Canadian sanctions target former prime ministers

Canada has expanded its economic sanctions freezing the Canadian assets of Haitian political elites to include former president Michel Martelly and former prime ministers Laurent Lamothe and Jean-Henry Ceant. Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly accused the trio this weekend of helping gangs undermine Haiti’s current government and called on international partners to follow Canada’s lead. She made the announcement at a two-day Francophonie summit in Tunisia. The Caribbean country is paralysed by gang warfare. ‘‘Our goal is to make sure that these people that are profiting from the violence, that are part of a corrupted system, are facing accountability,’’ she said.