His detractors nicknamed it “the businessman of the war”. More than fifteen years after the Blackwater scandal in Iraq, Erik Prince returns with a new private military company: VEctus Global. Its mercenaries are already in action in Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Between drones, taxes and minerals, investigation into a sulphurous come-back by Nancy Roc.
A name that sticks to blood
In the world of subcontracted wars, a name still haunts memories: Blackwater. In 2007, his men opened fire on civilians in Baghdad, killing 17 innocent. The carnage of Nisour Square has become the symbol of the drifts of private military societies [1].
Behind this company: Erik Prince, former Navy Seal, heir to a rich family from Michigan and close to republican circles. After the scandal, Blackwater changed its name on several occasions (Xe Services, then Academi), but Prince never disappeared. He has multiplied contracts in Africa, to the Emirates and even in China, still on the border of legality. Today, he returns with a new banner: Vectus Global [2].
Global vectius, a subcontracted army
« Offer solutions that Washington does not want to pay »summarizes a frame quoted by the Wall Street Journal [2]. It is the Creed of Global Vectus: filling the voids left by the United States and offering a military service à la carte.
The business model is clear: less diplomacy, more quick results. Where the UN or regional missions bother, Prince promises to “clean” the terrain with formidable efficiency. As a bonus, his proximity to Donald Trump – of which he is a displayed support – nourishes suspicions: Global VECT would be the parallel showcase of American foreign policy.
Haiti: drones, taxes and taxation
Port-au-Prince, August 2025. The working-class neighborhoods still resonate gusts of Kalashnikov. The gangs control entire portions of the capital. In this chaos, the transitional government has signed a controversial contract with VEctus Global. Since March, his teams have been operating in the shadows, using armed drones to hit certain gang bases [2].
And this is only the beginning. According to the Associated Press, nearly 200 additional armed men are being deployed in the country[3]. Their mission: to reconquer strategic areas, secure roads and support an outdated Haitian police.
But the agreement signed with Prince goes beyond the military framework. In an interview with Reuters, he reveals that his contract with Haiti extends over ten years [4]. Objective: restore security, but also set up a tax collection system on the border with the Dominican Republic. “” The day we can lead from Port-au-Prince to Cap-Haitian in a light car without being stopped by a gang, I will consider that we have succeeded “He says[4].
This explosive mixture – mercenariat and taxation – shocks many observers. In interview, the sociologist Frédéric boisryD told us that ” With this contract, the CPT Place Haiti under the curatorship of mercenaries already sadly renowned for their abuses in Afghanistan and for massacres of civilians in Iraq. If you trust its roadmap, the Erik Prince team could prove to be as dangerous for the Haitians and the Haitians as the gangs themselves. Especially since, in this type of contract, mercenaries benefit from a total immunitywhich will onlyconfign the reign of impunity in this country. » But for the authorities, strangled by the gangs and deprived of resources, Prince undoubtedly appears as a pragmatic appeal.
In general, senior officials of Presidential Council of transition (CPT) remain widely discreetalthough they have confirmed in an unnamed way the existence of a contract with a foreign company for security. Fritz Alphonse Jean, the former president of the CPT, recognized the existence of a contract with a foreign security company, while refusing to disclose the name, its duration or its cost. He invoked strategic reasons to justify this reserve in the Haitian Times of August 16, 2025.
« If this story is true, what authority is the unadred interim government of Haiti to invite foreign forces to the country, and with what money does it intend to pay them? Asks the American journalist Michael Deibert, specialist in Haiti, on the social network X.
For Frédéric Boisrond, this contract illustrates the failure of the CPT as well as all people and organizations that have validated this wobbly governance model. “” The use of mercenaries shatters their major project to strengthen the capacities of PNH and rejects light years the autonomy of the Haitian authorities in matters of public security as in the whole of national life “, He concluded.
Congo: minerals in good care
In Africa, Prince applies the same logic. In April 2025, he signed an agreement with the Congolese government: securing the extraction and transport of strategic ores in Katanga province[5].
Again, the promise is twofold: protect mining convoys and establish a more effective taxation system. Kinshasa, undermined by corruption and diversions, sees in VETUS overall a control tool. But for many, it is a new form of dependence: a state that delegates its mining income to a private company.
Privatized burrs and security
The shadow of Blackwater always hovers. NGOs recall that 2007 burrs have never disappeared from collective memory. They denounce the temptation of the fragile states of “subcontracting” security, even though these mercenaries escape any democratic control.
The case of Global VEctus illustrates a profound change: security has become a global market. The boundaries between army, police and private society are fading. Where the state failed, entrepreneurs like Prince offer their services, at the risk of transforming sovereignty into goods.
Erik Prince has never stopped moving forward. With VEctus Global, he returns to the heart of the most explosive crises on the planet. For his supporters, he embodies an efficiency that international bureaucracies cannot offer. For its detractors, it symbolizes ultimate cynicism: transforming war, taxation and security into simple commercial contracts.
In Baghdad in 2007, civilians paid the price of this logic. It remains to be seen whether tomorrow will be the inhabitants of Port-au-Prince or Katanga who will pay the price.
Nancy Roc, 17 august 2025
Sources
- Marianne “Blackwater in Iraq: faithless security or law,” July 2024.
- Wall Street Journal, « Blackwater’s Erik Prince Muscles Back Into the Mercenary Business », août 2025.
- Associated Press, « Blackwater founder to deploy nearly 200 personnel to Haiti as gang violence soars », août 2025.
- Reuters, « Trump ally Erik Prince plans to keep forces in Haiti for 10 years to fight gangs, collect taxes », 14 août 2025.
- Reuters, « Trump supporter Prince reaches deal with Congo to help secure mineral wealth », 17 avril 2025.
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