"Only a dead bandit is a good bandit" - election campaign in Brazil

Weltspiegel Election campaign topic in Brazil "Only a dead bandit is a good bandit" As of: October 25, 2026 • 9:43 p.m

Brazilian voters see violence and crime as the biggest problem in the country. The power of the gangs is increasing. The candidates in today's presidential runoff election represent different solutions.

It was still dark when hundreds of police entered the Complexo da Penha and Complexo do Alemão favelas in Rio de Janeiro on October 28, 2025. Soon barricades are burning and shots are being fired. These are scenes like war. Members of the powerful drug organization Comando Vermelho are putting up massive resistance with heavy weapons and even grenades.

There are fierce battles, especially in the wooded hilly area above the favelas. What exactly happened there is still not fully understood - investigations into the operation are ongoing. Among other things, the question is whether the police used disproportionate or unlawful force.

At the end of the operation, 122 people were dead, including five police officers. It is the deadliest police operation in Brazilian history. The authorities declare the 117 dead to be members of organized crime, although this is controversial in one case so far.

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For some, the operation is a success in the fight against drug gangs. For others, it is a massacre in which the state abused its power.

Tauã Brito lost her 20-year-old son Wellington. She scrolls through old text messages. They exchange messages until 8:22 a.m. Then the contact breaks off. Brito knows her son was a criminal. She says she lost him twice: first to the drug gang, then to the police.

“It would be true that I had to visit my son in prison, not that I had to bury him,” she says. Brito blames herself for not being able to prevent her son from joining the drug gang.

Taua Brito lost her son in a police operation. Many people support operations against gangs in Brazil.

But where the state offers little education and future prospects, criminal organizations become more attractive. Many see the favelas as a source of crime, but that's not true, says Brito. "Who sells the weapons, who brings the drugs? A corrupt network of entrepreneurs, politicians and police officers are at the top," she says, and those at the bottom are killed.

In fact, more than 60 percent of Brazilians supported police action. Tauã Brito has now moved out of the Penha favela. Every street reminds her of her son. But the sadness remains. She suffers from depression, anxiety and sleep problems. She receives psychological help for herself and her daughter through a private initiative, not from the state.

Bernardo Leal lost his leg during the operation. He sees the fact that he survived as a mission.

Bernardo Leal looks at the operation completely differently. At that time, the senior criminal police officer and his team were supposed to execute arrest warrants. But Leal is ambushed and the bullet from an assault rifle penetrates his femoral artery. The father of the family loses a life-threatening amount of blood, is in a coma for a week and has to undergo nine operations.

He survives, a miracle for many, but his leg cannot be saved. Leal doesn't like to talk about it, but one of his children has been suffering from severe fear of loss ever since.

One day after the operation, the Commando Vermelho gang took back power in Penha. The security forces risk their lives, but the operations are not sustainable. Is that frustrating? Plans are needed on how the state can regain control permanently, says Leal. At least the operation showed that the state is stronger than the criminals.

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He rejects the accusation that the police come to kill. The police are attacked with heavy weapons and have to defend themselves. Anyone who surrenders will be arrested.

"There can be no state that does not have sovereignty. And we no longer have sovereignty over these territories that were occupied by the criminals," says Leal. The police have to carry out orders and enforce the rule of law, says Leal. If they are unsuccessful, the state will be lost.

In fact, the power of drug organizations in Brazil continues to expand. The powerlessness frustrates people. In surveys, violence and crime are perceived as the country's biggest problem. The phrase “only a dead bandit is a good bandit” is very popular.

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The right-wing conservative presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro has placed crime at the center of his campaign and is announcing an uncompromising course. Among other things, he calls for harsher punishments and additional prisons. "I declare war on the Brazilian narco-terrorists. Either you go to prison or our police officers neutralize you," said Bolsonaro.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is primarily committed to better cooperation between investigative authorities and wants to combat the financial flows of criminal organizations. "We won't kill 100 or 200 people, we will arrest them," he promises.

Bernardo Leal sees his survival after the injury as a mission. He ran for the conservative Progressistas party and was elected to the Rio de Janeiro state parliament. There is a need for more education, more future opportunities, but also tougher laws and more decisive action against organized crime, he says. Leal supports Bolsonaro.

If Bolsonaro comes, there will be even more deaths, says Tauã Brito. She, too, turned her loss into a mission. She founded a support organization for mothers who have lost their children to violence. Together they want to give each other strength.

You can see these and other reports on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. in Weltspiegel on First.

This topic in the program: tagesschau.de | How internal security affects the election campaign in Brazil | Oct 25, 2026 | 4:16 p.m. Das Erste | daily news | Oct 25, 2026 | 8:00 p.m