Brazilian and colombians “false positives”

the construction of enemies and the politics of death

Abstract

This article aims to analyze how a critical apprehension of the notion of "false positive" - a popular Colombian expression used to refer to lethal victims of state violence - can contribute to uncover the discourses used by police and military forces responsible for the murder of people. In light of the recent massacre in the Favela do Jacarezinho in Rio de Janeiro and the police repression seen in the demonstrations that took place in the main cities of Colombia, the article seeks, through a literature review and critical discourse analysis, to draw a brief parallel between the Brazilian and Colombian contexts, to show how, in both countries, the security forces try to associate any victim of their violence - generally belonging to marginalized groups of society - to the to a label of an "enemy" whose death would be "justifiable".