R.J. Godlewski's The Independent Counterterrorist. I, Militia. June ...

e unemployed. Governance of this kind is not
altruistic; it is designed primarily to maintain a safe
haven for the trafficking networks. Those helped by
the traffickers become sources of information and
support, thereby enhancing the intelligence capabilities
of the criminal network. In this sense, a degree of
reciprocity is expected. Nevertheless, the paternalism
of the trafficking networks can also be understood
as an organic form of governance which is at least
partially attuned to the needs of the people deprived
of economic opportunity. After all, these people have
been neglected or ignored by the state and left to fend
for themselves. In these circumstances, to suggest that
the governance provided by the trafficking networks is
an inferior form of governance is beside the point; it is
the only form of governance—albeit one that inherently
challenges the legitimacy of the state.
Not surprisingly, therefore, favelas in both São
Paulo and Rio de Janeiro suffer from regular outbreaks
of violence as both rival trafficking organizations and
police and traffickers vie for control. In effect, the
organic or bottom-up governance is contested—at least
intermittently—by the state. 62 Although the favelas
have governance, therefore, they also have considerable
violence, which sometimes spills over to other parts
of the cities. In May 2006, for example, in response to
a plan to move major drug traffickers to a different
prison, the leaders of the First Capital Command in São
Paulo orchestrated a wave of violence in which “more
than 160 people, including at least 75 police and prison
guards” were killed, police posts, bars, and banks were
attacked, riots occurred in 80 prisons, and at least 59
buses were burned. 63 In effect, the city was brought to
a standstill.
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