Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has slammed the US for designating the country's two biggest crime factions as terrorist groups, warning against 'playing games with our democracy'.
Brazil 's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva slammed the US for designating the country's two biggest crime factions as terrorist groups, warning against 'playing games with our democracy'.
The US government designated Brazil's two main organised crime groups, the Red Command (CV) and First Capital Command (PCC), as terrorist organisations. Both groups emerged from Brazil's prisons and have expanded across the country and international borders. They wield control of large urban areas with involvement in drug and arms trafficking and extortion. Lula stated that 'they are terrorists because they torment families, they torment neighborhoods, and they torment the city'.
He added that 'we will fight them right here at home'. Lula also referred to the recent agreement between the US and Brazil to combat arms and drug trafficking, stating that unilateral measures such as the US designation 'represents a potential setback in the fight against crime, a risk to human life, and economic harm to the country'. Brazil recently passed an anti-gang law strengthening prison sentences to up to 80 years for those involved in organised crime.
Lula called on the US to hand over Brazilian criminals who are in the United States, highlighting that weapons from the US were being 'smuggled into Brazil'. He made reference to fugitive ex-spy chief Alexandre Ramagem, who fled to the US after being sentenced to 16 years in prison for assisting jailed former president Jair Bolsonaro in plotting a coup. Trump has long been seen as an ally of the far-right Bolsonaro family.
The terrorist designation came two days after Trump met with the former president's sons, including Senator Flavio Bolsonaro who is running for president in October elections. In a video message after the US decision, Flavio Bolsonaro said he had done 'more for Brazil and for the security of Brazilians' than Lula and his leftist Worker's Party had in around 17 non-consecutive years in power.
Lula slammed Bolsonaro for 'the utter shamelessness to betray our homeland by traveling to the United States to beg for American intervention in Brazil'. Lula, seeking a fourth term in office, is facing a tough re-election bid, and recent polling shows him only slightly ahead of Bolsonaro
Brazil US Terrorist Designation Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva Donald Trump Organised Crime Red Command First Capital Command
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