Designating “Clan del Golfo” as a terrorist organization comes as the Trump administration pressures Colombia’s government to crack down on cocaine production.

The United States on Tuesday designated Colombia’s largest armed drug-trafficking group, “Clan del Golfo,” as a terrorist organization.

Since taking office, US President Donald Trump has classified numerous gangs and cartels based in Latin America as terrorist organizations, as his administration seeks to broaden the legal means available to go after these groups.

“Clan del Golfo is a violent and powerful criminal organization with thousands of members,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement posted on the State Department website.

“The group’s primary source of income is cocaine trafficking, which it uses to fund its violent activities. Clan del Golfo is responsible for terrorist attacks against public officials, law enforcement and military personnel, and civilians in Colombia,” the statement said.

What does the designation mean?

Designating Clan del Golfo as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO)” and a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT)” means that any level of US-based support for the group amounts to a federal crime based on terrorism charges. Any US financial institution must block funds connected with the group.

The terrorist designation also serves as a warning for foreign or regional governments and financial institutions that choose to continue to support or do business with the group.

“The United States will continue to use all available tools to protect our nation and stop the campaigns of violence and terror committed by international cartels and transnational criminal organizations,” Rubio said.

Trump’s pressure on Colombian President Petro

The US National Security Strategy released earlier this month signaled that the Trump’s administration’s foreign policy priority is on the Western Hemisphere, and countering what it considers national security threats emerging out of Latin America.

This has included stationing naval assets in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Venezuela and controversially carrying out strikes on small boats against alleged drug traffickers. The Trump administration is also putting massive pressure on Venezuela’s strongman President Nicolas Maduro.

Although Colombia is considered a strong US ally in Latin America, Trump and his left-wing Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, do not have a good relationship.

Petro is a known critic of the US “war on drugs” and the Trump administration’s hardline migration policy. He has also characterized US strikes in the Caribbean as “extrajudicial executions” that “violate international law.”

The Trump administration has said Petro’s government is not doing enough to combat drug trafficking.

In October, the Trump administration sanctioned Petro, claiming he “allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity.”

US Secretary of State Rubio has publicly called Petro a “lunatic,” while Trump has also cut hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Colombia.

What is Clan del Golfo?

Also called the Gaitanist Army of Colombia, the Clan del Golfo emerged around 2006 out of a right-wing paramilitary coalition.

The group’s main source of income is drug trafficking, and Colombian military intelligence estimates it ships hundreds of tons of cocaine to the US and Europe every year.

The group also battles other gangs, such as the Venezuela-based syndicate “Tren de Aragua,” including for control of areas in the capital, Bogota.

Since Colombian President Gustavo Petro took office in 2022, he has sought to negotiate with Colombia’s various armed groups and bring an end to decades of violence.

The Clan del Golfo is currently in talks with Petro’s government, which signed an agreement after talks in Doha aimed at the group’s eventual disarmament and peace in territories under its control.

The group has tried in recent years to style itself more as a political movement, such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which would grant it different conditions at peace talks. However, the group is not widely considered to have concrete political aims, and focuses mainly on criminal activity like drug trafficking, human trafficking and extortion.

And the US terrorist designation could complicate Petro’s attempts at negotiation, as Washington would now consider any talks between Petro’s government and Clan del Golfo as negotiating with a terrorist group.

Edited by: Wesley Dockery

DW News