Terrorism in Brazil has occurred since at least the 1940s by Japanese terrorists. During the Brazilian military government, all opposition to the military regime was termed "terrorism". Islamic terror groups have also been active in Brazil.
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Shindo Renmei
The Shindo Renmei were a Japanese-Brazilian terror organization whose attacks were focused on resistance to the Japanese surrender at the end of World War Two; attacks were perpetrated against other Japanese-Brazilians.
Islamic terror groups
According to the Brazilian Federal Police, at least seven Islamic terror groups operate in Brazil:
These groups operate inside the national territory and most are also known to operate on the border of Paraguay and Argentina with Brazil.
Under the Brazilian military government
During the Brazilian military government from 1964 to 1985, terrorism was a term frequently used by the state. All forms of opposition to the military regime was considered as forms of terrorism; opposition members were termed "terrorists."
While an incident of right-wing terrorism occurred in 1981, known as the Riocentro 1981 May Day Attack.
Present
On 21 July 2016, two weeks before the scheduled start of the Olympic Games, Brazilian Federal Police busted an Islamic jihadist terrorist ring plotting to wreak havoc in a manner similar to the 1972 Munich massacre. 10 people allied with ISIS were arrested and two more are on the run. Additionally the terror group has been aggressively encouraging lone wolf attacks to target athletes from the UK, US, France and Israel, suggesting the use of poisons or explosives attached to drones.
Responses and counterterrorism efforts
The Brazil government has four pieces of terrorism legislation pending in Congress:
Criticism
There is a large concentration of Middle Eastern immigrants in the area near the Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil border. Some authorities monitoring the area have stated that Brazil should participate more in the international fight against terrorism.