“I was surprised speaking to one of the main human rights lawyers in Haiti. She was like, well, they haven't killed any of the gang leaders yet. And I was like, oh, you're a human rights lawyer. Is that really, really what you should be? Really should be at the forefront of your mind. But that's the nature of what it is. There's a lot of anger and there's very little sympathy for the gangs at all or those who live under them.”
The Rest Is Classified · Geopolitics & World Affairs · October 2026
Context
Asked whether Haitians he met saw any hope, Paton Walsh said he found little optimism after a decade of violence. People know about the foreign contractors' drone campaign, and what they want is for it to hit the gang leaders.
Transcript
…what the drone has now done to the battlefield are only just being felt across NATO after Ukraine. And what they're going to be able to do for private security companies who can harness that and take it against sort of, you know, poorly armed insurgents or criminal groups is going to be startling.
…I mean, just to bring it back to Haiti for a second and the people that you encountered. Do you feel that there is a glimmer of hope? Were individual humans there hopeful about the future, cautiously optimistic? What was your sense of how they see the future unspooling for them and their country?
…like a refugee crisis in a city, squeezing everyone together. Food problems, the heat's horrific, basic sanitation. That's what is forefront of people's minds. And as soon as you changing that, like it's a press release saying, oh, you know, certain parts of Port-au-Prince are slightly less contested than they won't be. I'm going to cut it. People are certainly aware of the Prince operation. And I was surprised speaking to one of the main human rights lawyers in Haiti. She was like, well, they haven't killed any of the gang leaders yet. And I was like, oh, you're a human rights lawyer. Is that really, really what you should be? Really should be at the forefront of your mind. But that's the nature of what it is. There's a lot of anger and there's very little sympathy for the gangs at all or those who live under them. And people simply want change. And I think that's where the window for the techniques of Vectus and the task force certainly has opened.
Well, Nick, tremendous to talk to you. I would encourage everyone who is listening or watching this, if they haven't already, to go watch your report on the gangs, Haiti's drug warfare and Vectus Global. It really is an incredibly eye-opening grip picket. Really, I mean, quite tragic and sad, but…
Yeah, thank you for giving time to Haiti and for our reporting. I really appreciate it.
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