Comando Vermelho (Portuguese for Red Command) is a Brazilian criminal organization founded in 1969 in the prison Cândido Mendes, on the Ilha Grande island, Rio de Janeiro, as a collection of ordinary convicts and political prisoners who were members of the Falange Vermelha (Red Phalanx), which fought the military dictatorship. During the entire 1990s the criminal organization was the strongest in all of Rio de Janeiro, but today the principal leaders have been arrested or are dead, and the organization is not as strong. The Comando Vermelho still control parts of the city and seeing streets tagged with "CV" is common in many favelas in Rio de Janeiro. The principal rival gangs of the Comando Vermelho is the Terceiro Comando Puro (TCP, Pure Third Command) and Amigos dos Amigos (ADA, Friends of Friends). The Terceiro Comando Puro (TCP, Pure Third Command) emerged out of a power struggle amongst the leaders of Comando Vermelho during the mid-1980s. The main base of operations for Comando Vermelho appears to be the Complexo do Alemao, where on Sunday nights they hold funk parties (bailes funk), often attended by drug dealers from all over the city. In late June 2007, Rio de Janeiro police launched a large-scale assault on the area where up to 24 people were killed. [1] Ross Kemp made a documentary about the Red Command (CV). The movie "City of God" or "Cidade de Deus" shows the early beginnings of Comando Vermelho. The DVD release of this movie contains an extra documentary "Notes of a Private War" which features interviews with the police and local children from the favelas (slums).
References
- The Guardian - Blood on the streets as drug gang and police fight for control of Rio favelas
- UNODC Report - Firearms and drugs fuel conflict in Brazil's favelas
