Cracolândia under military urbanism: The implementation of SIAT II Acolher Helvétia and the continuity of the logic of pain and suffering

ABSTRACT

In this article, we propose to think about the implementation of SIAT II Acolher Helvétia, during the so-called Operation Caronte, as part of a logic of government action in Cracolândia explained by the first time in Operation Dor e Sofrimento. Anchored in the authors’ previous experience in field research in the region, we carried out an extensive bibliographical and documentary research that allowed us to verify that the actions of state and municipal governments began to assume a militarized character of dispersion and concentration of crack users. With the initial intention of occupying underutilized public services, these actions ended up establishing a situation of generalized war there. We conclude that the actions of the municipality and state government around Operation Caronte maintained the main tendency of government action in Cracolândia: to make living conditions on the streets unbearable and, by causing pain and suffering, expel crack users by imposing abstinence-based treatment.

Keywords:
Cracolândia; public policies; police violence; military urbanism; Operation Caronte