When 132 Dead Are Just 'Gang Suspects'
The mainstream media breathlessly reports on Brazil's president being 'horrified' after Rio police killed 128 'gang suspects' and 4 officers in a single raid. Yet, this narrative studiously avoids the brutal reality: Brazil's military police, often with tactical support mimicking US 'War on Terror' doctrines, have a well-documented history of mass extrajudicial killings in favelas,
disproportionately targeting poor, Black Brazilians. For decades, these operations have left trails of bodies, with official justifications rarely scrutinizing police conduct. The 'suspect' label becomes a convenient euphemism for civilians caught in what Human Rights Watch has repeatedly called state-sponsored violence. One might wonder if the president's horror is reserved for soundbites, given
the consistent lack of structural reform. How many 'anti-gang' operations end with over 100 alleged criminals dead, few police casualties, and zero independent investigations before it's called anything other than policing? It's not a 'raid' when the goal appears to be extermination. It's an undeclared war on the impoverished.