Nemesis - Drogová bitva o Rio – Glenny Misha (2020)

Cocaine is not just a Brazilian problem. It is driven by demand from Europe and the United States. That is why investigative journalist and organized crime specialist Misha Glenny unravels the threads that the drug mafia pulls in Rio de Janeiro. A powerful story of the rise and fall of one drug lord closely shows what life is like in the famous favela Rocinha. Antônio Francisco Bonfim Lopes, known as Nem, was just an ordinary man whose daughter fell ill with a rare disease. He needed money for her treatment. So much money that he had to leave his ordinary job and embark on a journey up the alleys of his native Rocinha, where the 'don' Lulu resided. Only he could lend him the money. Like everyone in the favela, he knew that waiting for help from the Brazilian state was pointless. And so Antônio switched tracks in his life and became part of the drug business, gradually becoming one of its rulers. All this happened at a time when even the Brazilian armed forces wanted to intervene in the favelas. However, the police cannot just enter the favela like that – and so the operation turned into a battle for Rio. Glenny spoke with Nem's family, friends, and enemies, as well as police officers and detectives. And how deeply he managed to penetrate into the poor neighborhood, which a happier Rio sees only as a problem, is...