Brazilian Drug Cartels: In the beginning
January 4th 2012 04:14
A quick history of Brazil:
From the 16th to the 19th centuries, Brazil was a colony of Portugal. On September 7, 1822, the country declared its independence from Portugal and became a constitutional monarchy, the Empire of Brazil. A military coup in 1889 established a republican government. The country has seen a dictatorship (1930–1934 and 1937–1945) and a period of military rule (1964–1985).
Shanty towns in Brazil:
A Favela (Portuguese pronunciation: [faˈvɛlɐ]) is the generally used term for a shanty town in Brazil. In the late 18th century, the first settlements were called bairros africanos (African neighborhoods). This was the place where former slaves with no land ownership and no options for work lived. Over the years, many freed black slaves moved in.
Even before the first "favela" came into being, poor citizens were pushed away from downtown and forced to live in the far suburbs. However, most modern favelas appeared in the 1970s, due to rural exodus, when many people left rural areas of Brazil and moved to cities. Without finding a place to live, many people ended up in a favela.
Before the explosion of organized crime in Brazil, the old ladies started the Drug Trafficking in Rio. At that time, things weren't so intense. Cocaine didn't exist. The drug trafficking consisted mainly of marijuana. Cocaine was a habit of the well to do. Those who snorted cocaine in the favela were considered rich. When the poor started using cocaine, that's when everything became much more violent. When the drug dealing became profitable everyone wanted in. The new drug traffickers had to establish turfs and defend them, in order to stay profitable. Deaths reported in the favelas were never reported by the media. People would sometimes die in a dispute but these things stayed in the favelas. Nothing like this touched the city. The media only discovered violence when they went into the Favelas. When people started to get kidnapped and die from stray bullets, the Government tried crack down on these practices. However, they could never completely eliminate it.
The origins of the first drug cartels, such as the Comando Vermelho (CV) Movement, can be traced back to the Brazilian Military Dictatorship of 1964 and to a a few political prisoners who were sent to Illha Grande. They placed these 5 or 6 prisoners in with the general population. It was first thought that they would be oppressed by the other inmates of Illha Grande, but the opposite occurred. The small number of political prisoners dominated the rest of the population with their intellectual ideals. The idea of unification spread throughout the general population. To unify into a single entity. Thus the seeds of organized crime were born.
If a political prisoner had a banana then he would cut it into thirty pieces so that everyone could have a taste. If there wasn't enough food for everyone, then nobody would eat. This is how a collective ideology started with the political prisoners. This idea took hold within the general population. It was a response to crimes being committed against prisoners by the guards and other inmates. The CV Movement was originally designed to fill in the holes left by the government. By doing what the government wouldn't do.
The CV Movement's motivation was about "Helping the people who are miserable, mistreated but still humble".
Even today this collective idea still persists in the favelas. If a child of a family gets sick, most times the parents won't have enough money for the medication. If the parents of the child explain the situation to the drug traffickers, the prescription is delivered to the family of the child within 30 minutes. The cartels will even help people fix their homes, buy them construction materials and even buy natural gas. They even give out toys to families with young children at Christmass Time.
References
-------------
See the Elite squad documentary here
Really Long Link
Really Long Link
What is a Favela?
Really Long Link
History of Brazil:
Really Long Link
From the 16th to the 19th centuries, Brazil was a colony of Portugal. On September 7, 1822, the country declared its independence from Portugal and became a constitutional monarchy, the Empire of Brazil. A military coup in 1889 established a republican government. The country has seen a dictatorship (1930–1934 and 1937–1945) and a period of military rule (1964–1985).
Shanty towns in Brazil:
A Favela (Portuguese pronunciation: [faˈvɛlɐ]) is the generally used term for a shanty town in Brazil. In the late 18th century, the first settlements were called bairros africanos (African neighborhoods). This was the place where former slaves with no land ownership and no options for work lived. Over the years, many freed black slaves moved in.
Even before the first "favela" came into being, poor citizens were pushed away from downtown and forced to live in the far suburbs. However, most modern favelas appeared in the 1970s, due to rural exodus, when many people left rural areas of Brazil and moved to cities. Without finding a place to live, many people ended up in a favela.
Before the explosion of organized crime in Brazil, the old ladies started the Drug Trafficking in Rio. At that time, things weren't so intense. Cocaine didn't exist. The drug trafficking consisted mainly of marijuana. Cocaine was a habit of the well to do. Those who snorted cocaine in the favela were considered rich. When the poor started using cocaine, that's when everything became much more violent. When the drug dealing became profitable everyone wanted in. The new drug traffickers had to establish turfs and defend them, in order to stay profitable. Deaths reported in the favelas were never reported by the media. People would sometimes die in a dispute but these things stayed in the favelas. Nothing like this touched the city. The media only discovered violence when they went into the Favelas. When people started to get kidnapped and die from stray bullets, the Government tried crack down on these practices. However, they could never completely eliminate it.
The origins of the first drug cartels, such as the Comando Vermelho (CV) Movement, can be traced back to the Brazilian Military Dictatorship of 1964 and to a a few political prisoners who were sent to Illha Grande. They placed these 5 or 6 prisoners in with the general population. It was first thought that they would be oppressed by the other inmates of Illha Grande, but the opposite occurred. The small number of political prisoners dominated the rest of the population with their intellectual ideals. The idea of unification spread throughout the general population. To unify into a single entity. Thus the seeds of organized crime were born.
If a political prisoner had a banana then he would cut it into thirty pieces so that everyone could have a taste. If there wasn't enough food for everyone, then nobody would eat. This is how a collective ideology started with the political prisoners. This idea took hold within the general population. It was a response to crimes being committed against prisoners by the guards and other inmates. The CV Movement was originally designed to fill in the holes left by the government. By doing what the government wouldn't do.
The CV Movement's motivation was about "Helping the people who are miserable, mistreated but still humble".
Even today this collective idea still persists in the favelas. If a child of a family gets sick, most times the parents won't have enough money for the medication. If the parents of the child explain the situation to the drug traffickers, the prescription is delivered to the family of the child within 30 minutes. The cartels will even help people fix their homes, buy them construction materials and even buy natural gas. They even give out toys to families with young children at Christmass Time.
References
-------------
See the Elite squad documentary here
Really Long Link
Really Long Link
What is a Favela?
Really Long Link
History of Brazil:
Really Long Link
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