The U.S. State Department will designate Brazil's most powerful criminal syndicates, the Comando Vermelho and Primeiro Comando da Capital, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists and Foreign Terrorist Organizations. This move aims to disrupt their illicit activities and protect national security.
The U.S. State Department is set to designate Brazil 's most powerful criminal syndicates, the Comando Vermelho (Red Command) and Primeiro Comando da Capital (First Capital Command, or PCC), as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) and Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).
This move will impose stringent sanctions on the gangs and their members, blocking their access to U.S. assets and making it illegal for American citizens to support them. The State Department cited the syndicates' significant security threat both in Brazil and internationally, as they engage in violent narco-terrorism across South America. The gangs, with thousands of members, have orchestrated brutal attacks against Brazilian police officers, public officials, and civilians.
Their influence and illicit networks extend far beyond Brazil's borders, posing a threat to the U.S. The Trump Administration continues to use all available tools to protect the nation and disrupt the revenue streams funding violent narco-terrorists. The gangs are involved in lucrative drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, and building relationships with other South American criminal syndicates.
During periods of rivalry, the PCC and Red Command have engaged in gruesome prison riots, while in times of 'peace,' they unite to increase illicit activity. Authorities have long expressed concerns about both gangs' ties to the Iranian terrorist proxy Hezbollah. In 2018, Joseph Humire, the current Deputy Assistant Secretary of War for Americas Security Affairs, told the Argentine outlet Infobae that the gangs' alliance could benefit Hezbollah.
The alliance resulted in widespread violence in Brazil, with gang members ordered to 'set off general terror.
' The gangs have also expanded their drug trafficking to include legal prescription drugs, organizing armed robberies of pharmacies. Despite the chaos they have caused, leftist politicians have opposed attempts to curtail their activities. In October, a massive police raid in Rio de Janeiro sparked controversy, with leftist politicians accusing police, not the gangs, of disturbing the peace. Lula, the socialist President of Brazil, visited the White House in May, and both sides described the exchange as friendly and productive.
However, reports suggest that Lula and his allies opposed the terror designation out of concern that the U.S. government could greenlight military action in Brazil
Comando Vermelho Primeiro Comando Da Capital Sdgts Ftos Narco-Terrorism Hezbollah Brazil U.S. State Department
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