Man assaulted by neo-Nazis in Niterói (metro Rio area); researcher shows that neo-Nazism has grown dramatically in Brazil

Note from BW of Brazil: There has been yet another report of a Neo-Nazi attack in Brazil. Although Brazil has for many years promoted itself as the land of “racial democracy”, consistent racial inequalities, racism and the existence of Nazis, neo-Nazis and Skinheads have existed for many years. In fact, Brazil was once the home to the largest branch of the Nazi party outside of Germany back in the 1930s. Anthropologist Adriana Dias has tracked the neo-Nazi activity in Brazil for a number of years and her research shows that sympathizers of this ideology has grown and expanded to other regions of the country is recent years. The most recent incident occurred in Niterói, a city located across the bridge from Rio de Janeiro. 

by Agência Brasil

Police in Rio will prosecute five men from a group of seven people arrested on the morning of April 27 in Araribóia Square in downtown Niterói, in the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area, on charges of assaulting a man from northeastern Brazil (1) and defending Nazi ideologies . The other two members of the group are a young woman, who would only be the girlfriend of one of the members and was released, and a minor, who was apprehended.

Held by municipal guards in Niterói after being denounced by people who witnessed the assault, the seven were taken to the 77th District Police Station in the district of Icaraí. According to the police chief Helen Sardenberg, the five men will answer for crimes of racial intolerance, Nazi propaganda, bodily injury, conspiracy and corruption of minors, all non-bailable. Although the victim, identified as Sirlei dos Santos, 33, was assaulted by the group, he did was not seriously injured. He would later testify at the police station.

According to police, Davi Ribeiro Morais, 39, Carlos Luiz Bastos Neto, 33, Thiago Borges Pita, 28, Caio Souza Prado, 23 and Philipe Ferreira Lima Ferro 21, wore shirts with references to a neo-Nazi group and displayed on their bodies swastika tattoos. Also found were knives, brass knuckles, pamphlets and other Nazi materials and propaganda in the car the group was found.

According to researcher, neo-Nazi groups were prevalent in southern states, but in recent years have grown dramatically in the Federal District, Minas Gerais and São Paulo

By Leo Rodrigues, Portal EBC

The growth in the number of neo-Nazi sympathizers has become an international trend. This is what research from internet monitoring conducted by anthropologist and researcher at UNICAMP, Adriana Dias shows. From 2002 to 2009, the number of sites that divulge information of interest to neo-Nazis rose 170%, from 7,600 to 20,502. In the same period, the comments in forums on the topic grew 42,585%.

In social networks, the data are equally alarming. There are neo-Nazis, denier and anti-Semite communities in 91% of the 250 social networks analyzed by the anthropologist. And for the past nine years, the number of blogs on the subject have increased over 550%.

Adriana Dias has worked for 11 years mapping neo-Nazi groups that operate on the internet and also in the non-virtual world. Due to the knowledge of situation accrued, the researcher has consulted for the Federal Police and intelligence services of Portugal, Spain and other countries.

Brazil

According to Adriana, neo-Nazi groups were prevalent in the most southern states in Brazil, but in recent years have grown dramatically in the Federal District, Minas Gerais and São Paulo. She has been mapping the number of Internet users who download files from websites and considers neo-Nazi sympathizers those who have made more than 100 downloads. By this criterion, her data indicate from 2013 indicate that there are approximately 105,000 neo-Nazis in southern Brazil.

States with the highest number of internet users who have downloaded more than 100 files of neo-Nazi sites

Federal District: 8,000

Minas Gerais: 6,000

São Paulo: 29,000

Paraná: 18,000

Santa Catarina: 45,000

Rio Grande do Sul: 42,000

In the case of Minas Gerais, the movements seem to have gained momentum in 2009 as a way to respond to the murder of Bernardo Dayrell Pedroso. Founder of the digital magazine, O Martelo (The Hammer), he was a reference of the neo-Nazi movement in the area. Having been killed at an event in the city of Quatro Barras (state of Paraná, southern Brazil), by another gang of neo-Nazi skinheads who saw Bernardo as a barrier to their ascension.

Organization

It’s not possible to describe a single route for entry into the neo-Nazi movement. But there is a common path: “Generally, they cater to proselytism in youth. The young man in search of a cause ends being accepted by the group that convinces him that blacks or Jews took their place in the labor market, university etc,” explains Adriana Dias.

The leaders of the groups do not generally participate in violent actions. “These are people who already have better financial conditions and generally have higher education. They lead the movement and read a lot of anti-Semitic material. They possess a high degree of education and seek to guard against possible lawsuits,” explains the researcher.

Source: Revista Fórum, Terra Notícias

Notes

1. Prejudice against northeastern migrants to southeastern states has existed for a number of years. Brazil’s northeast is heavily populated with persons of African ancestry while the south and southeast has a larger majority of persons who consider themselves to be white, being an extreme majority in the country’s most southern states. The northeast/southeast difference is also intensified by the fact that the northeastern region is the poorest region of the country while the south and southeast are the most economically advanced which leads to conflict due to north-easterners who migrate to the south and southeast in search of work. Also according to anthropologist Adriana Dias, prejudice against north-easterners intensified with the Worker’s Party presidential victory and re-election of Lula da Silva between 2002 and 2010 and the victory of another Worker’s Party candidate and current president Dilma Rouseff, who was part of Lula’s administration and the first female president in the country’s history.