Gangs Are Better Armed Than U.S. National Police, Says Ex-Marine Col. Mark Cancian

For years, the United States government refused to arm Haitian security forces, limiting its aid to providing police vehicles and other non-lethal equipment, even as officers struggled to repel gangs brandishing American-made large-caliber assault rifles.

Mark Cancian, a retired U.S. Marine colonel and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the so-called withdrawal power has existed since it was created under the Aid Act Foreign Affairs of 1961. “It was limited to $100 million a year for this kind of situation – a country that needs equipment but doesn’t have the money to pay for the equipment and maybe we “We have a surplus and we just give it to the country,” he said.

Recent video footage shows gang members with very expensive weapons and apparent training to use them. There is no indication of an ammunition shortage, he said. “I was amazed that American policy inadvertently armed the gangs better than the police and the military,” he said.

“Security forces have been unable to obtain the weapons they need due to US restrictions on law enforcement, while gangs, faced with such an obstacle, have been able to acquire weapons heavier and more sophisticated.”

Export limits not only required Haitian police to obtain permission from the United States to purchase weapons, but they also dictated the types of firearms and ammunition, which Haiti could only purchase from countries other than the United States. Those regulations, two former Haitian police chiefs say, delayed the speed with which they could get guns into police hands and limited the police’s ability to root out gangs.

Take the example of the 28th class of 800 new police recruits, which took place just a few years ago. Michel-Ange Gédéon, who served as police chief between 2017 and 2020, remembers that police officers were unable to graduate from the police academy on time due to the shortage of weapons and ammunition. Gédéon led the national police as the remaining UN peacekeepers prepared to end the mission after 15 years.

He requested armored vehicles, two helicopters, ammunition and automatic rifles for specialized police units, as part of a five-year strategic plan for the Haitian National Police. None of this was given, neither by the Haitian government of the time, nor by the international community. Recognizing that the same gangs he fought years ago have more guns and more ammunition today, Gideon still believes that “this is something we could have solved at the beginning, if we had had enough strength, enough power to solve the problem.

But unfortunately we didn’t have the equipment or weapons I requested. As for guns heading to police forces, Gédéon said “it’s a good thing” and hopes it’s the start of a new policy.