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Transnational Organized Crime and Structural Violence in Brazil

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Post-conflict Security, Peace and Development

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Environment, Security, Development and Peace ((BRIEFSSECUR,volume 13))

Abstract

This paper is a research note that explores the links between transnational organized crime (TOC) – namely the groups linked to drugs and arms trafficking – and the structural violence in Brazil. Grounded on the discussion on violence explored by Johan Galtung and thereafter developed by other scholars of Peace Research, the paper specifically aims to answer the following question: How does TOC take advantage of societal configurations that perpetuate social injustice in contemporary Brazil? The exploratory research is grounded in the analysis of data provided by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) specialized in criminality and violence in South America, government communications and public security studies, as well as United Nations agencies reports (mainly United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)). The preliminary results show a correlation between transnational illicit networks and structural violence, with minor differences between rural and urban areas.

Marcos Alan S. V. Ferreira, Assistant Professor, Federal University of Paraíba, Department of International Relations (UFPB), Brazil; Email: marcosalan@gmail.com.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For example, according to the Brazilian Forum of Public Security, one of the main NGOs engaged in research and advocacy against violence in Brazil, between 2011 and 2015 the number of killings in the Syrian Civil War was 256,124; in the same period, 279,592 people were assassinated in Brazil (FBSP 2016: 5–6).

  2. 2.

    It is beyond the scope of this article to explain in depth the cultural violence in Brazil. However, an example can be mentioned on the strong presence of prejudice against afro-Brazilians more than a century after the abolition of slavery and the low social indicators specifically in this group of population.

  3. 3.

    I thank Erick Patrício de Magalhães Vieira (CNPq Undergraduate Scholarship grantee [2014–2016], Federal University of Paraíba) for collecting data and support the analysis of this sub-section and the following.

  4. 4.

    Fome Zero (Zero Hunger) is a public program introduced by the former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2003, expanding the Programa Comunidade Solidária (Solidary Community Program) created in Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s administration. The Fome Zero had the goal to eradicate hunger and extreme poverty in Brazil and was co-ordinated by the Ministry of Social Development and Hunger Combat (Ministério do Desenvolvimento Social e Combate à Fome). The program takes a number of forms, ranging from creating water cisterns in Brazil’s semi-arid areas, supporting subsistence family farming and mainly giving access to financial aid to the poorest families (Bolsa Família). According an UNDP report, “Bolsa Família and other major CCT programmes in Latin America, such as those in Chile and Mexico, have had an impressive targeting performance, even though they have adopted different targeting methods. However, these programmes should implement constant monitoring of targeting performance in order to minimize the exclusion of potential beneficiaries, particularly the extremely poor” (Soares et al. 2007: 7).

  5. 5.

    It is important to mention that, regarding violence, Brazil’s countryside is not an island of tranquility. Rural violence is historical “due to structural conflicts that has since time immemorial characterized the national land tenure systems and brought about new forms of violence in land conflicts in recent years” (Imbusch et al. 2011: 99). An example is the development of a political movements fighting violently against state for radical land reform and redistribution, like the MST – Movimento Rural dos Trabalhadores sem Terra (Rural Movement of Landless Workers).

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Acknowledgments

I am grateful for IPRA Foundation that supported this research (Small Grant for IPRA Conference, 2016).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of International Relations (UFPB), Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa, Brazil

    Marcos Alan S. V. Ferreira

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  1. Marcos Alan S. V. Ferreira
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Correspondence to Marcos Alan S. V. Ferreira .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Convener, Peace, Security and Development Commission, International Peace Research Association, South–South Network Engagement—Africa, Nairobi, Kenya

    Christine Atieno

  2. Wellington, New Zealand

    Colin Robinson

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Ferreira, M.A.S.V. (2019). Transnational Organized Crime and Structural Violence in Brazil. In: Atieno, C., Robinson, C. (eds) Post-conflict Security, Peace and Development. SpringerBriefs in Environment, Security, Development and Peace, vol 13. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01740-8_3

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