A “guerra às drogas” e a transnacionalização do policiamento estadunidense no Brasil: as relações entre a Polícia Federal e a DEA nos anos 1990 e 2000

Abstract

The so-called “war on drugs” has, since the 1990s, driving the transnationalization of US policing agencies, such as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). It was interpreted that the gaps between the different national jurisdictions represented an opportunity for transnational crime and, at the same time, a barrier to police action. As a result, the dynamics of policing, whose jurisdiction used to be restricted to national territorial boundaries, have gained transnational reach. Brazil, recognized as one of the most important routes for international drug trafficking in Latin America, has become an important area of policing for the DEA. Between the 1990s and 2000s, the DEA and the Brazilian Federal Police strengthened their relations aiming the drug trafficking control. By promoting assistance programs, training, financing of public policies and joint operations, the DEA managed to influence the Federal Police’s conduct, guidelines, objectives and strategies. Through documentary research and interviews, this work sought to describe the different ways in which the DEA and the Federal Police articulated themselves in this given period, highlighting the asymmetry of power that marked this relationship