Latest news with #RicardoBrito
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Brazilian police arrest members of gang created to kill and spy on lawmakers, judges
By Ricardo Brito SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazil's Federal Police said on Wednesday it arrested five people suspected of being involved in a gang that was formed to kill and spy on lawmakers and high-ranking judges. The gang was created by a military officer, as well as civilians, one source with knowledge of the investigation said. A document seized by the police, and seen by Reuters, shows that the organization went by the name C4, in reference to its full name Command for hunting Communists, Corrupt people, and Criminals. The document also showed the gang charged 250,000 reais ($44,000) to target high-ranking figures in the judiciary and 150,000 reais to target senators. The organization was equipped with rifles and explosives and used prostitutes as bait, the document said. It is unclear if any high-ranking Brazilian officials were harmed by the organization, but the investigation began after police started looking into the killing of a lawyer in the city of Cuiaba, in Mato Grosso state. According to news website UOL, a retired colonel, imprisoned since last year for his alleged involvement in the lawyer's murder, was among those targeted in Wednesday's raid. Federal Police officers also carried out six search and seizure warrants on Wednesday in three different states in Brazil as part of the probe.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Brazil's Senate approves bill to loosen environmental licensing
By Ricardo Brito and Lisandra Paraguassu BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazil's Senate has approved legislation to loosen environmental licensing, despite criticism from climate policy groups and figures inside President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government. The bill, which was approved in the Senate by 54 votes to 13 late on Wednesday, would allow projects considered to have a small or mid-sized impact, such as dams and basic sanitation, to be built without the approval of environmental agencies. The legislation, which still requires approval from Brazil's lower house of Congress, enjoys widespread support from the powerful agribusiness caucus, as well as high-ranking figures in Lula's government such as his chief of staff Rui Costa. The bill highlights government divisions on environmental policy as Lula tries to burnish his green credentials before the country hosts the United Nations climate summit known as COP30 in the Amazonian city of Belem in November. The approval is a blow to Environment Minister Marina Silva, who had said the bill would be a major setback that "dismantles" licensing in the country. The government's role in negotiating the bill was limited by its internal divisions, sources told Reuters. It engaged in "harm reduction" by backing a version of the bill considered to have less impact on existing environmental law, they said. Greenpeace and Brazil's Climate Observatory, a collective of environmental organizations, have criticized the proposal saying it deprives vulnerable populations such as Brazil's Indigenous of a say in projects that could affect their communities. The bill was put to a vote as Brazil's environmental agency Ibama faces intense scrutiny for licensing delays, including a drilling request by state-run oil firm Petrobras hoping to explore for oil off the coast of the Amazonian state of Amapa. Senate President Davi Alcolumbre, an important backer of the bill, hails from Amapa and has been pushing for the development of the oil industry in the region.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Brazil rejects US request to classify local gangs as terrorist organizations
By Ricardo Brito BRASILIA (Reuters) - The Brazilian government rejected a request by the U.S. State Department to designate two major criminal gangs that officials believe to have members in the United States as terrorist organizations, Mario Sarrubo, Brazil's national secretary of public security, told Reuters on Wednesday. He said the request was made on Tuesday during a meeting between David Gamble, who leads the sanctions strategy for the U.S. State Department, six other officials from President Donald Trump's administration, and eight Brazilian officials in Brasilia. Gamble was concerned about the gangs Primeiro Comando da Capital, known as PCC, and Comando Vermelho, known as CV, which control territories in several Brazilian cities. Trump has been trying to tie his aggressive crackdown on immigration to the presence of members of Latin American criminal gangs in U.S. cities. Earlier this year, the U.S. government designated several drug cartels as terrorist organizations, including Venezuela's Tren de Aragua and El Salvador's MS13. "We don't have terrorist organizations here, we have criminal organizations that have infiltrated society," Sarrubo, who wasn't in the meeting, said. But Brazilian law, he added, only considers organizations that violently clash with the government for religious or racial reasons to be terrorists. In recent weeks, the Trump administration has deported hundreds of Latin American immigrants, alleging they were gang members, though it presented little evidence of their criminal ties. At the meeting in Brasilia, U.S. officials informed their Brazilian counterparts that their request was part of an effort to address immigration and criminal gangs with a transnational presence, saying they were priorities to the Trump administration, one source who was present said. U.S. officials said a terrorist designation could help the government apply sanctions, raise resources and target criminal supply chains, the same source added. According to this source, U.S. officials said the Federal Bureau of Investigation had reported the PCC and the Comando Vermelho had cells in 12 U.S. states, mainly Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Florida, Connecticut and Tennessee. Those reports, the source added, alleged that the gangs trafficked guns and laundered money through Brazilians who traveled to the U.S., adding that 113 people were denied visas to enter the country because of connections to organized crime in 2024 alone. In March, the U.S. Attorney's Office charged 18 Brazilians with trafficking several types of firearms within the U.S. Some of the illegal activities, the government said, had ties to the PCC, and many of the Brazilians who were charged were in the U.S. illegally. On Monday, the office of Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, said he met with Trump Organization officials to deliver a dossier that he said included intelligence information that tied both the PCC and the CV to terrorist acts. The U.S. embassy in Brasilia did not immediately reply to a request for comment. (Reporting by Ricardo Brito, writing by Manuela Andreoni; Editing by David Gregorio)
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Brazil's Supreme Court deals blow to Amazon 'Soy Moratorium'
By Ana Mano and Ricardo Brito SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's Supreme Court will allow the country's biggest farming state to withdraw tax incentives from signatories of the so-called "Soy Moratorium", a voluntary ban by grain traders on soybean purchases from Amazon areas deforested after 2008. Conservationists have praised the initiative for slowing damage to the world's largest rainforest. But it is under growing pressure from farmers' lobbies interested in expanding plantings to meet rising demand for soy from Brazil, the leading producer globally. Mato Grosso state, which supplies almost a third of Brazil's soybeans, passed a law last year pulling tax advantages for those joining the Soy Moratorium. The Supreme Court had provisionally suspended enforcement of the law pending a ruling on its compliance with the constitution. In the decision handed down on Monday following arguments from Mato Grosso, Justice Flavio Dino acknowledged the moratorium as an important conservation tool, however, he wrote it cannot be used to constrain the actions of the state. The state "may base its tax incentive policy on criteria that are different from those of a private agreement, as long as it is in compliance with national legislation," Dino wrote. "It seems reasonable to me that [Mato Grosso] state should not be obliged to grant tax incentives or public land [use] to companies failing to comply with laws that took effect after the signing of the Soy Moratorium," he added. The ruling must now be confirmed by a panel of Supreme Court justices before it can be enforced from January 1, 2026, the decision said. Abiove, which represents soybean traders, did not have an immediate comment on the ruling though it said last week that the case gave the soy industry a chance to improve the moratorium. The current agreement bars soy purchases from a whole farm if it includes areas deforested since 2008, and one potential change could allow more flexibility by drawing a distinction between individual soy fields. Farmers and traders, however, have yet to reach a compromise.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Brazil, U.S. officials agree to discuss how deported migrants are treated
By Lisandra Paraguassu and Ricardo Brito BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian and U.S. officials agreed on Wednesday to discuss regularly how Washington will deport migrants from Brazil, as some leaders in Latin America have balked at what they see as poor treatment of their citizens on repatriation flights. Brazil's foreign affairs ministry said in a social media post that the talks will be led by officials from the ministry and the U.S. embassy, after the ministry summoned a senior U.S. diplomat earlier this week over the treatment of recent deportees that local officials condemned as degrading. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. U.S. President Donald Trump, who took office last week, has escalated a crackdown on unlawful migration to the United States that has included deportations using military planes and shackling of migrants. The ministry noted that the new working group will exchange information and ensure "safety and dignified and respectful treatment" for Brazilians on permitted deportation flights. The ministry added the parties have agreed to establish a direct line of communication to follow flights in real time. The push for increased dialogue over the politically sensitive issue comes after Colombia and the United States pulled back from the brink of a trade war on Sunday provoked by a spat over deportation flights. Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski said on Wednesday that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had asked Foreign Affairs Minister Mauro Vieira to seek out a new agreement with the United States over the deportations. The president wants to ensure that Brazilians are returned with "a minimum of dignity and that their fundamental rights are respected," Lewandowski said.
