It became one of the signature social development policies of Lula’s Workers’ Party and is now being relaunched in his return to presidency for a third term.1 With over four million houses built in the first decade of the programme, it tackled the longstanding housing shortfalls that contributed to the spread of the country’s vast informal settlements in and around cities (including the hillside i. [...] Still, their urban territorial control is still facilitated by law enforcement and state actors ignoring, or even advocating for their dominance.19 In the context of rapid and poorly managed urbanization, as well as the rollback of the state during the 1970s and 1980s, unmet demand for services, security and housing has driven the growing influence of the militias. [...] ■ 10 UNDERPINNING MILITIA POWER: CONTROL OF URBAN LAND AND REAL ESTATE The control of urban territory has enabled militias to facilitate urban growth, the housing market and the building of new residential complexes across vast areas of Rio de Janeiro – the second largest city in one of the world’s largest democ. [...] These include erosion and destabilization of the hilly areas on which the buildings were rising, the silting up and pollution of rivers by debris, and the permanent loss of forested area to an unplanned process of urbanization.54 Despite the risks to residents’ lives and the region’s rainforests, attempts by prosecutors and municipal authorities to stop such projects typically only have temporary. [...] Through this, they have identified two rival – and powerful – militia leaders involved in the activity in towns in the northwest of the greater Rio area: mining in Itaguaí is linked to a militia leader known as ‘Tandera’ while in Seropédica is led by a 25-year-old man known as ‘Tubarão’ (shark).59 The towns are part of the fringes of the Rio metropolitan area, but rapid and often militia-linked co.
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