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Violence In Rio de Janeiro: Utilizing Local Favelas to Build Peace
A view from the Favela da Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro (taken by Eric Schockmel from Eschock)
Mason Drastal Localizing Peace Professor Said 5/5/10
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Introduction: !
Brazil has long been know for its pristine beaches, warm atmosphere, and
diverse society. The beginning of the twenty-first century has witnessed the emergence of Brazil as a prominent role within the global elite. This advancement has created much prosperity, and has thrown the country into the international media’s spotlight. Securing the bids for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics has further increased the amount of attention it receives. As a result of this, many nations are concerned with the high levels of violence associated with some of the host cities. The most prominently discussed city regarding this issue is Rio de Janeiro, !
Rio de Janeiro currently experiences some of the highest crime, homicide, and
poverty rates in all of Brazil. The majority of these issues reside in the favelas, or shantytowns, that are located in and around the city. While presidents and policymakers have tried to combat the violence within the favelas, mainly caused by gangs and the drug trade, little progress has occurred from this top to bottom approach. One of the difficulties with this is the broad range of problems that need to be addressed, including drug trafficking, street children, and economic mobility for residents. With over five-hundred favelas within the borders of Rio, these individual “communities� each have their own distinct characteristics that make them unique. A new method for ending the notorious violence of the favelas needs to be explored; to utilize a customized community-building approach that would actively involve the residents in creating sustainable peace from the grassroots level upwards. The main factors affecting this issue will be explained, as well as the combination of methods that would be used to correct the problems.
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History Of The Favela In Rio: !
Favelas have over a hundred year history within Brazil, and have been
incorporated in many of its modern cities. They first started in appear in the end of the nineteenth century as a result of ex-soldiers, ex-slaves, and poor rural migrants land was taken, forcing them to become squatters.1 The wealthier class of Brazilians deplored favelas from their establishment, and viewed them as an eyesore and a hinderance to a civil society. The removal of the favelas was seen as the only means available for the remodeling Rio de Janeiro in 1927, which was the capital of Brazil at that time, and the first houses were built two years later on the Morro da Rocinha.2 Demolition of the favelas was again reconsidered by officials in 1937. Furthermore, the territories of the favelas were not included on the city map, and they were still referred to as an “urban aberration” by the city. This demonstrates the deeply rooted stereotypes and discrimination residents endured by other Cariocas, or natives of Rio, and their lack of natural rights that were suppressed by the government. !
Over time, the favelas experienced a little more interaction with the rest of the
city and the government. The first population census of the favelas was carried out in 1948, and reported that there were, “109 different favelas with 138,837 inhabitants, or 7 percent of the city population.”3 The favela residents, also known as Favelados, slowly began to resist their oppression and assert themselves. The formation of the Colligation of the Favelados in 1957 resulted in a stronger social class representing the residents,
1
Clarissa Huguet and Ilona Szabó de Carvalho. “Violence in the Brazilian favelas and the role of the police.” New Directions for Youth Development 2008, no. 199 (Fall 2008): 94 2
Ibid., 95.
3
Ibid.
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which coerced the government into recognizing their status among the other Cariocas.4 It also pressured the Legislative Assembly into allocating three percent of the state budget to improve the quality of life in the favelas. It was, and continues to be, very difficult for many of the favelas to get access to basic human needs and services such as, “running drinking water, electricity, garbage removal, day care centers, and counseling for domestic violence, sexual abuse, teenage pregnancy, and drug and alcohol addiction.”5 !
The change of governments in Brazil also influenced how favelas were dealt
with. In 1979, the military government, which came to power in 1964, decided to create a habitation program called Promorar that helped with issues such as basic sanitation and property titles.6 A register of all the favelas of Rio was also made during that same year to help further development. This shift in policy reveals the government’s realization that the only solution to addressing the favelas is to accept and incorporate them into the city itself instead of attempting to forcibly remove them. The Brazilian government today still continues this approach in many aspects, and has even included the reurbanization of several slums of Rio in its growth acceleration program.7 While these programs have improved a number of issues facing the Favelados, there still continues to be much violence perpetuating the problems. The underlying drivers that are causing the violence need to resolved within each favela in order to promote a positive change for all of Rio de Janeiro. 4
Ibid., 95-96.
5
Anton Foek. “Rio de Janeiro: Microcosm of the Future.” Humanist 65, no. 4 (July 2005): 33.
6
Clarrissa Huguet. “Violence in the Brazilian favelas and the role of the police.” 96.
7
Ibid., 97.
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Gangs And The Drug Trade: !
Gangs and drug trafficking play very prominent functions in the favelas, and are
undoubtedly the largest, most influential drivers of violence in Rio. According to leading Brazilian newspapers, over the past twenty years there have been 700,000 fatalities in all of Brazil as a result of conflicts between gangs and police.8 Equally surprising is that, “More people under the age of twenty-six are killed by guns each year in Rio than in many designated war zones.”9 These staggering statistics demonstrate just how prevalent gangs and the drug trade are in directly affecting society. However, these two components can be remedied by utilizing local tools and resources. Alba Zaluar, a Full Professor of Anthropology at the Institute of Social Medicine in the State University of Rio de Janeiro, says that, “As yet, no projects have envisaged the pacification of gang warfare or the troubled young men who live at the cutting edge, killing and being killed because of it.”10 While this is a very startling fact, it also offers much hope that solving these conflicts might yield an enormous advancement to achieving localized peace within the favelas. !
Trafficking the drugs is an intricate process that involved multiple international
exchanges. “Colombian cocaine paste is smuggled into Rio where it is manufactured into cocaine and either distributed throughout Brazil or exported via the Amazon to Europe and the United States.”11 The money earned from drug sales allows gangs to
8
Anton Foek. “Rio de Janeiro: Microcosm of the Future.” 31.
9
Ibid., 32.
10
Alba Zaluar. “Violence in Rio de Janeiro: styles of leisure, drug use, and trafficking.” International Social Science Journal 53, no. 169 (September 2001): 376. 11
Anton Foek. “Rio de Janeiro: Microcosm of the Future.” 32.
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purchase weapons from Eastern Europe, many of which are more advanced than those used by the Brazilian authorities. The drug trade also has a miscellany of social areas that it influences within the favelas as well. Many teenagers are employed by gangs to guard the territories, wrongfully believing that the police won’t harm children.12 This brings children into the cycle of violence, primarily caused by gang life, and creates even more problems that will affect them and the government in the future. !
Many factors must be considered when formulating a plan for localizing peace,
including theGangs’ influence on favelas and how to remove them from the community. There are four main criminal rings in Rio today; Comando Vermelho Jovem, Amigos dos Amigos, and the oldest two being Comando Vermelho and Terceiro Comando.13 One role that the gangs have is an authoritative presence in the community, since the position largely remains unfulfilled by the government. It has been suggested that, “‘local gangs provide a parallel state structure and alternative rule of law’ offering ‘housing and employment and help in times of trouble.’”14 Furthermore, “ The problems that favelas pose stem from the breakdown of the state’s ability to enforce order in these communities and the emergence of alternative, parallel, structures of political power.”15 The power vacuum caused by the lack of involvement by government authorities caused residents to seek aid from drug gangs, thereby establishing the gang’s status within the favela. While this allows a certain degree of “security” for
12
Ibid.
13
Ibid., 371.
14
Enrique Desmond Arias. “The Dynamics of Criminal Governance: Networks and Social Order in Rio de Janeiro.” Journal of Latin American Studies 38, no. 2 (May 2006): 295 15
Ibid.
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residents, it also imposes the gangs hierarchal system to the favela. This means that residents are expected to respect drug dealers, and even local girls and women were expected not to turn down drug dealers advances for fear of possible danger.16 It is quite apparent that favela residents have to make sacrifices to appease the gangs that are supposed to be helping them, thereby accepting what some might consider the lesser of two evils. !
In order to maintain control over designated areas, drug lords are forced to abide
by clientelism, a social order that depends upon relations of patronage.17 This often involves relations with a multitude of various individuals in both the formal and informal spheres of influence. By having contacts with politicians and other officials, traffickers are able to obtain resources to provide basic welfare to favela residents. Also, “Residents’ support, and bribes to police, buy traffickers the security to continue operating and creates a system of localized criminal dominance.”18 As a result of the network of relations, drug traffickers act as a type of political actor for the favelas even though residents aren’t able to express their political opinions. !
One of the most important relations traffickers make is with the presidents of
Associações de Moradores, also known as the Residents’ Associations or AMs for short. The presidents of the AMs throughout Rio: “...serve as critical mediators by smoothing difficult relations between residents and traffickers and deploying various political strategies on behalf of traffickers and
16
R. Ben Penglase. “The Shutdown of Rio de Janeiro.” Anthropology Today 21, no. 5 (October 2005): 5
17
New Oxford Dictionary. University Oxford Press Inc., 2005.
18
Enrique Desmond Arias. “The Dynamics of Criminal Governance: Networks and Social Order in Rio de Janeiro.” 298.
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favela residents. This mediation is especially important since traffickers must operate within local norms of honour and reciprocity in order to retain residents’ support.”19 This is an extremely valuable resource that can be utilized to directly interrupt the traffickers access to legitimacy within the community. The presidents of AMs could choose not to provide the needed link for the drug lords, and instead work with the residents to improve their standard of living. In Minding the Heart, Professor Abdul Said writes, “Leadership is the empowerment of people...The only way to keep power and control is to give it away.”20 This concept, if applied to the presidents of AMs, could not only curtail the influence gangs have in favelas, but also invigorate Favelados into becoming personally invested in their own neighborhoods, as well as assuming leadership positions within their communities.
The Role Of The Police: !
The police force has a role in both preventing and causing violence in the favelas
of Rio. This can be directly attributed to the inherent structural violence embedded within Brazil’s police force. This concept is elaborated upon in the book Keeping the Peace. The authors, Graham Kemp and Douglas P. Fry, explore the difference between structural and direct violence, and their affect on creating either positive or negative peace. They state that, “Structural violence is ‘built into the [political, economic, and cultural] structures’...and has the same ability to harm but operates at a slower
19
Ibid., 299.
20
Abdul Said. “Chapter 10: Freedom Is Continuous Detachment And Response.” Minding the Peace.
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pace...Structural violence is somehow invisible, although its effect are not.”21 This is an exceptionally important concept to understand, because in Brazil, “The particular forms of violent localized authority are not generalized across the region but, rather, are embedded within the social, political and economic dynamics operating in discrete places.”22 The article entitled, “Violence in the Brazilian favelas and the role of the police,” by Clarisaa Huguet and Ilona Szabó de Carvalho, investigate structural violence within Brazil. They show that, “Although most of the favela residents are honest and hard-working people, the association between living in favelas, criminality, and the drug trafficking is extended to all poor Brazilian, in effect criminalizing poverty.”23 This stereotype subjects residents to inhumane treatment from both corrupt police officers and drug traffickers. It also strengthens the engrained social hierarchy, thereby limiting the social mobility of the poor. !
Corruption within the police force is also a concern that would need to be
addressed. Amnesty International even realized that, “‘the high rates of collusion with drug gangs, either to supplement meagre wages or as a means of self-protection, has seen police increasingly involved in criminal activity.’”24 Police also have a long history of performing human rights abuses as well. The police in the state of Rio killed ninehundred civilians in 2002.25 Paulo, a local aid worker in the favela Rocinha who’s two 21
Graham Kemp and Douglas P. Fry. Keeping the Peace: Conflict Resolution and Peaceful Societies Around the World. Routledge, New York: 2004. 13. 22
Enrique Desmond Arias. “The Dynamics of Criminal Governance: Networks and Social Order in Rio de Janeiro.” 324. 23
Clarissa Huguet and Ilona Szabó de Carvalho. “Violence in the Brazilian favelas and the role of the police.” 94. 24
Ibid., 101.
25
R. Ben Penglase. “The Shutdown of Rio de Janeiro.” 6.
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sons were killed by the police, says that, “People in the favelas are extremely unhappy with the current situation. They want change—less violence and more peace—so they can develop their own, better life and lifestyles in poverty but with dignity.”26 The police would arguably approve of an alternate solution as they have to endure their comrades being killed each week. !
This new alternative would be based on the division of the Rio Military Police
called GPAE, or Grupamento de Policiamento em Áreas Especiais. Founded in July 2000 with the support of the civil society organization Viva Rio, it is able to patrol a welldefined and fairly isolated violent community while reporting back to the Central Command.27 With a main goal of reducing violence, GPAE follows three rules that is openly publicized with the community; prohibition of the use of arms in the community, of children’s involvement in drug dealing, and of police violence and police corruption.28 A key element in the design of this division is its belief that, “the police should be associated with the social values recognized and approved by the community.”29 Additionally, the GPAE officers are specifically trained in a comunity-friendly approach. The GPAE commander also meets with, “community leaders to discuss their social claims, such as better provisions of public services, infrastructure, and activities for children and youth, among others.”30 This bond between authorities and residents enables open communication from which the concerns of the residents can be voiced. 26
Anton Foek. “Rio de Janeiro: Microcosm of the Future.” 32.
27
Clarissa Huguet and Ilona Szabó de Carvalho. “Violence in the Brazilian favelas and the role of the police.” 103. 28
Ibid.
29
Ibid.
30
Ibid., 104.
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!
The creation of the GPAE has revolutionized the policing of the favelas. It has
allowed for a drastic decrease in violence, strengthening of the community, and opening of social opportunities. From this success, “a community council was created, with the voluntary participation of every group in the community, to meet monthly with GPAE, identify problems, and propose solutions.”31 Most astounding is that in the first two years of the program, shoot-outs ended and homicides were reduced to zero. The success of this program is largely due to the trust it has established with the favela residents, particularly regarding police behavior. The consistent punishment for police misconduct, which can include their expulsion from the program has allowed for a decrease in corruption, and an increase in respect.32 This, coupled with the formal recognition to the community council, has allowed the GPAE to gain a very high amount of credibility and produce some very impressive results. If this initiative could be taken within each of the favelas, the potential for achieving “positive peace” would be exceptionally high.
Children And Brazilian Youth: !
The youth of Rio play an extremely important role, and act as the catalysts for the
social mobility and advancement of their generation. Of the city’s six million population, around 340,000 children under the age of eighteen reside in favelas, and between 1,000 to 3,000 children live on the street.33 This large number of children not only
31
Ibid., 105.
32
Ibid.
33
Udi Mandel Butler. “Freedom, Revolt and ‘Citizenship’: Three pillars of identity for youngsters living on the streets of Rio de Janeiro.” Childhood 16, no. 1 (February 2009): 16.
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representative of the lower class, but of an entire generation that is being neglected. Many kids end up on the street as a result of violence in the home, incidents of prison, or death of members of the family.34
They earn money by shining shoes, selling
goods, juggling at traffic lights, begging, and stealing.35 The street lifestyle quickly seizes the children into a cycle of poverty and violence, severely limiting opportunities for advancement within Brazilian society. !
As the kids begin to adapt to life on the street, “the links of the child or adolescent
with the family become more fragile and their community becomes more distant as their connection to the street becomes more solid.�36 The disconnect from the community is further enhanced by the kids not possessing any forms of legal identification. From the state’s perspective, the children have no real, valid identity. It also places them at risk from state violence, and they are often considered a criminal if they cannot prove who they are or whether they are employed.37 Also, if they become involved in gang activity, then that directly fuels violence from drug traffickers and further continues the cycle of violence. !
One of the most important ways this issue is being resolved is by improving the
access and quality of educational sources for children in favelas. The NGO Viva Rio has developed a series of primary and secondary education courses outside of schools that helps youth at risk. The primary function of these more than three hundred courses
34
Ibid.
35
Ibid., 19
36
Ibid., 18.
37
Ibid., 25.
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is to link education with survival on the job market.38 Viva Rio’s programs have also been introduced to Rio’s military police since they too are under-educated, and face similar forms of conflict as Favelados. The programs also try to, “promote a sense of citizenship and human rights among street youth and military police.”39 A consequence of the programs is that it helps to redefine Rio’s structural violence and the leaderfollower relationship, as defined by Margaret Power, between the police and youth, making both parties more receptive to one another. This also results in the inclusion of youth as a marginalized group in creating positive, sustainable peace within their favela. !
The importance of education cannot be stressed enough in creating a more
harmonious society. Quantitative data shows that the, “lack of education amongst 15-20 year olds has coincided with a skyrocketing homicide rate for the same age group.”40 Programs like the ones started by Viva Rio need to be supported and expanded to incorporate more favelas. Other programs have also been successful in promoting education and deterring violence. A children’s center in Maracana, one of Rio’s poorest neighborhoods, has implemented an after-school program to keep kids off the street until the parents can pick them up after work. This service, which watches the children from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., is very important since, “Research shows after-school hours as a prime time for children to become involved with drugs or be victimized by violence.”41 An important aspect about this program is the incentive it places on having kids actually participate. Children that attend school every day for this “integrated day” 38
Michael Hickman. “Brazil: educating kids...and cops.” UNESCO Sources no. 126 (September 2000)
39
Ibid.
40
Ibid.
41
H.L. “Sheltering kids in slums with a one-stop center.” Christian Science Monitor 11, (April 22, 1998).
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can participate in an after-school art or sports program, as well as receive a month’s worth of food stamps for their families.42 While this clearly benefits the children’s families in the short-run, it ultimately benefits the children’s future potentials. The Brazilian government should take a more active role in funding projects such as these, including actively listening to and respecting the recommendations of the community, since they are cultivating tomorrow’s Brazilian civil society. ! NGOs and Public Projects: !
Non-Governmental Organizations have been powerful agents in creating
localized change within the favelas. One NGO called AfroReggae has taken an initiative to help the youth of Rio de Janeiro. Started in 1993, their objective is to, “offer gang members a way out of the violence, and to present creative cultural options for children and youth to stop them from getting sucked in to the maelstrom of gang life.”43 They take a unique approach to their work that is unlike most NGOs; they use music as the backbone of their organization. While fostering a pride in favela culture, they enter an area with the intent of being visible, loud, and maintaining a constant physical presence, much like the drug traffickers’ tactics. They also hold arranged “cultural invasions” where they meet with police groups. JB, a senior member of AfroReggae, used to be involved in the drug business and explains the effects it had on him: “Three or four years in this life feels like an eternity. You don’t sleep; you have nightmares all the time. You see 10 people being murdered all at once. You might
42
Ibid.
43
“Cultural Invaders.” New Internationalist no. 400 (May 2007): 9.
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be eating your lunch and just next to you someone is quartering a body. Kids are dying here, women there. People are executed for making mistakes. People are betraying each other. You’re being shot at by police. Your friends are getting killed at your side. You kill police. You’re living in hell and the devil talks to you.” 44 The fact that JB was able to escape gang life with the help of AfroReggae is a testament to the important role NGOs play within the favelas. !
Public projects have also played a significant part in improving the stand of living
in the favelas. Favela Bairo, translated as “slum neighborhood,” is a leading project that is dedicated to turning residents into, “proud citizens of a safe and stable community.”45 It accomplishes this by improving the infrastructure of the neighborhoods and providing basic services to Favelados. With this project alone, “$600 million has been committed to building parks and streets and establishing public works in 120 of the over 400 slums throughout Rio.”46 An important aspect of Favela Bairo is its cooperation with locals in determining what is most useful for each favela. By taking an individualized approach to each favela, Favela Bairo is able to utilize local resources while allowing residents to become empowered and take an active role in building their communities.
Conclusion: !
Amid the violence of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, localized efforts have started to
create outlets of peace within each community. Gangs and drug lords maintain much control over the communities, causing a host of repercussions that directly affect the 44
Ibid., 8.
45
Anton Foek. “Rio de Janeiro: Microcosm of the Future.” 33.
46
Ibid.
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residents. They perpetuate the cycles of poverty and violence, breed mistrust between police and residents, and corrupt children into a life of crime. This can be directly inhibited through local leaders resisting their role as the intermediaries between the drug traffickers and residents. The police can also promote the creation of positive peace, especially with the GPAE’s local units that work alongside Favelados. The Brazilian youth of the favelas can become empowered and contribute to positive peace with the guidance and support of NGOs. Education is an extremely critical component that would allow both the favela children and lower class to have more opportunities for social mobility. Collaboration, support, and trust between various actors and the favela residents are the ultimate keys to implementing the necessary change to create a network of favelas grounded in localized peace that could one day result in a harmonious Rio de Janeiro.
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Bibliography
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Kemp, Graham, and Douglas P. Fry. Keeping the Peace: Conflict Resolution and Peaceful Societies Around the World. Routledge, New York: 2004. New Oxford Dictionary. University Oxford Press Inc., 2005. PENGLASE, R. BEN. "The shutdown of Rio de Janeiro." Anthropology Today 21, no. 5 (October 2005): 3-6. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed April 22, 2010). Power, Margaret. The Egalitarians: Human And Chimpanzee; An Anthropological View Of Social Organization. Cambridge University Press, NY: 1991. Said, Abdul. “Chapter 10: Freedom Is Continuous Detachment And Response.” Minding the Peace. Zaluar, Alba. "Violence in Rio de Janeiro: styles of leisure, drug use, and trafficking." International Social Science Journal 53, no. 169 (September 2001): 369-378. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed April 22, 2010).