A leading Brazilian politician will present a bill Monday calling for Colombian FARC rebels to be classified as “terrorists.”
Otavio Leite, deputy leader of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB), says his bill was sparked by fears that the FARC will attack Brazil while it hosts the football World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016.
His government, which shares a 1,025 mile border with Colombia, does not currently consider the leftist rebel group as a terrorist organization — unlike the United States and Europe.
Leite will “request that [the bill] be examined with urgency,” spokesperson Manuel Martinez told AFP Friday. The politicians is worried about “the constant FARC incursions in the country, the trafficking of drugs to Rio, and the slavery of indigenous Brazilians” by the guerrilla group.
Leite has catalogued various acts committed by the Colombian guerrilla group in Brazil, aiming to highlight the need for a “definitive classification of the type of danger that this represents to Brazilians,” said the politician in a press release.
He said the bill is fundamental for Brazil to be able to finalize investment in territorial, maritime and aerial defense projects currently underway.
