Explaining Brazil #270: A push against organized crime

Across Latin America, countries are becoming increasingly vulnerable to organized crime. In Brazil, the past few months alone have seen violence kicking off in Rio de Janeiro and Bahia, and the federal government has even launched a military intervention at some key ports and airports to crack down on trafficking.

In Ecuador, the homicide rate has doubled in the last year, with international drug trade making what was once a relative island of safety within the region into one of the most dangerous countries in Latin America.

Amid this ramping up of organized crime, representatives from 13 Latin American countries signed the Treaty of Brasília last week, formalizing the legal status of Ameripol — the police organization that gathers 36 police forces from 30 American countries.

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This episode used music from Uppbeat and Envato. License codes: Aspire by Pryces (B6TUQLVYOWVKY02S), Detective Thriller Ident by by Crypt-of-Insomnia (6NCD45WAV3) , Dramatic Anxious Cinematic Documentary by Tonydrumer (5G9KHWR) and Dark Documentary GETAWAY by Enrize (EJQKT9A) 

In this episode:

• Euan Marshall is a deputy editor at The Brazilian Report and hosts the podcast in the absence of editor-in-chief Gustavo Ribeiro.

Background reading:

• Brazil and 12 other Latin American countries recently signed a treaty formalizing Ameripol, the Police Community of the Americas, as a legal entity. We explained why the move is important in our latest Brazil Weekly newsletter.
• The Federal Police have arrested three men with suspected links to Hezbollah. They were reportedly recruiting Brazilians to carry out extremist acts in the country.
• The federal government started a law-and-order operation to use the Armed Forces to police ports and airports in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Experts doubt the move will work.
• President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Tuesday signed a decree reversing tax cuts to firearms enacted during the Jair Bolsonaro administration.
• The homicide rate continues to drop in Brazil, as it has done each year since 2019. But it remains really high.

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