Rio's drug mafia causes panic with heavy weapons

By Emilio Rappold Jan 11, 2007, 12:03 GMT

Rio de Janeiro - Brazil may have lost the title in football, but when it comes to murder rates it remains 'world champion.' The South American country has 2.8 per cent of the world's population, but 11 per cent of the world's murders take place in Brazil.

'In our country 102 people die every day due to firearms only. This is absurd. There are more victims than in the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis or in Iraq,' sociologist Julio Weiselfiz said.

Weiselfiz led a recent study by the Organization of Iberian American States for Education, Science and Culture, that showed the state of Rio de Janeiro is the most dangerous place for children and teenagers. It sees about 103 minors dead per year per 100,000 inhabitants.

The high murder statistics can be attributed to the drug mafia, which has filled a vacuum created by the state through decades of neglect of poor people.

Drug bosses rule the around 600 favelas - as slum neighbourhoods are called - in the hills and suburbs of Rio like kings of a parallel state. They are often respected like modern Robin Hoods for ensuring order and carrying out socially-minded actions.

However, they also secure respect through their private militias. Most 'soldiers' of the drug barons are underage and are usually recruited from age 10.

The non-governmental organization Viva Rio has estimated that between 5,000 and 7,000 armed children work for the drug mafia in Rio.

Mario, 22, began his 'career' with the mafia at age 8.

'The police always treated us slum-children as criminals and hit us,' he said. 'I entered the organization in order to take revenge on the cops.'

By age 11 he was given his first handgun in Rocinha, which is the largest favela in Rio with 250,000 inhabitants. In his spare time, Mario stole to increase his weekly income of 500 real (around 230 dollars) and 'to be more popular with girls.'

He also used grenades and machine guns in clashes with rival drug gangs.

'My friends from that time are almost all dead,' said Mario, who managed to break away from the gang at age 18.

With its estimated annual income of 150 million dollars, Rio's drug mafia can afford an arsenal of real war weapons, including bazookas and anti-aircraft missiles.

Police officers - most of them with poor training - are not only armed more poorly, but are also paid less (325 to 520 dollars a month) than even the child-soldiers in the mafia.

It is no wonder that corruption is rife. The authorities admit many police agents and police chiefs side with the drug bosses.

'Drugs and weapons, and also the huge social and economic inequality, shake the whole of Brazil. But Rio de Janeiro is the particular victim of a specially corrupt and incompetent police force,' economics professor Jose Scheinkman wrote in a recent edition of the daily Folha de Sao Paulo.

Impunity is the greatest incentive for criminals. In Rio only 3 per cent of all murder cases are solved. According to Interpol that compares to 68 per cent in the US, 90 per cent in England and 43 per cent in neighbouring Argentina.

In the Cidade Maravilhosa - of 'Wonderful City,' as the inhabitants of Rio have called their city for decades - 99 per cent of those surveyed in a recent opinion poll mention terror as the greatest fear in their daily lives.

One Rio psychiatrist said his patients complain more often about nightmares, headaches and panic attacks, due to increasing violence.

He has noticed a rise in the number of patients after particularly spectacular criminal attacks.

Most people surveyed also complained about the apparent increase in poverty. According to a recent study, 3.1 million people - 20 per cent of the population - live beneath the poverty line in the state.

When one woman, Judith, drives to the hairdresser or to the gym in Rio de Janeiro, she always takes 'Joao' in the car with her.

'Joao' is a lifesize, muscular dummy that is supposed to give the impression that this Brazilian woman, the wife of a businessman, has company. Her car is armour-plated.

Judith is especially scared of thieves when she stops at a red light. Such attacks have become a routine in Rio.

In the meantime, the so-called 'industry of insecurity' thrives like no other branch of the economy, and accounts for 6.6 per cent of Brazil's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).