In one of the most beautiful cities in the hemisphere, Rio de Janeiro, murder rates have risen to unprecedented heights. Public concern has grown and tourists have been scared away by the violence.
State police militias and drug trafficking gangs are waging fierce territorial battles in Brazil, where the country is the world’s third largest cocaine producer and a key transit point for drugs to Europe and Asia. When clashes erupt between these groups, it’s often deadly.
What is a gang?
A gang is an organized crime organization that is usually composed of members who are primarily motivated by a desire for profit. The gang may also be involved in other illicit activities, such as drug trafficking and money laundering.
Brazil is a country where many urban gangs have formed over the years. They are rooted in poverty, and they often operate inside the poorest neighborhoods of major cities. They are characterized by violence and criminality, and they frequently collaborate with local militias to exploit the citizens of these communities.
These gangs, which include both street and prison gangs, are a common threat to civilians in the country. They are a complex network of competing groups that are often at odds with one another and the government.
While the gangs have many similarities, they differ in their methods and goals. Some gangs have strong social influence and are active in areas of society that are deprived, while others are more focused on criminal activity.
The most well-known Brazilian gang is the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), or First Capital Command, which emerged in the 1990s in an uprising of prisoners in Sao Paulo state. It has grown into a powerful criminal group that is now responsible for a large part of cocaine production in South America and has even taken control of the drug trade on the border with Paraguay.
It is estimated that the PCC earns $200 million per year from extortion, robbery, and drug trafficking. While it is headquartered in Sao Paulo, it has a presence in major cities across the country as well as parts of Paraguay and Bolivia.
According to police officials, the gang controls the main route for importing cocaine into Brazil from Bolivia. It also dominates the country’s ports, where it bribes or threatens port workers to place drugs in outbound shipping containers.
These shipments of cocaine are then shipped to European markets. To that end, the PCC has formed alliances with a number of Latin American gangs.
In Rio de Janeiro, for example, the Red Command is a gang that began in the 1970s as a self-protection group for prisoners and has since evolved into a leader in many of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. It has a powerful presence in the drug market and is suspected of working with Colombian drug cartels.
What are the characteristics of a gang?
A gang is a group of people who share a common interest and often identify with a specific neighborhood or city. They act in illegal ways and may be violent or threatening to others. They often use gang graffiti, symbols and nicknames to identify themselves.
Clothing is also a common way that gangs identify themselves and communicate with each other. Members wear a specific color of shirt, pants or jacket that shows their gang’s name or number. Tattoos are another popular identifying feature for gangs. These can show a member’s gang affiliation, a number, street name or other details that only other members in the gang can read.
Some gangs have specific hand signals that they use to communicate with each other. They are usually “thrown” quickly, making it difficult for non-experts to interpret their meaning.
Gangs often wear bandanas, hats or other accessories that represent their gang’s color. Bloods and Crips, for example, wear red or blue bands to represent their affiliation. Any disrespect of a gang member’s color is regarded as grounds for retaliation by other gang members.
The gang culture is a way of life for many youths. It provides them with a sense of identity and belonging that is missing in their everyday lives. It is a place to express their feelings, to act out their biases and to make their voices heard.
Young people join gangs for a variety of reasons. They may be looking for a surrogate family, to receive attention and love, or to satisfy their need for companionship.
They may be fearful of the police or other adults and feel that they will stay safe as a gang member. They also have low self-esteem and are seeking status or recognition.
Getting involved with a gang is dangerous and can lead to criminal behavior, including theft, violence, drug trafficking, robbery and murder. It can also affect a person’s academic performance, social skills and relationships with other people.
If you think you are being recruited into a gang, talk to your parents or a counselor immediately. You can also move to a different school or neighborhood. You can try to build friendships with other kids who want to stay away from gangs.
What are the goals of a gang?
Historically, the goals of gangs have been to protect their turf from outsiders and make money by selling drugs. Today, most gangs are either “turf-oriented” or “profit-oriented.” Turf-oriented gangs have a strong heritage and lay claim to a specific area as their territory (called “turf”). Profit-oriented gangs are mobile and operate mainly to make money.
Members of gangs are expected to perform illegal activities to support the group and its leaders. These crimes include drug trafficking, robbery, assault, and shootings.
A gang’s goals also include gaining recognition in a community, making money, and controlling other gangs. It can also increase its members’ esteem by providing them with a sense of power.
Some gangs also seek to intimidate people into staying away from their territory, as well as citizens who are trying to stop them. This intimidation strategy is often referred to as “fear and violence.”
Gangs often use aliases, common names, symbols, tattoos, style of clothing, and graffiti to differentiate themselves from other gangs or from society as a whole. They may also communicate through a distinctive language or hand signals.
The most important goal of a gang is to make money. Many members get their start in a gang by joining for monetary reasons, such as if they have no other means of earning money or are otherwise unattractive to employers.
In addition, some gangs offer social benefits that address other needs in their members’ lives. These benefits can include a feeling of belonging, structure, praise, and attention (Capozzoli & McVey, 2000).
The presence of a gang can dramatically alter a young person’s life. It can stifle their social, emotional, and behavioral development by constraining their pursuits of education and employment, and it can cut them off from peers who have not been involved with gangs. These changes in a young person’s life can result in negative consequences such as school dropout, early pregnancy or teen parenthood, sexually transmitted diseases, and unstable employment.
What are the consequences of a gang?
The rise of gang violence in Brazil is a complicated problem that will need careful analysis. It has serious consequences for the country and for Latin America as a whole.
Brazilian gangs have developed a worldwide reach, controlling a wide variety of criminal activities including cocaine trafficking to Europe and violent bank robberies. But they have also been responsible for the deaths of countless innocent people, as well as attacks against police and security officials.
These groups often compete for control of cities. In Rio de Janeiro, for example, the First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital) has been the most powerful gang in recent years, controlling drug trafficking, kidnapping for ransom and assaults on banks.
They have also been a significant threat to police forces and law enforcement, as they often use their violence as a means of gaining political power. As a result, Brazil’s police force has been weakened, and many officers are susceptible to bribes from gang members.
In Rio, gangs have taken advantage of the lack of law enforcement to expand their influence. This includes forming militias (militias) that have spread throughout the city. These militias are directly descendants of death squads from the military dictatorship.
Militias have been linked to gangs, and both sides have a common interest in controlling the territories they claim. The resulting violence in Rio’s densely populated favelas is a serious challenge to the public safety of the city.
Aside from the direct effects of gang violence, there are also broader socioeconomic and social consequences. For example, gangs have become an important source of employment for young men in poor communities. In these communities, gangs are often seen as the protectors of the community and as the only ones with the guts to stand up against police and government.
The effects of gangs can be long-term and even devastating for the victims. For example, when gangs were controlling a part of the state’s prison system in Sao Paulo in May 2006, hundreds of inmates were killed in a series of gang attacks.
The gangs’ impact on the lives of victims and their families will be felt for decades to come. It is therefore important for the Brazilian government to carefully assess a gang’s goals and how it can best be tackled.
