Violence – and particularly state-sanctioned violence – is part of everyday life for many Brazilians. This is true especially for those who are unlucky enough to be poor, live in a favela and have “the wrong skin colour”.

Indeed, poor Black and brown people living in precarious situations are the preferred victims of the Brazilian police – a force that is seemingly committed to eradicating not poverty, but the poor.

In Brazil’s favelas, residents live with a constant fear of “police operations” – or to be more accurate, indiscriminate shootings across narrow residential streets involving automatic weapons and helicopters. They know that if a police officer happens to approach them – regardless of what they may or may not have done – they could be threatened, beaten up, jailed, killed or simply “disappeared”. They know that their house can be invaded any minute, their possessions confiscated, their lives turned upside down – all with the complete support of their country’s government and other state institutions.

Full article at Al Jazeera’s website. Date of publication: 23/08/2022.