Brazil

South America

Cities of Darkness in Brazil

• -- Rio de Janeiro -- The Marvelous City
• -- São Paulo

Federal Government

Agência Brasileira de Inteligência

The Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Portuguese: Agência Brasileira de Inteligência; ABIN) is the successor organization to the Serviço Nacional de Informações (SNI) or National Information Service formed during the government of Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco in the mid-1960s.

In an attempt to bring intelligence agencies under the control of the civilian-led government as part of the process of democratization that began in Brazil in 1985, President Fernando Collor de Mello replaced the SNI with the short-lived (1990–94) Secretaria de Assuntos Estratégicos (SAE) or Strategic Affairs Secretariat. However, despite the dismissal of 144 SNI officers, the agency continued to be dominated by the military and effective oversight and control of the country's intelligence activities eluded the civilian government.

Current Agency

In 1995 President Fernando Henrique Cardoso placed a civilian at the head of the SAE and subsequently created ABIN. Like many other Latin American nations, Brazil faces the challenge of having to overcome a long history of involvement by the military and their related intelligence arms in domestic politics. Early on, ABIN was tainted by a wiretapping and influence peddling scandal that led to the agency being placed under the direct control of the President and the Institutional Security Cabinet rather than being responsible to the national Congress. This had once again undermined the attempt to reduce the influence of the military on Brazilian intelligence agencies and their practices.

However, successive governments have taken a number of steps to reduce the influence of the armed forces and related intelligence agencies in domestic politics. The relationships between these groups and government in Brazil, so closely intertwined for decades, is evolving. The focus of intelligence agencies appears to be moving slowly from managing internal dissent to focusing on external threats and support of the nation's democracy.

Wiretapping Suspensions

On September 1, 2008, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva suspended the leadership of the organization, including its director Paulo Lacerda, and ordered an investigation into allegations that appeared in Veja magazine of phone tapping of senior figures including the heads of both the Senate and the Supreme Court.

Current functions

ABIN's main function is to investigate real and potential threats to the Brazilian society and government and defend the Democratic State of Law, the Brazilian sovereignty and the effectiveness of the public power.

Motto

The agency's motto is Intelligence for the defense of society, of the democratic Rule of Law and of national interests (Portuguese: A Inteligência em defesa da sociedade, do Estado Democrático de Direito e dos interesses nacionais).

Polícia Federal (Federal Police)

The Federal Police of Brazil, in Portuguese Polícia Federal (English "Federal Police"), is one of Brazil's three federal police forces. It is a completely separate force from Brazil's other two federal police forces, the Federal Highway Police and the Federal Railroad/Railway Police. From 1944 to 1967 it was called the Federal Department for Public Security (Departamento Federal de Segurança Pública).

The Federal Police Department is responsible for crimes against federal institutions, international drug trafficking, terrorism, cyber-crime, organized crime, public corruption, white-collar crime, money laundering, immigration, border control, airport security and maritime policing. It is subordinate to the federal Ministry of Justice.

The Federal Police Department's mandate is established on the 1st paragraph of the article 144 of the Brazilian Federal Constitution, which establishes the following assignments:

• Investigate criminal offense against political and social order, or against goods, services and interests of Brazilian federal government, its organs and companies, as well as interstate and international crime in a need of uniform repression in Brazil;
• Prevent and repress drug traffic and smuggling;
• To be the Brazilian's maritime police, air transport enforcement, immigration and border patrol;
• Exercise, exclusively, the functions of criminal investigation's police of the federal government (which means federal and interstate crime);

Other federal statues give the Federal Police Department, the authority and responsibility to:

• Prevent and combat terrorism;
• Ensure the safety of foreign heads of state and heads of international organizations when visiting Brazil;
• Investigate cyber crime;
• Represent the International Police (Interpol) in Brazil;
• Prevent and repress crime against indigenous people;
• Investigate and repress public corruption and white-collar crime;
• Investigate and repress organized crime.
• Regulate via licensing the sale, possession, and transportation of firearms and ammunition by civilian people in Brazil;
• Repress Crimes against the Environment.
• Manage the national's database of criminal's genetic profiles;
• Prevent and process the violation of human rights and civil rights;
• Investigate and repress money laundering;
• Assist the other Brazilian's police on investigations, when requested
• Run the Witness Protection Program

Comando de Operações Táticas

The Comando de Operações Táticas (COT; English: Tactical Operations Command) of the Federal Police was created in 1987 by the Ministry of Justice through the Federal Police Department – DPF with a mission of responding to terrorist attacks inside the country. To do so, its members were trained in technical and tactical units of the Special Armed Forces in Brazil and abroad – in special units in the U.S., France and Germany (especially by GSG-9). Today, this elite force for armed action plays a large range of operations.

Throughout its existence, the COT has participated in several high risk missions such as drug seizures in the country, expropriation actions, rural conflicts, VIP security, dismantling of criminal organizations, and is commonly used to escort high risk prisoners.

To belong to the COT the applicant must be in the ranks of the Federal Police. The training involving tactical and physical disciplines are practiced with the same intensity of the Training Course of the National Police Academy – ANP, including training by other specialized forces in the country, such as Rio de Janeiro's Military Police elite group called Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais (BOPE) especialized in urban operations.

The headquarters of the COT is in Brasília, in an area of 40 thousand square meters, located in Police Sector South, which sends players on missions to Brazil.

Núcleo Especial de Polícia Marítima

The Special Center of Maritime Police (Núcleo Especial de Polícia Marítima – NEPOM) was created in twelve Brazilian cities in response to the high rate of crime in Brazilian ports, as well as the need to ostensibly patrol to prevent the occurrence of criminal offenses in Amazonian rivers and Brazilian borders (especially Itaipu Lake on the Brazil-Paraguay border). The maritime policing has the latest equipment, recently acquired by the Brazilian government in order to meet the country to the ISPS Code standards (International Ship and Port Facility Security Code).[8] In addition to the routine patrolling, surveillance is carried out in the international traffic in dozens of ships docking and desatracam in major Brazilian ports. Agents of action is also taken around the clandestine coming on board vessels. The Nepom the police receive special training in the Navy of Brazil, and is enabled in the category of Crew of State vessel.

Coordenação de Aviação Operacional – (Aviation Operational Coordination)

The CAOP (Coordenação de Aviação Operacional – Aviation Operational Coordination) is a unit of federal police agents, responsible for transportation policeman to anywhere in the country, besides the air support operations to the Federal Police.

Was established in 1986, because the demand for transportation to any place, quickly, and the need for air support in the actions and tactics without having to depend on the Armed Forces.

In 1995 the corporation had the name of advising operational issues when he received three aircraft, two Bell 412 and an HB-350 Squirrel. Already in 1996 the Office became the Division of Aviation Operations. In the year 1999 the unit won these assignments and in 2001 finally received the current designation of CAOP.

The unit is divided into two squadrons, one fixed-wing and the other rotorcraft.

Equipment

The Federal Police Department issues all agents graduating from the National Police Academy a Glock 17 or Glock 19 or Glock 26 according to the agent's preference. Other equipment include the M4 carbine, HK G36K, HK MP5, HK416, HK417, MSG90, SG 550, Blaser R93 Tactical and the recent acquired H&K MG4.