Heaviness on the peripheries, and another heaviness on the centers of power. Two recent incidents related to the work of police forces show a significant difference in the performance of these institutions in the fight against so-called criminal organizations.
The first case is the massacre that occurred in Rio de Janeiro in October, a massacre that resulted in the deaths of at least 121 people, including community residents and police officers. The second reason relates to the discovery of a fraudulent scheme in Brasilia involving Banco Master, with strong evidence of the participation of conservatives, parliamentarians, and leaders of central and right-wing parties.
Regarding the massacre, the National Council of Health emphasizes that the issue cannot be used as an ideological political agenda or serve as fuel to distort the facts, making the search for justice, truth and accountability difficult. The CNS says disproportionate attacks on citizens in peripheral contexts and favelas, such as those in Rio de Janeiro, cannot be tolerated.
Experts point out that the leaders of the criminal organizations responsible for drug trafficking in the slums, whose arrests were the alleged reason for the disastrous police actions, have not been found.
The second episode of Banco Master highlights the mingling between the criminal scheme and sectors of the country’s political and financial elite. As journalist Flavia Oliveira explained in Globenews, we have seen arrangements involving financial services institutions that have many connections to the political world, including project approvals that sometimes protect politicians, and at other times shield these institutions from the reach of legislation and regulatory processes.
What we highlight here is the performance of our institutions in the fight against criminal organizations, with significant differences depending on the area in which they take place: in the suburbs, what is in effect is the slogan “A good criminal is a dead criminal”, which has support among the population, thanks in large part to the actions of some media outlets to make it unanimous. Here it is worth highlighting what Mauro Caseri, São Paulo Police Ombudsman, said in a recent discussion in Unifesp: “95% of police officers who commit murder have their cases archived by the Public Ministry of São Paulo… which is a frightening rate.”
FGV Professor Thiago Amparo, member of the Arens Commission and columnist on the matter, is participating in the same event. Boundhighlights the research “Mapas da Injustiça” (FGV, 2025) that analyzed 800 deaths resulting from police intervention in the state of São Paulo and concluded that in 85% of cases a proper gunpowder check was not performed on the victims.
This is clearly not an agreement between public bodies, such as the military police and the judiciary. But, in reality, it is as if there is a necrotic political pact targeting the peripheral population, the slums, the poor, and black people.
On the other hand, in the sphere of elites, we see a clear political expression that seeks to save face from rich criminals and, at the same time, reduces the workforce of the Federal Police, the main body to combat white-collar criminals – in fact, without bloodshed, the operations of the Federal Police reached the financial market and obtained R$ 1.2 billion from the PCC, as indicated by a report by Andre Barocal, in October, in the Carta Capital magazine.
Finally, given the need to respond to the greatest concern of the Brazilian population: public security, are we strengthening organizations that use intelligence strategies to combat criminal organizations? Or are intelligence solutions left to criminals in positions of power, and will we focus on massacres and sending bodies to cemeteries when it comes to organizations in the suburbs and slums?
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