U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated two Brazilian criminal gangs as foreign terrorist organizations on Thursday. Photo by Samuel Corum/UPI | License Photo
May 28 (UPI) -- The United States designated two more Latin American criminal organizations as terrorist groups on Thursday, a day after Brazilian presidential hopeful and Trump ally Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro asked Washington to do so.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the designations of Comando Vermelho and Primeiro Comando da Capital as specially designated global terrorists in a statement, adding that he also intends to designate them as foreign terrorist organizations.
Though both designations result in asset freezes, the foreign terrorist designation is a broader mechanism, imposing immigration restrictions on members of the blacklisted groups and prohibiting others from knowingly providing them with support under threat of criminal prosecution.
According to the State Department, CV and PCC command thousands of members, carrying out attacks against Brazilian law enforcement, officials and civilians, while maintaining networks that spread across the region.
