After taking office on January 1, newly-elected President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro is facing his first major security crisis as gangs in the northeastern state of Ceará continue to launch a series of terrorist attacks in protest of the penitentia
Over 140 prisoners have been killed in 6 different prison riots in Brazil during the last 4 months. This is not the first time that violence has called attention to the deplorable conditions of Brazil’s prisons on a global scale. While this particular wave of riots has its root in a recent fallout between two drug gangs, they are indications of far deeper structural problems within Brazil’s prison system itself, which have been present for decades.
El autogobierno en el sistema penitenciario es un fenómeno muy extendido en Latinoamérica que da cuenta de cómo bandas delictivas altamente organizadas le disputan al estado, muchas veces con éxito, el manejo real de las cárceles. De esta manera, el estado pierde uno de sus atributos constitutivos, el cual es tener el monopolio del poder coercitivo.
