Lucia: Testimonies Of A Brazilian (Voices Of Latin American Life) by Robert Gay

Voices of Latin American Life

by Robert Gay

Favelas, or shantytowns, are where cocaine is mainly sold in Rio de Janeiro. There are some six hundred favelas in the city, and most of them are controlled by well-organized and heavily armed drug gangs. The struggle for the massive profits from this drug trade has resulted in what are increasingly violent and deadly confrontations between rival drug gangs and a corrupt and brutal police force, that have transformed parts of the city into a war-zone. Lucia tells the story of one woman who was once intimately involved with drug gang life in Rio throughout the 1990s. Through a series of conversations with the author, Lucia describes conditions of poverty, violence, and injustice that are simply unimaginable to outsiders. In doing so, she explains why women like her become involved with drugs and gangs, and why this situation is unlikely to change.

Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 2005

About the author

Robert Gay is Professor of Sociology at Connecticut College. He is the author of Lucia: Testimonies of a Brazilian Drug Dealer's Woman and Popular Organization and Democracy in Rio de Janeiro: A Tale of Two Favelas.

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in my politics and society of latin america class and it was really interesting

I learned a lot about Brazil and Lucia's story is just worth reading in general.

It's about the drug violence in Brazil and it gives you a description of what its like from someone who has lived in the middle of it her whole life.

I recommend it