Aides to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva have described as "very serious" a United States report that accused Brazil of failing to confront the First Capital Command (PCC) and the Red Command (CV), two of the country's largest criminal gangs. According to G1, the government's foreign policy team reads the document as one that "opens the way for militarized US actions in disregard of international law".
The report went to the US Congress on Tuesday (15) and was released on Wednesday (16) by the State Department. In it, President Donald Trump urges Brazil to adopt, "urgently", "strong measures to confront" the two organizations. The text says other governments in the Western Hemisphere are taking "courageous steps" against cartels while Brazil has not confronted the gangs. The PCC, born in São Paulo prisons, and the CV, from Rio de Janeiro, were recently added to the US list of terrorist organizations.
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Officials assess that the report ties organized crime and drug trafficking to US national security, a framing they say leaves room for military action without international backing. The precedent they cite is Venezuela: in January, the United States captured the country's deposed president, Nicolás Maduro, who was accused of conspiring in favor of narco-terrorism and drug trafficking.
Hours after the report was released, the Brazilian government issued a statement denying any failures or omissions in the fight against transnational organized crime.
"The allusion in the text does not correspond to the legal category of formal noncompliance provided for in the US legislation governing this annual mechanism. It is, therefore, a circumstantial statement inserted in the narrative part of the document, without support in its operative part."
The Justice Ministry said the criticism overlooks the anti-gang law approved by Congress and signed by Lula, and ignores cooperation already in place between the two countries. According to CNN Brasil, Justice Minister Wellington Lima pointed to Wednesday's operation, which led to 137 arrests and the freezing of more than 508 million reais across 19 states. "These actions totally contradict what Donald Trump said," the minister said, adding that the government will formally rebut the assessment.
The dispute lands in the final stretch of Brazil's presidential campaign. Analyst Clarissa Oliveira, of CNN, said the document "basically equates Brazil with nations where drug trafficking dominates many of the structures" and carries a political, rather than technical, character. The next step belongs to the government: the formal response to the report is being prepared by the Justice Ministry.