Gang attacks in São Paulo

Okay people, here's the scoop:

PCC (Primeiro Comando da Capital), is a criminal gang founded in 1993. They're known for drug trafficking, arms trafficking, bank roberies, the whole shabang.

Last thursday, 765 inmates were transfered to another penitenciary with the intention of preventing an organized uprise (that was set to take place this past weekend in many prisons within the city). Among those transfered were leaders of the PCC. This is what the authorities do in order to break up ties between prisoners and gang members outside prison.

Since this weekend, the gang attacked various banks around the area (zona sul, zona oeste, and grande são paulo), aproximately 61 buses have been burned (most bus companies have stopped routes going to those areas in fear of more attacks), and more than 60 are dead as of this morning. Not only are there attacks on police stations, but there have been uprisings and rebellions in various penitenciaries and jails.

Apparently, these violent actions are in response to the decision made by the state government to isolate the leaders of the PCC, i.e. the transfer of those inmates.

I know most of you in the states are probably hearing about gang attacks with machine-guns, grenades, bombs, hostages, etc. and although that's all true in part, all mayhem has not broken lose here in São Paulo (well, i'm pretty sure the police think otherwise since they're the ones under attack).

I want to draw your attention to the fact that most of those reported dead are police officers. The target of this gang is primarily the police and anyone associated with them (civil and military police, penitenciary agents, metropolitan guards, etc). Of course there always exists the possibility of civilians getting entangled in this kind of stuff, but members of the PCC are not on the streets everywhere firing anyone in sight. They are much more organized and have an aim at what they're doing.

In a BBC article, i read: "If the state is being attacked, what can happen with every normal citizen. That's what everybody thinks." But i disagree. Around here, you tend to trust the ladrão more than the police. I'm sure it's not a news flash for anyone that the police of Brasil are among the most corrupt in the world, so I wouldn't be surprised if there's more behind this whole thing than just a "violent response" to the transfer of PCC inmates.

i was talking to one of my friends in class this morning about the situation and she told me about a recent attack on Rocinha, the largest favela in Rio de Janeiro, where the police there closed the entrance and opened fire in the favela claiming that there was a theif inside. Imagine all the people who aren't involved in drug trafficking that get entangled in all this. In anycase, in the end it was found out that all the commotion was really about arms trafficking that the police were in on with the favelados. My friend told me stories about how police pulled over one of her friends, threw drugs in the car and then arrested them for being in possession of drugs. And then she mentioned another incident in a jail that was running out of space, so the police started a rebellion and then did a mass killing in an attempt to "break up the uprising". Because my friend has been witness to the corruption of the police, perhaps that explains her negative attitude towards them. Maybe she's exaggerating, maybe she's not. Anyway, the point is, both sides have their story and there is usually more to it than what we see in the news.