In the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, criminal groups have taken control of five favelas in Rio... more In the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, criminal groups have taken control of five favelas in Rio’s outskirts, establishing what they call the Israel Complex (Complexo do Israel). Drug traffickers and paramilitaries, historic rivals in the dispute for territorial control, have joined forces to advance their illegal business. The Israel Complex is led by Álvaro Rosa, a drug lord who goes under the nickname Aaron - the biblical brother of Moses - in alliance with former police officers linked to the paramilitary group Crime Bureau (Escritório do Crime), a well-known death squad held responsible for several crimes, including the murder of councilwoman Marielle Franco in 2018.
The establishment of the Israel Complex marks a new phenomenon, even for crisis-prone Rio de Janeiro: the unification of drug trafficking factions, paramilitary forces, and neo-Pentecostal churches, waging a “holy war” not only against competing criminal groups, but also against Afro-Brazilian religions.
In the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, criminal groups have taken control of five favelas in Rio... more In the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, criminal groups have taken control of five favelas in Rio’s outskirts, establishing what they call the Israel Complex (Complexo do Israel). Drug traffickers and paramilitaries, historic rivals in the dispute for territorial control, have joined forces to advance their illegal business. The Israel Complex is led by Álvaro Rosa, a drug lord who goes under the nickname Aaron - the biblical brother of Moses - in alliance with former police officers linked to the paramilitary group Crime Bureau (Escritório do Crime), a well-known death squad held responsible for several crimes, including the murder of councilwoman Marielle Franco in 2018.
The establishment of the Israel Complex marks a new phenomenon, even for crisis-prone Rio de Janeiro: the unification of drug trafficking factions, paramilitary forces, and neo-Pentecostal churches, waging a “holy war” not only against competing criminal groups, but also against Afro-Brazilian religions.
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Articles by thiago andries
The establishment of the Israel Complex marks a new phenomenon, even for crisis-prone Rio de Janeiro: the unification of drug trafficking factions, paramilitary forces, and neo-Pentecostal churches, waging a “holy war” not only against competing criminal groups, but also against Afro-Brazilian religions.
The establishment of the Israel Complex marks a new phenomenon, even for crisis-prone Rio de Janeiro: the unification of drug trafficking factions, paramilitary forces, and neo-Pentecostal churches, waging a “holy war” not only against competing criminal groups, but also against Afro-Brazilian religions.