AyiboPost revisits this incident, recorded in March 2021
During a trip by Haitian journalists to the Dominican Republic from March 5-7, 2021, Haiti’s then-ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Smith Augustin, provided sex workers to certain members of the delegation.
This trip, involving around fifteen Haitian journalists, was organized by the Zile Foundation, led by former diplomat Edwin Paraison.
While in Santo Domingo, the Haitian professionals met with Dominican counterparts and President Luis Abinader at the National Palace.
On the evening of March 6, 2021, the former ambassador was seated at a table at the Fiesta Hotel with some journalists from the Haitian delegation. Most of the media professionals, including the senior members of the Haitian group, were not present.
But I was at that table that evening when journalists, members of the delegation, requested sex workers. Smith Augustin, accompanied by a colleague from the Haitian embassy in the neighboring republic, personally delivered the women.
I was invited to choose one of the young women for the evening, but I refused. Upon reflection, AyiboPost has decided not to disclose the names of the participants to protect their privacy and avoid public embarrassment.
During a trip by Haitian journalists to the Dominican Republic from March 5-7, 2021, Haiti’s then-ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Smith Augustin, provided Dominican sex workers to certain members of the delegation.
Augustin was contacted before the publication of this story. He did not comment.
A specialist familiar with Haitian consular practices told AyiboPost that the custom of providing Dominican women to accompany Haitian officials and dignitaries during trips to the Dominican Republic dates back at least to the Duvalier dictatorship.
« It’s very common, » a witness told me this week, emphasizing that this kind of « service » helps secure media and journalists’ support when they return to Haiti.
In the Dominican Republic, prostitution is not regulated by law. Therefore, neither the former ambassador nor the journalists committed an illegal act, according to experts contacted by AyiboPost.
However, « for a diplomat stationed abroad to engage in privileged relationships with sex workers in the host country and act as a pimp for journalists is a serious ethical issue, » said lawyer Samuel Madistin.
According to the head of the Fondation Je Klere, who is very interested in international relations, « an extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador to a state must, both in his private and public life, uphold the dignity of his office and the prestige of the head of state he represents to his counterpart. »
For a diplomat stationed abroad to engage in privileged relationships with sex workers in the host country and act as a pimp for journalists is a serious ethical issue.
– Samuel Madistin
By behaving in such a way, Me Madistin continues, the diplomat « drags the dignity of his office through the mud and makes himself unworthy of it. »
The exchange of gifts in the form of sexual favors between journalists and their sources or subjects also raises ethical concerns.
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I interviewed former Ambassador Augustin during the journalists’ trip to the Dominican Republic in 2021. In his remarks, he denied being part of the Haitian Tèt Kale Party, which was in power at the time.
The interview, sent to Augustin when it was published, was consistent with AyiboPost’s recordings. He did not raise any objections to its content at the time.
However, according to two sources familiar with the discussions, the former ambassador’s superiors were upset by the statements reported by AyiboPost.
The day after the publication, Augustin went on the radio to claim his remarks had been misinterpreted. However, the recorded interview remains faithful to the published transcription and is available on AyiboPost’s website.
Read the inteview: Échanges avec l’ambassadeur d’Haïti en République Dominicaine
On March 6, 2021, the delegation of Haitian journalists visited the Dominican National Palace.
Dominican officials had previously raised the idea of an « on the record » meeting with President Luis Abinader, which would have allowed the Haitian journalists to obtain answers for their audiences on topics such as the president’s controversial decisions, like building a border wall seen as racist.
On the bus to the palace, an official informed the delegation that the meeting would be « off the record. » I opposed any « off the record » meeting with President Abinader. So I quietly left the meeting room shortly after the Dominican president arrived.
The Dominicans did not honor the « off the record » promise. After confiscating the Haitian journalists’ recording equipment, they took photos of the delegation and issued a press release after the meeting, claiming that Haitian journalists had « lunched » with the president.
Discussions with the Ambassador of Haiti in the Dominican Republic. | Photo: Acento
Why bring up this incident now?
I took contemporaneous notes and planned to recount the events of the trip at a later date.
At the time, I thought an article on the sex workers’ episode might have been reasonably interpreted as harassment of the ambassador following the controversies surrounding his interview.
Since March 2024, the former ambassador has been serving on the Presidential Transition Council, a body tasked with pacifying the country and organizing free and fair elections.
An October report from the Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC) recommends initiating legal action against three presidential advisors, including Smith Augustin, Louis Gérald Gilles, and Emmanuel Vertilaire, for their alleged involvement in corrupt activities.
These state officials, who deny the allegations, are accused of irregularly receiving credit cards from former director of the National Credit Bank, Raoul Pascal Pierre-Louis, as part of efforts to secure his reappointment to the bank’s leadership.
According to the ULCC, the former BNC president, who has since been dismissed, was supposed to reimburse the expenses charged to the cards. At least one of the cards, belonging to Smith Augustin, was blocked for non-payment.
Tableau des achats effectués par Smith Augustin
This is why AyiboPost revisits the three-year-old incident, which is now relevant in the context of debates on the conduct of high-ranking state officials in the course of their duties.
Read also: The Hidden « Corruption Pact » Between Presidential Council Members and Bank Chief
The overall context of practicing journalism in Haiti is a concern.
Since the assassination of former president Jovenel Moïse in 2021, at least six journalists have been killed while performing their duties in Haiti, according to a report from the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The country ranks third among the worst places for impunity for the killers of journalists, according to the same organization.
In addition, Haitian journalists face legal harassment, exacerbated by the lack of an adequate legal framework for practicing the profession.
But a particular fact caught my attention in the debate raised by the ULCC report.
The former contract worker at the Haitian Embassy in the Dominican Republic, accused of making his room at the Oasis Hotel available to the presidential advisors for a meeting where they allegedly requested 100 million gourdes from the bank official, is named Lonick Léandre.
Cover image : Former Ambassador Smith Augustin speaks with the media outlet El Dia.
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