US designates Brazil's two largest gangs as terrorist organizations

The United States designated Brazil’s two largest criminal gangs, the First Capital Command (PCC) and the Red Command, as foreign terrorist organizations. The announcement was made by Marco Rubio, the secretary of state. The designation is widely viewed in Brazil as a setback for President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who had opposed the move, and as a boost for Flavio Bolsonaro, Lula’s main challenger in the October presidential election. Flavio Bolsonaro met with Donald Trump and Rubio during a visit to the US. Rubio stated that the groups are among the most violent criminal organizations in Brazil, with reach across the region and into the US. Both groups emerged inside Brazilian prisons, originally linked to responses to torture and abuse, and later expanded internationally through cocaine trafficking and other operations.

"The United States has designated Brazil's two largest criminal gangs, the First Capital Command (PCC) and the Red Command, as foreign terrorist organisations. The announcement, made by Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, on Thursday, is being widely seen in Brazil as a setback for Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the president who had strongly opposed the designation and a boost for Lula's main challenger in October's presidential election, the far-right senator Flavio Bolsonaro."

"Announcing the designation, Rubio wrote that the groups are two of the most violent criminal organizations in Brazil. Their reach extends throughout our region and into our country. Both groups emerged inside Brazilian prisons, originally as a response to torture and abuse. They are now among the largest criminal organisations in Latin America, exporting cocaine produced in neighbouring Colombia, Peru and Bolivia primarily to the US and Europe, while expanding into other parts of the world."

"The Red Command is the older of the two, emerging in the 1970s from interactions between political prisoners jailed by the military dictatorship and common criminals in a prison in Rio de Janeiro. The PCC was founded in the 1990s in a Sao Paulo prison, months after 111 prisoners were killed when police crushed a rebellion at another prison. The two groups compete for control of drug distribution and trafficking routes, but operate in distinct ways."

"Chosen to run in place of his father, Jair Bolsonaro the former president who is barred from running because he is in house arrest after being convicted of attempting a coup Flavio spent this week in the US, where he met with Donald Trump and Rubio. The senator was at his lowest point in the campaign, after revelations that he had been caught on tape asking a banker accused of corruption for $26.8m (20m) to fund a film about his father caused a significant drop in his poll numbers."

Read at www.theguardian.com