Drug Policy

Changing attitudes towards drug deoendency could lead to better prevention and treatment. Source: Flickr/Creative Commons 2.0

Bolsonaro poses with the symbol of the Special Police Operations Battalion (BOPE in the Portuguese acronym) of the Military Police of the State of Rio de Janeiro in August 2020. It might be one of those strange coincidences that happen in Brazil, but the BOPE symbol bears a gruesome resemblance to the emblem of the paramilitary death squad Scuderie Detetive Le Cocq, formed in 1965 in Rio de Janeiro. BOPE was established in 1978. Also coincidentally, one of the paramilitaries who assassinated councilwoman Marielle Franco, former BOPE officer Ronnie Lessa, was officialy registered in Scuderie Detetive Le Cocq ranks. Lessa and Bolsonaro lived in the same condominium in Rio de Janeiro, and his daughter dated one of the president’s sons. Source: Palácio do Planalto/Author: Marcos Correa. 

Photograph of Rio de Janeiro via Wikimedia Commons/Creative Commons 2.0