The Trump administration has designated 21 criminal groups from Latin America and the Caribbean as “foreign terrorist organizations,” a move that expands the U.S. government's strategy to combat transnational crime. The latest group added to this list was an Ecuadorian organization on Wednesday.
This designation, which began in February 2025, has been applied to groups previously considered primarily focused on profit-driven criminal activities rather than political violence. The stated aim is to exert greater pressure on these organizations and any entities deemed to be aiding them.
The strategy has prompted actions from regional governments, with countries like Guatemala and Argentina implementing similar measures against certain groups and states like Ecuador initiating joint operations. Mexico, which has eight groups on the list, faces significant U.S. pressure to prevent unilateral actions, particularly following indictments of high-ranking officials in the Sinaloa region.
However, the approach has also shown inconsistencies. Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted of drug trafficking charges and accused of protecting the Sinaloa Cartel during his trial, received a pardon from the administration last year and has since returned to his country.
The designated groups include prominent transnational criminal organizations such as the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, identified as major fentanyl traffickers into the United States. The Sinaloa Cartel, established in the 1970s, is described as a vast criminal conglomerate involved in moving drugs across continents. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, known for its extreme violence, distributes significant quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl throughout all 50 U.S. states.
Other Mexican groups on the list include the Gulf Cartel and the Northeast Cartel, which operate along the eastern border and are involved in trafficking drugs, immigrants, weapons, and money. The Juarez Cartel has long controlled a key crossing point in Ciudad Juárez, across from El Paso, Texas, maintaining a substantial smuggling infrastructure. In the west-central Mexican state of Michoacán, groups like La Familia Michoacana (now Nueva Familia Michoacana) and others are involved in synthetic drug production and regional control through extortion.
Central American gangs such as Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), originating in Los Angeles and later expanding across El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, are also designated. These groups have been targeted by El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele's extensive crackdown and by tougher laws in Guatemala.
Colombia's Clan del Golfo, also known as AGC, with an estimated 9,000 fighters, evolved from right-wing paramilitary groups and is present in a third of Colombia's municipalities, engaging in extortion. In Venezuela, the Tren de Aragua emerged from a prison over a decade ago and has expanded its operations through migrant smuggling, human trafficking, and other illicit activities, often employing extreme violence. The U.S. government also designated an entity it alleges was led by Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, referred to as Cartel de los Soles, which has been loosely used to describe corrupt military and government officials involved in drug trafficking and other illegal enterprises.
Ecuador has seen increased violence attributed to local gangs such as Los Lobos, Los Choneros, The Chone Killers, and Los Tiguerones, who are engaged in contract killings, extortion, and drug trafficking. These groups were designated as "terrorists" by Ecuador in 2024. Brazil's most violent criminal organizations, Commando Vermelho and Primeiro Comando da Capital, along with their affiliated gangs, command thousands of members and have orchestrated violent attacks extending beyond Brazil's borders.
Two Haitian groups, Viv Ansanm and a gang blamed for a massacre in Pont-Sondé, are primarily linked to arms trafficking, kidnapping, murder, and extortion, with a lesser involvement in drug trafficking. The Viv Ansanm coalition has been notably active in recent coordinated attacks that disrupted critical infrastructure and led to political instability in Haiti.