The Brazilian government has officially declined a request from the U.S. State Department to classify two of the country’s most notorious criminal gangs, Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho (CV), as terrorist organizations, according to Brazil’s National Secretary of Public Security, Mario Sarrubo.
The request was made during a high-level meeting between U.S. and Brazilian officials on Tuesday in Brasília, where American delegates raised concerns over the transnational reach of these gangs, alleging they operate in several U.S. states and pose a security threat.
“We don’t have terrorist organizations here,” said Sarrubo following the meeting. “We have criminal organizations that have infiltrated society.” He added that Brazilian law only classifies groups that commit violent acts against the state for religious or racial motives as terrorist entities, criteria that neither the PCC nor the CV meet.
This diplomatic disagreement unfolds amid escalating U.S. rhetoric on gang-related crime and immigration, particularly under the Trump administration. Earlier this year, the U.S. designated several Latin American criminal factions, including Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, El Salvador’s MS-13, and various Mexican and Haitian gangs, as terrorist organizations. The administration argues that this status helps in applying sanctions, disrupting supply chains, and allocating federal resources to combat transnational crime.
Sources at the Brasília meeting revealed that U.S. officials justified the request by citing FBI reports that the PCC and CV have established cells in at least 12 American states, including New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Florida, Connecticut, and Tennessee. The gangs are reportedly involved in gun trafficking and money laundering operations through Brazilian nationals traveling to the U.S.
One source noted that U.S. authorities have already denied 113 visa applications in 2024 on the basis of alleged connections to these Brazilian gangs.
Despite the concerns, Brazil has pushed back on the idea of reclassifying its internal criminal landscape to suit foreign policy goals. “This isn’t about semantics,” said a senior Brazilian official. “It’s about upholding our laws and legal definitions. Organized crime is a serious issue, but it’s not the same as terrorism.”
The conversation took on a political edge when it was revealed that Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, recently met with officials from the Trump Organization. His office claimed he delivered a dossier purportedly containing intelligence linking the PCC and CV to terrorist activity though the specifics of the evidence remain undisclosed.
The U.S. Embassy in Brasília has not responded to requests for comment.
As tensions simmer between the two nations over security strategy and immigration enforcement, Brazil’s rejection signals a broader unwillingness to align with the U.S.’s expanding definition of terrorism, especially when it involves labeling domestic criminal groups in ways that may have significant political and legal implications.
