Argentina sends soldiers to the border with Brazil after the operation against organized crime in Rio de Janeiro

CNN Español
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Between 150 and 200 Argentine soldiers will reinforce surveillance on the border with Brazil after the extensive operation that the Rio de Janeiro state government launched this week against the criminal group Comando Vermelho (Red Command, in Spanish), the Argentine Ministry of Defense told CNN.

The military is already in the city of Bernardo de Irigoyen, in the province of Misiones – bordering the state of Santa Catarina in Brazil – where they have protection and communications equipment, radars, drones and two support helicopters, the Ministry detailed.

He added that the military is carrying out reconnaissance tasks in the territory and remains in coordination with federal and provincial security forces.

The confirmation of this deployment on the border with Brazil comes hours after the Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich, said that the country is on “maximum alert” to detect if members of the Red Command try to cross into Argentine territory after Operation Containment by the Rio de Janeiro authorities.

In this operation, launched on Tuesday, 2,500 police and military personnel visited two housing complexes in the capital of Rio de Janeiro with the aim of arresting criminal leaders and containing the expansion of the Red Command, one of the main criminal organizations in South America.

Until this Wednesday, the toll of the operation and the violent reaction of the Red Command was 132 people dead, according to the authorities of Rio de Janeiro.

At least 118 weapons were seized in the operation. According to Vinicius Domingos, delegate of the Weapons and Explosives Inspection Coordination of the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro (CFAE), on social networks, one of the rifles found in the possession of the Vermelho Command was a Fal belonging to the Armed Forces of Argentina. There were also two rifles from Venezuela and one from Peru.

Like Argentina, Paraguay also set off alarms after the operation. The National Defense Council said security measures will be strengthened on the border with Brazil.

The president of Paraguay, Santiago Peña, “ordered the alert level to be raised to the maximum throughout the border strip, with emphasis on the departments of Amambay, Canindeyú and Alto Paraná, instructing the reinforcement of personnel and material means of the Armed Forces, the National Police and the Directorate of Migration,” the Presidency said in a statement published on Facebook.

Meanwhile, the operation of the Government of Rio de Janeiro continues to generate reactions.

Judge Alexandre de Moraes, of the Supreme Federal Court, on Wednesday ordered the state authorities to provide explanations on Monday, November 3, about how the operation was carried out, following allegations of a possible disproportionate use of force during these actions.

In addition, analyst Beatriz Miranda, historian and academic, told the podcast And This Is Not All, from Georgetown University, that one of the scenarios after the operation is that the affected criminal organizations seek a “possible revenge” that leads to greater violence.