The Grim Rules Of Gangland

Baiano is frying potatoes next to an open sewer in a district of São Paulo known as Campo Limpo (beautiful field). His van is plastered with election posters. Three girls brave the miasma of cooking oil and rotting waste to hand him leaflets for a rival. They've been paid to campaign — voting is compulsory in Brazil so even slums are targeted when polling day approaches. Baiano has taken no money for his electioneering, and explains "this man isn't the best candidate, but I owe him a favor."

It's dangerous to default in Brazil's...