President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said this Saturday (20), during the Mercosur Summitin Foz do Iguaçu, that tackling organized crime must be one of the priorities of the bloc, formed by Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, regardless of the political profile of the countries’ governments.
He cited that the weakening of democratic institutions is one of the problems that paves the way for illicit activities. The president also cited a series of ongoing actions between South American countries.
“Public security is a citizen’s right and a duty of the State, regardless of ideology. Mercosur has demonstrated a willingness to confront criminal networks jointly. More than a decade ago, we created an instance of authorities specializing in anti-drug policies. This semester, we signed an agreement against human trafficking. We created a commission to implement a common strategy against transnational organized crime. We established a specialized working group on asset recovery, in order to stifle sources of financing for illicit activities,” he said.
Lula also defended the regulation of digital environments to combat crime and announced an international meeting with security ministers to discuss the issue.
“We agree that the internet is not a lawless territory and we have adopted measures to protect children and adolescents and personal data in digital environments. Freedom is the first victim of a world without rules. But this is a fight that goes beyond Mercosur. There is currently no South American-wide instance in operation dedicated to this problem. Therefore, in consultation with Uruguay, Brazil intends to propose the convening of a meeting of ministers of Justice and Public Security of the Brasilia Consensus to discuss how strengthen South American cooperation in combating organized crime”, he stated.
Gender violence
At the Mercosur Summit, Lula addressed the issue of violence against women, one of the main public security challenges in Brazil, but which is also a problem in neighboring nations.
“Latin America also holds the sad record of being the most lethal region in the world for women. According to ECLAC [Comissão Econômica para a América Latina e o Caribe]11 Latin American women are murdered every day. Yesterday, I sent an agreement to the National Congress for ratification that will allow women benefiting from protective measures in one country in the bloc to have the same protection in other countries. I would like to propose to Paraguay, which today assumes the presidency of the bloc, that we work to create a great Mercosur pact to end feminicide and violence against women”, stated the president, who has made repeated speeches proposing a national effort to combat gender violence.
Risk of military conflict
Another key point in Lula’s speech at this Saturday’s Mercosur meeting was the risk of an armed conflict in South America, given the threat of US military intervention in Venezuelawhich could attempt to overthrow the current regime of President Nicolás Maduro and trigger a new war. Today, US troops surround the Caribbean Sea on the Venezuelan border, allegedly fighting drug trafficking.
“More than four decades later, since the Falklands War, the South American continent is once again haunted by the military presence of an extra-regional power. The limits of international law are being tested. An armed intervention in Venezuela would be a humanitarian catastrophe for the hemisphere and a dangerous precedent for the world”, warned Lula.
In addition to defending a doctrine of peace in South America, Lula defended democracy and praised the capacity of Brazilian institutions to defeat the attempted coup d’état, almost three years ago.
“Brazilian democracy survived the harshest attack suffered since the end of the dictatorship. Those responsible for the attempted coup on January 8, 2023 were investigated, tried and convicted according to due legal process. For the first time in its history, Brazil came to terms with the past”, he said.
