Complexo Alemão in Rio de Janeiro Has Been Taken

Complexo Alemão in Rio de Janeiro Has Been Taken. Via O Globo

Unsurprisingly, the PM moved in to Complexo Alemão, Rio de Janeiro this morning. What does suprise me is the fact that there was very little resistance from the favela community that is considered the trafficking stronghold of the city. Police raided the German Complex at 8am on Sunday, with about 2,600 men, and around 10 am had already reached the top of the hill. [See the series of events in photos]

I was seriously expecting a huge battle to take place when the PM finally made their move into Alemão. It was suspected that over 600 traffickers were hiding in Alemão. The right hand man of one of the traficante leaders came down from the hill to turn himself in after Rio’s authorities had urged the hundreds of traffickers hiding in Alemão to “surrender with arms in the air by sunset on Friday.” I wonder how long it will take for other gang members in jail to badly hurt of kill him for his betrayal.

Also on Saturday many of Alemão's residents took to the streets with white flags and tee-shirts proclaiming PEACE. These are the people who are really suffering. Many of them have been without water and electricity for over 24 hours. Some residents fled from their homes in fear of the imminent confrontation. Anything, everything. and anyone going in and out of Alemão was thoroughly searched and residents were prohibited from returning to their homes in the hours before the raid began. And you thought the TSA was bad...

But now Alemão has been taken by the state and a search of all homes has been issued. There were very few arrests and so far I've only heard of one death. This means that the traffickers have fled - yet again. I've heard many people in Niterói suspect that they will inevitably flee here, to Ntierói, and also to São Gonçalo. Very unfortunate indeed. Residents of Alemão have said that they have seen traffickers fleeing through the sewer line installed by the works of the Growth Acceleration Program (CAP), which in my view show that they are getting pretty desperate to have to resort to fleeing through sewage lines - extremely disgusting and full of terrible bacteria!

Right now there is tranquility in Complexo Alemão, but it seems people are still on edge because of the ease at which Alemão was taken. Even spokesperson for the Bureau of Drug Enforcement said, "The environment is quiet. Disturbingly quiet."

What is amazing is the amount of support the police are getting from the general public. It seems like all of Rio is ready for a change. The middle class is tired of the violence that occasionally spreads into their communities, and I get the feeling that favela residents are also ready for a new page in their history.

I can't say that I support the invasion of favelas, especially since it just seems to be transplanting social issues from one area to the next, but I can cay that I support the UPP program. To be clear I do not think that any of this is happening because the government really cares about these people or is doing them a favor, I believe that these people are now seen as consumers. Pacified favelas now have to pay bills to legitimate electric providers instead of paying gangsters in the informal economy for stolen electricity. Even McDonald's is considering opening up shop inside one favela. Vila Cruzeiro was just promised a R$400 million (US$231 million) to build infrastructure, a shopping mall, 47 new shops, and a park with space for a cinema. A wave of social services has been promised to Alemão as well.

I just hope that this can last. I think it gives hope to people that their communities can be better and that they don't have to be run by gangsters. I hope that even though many traffickers fled, they are loosing some of their power, slowly but surely. There will always be drugs and guns, but now it is being forced to be underground rather than flagrantly out in the open. At least now kids are not idolizing traffickers with unlimited guns, drugs, and girls that hangs out on the corner every day (not to mention their mini-mansion hideout) .

Now all I can do is wait and see where the fleeing traffickers turn up.