Lula Slams US Terror Designation for Brazil Gangs — Labels Move a ‘Setback’
Breaking — Latin America Rio de Janeiro | May 30, 2026 — 08:00 AM local time Lula Slams US Terror Designation for Brazil Gangs — Labels Move a ‘Setback’ Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Friday fiercely rejected Washington’s decision to designate the country’s two dominant crime syndicates — the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho (CV) — as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, calling the move a potential “setback” in the fight against organized crime and warning the United States against meddling in Brazilian sovereignty. “We will not accept being treated like children,” Lula said at a public event in Brazil’s northeast, in remarks first reported by AFP. “We will not accept being treated as if we were some tinpot republic. Do not play games with the sovereignty of this country.” The U.S. State Department announced Thursday that both groups — which between them control vast swaths of Brazilian urban territory and operate across multiple South American borders — had been added to the terrorism list under Executive Order 13224. The designation allows Washington to freeze any U.S. assets linked to the organizations and criminalizes material support for either group. The timing drew immediate political fire. The decision came two days after Trump’s Oval Office meeting with former President Jair Bolsonaro’s sons — including Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who is running for the presidency in October elections — and three weeks after Lula spent three hours with Trump at the White House in what both sides had described as a constructive session. “I handed President Trump documents which specifically discussed the fight against organized crime,” Lula said Friday, adding that the U.S. had offered no prior warning. “They are not the kind of terrorists that Trump is looking for. Trump wants an Osama Bin Laden figure.” Brazil’s federal police pushed back on the designation’s legal basis. Commissioner Luciano Flores told AFP the groups “do not fall within the scope of the law that characterizes terrorist organizations” and are classified instead as “criminal organizations operating internationally.” Brazil’s presidency said the move “represents a potential setback in the fight against crime, a risk to human life, and economic harm to the country.” Lula also pointed to weapons flow from the United States into Brazil as a driver of gang violence — and demanded the return of Brazilians convicted or accused of crimes who are currently in the U.S. “If you want to fight organized crime, hand over our criminals who are in the United States,” he said. Flávio Bolsonaro defended the designation in a video message: “Lula got down on his knees before Trump to lobby on behalf of the CV and PCC. I worked to ensure they were treated as terrorists, which is what they are.” Lula responded: “the utter shamelessness to betray our homeland by traveling to the United States to beg for American intervention in Brazil.” The U.S.-Brazil relationship has already been strained by a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports — imposed after the Bolsonaro-era plane purchase scandal — and the Magnitsky Act sanctions placed on Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is presiding over the coup-plot case against the former president. With Lula facing a tight re-election battle and polling showing him only slightly ahead of Bolsonaro, the terror designation has become a flashpoint in an already volatile domestic race — and the latest in a series of escalations between Brasília and Washington.
