00:01:23
ITN Source
BRAZIL: Days before Rio de Janeiro's world-famous Carnival celebrations, residents hold anti-violence demonstration after seven people die violently
BRAZIL: Days before Rio de Janeiro's world-famous Carnival celebrations, residents hold anti-violence demonstration after seven people die violently
Rio de Janeiro residents protest against violence after six people died in a slum during a police raid and unidentified attackers shot dead a leader of a top Carnival troupe days before the start of the world-famous parades. Six people died in a Rio de Janeiro slum during a police raid while in another part of the crime-ridden city unidentified attackers shot dead a leader of a top Carnival troupe days before the start of the world-famous parades. Police occupied on Wednesday (February 14) the sprawling Alemao complex of slums, or favelas, after Tuesday's (February 13) standoff with a local drug gang, in which the elite National Public Security Force deployed in Rio last month saw its first action. On Tuesday, favela residents had to run for cover as police exchanged fire with drug traffickers in the slum on the outskirts of Rio, which is filling with tourists for Carnival celebrations. Police said four of the people killed in the raid were drug traffickers. Two other people were killed, but police would not say who killed them and whether they were suspects or bystanders. One police officer and a young man were wounded. Only days before Rio's famed Carnival celebrations Guaracy Paes Falcao, vice president of the Salgueiro samba school, and his wife were shot dead in his car on Tuesday night after leaving the Salgueiro training grounds, where preparations for next week's Carnival parades are in full gear. Falcao's brother, who was also a senior official in Salgueiro, was killed in 2004. Police suspected a connection with a turf war over gambling slot machines. Gun battles between drug gangs, vigilantes and police in Rio de Janeiro kill dozens every month, but it was the gruesome murder of a small boy by car jackers last week that triggered widespread condemnation of the endless bloodshed. Joao Helio Fernandes was dragged for miles under a car after robbers commandeered it from his mother and he was caught in his seat belt as she tried to pull him out of the vehicle in time. The assailants sped away and he was torn to pieces. The horrific death of the six-year-old boy has become a rallying cry for cariocas, or Rio residents, who are sick and tired of gun-battles, muggings and lawlessness. On Wednesday relatives, friends and hundreds of angry citizens gathered to protest the boy's death, which spurred a more a critical discussion around the country's criminal code. Internet users also poured out their grief and indignation on Web pages. Demonstrators called for justice, help and changes in the country's legal system. Brazil's penal code is considered lenient and frequently criminals are released long before their sentences are completed. Liza Monteiro who took her small daughter to the protest said the violence in Rio must end. "There must be justice. This war must end," she said. Family and friends of other victims of Rio de Janeiro violence also attended the protest holding signs and photos of their loved ones. An unidentified man who also participated in the walk for peace said there must be a wider discussion about the violence. "The people must get together and talk. Everything has gone wrong and it has to change," he said. Rio's homicide rate of about 40 per 100,000 people a year is among the highest in Latin America. The latest surge in violence started in December, when gangs torched buses and attacked police posts. The rise of vigilante groups, made up in part of off-duty police officers, has fuelled the recent surges.
ITN Source | February 15, 2007
