Time to be friendly in Rio: goodbye pacification
A new Governor for the province and a new policy:
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If those in charge succeed, the controversial top-down term "pacification" may soon fall into disuse. Instead, police have announced that they are reaching out to civil society to help them do a better, less violent job of keeping Rio safe.
Link:http://www.insightcrime.org/news-ana...licing-at-last
Amid Rising Violence Rio Continues to Implement Pacification Program
A short article, it starts with:
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Outbreaks of violence in one of Rio de Janeiro's major favelas are raising questions about the long-term effectiveness of
Brazil's controversial pacification program, even as plans to expand the program continue.
Link:http://www.insightcrime.org/news-bri...cation-program
Out of the mountains into the slums: Rio
Just how Rio copes with the threat of violence is a recurrent theme here, let alone how the 2016 Olympics affects this. Today IISS had an event today 'Urban Warfare in the ‘Marvelous City’: Securing Rio from the Gangs', with two speakers and the podcast is one hour long:http://www.iiss.org/en/events/events...rio-gangs-58a9
The event's chair Nigel Inkster referred to David Kilcullen's book, hence the title.
One speaker didn't make it and her book is due out soon. From an IISS email:
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Juliana Barbassa is an award-winning journalist and author. Her book, Dancing with the Devil in the City of God: Rio de Janeiro on the Brink, is based on her years in Brazil as a correspondent for the Associated Press and will be published in July 2015. She was born in Brazil, but has lived in Iraq, Malta, Libya, Spain, France and the United States. She is currently based in Switzerland.
There is thread on Brazil and violence into which this maybe merged:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ead.php?t=2602
Can 'monsters' be a trusted police?
Two articles appeared today via Twitter on BOPE, the military police unit, one is a commentary following a death. Its starts with:
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The investigation of an elite police unit in Brazil for allegedly trying to cover up the disappearance of a Rio de Janeiro man may represent an opportunity to restore the public’s trust in the rule of law, and perhaps repair the reputation of a controversial program to pacify favelas.
Link:http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/a...te-police-unit
The second is an interview of a convicted BOPE member:
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A former military police officer in
Brazil talks about the culture of violence that permeates the force, and how this can dehumanize those who initially joined in order to serve and protect the public.
Link:http://www.insightcrime.org/news-ana...eates-monsters
Brazil is relying on soldiers instead of regular police – here’s why
A commentary that explains why soldiers are so often on the streets and the refrain "Oh no, not again":
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The army has, in effect, become a “
parapolice” force – a substitute for the country’s badly stretched police. Contrary to what some doom-mongering commentators say, this doesn’t signal an
impending military coup, but it does show just how badly the authorities have failed to maintain public security.
Link:https://theconversation.com/brazil-is-relying-on-soldiers-instead-of-regular-police-heres-why-73034?
Brazil: violence in (merged thread)
Has 'Pacification' Policing Failed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil?
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A new report on crime statistics in
Brazil's state of Rio de Janeiro shows deteriorating violence indicators over a period of several years, raising continued questions about the extent to which the city's public security policies have been effective.
Link:http://www.insightcrime.org.linkis.com/iVCl4
A new phrase to me:
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homicides resulting from police intervention
What works for a Favela boss
I attended a lecture yesterday in London @ LSE on 'Militarised Response to Transnational Crime', a book now published and one speaker, ex-BBC reporter Misha Glenny, referred to his time living in a Rio favela (Rosina? Rochina) and an interview with a boss (now deposed or dead):
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Three factors gave him control: a monopoly of violence in the favela, with just 120 armed men amidst 100k people; corrupting the local police and other state institutions and having community support. Rosina became known as a safe place to visit, for drugs and entertainment, so drug trade profits went up and jobs were created.
Finally Misha raised a point IIRC appears here irregularly on other threads; non-state bodies are beating the nation-state in providing stability.
See Journal article:http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art...upport-operati
Duck and cover: Three survival lessons for Rio’s criminals
A commentary on Rio and the situation after the federal government took control of security in February 2018. Just whether the agility of the gangs can be overcome by the nation-state is a moot point. Quite a few embedded links to plunder.
Link:https://shoc.rusi.org/informer/duck-...riminals%C2%A0
Urban security: when gangs and militias run the streets
Catching up on IISS offerings I found this month old article by Antonio Sampaio, their SME on urban conflict and especially Brazil's cities. He visited Mare, a favela in Rio and reports:
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Three years after the withdrawal of military forces, Maré is firmly back in the grasp of criminal factions.
Link:https://www.iiss.org/blogs/analysis/...8-005056be3f90