Violence in Brazil’s northern and north-eastern regions is a growing concern.
Analysis from the Americas Observatories on Organized crime is driving a deadly surge in violence in Brazil. Violence in Brazil’s northern and north-eastern regions is a growing concern. In 2023, the homicide rate in northern Brazil was 41.5% higher than the national average. Meanwhile, six of the 10 cities with the highest homicide rates in the country in 2023 were in the north-eastern state of Bahia . Rising insecurity in these regions has been driven by the country’s two mafia-style groups , Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho (CV), moving into these areas. The Brazilian government is seeking to address this violence by proposing a constitutional amendment to reform public security. The bill, which is currently being debated in congress, aims to standardize police operational strategies and codes of conduct across Brazil’s 27 states to bolster enforcement efforts against organized crime. Alongside this proposal, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administratio...