US Designates Brazil's Two Largest Gangs as Terrorist Organizations

On June 19, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio formally announced the designation of the First Capital Command (PCC) and the Red Command (Comando Vermelho), Brazil's two largest criminal gangs, as foreign terrorist organizations.

Brazilian observers view this move as a defeat for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who had strongly opposed the designation, and an advantage for his political rival in the upcoming presidential election expected in October: far-right Senator Flávio Bolsonaro.

Flávio Bolsonaro, chosen to replace his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro—currently under house arrest on charges of plotting a coup—spent this week in the US meeting with President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rubio. He had been at a low point in his campaign after being caught asking a banker charged with corruption to provide $26.8 million (approximately £20 million) to fund a film about his father, causing his approval ratings to plummet.

Commenting on the decision, Secretary Rubio described the two organizations as "two of Brazil's most violent criminal organizations, with influence that has spread throughout the region and into the United States." Both gangs originated in Brazilian prisons, initially as a response to torture and abuse. They are now among the largest criminal organizations in Latin America, specializing in exporting cocaine produced in neighboring Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia to the US and Europe, while also expanding into other regions worldwide.

The Red Command, which emerged in the 1970s from contact between political prisoners and common criminals at a Rio de Janeiro prison, has a more decentralized leadership structure and is characterized by the open violence typical of Mexican and Colombian gangs. In contrast, the First Capital Command, founded in the 1990s at a São Paulo prison after a crackdown that killed 111 inmates, operates like a corporation with a clear hierarchy and a discreet business style.

President Lula opposed the US classification of these groups as terrorist, arguing it was an affront to Brazilian sovereignty and insisting his country had actively fought them. Just hours before the US announcement, Brazil's federal police launched a new operation targeting the PCC's infiltration into the financial sector. Lula has not officially commented on the US decision.

In contrast, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro immediately praised the move. "On my trip as a presidential candidate, we did more for Brazil and the security of Brazilians than Lula," he wrote on social media. Earlier, commenting on US strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific that killed 196 people, he said he felt "jealous" of those nations and suggested the US could do the same in Rio de Janeiro's Guanabara Bay.

The US decision—following similar steps against organizations in Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela—had been anticipated for months but was not mentioned during the meeting between President Trump and Lula at the White House three weeks ago. Bolsonaro's visit to the White House this week was not on the president's published schedule, nor was it mentioned by Trump on social media.

The practical consequences of the decision remain unclear. Analysts fear it could have financial repercussions even for innocent Brazilians. However, the move is seen as another example of the White House's increasing pressure across the region under the "war on drugs." A report released this week by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project found that US pressure had led to an 18% increase in clashes between security forces and armed groups across Latin America and the Caribbean in 2025.