How a militia member is born: The criminal network that grew up within the state and dominates Brazil
In a Rio de Janeiro divided by invisible territories, Cecília Olliveira, one of the country's leading names in investigative journalism, unravels the trajectory of Carlos Eduardo Benevides Gomes, known as Cabo Benê, a man who went from military police officer to militia leader until he was executed along with eleven other men in a police operation in Itaguaí, not by chance, on the eve of the 2020 elections. With exclusive access to secret documents, unpublished testimonies and a persistent journalistic investigation, the author reveals the complex web that turns agents of the state into criminals, exposing the alliances between the police, politics and organized crime that sustain the militias.
From the assassination of Marielle Franco to bought elections, from the expulsion of drug traffickers to the collection of “protection” fees, the book delves into the power structures that have shaped public security in Rio de Janeiro for decades and reveals how this phenomenon of militias has advanced with force throughout Brazil.
More than an investigation into criminals, this is a disturbing portrait of a state corrupted from within, where the line between protection and extortion is blurred by the false promise of order. As we shall see, the militia today is not on the fringes of power, but entrenched in it.
How a militia member is born: The criminal network that grew up within the state and dominates Brazil
In a Rio de Janeiro divided by invisible territories, Cecília Olliveira, one of the country's leading names in investigative journalism, unravels the trajectory of Carlos Eduardo Benevides Gomes, known as Cabo Benê, a man who went from military police officer to militia leader until he was executed along with eleven other men in a police operation in Itaguaí, not by chance, on the eve of the 2020 elections. With exclusive access to secret documents, unpublished testimonies and a persistent journalistic investigation, the author reveals the complex web that turns agents of the state into criminals, exposing the alliances between the police, politics and organized crime that sustain the militias.
From the assassination of Marielle Franco to bought elections, from the expulsion of drug traffickers to the collection of “protection” fees, the book delves into the power structures that have shaped public security in Rio de Janeiro for decades and reveals how this phenomenon of militias has advanced with force throughout Brazil.
More than an investigation into criminals, this is a disturbing portrait of a state corrupted from within, where the line between protection and extortion is blurred by the false promise of order. As we shall see, the militia today is not on the fringes of power, but entrenched in it.