Brazil advocates integration of security data with Mercosur
When announcing the cooperation agreement with security ministers from Mercosur countries to strengthen the fight against human trafficking, Brazilian Minister of Justice and Public Security Ricardo Lewandowski in Brasília on Thursday (Nov. 13) defended the integration of data with the nations that make up the bloc. 
He recalled that the Anti-Gang Bill (Lei Antifacção in the original Portuguese), currently being discussed in a lower house committee, stipulates the creation of a national database on organized crime.
“I am convinced that this commission will evolve to create a regional database on criminals, especially gang members, those who are members of criminal organizations,” he added.
Integration is key
Paraguayan Interior Minister Enrique Escudero told Agência Brasil that this is the key to combating organized crime. He believes that agreements with Mercosur countries will be expanded and that this is the way to tackle criminal organizations.
“More than just confronting them, we need to be more creative and faster, because otherwise it’s an asymmetrical fight,” said the Paraguayan minister, who will be the pro tempore president of the group of ministers responsible for public security.
“Defenseless people”
Still regarding the accord unveiled to fight human trafficking, the Brazilian minister pointed out that this is an important step forward against the scourge that victimizes the countries of the bloc. “Now we have a cooperation instrument to combat this crime because it is often directed against defenseless people,” he stated.
Lewandowski mentioned that a Mercosur commission and strategy against transnational organized crime had also been created.
“[This is] a strategy with short-, medium-, and long-term goals that will allow for even greater integration among Mercosur member states,” he declared.
Another deal was a joint declaration for the security of the bi-oceanic corridor, which will connect the Atlantic to the Pacific by land and waterway. A declaration on the surveillance of crimes affecting the environment was also signed.
No one can do it alone
Argentina’s Secretary of National Security Alejandra Montioliva also stated in a presser that no country can effectively combat organized crime on its own.
“Coordinating responses in our countries requires cooperation and integration. This cooperation must be technically and politically feasible. Without this, it is impossible,” she said.
Lewandowski said that cooperation agreements represent a declaration of intent and are being translated into concrete actions and programs that are being developed by teams from the countries. The Paraguayan minister added that the bloc’s authorities have been getting up to speed as organized crime has adopted practices that were unimaginable 30 years ago.
