WAR ON DRUGS
Brazil’s government blindsided by US ‘terrorist’ designation
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the PCC and the CV have networks that reach into the US. Photo: Freddie Everett/USSD
For more than a year, one scenario sat near the top of the Lula government's risk map: that Washington would brand Brazil's two largest crime syndicates as terrorists. On May 28, it materialized.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated the Comando Vermelho (Red Command, or CV) and the Primeiro Comando da Capital (First Command of the Capital, PCC) as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, with the heavier Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) label set to take effect on June 5. Rubio called them “two of the most violent criminal organizations in Brazil,” with networks reaching into the US.
The decision blindsided Brasília. Not only because of a productive meeting between Donald Trump and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva three weeks ago, but also because…
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