusted by mutual agreement between the parties based on market fluctuations, commodity prices, and the duly established and recognized inflation rate.”
Twenty years after the entry into force of the convention or upon its expiration, Haiti will be able to repurchase the prison buildings from the concession holder.
The real problem lies in the fact that there was no genuine call for tenders, as the contract was awarded through a negotiated procedure, in violation of the law governing public procurement and public service concession agreements.
In any case, the matter is far from over. It has come to light that this Florida-based firm has still not indicated whether or not it accepts the contract, given the current lack of agreement between the de facto authorities, which are committing the State for 50 years, and the CSCCA, the institution responsible for verifying the legality of the contracts and tenders issued.
Now, the question on everyone’s mind is this: is it legal for an interim, de facto government, with absolutely no popular mandate, to commit the State for such long periods in such complex contracts that cost the public treasury so much money?
There is clearly an urgent need to create a body to oversee the actions and commitments being taken by the de facto authorities on behalf of the State. Otherwise, until the still uncertain elections are held and new legitimate leaders are installed, the Republic risks suffering the consequences of this sham leadership team, eager to enrich itself in a context devoid of constitutional safeguards or political oversight.
