The Biden administration is defending the slow pace of financial sanctions against Haitian politicians and business leaders, saying that the United States’ evidentiary standard is much stricter than that of most countries and any decision needs to be corroborated by evidence.
“Each country has its own legal authorities, which can make it a little bit confusing to track what each country is doing,” a senior State Department said in a news call Thursday with reporters about the deteriorating situation in Haiti. “We have to bring more evidence to the table and corroborate that evidence.”
The U.S. has publicly named five Haitians nationals, four of whom are politicians, whose assets have been frozen or who have been banned from traveling to the United States, or both, as part of financial sanctions. Meantime Canada has imposed the punishment on 17 Haitians. Ottawa’s list includes two former presidents, two former prime ministers and three high-profile businessmen.
