SUMMARY
Following three centuries of Portuguese rule, Brazil became independent in 1822 and a constitutional democracy in 1889. Until 1963, Brazilian political life was turbulent, characterized by an ever-growing presence of the armed forces in the government, resulting in civil wars, dictatorships, and countless coup attempts. This was in stark contrast to the period of 1964-1985 when a civil-military dictatorship imposed harsh authoritarian rule to suppress political opposition. Following an internal power struggle among the military leadership and pro-democracy pressure by society, the political power was transferred to a civilian administration in 1985. In 1988 Brazil adopted its new Constitution, marking one of the country’s greatest steps towards its re-democratization.
Brazil’s last participation in a major conflict was from 1942-1945, when it joined the Allies in the Second World War. Consequently, since 1946, the country has not been involved in any armed conflict, despite sometimes tense relations with its neighboring countries. Brazil has also abstained from participating with secondary warring forces in conflicts but has contributed to several UN peacekeeping missions, particularly in the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), to which the country provided around 13,000 troops between 2004-2017. Despite its decades of non-involvement in state-based conflicts, criminality is widespread in the country. Organized criminal groups have been fighting against each other in non-state dyads over control of the drug business. This reality derives from acute social and economic inequalities that permeated the country, which, added to decades of malinvestments and corruption, allowed gangs to flourish and spread.
The government’s hard-fisted approach towards criminality, further reinforced the cycles of violence, allowing numerous cases of abuse to be committed by security forces. Police in Brazil and government-instigated “death squads” have been systematically reported of committing acts of one-sided violence during their operations. The circumstances for these deaths are often unclear as the government generally claims the victims were caught up in shootouts with criminals. There were, however, several attacks on civilians unrelated to criminality where the government forces seemed to act out of retaliation or targeting the political opposition and human rights activists.
The inception of this violent reality can be traced back to as far back as colonial times. Yet, the decade of 1970 is considered a notable milestone. In 1979, the country’s first major gang, Comando Vermelho, emerged in the Candido Mendes prison, located in Ilha Grande, Rio de Janeiro state. The penal complex was used by Brazil’s military regime to incarcerate both common criminals and leftist political prisoners.
From the political prisoners, regular inmates learned guerrilla tactics and the importance of organizing. They then created a group named Falange Vermelha (Red Phalanx), which was born to protect prisoners from the harsh conditions in the prison system. Although created with a political agenda, it later distanced itself from political ideologies, entered the drug trafficking business, and renamed itself Comando Vermelho (Red Command).
The gang had a strong presence in its home state, Rio de Janeiro, where it controlled low-income neighborhoods and the majority of the drug trade. During the 1990s decade, however, internal disputes in Comando Vermelho resulted in splits and spin off gangs, most notably: Amigos dos Amigos and Terceiro Comando (later to become Terceiro Comando Puro). The emergence of new actors stirred homicidal rates in Rio de Janeiro state as they fought for territories and control of market shares of the drug business.
Simultaneously, the decade of 1990 saw the creation of another influential group, PCC (Primeiro Comando da Capital/First Command of the Capital). It emerged in the São Paulo state’s prisons in 1993. The year before, the infamous Carandiru prison had been the scene of a massacre that killed 111 prisoners. Subsequently to the riot, eight inmates from Carandiru were later transferred to Taubaté prison, where they formed the PCC. Similarly to Comando Vermelho, in its inception, PCC also aimed at protecting inmates from the government’s oppression within the penal system.
Having first operated within prison units, PCC’s influence quickly expanded into low-income neighborhoods and shantytowns of São Paulo, also occupying the vacuum left by the government’s absence. The group then entered the drug trafficking business while also getting notoriety for performing many highly organized and complex robberies.
Unlike Comando Vermelho, PCC was renowned for its rigid structure and organization, inspired by close contacts with the Italian mafia clan, 'Ndrangheta. This level of organization allowed the PCC to expand rapidly and maintain firm control over its territories.
During the 2000s, Comando Vermelho and PCC had already started their expansion into states across Brazil. Both groups dominated the drug trade in the country, while peaceful relations were maintained by a truce established in 1993. Nevertheless, since the two gangs expanded their domains nationwide, friction started building up as their ambitions conflicted.
However, this peace was disrupted on 22 June 2016, when drug lord Jorge Rafaat was shot dead in the Paraguayan city of Pedro Juan Caballero. With initial investigations by the Paraguayan police suggesting the crime was an assassination orchestrated by PCC, the 23-year alliance with Comando Vermelho came to an end. The former allies became mortal enemies, initiating a bloody war in the streets and prisons across Brazil.
The conflict between Comando Vermelho and PCC stirred a subsequent wave of violence in the country. The first bloodshed took place in a serie of prison riots in which PCC inmates and its local affiliates executed rival members of Comando Vermelho and then-ally, FDN, in a coordinated attack in prison units in the states Roraima, Rondônia, and Acre.
In the years following the split, both groups sought to form alliances with local criminal organizations throughout the country to maintain their influence and secure international drug routes. This movement intensified the escalation of homicide rates in Brazil, particularly in the strategic North and Northeastern regions.
Since 1946 Brazil has experienced the non-state and one-sided categories of UCDP organized violence.
