The sign in a condominium in Muzema, in Rio de Janeiro, appears harmless. It warns: from January, everyone must pay monthly fees of R$ 60 (apartment) or R$ 100 (house). For each day of delay, an extra R$1.
The sign's source isn't a condominium association, but the militia that rules over the area and demands payment from residents.
The buildings that collapsed were uneven, as many of the buildings in the same area. One of the militia's cash houses is land grabbing and illegal real estate exploitation. Those who live in these areas often don’t pay city property taxes, but pay the “head of the group," say residents.
In January, Operation Untouchables targeted militia leaders who controlled Muzema and neighboring Rio das Pedras. One of them was former military police Adriano da Nóbrega. Nóbrega was in the same battalion as Fabrício Queiroz, a former adviser to Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PSL-RJ) investigated by the Public Ministry. Nóbrega himself has been honored by the son of President Jair Bolsonaro.
"Where public power does not act, there is parallel power," said attorney Maíra Lima Vieira, 36, who lives in the area. She has called on the city to get rid of mud and debris that remains heaped in the open air from the storm that flooded the area days ago.
Maíra says that she paid R$ 200,000 for her property. Other units nearby cost less than half that, prices below market value. One tactic of landowners is to encourage locals to occupy buildings still under construction to prevent possible interdictions by government officials.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon