SUMMARY

Brazil's most powerful criminal organizations Comando Vermelho and PCC dominated drug trade in the country and peaceful relations were maintained by a truce. Although the groups originated in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo respectively, their power reached nationwide. In late 2016, the truce was broken after 20 years which led to an eruption of violence between the factions and their allies. The factions fight for control over drug trade in the country and control over trade routes connecting to neighboring countries such as Bolivia, Colombia and Paraguay. At first fighting was concentrated in prisons, however, a series of tit-for-tat attacks spurred further violence on the streets.

Fighting between Comando Vermelho and GDE started in 2017 as GDE allied with PCC. The fighting took place in Ceará state in northeastern Brazil, mainly in the peripheral neighborhoods of capital Fortaleza and neighboring municipalities. Fortaleza is one of the country's biggest cities, and its port strategically important for controlling the drug trade in the area. The battle between the factions to control the state's drug trade led to series of assassinations, shoot-outs, and revenge killings.

The non-state conflict between Comando Vermelho and GDE is first included in UCDP data in 2017. In mid-May that year, massacres and assassination between the two groups escalated where at least 40 deaths were recorded over a weekend, causing the dyad to exceed the UCDP threshold of 25 battle-related deaths.