Residents find their own way to tackle gang problem in Rio after deadliest-ever police operation
Public safety has become the primary issue for Brazilians ahead of October’s presidential election, with rival candidates competing to present the firmest and most effective strategies.
Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, son of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro, aims to defeat President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva with promises to break organized crime’s hold, especially in Rio de Janeiro.
Following Rio’s deadliest police raid last year—which left over 120 people dead—polls indicate broad support for the hard-line tactics Sen. Bolsonaro champions. Lula, by contrast, favors an expanded federal role and stronger coordination among state institutions.
While politicians trade barbs, Rio de Janeiro residents are creating their own solutions, ranging from podcasts by former traffickers to initiatives by grieving mothers working to prevent youth gang recruitment.
Community leaders and experts maintain that armed confrontations are inefficient and often lead to collateral loss of life, prompting citizens to address the security vacuum themselves.
Once a week, a group of former drug-traffickers gather in a small recording studio on the outskirts of Rio to dissect their past lives of crime and those of their guests. They air the episodes of 01 Sobreviventes, or 01 Survivors, on YouTube and streaming platforms.
A painting of the four founders grinning hangs on the wall, while the podcast’s logo – a microphone breaking a chain – is projected on a screen over the desk.
“We want to propagate the idea that crime isn’t worth it,” said host Fábio Santos, a 56-year-old ex-trafficker from the Manguinhos favela who spent 25 years in prison.
“We want them to follow our current lives so that they don’t go through what we went through,” he added after recording a recent interview with a former gang member who is now a pastor.
The podcast, launched in 2024 and followed by more than 225,000 people on Instagram, is both for those tempted by the allure of quick cash and for those who need convincing to course-correct. Crime leads to prison, a wheelchair or a coffin, they say repeatedly.
Santos says several people have said they have seen traffickers listening to the podcast and that he regularly hears about people who left the world of crime or didn’t enter thanks to their work.
Alan Duarte, 38, grew up in Complexo do Alemao, one of the two sprawling complexes of favelas targeted in Rio’s lethal police operation last year. He lost a brother, uncle and cousins — 10 family members in all — to violence.
He credits the influence of a nonprofit offering martial arts classes in a nearby favela for keeping him from going down a perilous path. That insight inspired Duarte to create his own academy in his childhood neighborhood.
Since opening in 2014, Abraco Campeao, or Embrace Champions, has expanded into teaching boxing, jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai and capoeira, and providing educational talks. Duarte hopes to boost its current 600-student capacity to 1,000.
