US designates Haitian gangs as a foreign terror organization as experts warn of impact on aid

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - The U.S. on Friday officially designated a powerful gang coalition in Haiti as a foreign terrorist organization, raising concerns the move could deepen the country's humanitarian crisis at a critical time.

The Viv Ansanm coalition, which means "Living Together," joins a list of eight Latin American criminal organizations under that category. Gran Grif, the biggest gang to operate in Haiti's central Artibonite region, also was added to the list, as reported by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

"The age of impunity for those supporting violence in Haiti is over," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement Friday.

The U.S. Department of State warned that "persons, including American citizens, that engage in certain transactions or activities with these entities, or these individuals may expose themselves to sanctions risk."

But it's nearly impossible for aid groups and others to avoid dealing with gangs in Haiti.

The Viv Ansanm coalition controls at least 85% of the capital, Port-au-Prince. This forces nonprofits and other groups to negotiate with gangs so they can gain access to communities to provide food, water and other critical supplies.

"The first consequences (of the designation) will be on the humanitarian and international cooperation, which is basically the only thing preventing the people in Haiti from starving," said Romain Le Cour, with Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.

The designation comes as Haiti faces record hunger, with more than half of its nearly 12 million inhabitants expected to experience severe hunger through June, and another 8,400 people living in makeshift shelters projected to starve.

Those who do business in Haiti also could be affected by the new designation. Gangs control the areas surrounding a key fuel depot and the country's biggest and most important port, as well as the main roads that lead in and out of the capital, where they charge tolls.

"It could function as a de facto embargo," said Jake Johnston, international research director at the Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research.

"The gangs exercise tremendous control over the commerce of the country," he said. "Doing any kind of business with Haiti or in Haiti is going to carry much greater risk."

The designation comes as gang violence surges in Haiti.

More than 1,600 people have been killed from January to March, and another 580 were injured, according to the U.N. political mission in Haiti. The violence also has left more than a million people homeless.

"Despite numerous casualties within their ranks (936 individuals), gangs intensified their efforts to expand their territorial control in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area and its surroundings," according to a new U.N. report.

Leading the recent attacks is Viv Ansanm.

The coalition that represents more than a dozen gangs was created in September 2023, bringing together two fierce rivals, G-9 and G-Pèp. It was reactivated in late February 2024, with gunmen storming police stations and Haiti's two largest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates. The coalition also forced the closure of Haiti's main international airport for nearly three months, a move that prevented former Prime Minister Ariel Henry from returning after an official visit to Kenya.

The government declared a state of emergency, and Henry, who was never able to return to Haiti, resigned in April 2024.

Viv Ansanm has launched recent attacks in once peaceful communities on the outskirts of Haiti's capital, killing hundreds of people.

Meanwhile, Gran Grif has raided several cities and towns in Haiti's central region. In October, the gang was blamed for killing more than 70 people in Pont-Sondé, the biggest massacre in Haiti's recent history. It also recently seized control of parts of Mirebalais and has continued to attack surrounding communities in a bid to control more access to the border with the neighboring Dominican Republic, according to a U.N. report.

Le Cour, of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, warned that using the designation to directly target gangs in Haiti wouldn't work.

"If this designation is intended to put pressure on them, you have to build up capacity … that allows you to actually go after the gang leaders and arrest them in Haiti," he said.

The violence has overwhelmed Haiti's National Police and a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police that is struggling in its fight against gangs as it remains underfunded and under-resourced.

And even if gang members are arrested, Haiti's judicial system is barely functional. A U.N. report that found that "many courthouses remain destroyed, non-operational, or located in inaccessible areas, effectively barring judicial personnel and lawyers from accessing them."

"The designation is more of a blanket policy approach that is deeply insufficient, that risks overlooking the realities on the ground today," Le Cour said.

He said the designation should be used against those in the U.S. who smuggle firearms to Haiti and the network that keeps ammunition and weapons flowing to the country.