Brazilian police militias ( pt, Milícias), in

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and other cities of Brazil, are criminal, illegal

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

groups made up of current and former police (Civil/Military) officers as well as Military Firefighters Corps officers, criminals, politicians, and military officers. They carry out both

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a person who ...

and

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

activities. In the

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where the authorities have effectively lost control, drug gangs like

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and Red Command often reign supreme, openly selling drugs and carrying weapons as well as acting as the de facto authorities, building infrastructure and enforcing their own brand of law and order. Police-backed militias force out the drug traffickers, only to set up their own protection rackets, extorting residents and taxing basic services.

History

The militias have their roots in the death squads of the

Brazilian military dictatorship The military dictatorship in Brazil ( pt, ditadura militar) was established on 1 April 1964, after a coup d'état by the Brazilian Armed Forces, with support from the United States government, against President João Goulart. The Brazilian dic ...

in 1964. They emerged in the late 2000s, being made up of off-duty police officers with assistance from local businessmen who need protection from armed gangs. Because of their close ties to the police force, the militias also enjoy the support of certain politicians. From 2006, the

Comando Vermelho Comando Vermelho (, ''Red Command'' or ''Red Commando''), also known as C.V. is a Brazilian criminal organization engaged primarily in drug trafficking, arms trafficking, protection racketeering, kidnappings-for-ransom, armored truck hijackings ...

started a conflict against the militias.

Politicians

Cesar Maia, Rio de Janeiro major in 1993-1997 and 2001-2009 have give support to militias; in his words, "Community self-defense" and "An evil better than drug gangs". In 2008, a group of journalists were kidnapped and tortured by a militia; they were in disguise to document the militia's action. Between the involved are the 2 politicians, Colonel Jairo and his son Dr. Jairinho. Even in 2008, innumerable civilians have been killed by militias trying to incriminate the local drug dealers and trying to enforce the political candidacy of Carminha Jerominho.

In popular culture

* Corrupt police militias are the subject of the 2010 film '' Elite Squad: The Enemy Within''. * The Crachá Preto, a fictional far-right paramilitary group with ties to the police, are the secondary antagonists in the 2012 video game ''

Max Payne 3 ''Max Payne 3'' is a 2012 third-person shooter video game developed and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on May 15, 2012 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360; a Microsoft Windows port was released on May 29, 2012, followed by an OS X ...

''. * An unnamed brazilian militia serves as the main enemy force in the missions Takedown and The Hornet's Nest in the 2009 video game '' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2'', and its 2020 remake, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered

References

{{Reflist Police brutality in Brazil Far-right politics in Brazil Corruption in Brazil Organized crime groups in Brazil Vigilantes

History

Politicians

In popular culture

See also

References