Argentina has labelled a Mexico-based criminal organisation, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), as a “terrorist organisation”, echoing similar designations made in the United States under President Donald Trump.The announcement was issued from the office of Argentinian President Javier Milei, a prominent right-wing figure in Latin America who has forged close relations with his US counterpart.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThursday’s decision, the statement said, “is based on official reports that confirm transnational illicit activities, as well as links to other terrorist organisations”.The office also signalled that the label was meant to bolster partnerships with countries like the US.“It strengthens international cooperation in matters of security and justice, in close coordination with those countries that have already designated the Jalisco cartel a terrorist organisation,” the statement reads.So far, only the US and Canada have done so. Argentina is thought to be the first Latin American country to embrace such a label.The Jalisco New Generation Cartel was among an inaugural group of eight criminal networks the Trump administration labelled “foreign terrorist organisations” in February 2025, within weeks of the US president’s return to office. Canada made similar designations that same month.The push to re-categorise criminal groups as “terrorist” organisations comes as part of a larger shift in security policy across the Western Hemisphere, helmed in large part by Trump’s hardline policies. Advertisement In recent decades, “terrorist” was a label primarily applied to groups that used violence as a political tool to destabilise governments or shape public opinion. The US used the term in the early 2000s, after the attacks on September 11, 2001, for groups like al-Qaeda and IS …
