Jake Johnston
@jakobjohnston.bsky.social
Researching, writing. Haiti and US foreign policy. Author of AID STATE. Work at CEPR. https://t.co/N2PgN9A05W
Thrilled to announce that AID STATE will be translated into Kreyòl — but we need some help to make it happen. The translated text and audio versions will be completely free. Please consider chipping in: cepr.net/we-need-your...
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cepr.net
June 10, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Thrilled to announce that AID STATE will be translated into Kreyòl — but we need some help to make it happen. The translated text and audio versions will be completely free. Please consider chipping in: cepr.net/we-need-your...
NEW: In court filing, lawyers for one of the defendants in the Haiti assassination case cite text messages between Arcangel Ortiz and his FBI handler from 2020 up until one week before the assassination.
May 20, 2025 at 3:01 PM
NEW: In court filing, lawyers for one of the defendants in the Haiti assassination case cite text messages between Arcangel Ortiz and his FBI handler from 2020 up until one week before the assassination.
What could possibly go wrong?
"The founder of Blackwater, Erik Prince, visited Haiti in April to negotiate contracts to provide attack drones and training for an anti-gang task force."
"The founder of Blackwater, Erik Prince, visited Haiti in April to negotiate contracts to provide attack drones and training for an anti-gang task force."
May 8, 2025 at 4:57 PM
What could possibly go wrong?
"The founder of Blackwater, Erik Prince, visited Haiti in April to negotiate contracts to provide attack drones and training for an anti-gang task force."
"The founder of Blackwater, Erik Prince, visited Haiti in April to negotiate contracts to provide attack drones and training for an anti-gang task force."
n the first three months of the year, more than 1,600 Haitians were killed. That would likely make Haiti the country with the highest homicide rate in the world.
May 6, 2025 at 2:32 PM
n the first three months of the year, more than 1,600 Haitians were killed. That would likely make Haiti the country with the highest homicide rate in the world.
It's official, the US has designated Viv Ansanm in Haiti as a "Transnational Terrorist Group."
May 2, 2025 at 4:09 PM
It's official, the US has designated Viv Ansanm in Haiti as a "Transnational Terrorist Group."
This could end virtually all trade with Haiti, if actually enforced. Very little comes or goes out of Port-au-Prince without some payments being made. Humanitarian access programs would also likely cease. Can't enter a community to disperse aid without negotiations.
April 30, 2025 at 1:03 PM
This could end virtually all trade with Haiti, if actually enforced. Very little comes or goes out of Port-au-Prince without some payments being made. Humanitarian access programs would also likely cease. Can't enter a community to disperse aid without negotiations.
A Haitian government official, asked by Washington Post about civilian casualties as a result of weaponized drone operations, had this to say:
“To me, it’s just a detail. As long as you’re in a zone controlled by gangs and there are attacks, collateral damage is going to happen.”
“To me, it’s just a detail. As long as you’re in a zone controlled by gangs and there are attacks, collateral damage is going to happen.”
April 10, 2025 at 3:05 PM
A Haitian government official, asked by Washington Post about civilian casualties as a result of weaponized drone operations, had this to say:
“To me, it’s just a detail. As long as you’re in a zone controlled by gangs and there are attacks, collateral damage is going to happen.”
“To me, it’s just a detail. As long as you’re in a zone controlled by gangs and there are attacks, collateral damage is going to happen.”
Explosive new report from @revistaraya.bsky.social, based on internal Ecuadorian police documents, showing the connections between the president's banana company and drug trafficking.
March 26, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Explosive new report from @revistaraya.bsky.social, based on internal Ecuadorian police documents, showing the connections between the president's banana company and drug trafficking.
Carlos Trujillo, "a top advisor" to Trump on Latin America who also served during the first admin, has signed four new lobbying contracts in the last month: Haiti, Guyana, Georgia, and, perhaps even stranger, the intelligence agency of the Dominican Republic.
March 25, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Carlos Trujillo, "a top advisor" to Trump on Latin America who also served during the first admin, has signed four new lobbying contracts in the last month: Haiti, Guyana, Georgia, and, perhaps even stranger, the intelligence agency of the Dominican Republic.
Haiti sanctions imposed by the US, Canada, even the UN ... it's virtue signaling. They are largely meaningless and have done as much to encourage corruption and violence than deter it.
March 21, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Haiti sanctions imposed by the US, Canada, even the UN ... it's virtue signaling. They are largely meaningless and have done as much to encourage corruption and violence than deter it.
In 2023, before Daniel Noboa became president of Ecuador,
@folha.com reported on leaked docs showing he owned shell companies in tax havens.
It would make him ineligible to hold public office.
1.5 years later, and with elections next month, he has yet to address the allegations.
@folha.com reported on leaked docs showing he owned shell companies in tax havens.
It would make him ineligible to hold public office.
1.5 years later, and with elections next month, he has yet to address the allegations.
March 21, 2025 at 3:17 PM
In 2023, before Daniel Noboa became president of Ecuador,
@folha.com reported on leaked docs showing he owned shell companies in tax havens.
It would make him ineligible to hold public office.
1.5 years later, and with elections next month, he has yet to address the allegations.
@folha.com reported on leaked docs showing he owned shell companies in tax havens.
It would make him ineligible to hold public office.
1.5 years later, and with elections next month, he has yet to address the allegations.
Reposted by Jake Johnston
“You can’t address this phenomenon strictly through force. It’s putting all of the eggs in this one basket to the detriment of other things,” @ceprdc.bsky.social's @jakobjohnston.bsky.social says. #Haiti
Haiti's crisis deepens as foreign troops struggle to curb violence
->Responsible Statecraft | More info from EcoSearch
->Responsible Statecraft | More info from EcoSearch
Haiti's crisis deepens as foreign troops struggle to curb violence
Haiti is sinking deeper into crisis as gangs tighten their stranglehold on the country, now controlling more than 85% of the capital Port-au-Prince. More than one million people are internally displaced , sexual violence against children has increased by 1,000%...
responsiblestatecraft.org
March 20, 2025 at 5:02 PM
“You can’t address this phenomenon strictly through force. It’s putting all of the eggs in this one basket to the detriment of other things,” @ceprdc.bsky.social's @jakobjohnston.bsky.social says. #Haiti
USAID's new obligations for Haiti related work, from January 2024 through March 2025.
So far in 2025, USAID has obligated a total of about $200k. No month in 2024 saw less than $8.5m obligated.
So far in 2025, USAID has obligated a total of about $200k. No month in 2024 saw less than $8.5m obligated.
March 18, 2025 at 8:12 PM
USAID's new obligations for Haiti related work, from January 2024 through March 2025.
So far in 2025, USAID has obligated a total of about $200k. No month in 2024 saw less than $8.5m obligated.
So far in 2025, USAID has obligated a total of about $200k. No month in 2024 saw less than $8.5m obligated.
"The fastest, quickest way to dismantle the gangs in Haiti would be to stop the flow of weapons, especially ammunition," UN human rights expert Bill O'Neill said.
Instead, the US and others have spent more than half a billion importing a security force while arms keep flowing.
Instead, the US and others have spent more than half a billion importing a security force while arms keep flowing.
March 14, 2025 at 2:38 PM
"The fastest, quickest way to dismantle the gangs in Haiti would be to stop the flow of weapons, especially ammunition," UN human rights expert Bill O'Neill said.
Instead, the US and others have spent more than half a billion importing a security force while arms keep flowing.
Instead, the US and others have spent more than half a billion importing a security force while arms keep flowing.
It's one month before Ecuador's elections and the government has just hired a DC lobbyist on a three month contract for $165,000.
Agenda item #1 for the lobbyist: facilitate an official state visit between Noboa and Trump.
Agenda item #1 for the lobbyist: facilitate an official state visit between Noboa and Trump.
March 12, 2025 at 2:32 PM
It's one month before Ecuador's elections and the government has just hired a DC lobbyist on a three month contract for $165,000.
Agenda item #1 for the lobbyist: facilitate an official state visit between Noboa and Trump.
Agenda item #1 for the lobbyist: facilitate an official state visit between Noboa and Trump.
Colombia's president, Gustavo Petro, says that the recent violence in the Catatumbo region is directly connected to the violence in Haiti.
In Haiti, traffickers have "more power than the government," former president Preval once told me.
In Haiti, traffickers have "more power than the government," former president Preval once told me.
March 4, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Colombia's president, Gustavo Petro, says that the recent violence in the Catatumbo region is directly connected to the violence in Haiti.
In Haiti, traffickers have "more power than the government," former president Preval once told me.
In Haiti, traffickers have "more power than the government," former president Preval once told me.
One could write a book about the framing of this.
February 11, 2025 at 3:26 PM
One could write a book about the framing of this.
We will see many arguments like this. Here's the problem: yes, USAID is good for agricultural producers in the US. But that is not really a good thing for the countries we are supposedly "helping." In fact, US food aid has often decimated local production.
February 7, 2025 at 4:37 PM
We will see many arguments like this. Here's the problem: yes, USAID is good for agricultural producers in the US. But that is not really a good thing for the countries we are supposedly "helping." In fact, US food aid has often decimated local production.
In defending USAID, former director Samantha Power makes plain that USAID is used to gain political leverage over foreign governments, often in order to advance US commercial interests.
"To help a US company enter a new market ... they say yes."
"To help a US company enter a new market ... they say yes."
February 7, 2025 at 4:18 PM
In defending USAID, former director Samantha Power makes plain that USAID is used to gain political leverage over foreign governments, often in order to advance US commercial interests.
"To help a US company enter a new market ... they say yes."
"To help a US company enter a new market ... they say yes."
Reposted by Jake Johnston
They could have read @jakobjohnston.bsky.social “Aid State” a year ago and learned that.
February 7, 2025 at 3:05 AM
They could have read @jakobjohnston.bsky.social “Aid State” a year ago and learned that.
Reposted by Jake Johnston
"Few countries across the world are as dependent on US foreign assistance as #Haiti," @jakobjohnston.bsky.social writes, and while much of it goes to Beltway contractors & undermines Haiti, "Simply stopping all aid flows overnight ... will have significant effects..." #USAID cepr.net/publications...
Where Does the Money Go? A Look at USAID Spending in Haiti
Discover the significance of USAID spending in Haiti and its implications for US foreign policy. Get expert analysis from Jake Johnston.
cepr.net
February 4, 2025 at 8:35 PM
"Few countries across the world are as dependent on US foreign assistance as #Haiti," @jakobjohnston.bsky.social writes, and while much of it goes to Beltway contractors & undermines Haiti, "Simply stopping all aid flows overnight ... will have significant effects..." #USAID cepr.net/publications...
Wrote a book called Aid State. Seems relevant today. t.co/ciBDlgtAAb
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250284686/aidstate/
t.co
February 3, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Wrote a book called Aid State. Seems relevant today. t.co/ciBDlgtAAb
Shedding a tear for USAID’s Beltway bandits, who get 100% of their revenue from aid contracts that are now likely frozen.
January 31, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Shedding a tear for USAID’s Beltway bandits, who get 100% of their revenue from aid contracts that are now likely frozen.
This figure has since increased to $219.3 million. The contract was extended until March 2025. That would be an average of about $20 million per month for the MSS base in Haiti.
January 29, 2025 at 6:38 PM
This figure has since increased to $219.3 million. The contract was extended until March 2025. That would be an average of about $20 million per month for the MSS base in Haiti.
"A small group of individuals has maintained considerable influence over Haiti's drug trade from the 1980s until today."
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January 24, 2025 at 3:38 PM
"A small group of individuals has maintained considerable influence over Haiti's drug trade from the 1980s until today."
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