ConflictBarometer_2016

THE AMERICAS
Maré. Police seized machine guns, grenades, and 300 kg of
marijuana and cocaine. Subsequently, the government deployed
500 additional PM forces to the favela to reinforce
security.
A wave of violent attacks by the PCC-offshoot Sindicato do
Crime (SDC) swept the state of Rio Grande do Norte between
July 29 and August 2. A GSM-inhibiting security system had
been installed in a prison in the state capital Natal on July
28. Subsequently, more than 70 reported explosions and
shootouts, the destruction of 30 public buses, and the closure
of schools and universities in more than 30 municipalities
prompted the assistance of 1,200 soldiers on July 31. A
total of 82 SDC members were arrested.
From June 13 to 22, 12,000 police and military forces conducted
''Operation Ágata XI” in the border regions with Argentina
and Paraguay against human, drug, and weapon trafficking.
In the course of the operation, security forces arrested
71 DTO members and seized six tons of explosives, 168 rifles,
22,865 pieces of ammunition, eleven tons of marijuana, 123
kg of cocaine, and 122 kg of other drugs.
In the context of the municipal elections in October, the government
deployed 20,000 soldiers to 307 municipalities to
strengthen public security. In the run-up to the elections,
various militias had reportedly killed more than 20 officials
and candidates for office who had refused to pay extortion
fees.
Turf wars between the Río de Janeiro-based CV and the
São Paulo-based PCC were on the rise in various states, attributed
mainly to lucrative drug sales periods surrounding
the Olympic Games and a seven billion USD cut of the national
security budget succeeding the event. On October 15
and 16, for instance, two prison riots in the states of Rondônia
and Roraima left 18 CV and PCC inmates dead.
Violent encounters between CV and PCC also affected neighboring
Paraguay. On June 15, around 100 gunmen ambushed
and killed local drug lord Jorge Rafaat Tourmani with a .50
caliber machine gun in Pedro Juan Caballero town, Amambay
department. The incident led to increased violence between
criminal groups over the control of drug trafficking routes and
territories in the border area. cpn
do Paranapanema, São Paulo state, as a measure to pressure
the government to facilitate access to property. On March
12, about 600 MST members occupied a farm in Pirajui, São
Paulo, and destroyed several sugar plantations. The occupation
ended non-violently. The following week, about 2,000
MST families occupied the farm Santa Maria in Santa Terezinha
de Itaipu, Paraná state, demanding the allocation of the
farm to them through land reform. On May 18, 650 Military
Police (PM) attempted to end the two-month occupation of
the farm and resorted to tear gas to disperse about 450 MST
members when these blocked part of the highway BR-277,
hurled stones, and set tires and vehicles on fire. On April 7, a
confrontation between PM and MST members in an MST camp
in Quedas do Iguaçú municipality, Paraná, housing more than
7,000 people, left at least two MST members dead and six injured.
On September 8, MST members occupied a farm of the
politician Ana Amélia Lemos from the co-governing Progressive
Party in Goiás state, claiming that the land was not in use.
Both MST and MTST continued to stage protests to reinforce
their demands and also joined anti-impeachment protests on
several occasions [→ Brazil (social protests)]. On May 4, for
instance, during an anti-corruption rally in the municipality
of Itapecerica da Serra, São Paulo, a PM officer shot at a MTST
member and injured her. On June 1, during a MTST protest
against the then-Interim President Michel Temer in the city
of São Paulo, PM officers fired tear gas bombs to disperse
the crowd. On November 11, MTST members marched in the
city of Guarulhos, São Paulo, and set tires and wood on fire
in protest against the government's proposed constitutional
amendment 55 (PEC 55) which would freeze public spending
and thereby slash social expenditure for the next two
decades. cpn
BRAZIL (SOCIAL PROTESTS)
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 2013
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
MPL et al. vs. government
system/ideology
BRAZIL (MST, MTST)
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 1996
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
MST, MTST vs. government
resources
The conflict over land reform between various leftist landless
organizations, headed by the Landless Workers' Movement
(MST) and the Homeless Workers' Movement (MTST), on the
one hand, and the government under President Michel Temer,
on the other, escalated to a violent crisis. Fearing the end of
social policies introduced in 13 years of rule by former Presidents
Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff from the leftist Workers'
Party, MST and MTST threatened to take more direct action
against the new right-wing Temer administration ahead
of Rousseff's impeachment in August.
Several land occupations took place during the year. On January
16, about 200 MST members occupied the farm Pontal
The violent crisis over the orientation of the political system
between different social groups such as the Movimento Passe
Livre (MPL) and the government continued.
Corruption scandals affecting politicians across the entire political
spectrum and the impeachment proceedings against
then-President Dilma Rousseff triggered protests for and
against the government. On the one side, on March 13, 3.5
million people took to the streets in over 300 cities against
Rousseff. In São Paulo, capital of the eponymous state, the
largest anti-government protests in the history of the country
united about 500,000 demonstrators. On the other side,
five days later, hundreds of thousands rallied in 45 cities
supporting the government and calling for the preservation
of democratic order. Several social movements and trade
unions marched against an alleged coup against Rousseff in
25 of 27 states on March 31, the anniversary of the military
takeover in 1964, gathering around 175,000 protesters nationwide.
On May 12, Vice President Michel Temer assumed the interim
presidency after the senate had temporarily suspended
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