The portrayal of Rio as a broken city, torn apart by the contradictions and conflicts between the favelas, seen as zones of violence and criminality, and the rest of the city has led to the metaphor of war as a lens through which the issue of urban violence is understood.12 However, this metaphor is rooted in the perception of a society in crisis, devoid of effective institutional mechanisms for a. [...] The Historical Mapping of Armed Groups in Rio de Janeiro project shows that 20% of Rio de Janeiro city and 18.2% of the metropolitan region were under the control of armed groups in 2023.16 This represents an increase of 105.7% since 2008, when 8.8% of the territory was under armed control. [...] The ostensible eradication of the sale and use of drugs is used by the state to justify the mobilization of extensive human and material resources. [...] The observed increase in the number of people killed by police, concomitant with increased police raids intended to recover stolen property, has led to the assertion that Rio de Janeiro’s law enforce- ment agencies prioritize the protection of property over lives.59 In 2018, Brazil was in the grips of a financial crisis and the state of Rio de Janeiro was bankrupt. [...] The possibility of using the New Drug Law to subject the accused to longer periods in prison is one of the factors that has contributed to the consistent rise in imprisonment rates in Brazil.
Related Organizations
- Pages
- 26
- Published in
- Switzerland
Table of Contents
- Introduction 2 3
- The battle for control 3 3
- Urban inequalities in Rio de Janeiro 6 3
- State violence 9 3
- Is there a war on drugs in Rio 12 3
- Lawfare The New Drug Law and mass incarceration 15 3
- Conclusion Towards regulation 18 3
- INTRODUCTION 4
- THE BATTLE FOR CONTROL 5
- Deadly conflict 5
- Mass incarceration 6
- The changing nature of violence 6
- Societal shifts 7
- URBAN INEQUALITIES IN RIO DE JANEIRO 8
- Murder rates 8
- Organized crimes growing geographic control 9
- Social accumulation of violence 9
- Changing dynamics of the drug market 10
- Evolution of illicit networks 10
- STATE VIOLENCE 11
- Pursuit of justice 12
- Authorized power 13
- IS THERE A WAR ON DRUGS IN RIO 14
- Undisguised social cleansing 14
- Language as a weapon of incrimination 15
- Property over lives 16
- LAWFARE THE NEW DRUG LAW AND MASS INCARCERATION 17
- Doubling the sentence 17
- The rise and rise of drug-related charges 18
- Tallying the costs 19
- CONCLUSION TOWARDS REGULATION 20
