Security as a Commodity: Mega Events and Public Security in Brazil

The large investment made in so-called non-lethal weaponry must certainly be highlighted. These are commercialized by the chemical industry Condor, which sold R$ 43.59 million Brazilian Reais (ca. 10.9 million Euro) to SESGE and ranks the eighth position. The multiplication of situations and occasions when such weapons are used against the population – whether during the violent removal of city areas, the repression of protests or even in the contention of carnival reveler-crowds – has a direct relation to the massive purchase of these products and the implementation of a “militarized” acting logics, that is becoming more and more frequent.

However, the most remarkable fact is that eight out of those ten companies have been directly contracted for the creation of SICC. Besides Condor, only Rontan, a supplier of vehicles, a company that ranked sixth place, was not directly related to SICC. Thus, it is established as a national model of security by creating, once it is in place, a permanent demand for update, repairs, adaptation, equipment, personnel, and further resources. These budget demands also tend to reinforce the centrality of the integrated system. And even more than a model, SICC is an important governmental technology that tends to be more and more employed, including situations that most of the times, have very little to do with scenarios that would call for the intervention of security forces: elections, festive dates, sporting events, landslides, floods, accidents, traffic jams etc. Through this governmental technology, increasingly used, the “legacy” of mega events’ security is a “corporate/militarized” managing and acting model for public spaces that, alongside other factors, contributes to the current transformation of Brazilian State and its operating instruments.

In Cooperation with PACS – Instituto Políticas Alternativas para o Cone Sul.

Translation from Portuguese by Fal Azevedo.