Favela

Someone else got shot this morning. The fifth victim in as many days. An old priest found him in the early hours of the morning, left to bleed out in the middle of the road with blood oozing from a dozen different gunshot wounds. It was a horrid sight, yet not an uncommon one. 

The policia came and did their duties as usual. Cordoned off the area, cleaned up the mess, questioned any witnesses. There were none, as it turned out. None that were brave enough to speak up. Even if someone did talk, even if there was evidence that was deemed irrefutable, nothing would come of it.  

Things like this were all too common in Rio.  Someone would get brutally murdered, the police would put on a show and pretend they're the ones that hold the power, and then... nothing. No arrests, no investigation... nothing. Instead, the case gets filed in a dusty room, and becomes just another unsolved murder amidst the masses. Just another statistic. 

This is how it is here. Favelas are at the heart of the place, hundreds of them. Slums teeming with crime and corruption, gang warfare and poverty. Untamed and uncivilised, with no sign of justice to be found.

A Brazilian Favela

I learned this quickly. At the age of ten, my father was shot right before my eyes. What had he done to deserve such a fate? Nothing, except being a few days late on his rent. Our landlord, or should I say drug lord, because that is the truth of the man, came with a few of his men and kicked the door down. My da pleaded with him, “Please, I’ll have the money soon. I just need a couple more day-” but he was never allowed to finish. And that was that. Just like so many other deaths in Rio.

They say the army is going to come any day now. They’ve been doing similar operations across the city, occupying certain favelas, seizing all illegal items and arresting anyone that tries to stop them. It is supposedly effective in destroying the criminal underworld, or so the politicians would have us believe. 

Do you think any of gang leaders are worried? Not one bit. The army – they come and put on a convincing performance, persuade the rest of the world that things are being done, that the favelas are getting cleaned up. But us Brazilians know it’s all bullshit. As soon as they go it’ll be business as usual. The drug trade is just too profitable. How many local cops are in on it? How many government officials? More than enough to ensure the survival of this business for decades, no centuries, to come.

No, the gangs rule the favelas and the drugs rule the gangs. This poison that turns men into violent psychopaths and neighbourhoods into corrupt extortion rings. Nothing can be done to stop it, so why wait to become the next victim? I won’t. I don’t care how dangerous or difficult it may be. There is a game to be played here and I intend to play it.

My name is Joseph Dominiquez, and I’m going to be a King of the Favelas.