{"id":18413,"date":"2014-10-10T15:28:09","date_gmt":"2014-10-10T18:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=18413"},"modified":"2015-05-28T09:12:01","modified_gmt":"2015-05-28T12:12:01","slug":"rio-de-janeiros-militias-grow-in-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=18413","title":{"rendered":"Rio de Janeiro’s Militias Grow in Power"},"content":{"rendered":"

The subject of militias<\/a>\u00a0has grown\u00a0recently in local and international\u00a0media coverage of Rio, amid concerns of lack of democracy<\/a> and coercive votes<\/a> in the controlled areas during this election<\/a>\u00a0season. While these concerns are genuine, an OsteRio conference\u00a0held by the\u00a0Institute for the Study of Labor\u00a0and Society (IETS), ‘Militias: a growing power in Rio de Janeiro<\/a>,’\u00a0on September 29 presents how\u00a0the control and profit of the militias goes deeper than electoral power, affecting residents on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

In a talk led by researcher\u00a0Ignacio Cano<\/a>, from the\u00a0Violence Analysis Laboratory<\/a>\u00a0at Rio de Janeiro\u2019s State University, and journalists S\u00e9rgio Ramalho and Elenilce Bottari, the history of the militias was discussed, with final thoughts on solutions for the situation. While Cano\u00a0has been involved in militia research since 2008, Ramalho and Bottari have produced several reports on the growth of militias over the years for the newspaper\u00a0O Globo<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The use of the term ‘militia’ to describe groups of ‘armed off-duty state agents’ who abuse their official access to arms to control primarily vulnerable, low-income areas of the city began in 2006. The initial premise that allowed\u00a0these groups to prosper was the offering of\u00a0“protection services” for a profit. Today, the\u00a0people who live in these communities are obligated\u00a0to pay for the militia\u2019s protection service, along with a range of\u00a0additional living fees.<\/p>\n

According to Cano’s research paper\u00a0Hidden: The Evolution of Militias in Rio de Janeiro\u00a0(2008-2011)<\/em><\/a>, m<\/span>ilitias are defined by five criteria:<\/p>\n

1) Micro-territorial control;
\n2) The profit motive;
\n3) Coercive force against residents and business owners;
\n4) A narrative of liberation from the\u00a0drug trafficking gangs;
\n5) The participation of public armed agents of the state (this can include retired or active policemen, correctional officers, firemen and a plethora of militarily trained state agents) as well as private security personnel.<\/p>\n

Ramalho simplifies:\u00a0\u201cthe militias are Rio de Janeiro\u2019s mafia,\u201d much more sophisticated than other organized groups like drug traffickers or ‘extermination groups.’<\/p>\n

The phenomenon was initially accepted and even supported by many political leaders across Rio de Janeiro. The militias in some communities\u00a0began as a\u00a0\u2018neighborhood watch\u2019 system that sought to end drug trafficking, a problem that has always been centralized in Rio de Janeiro politics. In other places and increasingly\u00a0frequently, however, militias were centralized, run by gang leaders from outside\u00a0the communities who would engage in\u00a0extortion and intimidation.<\/p>\n

This image quickly changed in 2008 when three reporters from the\u00a0O Dia<\/em>\u00a0newspaper were\u00a0kidnapped and tortured<\/a>\u00a0by a militia in the community of\u00a0Batan<\/a>\u00a0in Realengo, West Zone. The widespread reaction to these crimes forced militias to become more discrete.<\/p>\n

A Change in Operation<\/h3>\n

After a state investigation and several arrests for the kidnapping and torture of\u00a0O Dia<\/em>\u00a0journalists, militias changed their modus operandi to a more underground demeanor. Where the drug trafficking gangs are happy to display their assault weapons, the already discrete militias became even less ostentatious in an effort to drive media attention away.<\/p>\n

They also\u00a0stopped controlling the ins and outs of favelas. Previously, permission was required by outsiders who wanted to enter the favela. This is no longer necessary, although the territories are under surveillance at all times.\u00a0Cano warned that \u201cthey still kill whoever they want.\u201d<\/p>\n

This underground operation results in constant terror in the communities. The\u00a0level of intimidation is much higher, Cano explained, “because no one knows who is really in charge.” He also revealed that\u00a0his research interviewees were paranoid about their calls being recorded and their text messages being intercepted.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

A Journalistic\u00a0Perspective<\/h3>\n

Sergio Ramalho and Elenilce Bottari have been covering militias since they started proliferating in Rio. Their most recent findings<\/a> reveal that despite the arrest of almost a thousand people in relation to militia activities, the groups keep growing in numbers and control 36 of 92 municipalities in Rio de Janeiro. This means that around 620,000 people are under the control of militias. These groups control \u201cthe selling of essential goods, transportation and the administration of housing projects<\/a>.\u201d A recent case of 1600<\/a> public housing units controlled by militias gained attention. The people in charge of collecting this money are young men\u2013they are the base of the organization.<\/p>\n

Although Cano said it\u2019s \u201cquestionable\u201d to measure the growth of militias by the number of controlled areas, Ramalho and Bottari\u2019s work goes beyond counting the number of active militias. Ramalho told stories of people who pay three times more for food under the rule of militias, and revealed the proliferation of these groups in Minha Casa Minha Vida<\/a>\u00a0(MCMV) housing projects is so common that people call it \u201cMy Militia, My Life.\u201d Often, the administrators of the buildings<\/a> are part of the scheme, enforcing the control and extra militia fees as soon as new families move in. Essential services of informal transportation like moto-taxis and kombis are also exploited, with drivers having to pay an extra fee every week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say the West Zone<\/a> is completely in the hands of the militias,\u201d revealed Ramalho.<\/p>\n

Ramalho and Bottari also confirmed there is less ‘ostentation’ in the actions of militias but that some of the groups have started investing in drug trafficking<\/a> instead of sticking to their initial ‘vigilante’ narrative. In the Rio das Pedras<\/a> favela, for example, where militias required payment to keep addicts away, marijuana and cocaine can be bought and used without repression from the control groups. Agreements\u00a0between drug trafficking gangs and militias are common. Ramalho also says many of his interviewees prefer to be under the rule of militias than that of drug gangs\u2013presumably because of the higher level of organization, premise of protection and the presence of an authority where the state has failed to be present.<\/p>\n

A Disappointing Lack of Action<\/h3>\n

Despite its continued growth and increasingly illicit activities, all three speakers maintain there is little being done to contain militias across Rio. Cano says \u201cthere are no strategies in place to combat the militias and take back those areas\u201d because the state\u2019s armed forces are all concentrated on combating the drug trafficking gangs<\/a>. And the involvement of state officials in militia activity, largely off duty police, is possibly the most significant obstacle to tackling this frightening reality lived by so many Rio citizens.<\/p>\n

Although almost a thousand people have been arrested since the torture of the O Dia<\/em> journalists in 2008, Ramalho says \u201cthe militia structure is already present, so it just forms back again\u201d and that many arrested leaders still coordinate with their militia groups from prison.<\/p>\n

While Rio\u2019s public security policy is currently focused on drug gangs, re-directing some of these\u00a0forces towards militias is necessary, though it would not be enough to contain the phenomenon. Militia-focused investigations are vital\u00a0to\u00a0uncover the extent of militias and target their kingpins. There are also a range of supplementary\u00a0ways to take back control such as regulating moto-taxis and vans, thus protecting the drivers from being forced to pay fees to militia leaders. It was also suggested by Cano that \u201cprivate [phone, cable TV and electricity] companies must offer discounted\u00a0prices to communities to avoid the hiring of militias\u201d that often offer a cheaper price to struggling families, trapping them into their control. Another suggestion given was protecting the privacy of MCMV public housing\u00a0beneficiaries, whose information is open to the public, thus facilitating the attainment of information about vulnerable families to militias.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The subject of militias\u00a0has grown\u00a0recently in local and international\u00a0media coverage of Rio, amid concerns of lack of democracy and coercive votes in the controlled areas during this election\u00a0season. While these concerns are genuine, an OsteRio […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":18463,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1333,1282,336],"tags":[1044,140,125,595,182,25,1484,33,1647,16,888,374,1445,30,1385,21],"writer":[1356],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-18413","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-event-reports","8":"category-research-analysis","9":"category-violations","10":"tag-batan","11":"tag-corruption","12":"tag-drug-traffic","13":"tag-elections","14":"tag-government-neglect","15":"tag-human-rights","16":"tag-intimidation","17":"tag-militia","18":"tag-osterio","19":"tag-police-corruption","20":"tag-police-intimidation","21":"tag-politics","22":"tag-rio-das-pedras","23":"tag-urban-violence","24":"tag-violence","25":"tag-west-zone","26":"writer-nicole-froio"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18413"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=18413"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=18413"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=18413"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=18413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}