What are favelas? I tell you about the other side of Rio de Janeiro

As soon as I tell people that I spend several months of the year in Rio de Janeiro, the first thing they ask me is, “What are the favelas of Rio de Janeiro? Are they really that dangerous?”
I grew up in a city where in the poorest neighborhoods it is very common for kids to soon turn into lookouts, hitmen, traffickers or-if they can get ahead-into camorra bosses.

I traveled a lot, and over the years most people, when I would tell them what Italian city I was from, would ask me if I had ever witnessed a shooting or knew a camorrista.
I’m so used to people associating Naples with the Camorra that I don’t even resent it anymore. The same happens to me with Rio de Janeiro.

I love Naples; it is the city where I was born and raised. It is the city where my family and lifelong friends live. I can’t say I love Rio de Janeiro in the same way, but almost.

Whenever I explain to people that my happy place in the world is Rio de Janeiro, most of them look at me like I’m batshit crazy: “But aren’t you afraid to live in Rio?“, “What if they kill you?”, “What are the favelas in Rio de Janeiro like? Have you really lived in one of them? Are you crazy!?”

One of the biggest problems in this world is the fact that people judge without knowing what they are talking about.

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What are favelas? How did they come into being?

To understand what favelas are, one needs to know that they came into being when refugees and former soldiers who were veterans of the bloody Canudos War (1895 – 1896) in the state of Bahia occupied vacant hillside land in the city of Rio de Janeiro. By the end of the war, the government had stopped paying former soldiers who survived the war and did not even give them housing to live in.

The hill in question, formerly called Morro da Providência, or the first favela in Rio de Janeiro, was named Morro da Favela by its first inhabitants.

Over the years most of the poor population, consisting mostly of former slaves freed as a result of the 1888 Golden Law, moved there replacing the original refugees and becoming the majority ethnic group.

The favela was a strategic place to live for freed blacks who lived on the morro, as it was located near their workplaces. In fact, the favelas in the southern part of Rio de Janeiro are located in the hills right next to the city’s most beautiful and wealthy buildings (Copacabana, Ipanema, and Leblon). So in those days, but still today, favela residents worked for wealthy families in the southern area receiving little change in return.

What do the favelas of Rio de Janeiro look like in 2020?

Today, one-fifth of Rio de Janeiro’s population lives in favelas, and the number is constantly growing. Most of these people are noble and pure souls. Their one big problem is that they are extremely poor, and poverty often leads to committing extreme acts.

What are favelas? What does this term mean?

The term favela refers to Brazilian slums built over the years at most of the country’s major cities. Some of them, especially those in Rio de Janeiro, have become world famous over the years.
La Rocinha, for example, is known to be the largest favela in all of South America.

As for Santa Marta, however, in 1996 Michael Jackson decided to film part of the video for the song there
They Don’t Care About Us
directed by Spike Lee.
A statue was then built in June 2010 as a tribute to the great artist who had passed through. From then on, tourists from all over the world flocked to see the Michael Jackson statue live. Suddetta statue was built on a terrace in the favela, which today is recognized as one of the city’s most beautiful vantage points.

Why is there so much crime in the favelas?

The first census of favelas was taken in the year 1949, when the number of favelados was considerably lower than it is today. At that time it was about 300,000 people living in the different comunidades of the wonderful city.

As time went on-primarily due to the extreme poverty of the inhabitants of the aforementioned favelas and thanks to the fact that the police did not enter any of the multiple communities-crime grew more and more.

The first real criminal organizations emerged in the 1960s. One in particular, the so-called
Comando Vermelho –
known to anyone who knows what the favelas of Rio de Janeiro are – found its incubation place in a maximum security prison on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.

The birth of the Comando Vermelho marks a transitional moment in Rio’s crime history: for the first time, we are no longer talking about street crime but rather organized crime revolving mainly around drug trafficking.
Nowadays, the Comando Vermelho consists of a precise hierarchical structure although not too top-down as is the case in Italy.

One of the abysmal differences between the favelas of Rio and the slums of Naples is that the police in Rio are corrupt in most cases. So the question arises, “To whom does one turn to report crime? Who can be trusted?”

Before I started my reportage in the favela Santa Marta I believed that the pacification of favelas was a benefit to the inhabitants of the different communities. But in fact I was far from the truth, the police are not always the hero of the story.

What are favelas: are the communities in Rio de Janeiro really that dangerous? Who is the real villain?

As I was interviewing my great friend “A Baiana,” a lovely lady originally from Salvador de Bahia but who has lived in Rio for more than 30 years, I realized that in reality the police have not helped the people living in the favelas very much. The truth is that the UPP(Unidade de Policia Pacificadora) has only improved the image of the city as seen from the outside.

“When the police raided the favela every day meant death and destruction, we lived in panic. Before they came we lived well, the police only made things worse. They abused their power and continue to do so. It was not pacification but rather occupation, we don’t want them here.” Baiana told me in a trembling voice and with tears in her eyes.

The raid on the favelas through the UPP in 2008.

2008 was the year of the launching of the pacification of favelas through the UPP(Unidade de Policia Pacificadora) . The first favela to be pacified was the favela of Santa Marta, located in the southern part of the city, in the Botafogo neighborhood.

The favelas in the southern part of Rio-including, precisely, Santa Marta-were the areas that UPP considered the most, but this was by no means a coincidence.
In view of the World Cup and the Olympic Games, the government needed to redeem the image of the districts involved in the above events. In fact, for those who do not know, the southern zone consists of Rio’s most central and touristy neighborhoods including Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, and Botafogo.

What was the government’s real goal?

The government’s goal was to ensure the protection of “important areas” of the city. The inhabitants of the favelas were actually thought of by no one. Economic speculation was all that mattered.
What would have happened if tourists who arrived in Rio for the Olympic Games had found themselves in the middle of a feud? The city’s image-which is already disparaged enough-had to be taken care of. For this very reason, there was no time to think about the fact that appeasements would lead to death, abuse, and violence within the favelas. After all, who cares about the inhabitants of the favela?

I would like to specify that this is not a personal opinion but rather the reality of the facts.
Following incidents of police violence in Rio’s favelas since the 1990s, in fact, in May 2017, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights condemned Brazil for gross human rights violations committed.

I conversed with several people from the favela Santa Marta, and no one has forgotten, those people are not willing to forgive.
This is precisely why favela residents are disinclined to report criminal activities and cooperate with the police.
And here the question arises, “But then who is the real villain?”

Are young criminals in the favelas bad people?

I want to tell you the story of one of the boys I met while living in the Favela of Santa Marta.
Celso is a 25-year-old boy and a lifelong resident of the Santa Marta favela with his mother and 9 siblings. Today Celso works, has a normal life, and wants no more of crime.

I have dated this guy on several occasions, and he is an incredibly kind, sunny person who is always willing to help others. However, Celsus has a past that haunts him.

Young criminals in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas: the story of Celso

For several years Celso was part of organized crime in Rio de Janeiro. He does not brag about it, but states that he does not regret it.
When Celso returned home, on any given day of a Carioca summer, he saw his mother in tears in despair because she had not been able to buy dinner for all her children.

At that moment, Celsus, tired of seeing his mother go out of her way at work to receive two pennies a month in return, decided that he had to do something to help his family.
So it was that he began working in crime, until the day he decided that that life was no longer for him. Today Celso has managed to find an honest job to be able to support himself and help his family survive. But, unfortunately, not everyone is as “lucky” as he is.

Celso is the son of a strong and courageous woman who carried on her family totally alone.
The baiana, that beautiful soul I mentioned earlier, raised 9 children on her own after kicking out her husband who had cheated on her with her best friend in her own bed while she was at work.
She could have forgiven him, but she preferred to eliminate from her life the people who had made her suffer. So she decided to support her home and family by herself.
Baiana can neither read nor write, yet she never gave up. The moment she told me that she was illiterate, I thought in my mind that this woman is more than 10 years younger than my mother-so she is still very young-and yet she had not had access to any kind of education.

What are favelas: the truth about kids robbing tourists in Copacabana

During Baiana’s interview, I asked her opinion about the kids who rob tourists in the famous Copacabana and Ipanema neighborhoods.
I saw a hesitation in his eyes. He would have liked to tell me that stealing is an incorrect action and that no one deserves to be robbed. But she was sincere, and replied that the inhabitants of the favelas are left to their own devices. He added that kids who rob tourists very often do so because they have no other choice. At that moment she began to cry, and she told me that her own son, Celsus, had led that kind of life for several years and that she never stopped him because he needed that money.

“I want the best for my children. I would like to see them study, I would like to be able to give them a worthy future. I wish they could have a good job, but nowadays without a degree you can’t even work in a little store. Then, being black and from the favela, people are prejudiced and no one takes us into consideration. So no, I did not get angry with my son when I found out he was working for crime. I had young children at the time, and I couldn’t afford to see them crying from hunger.”

 

Robberies of tourists are not done just for the sake of it

The problem of assaults and robberies in Rio’s tourist areas is alarming, and I do not want to and cannot excuse anyone. Nevertheless, I would like to emphasize that those who know what the favelas are also know that crime in Rio is “obligatory” crime because those who steal are not doing it just for the sake of it.

Today Brazil, along with Venezuela, is the country with the highest poverty rate in all of Latin America.

People here are hungry, and when we get a cell phone or a watch stolen, they buy food for a month. It is not as with us, that many-but obviously not all-steal or deal for the mere di di gusto of doing so and for so-called “easy money.”

Those who know what Rio de Janeiro’s favelas are know that the poverty of their inhabitants is a serious problem that the government should solve as soon as possible. These people are hungry, and although they want to work to be able to bring home a piece of bread, they cannot do so because there is no work for them. For them there is no hope or future, yet they are incredibly selfless, kind people who are always willing to help.

I dined and drank many times at the Baiana’s house. She never wanted a penny, and if I tried to give her money she would be offended.

Why everyone should enter a favela if you visit Rio de Janeiro

Entering a favela does not necessarily mean going on a so-called “human safari.” Of course, if you start taking pictures of houses or people without their permission, it is invasion of privacy and above all it is in bad taste.

But going into a favela–only accompanied by a local–to meet local people, understand what favelas really are, and get a broader view of things, can be an incredibly constructive experience. For those interested in such an experience, you can message me on my Facebook page or Instagram profile to arrange a tour with Celso in the favela of Santa Marta.

Also, know that the viewpoints from the favelas in the southern area such as Santa Marta, Vidigal or Babilonia are truly breathtaking.

What are favelas: what is the main purpose of my reporting?

In Rio de Janeiro no one kills a tourist who enters a favela, and I want you to understand that. A favela resident has no interest in pointing a gun and shooting a tourist just for the sake of it.

The main purpose of my reporting is for people to understand that the inhabitants of favelas are not bad people. The kid who steals your earrings or pulls your watch off your wrist in Ipanema is not a bad person. He is most likely a young boy from a family that does not even have money to buy a piece of bread, just like Celsus.

And by that I don’t mean that you deserve to be robbed, I’m just saying that if you want to visit Rio de Janeiro safely it would be better to leave your watch at home and your cell phone in your breast pocket, so as to avoid unpleasant incidents like a robbery.

Don’t be afraid to visit Rio de Janeiro.

Rio de Janeiro is a mágica city, not surprisingly nicknamed “a cidade maravilhosa.”
Do not be afraid of it, visit it keeping in mind the problems that plague it on a daily basis and take the right precautions.
I know few people who have not been fascinated by it, and they are often those same people who have experienced a robbery or witnessed some act of violence.

The fault lies not with the kids who rob tourists, but with the corrupt government that is unable to handle the situation

I had never been robbed in Rio. But a few weeks ago I was attacked in Barra da Tijuca, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city. It was 7 a.m. I was returning from a party. As I was walking I heard two young boys (surely from one of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas), who must have been at most 15 years old each, yelling in my face saying “give me the bag or I’ll kill you.” Neither of them was armed, but I still handed them the bag without complaint. After that I ran after him, as the young boy who had taken my bag had just boarded a bus. I stopped the bus and told the driver that this kid had stolen my bag. At that point several people on the bus lunged at him, pelting him with blows.

You may not believe it, but I felt guilty. I felt sorry for that little boy, because the fault is not his, very often they have no other choice.
Moral of the story: I should not have walked on that deserted road at 7 a.m. Even if it was a 10-minute walk, I would have to take an Uber. One should always take an Uber in Rio de Janeiro when it is dawn and the city is deserted.

That little boy could have been Celso. The same Celsus who never charges me anything out of gallantry. The same Celsus who helped me as if he had known me all my life at a very difficult time in my life.
The reality of Rio is difficult to understand, but I assure you that if you get to know it you will fall madly in love with it.

“In judging any behavior we also judge a way of being, of which that is a manifestation, but for which no one actually bears responsibility.” – Vannuccio Barbaro