Experts say US targeting of Brazilian gangs is an attempt to sway election there

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The U.S. decision to classify two Brazilian gangs as terrorist organizations is a political one aimed at boosting an ally of President Donald Trump, the son of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, politicians and analysts say.

The gangs join eight other Latin American organized crime groups designated by the U.S. as foreign terrorist organizations. But unlike the rest, they don’t operate in the United States.

The listing of First Capital Command, known as PCC, and Red Command, or CV, followed a visit by presidential hopeful Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro to Washington last week. He said he asked Trump administration officials to extend the designation to them.

Bolsonaro hopes to unseat incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in October’s elections. The U.S. decision shores up the senator’s tough-on-crime credentials while highlighting Bolsonaro’s criticism of Lula’s handling of public security.

“The main driver of this decision was politics,” to pressure Lula and help Flávio prior to the October election,” said Latin America expert Brian Winter, who edits Americas Quarterly, a publication of the New York-based Council of Americas.

Carolina Grillo, a sociology professor at Fluminense Federal University in Rio de Janeiro and an expert on organized crime in Brazil, agreed that the Trump administration’s decision was aimed at potentially swaying the elections.

“The supply routes for cocaine entering the United States pass through Colombia, Mexico and Central American countries — not through Brazil,” Grillo said, adding that more than 90% of the cocaine seized in Brazil is destined for European countries.

Lula has protested the U.S. decision, saying that Brazil is taking care of its own issues, as shown by recent arrests and an ongoing investigation into PCC.

“I am very sad today, after the news that the secretary of state of the United States, a certain Marco Rubio, said that our criminals here are terrorists and that the Americans can intervene,” Lula said on Friday. “We will not accept being treated like children. We will not accept being treated as if we were a banana republic.”

Lula’s popularity peaked last year after Trump imposed a hike of 50% in tariffs on Brazilian products.

But Creomar de Souza, an analyst with political risk consultancy firm Dharma in Brasilia, said it won’t be as easy for Lula to link the latest U.S. decision with national sovereignty.

“First of all, there’s Flávio’s propaganda. He will be able to hit hard against Lula’s Achilles heel, public security,” de Souza said. “And this also depends on how the administration explains this to the public. It is not as simple as antagonizing Trump on tariffs.”

Trump has openly supported Latin American leaders who have praised him, such as José Antonio Kast in Chile, Javier Milei in Argentina and Daniel Noboa in Ecuador.

Flávio Bolsonaro, like his father, has advocated for the U.S. under Trump to replace China as Brazil’s main trade partner.

“The Trump administration dreamed of having a candidate here to give them leverage in the economy front,” said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at the Insper university in Sao Paulo.

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Savarese reported from Sao Paulo.

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