2021/2022 2ºSemester

Professor Francisco Proença Garcia 5.5 ECTS

War and Strategy in a Contemporary World

FINAL ESSAY

THE ORGANIZED CRIME AND SUBVERSIVE

WAR IN BRAZIL

João Gabriel Silva Vianna Dias

104721505
Index

1. Introduction...................................................................................................... 1

2. Participation of Brazil in Conflicts………………………………..………... 2

3. Subversion and Guerrilla Tactics…………………………..………………. 2

4. The First Command of the Capital (PCC)…………………..…….….……. 4

5. The Acts of Organized Violence in 2006 and 2012………..……………….. 5

6. Drug trafficking, violence, and fear……………………..………………….. 6

7. The State Response and the Occupation of the Complexo do Alemão …....7

8. Final Considerations……………………………………………………9

9. Bibliography………………………………………………………….. 10
 1. Introduction

This work was carried out within the curricular unit of War and Strategy in a Contemporary
World of the Institute of Political Studies of the Portuguese Catholic University in Lisbon. The
content of this work will explain how organized crime factions in Brazil use subversion and
guerrilla tactics in order to combat state power and impose their influence on certain regions to
carry out clandestine and criminal activities.

Brazil's participation in conflicts since 1945 after the Second World War will first be addressed
so that we can understand the country's role in conflicts outside its geographical space during
this period.

It is also important to talk about the meaning of subversive war and how it can be carried out
in the context presented as well as its causes and consequences nowadays for the Brazilian
population living the day to day of this conflict. Next will be characterized the tactics of the
First Command of the Capital (PCC) and how this faction has dominated drug trafficking and
other illicit operations in Brazil, just as violence has been a consequence of drug trafficking
carried out not only by the PCC but also by other transnational trafficking organizations.

Finally, we will mention the occupation of the "Alemão" favela complex in 2010 by the police
forces of Rio de Janeiro and the brazilian military forces. The aim of this paper is to shed light
on the subversive war of organized crime against the state and how it acts accordingly in order
to be able to fight criminals.

2. Participation of Brazil in conflicts

Although Brazil is a country that does not have a major participation in the major conflicts of
recent decades, such as military operations in Afghanistan or the conflicts that have taken, or
still take place, in Europe. Brazil has been participating in United Nations peacekeeping
missions since its creation in 19471. According to a Study conducted by the Institute of Applied
Economic Research in 2019, between 1948 and 2017 Brazil participated in 46 UN
peacekeeping operations of the 71 implemented to date, and one of the most important
operations occurred in 1956 at the time of the approval of the 1st United Nations Emergency
Force (UNEF I). This mission aimed to solve the Suez Canal crisis that occurred between 1952
and 1956. However, the Brazilian presence in UN peacekeeping missions does not mean that
the term "war" is absent from the country's context. The war of the Cisplatina province between
1825 and 1828 between the then Empire of Brazil and the United Provinces of the Rio de
d'Plata that would later become Argentina along with the Paraguayan War are some of the most
important conflicts in which Brazil had direct participation.

In the 21st century the direct enemy of the state has been another, much more lethal and costly
to the public coffers. An enemy that takes advantage of the corruption and fragility of
institutions to be able to expand their objectives and control over territory causing violence and
terror. For Brazil, organized crime has in fact been one of the greatest challenges of its public
security. Criminal factions use subversion and guerrilla tactics to achieve their objectives of
occupying certain territories, usually territories with poorer populations and difficult access
within large urban centers, with the aim of being a power parallel to the State, with its own
laws and codes of conduct.

3. Subversion and Guerrilla Tactics

In the work "The Art of War" Sun Tzu said: "war is of vital importance to the State; it is the
dominion of life or death; it is the way to survival or the loss of empire (...)" 2. For the Brazilian
government, the actions on the part of organized crime are in fact acts of war against the
sovereignty of the institutions, as criminals try to discredit these same Institutions. However,
when states have poorly consolidated sovereignty structures they collapse and lose control of
legitimacy and cohesion, facilitating the creation, dissemination and consolidation of coalitions
and crime networks 3. With the funds generated, these criminal organizations acquire a level of

1 2019. A Participação do Brasil nas Operações de Paz das Nações Unidas: Evolução, Desafios e Oportunidades.
[ebook] Rio de Janeiro: Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada, pp.7-14. Available at:
<http://repositorio.ipea.gov.br/bitstream/11058/8939/1/td_2442.pdf> [Accessed 20 May 2022].
2 SUN TZU., n.d. ARTE DA GUERRA. Lisboa: Relógio D'Água, p.29.
3 PAULINE, Baker; JOHN, Ausink (1996) - State collapse and ethnic violence: toward a predictive model. In,

Parameters. Carlisle: U.S. Army War College, Spring 1996, p. 19-31

power that was previously reserved exclusively for states. They express this by the ability to
destabilize, economically, socially, and even politically the countries where they operate and
by trying to indirectly conquer power through corruption of its organs of sovereignty and
officials, and in some cases may even influence the election of a government. In Brazil,
although the country has its institutions established, they live in constant instability over the
years due to the corruption and passivity of the members of the high government summit,
therefore, we can characterize that due to these established issues, that Brazil became an
attractive place for transnational crime organizations.

The guerrilla tactics used by drug traffickers in Rio de Janeiro's favelas are a demonstration of
how they act and how precarious the stability of institutions in the country are. In 2018, the
intelligence services of the Armed Forces and police in the city of Rio de Janeiro concluded
that former military personnel who were part of the army and navy were providing training for
criminal factions in the same city 4. According to intelligence assessments, the former military
taught criminals how to handle rifles, pistols, and grenades, also how to act in irregular urban
areas, and to define escape routes.

One example of the use of these tactics was the conflict that occurred on May 28 th, 2013, where
heavily armed drug traffickers with a clear military tactic fired on the headquarters of the
Pacifying Police Unit in the Vila Cruzeiro favela 5. According to the intelligence report,
criminals began to adopt guerrilla tactics with actions that combine concealment and extreme
mobility of groups that act in reduced and heavily armed fractions. Also, according to the police
who were at the scene the narco-traffickers arrived, shot against the officers and left, a classic
guerrilla tactic to destabilize and generate insecurity for the population.

However, it is important to point out that the "professionalization" of these groups occurred
especially after the Carandiru Massacre, a massacre that occurred in Brazil on October 2nd,
1992, when an intervention by the Military Police of the State of São Paulo, to contain a
rebellion at the São Paulo Detention House, caused the death of 111 detainees. It is after this

4 Diário do Poder. 2022. Ex-militares ensinam táticas de guerrilha para facções criminosas no Rio - Diário do
Poder. [online] Available at: <https://diariodopoder.com.br/uncategorized/ex-militares-ensinam-taticas-de-
guerrilha-para-faccoes-criminosas-no-rio> [Accessed 22 May 2022].
5 O Globo. 2022. Desafio da polícia no Alemão: traficantes usam táticas de guerrilha contra avanço de UPPs.

[online] Available at: <https://oglobo.globo.com/rio/desafio-da-policia-no-alemao-traficantes-usam-taticas-de-

guerrilha-contra-avanco-de-upps-8519616> [Accessed 29 May 2022].
event that the largest criminal faction in Brazil today was created, the First Command of the
Capital (PCC).

The Crime Party, in its genesis, appropriates the discourse against police violence, arguing that
only the existence of a strong group could be effective against oppression. The initial idea was
to show that the united prisoners could prevent other possible attacks, such as the one that
occurred in 1992. The second point that emerges when remembering the events of Carandiru
is the poor condition of Brazilian prisons. A fact, also defended by the PCC since its foundation
is the situation of neglect and abandonment of those incarcerated and it was one of the main
driving springs of the birth of the PCC.

4. The First Command of the Capital (PCC)

The First Command of the Capital (PCC) has a known foundation date: august 31st, 1993, 29
years ago. The emergence of the group occurred during a football match at the House of
Custody and Treatment of Taubaté, a prison known as "Piranhão". The genesis of the group
occurs by mixing sport, representative of life, with murder, symbol of death. After the game,
there is a "reckoning" between the players of the São Paulo team, the PCC, two rivals. After
the fights ended, the foundation of the group was decreed and the leaders were: Misa, Cara
Gorda, Paixão, Esquisito, Dafé, Bicho Feio, Cesinha, Geleião, Marcola and Sombra. 6

Since 1993, the PCC has undergone a structuring process. The basis for the system was the
rigid hierarchy, the "generals", "snakes" or "founders" are the oldest members and with the
greatest power. Those who obey are known as "soldiers" or "lizards"7. After establishing the
boundaries between who commands and who is commanded, the group created a financial
collection structure based on the payment of monthly payments. The detainees should
contribute R$ 25.00, those who are in semi-open regime with R$ 250.00 and "soldiers" in
freedom R$ 500.00. According to author Josmar Jozino the accounting and economic
administration of the group were made by the first ladies8. The journalist argues that the money
raised is used to finance escapes, robberies, corrupt police officers, and prison system

6 Jozino, J., 2004. Cobras e lagartos. Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, pp.46-57.

7 Idem
8 "First Lady" is the term used to designate women who have relationships with the leaders of the First

Command of the Capital. According to Jozino (2004, p. 47), "the word of a first lady was always respected in
the PCC hierarchy
employees, buy weapons and drugs. According to him, the PCC uses the rest of the money to
set up a solidarity fund to help prisoners.

The organization is mainly financed by drug trafficking, but cargo thefts, bank robberies and
kidnappings are also sources of billing. The group is present in 90% of São Paulo prisons and
the private businesses of the leaders and the state itself have an estimated revenue by police
intelligence of at least 400 million reais per year.

The PCC instituted the debate as its main form of conflict management and that developed
internally to the world of crime, whose rules and procedures were being agreed over the years
of strengthening and expansion of the PCC among criminal agents. Initially used to manage
conflicts between prisoners, then between business participants under the influence of the
organization, until it expanded to a much larger population under the influence of the network
constituted by these participants and headquartered in the territories of interest of the PCC.
Thus, directly arising from the debates, procedures were instituted, based on morality and codes
of conduct - oral and some with written elements (as in the case of salves and the "statute of
the PCC"), to manage conflicts. Such procedures have the ultimate objective of promoting the
"trial" of people accused of being in violation of PCC standards and have been called by the
mainstream media and the Police Criminal Courts.

5. The Acts of Organized Violence in 2006 and 2012.

In 2006, by order of Marcos Willians Herbas Camacho, Marcola, one of the founders of the
PCC, began a wave of attacks against the police of the State of São Paulo with at least 45
deaths: 23 military police, 7 civil police, 3 municipal guards, 8 prison officers and 4 civilians
9. It is indeed important to point out that Marcola has been incarcerated since 1999, yet he was
able to lead these waves of violence from within the chain.

Image 01: Marcola to be transferred to maximum security prison in Porto Velho – RO

9Noticias.uol.com.br. 2022. Ataques do PCC que pararam São Paulo completam cinco anos. [online] Available
at: <https://noticias.uol.com.br/cotidiano/ultimas-noticias/2011/05/12/ataques-do-pcc-completam-cinco-anos-
hoje-em-sao-paulo.htm> [Accessed 24 May 2022].
 Source: Veja Magazine/Sergio Lima

The attacks occurred in the city of São Paulo, in the metropolitan region of Greater São Paulo
in coastal cities and in the interior of the state. In the attacks the targets were police
departments, fire departments, bank branches and military equipment such as grenades,
homemade bombs and machine guns were used.

At the end of 2012, a new wave of attacks against the police began. The cause was apparently
an announcement made by Marcola and other PCC leaders that spread to gang members outside
the jail. For about 30 days, every day one or two police officers were murdered, mostly in
defenseless circumstances, such as on vacation, or even retired officers. Many police officers
were executed in front of family members or friends, usually when they arrived or left their
homes.

6. Drug trafficking, violence, and fear

After the emergence of the PCC and the professionalization of crime, the factions over the
years that control the international drug trafficking in the country have been its main profitable
activity. We can ensure that Brazil is a strategic country for this illicit practice due to its position
in the globe, we can see in the chart below the route used by drug traffickers for the sale and
distribution of narcotics around the world.
 Chart 01: The cocaine flows between countries and regions

Source: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime).

In Brazil, violence caused by organized crime and drug traffickers creates a clear discomfort
for the population, especially for those living in areas dominated by these groups. When
commencing the regions of Brazil, there is a variation in the various regions, with the numbers
of the North and Northeast being historically less developed, much higher in relation to other
regions. The Midwest region is just below the North and Northeast and with the lowest rates
are the South and Southeast regions, as shown in the following graph.

Graph 1: Murder rates through all regions of Brazil from 2006 to 2016:

Source: Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE)

Although drug trafficking is in fact directly related to violence in Brazil, public security experts
are looking for alternatives in combating this perpetual-looking evil. Some bet on the
decriminalization of drugs 10, stating that this act can not only remove young people from the
possibility of reaching these drugs, but also generate income to the State itself, as happened in
countries such as Canada and the USA.

7. The State Response and the Occupation of the Complexo do Alemão

So far, the state's response to this phenomenon has been through special operations and seizures
through the Federal Police, the body responsible for combating this type of action within the
national context and between the borders of the various states of the Federal Republic, and by
the security forces of each State, such as the division of military police and civil police.

The occupation of the Alemão complex in 2010 was as much as unusual. A mega operation
that brought together not only public security forces, but also army and navy military personnel
with war arsenal and military transport and combat vehicles such as amphibious armored tanks
and armored transport cars. 11 The mission was to take control of the set of 13 favelas that are
part of the Alemão complex of drug trafficking control.

The conflicts began at 6:51 a.m. local time where the shooting and the first clashes between
police and criminals were heard. From 7 a.m. military, civilian, and federal police, along with
army and navy battalions, as well as special operations battalions of the Military Police of Rio
de Janeiro (BOPE), begin to occupy the most strategic points of the favelas, causing the
criminals to be trapped. The conflicts were momentary and accurate, the security forces knew
that there was an essential factor in this operation and that the security of the population would
have to be considered.

On the other hand, the criminals, with no way out and without the capacity to face the real army
that was against them, had no choice but to surrender or try their luck against the security

10Senado Federal. 2022. Tráfico e violência: uma relação íntima. [online] Available at:
<https://www12.senado.leg.br/noticias/materias/2019/01/24/trafico-e-violencia-uma-relacao-intima> [Accessed
25 May 2022].
11 Rio contra o crime. 2022. A ocupação das Favelas do Alemão. [online] Available at:

<https://g1.globo.com/rio-de-janeiro/rio-contra-o-crime/noticia/2010/11/ocupacao-das-favelas-do-alemao.html>
[Accessed 26 May 2022].
forces. At the end of the day, police seized several criminals including major drug trafficking
chiefs from the state of Rio de Janeiro. They also seized the arsenal used by the criminals as
AK-47, M16 and FAL 762 machine guns.

Image 02: The Army Soldiers Present in the Occupation.

Source: Agência Brasil

Image 03: Military Vehicles Used in the Occupation

Source: G1/Globo
 8. Final Considerations

Certainly, the great problem of Brazilian public security is related to the topics mentioned here,
but it is important to emphasize that the fragility of government institutions and the constant
corruption entrenched in the system, make the attitudes that can be taken by the security forces
regarding extinguishing these clandestine forces from existing, quite complicated. It is essential
that Brazil consolidates its institutions so that it can act quickly against these criminals who
haunt the poorest population and take advantage of them. For the country to develop it is
necessary to control the parallel forces that go against the objectives of the State. So far, the
solution has been to deal directly with seizures and sporadic conflicts between security forces
and drug traffickers, but more needs to be done so that the population living in these criminal
faction domain sites can hope that one day terror and violence will no longer be part of their
day.
 9. Bibliography

Rio contra o crime. 2022. A ocupação das Favelas do Alemão. [online] Available at:
<https://g1.globo.com/rio-de-janeiro/rio-contra-o-crime/noticia/2010/11/ocupacao-das-
favelas-do-alemao.html> [Accessed 26 May 2022].

2019. A Participação do Brasil nas Operações de Paz das Nações Unidas: Evolução, Desafios
e Oportunidades. [ebook] Rio de Janeiro: Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada, pp.7-14.
Available at: <http://repositorio.ipea.gov.br/bitstream/11058/8939/1/td_2442.pdf> [Accessed
20 May 2022].

Noticias.uol.com.br. 2022. Ataques do PCC que pararam São Paulo completam cinco anos.
[online] Available at: <https://noticias.uol.com.br/cotidiano/ultimas-
noticias/2011/05/12/ataques-do-pcc-completam-cinco-anos-hoje-em-sao-paulo.htm>
[Accessed 24 May 2022].

O Globo. 2022. Desafio da polícia no Alemão: traficantes usam táticas de guerrilha contra
avanço de UPPs. [online] Available at: <https://oglobo.globo.com/rio/desafio-da-policia-no-
alemao-traficantes-usam-taticas-de-guerrilha-contra-avanco-de-upps-8519616> [Accessed 29
May 2022].

Diário do Poder. 2022. Ex-militares ensinam táticas de guerrilha para facções criminosas no
Rio - Diário do Poder. [online] Available at: <https://diariodopoder.com.br/uncategorized/ex-
militares-ensinam-taticas-de-guerrilha-para-faccoes-criminosas-no-rio> [Accessed 22 May
2022].

Jozino, J., 2004. Cobras e lagartos. Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, pp.46-57.

PAULINE, Baker; JOHN, Ausink (1996) - State collapse and ethnic violence: toward a
predictive model. In, Parameters. Carlisle: U.S. Army War College, Spring 1996, p. 19-31
SUN TZU., n.d. ARTE DA GUERRA. Lisboa: Relógio D'Água, p.29.

Senado Federal. 2022. Tráfico e violência: uma relação íntima. [online] Available at:
<https://www12.senado.leg.br/noticias/materias/2019/01/24/trafico-e-violencia-uma-relacao-
intima> [Accessed 25 May 2022].