Colonel Mário Sérgio Duarte and Federal Deputy Benedita da Silva at Rio Para Todos debate. Photo credit: Rio Para Todos.
Last Thursday, May 31st, Military Police Commander Mário Sérgio Duarte participated in a debate hosted by Rio Para Todos alongside former governor and current Federal Deputy Benedita da Silva and filmmaker Rodrigo Felha. The debate’s open-ended theme “Favela or Community? Inequalities and Opportunities” generated lively discussions of favela urbanization, the changing perception of favelas in the media, and the failures and successes of the UPP program.
Col. Duarte, who resigned last September after a Military Police battalion commander was implicated in the murder of Judge Patrícia Acioli, fielded questions on all aspects of UPP policy, from the desperate need for more policing in Nova Iguaçu to the lack of recreation facilities for young people in pacified communities. He was careful to emphasize the difference between UPP and UPP Social, though he acknowledged the importance of both: “The police are no longer so naive as to think that their presence in the community is enough; it must be accompanied by social programs.”
At one point, Col. Duarte admitted that the police invaded the Complexo do Alemão before they were fully prepared, and were forced to lean heavily on the Army. The invasion was made possible by reinforcements sent from other states, and the Army remained in the area much longer than expected. Duarte stated that pacification must take place during a “window of opportunity”, and that the police seized such an opportunity in Alemão.
The UPP program’s dependence on the Army to secure the favelas in the North Zone drew closer to an end last week, as the Pacification Force in the Complexo da Penha ceded control of the area to BOPE and the Shock Battalion. Military Police officers replaced soldiers in the communities Morro da Fé, Chatuba, Caixa d’Água and Morro do Sereno. Vila Cruzeiro, the largest community in Penha, will remain under Army control until the second stage of the police operation.
