Riskline / Country Report / 29 August 2021 BRAZIL Overall risk level Extreme Defer non-essential travel Extremely dangerous and presents unpredic- table security risks Chaotic; travel impossible Overview Emergency Numbers Medical 192 Upcoming Events 07 September 2021 - 08 September 2021 Moderate risk: Rallies expected on Independence Day on 7 September Local sources indicated that truckers plan on rallying in Brasilia on 7 September in a show of support for President Jair Bolsonaro on Independence Day. Similar rallies and celebrations of the day are expected nationwide. 07 September 2021 - 08 September 2021 Medium risk: Pro- and anti-government rallies planned nationwide on 7 September - Update Supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro called for rallies in Brasília and São Paulo's Avenida Paulista to mark Independence Day on 7 September. Counter- demonstrators will protest in São Paulo's Vale do Anhangabaú from 14:00 local time (17:00 GMT), to demand the resignation of President Bolsonaro over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Related rallies and celebrations are expected nationwide. Riskline / Country Report / 29 August 2021 / Brazil 2 Travel Advisories Medium risk: Western Amazon region Travellers are advised to exercise caution when travelling to Brazil's western Amazon region on an ongoing basis because of a migrant crisis and transnational criminal activity. The security situation in Brazil's western Amazon region has deteriorated amid an ongoing economic and political crisis in neighbouring Venezuela. The Venezuelan emigrant population continued to grow during 2019, reaching upwards of 20 percent of the population in Roraima state. Although thousands of Venezuelans have since returned from Brazil to Venezuela due to the COVID-19 outbreak amidst related border closures, around 30,000 others remain in Roraima's capital Boa Vista - many of them on the streets, while unemployment, social unrest, violence and lack of health and education infrastructure are on rise due to the crisis. In 2019, after Venezuelan opposition activists and indigenous leaders planned to send humanitarian aid from Roraima into Venezuela, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro deployed additional security forces on the border in Gran Sabana facing Roraima and ordered a temporary closure of Venezuela's border crossings with Brazil between 21 February and 10 May 2020. At least two people were killed and a dozen others were injured following clashes between protesters and loyalist Venezuelan security forces at the Pacaraima border crossing on 23-24 February. The pre-COVID-19 reopening of the border also eased the availability of electricity and fuel in Pacaraima, whose economy is largely dependent on Venezuelan supply and market. On 28 December 2018, authorities extended the deployment of additional security forces to Roraima – first implemented in August 2018 by former President Michel Temer, to maintain law and order amid a worsening Venezuelan migrant crisis in the state. In addition to providing increased border security, the 600-person strong military contingent is also tasked to protect migrants from violent attacks perpetrated by local residents angry with the instability created by the influx of migrants escaping worsening economic conditions in their country. Roraima is the northernmost and least populated state of Brazil and overall conditions for Brazilians living in the state are generally poor; the increase of immigrants has Riskline / Country Report / 29 August 2021 / Brazil 3 nearly collapsed their already precarious public services and infrastructure, especially healthcare, which is now on the brink of a collapse due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The estimated number of Venezuelans in Brazil reached 265,000 as of January, with some 700 people entering the country daily and the figure likely to increase after Brazil allowed Venezuelans to present any form of ID, even if it has expired, to apply for residence in Brazil in March. In another similar flexibilisation measure, the Brazilian government relaxed restrictions at the Pacaraima border crossing to allow passage for Venezuelans in a state of social vulnerability in June, triggering the arrival of over 4,000 people in 20 days. Most Venezuelans come through the Pacaraima border crossing, while the border city of Pacaraima as well as Roraima's capital Boa Vista and Amazonas and São Paulo states carry a hefty majority of the immigrants. Another worrying issue in the western Amazon region are the illicit activities taking place in the area. The difficult and impenetrable topography along Brazil's lengthy border in the Amazon and Andean regions creates a challenging situation for Brazilian security forces to patrol the border for drug smuggling, illegal mining and other illicit activities effectively, or to prevent the proliferation of armed groups from other countries. Such cross-border crime and drug trafficking occur along the borders with Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. Cocaine seizures have increased particularly on the Bolivian border, with Porto Esperidião and other municipalities across Mato Grosso state being crucial cocaine trafficking routes, and a stronghold of the First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital - PCC) criminal group. Armed Colombian groups regularly cross the Colombia-Brazil border, and at times engage Brazilian security forces in shootouts; there have been several cases of tourists being kidnapped by Colombian paramilitary groups in recent years. Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN) and Brazil's Comando Vermelho criminal group have reportedly joined forces to enable the transport of drugs from Colombia to Manaus, Amazonas state, for further transport. Exercise caution when travelling to Brazil's western Amazon region. Follow all directives issued by local authorities and carry personal, official identification at all times. While foreign nationals are unlikely to be the direct target of any criminal activity or violence associated with it, the risk of incidental or bystander injury is possible. The threat of kidnap, while low, is still apparent. Register travel details with local embassies or consulates and use local reputable guides for travel outside of urban centres. Riskline / Country Report / 29 August 2021 / Brazil 4 Medium risk: Tri-border area of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay Exercise caution for travel to the tri-border area (TBA) of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay until further notice because of transnational criminal activity. The Triple Frontier, or tri-border region, between Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil’s Paraná state is known as a regional hotspot for transnational and international criminal activity such as black market smuggling of various goods, including marijuana and cigarettes from Paraguay and weapons illegally exported from the United States (US) to be re-assembled and sold in the region. In May 2021, authorities implemented a security operation in Paraná state to tackle trafficking and smuggling from Paraguay. Some six billion US dollars are estimated to be laundered in the area annually by organized crime groups. The area has also been designated by all three governments as a region of international terrorist fundraising, especially the city of Ciudad del Este on the Paraguayan side of the border, connecting with Foz do Iguaçu. For years, the Lebanon-based Shi'a Islamist political party and militant group Hezbollah has used the region - home to a significant Arab community of predominately Lebanese origin - to launder money, and also plan attacks both internationally and within South America. While the group carried out two bomb attacks in Argentina in the 1990s, there is no recent evidence to suggest they are actively targeting Argentina, Brazil or Paraguay for imminent or future attacks. However, explosives were seized at a bus terminal in Encarnación, Paraguay, in November 2020. The group has also been linked with the trade of "black cocaine" – cocaine disguised as charcoal, an ideal cover for drug smuggling and terror finance in a region that is a large exporter of charcoal. Although surveillance of the tri-border area was improved in 2002 by the creation of the '3 + 1' Group on Tri-border Area Security, comprised of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and the US, corruption and general lawlessness remains rampant in some pockets, with instability in Venezuela and stepped-up money-laundering enforcement in Panama and the Caribbean increasing the attractiveness of the region as an alternative for transnational criminal organizations looking to launder illicit funds. This has resulted in increased law enforcement pursuits to combat criminal activity as evidenced by a July 2018 operation where USD 10 million were seized by authorities after a money-laundering scheme of a group with reported ties to Hezbollah was detected at a casino in Puerto Iguazú in Argentina. The Brazilian government also extradited on 17 July 2020 Assad Ahmad Barakat, a Riskline / Country Report / 29 August 2021 / Brazil 5 Hezbollah treasurer, to Paraguay, after arresting him in Foz do Iguaçu in September 2018. In August 2021, Paraguayan authorities arrested Kassem Mohamad Hijazi, a Brazilian national of Lebanese origin, accused of money laundering in Ciudad del Este in a joint operation with the United States, where he will be extradited. Despite the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, criminal organisations, including the First Capital Command (PCC), continue to cross the Paraná and Iguazú rivers with small boats or use drones or remote- controlled