The United States government has officially designated Brazil’s two most powerful criminal organizations, Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho (CV), as specially designated global terrorists. The State Department announced Thursday that both groups will be formally classified as foreign terrorist organizations, with the designation taking effect June 5.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the two organizations maintain thousands of members and operate extensive criminal networks that reach beyond Brazil’s national boundaries. The classification forms part of a wider administrative strategy targeting cartels and transnational criminal enterprises throughout the region.
PCC and CV represent the most influential entities among 88 documented criminal organizations currently active in Brazil. Both groups originated within Brazil’s prison system, with CV emerging in the late 1970s and PCC forming in the early 1990s. They have since expanded operations across all Brazilian states and the federal district surrounding Brasília.
Their criminal enterprises have diversified significantly from drug trafficking to encompass money laundering, extortion, cargo theft, illegal mining, illegal logging, and territorial control. Brazilian law enforcement estimates indicate that PCC alone maintains approximately 40,000 members.
Brazil’s government responded critically to the announcement Friday. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration acknowledged that while both organizations employ terror tactics in communities under their control, they remain fundamentally profit-oriented criminal enterprises focused on drug and weapons trafficking.
Brazilian officials revealed they had submitted a cooperation proposal to the US State Department on April 16, emphasizing intelligence-sharing and international collaboration, including enhanced controls on money laundering and weapons trafficking. The government warned that unilateral measures implemented without negotiation could undermine efforts to combat criminal organizations and potentially endanger innocent civilians.
The Brazilian government emphasized that decisions regarding crime classification and enforcement within Brazil remain under the jurisdiction of Brazilian institutions, laws, and security forces. Officials also criticized members of the Bolsonaro family for seeking US intervention in Brazilian public security matters.
Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, praised the designation following a Washington visit where he met with President Trump at the White House. In social media posts, he claimed credit for lobbying efforts that influenced the decision.
Legal experts have raised concerns about the practical implications of the designation. Diego Nunes, a criminal law professor at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, explained that Brazil’s 2016 Anti-Terrorism Law defines terrorism as acts motivated by xenophobia, discrimination, or prejudice intended to spread fear, while criminal organizations fall under separate legal frameworks.
Dennis Pacheco, a social scientist specializing in PCC research at the National Institute on Violence, Power and Public Security, outlined the organization’s evolution through four distinct phases: prison consolidation, street expansion, national growth, and international expansion beginning in 2016. He emphasized that despite international reach, these groups maintain commercial rather than political, ideological, or religious objectives.
The designation could complicate bilateral cooperation between Brazil and the United States, according to experts. Maurício Stegemann Dieter from the University of São Paulo warned that the classification represents a shift from public security to national defense paradigms, potentially affecting investigations into drug trafficking, money laundering, and international financial flows.
Corporate law specialist Fabio Machado from Andrade Maia Advogados highlighted potential risks for Brazilian businesses operating in the United States. Companies with US operations, Brazilian citizens holding American assets, and firms with US subsidiaries could face increased scrutiny if suspected of connections to designated terrorist organizations.
The designation grants US authorities access to anti-terrorism tools developed and expanded following the September 11 attacks, potentially affecting banking relationships and compliance requirements for institutions with US connections.
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