Abstract
This article analyzes violence against political actors in Baixada Fluminense, a region comprising 13 municipalities located in the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro. The central hypothesis of this study is that violence, especially lethal violence, constitutes a central instrument for the organization of power relations and delimitation of areas of control and political influence in Baixada Fluminense. A related hypothesis suggests that, based on the victims’ profile, political violence in Baixada is exercised within and between political elites connected with armed groups, notably militias.
Baixada Fluminense; politics; power to kill; violence; militias