Tensions rise as Brazil reinforces its northern border following US air strikes in Venezuela and the kidnapping of its President Nicolas Maduro.
Printed On 8 Jan 2026
Sao Paulo, Brazil – Brazil plans to ship nationwide guard troops to northern Roraima state, which borders Venezuela and has a powerful presence of unlawful armed teams who site visitors medication and mine illegally on either side of the worldwide boundary, in response to a authorities decree.
In an official decree revealed on Thursday, the federal government authorised an unspecified variety of Nationwide Public Safety Drive (FNSP) troops to be despatched to Pacaraima, in addition to Roraima’s capital, Boa Vista, about 213km (132 miles) from the border.
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The transfer comes after the US on Saturday bombed Venezuela and kidnapped its president, Nicolas Maduro. On Sunday, Brazil temporarily closed its border with Venezuela close to Pacaraima.
The decree stated the FNSP will assist the state’s public safety companies and function in methods “important to the preservation of public order and the protection of individuals and property”.
Brazilian media reported on Wednesday that Venezuela was reinforcing its army presence on the border, and a number of armed teams, together with Venezuelan colectivos and Brazilian gangs just like the First Capital Command (PCC) and the Pink Command (CV), function within the space.
Gimena Sanchez, Andes director for the Washington Workplace on Latin America (WOLA), informed Al Jazeera that Brazil’s deployment of guard troops to the border is an “acceptable transfer”. She stated that violence brought on by Colombian insurgent teams energetic in Venezuela is pushing the inhabitants additional south in the direction of Brazil.
She added it “is sensible [for Brazil] to bolster the border”, however famous there nonetheless has notbeen a mass displacement of Venezuelans.
Brazil has been a fierce critic of the US assaults. On the social media platform X, its president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, stated the US had crossed an “unacceptable line”.
Requested whether or not President Lula’s feedback may provoke Washington, Sanchez stated that the US is extra involved with Cuba, Mexico and Colombia for the time being. “On condition that context and likewise that some European nations as effectively condemned it, I don’t suppose Brazil is vulnerable to being the main target of ire of the Trump administration,” she concluded.
