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Documents signed by Chancellor Mauro Vieira and sent to the Chamber of Deputies point to risk of American military force use in Brazil after the classification of Comando Vermelho and PCC as terrorist organizations by the United States
The diplomatic crisis between Brasília and Washington gained a new chapter this Tuesday, July 7, 2026. As reported by VEJA magazine, in a note sent by the United States Department of State to the report, Donald Trump’s government classified as “absurd” the assessment made by Itamaraty about the risk of the North American country carrying out military operations in Brazilian territory.
The tension arose after Washington decided, in May, to classify the criminal factions Comando Vermelho (CV) and Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) as terrorist organizations. Since then, the topic has dominated the agenda of relations between the two countries, adding to other points of friction that had already been marking Trump’s second term in the White House.
What the document signed by Chancellor Mauro Vieira says
According to official records, the assessment that the United States could employ military force in Brazil did not come from an isolated statement. On the contrary: it is formally recorded in at least two responses from Itamaraty to information requests presented by federal deputies.
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Both documents were signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, who is part of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s team. The most recent one, sent on July 1, is direct in stating the possibility of the American government resorting to military force on Brazilian soil.
In practice, the alert reflects an institutional concern of Itamaraty in light of the classification of the two factions under the United States’ anti-terrorism legislation. After all, this type of classification significantly expands the range of legal and operational instruments available to Washington — including, at least hypothetically, military actions.
The reaction of the American Department of State and what the note sent to VEJA says
However, the American response was not long in coming. In a note sent to the report, the Department of State classified the Brazilian alert as an exaggeration and reaffirmed that its actions against the factions follow exclusively the national sovereignty criteria of the United States.
“There is the possibility of the use of United States military force in Brazilian territory” — this is the excerpt from the most recent Itamaraty document that prompted Washington’s harsher reaction.
According to the American statement, the country is taking measures based on its sovereign prerogatives to combat what it classifies as narco-terrorism. The text further argues that Brazilian factions themselves are already operating within the United States and that the American government is committed to protecting its population from these organizations. Additionally, the State Department suggested that generic warnings about a possible intervention may, in fact, serve as a pretext to benefit violent criminal groups — an interpretation that reverses the original concern expressed by Itamaraty.
Sanctions, classification as a terrorist group, and the backdrop of bilateral tension
Meanwhile, the diplomatic dispute is already producing concrete effects. In the week prior to the case’s repercussion, the United States Treasury Department imposed sanctions against two individuals and three Brazilian companies, accused of having ties with the PCC.
It is worth remembering that the designation of CV and PCC as terrorist organizations, made official by the United States in May, was the trigger for the current controversy. At the time, the measure had already been received with caution by the Brazilian government, which recognizes the seriousness of the factions’ actions but questions the legal and diplomatic effects of a unilateral classification.
Therefore, this Tuesday’s episode reinforces a pattern that has been emerging for months. On one side, the Trump administration is toughening its rhetoric and measures against organized crime with Brazilian roots. On the other, Itamaraty is trying to balance bilateral cooperation in combating crime with the defense of national sovereignty. There are still no signs that the controversy will be resolved in the short term, and the issue is likely to remain at the center of the relationship between Brasília and Washington in the coming weeks.
