By Fernanda Canofre
Fernanda Canofre is a Journalist, with a master’s degree in History.
Every day, newspapers all around Brazil are flooded with grim headlines about Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s second largest city and home to many of the images found on the country’s postcards.
Some examples of these headlines read:
14-year-old Girl Shot Dead Inside School
Every Two Days a Police Officer is Killed in Rio de Janeiro
Robbers Used Military Rifles to Mug a Pharmacy
President Temer sends 8,500 Army, Navy and Air Force men to Rio
In 2017, with an economic crisis and public funds under strain, violence in Rio de Janeiro reached its highest levels in a decade. One NGO has even called on the UN to intervene.
These stories are becoming commonplace and it’s unacceptable — or at least that’s what the management of one local newspaper says. In an editorial dated August 16th, titled ‘This Is Not Normal’, newspaper Extra — famous for its detailed coverage of violence in Rio — stated that it will be creating a new section named “Rio’s War”. All reports of violence from the city will now be published in that section. They explained the motives behind their decision:
In a four-minute video shared on Facebook, Extra’s editor-in-chief, Octávio Guedes, says the decision is not something to be proud of, but rather it’s a sign of failure:
In the same video, one of the paper’s reporters says that according to the Public Safety Institute of Rio de Janeiro, there are 843 areas in the city that are under the control of criminal organizations.
The editorial also says:
Does the word “war” do more harm than good?
In an article published by The Intercept Brasil, journalist Cecília Oliveira counter-argues that by labeling the violence in Rio a “war”, the media might end up justifying a failed public security policy and even hindering police accountability.
March for peace in Niterói, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, in homage of assassinated cultural promoter Rafael Lage. Image by: Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil, published with permission.
For Cecília, to say that Rio de Janeiro is “the most violent place in Brazil” is inaccurate: “22 out of the 30 most violent cities in Brazil are located in the North and Northeast regions, according to data from 2015 (the latest available). None of these are found in the state of Rio de Janeiro. When we look at homicide rates [by state], Rio ranks 16th”, she writes.
Extra is owned by Globo corporation, Latin America’s largest media conglomerate, which, Cecília points out, has for decades been echoing the state’s public security policies. Among these security policies was the creation of the UPP (Pacifying Police Unit), launched in Rio in 2003, whose goal is to deploy massive police force to ‘conquer’ a favela and establish a permanent unit there. While initially reducing violent deaths, the UPP came under fire in recent years after numerous reports of harassment and repression were filed by the poor communities these newly established police units were meant to protect.
On his Facebook page, journalist João Paulo Charleaux quoted an article he wrote in 2010 in which he discusses why the violence in Rio does not meet the necessary criteria — as defined by the Geneva Conventions — to be labeled a ‘civil war’. He says:
War or not, residents of Rio’s favelas continue to suffer. It’s been a week since the police climbed up the hill of Jacarezinho to avenge the death of an officer. In the midst of all the violence, another incident made the headlines: a fruit seller was killed after being shot by police from a helicopter.
This article was originally published in Global Voices.
Featured Image Credits: Fernando Frazão/ABr via Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Brazil License.
Stay updated with all the insights.
Navigate news, 1 email day.
Subscribe to Qrius
