Youri Latortue (born 13 November 1967) is a Haitian politician who served as president of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from January 13, 2017 to January 9, 2018. He was sanctioned by the Canadian and United States authorities for his involvement in the global illicit drug trade November 4, 2022. A former member of the party Inite, he joined various right-wing parties. As leader of the right-wing coalition in the legislative elections of 2016, he won 29 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 9 in the Senate. Having a senatorial majority, he was elected president of the Senate in January 2017 becoming the main opponent of the government. Latortue is a first cousin once-removed of former prime minister

Gérard Latortue Gérard Latortue (born 19 June 1934 in Gonaïves) is a Haitian politician and diplomat who served as the prime minister of Haiti from 12 March 2004 to 9 June 2006. He was an official in the United Nations for many years, and briefly served as for ...

. In a leaked US Embassy cable from 2006, former US ambassador Janet Sanderson described Youri Latortue as "one of the most brazenly corrupt of leading Haitian politicians.” In other cables former US ambassador James Foley accused Latortue of being connected to drug traffickers and running "a network of dirty cops and gangs".

U.S. and Canadian Government Sanctions Against Latortue

On November 4, 2022, the U.S. the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s

Office of Foreign Assets Control The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy ob ...

and the

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

imposed joint sanctions against Youri Latortue and President of the Haitian Senate Joseph Lambert. The sanctions targeting the former senator was a response to his allegedly involvement in "illegal activities of armed criminal gangs, including through money laundering and other acts of corruption" and having used his position to traffic drugs and collaborated with criminal and gang networks to undermine the rule of law in Haiti". The

specifically mentioned Youri Latortue's lengthy involvement in the trafficking of

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

from

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Latortue, Youri 1967 births Members of the Senate (Haiti) Presidents of the Senate (Haiti) Living people