Brazil’s Gangs: Terrorists or Political Pawns?

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The Brazilian elections are months away but the United States is already getting involved in its politics. On a recent visit to the United States, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro met with President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss designating two specific gangs, First Capital Command and Red Commard, as terrorists in Brazil. Security is becoming a significant issue for Brazil as many citizens have concerns about the country’s future in regards to gang violence. There is a need for the state to combat criminal organizations as well as their alleged links to state officials by enhancing independent criminal investigations and enforcing government reforms to make police more effective at upholding the law. The country’s president, Luiz Inácio da Silva, also known as Lula, has been working with the United States to negotiate measures that will combat money laundering and arms trafficking by the two gangs in the last month. With Bolsonaro's recent visit, Lula’s government is concerned that the designations could jeopardize further talks between the US and Brazil as well as allowing the United States to impose economic sanctions on Brazilian banks that may have unwittingly done business with the gangs.

The two gangs that Bolsonaro lobbied for terrorist designation came to fruition in the 1970s. The Red Command, also known as Comando Vermelho, is Brazil’s oldest criminal group which was created in a Rio de Janeiro prison. It began with low-level crimes, such as muggings and bank robberies, but later moved into the cocaine trade. The gang worked with Colombian drug cartels and took on a social leadership role in many of Rio’s marginalized neighborhoods that were often overlooked by the central government. Its power base of 30,000 members still resides in poorer neighborhoods around Rio de Janeiro, but the Red Command also has major influence in prisons across the country. It also has a foothold inside neighboring Bolivia where it sources much of its cocaine for transatlantic trade. The other gang has a much more violent birth as explained in the Economist:

“In August 1993 a game in a São Paulo jail ended in horrific fashion. Eight inmates attacked their opponents, killing at least two. Covered in blood, they proclaimed the birth of a new gang: the First Capital Command (PCC).”

The article continues to state that there are 40,000 lifetime members as well as 60,000 “contractors”, which would make it one of the world’s largest criminal gangs. On 6 November 2023, a report leaked by Portugal’s security services alleged that the group had at least 1,000 associates in Lisbon. 

To provide context about the Brazilian gangs, it is significant to point out that the two gangs, First Capital Command and Red Command, do not play a major role in trafficking drugs to the United States. The PCC concentrated its ties to Europe, running 50 percent of Brazil’s drugs to the region by working with Italy’s ‘Ndrangheta, Europe’s biggest mafia, as well as Albanian and Serbian gangs. During this time, the CV expanded its control locally since there was an “absence of the State, especially in less urbanized regions, where paramilitary groups or milícias (militias) advance by imposing protection fees and exploiting clandestine services (transport, water supply, gas sales, internet, etc.).” When there is a power vacuum in rural areas, many non-state actors take advantage of the situation and have been replicated around the world. There are smaller instances like regional war lords in Afghanistan or significantly larger examples like the Daesh, but criminal organisations are especially notable as their main purpose is to generate revenue to maintain their network. Modern gangs understand that weapons and drugs are lucrative but also limited. The CV and the PCC are diversifying as they are also infiltrating the financial system, gaining financial stakes in gas distribution, real estate and cryptocurrency, according to some Brazilian authorities. 

With the United States designating these two gangs as terrorists, the Brazilian government believes that it would be a major policy departure as well as yielding to American pressure. The country’s counterterrorism laws do not classify drug trafficking as terrorism or keep its own list of terrorist groups. Brazil follows the U.N. Security Council by applying sanctions on groups the international body designates as terrorist organizations. The decision by the US to interfere with domestic issues creates a rift between the two countries as Mr. Lula’s stance against U.S. meddling in his country’s affairs could be considered a threat to Brazil’s sovereignty. The Brazilian government is naturally fearful that the designation could open the door to unilateral U.S. military operations in the country as demonstrated on a neighbor earlier this year. A statement from the government outlined that “Brazil is a sovereign nation that has waged a permanent battle against the First Capital Command and the Red Command,” and “It is deplorable that once again members of the Bolsonaro family are traveling to the United States to advocate for foreign intervention in Brazil.” In response, Flávio Bolsonaro stated that he does not support foreign interference to resolve Brazil’s problems with criminal gangs, but favors “international cooperation” on the issue. Since drug trafficking is topline issue for the Trump Administration, it seems that Mr. Bolsonaro is using this opportunity to ingratiate himself with a powerful ally as well as introduce a politically complicated issue well in advance of the upcoming election.