SA国际传

From Haiti to Honduras, the U.S. justice system has recently begun prosecuting several suspects linked to crimes committed in Latin America and the Caribbean. But while the wheels of gringo justice usually do spin more fairly and effectively than those in developing countries, outsourcing these cases to the U.S. raises a concern:

By essentially taking over for the justice systems in those countries, is the U.S. helping to stall, if not undermine their own development?

As the pandemic continues, you can rely on SA国际传谋 to keep you current on local news and information. Your support is what keeps SA国际传谋 strong. Please become a member today. now. Thank you.

That question is particularly important right now for Haitians 鈥� since so far more suspects linked to last year's presidential assassination are being prosecuted here in Miami than in Haiti.

鈥淚t does seem to be an affront to the sovereignty of the legal system of that nation," said Fort Lauderdale attorney and Haiti native Ronald Surin.

These days Surin often represents Haitian lawyers and judges who are seeking asylum in the U.S. Many have received death threats from the criminal gangs that now rule large parts of Haiti 鈥� and Surin feels that helps explains why the Haitian justice system is unable to prosecute suspects in last July鈥檚 brutal assassination of President Jovenel Mo茂se.

READ MORE: U.S. diplomat helping Haiti rebuild its police: elite ties to gangs are 'on notice'

鈥淭he reality is the judicial system in Haiti is in shambles," Surin said.

"People can manipulate judges, and in too many cases that corruption makes arrest, thorough investigation and prosecution and conviction very unlikely.鈥�

The U.S. has jurisdiction in the Mo茂se murder conspiracy case since the plot was partly hatched in South Florida. But since the murder itself happened on Haitian soil, that's technically Haitian authorities鈥� turf 鈥� and the investigation there has largely been a mess.

Haiti hasn鈥檛 issued a formal charge in the killing yet despite several arrests. One judge, meanwhile, has accused interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry of involvement in the conspiracy. That chaos is a big reason two top suspects were recently extradited to Miami to face trial.

One was former Colombian soldier and alleged mercenary Mario Antonio Palacios 鈥� who in a message recorded while he was in hiding in Haiti insisted that he did not take part in Mo茂se鈥檚 killing 鈥� and that he could "not be guaranteed a just trial in Haiti."

Not surprisingly, Prime Minister Henry this month Haiti is happy to send more suspects to Miami.

Surin said that might be a good thing for the Mo茂se case 鈥� but it risks making Haiti鈥檚 legal institutions even weaker if not useless.

鈥淚t鈥檚 implied," he said, "that Haiti is under the control of the United States.鈥�

KINGPINS

Across the Caribbean, Hondurans too are wondering if they're relying too much on the U.S. justice system.

Last week the Biden Administration requested the extradition of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hern谩ndez, who left office just a few weeks ago, on drug-trafficking and weapons charges. Honduran police arrested Hern谩ndez at his home in Tegucigalpa, and now the Honduran judiciary must decide whether to approve his extradition.

Hern谩ndez is linked to several other corruption scandals 鈥� and polls suggest Hondurans do want to see him prosecuted. But at the same time, many are bothered that the U.S. is playing a role they want their own authorities to play for a change.

鈥淭his [U.S. extradition request] will give us a sense of hope," said Natalia Lozano, a leading Honduran human rights activist with the nonprofit Seattle International Foundation.

"But we need to see that this is also able to happen within [our] country. We currently don鈥檛 have a justice system that could make this happen for ourselves.鈥�

In fact, Hondurans like Lozano fear their current justice system is so politically allied with Hern谩ndez and his right-wing National Party that it will block his extradition to the U.S.

AP

This issue is not new in U.S.-Latin America relations. Washington has long used extradition to prosecute Latin American kingpins who traffic drugs into the U.S., for example. (Or other means 鈥� like the 1989 invasion of Panama that brought narco-trafficking dictator Manuel Noriega to Miami for trial.)

But some legal experts see another issue driving the U.S.'s latest legal involvement in Latin America.

鈥淭he U.S. is trying to show that they鈥檙e doing something with respect to the root causes of immigration,鈥� said University of Miami law professor Pablo Rueda-Saiz, who teaches international aw.

Rueda-Saiz points out Haiti and Honduras are two of the largest sources of illegal immigration into the U.S. And, arguably, the chief driver of that immigration is the terrifying criminal violence their justice systems are too weak to stop.

Countries like Haiti and Honduras, along with many U.S. officials, may say "let the U.S. deal with these cases, with these criminals," Rueda-Saiz said. "But it鈥檚 a fa莽ade. The problems will persist.鈥�

Over the years the U.S. has in fact made efforts, via agencies like USAID, to help developing countries build up their own justice systems. Rueda-Saiz acknowledges his home country of Colombia for years relied on extraditing its narco-criminals to the U.S. Today Colombia's judiciary is more effective 鈥� thanks largely to a modernizing 1991 Constitution, but also in part to U.S. assistance.

鈥淭he best thing the U.S. can do is to help strengthen existing institutions in Latin America," Rueda-Saiz said. "Not to try to make those justice systems in its own image, which doesn't work, either 鈥� but to keep extending technical cooperation.鈥�

Many legal experts agree that if the U.S. stepped up that kind of work in Latin America, it might not have to do so much stepping in.