The designation, which targets PCC and Comando Vermelho, allows the United States to freeze assets and bars Americans from providing support.
Residents surround the bodies of people killed the day before during a police raid targeting the Comando Vermelho gang in the Complexo da Penha favela of Rio de Janeiro on Oct. 29, 2025. Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo
The United States on Thursday designated two of Brazil’s most powerful criminal organizations as terrorist groups.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the move in a statement posted to X.
