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Haddad calls US terror label for PCC and Comando Vermelho a minor issue and urges focus on fighting organized crime
🇧🇷 Brazil /Crime & Justice

Haddad calls US terror label for PCC and Comando Vermelho a minor issue and urges focus on fighting organized crime

From Estadão · () Portuguese

Translated from Portuguese and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Interview Named sources Ongoing story
  • São Paulo gubernatorial candidate Fernando Haddad called the US designation of the PCC and Comando Vermelho as terrorist organizations a “minor issue” and said the priority should be fighting organized crime.
  • Haddad proposed a cabinet bringing together state and federal police, tax and financial investigators, and federal and state prosecutors.
  • He criticized Governor Tarcísio de Freitas and Jair Bolsonaro’s sons over their positions toward the United States, and supported investigating suspected political links to the PCC.

Fernando Haddad says the label matters less than what Brazil does against the criminal groups behind it. In a television interview, the São Paulo gubernatorial candidate called the US decision to classify the Primeiro Comando da Capital, or PCC, and Comando Vermelho as terrorist organizations a “minor issue.”

What matters is how you will work to combat them.

— Fernando HaddadHe argued that the practical fight against organized crime mattered more than the terminology used to classify the factions.

“What matters is how you will work to combat them,” Haddad said on TV Cultura’s Roda Viva. He argued that organized crime must be confronted regardless of whether authorities call a faction a mafia, a terrorist organization or something else.

That position differs from the Lula government’s response. The government viewed the move by Donald Trump’s administration as an attempt at external interference in Brazil’s internal affairs and a threat to national sovereignty. Haddad said a more traditional definition of terrorism involves an ideology and political objective, but returned to the need to fight organized crime.

If it is organized crime, it needs to be fought.

— Fernando HaddadHaddad restated his position on the US designation of the PCC and Comando Vermelho.

His main security proposal is a cabinet chaired by the governor and designed to integrate São Paulo’s police forces with the Federal Police, federal agencies such as the Federal Revenue Service and the Council for Financial Activities Control, and federal and state prosecutors.

What did Tarcísio propose? Let’s hand something over to Trump to calm him down. What are we going to hand over, Pix, rare earths?

— Fernando HaddadHe criticized São Paulo Governor Tarcísio de Freitas over his stance toward the US administration.

Haddad also attacked Governor Tarcísio de Freitas, his election opponent, over his approach to Washington. He questioned what Tarcísio would offer Trump to calm him, mentioning instant-payment system Pix and rare-earth minerals. Haddad further alleged that Jair Bolsonaro’s sons Flávio and Eduardo negotiated tariffs against São Paulo and criticized Tarcísio for not speaking out against their actions. Asked about suspected links between lawmaker Senival Moura and the PCC, Haddad said no one should receive protection and defended an investigation and possible arrest.

We never lifted a finger to protect anyone, whoever they may be.

— Fernando HaddadHe addressed allegations that lawmaker Senival Moura had links to the PCC and supported investigation and possible arrest.
About this summary

Originally published by Estadão in Portuguese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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