The US has labelled it as Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif Gangs, a “foreign terrorist organization” in Haiti. This follows the trend of issuing terrorist designations against Latero-American criminal groups under President Donald Trump.
As part of the announcement Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained that the two gangs are spreading violence and chaos in Haiti.
“The era of immunity for those who support violence in Haiti is over,” Rubio said in a news statement.
“Haitian gangs, including the Viv Ansanm Coalition and Gran Grif, are the main sources of Haiti’s instability and violence. They are a direct threat to the US national security interests of our region.”
The Trump administration has predicted strict boundaries for Latin American criminal groups, and often links these efforts to domestic priorities, including irregular migration and drug trafficking.
In February, the US designated eight drug trafficking and criminal groups as “terrorist organizations,” including gangs such as Malasal Battle Cha (MS-13), Trende Aragua and several Mexican drug cartels.
Such groups carry out acts of violence and threats, but experts are usually distinguished between them and traditional “terrorist” organizations that usually have explicit political goals.
The designation of a “foreign terrorist organization” prevents all members of a particular group from entering the United States.
It is also prohibited to provide “material support or resources” to the group. This is a legal risk factor in which gangs can be inadvertently punished by individuals in the local economy and local governments.
But Trump and his allies have tried to raise antes against criminal organizations and cartels, denounced the undocumented migration and illegal drug trafficking streams.
In the past, he and other Republican leaders have even suggested that the United States could launch military strikes in countries such as Mexico to deal with gang threats, and are wary of violations of territorial sovereignty.
While US-Mexico relations remain strong, critics fear offensive moves, including the use of Mexican cartel terrorist designations.
In Haiti, gang threats are widespread. For example, the Viv Ansanm Coalition, whose name translates as “Living Together,” is thought to control 85% of Port-au-Prince, preventing commercial flights from arriving and limiting necessary supplies like food and medicines.
With many Haitian civilians facing hunger, displacement and violence, critics fear that new designations will make it even more difficult to send supplies to the country, given the need to negotiate with gangs.
“The initial outcome is humanitarian and international cooperation. This is essentially the only thing that will keep Haitians from starving,” Romaine Le Kors, an expert with a global initiative against organized crime across borders, told The Associated Press.
Experts point out that gangs often charge tolls for movement within and around the territory. Designation of a “terrorist” could be a criminal offence in the United States.
“It could serve as a de facto embargo,” said Jake Johnston, director of international research at the Washington-based Center for Economic Policy Studies.
“The gangs exercise tremendous control over the commerce of the country,” he added. “Doing all sorts of businesses in Haiti and Haiti will take much greater risks.”
Gang control over Haiti has been on the rise in recent years, particularly after the assassination of President Jobel Moise in 2021. His death led to a vacuum of power, and since then no federal elections have taken place, eroding the public’s trust in national institutions.
The gang misused that vacuum to exercise control. The resulting violence has displaced more than a million people internally, and the United Nations estimates that 5.7 million residents (almost half of the country) do not have enough food to eat.
Kenya has led a non-supported international security mission tasked with strengthening local police when fighting gangs. But its mission relies heavily on US support, some of which have been frozen since taking office.
That task force has struggled to make an impact so far, and in February one Kenyan police officer was shot dead as the first known death that was part of the mission.
Skeptics also question the effectiveness of international groups, given the long and tragic history of foreign interventions in Haiti, including the United States.
Trump also sought to scrap programs such as Temporary Protection Status (TPS) and humanitarian parole that would allow Haitians to live legally in the United States. An estimated 520,694 Haitians are protected by TPS alone. But under Trump, the Department of Homeland Security plans to fold its TPS program for Haitians by August.
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