Attorney Héctor Sosa Gennaro, an international political analyst with a military background, stated that Paraguay is falling behind in strategy, training, and technology to confront transnational criminal factions such as the PCC and the Comando Vermelho, both designated by the United States as global terrorist organizations.
Sosa explained that the designation was made under the Alien Enemies Act, legislation that empowers the U.S. president to carry out military actions and interventions. Secretary of State Marco Rubio formalized, on May 28, the classification of the two Brazilian groups as foreign terrorist organizations and as specially designated global terrorists — this second category allows for the freezing of accounts and sanctions against countries or authorities linked to these organizations.
The analyst cited the case of Colombia, where President Gustavo Petro and his family had their accounts frozen and their visas revoked. According to his opinion, the volume of money moved by these factions is so large that it could destabilize the U.S. economy, which justifies the severity of the sanctions.
Regarding Paraguay, Sosa stated that the country is directly affected in terms of internal security, since both groups originated in the prison system and have the economic capacity to influence authorities. He criticized the lack of concrete results from the cooperation agreement signed in March between Presidents Santiago Peña and Donald Trump, which provides for technological support and information sharing.
"I have yet to see any benefit or result in terms of security in our country. We bought aircraft, we bought radars, but to this day not a single light aircraft has been intercepted," he stated. He reported that, in a recent operation, two Super Tucano planes escorted a light aircraft for five hours, but the plane managed to take off again with its cargo, allegedly carrying drugs.
Sosa also questioned the absence of a law authorizing the shooting down of aircraft in Paraguay and argued that there is the forced landing procedure, in which the military aircraft positions itself over the small plane to force it to land, without necessarily firing. He also considered it a "shame," in his opinion, the inability to capture the members of the EPP (Paraguayan People's Army), estimated at eight to ten people operating in an area of 10 to 40 km.
Asked whether the agreement with the United States could allow for the sharing of data from the Marset case — Uruguayan national Sebastián Marset, arrested in Paraguay for drug trafficking — Sosa replied that yes, the agreement would allow for this exchange of information.