Rio Residents Forge Grassroots Answers to Gang Violence as Crime Dominates Brazil's Election

Crime has emerged as the foremost concern for Brazilian voters ahead of October's presidential election, with candidates competing to present the toughest and most effective response to a problem that runs deep in the country's urban centres.

Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, is challenging President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva with a pledge to loosen organised crime's grip on Brazil, particularly in Rio de Janeiro. After Rio's deadliest-ever police operation last year, in which more than 120 people were killed, polls indicated that the hard-line policies Sen. Bolsonaro advocates are popular. Lula has argued for a more prominent federal role in the fight against organised crime and greater coordination between government institutions.

Amid the political sparring, residents in Rio de Janeiro have been devising their own responses. Many residents, community leaders and experts say the current approach — which favours armed confrontations between police and criminal groups — is inefficient and often results in indiscriminate loss of life. They are taking on crime themselves to bridge that gap.

Once a week, a group of former drug traffickers gathers in a small recording studio on the outskirts of Rio to dissect their past lives of crime and those of their guests. They air episodes of "01 Sobreviventes," or 01 Survivors, on YouTube and streaming platforms. A painting of the four founders grinning hangs on the wall, while the podcast's logo — a microphone breaking a chain — is projected on a screen over the desk.

"We want to propagate the idea that crime isn't worth it," said host Fábio Santos, a 56-year-old ex-trafficker from the Manguinhos favela who spent 25 years in prison. "We want them to follow our current lives so that they don't go through what we went through," he added after recording a recent interview with a former gang member who is now a pastor.

Launched in 2024 and followed by more than 225,000 people on Instagram, the podcast targets both those tempted by the allure of quick cash and those who need convincing to course-correct. Crime leads to prison, a wheelchair or a coffin, they say repeatedly. Santos said several people have reported seeing traffickers listening to the podcast, and that he regularly hears about people who left the world of crime or did not enter it thanks to their work.

One of the podcast's guests was Vanderson Rocha, who grew up in an abusive household in the famed City of God favela and was 8 when he entered the world of drug trafficking. After stints in prison and converting to Evangelical Christianity, he eventually left that life behind and now runs what he calls a therapeutic community named "R3," which stands for Rescuing, Resocialising and Resending. The organisation offers psychological assistance as well as free electricity, refrigeration and English courses.

"If they want to leave crime but they don't have an employment opportunity, any hopes for life, what are they supposed to do? A project changes everything," Rocha Silva said. He said that on more than one occasion, members of drug trafficking gangs have knocked on his door asking to take part in the course so they can leave their criminal life behind.

"If we had (this course) back in the day, I wouldn't be here now, I'd already be helping others to become professionals," said Adelson da Cruz, a 36-year-old security guard participating in the free electrical course. "I have a brother that has left the criminal life and he's waiting for a new class to open to start the course."

Santos, reflecting on the challenges facing those leaving prison, noted that most inmates come from poor communities. "When he goes back there, the first thing he sees is someone trafficking. What will he do? He'll knock on doors and not get anything; he'll be humiliated and ashamed. So first thing he does: I'll go back to being a criminal."

Rocha Silva argued that enforcement alone cannot solve the problem. "They (police) killed 140 (people) and I'm sure 270 joined after it. Why is that? Because there are no resources. Will drug trafficking end? No. There's no point in focusing on security without also focusing on social action."