written by Staff
Saturday June 15, 2013
For the millions of people living in Rio de Janeiro's notoriously dangerous favelas, the Brazilian government's bold crackdown on drug traffickers and criminals before it hosts two major sporting events is a sign of hope.
With wooden shacks haphazardly built along labyrinthine stairways and passages, and filthy streets rife with drug dealers and gangsters, the boxy shantytowns have become an embarrassing eyesore for Brazil which will stage next year's FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games.
Most of Rio's favelas or slums are controlled by vicious drug cartels such as Red Command who provide security and dispense 'justice' using their own private armies. Some, such as Vila Cruzeiro which is considered one of Rio's most dangerous favela, is owned by the church but overrun by drug warlords.
But when a police helicopter was shot down by drug gang members in Morro de Macaco favela in 2009, the government went into action, sending 'Pacifying Police Units' or UPPs into the slums to stamp out gangsters and consolidate state control.
So far, about 30 favelas - out of about 1000 - are occupied by the UPP, but the government aims to make it 40 by next year.
One of the most graphic UPP 'pacification' interventions was staged in November 2010, in which police engaged in a five-day battle to take back part of the Vila Cruzeiro and Complexo do Alemao favelas, according to In Sight Crime.
The dangerous operation involving 3,000 heavily-armed special police and military forces was captured by photographer David Oziel in a series of graphic shots published by Environmental Graffiti.
The black and white images show officers in the joint Special Ops Battalion-led operation trying to clear the area of drug traffickers.
During the assault on Vila Cruzeiro, headquarters for Rio’s biggest drug gang Red Command which was founded in a prison in 1979, most of the drug traffickers escaped to the neighboring group of favelas - Complexo do Alemão.
Armed forces moved into these areas with tanks, armored cars, rifles and trained police dogs, recovering stolen vehicles and large quantities of illegal drugs such as cocaine and marijuana.
About 37 people were reportedly killed and 200 arrested in this favela operation, according to In Sight Crime.
Many residents have embraced this 'occupation', and others like it, particularly as many innocent people are often caught in the crossfire of gang shootings and attacks.
Stray bullets and murders are both common causes of death in the favelas.
'The conflict that was happening is not happening anymore,' favela resident Angelo Santos told Washington Post in 2009.
'You don't need to come home from work now and see people carrying guns all the time.'
However others have criticized the permanent police presence in many slums, especially given the Brazilian police's reputation for violence and corruption, according to Smithsonian.com.
Some see the heavily armed presence in the favelas as an infringement on their freedom. Others have claimed UPP squads have only focused on areas surrounding the Olympic sites, which will be teeming with tourists.
Environmental Graffitireported claims that UPP officers don’t just target gangsters, and that police are heavy handed when dealing with minor crimes such as illegal Internet and television connections.
Officers have allegedly been known to close down dance parties, impose curfews, stop motorcycle taxis, demand bribes and act aggressively.
Although UPP officers tell a different story since moving in.
Fewer murders, gunfights and robberies, rising real estate values and increased tourism in the slum areas have been cited as examples of what police are doing right in their fight against gang violence.
Amnesty International director in Brazil, Atila Roque, said police killings have decreased since the UPP began its operations.
'We have seen that there has been a decrease of over 50 percent in police killings during the past five years in Rio de Janeiro,' he told Vice.com.
'And we think that to a large extent this has happened because of the UPPs.
'I don’t think you should look at the UPPs as the silver bullet of public security because they have created a lot of other problems but in the case of police killings they have caused them to go down.
'Even so, Rio continues to be the state where the police kill more people than anywhere else in Brazil.'
But Environmental Graffitireports the 'new state of order' - removing drug gangs - has changed the economy of the favelas.
Gangsters were major employers and wealthy consumers, and the gap they have left has yet to be filled.
And Idea Stream has reported many criminals have simply escaped to regional favelas, where they remain hidden from authorities.
This means it may take a while before the effectiveness of the UPP can be fully judged.
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