HomeNewsBriefCriminal Groups Control Political Campaigning in Rio Slums
BRIEF

Criminal Groups Control Political Campaigning in Rio Slums

BRAZIL / 14 AUG 2014 BY KYRA GURNEY EN

Drug traffickers and militias are charging candidates in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro state for campaigning rights for coming elections in an indication that in spite of recent security campaigns, criminal groups continue to exercise considerable social control over their areas of operation.

According to political candidates interviewed by O Globo, drug traffickers and militia groups charge candidates between $35,000 and $45,000 to campaign in their territory, and up to $132,000 for the support of local leaders in upcoming elections.

The groups have also created lists of banned candidates and conducted informal censuses so they can base the amounts they charge on the size of the electorate, reported O Globo.

Criminal groups even reportedly profit from campaigns in favelas with a considerable security presence, including Complexo da Mare, which is occupied by the military, and Complexo do Alemao, where a Police Pacification Unit (UPP) is currently in place.

According to candidates, there are substantial differences in the ways in which militias and drug trafficking groups exert control over campaigns. While drug traffickers typically split their territory into different sections to sell to more than one candidate, militias tend to facilitate the election of candidates who offer them political backing. 

InSight Crime Analysis

Although criminal groups have profited from political campaigns in the past, according to O Globo the rules laid down by these organizations are now stricter and the phenomenon has expanded into areas that were previously unaffected. This has had a significant impact on campaigns, prompting some candidates to stay away from certain favelas so as not to put their supporters at risk, while others have elected to pay for criminal endorsements.

SEE ALSO: Brazil News and Profiles

This does not bode well for democracy in Brazil, where there have already been numerous reports of ties between criminal groups and government officials. According to a 2008 estimate, up to 70 percent of money laundering in Brazil is tied to official corruption. One prominent 2012 case implicated politicians in a gambling scheme that was used to launder illicit funds from criminal groups in Rio de Janeiro. In another case the following year, officials in Rondonia state were arrested for allegedly accepting campaign financing from drug traffickers in exchange for appointing the criminals to non-existent political posts.

The recent reports are also a bad sign for Rio's controversial UPP program, which has been looking increasingly fragile in the wake of criminal counter attacks and alleged human rights abuses. Reports that criminal groups control campaigns in Complexo do Alemao -- which was occupied by the military in 2010 and has had a UPP in place since 2012 -- suggest that at least in this favela, the UPP has done little to break the social stranglehold of criminal groups. 

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

ELITES AND CRIME / 2 JUN 2022

From unchecked agricultural development to wildlife trafficking, corruption greases the wheels of every environmental crime in the Peruvian Amazon.

BRAZIL / 1 AUG 2022

Brazil’s cocaine and marijuana markets were affected very differently by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

BOLIVIA / 13 MAY 2021

Smuggling networks are feeding illegal mining operations across the Amazon Basin with mercury, despite global efforts to clamp down on…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…