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What’s happening in Rio was inevitable. The federal government has been paralyzed or unwilling to confront the PCC and Comando Vermelho. In May, the U.S. offered Brazil a partnership to classify these groups as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs). That status unlocks the full weight of U.S. counterterrorism tools — intelligence-sharing, financial tracing, asset freezes, and sanctions — the same framework used to dismantle ISIS’s global network and cut off its funding streams. @LulaOficial’s government refused. The excuse was “sovereignty,” the same word they use to defend censorship, mass corruption, and inaction while ordinary Brazilians live increasingly under the rule of organized crime. Now those same factions are flying drones over Rio and shooting at police with military weapons. And instead of standing with law enforcement, the federal government has decided to investigate the police and public officials that had the courage to confront them. The Brazilian federal government has to decide what kind of sovereignty it wants, one that protects its people, or one that protects its criminals. 🔗 www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/20...