False: It is false that the acronym on the cap used by former president and presidential candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) is related to organized crime in Rio de Janeiro. The accessory is written “CPX”, which means “complex”, the name given to groups of favelas grouped in a territory. The abbreviation does not mean “termite”, as the post implies, and is commonly found in songs, in addition to appearing in official state posts. Lula received the cap as a gift from local community leaders during a campaign rally on October 12, in Complexo do Alemão, in the city’s North Zone.
Investigated Content: Photo montages associating former President Lula with organized crime for wearing a cap with the initials “CPX”.
where it was published: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Completion of Proof: It is false that the cap worn by Lula with the letters “CPX”, during a visit to Complexo do Alemão, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, last Wednesday, October 12th, alludes to criminal factions. The acronym is popularly used in Rio de Janeiro and means “complex”, and not “cupinxa”, as disseminated on Bolsonar social networks – the correct spelling of the word is with “ch”: “cupincha”. The abbreviation to refer to “complex” is even used by authorities, such as the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro. In 2017, PMERJ used “CPX” when talking about Complexo da Penha – a community in the North Zone of Rio, unrelated to drug traffickers.
Falsefor Comprova, is content invented or edited to change its original meaning and deliberately disseminated to spread a falsehood.
Scope of publication: Comprova investigates suspicious content that has gained the most reach on social networks. On Twitter, the post reached 11,900 shares, 45,700 likes and 1,598,000 comments as of October 14th. On Instagram, the post with the fake content had 26,000 interactions until October 13, when it was deleted. On Facebook, the post by federal deputy Carla Zambelli (PL-SP), with the same content, until October 14, had 28 thousand likes, 3.9 thousand comments and 25 thousand shares.
What the author of the publication says: Comprova contacted André Porciúncula via direct message via Twitter, but received no response. Carla Zambelli, on the other hand, was contacted by Comprova via the e-mail made available on the Chamber of Deputies website, but there was also no response.
How we check: Comprova started the verification by searching Google for images of the candidate Lula during a walk in Complexo do Alemão, in Rio de Janeiro. The veracity of the use of the cap was checked based on the analysis of dozens of photos and videos published both on Lula’s official social networks, as well as those of supporters and residents of the region. Date, time and place were also analyzed by the images that were published in national news agencies and television news.
Then, using the search engine, we arrived at publications that show the use of the acronym by authorities in social networks and official documents, in addition to the use in songs with wide national dissemination. The use of the acronym by Rio residents on the internet was also checked. Comprova also checked the etymology of the word termite, in addition to the grammar, in the Michaelis dictionary.
On the use of “CPX” in weapons, we seek to understand the relationship with the specialist in public security, colonel of the reserve, anthropologist and researcher at the laboratory for the analysis of violence at the University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) Robson Rodrigues, in addition to the Rio de Janeiro’s own Military Police. We also ask for an official position from Lula and the authors of publications alleging the former president’s involvement with criminal factions.
“CPX” does not mean ‘termites’ and has already been used by authorities
The acronym “CPX” is an abbreviation for complex, a word that refers to groups of favelas grouped in a territory. Used many times as slang, the acronym appears since publications of the Official Twitter of the Military Police of Rio de Janeiroas in lyrics that depict daily life in Rio de Janeiro’s communities.
The word term termite, which is written with ‘ch’, according to the Michaelis dictionary, is an “individual with whom a close friendship relationship is maintained; comrade”, which can pejoratively mean companion. The meaning of “CPX” has nothing to do with the word referred to.
In Rio de Janeiro, there is not only the Complexo do Alemão, but also the complexes of Penha, Maré, Chapadão and Salgueiro. The abbreviation is also used to refer to these other locations. The acronym appears in the summary of the state government’s Budget Guidelines Law (LDO) for 2023referring to the “school reinforcement program at CPX da Maré”.
The abbreviation logic is the same adopted for CDD (Cidade de Deus), BXD (Baixada Fluminense) and PPG (Pavão-Pavãozinho Cantagalo), regions or locations in the city and state of Rio de Janeiro.
Born and raised in Complexo do Alemão, the founder of the newspaper Voz das Comunidades, based in the same complex, Rene Silva, posted on Twitter the explanation that “the CPX has always been an abbreviation for Complex. Just as they use BXD for Baixada and RJ for Rio de Janeiro”.
Questioned by e-mail by Comprova, the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro confirmed that it used the term. “The Press Office of the Secretary of State for the Military Police states that the term ‘CPX’ was used on the corporation’s Twitter as an abbreviation for the word ‘Complexo’ until 2017, when only publications with up to 140 characters were allowed. ”
Cap was a gift from an activist and has no relation to the Red Command
The event that Lula participated in at Complexo do Alemão, held on October 12, was organized by community leaders and local institutions, with the participation of artists and lasted three hours. Before the walk, PT received the People’s Plan of Complexo do Alemão, a document that outlines proposals for solutions to the region’s main problems and that was written after several meetings with 18 community leaders.
According to Voz das Comunidades, the cap was given to Lula as a gift at Casa Voz, the newspaper’s headquarters. Lula received the accessory from Camila Moradialeader of the housing movement in Complexo do Alemão, and also activist Hector Santos.
Before the walk, according to the G1 portal, Lula was only at the headquarters of Voz das Comunidades, which has no relation to the Comando Vermelho – unlike what the posts with disinformation suggest.
The founder of Voz das Comunidades, Rene Silvawas chosen by Forbes Brasil Magazine as “an example of a team that is reinventing a country” and in 2018 won the award in New York from the Mipad organization (Most Influential People Of African Descent).
Complexo do Alemão, in fact, is considered a set of communities where is one of the “Red Command HQs”, but it is not the only one. In other areas of Rio, There is also a faction presence. There is no record of Lula meeting criminals during his visit to Complexo do Alemão.
Model, American football player and actor Diego da Silva Santoswhich uses the artistic name of Diego Raymond, is also not a drug dealer, as the post implies. Diego, in fact, once had the nickname “Mister M” was accused of drug trafficking in 2011, but he was acquitted and, since then, has not been convicted in court.
“CPX” is not a faction acronym
In an interview with Comprova, reserve colonel Robson Rodrigues clarified that factions do not usually use territorial acronyms for identification. The use of the term “CPX” is frequently used by residents, including to highlight positive actions in the community.
“Criminals can use it, but that’s not normal. The origin of the term, of course, is not this. Any criminal who passes by, is there or perhaps lives in the place can use it, but, in principle, the term is used a lot in the language of the residents of the complex, as a reduced way of referring to the territory. Although the factions are in the territories, they are defined much more by the faction’s acronym, not the territory, because sometimes there can be changes in the territory. You have changes, which they define as ‘coup d’etat’ within factions, and then the territory is not necessarily permanently ‘faction owned’. So the criminal identifies himself by the faction which is much broader than the territory,” he explains.
why do we investigate: Comprova investigates suspicious content that goes viral on social media about the pandemic, public policies of the federal government and presidential elections. A few days before the second round of the 2022 presidential elections, false content involving candidates for the Presidency of the Republic, such as the publications checked here, can influence the voter’s decision, which must be based on true and reliable information to define their vote.
Other checks on the topic: The agency Aos Fatos has already proven that the acronym CPX on Lula’s cap is not related to criminal factionsas well as the Estadão Check it’s the website magnifying glass. Recently, Comprova has already demonstrated that the video claim that Ballot boxes displayed at a polling place in Minas Gerais revealed some fraud. Are also false montages with reproductions of the G1 and Twitter that attribute to Lula speeches about disarmament.
Investigated by: SBT, Jornal do Comércio and Imirante.com; Verified by: Plural Curitiba, Uol, Correio Braziliense, CBN Cuiabá, Metrópoles, Piauí, Folha de S.Paulo, A Gazeta, SBT News and Grupo Sinos
Source: CNN Brasil
