In violence and performance in the so-called “New cangaço”: Besieged cities, use of explosives and attacks on police in bank robberies in Brazil

Abstract

I analyze a modality of thefts and robberies against bank branches that has taken place in all regions of Brazil, which main characteristic is the truculence of the bands in the approaches of the targets. Due to the affront to public power, the audacity and the size of the gangs, these criminal actions have been called by journalists, agents and chiefs of police a “new cangaço”, alluding to the groups of sertanejos that, in the first half of the 20th century, crossed the Northeast region and the north of Minas Gerais besieging and looting cities, towns and farms, confronting and slaughtering police forces. I will discuss the main characteristics of these robberies and thefts, as well as the sociality in the gangs that organize and execute these illegal attacks.