Politics of Death: After the Massacres in Rio de Janeiro, by Camila Gavazzi Felix
In an article published in the Italian online magazine Napoli Monitor, Camila Gavazzi Felix, member of the Space and Power Research Group, analyzes the public security policy of the Cláudio Castro government in Rio de Janeiro.
October 28, 2025, went down in history as the largest massacre ever recorded in Brazil — a tragic milestone that exposes the persistent logic of the politics of death in the state. The official discourse of “successful operation” highlights the ever-present threat that the worst police operation in Rio will always be the next one. Under Cláudio Castro’s administration, the supposed recapture of territories from armed groups continues to rely on violent incursions that place the city, and especially the favelas and communities, under a daily regime of uncertainty, fear, and exceptionality.
The article, entitled “La politica della morte. Dopo i massacri nelle favelas di Rio de Janeiro”, follows the weeks after the massacre and shows how this political practice unfolds on multiple fronts: from the Unified Act “Chega de Massacre, Fora Cláudio Castro!” to calls for impeachment, from the majority support of the population for official promises of continuity, emerging a strong hypothesis: public security in Rio de Janeiro functions as an electoral ideology, capable of mobilizing support, producing consent, and sustaining power projects.
Read the full article here.
Drawing by Federica Pagano.
