Argentina designates 5 Latin American criminal and guerrilla groups as terrorist organizations

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina has designated five Latin American criminal and guerrilla groups, including Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa cartel , as terrorist organizations, aligning itself with the security policies of the United States, a close ally.

The decision by President Javier Milei’s government, published Thursday in the official gazette, comes a month after U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration expanded its list of Latin American criminal groups designated as foreign terrorist organizations to 21.

Argentina’s new designations include Mexico’s Nueva Familia Michoacana cartel and Ecuador’s Los Tiguerones gang, both of which are also on the U.S. list .

The measure also targets Colombia’s National Liberation Army, or ELN, and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army, or FARC-EP, a name used by dissident factions of the former FARC rebel group that rejected a peace agreement signed a decade ago and remain active. Both have previously been designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the United States.

In a statement released Wednesday night, Milei’s office said the five groups were linked to drug trafficking and organized crime.

The government described the Sinaloa cartel as a transnational organization involved in drug trafficking and kidnapping for ransom. It characterized the ELN and FARC-EP as far-left insurgent groups rooted in Marxist-Leninist ideology and armed revolution.

It also described Los Tiguerones, which it linked to contract killings and drug trafficking, as one of the region’s most violent criminal groups.

The announcement comes two weeks after Milei’s government said the United States had established a regional unit of the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs in Argentina. Washington approved $13.35 million to strengthen efforts against drug trafficking and organized crime.

Argentina has previously designated several other groups as terrorist organizations, including Venezuela’s Cartel of the Suns, Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel and three branches of the Muslim Brotherhood. Those groups were added to a national registry of individuals and entities linked to terrorism and its financing.

Other countries in the region have adopted security policies similar to those of the United States. Ecuador, for example, designated 22 organized crime groups as terrorist organizations in January 2024 after declaring an internal armed conflict.

In October 2025, Guatemala’s Congress amended several laws to designate the Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha gangs as transnational criminal and terrorist organizations. The measure allows longer prison sentences for gang members.

The Trump administration had previously designated Barrio 18 as a terrorist organization, months after taking similar action against Mara Salvatrucha.

Associated Press writer Astrid Suárez contributed from Bogota, Colombia.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america