The deadliest police operation in Brazil's recent history

On October 28, Rio de Janeiro’s police carried out a massive operation in the Alemão and Penha complexes, in the city’s North Zone, leaving more than 120 people dead (the body count is still ongoing) — making it the deadliest police operation in Brazil’s recent history.

Codenamed “Operation Containment”, the action is part of the state government’s initiative to combat the expansion of the drug trafficking faction known as Comando Vermelho (Red Command) in Rio’s metropolitan areas. Authorities announced it as the result of over a year of investigation, which allegedly identified 94 members of the Comando Vermelho hiding in the favelas of Alemão and Penha.
In the days following the operation — which Rio de Janeiro’s governor, Claudio Castro, a Bolsonaro ally, celebrated as “a success” — residents of the communities ventured into the woods searching for bodies left behind by the police.

The victims weren’t even collected; they were left behind like animals. The area wasn’t sealed off — the police came in, tortured, killed, and left. The images of residents retrieving bodies and lining them up on the streets for identification are among the most horrifying the country has ever seen.

A few days later, it was revealed that none of the 115 (identified) people killed in the mega-operation appeared on the judicial order that authorized the arrest of 58 targets allegedly linked to the Comando Vermelho. But even though the reports and images were shocking, surveys show that the operation was seen as a success by 57% of residents of the city and its metropolitan area.

It’s also important to note that for months, Bolsonaro-aligned politicians have been pushing the narrative of “narco-terrorism” — both to promote bills allowing foreign intervention (such as from the United States) and to call for harsher punishments, even the death penalty (which does not exist in Brazil).

To better understand what happened in the operation and its connections to the narco-terrorism narrative, Bolsonarism, and the Trump administration, I recommend two articles from Agência Pública, an investigative journalism outlet (in Portuguese): “Operação de Castro não matou ‘suspeitos’, matou gente como você e eu – e por motivo fútil” (Castro’s operation didn’t kill “suspects” — it killed people like you and me — and for a petty reason) by Marina Amaral; and “Relatório que quer tachar CV de terrorista foi entregue aos EUA por Flávio Bolsonaro” (Report seeking to label the Comando Vermelho as a terrorist organization was delivered to the U.S. by Flávio Bolsonaro) by Natalia Viana.

Another excellent article — especially the interview with Isabela Kalil — to understand how this operation fits into the far-right narrative is “Terminology of mega-operation in Rio echoes ideas of Trump, Bukele, and Noboa on terrorism and drug trafficking”, published by O Globo newspaper.

Redaktion: Ulli Jentsch