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Gang member in carrying gun in Haiti
The very bad thing that is going from Florida to Haiti
As Haiti sinks ever deeper into a maelstrom of gang violence, state failure, and vigilantism, US authorities are trying to cut off one big aggravating factor: US guns.
Agents of the DHS are targeting port facilities in South Florida, where traffickers take advantage of loopholes in US customs rules that all allow them to hide powerful weapons in containers of commercial goods or humanitarian aid.
Once in Haiti, smugglers find a thriving market – a UN report from 2023 says a pistol purchased for $400-500 at a US gun show can fetch as much as $10,000 on the streets of Port-au-Prince. Higher-powered rifles favored by gangs cost even more.
This is part of a wider problem of the so-called “iron river” of weapons flowing southward from US states with lax gun laws into the hands of Latin American criminals. According to Washington, half of all “crime guns” in the region come from the US, and the figure is as high as 80% in the Caribbean.
Last month, a US judge ruled that Mexico, for example, could proceed with a lawsuit against Arizona-based gun dealers, which accuses them of trafficking weapons to Mexican drug cartels. If and when Haiti is ever in a condition to press similar charges, the beleaguered nation may have quite a case of its own.
Anti-gun protestor.
Hard Numbers: Mexico takes on US gunmakers, NATO shells out to Ukraine, Putin critic enters Russia’s presidential race, EU sanctions firms linked to Sudan violence
1.2 billion: On Tuesday, NATO announced a deal worth $1.2 billion to buy artillery shells for Ukraine. It’s not clear how much the new ammo will really narrow the margin in a war in which, according to EU estimates, Ukraine has been able to fire just one-third the number of artillery shells that Russia continues to launch into Ukraine.
100,000: Russian politician Boris Nadezhdin, who demands an end to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, got the 100,000 signatures needed to register as a candidate to take on Vladimir Putin in Russia’s March 17 presidential election. Will he be allowed to run? Will he be allowed to speak?
6: The European Council has imposed sanctions on six companies accused of financing and arming the warring Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The US issued similar sanctions last June.
US midterms: Biden, Trump, or abortion/guns/race?
US midterm elections have traditionally been a referendum on the president, now Joe Biden. That's one option, Ian Bremmer explains in a special episode of GZERO World in front of a live studio audience.
Yet, even Biden wants the vote to be all about his predecessor, Donald Trump, who still dominates the GOP. Option No. 2.
There's a third option: culture wars. Yes, things like abortion rights or CRT.
Whatever the midterms are all about this time around, one thing is clear: the result will have global ripple effects. On US relations with Russia, China, and American democracy itself.
Watch the GZERO World episode: US votes as democracy is under attack
Podcast: An active US Supreme Court overturns "settled law" on abortion. What's next?
Listen: Americans now live in a much more divided country — as has been on full display after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and removed the constitutional right to an abortion, while the rest of the world - including largely Catholic countries in Latin America and Europe - is moving in the opposite direction. But the SCOTUS ruling is already making waves around the world.
On the GZERO World podcast, Ian Bremmer speaks to New York Times columnist and senior research fellow at Yale Law School, Emily Bazelon, who knows a thing or two about abortion law.
Hours after the bombshell ruling dropped on June 24, Bazelon analyzed what abortion rights will soon look like across different US states; why SCOTUS upheld the constitutional right to carry guns but not to get an abortion; the next steps by the Biden administration and Congress; and why the battle over abortion pills is likely headed to the same court that got rid of Roe.
Subscribe to the GZERO World Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.