Brazil, 12 other countries establish police organization

Brazil and 12 other countries on the American continent have signed the Treaty for the Constitution of the Police Community of America—Ameripol—which will act along the lines of the Interpol organization.

The signing nations include Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Haiti, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay.

This treaty enables information exchange, the establishment of joint investigation teams, and collaboration with other international police blocs, such as Interpol, in the fight against transnational organized crime.

The Brazilian Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, pointed out that Ameripol will work mainly on the internet to curb the actions of criminal organizations. "Transnational cooperation is not a choice, it's an imposition," he said during the signing ceremony held at the ministry on Thursday (Nov. 9).

Police chief Andrei Rodrigues, Director-General of Brazil's Federal Police and the designated Secretary General of Ameripol, anticipates it becoming the world's third-largest police bloc after Interpol and Europol—the European Union's agency for police cooperation.

Plans for Ameripol include establishing anti-drug and anti-human trafficking units to combat human trafficking and immigrant smuggling in Brazil and Colombia, respectively, as well as a human rights office to be set up in December and a virtual network against terrorism, violent radicalism, and hate crimes in 2024. Ameripol's headquarters will be situated in Bogotá, Colombia.

For Ameripol's temporary president, Argentine general Andrés Severino, the exchange of information will be essential to transcend cultural and geographical differences and ensure the integration of the countries' security forces.