BOGOTA – In a strategic move to intensify its crackdown on drug trafficking, the Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it has classified another Latin American drug cartel as a foreign terrorist organization. This decision aims to tighten financial constraints on the group’s members and potentially pave the way for military interventions.

The U.S. State Department revealed that the Clan del Golfo, a Colombia-based cartel, is now recognized both as a foreign and global terrorist entity. The department described it as a “violent and powerful criminal organization” that funds its operations through cocaine trafficking.

The official statement highlighted the group’s involvement in violent acts, stating, “Clan del Golfo is responsible for terrorist attacks targeting public officials, law enforcement, military personnel, and civilians in Colombia.”

This designation follows the Trump administration’s September decision to list Colombia as a nation not fully cooperating in the drug war—marking the first such inclusion in nearly three decades. This move signifies a significant diplomatic shift and comes amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Colombia’s left-leaning president, Gustavo Petro, against the backdrop of increased cocaine production.

Additionally, the U.S. imposed sanctions on President Petro in October, accusing him of enabling drug cartels in Colombia to thrive and facilitate cocaine shipments to America. Petro countered these allegations fiercely, asserting that Colombia is achieving unprecedented success in intercepting cocaine shipments without resorting to lethal force against suspected traffickers.

With an estimated 9,000 fighters, Clan del Golfo is one of Colombia’s most powerful armed groups. Also known by its Spanish acronym AGC, the group evolved from right-wing paramilitary squads that fought Marxist guerillas in Colombia in the 1990s and 2000s.

A report published last year by the Human Rights Defender’s Office, a public agency, said that AGC is present in about a third of Colombia’s 1,103 municipalities, where it extorts local businesses and has also been accused of recruiting children.

Clan del Golfo has been involved in peace talks with Colombia’s government since September, which could lead to the disarmament of its fighters in exchange for reduced sentences for its leadership.

Earlier this month, the Colombian government and the AGC signed an agreement in Qatar, under which the group’s fighters as of next March will be allowed to gather in specially designated zones in northern and western Colombia where they will be free from prosecution, as peace talks continue. The agreement also states that the Colombian government will suspend any extradition of AGC leaders to the U.S. during negotiations.

Elizabeth Dickinson, a Colombia analyst at the International Crisis Group, said Tuesday’s designation could be a message to the Colombian government to take a tougher stance against the group.

“The tensions between Colombia and Washington are at historic levels,” Dickinson said.

She added that while terrorist designations are usually meant to stop third parties from doing business with targeted groups, the designation against AGC could be more “symbolic” — and it will “give pause to Colombian authorities … going forward.”

Colombia has also recently held peace talks with the National Liberation Army, also an organization designated as a terrorist group by the U.S., and in the past it struck a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, while it was still designated as a terrorist group.

The designation does not provide the U.S. government with the immediate authority to conduct military strikes, although it enhances the legal framework for attacks against targeted groups to be carried out.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration designated Venezuelan gangs Tren de Aragua and Cartel de los Soles as foreign terrorist organizations, before launching strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats off the coast of Venezuela, whose legality has been questioned by U.S. lawmakers.

The Trump administration has also accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of sending drug shipments to the U.S.

And last week, Trump said Petro has been “fairly hostile” to the U.S. and that he was “going to have himself some big problems if he doesn’t wise up.”