Trump Admin Labels Cartels as Terror Groups | US News

The Trump administration shocks the world by labeling 21 Latin American and Caribbean crime syndicates as foreign terrorist groups — a historic move targeting profit-driven cartels, not just political extremists. Announced during a high-stakes trip to Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, this February 2025 strategy has already triggered deadly naval raids, joint operations across borders, and diplomatic firestorms — especially in Mexico, where eight groups are now on the list. But the crackdown’s credibility is being tested: former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, convicted of aiding the Sinaloa Cartel, was pardoned by Trump last year and returned home — raising serious questions about U.S. consistency. Now, with fentanyl-fueled cartels like Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation officially branded as “narcoterrorists,” and Central American gangs like Barrio 18 and MS-13 added to the roster, the U.S. is escalating pressure — even as Brazil’s Commando Vermelho and Haiti’s Viv Ansanm join the growing list of terror-designated criminal networks.

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