Brazil’s Federal Police offer Ecuador support tracking criminal rings
Representatives of police forces from 16 Latin American countries met online Friday (Jan. 12) to discuss ways out of the wave of violence plaguing Ecuador.
The extraordinary meeting of the Police Community of the Americas, Ameripol, was called by the director-general of the Brazilian Federal Police, Andrei Rodrigues, who is also the executive secretary of the international organization that brings together the continent’s police bodies.
The public security crisis in Ecuador, which has been going on for several years, stems from the activities of drug trafficking organizations. At least 13 people have died in recent days amid riots, kidnappings, and clashes.
The representatives approved proposals that include the exchange of intelligence to combat organized crime, the provision of equipment, support in identifying prisoners in the Ecuadorian penitentiary system, and the offer of courses on decapitalizing organized crime—one of the specialties of the Brazilian Federal Police.
Office in Ecuador
One of the topics discussed during the assembly alongside Ecuador’s Interior Minister Monica Palencia, was the creation of a Brazilian Federal Police office in the Andean country.
In addition to Federal Police Director-General Andrei Rodrigues, the meeting was attended by Interpol’s vice-President for the Americas Valdecy Urquiza and Fábio Mertens, general coordinator for police cooperation. Also present were representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the president’s Special Advisory Office.
Ameripol’s Constitutional Treaty is fairly recent. It was signed in November last year in Brasília. The organization, whose headquarters are in Bogotá, Colombia, serves as a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the police and security forces across the Americas.
