Castro and Lewandowski announce creation of Emergency Office in Rio

The governor of Rio de Janeiro, Cláudio Castro, and the Minister of Justice, Ricardo Lewandowski, announced this Wednesday (29) the creation of the Emergency Office to Combat Organized Crime.

The initiative, which will be coordinated by the State Secretary of Security, Victor Santos, aims to coordinate joint actions between state and federal security forces to confront Comando Vermelho, the main criminal faction operating in the capital of Rio de Janeiro.

The announcement came one day after a mega police operation in the Penha and Alemão complexes, which resulted in more than 120 deaths, the most lethal action in Rio’s history.

During a meeting at the Guanabara Palace, Castro and Lewandowski also discussed the possibility of using the Law and Order Guarantee (GLO), an operation in which the Armed Forces assume command of public security actions, but the governor ruled out the need to request this measure from the federal government.

In addition to the Emergency Office, Minister Lewandowski highlighted other support measures from the federal government, such as the reinforcement of 50 agents in the Federal Highway Police and the increase in intelligence personnel in the state.

He also mentioned the availability of places in federal prisons and the call for experts to assist in investigations, despite the budget crisis faced by the federal government.

Lewandowski took the opportunity to differentiate the concept of terrorism from organized crime, diverging from the terminology “narcoterrorism” used by state authorities to refer to the Red Command.

According to the minister, terrorism involves ideological motivations, while criminal factions operate for profit, mainly in drug trafficking and other illicit activities.

Finally, the minister stated that the Emergency Office is an initial step towards the future Public Security PEC, which will still be voted on in Congress, and that a bill to increase penalties against crimes related to criminal factions has already been presented.