Brazil Chamber Chief Cancels Committees, Stalling Push to Broaden Terror Law

Overview

• Chamber president Hugo Motta canceled all committee meetings, blocking a CCJ vote on a bill that would classify factionalized traffickers as terrorists.
• Opposition and the agribusiness caucus are pressing to expand the Antiterrorism Law and to target actions by the MST, with some proposals citing prison terms of roughly 12 to 30 years for property invasions.
• The government opposes the broader terrorism label and is advancing an alternative antifaction bill that treats groups like PCC and CV as a qualified criminal organization, with penalties up to 15 years and up to 30 in cases involving homicide.
• A request to combine the opposition’s antiterrorism text with the government’s antifaction proposal is before Motta, drawing resistance from PT leaders who argue the measures are not comparable.
• Nikolas Ferreira is the CCJ rapporteur for the antiterrorism bill, and São Paulo security chief Guilherme Derrite is expected to temporarily reassume his deputy seat to report the text in plenary if it reaches the floor, where urgency has already been granted.