Trump labels Haiti’s powerful gangs as terrorists

Mexico City: A powerful alliance of armed gangs that has plunged Haiti into violence and launched attacks against state institutions was designated on Friday as a terrorist group by the Trump administration.

The move is likely to worsen a dire humanitarian crisis in Haiti, experts said, since gangs control much of the country’s economy and infrastructure, including ports and major roads, and extort businesses and the local population.

President Donald Trump’s designation gives the US broad power to impose economic penalties on the criminal groups, and potentially even to take military action. But it also allows sanctions to be imposed on anyone the United States accuses of having dealings with the gangs.

“The age of impunity for those supporting violence in Haiti is over,’’ Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a social media post.

Depending on how it is enforced, the declaration could end nearly all trade with Haiti, some experts say, since virtually no goods can move in or out of the capital, Port-au-Prince, without the payment of fees to the gangs, which control much of the city.

The coalition of gangs, called Viv Ansanm — “Living Together” in Haitian Creole — formed in 2023 and pledged to protect civilians, but then immediately launched attacks against communities, prisons, hospitals and police stations.

Some gangs, which under Trump’s designation are now considered transnational terrorist organizations, have spread beyond Haiti, establishing gun smuggling ties to Florida and the Dominican Republic.

Haitian private sector businesses, including port operators, bus company owners and cellphone providers are all obligated to pay fees to gangs, experts say. That could potentially expose them to US sanctions.

Many charities and relief agencies also must work with gangs that have seized the neighborhoods where they operate.

“What about a church or NGO that feeds a 13-year-old child who is gang affiliated?” said Brian Nichols, who served in the Biden administration as the US assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere. “I’m loath to criticise any effort to help Haiti but this designation is unlikely to harm the gangs. It is more likely to cause ancillary damage.”

Some experts said they doubted that the US government would apply sanctions so broadly. But a US State Department spokesperson said in an email that people who “materially support” the gangs “will generally be ineligible for US visas, admission to the United States and other immigration-related benefits.”