Brazil's government on Friday criticized a U.S. move to designate Brazilian drug gangs as terrorist organizations, calling the measure confused and counterproductive and warning it could undermine national sovereignty and international cooperation against organized crime.
On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a policy to designate Brazil's two biggest criminal gangs as terrorist groups, opening the door for more aggressive interventions after appeals from the opposition in Brasilia.
"We will not accept arbitrary measures from abroad as a pretext to attack our sovereignty and our economy," Brazil's presidency said in a statement. "Unilateral measures without negotiation can weaken the fight against crime ... They can hurt the ability to share information between police."
The U.S. embassy in Brazil did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a meeting with Trump this week in Washington, Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who is preparing a run for president with the blessing of his father, ex-President Jair Bolsonaro, said he asked for the U.S. to label the gangs as terrorists.
