Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06SAOPAULO865
2006-08-07 19:42:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Consulate Sao Paulo
Cable title:  

PRE-FATHER'S DAY ATTACKS IN SAO PAULO BY PCC

Tags:  PGOV KCRM CASC ASEC SNAR SOCI BR 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO3124
OO RUEHRG
DE RUEHSO #0865/01 2191942
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 071942Z AUG 06
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5561
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 6636
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 3062
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 7338
RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 2701
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 2379
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 2092
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ 2945
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 1817
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUMIAAA/USCINCSO MIAMI FL
RUEAWJC/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEABND/DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMIN HQ WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SAO PAULO 000865 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR DS/IP/WHA, DS/ICI/PII, DS/DSS/OSAC, WHA/BSC
NSC FOR FEARS
DEA FOR OEL/DESANTIS AND NIRL/LEHRER
DEPT ALSO FOR WHA/PDA, DRL/PHD, INL, DS/IP/WHA, DS/DSS/ITA
BRASILIA FOR RSO AND LEGAT; RIO DE JANEIRO FOR RSO
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KCRM CASC ASEC SNAR SOCI BR
SUBJECT: PRE-FATHER'S DAY ATTACKS IN SAO PAULO BY PCC

REF: (A) SAO PAULO 771; (B) SAO PAULO 573; (C) SAO PAULO 742

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SAO PAULO 000865

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR DS/IP/WHA, DS/ICI/PII, DS/DSS/OSAC, WHA/BSC
NSC FOR FEARS
DEA FOR OEL/DESANTIS AND NIRL/LEHRER
DEPT ALSO FOR WHA/PDA, DRL/PHD, INL, DS/IP/WHA, DS/DSS/ITA
BRASILIA FOR RSO AND LEGAT; RIO DE JANEIRO FOR RSO
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KCRM CASC ASEC SNAR SOCI BR
SUBJECT: PRE-FATHER'S DAY ATTACKS IN SAO PAULO BY PCC

REF: (A) SAO PAULO 771; (B) SAO PAULO 573; (C) SAO PAULO 742

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY.


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Sao Paulo residents awoke Monday morning,
August 7, to reports of yet another round of bus burnings and bomb
and gun attacks against police targets orchestrated by the organized
crime ring PCC. Twenty-seven attacks were reported in greater Sao
Paulo by the office of the state Secretary of Public Security, with
five more in the interior of the state. Officials also reported two
suspects were killed and two others arrested. We also have an
unconfirmed report on Monday afternoon that a riot has broken out at
a prison near Guarulhos International Airport. These attacks may
foretell a new wave of violence to coincide with the Brazilian
Father's Day holiday weekend August 12-13, and may have been a
reaction to rumors that the state government will try to prevent the
normal release of thousands of prisoners for the holiday weekend.
The state government of Sao Paulo recently began leasing helicopters
from the Army, and the federal Ministry of Justice has again offered
up federal troops to combat the PCC, which the governor of Sao Paulo
continues to decline. Post will convene an Emergency Action
Committee (EAC) meeting on Tuesday, August 8, to monitor and
evaluate the situation. END SUMMARY.

--------------
HERE WE GO AGAIN
--------------


2. (SBU) In the early morning hours of Monday, August 7, elements
of the organized crime gang First Capital Command (PCC) launched
another series of attacks against law enforcement facilities and
other civilian targets. This is the third wave of violence since
May (reftels),when what began as a series of Mother's Day prison
revolts quickly engulfed the city in several days of urban warfare
between the PCC and the law enforcement community. The attacks this

morning were relatively restrained compared to the attacks in May
and July. The most serious was a home-made bomb that destroyed a
doorway to a state government office building located in the city's
center, and which also shattered windows of several buildings
nearby. A similar bomb damaged the office of the state revenue
service. Passengers in a car shot at a police station in the
southern zone of Sao Paulo, and two cars used by detectives were
torched at the headquarters of the police division that investigates
organized crime (DEIC).


3. (SBU) In addition to the attacks on law enforcement targets,
fifteen buses were torched in several areas of the greater Sao Paulo
metropolitan area, and several businesses were attacked, including
banks and ATM machines, a supermarket and two gas stations in the
affluent neighborhood of Higienopolis, which lies less than two
miles from the Jardins neighborhood where approximately half of the
Consulate's American employees and their families live. At
mid-morning the state Secretariat for Public Security (SSP) reported
27 attacks throughout greater Sao Paulo, and five more in the
interior of the state. Officials also said that police killed two
suspects associated with the attacks and arrested two others.


4. (SBU) Also, as of Monday afternoon, we have received an
unconfirmed report that a riot has broken out at a prison near
Guarulhos International Airport. We will report on this further as
warranted.

--------------
ANOTHER MASS PRISON FURLOUGH PENDING
--------------


5. (SBU) We have reason to suspect that Monday's attacks may be a
reaction to rumors that the state government may try to block the
release of prisoners for the upcoming Father's Day holiday weekend,
August 12-13. State Prison Administration officials recently told
Poloff that, by national law, prisons must release certain inmates
incarcerated in "semi-open" facilities for weekend furloughs

SAO PAULO 00000865 002 OF 002


coinciding with five holidays each year. "Semi-open" facilities are
those that are essentially "minimum security" and which do not have
security features such as outside walls with catwalks and guard
towers, and that are not guarded or patrolled by special units of
the Military Police (PM). The release of 12,000 inmates -- many of
them PCC members -- on furlough for Mother's Day contributed greatly
to the spread of violence against police in May. It is still
unclear if or how any government office would attempt to revoke
prison releases for this Father's Day. Prison officials told Poloff
that press reports suggesting that police had received intelligence
that the PCC was planning "super rebellions" in the state's prisons
were false, and that, as of July 28, the Prison Administration had
no information that any disturbance was being planned for Father's
Day.

--------------
FEDS INDIMIDATED TOO
--------------


6. (SBU) Even Brazil's federal Minister of Justice, Marcio Thomaz
Bastos, admitted on Monday that "like any citizen," he was
frightened by Monday's attacks, and that he is "intimidated" by the
strength of the PCC. Speaking to reporters at a public event, he
again offered the use of Brazilian armed forces to help the state of
Sao Paulo combat the PCC. He elaborated that the force would not be
just troops, but also equipment such as aircraft and specially
"prepared contingency plans." He also suggested that some of Sao
Paulo's prisoners could be transferred to the new federal prison in
Catanduvas, Parana State, and that the governor should create a
position in the state government for a federal overseer of a joint
task force for public security. While insisting that Sao Paulo's
governor, Claudio Lembo of the opposition Liberal Front Party (PFL)
was "absolutely loyal" to the people of Sao Paulo, Bastos also
emphasized that, in the face of a grave threat to public security,
it is important that officials avoid "electoral warfare" to the
benefit of criminals. He added that officials need to work in an
"impersonal, republican" manner, and not dispute their differences
of opinion regarding security matters on television.


7. (SBU) Sao Paulo State has received a boost in its crime-fighting
capacity from the federal government, first in the form of two Army
helicopters that will be used to ferry elite police units to
hotspots and prison riots. Also, the federal government will give
Sao Paulo State nearly $500,000 to study the way in which the state
processes prisoners. The study is intended to take one year, and
may be duplicated in other states.

--------------
COMMENT: ANTICIPATING FATHER'S DAY
--------------


8. (SBU) COMMENT: Monday's violence may have been meant to be a
harbinger of things to come this weekend if state security agencies
try to block the customary prisoner release for Father's Day. Or,
it may have been the opening salvo in a new wave of violence, or
even a reaction to the killing of drug trafficker Jose Renato da
Silva Ferreira, aka "Batata," in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday, August

5. Regardless, we continue to monitor this situation, and are
seeking clearer indications as to what, if any, violence is likely
to occur in the coming week and through Brazil's Father's Day
weekend. As Monday morning's PCC attacks prove once again, the
organization is capable of moving quickly and forcefully, but
luckily for most Sao Paulo residents, also with relatively measured
results. Post will convene an EAC meeting on Tuesday, August 8, to
monitor and evaluate the situation. END COMMENT.

MCMULLEN