The foreign terrorist organization label was built for groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda: organizations that use violence as an instrument of political ambition. Since February 2025, the Trump administration has deliberately stretched that designation to cover financially motivated crime networks, and on Wednesday the State Department added Los Tiguerones, an Ecuador-based gang, expanding the U.S. list of designated foreign terrorist groups in Latin America and the Caribbean to 21.
The designation's working mechanism
Terrorist designations, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, "expose and isolate entities and individuals, denying them access to the U.S. financial system and the resources they need to carry out attacks." They also create a legal basis for law enforcement actions by other U.S. agencies and partner governments. The strategy has already served as pretext for the U.S. capture of then-Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, and for dozens of deadly attacks on boats allegedly involved in narcotics trafficking.
Los Tiguerones fits the profile the administration has been assembling. The State Department linked the group to narcotrafficking, illicit activity, and attacks on civilians, law enforcement officers, and journalists. The gang drew international attention in 2024 when it carried out a live takeover of an Ecuadorian television station. Wednesday's designation carries two labels: Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
Rubio announced the action during a diplomatic tour of South America that included stops in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, with drug trafficking the stated focus throughout.
Regional pressure and contradictions
Mexico leads the U.S. list with eight designated groups, more than any other country, and faces U.S. pressure to prevent Trump from taking unilateral action against cartels on Mexican soil.
The broader strategy has produced spillover effects. Guatemala and Argentina moved to designate certain groups themselves, following the U.S. lead. Ecuador launched joint counternarcotics operations on its own territory.
The pressure campaign contains at least one visible tension. Trump pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was sentenced to 45 years in prison for drug trafficking and accused during his trial of protecting the Sinaloa Cartel. Hernández has since returned to Honduras.