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 For two weeks, last month, the city and state of São Paulo in southeastern Brazil saw the wrath of the PCC, an infamous prison gang which reigns power over its members who are in and outside the penitentiary system. As a result of prison officials' attempt to minimize the PCC leaders' power through prison transfers, the gang leaders reacted by ordering prison riots across the state as well the execution of police officers and destruction of public and private property.
The gang, through its threats and acts of violence, effectively managed to shut down the city of Sao Paulo for one day. The PCC (Primeiro Comando da Capital - First Command of the Capital) was born in a time when the State was totally absent as administrator of the prisons, torture was rampant (much more so than even today), and the inmates began to organize, to fight for their rights. They organized around the right to visits with their families, a justice system that was more effective and less slow, digestible food and more. They significantly reduced the violence within the prisons. This they did by laying down the law any fight had to be resolved with authorization by the local PCC "captain" or "pilot" as they call them. Through time, they have engaged in much more drug trafficking and in centralizing control and power. They have control of most of the prisons in São Paulo. They have also especially infiltrated into poorer neighborhoods. They pay for the buses for family members that have to travel far to visit their loved ones in prison. They sometimes provide defense lawyers for their participants. They defend to the death anyone who has declared himself or herself a member. They also have no pity about sentencing anyone to death who betrays them or owes them money. The State, according to many prison employees that we know and even some directors, no longer controls the prisons. The PCC does. Prison directors have been known to make implicit or explicit agreements with the leaders of the PCC, that they'll let them do whatever they want on the inside, as long as no riots occur in that particular prison. Unfortunately, the best place to buy drugs in the state of São Paulo is inside the prisons. One can purchase alcohol, drugs, arms and cell phones in the prisons, if one has enough money or connections. According to inmates, most of these products enter the prison in the hands of corrupt and greedy guards. According to the prison system, most of it enters through family members on visiting day. However, family members are literally strip searched before entering. Recently, a machine gun was confiscated at the end of a rebellion. It is hard to imagine a family member managing to sneak in a machine gun, without the assistance of some guard somewhere. The government was extremely slow to admit to the existence of this strong and growing force within the prisons. In the meantime, the PCC became extremely organized, especially with access to illegal cell phones in most of the prisons. Highly intricate telephone "switchboards" have been set up that connect one cell phone from one prison to another, or can even connect more than two people into a phone call. Most of these phones have been cloned from legitimate cell phones and thus are hard to trace. Five years ago, a "mega-rebellion" was set off, where more than 20 prisons had riots on the same day across the state. For quite some time, there have been rumblings of another mega-rebellion in the planning. Specifically, word came down that this was going to happen on Mother's Day. It is a visiting day in many prisons - just the added number of people in the prisons diminishes security and adds a bit of chaos to the day. So, the head of prisons for the state of São Paulo, with authorization from the governor, decided to select the 700+ "leaders" of the PCC throughout the state and isolate them, transferring all of them to a specific maximum security prison, recently repaired after a rebellion in 2005. They locked down all of the prisons on Wednesday, conducted a search of each of them, and separated out the 700 men and transferred them. On Friday morning, when they released the inmates to the prison yard, the riots began, as did the attacks on police in the streets of São Paulo. The governor of São Paulo has recently declared his candidacy for presidency (and had to step down from his post, as required by the law). What we have heard continuously is that the PCC detests Geraldo Alckmin (the former governor turned presidential candidate) and his government, and has set out to destabilize his government. This is an election year. One can question, if the leaders are all isolated, who is leading this war? Are they truly isolated? Have new leaders stepped up to bat? Did they leave specific orders behind, in case something happened to them? The PCC is extremely organized and extremely hierarchical. The leaders give the orders and the others obey. There is much speculation that the deaths and attacks in the streets of São Paulo were probably carried out by former inmates who built up drug debts in prison, and when they walk out the door, already have their orders of what they are going to do. Up until midnight on Sunday night, 71 prison units have rioted, although 25 riots were promptly controlled. Fifty-five people have died during this whole situation, most of them members of the police force, assassinated in the streets or at police posts. Between deaths of inmates in the prisons and people in the streets suspected of participating in attacks on police, another 15 people have died since Friday. Over 115 attacks have occurred throughout the state, mostly in relation to police and police posts, although city buses have been burned and a bank was bombed on Sunday evening. The Prison Pastoral and other groups that defend the rights of all human beings, take a very clear stand that we will never tolerate violence, and that this mass destruction and murders are absolutely repugnant to us. While their actions are just wrong, and cannot be justified in any way, the State also has to recognize its complicity in the violence. A State that does not invest in its schools in the poorer neighborhoods, does not invest in more jobs and training for jobs, does not invest in health care for the uninsured, is perpetrating institutional violence at a level of which the full impact is totally immeasurable. A State which sentences a reporter to 19 years in prison for the cold blooded murder of his ex-girlfriend, but allows him to stay home while he awaits the result of his appeal (which will take a minimum of one year to resolve), while it sentences hundreds and hundreds of people to prison because they have shoplifted, will never have credibility or authority in front of its population. A State which insists that "everything is under control" even as the number of deaths increases and the violence in the streets does not abate, is in extreme denial, and cannot be trusted by its constituents. What we most need at this moment are clear heads, a strong position in relation to the current situation and in defense of life and dignity, and lots of prayer! Heidi Cerneka is a member of the Catholic Church's "Pastoral da Carceraria" (Prison Ministry) of São Paulo.
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"A State which insists that "everything is under control" even as the number of deaths increases and the violence in the streets does not abate, is in extreme denial, and cannot be trusted by its constituents."
But brazilians live in denial! Nothing is ever their fault, I'm sure you knew that already.