U.S. terror label for Brazilian gangs risks derailing police cooperation, say sources

BRASILIA, June 4 - The US designation of Brazil's Comando Vermelho (CV) and Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) as foreign terrorist organizations, effective Friday, could disrupt cooperation against drug and arms trafficking, Brazilian sources said.

Daily intelligence sharing and joint operations could be halted as a result of the move, according to two officials in Sao Paulo state, the PCC's stronghold, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

They said probes currently handled by the FBI, DEA and US immigration authorities could instead fall under the CIA and be classified, interrupting a widely valued information flow.

While they consider the risk low, officials in President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's administration also fear the designation could pave the way for US military or covert actions in Brazil, similar to operations in Venezuela and against Mexican cartels.

"We will not allow any form of foreign intervention in our country," National Public Security Secretary Chico Lucas told Reuters.

Federal police director-general Andrei Rodrigues said he was waiting to see the practical effects of what he called a "political decision" by US parties.

"This was instead the moment to expand internal integration and cooperation with all countries, including the United States, so that we all have a safer region," he said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week described the gangs as among Brazil's "most violent criminal organizations," with reach across the region and into the United States, without citing evidence for the assertion.

Leftist Lula, seeking re-election in October, had tried to avert the move, fearing it could allow interventions on Brazilian soil and sanctions on banks that unwittingly do business with gang members.

The decision followed Rubio's meeting with Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, a likely October presidential contender, a day after the Brazilian lawmaker met US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly praised his father, former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. REUTERS