President Lula (PT) on Tuesday (2) called the President of the United States, Donald Trump, a call in which they discussed the fight against organized crime. Without referring to his country’s interference in Venezuela, the Brazilian requested US cooperation in this issue.
Tuesday’s call, which lasted 40 minutes, also covered topics related to the trade and economic agenda, according to Planalto. Lula said the US decision to remove additional 40% tariffs imposed on some Brazilian products, such as meat, coffee and fruit, was “very positive.”
A memorandum from the Brazilian government stated, “(Lula) highlighted the recent operations carried out by the federal government in Brazil with the aim of financially stifling organized crime and identified the branches operating from abroad. President Trump affirmed his full readiness to work with Brazil and that he will provide full support for joint initiatives between the two countries to confront these criminal organizations.”
The two presidents agreed to talk again soon about progress on these initiatives.
The United States has continued its anti-drug operation in the Caribbean since August, according to a letter from Maduro issued on Sunday (30). The American mobilization includes ships, fighters, thousands of soldiers, and the largest aircraft carrier in the world. Caracas says the maneuvers are not aimed at combating drug trafficking, but rather at overthrowing the regime.
In a November 21 phone call with Venezuela’s dictator Nicolas Maduro, Trump reportedly rejected a series of requests he made. This call came after months of increasing American pressure on the Latin country.
In the phone call on Tuesday, Lula also returned to dealing with tariffs, explaining that there are still other products subject to tariffs that need to be discussed between the two countries, and stressed Brazil’s intention to move quickly in these negotiations.
A document from Abyan (the Brazilian intelligence agency) this week on the institution’s challenges for the coming year indicated that foreign interference and organized crime actions pose risks to the 2026 electoral process.
The conclusions are contained in the document “Intelligence Challenges – 2026 Edition”, a report in which Abyan presents to the community and authorities his assessment of the direct and indirect risks to the country’s security in the coming year.
The anti-organized crime agenda gained more political strength after the massive security operation that took place in Rio de Janeiro, which left 121 people dead. On that occasion, Governor Claudio Castro clashed with the federal government, alleging a lack of support from Lula’s administration for public security in the states.
In response, the government attempted to accelerate the progress of agendas formulated by the Workers’ Party administration in the National Congress.
The main flagship is the Public Security PEC, proposed by Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski, which focuses the executive branch on certain security guidelines that states must follow. The agenda suffers from conservative resistance.
Besides, the Antifaction PL was one of the main objects of conflict and political debate between the government and the opposition, after the changes made to Lewandowski’s text by Rapporteur Guilherme Diret (PP-SP), licensed Security Secretary of Tarcisio de Freitas (Republicans).