©️Bruce Palmer
Port-au-Prince, August 19, 2025.- In an interview with Radio Magik9, lawyer Eddy Laguerre explained the origin of Washington's sanctions against Jimmy Cherizier, alias Barbecue, leader of the Viv Ansanm coalition, and Bazile Richardson, a Haitian-American accused of financing the armed group.
These measures are based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 U.S. law that allows the President to declare a state of national emergency and to block assets or transactions related to foreign threats.
Cherizier, already sanctioned since 2020, has recently been classified as a foreign terrorist organization. Richardson, arrested in July in Texas, was prosecuted for transferring funds to the armed coalition.
According to Laguerre lawyer, IEEPA illustrates the United States' desire to tarnish international funding for Haitian gangs. Washington also offered a $5 million bonus for any information leading to the arrest of Cherizier.
W.A.
