BRAZIL
Unfriendly Fire
Brazil’s militarized approach to policing Rio de Janeiro’s sprawling slums has again come under scrutiny, after police shot dead a Spanish tourist in the Rocinha favela, near the city’s famous beaches.
Police said they opened fire because the car in which 67-year-old victim María Esperanza Ruiz Jiménez was traveling failed to stop at a police roadblock, the Guardian reported. She is the third tourist to have been shot dead in Rio’s favelas in less than a year.
A month earlier, Brazil sent military troops into the favela in a failed attempt to control violence between warring drug gangs. Shootouts between gang members and police have continued on a daily basis, according to residents.
Launched in 2008, Brazil’s once-lauded efforts to take back the favelas from drug gangs by installing police bases inside them has collapsed: The state’s coffers have run dry and it’s unable to pay police salaries.
“Police used to patrol the streets, but they don’t anymore. They stick to the main roads,” CBC quoted a local resident as saying, alluding to budget cuts resulting from a financial crisis that was aggravated by spending for the 2016 Olympics.
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