The Olympics are coming to Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and right now the police are trying to take back the favelas, the densely packed unplanned neighborhoods of the poor and working classes. The favelas are the crime-ridden wound over the beaches of Brazil, and the government is looking to turn that wound into a friendly smile.
The state is going back into areas of the favelas that have been completely consumed by drug lords. In October gunmen from the drug gangs shot down a police helicopter. It was part of a daylong firefight between two rival gang factions and the police, in which three officers were killed and four were badly injured. Twelve civilians—gangsters and bystanders—were also killed. In the surrounding area young men firebombed ten buses. It all happened just a mile from the stadium that will host the World Cup final and the Olympic ceremonies.
Inside the favelas, gang members carry machine guns openly, as if they are police, and they tax internally within the favela and dole out justice in informal courtrooms. More often they simply execute people accused of snitching, stealing or causing trouble. The gangs have killed journalists, and their turf battles account for much of the murder rate in Rio. Roughly the size of New York, Rio has a murder rate six times higher. In 2009 about 5,000 people were killed here.
The state’s pacification plan is to restore law and order set up police stations, at least within the southern zone, where the games are held. After the gangs are suppressed, aid will be brought in along with police and resources. However, civilians within the favelas are saying that, right now, no aid or help has arrived.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment