Brazil: Government sends National Force to Amazonas state

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian Ministry of Justice and Public Safety has authorized the National Public Safety Force to operate in the state of Amazonas for 90 days.

The decision – signed by the ministry’s executive secretary, Antônio Ramirez Lorenzo – was published on Friday, June 10, in the Diário Oficial da União.

The document does not state whether the agents deployed to the Amazon will help search for the British journalist Dom Phillips and the indigenous activist Bruno Pereira, who have been missing since June 5 in the Vale do Javari region.

According to the document, the National Force will assist Operation Harpoon I “in actions to combat organized crime, drug trafficking, and environmental crimes, in the channel of the Negro and Solimões rivers.

It will also act “in activities and services essential to the preservation of public order and the safety of people and property.”

The ministry also extended for another 90 days the use of the National Force in Boa Vista and Pacaraima in Roraima state. The order was published in the Official Federal Gazette (DOU) on Friday, June 10, signed by Minister Anderson Torres (Justice and Public Safety).

As in Amazonas, the action aims to assist “in activities and services essential to preserving public order and protecting people and property.”

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