Lula warns US terror designation of Brazilian gangs could undermine sovereignty
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva argues that conflating profit-driven crime with international terrorism risks freezing assets of innocent businesses and providing a pretext for foreign military intervention.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has issued a stern rebuke of the United States’ decision to designate two major criminal organisations as “terrorists”, warning that the move could undermine local law enforcement and infringe upon national sovereignty. In a 435-word statement posted to social media on Friday, Lula argued that the violent activities of the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and the Comando Vermelho (CV) are driven by profit through drug and arms trafficking, rather than the ideological or political motives characteristic of international terrorism.
The condemnation follows an announcement by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday, who revealed that the two groups had been designated as “specially designated global terrorists” with plans to add them to the “foreign terrorist organisations” list effective June 5. Lula’s government had previously urged the Trump administration to hold off on the designation, but the move proceeded after significant lobbying efforts by Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro.
Lula criticised the potential economic and legal fallout of the designation, noting that while it freezes US-based assets of the targeted groups, it could also penalise financial institutions and innocent individuals forced to pay extortion. He warned that such unilateral measures could serve as a pretext for US military intervention, a concern he reiterated without naming President Donald Trump directly. “We will not tolerate the imposition of arbitrary measures from abroad, nor will we accept their use as a pretext to undermine our sovereignty or our economy,” Lula wrote.
The political context of the designation is deeply entangled with the upcoming 2026 presidential election. Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who is currently locked in a tight race with Lula, confirmed during a recent visit to the White House that he had sought the designations. Lula accused the senator of leveraging his family’s connections to President Trump to advocate for foreign intervention, describing the actions as “deplorable”. This follows previous instances of US interference, including steep sanctions imposed on Brazilian products in August 2025 citing the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Security is expected to be a dominant issue in the October election, with recent polling from Datafolha showing Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro tied at 45 per cent support. While Lula has pointed to an $11 billion investment in the “Brazil Against Organized Crime” programme and a separate $2 billion initiative for prison and investigative improvements, the terrorist label places him in a difficult position. He must condemn the foreign intervention while avoiding any perception that he is being lax on the violence inflicted by these criminal networks.
