TERRORISM
Conservatives advance bill labeling drug gangs as terrorists
A São Paulo bus torched by the PCC in 2012. Photo: N Rodrigues/Folhapress
The House Public Safety Committee this week passed a bill that would classify Brazil’s most powerful gangs, the Primeiro Comando da Capital (First Command of the Capital, PCC) and Comando Vermelho (Red Command, CV) as terrorist organizations. The proposal, authored by Congressman Danilo Forte of the right-wing União Brasil party, comes as the Brazilian government resists months of pressure from Washington to adopt the label.
Congressman Forte has cast the bill as both a matter of national security and of political expedience. His home state, Ceará, has been wracked by bloody turf wars between the PCC and CV. Since last year, the groups have…
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