Brazil is the largest South American state located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean ("Find People and Places"). The first Portuguese colony settled in Brazil in The 1530. Soon after people from Africa were brought over to work as slaves mining gold and harvesting sugar cane. In 1889 the Federate Republic of Brazil was established ("World Geography and Culture Online") and the division of races in the country began.
In the beginning Brazil's main discrimination was directed at soldiers within the army. This was shown as most corporals and other elite persons of power were white and the lower ranking positions remained occupied by black Brazilian people. In Brazil conspiracies began to rise in the army on multiple occasions as the military began planning to overthrow the government. The army's attempts were finally successful on March 31st 1964 to March 15th 1985 when Brazil was ruled by a Military Dictatorship (...). With all the power and no one to stand up to the military, things began to get out of hand. Some laws were disregarded while others were heavily enforced with cruel and inhuman punishment. Extreme fear by an army to achieve a goal whether it be political or in search of power is known as military terror (Smallman 5-27). This is a tactic that the Brazilian army has used both historically and currently. All throughout the twentieth century the Brazilian army has tried to hide their use of force and terror on prisoners and civilians’.
Military and police violence has affected the people of Rio de Janeiro, the capital of Brazil (“World Geography and Culture Online”) and one of the world’s most violent cities in the world (TheAmericas), for centuries and still continue today. Now more than ever, information of these attacks are becoming evident, mostly in Rio’s low income communities. These lower class communities, also known as Shanty towns (…), are controlled by gangs and reports of killings, beating and kidnappings committed by their police and military forces have been found and proven true.
