The Favela Life

The Favela (Brasilian slum) of Rocinha is located in the breathtakingly beautiful and vibrant coastal city of Rio de Janeiro and it is the biggest and most famous Favela in Brasil. In fact Rocinha (the Rock) is actually the biggest Favela in the Latin Americas with possible population figures ranging from anywhere between 100,000 and 300,000 people jammed sardine like within this unforgiving valley.

To understand life in the Favela one must first understand the economic situation and intense inequality that exists within Brasil. Statistics paint a damning picture of the Brasil's extreme income inequality. For instance, Brasil’s six richest men have the same wealth as the poorest 50% of the population while the country's richest 5% have the same income as 95% of the country....disturbingly mind blowing figures indeed. Despite Brasil's enormous economy the country exhibits some of the most extreme levels of income inequality in the modern world today. Over 10% of Brasil's population are currently living well below the poverty line. Favelas currently house over 6% of Brasil's population while the 1000 Favelas of Rio de Janeiro are home to well over 24% of the cities population. 1.5 million of Rio's residents know nothing more than the Favela life.

Rocinha is unfortunately best known for it's violent and turbulent history and less than a decade ago it was an area that most non residents feared to tread. Rocinha holds key strategic importance in Rio's thriving drug trade. If you control Rocinha you control the entire South Zone of Rio, one of the wealthiest areas in Brasil and thus not surprisingly one of the lucrative markets for the narcotic trade. The rich pay the drug dealer but it is the poor who pay the real price. However, largely thanks to a Police led Pacification process in 2011 coupled with a gang truce relative stability and security was openly welcomed within this sprawling urban labyrinth in recent years.

Unfortunately this peaceful period was to come to an abrupt end in mid 2017 when two local allied gangs who controlled the Favela broke out into vicious and violent war on the streets of Rocinha battling for control. Soon the Favela was filled with the hail of bullets and the splattering of blood as ruthless gangsters armed with a vast array of exotic assault rifles warred on the streets of Rocinha. Sadly once forgotten themes of death and violence had returned to The Rock once again. In fact the situation soon became so extreme that the local powers that be were forced to intervene in order to stop the violence. An unprecedented move took place as 900 military soldiers supported by army tanks were mobilized to take and patrol the streets of Rocinha as a temporary measure to quell the extreme levels of violence that had broken out. [Continue below]