How armed militias became part of Rio’s everyday life

It seems ludicrous now, but urban armed militias were once well-regarded in Rio de Janeiro. Originally, these groups were a kind of security patrol unit acting against drug traffickers – and were formed by police officers, firefighters, and prison guards. Even the authorities supported them as a way to fill a void left by the state in gang-dominated favelas.

Some politicians went further, and even headed into armed militias themselves.

The largest militia in Rio de Janeiro was sponsored by a former state congressman and a former Rio city councilor. This group was known as the “Justice League,” and was created back in the 1990s by two former police officers, Aldemar Almeida dos Santos and Ricardo Teixeira Cruz, a.k.a. Batman and Robin.

According to data from 2010, militias dominated 41 percent of Rio’s 1,006 favelas. Meanwhile, 56 percent of them were under the control of drug gangs – and less than 3 percent were controlled by the Pacifying Police Units (UPP), military police bases that have been installed in the heart of favelas since 2008 to curb violence rates.

A parallel state

Unlike criminal organization such as the Red Command, militias didn’t acquire their money from...