The United States government announced this Thursday (28), in a State Department statement, that it will designate the Brazilian criminal factions Comando Vermelho (CV) and Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).
According to the statement, the decision takes effect on June 5, and the measures are being adopted under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and an executive order issued by President Donald Trump. The FTO designations take effect upon publication in the Federal Register.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized in the statement that CV and PCC are two of Brazil’s most violent criminal organizations.
“Together, they command thousands of members and have orchestrated brutal attacks against Brazilian police officers, public officials and civilians. Their influence and illicit networks extend far beyond Brazil’s borders, reaching across our region and into our own country,” Rubio said.
In recent months, the Brazilian government had been trying to prevent the designation, believing it could pave the way for U.S. military action in Brazil or the imposition of severe sanctions on economic and financial sectors.
Risk
Experts say the designation poses a potential risk to Brazilian sovereignty and could even undermine joint investigative efforts between the two countries. It would change the level of secrecy applied to information shared by their security agencies, concentrating it within the CIA [U.S. Central Intelligence Agency] or military bodies.
According to these experts, the change could hinder ongoing joint investigations and make future cooperation unworkable.
Narco-terrorism
During his new term, the Donald Trump administration has been redirecting Washington’s foreign policy toward Latin America, deploying its military apparatus in the region under the pretext of fighting what it calls “narco-terrorism.”
Over recent months, U.S. military forces have directly bombed several vessels in the Caribbean, outside U.S. jurisdiction, claiming the operations were part of the fight against terrorism.
The invasion of Venezuelan territory earlier this year, which resulted in the removal and capture of then-president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Glores, was also justified on the grounds of combating narco-terrorism.
Although the possibility of similar actions on Brazilian territory under this new designation remains uncertain, it has become a real risk.
Earlier this month, during a visit to the United States, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva discussed with Donald Trump at the White House the creation of joint initiatives by their governments to financially suffocate transnational criminal organizations operating in Brazil and the United States. According to Lula, they did not specifically discuss Brazilian criminal factions such as CV and PCC on that occasion.
Rubio’s announcement also coincides with a meeting he held with Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), a prospective presidential candidate, on Tuesday (26) in Washington. The previous day, the senator had met Trump at the White House with his brother, self-exiled former federal lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro. Both are sons of former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Source: Agência Brasil
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