Lula rejects US designation of Brazilian gangs as terrorists

The United States designated Brazil’s two largest criminal gangs, the First Capital Command (PCC) and the Red Command, as foreign terrorist organisations, an announcement made by Marco Rubio. Luiz Inácio da Silva said he was "very saddened" and protested that "We do not accept being treated like little boys.

We do not accept being treated as if we were some tinpot country." The move is being seen in Brazil as a setback for Lula and a boost for his main challenger in October’s presidential election, the far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who spent the week in the US and met with Donald Trump and Rubio.

Flávio celebrated the designation, saying: "On a trip as a presidential candidate, we did more for Brazil and for the security of Brazilians than Lula." He had earlier suffered a decline in the polls after revelations that he had been caught on tape asking a banker accused of corruption for $26.8m to fund a film about his father.

Brazil

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