“We’re at war with them, there will be more casualties, but we won’t back down.’’ State Military police Chief Colonel Elizeu Teixeira Borges
The current chaos in Sao Paulo was sparked five days ago, when authorities transfered eight leaders of the First Capital Command gang (“PCC”) to a high-security facility near Rio de Janeiro. The PCC retaliated by attacking police cars and stations with bullets and bombs, sparking chaos that overflowed into the prison. Attacks have now spread to banks and buses, and the deathtoll has now reached 90 with many guards in the prison still hostage. In a whopping serves-you-right for bleeding heart liberalism, the violence intensified after thousands of prisoners were freed for the weekend to visit Mom on Mother’s Day.
The PCC is more than a mafia—it’s a criminal trade union. Members contribute monthly dues to a central fund that bribes police officers, hires lawyers, and provides for members’ families while they are in prison. When violence such as this does erupt, it is coordinated and widespread. As a Katrina-esque example of the perils of federalism, President Lula offered to send 4,000 elite troops to help, which were refused by Sao Paulo Gov. Claudio Lembo who insisted the help wasn’t needed. And there will be more casualties before this is over.
FOOTER: The post title is a reference to this.
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Prose Before Hos » News to Spit on Your Antiquated Views added these pithy words on May 16 06 at 6:01 pm[...] Coming Anarchy has a good post on the recent violence that has swept through San Paolo, Brazil, mainly from one of the world’s largest and best managed criminal organizations. Plus it references one of the best movies made in the past 25 years, City of God. [...]
ComingAnarchy.com » Blog Archive » Forget the Gap, try the Middle Ages added these pithy words on May 19 06 at 12:53 pm[...] While failed states have been a hot topic since we learned the hard way that we ignore those states, like Afghanistan, at our own peril, the idea is more nuanced than we believe. If we take the recent violence in Brazil for example, we see state failure, but we also see alternative suppliers of sovereignty. Walking into any Brazilian favela, assuming you aren’t killed, is like entering a mini-state where local gangs provide security, basic services, a form of government and even detain “criminals.” Sounds more like a fuedal state than a failed one. Yet, Brazil is certainly not alone. As I saw firsthand, everything south of central Beirut is Hizballah country where they provide not only security, basic services and a political outlet for their citizens, but also education, television programming and more. The same goes for Hamas in Palestine. [...]
ComingAnarchy.com » Blog Archive » Connectivity and Chaos in Brazil added these pithy words on May 24 06 at 1:21 pm[...] In a followup to my earlier post on the prison riots taking place in Brazil, it turns out that the attacks have been coordinated by cell phones held by prisoners. [...]
ComingAnarchy.com » Blog Archive » City of God II added these pithy words on Mar 03 07 at 1:12 am[...] Gang rule of prisons isn’t limited to Brazil—it’s an epidemic across Latin America [...]
Gollios added these pithy words on 16 May 06 at 1:53 pmCurzon, I was wondering when that movie would come up on CA. I was fortunate enough to be introduced to it by some Brazillian friends who provided a lot of good background & commentary as I watched. Also on the DVD is a documentary about the rise of the PCC.
Curzon added these pithy words on 16 May 06 at 2:16 pmThe documentary you mention is even better than the film itself—a truly scary look into how criminal organizations can rule a society.
alec added these pithy words on 16 May 06 at 3:28 pm“I’m a playboy now.”
On a serious note, South American gangs tend to be a lot less like the American sense of ‘gangs’, and more like small privately funded armies.
snow added these pithy words on 16 May 06 at 4:18 pmYikes, it sounds like a seriously bad scene down there. I once met a guy at a travel agency in India who railed on for 20 minutes about how disgusting, dirty, disorganized, crime-ridden and uncivilized India was (I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I was in no hurry and that I loved the place-most of the time). I asked him where he was from and he said Brazil.
marquer added these pithy words on 16 May 06 at 8:58 pm
...a truly scary look into how criminal organizations can rule a society.
As a Yank, I am fully conversant with how criminal organizations can rule a society. Here, though, we employ the genteel circumlocution of referring to them as “political parties”.
Tiu Fu Fong added these pithy words on 18 May 06 at 4:34 amIf you liked the movie, see City of Men (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364801/). The story in the TV series is independent of the movie story, features some of the same actors and is generally excellent.
phil jones added these pithy words on 22 May 06 at 4:46 pmWhat you should also see is “Carandiru”, the film about the massacre of over 100 prisoners in the early 90s. ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0293007/” )
I think the PCC were formed in response to this massacre. They started as a kind of prisoner’s defence organization. And have always been at war with the police.
