Overview:
The U.S. has labeled Gran Grif and Viv Ansanm as transnational terrorist organizations, freezing their belongings and banning monetary transactions. Gran Grif has operated in Savien since 2016, whereas Viv Ansanm, shaped in 2023, is a gang coalition in Port-au-Prince. This comes amid escalating violence in Haiti, with over 1,600 deaths reported in early 2025, together with sexual violence and kidnappings.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — The US has formally designated Haiti’s armed teams Gran Grif and Viv Ansanm as transnational terrorist organizations, in keeping with a statement released on Might 2, 2025, by the Workplace of International Belongings Management (OFAC) of the U.S. Division of the Treasury.
Gran Grif, often known as Baz Gran Grif or Gran Grif de Savien, operates within the commune of Savien in Haiti’s Artibonite division. Based in 2016, the group is now topic to Govt Order 13224, as amended by Govt Order 13886, which authorizes sanctions in opposition to entities supporting terrorism.
Viv Ansanm, shaped in September 2023 by way of the merger of a number of armed factions together with G9 an Fanmi e Alye and G-Pèp, is primarily energetic within the metropolitan space of Port-au-Prince. Like Gran Grif, the coalition is now designated as a transnational terrorist group.
Below these sanctions, the teams’ belongings beneath U.S. jurisdiction are frozen, and any monetary transactions with them are prohibited. The U.S. additionally warned that any overseas entity offering materials help to those organizations dangers going through secondary sanctions.
OFAC specifies that these teams pose a “danger of secondary sanctions” beneath Govt Order 13224.
Earlier than the U.S. choice in Might 2025, the Dominican Republic had already labeled Haitian gangs as “terrorist organizations” in February 2025. This designation allowed for the prosecution of gang members crossing the border beneath Dominican anti-terrorism legal guidelines, carrying extreme penalties.
President Luis Abinader criticized worldwide inaction within the face of the deteriorating safety scenario in Haiti, additional reinforcing his safety insurance policies, together with mass expulsions and the development of a border wall.
The designation comes as gangs within the West and Artibonite escalate their violence
This choice comes amid escalating violence in Haiti, the place armed teams proceed to develop their territorial management. In response to a report launched on April 30, at the very least 1,617 folks have been killed and 580 injured between January and March 2025 in incidents involving gangs, vigilante teams, or safety forces.
Violence has unfold throughout a number of areas, notably the capital and the Centre and Artibonite departments. In Delmas and Kenscoff, assaults aimed to isolate Pétion-Ville, whereas within the Centre, areas reminiscent of Mirebalais and Saut-d’Eau have been focused to grab management of strategic routes resulting in the Dominican Republic. Mirebalais was additionally the location of an enormous jail break involving greater than 500 inmates.
Girls and kids stay among the many most susceptible. The primary quarter of 2025 noticed over 330 circumstances of sexual violence, the bulk dedicated by gang members. Kids have been additionally killed, injured, or forcibly recruited into armed teams.
The designation of the Gran Grif gang as a transnational terrorist group by the USA comes because the group escalates its assaults within the Artibonite, spreading terror within the city of Petite-Rivière. On April 30, residents as soon as once more fled their houses after a lethal assault launched at daybreak by males from Savien.
Movies posted on-line present determined households crossing the Artibonite River, carrying their kids and few belongings, whereas houses continued to burn. This assault occurred simply two days after one other raid by the gang that left two useless and a number of other injured.
“Nationwide and worldwide safety forces are watching with out performing, whereas the native communities are at their breaking level,” testified André Saint-Louis, a farmer and coordinator of an area peace committee. “We want actual intervention, not simply guarantees.”