More Violence Erupts in Rio de Janeiro
On the heels of yesterday's post about the recent festivities that have taken place in Rio, there has been yet another outbreak of violence in this beautiful city. One day after The Washington Post featured an article about gang violence involving youths in Rio, a major gun battle broke out in the city between police and gang members. Lee Weingast, OTR's Brazilian Editor reports from Rio de Janeiro:
Things are getting crazy violent around here again (still!). Yesterday (Tuesday) 20 people were killed in a big shootout near the Rebouças tunnel, which is the main connecting artery between the Zona Sul and the rest of the city. Two people were killed in a mugging downtown and another two killed on a street about 3 blks from my house.
The authorities in Rio insist that only members of drug gangs were killed in the shootouts. A New York Times article covering the tragedy points out that, while the murder rate in upscale districts of Rio de Janeiro is comparable to other big cities, the toll in shantytowns rises to around 250 per 100,000, a rate rivaling many war zones.
Like many large cities, Rio's favelas (shantytowns) are patchworked throughout the city and often built up in the hills overlooking upscale neighborhoods such as Ipanema and Copacabana. When the violence spills down into these areas it tends to get internationally recognized, whereas the press rarely picks up on it when it stays contained in the favelas. We continue to stress the importance of safety for those who travel to Brazil.
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