President Javier Milei's administration has officially classified five Latin American criminal and insurgent groups as terrorist organizations. This move, announced in Buenos Aires, aligns Argentina's security strategy with the current policies of the United States.
The Sinaloa Cartel and Four Other Groups Now Labeled Terrorists
The Argentine government has formally designated Mexico's Sinaloa cartel and Nueva Familia Michoacana, Ecuador's Los Tiguerones, and Colombia's ELN and FARC-EP as terrorist organizations. According to the Associated Press, these designations were published Thursday in the official gazette, marking a significant shift in how Argentina categorizes regional threats.
The government of President Javier Milei has distinguished between the types of threats these groups pose.. While the Sinaloa cartel is identified as a transnational organization focused on kidnapping and drug trafficking, the ELN and FARC-EP are characterized as far-left insurgent groups rooted in Marxist-Leninist ideology. Los Tiguerones, based in Ecuador, is described by the administration as one of the most violent criminal groups in the region, primarily linked to contract killings.
The $13.35 Million US Investment in Argentine Security
This policy shift coincides with deepening security ties between Buenos Aires and Washington. As reported by the Associated Press,the United States has approved US$13.35 million to strengthen efforts against organized crime and drug trafficking. This funding supports a new regional unit of the U.S. State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs based in Argentina.
The alignment was highlighted during a visit by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who praised the cooperation of President Javier Milei. Landau stated that no other country in the world is as aligned with the United States as the current government of Argentina. this diplomatic synergy is evident in the timing of the designations, which follow the Trump administration's expansion of its own foreign terrorist organization list to 21 Latin American groups.
From Ecuador's 22 Groups to Guatemala's Gang Designations
Argentina's decision is part of a broader regional trend where nations are utilizing "terrorist" labels to combat organized crime. for instance, Ecuador designated 22 organized crime groups as terrorist organizations in January 2024 after the government declared an internal armed conflict to reclaim control from gangs.
Similarly, Guatemala's Congress amended laws in October 2025 to designate the Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 gangs as transnational criminal and terrorist organizations. By adopting this framework, President Javier Milei is moving Argentina away from traditional criminal law and toward a security model that treats gang violence as a matter of national and international security, mirroring the approach seen in Central America.
The Legal Reach of Longer Sentences for Foreign Gangs
A primary domestic utility of these designations is the ability to impose longer prison sentences on members of these organizations. By moving these groups into a national registry of entities linked to terrorism and terrorism financing, the Argentine government gains more aggressive legal tools to prosecute individuals associated with the Sinaloa cartel or the ELN.
However, several critical questions remain regarding the practical application of these laws. It is currently unclear how Argentina intends to enforce these longer sentences against groups primarily based in Mexico, Colombia, and Ecuador, or whether the government has identified speciffic cells of these organizations operating within Argentine borders. furthermore, the report does not specify if these designations will lead to new extradition treaties or if they are primarily symbolic gestures of alignment with the United States.
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