HomeNewsBriefAnti-Police Riots in Rio Deepen Brazil World Cup Security Concerns
BRIEF

Anti-Police Riots in Rio Deepen Brazil World Cup Security Concerns

BRAZIL / 23 APR 2014 BY JAMES BARGENT EN

Rio de Janeiro's tourist hotspot of Copacabana has been hit by rioting and gunfights after residents of a nearby favela accused pacification police of beating a man to death, raising further questions about Brazil's security crackdown ahead of the World Cup.

Trouble erupted after the discovery of the body of a 26-year-old man in a nursery in the favela of Pavão-Pavãozinho, who died from what preliminary reports say was a punctured airway, reported O Globo. After hearing of the death, favela residents descended on a nearby Police Pacification Unit (UPP) station and accused police of murdering him.

The UPP site was attacked, vehicles were set alight and barricades erected in rioting that spread to Copacabana. There were reports of gunfire in the favela, and an "intense firefight," reported the BBC. At least one person was shot and killed in the confrontations.

Police say the injuries of the dead man are "consistent with a fall," but the man's mother claims his body showed signs of a beating, and that there were trails of blood in the nursery, suggesting he had been dragged away by police.

Some residents claimed police had beaten him because they mistook him for a gang member while he was fleeing the scene of a gunfight. However, his mother said she believed he was targeted by the UPP because he had clashed with them previously, reported O Globo.

InSight Crime Analysis

With less than two months to go before Brazil hosts the soccer World Cup, the security situation in Rio, where the final will be staged, is looking increasingly strained.

The city's flagship UPP slum pacification program, which has been successful in curbing violence in some of Rio's violence hotspots, has been plagued by allegations of police abuse, and counter attacks against UPP units by organized crime groups.

Extrajudicial killings by police are a particularly inflammatory issue, as Brazil's police are notorious for killing suspects, social cleansing and organizing illegal militias.

SEE ALSO: Brazil News and Profiles

Ahead of the World Cup, Rio has taken a more hardline stance to security, staging military invasions of troublesome favelas.

This could prove a risky policy. As these recent disturbances appear to demonstrated the more repressive Rio's security policies get, the greater the chance of pushback, either from the communities themselves or from the gangs.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Tags

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

BRAZIL / 2 NOV 2021

Counterfeit cigarettes may appear harmless, but the illicit tobacco trade often spurs other criminal activities – with the latest case…

BRAZIL / 10 JUL 2021

Brazil has seen its fair share of new synthetic drugs, but the latest hit, known as “love honey,” may be…

BRAZIL / 28 DEC 2021

There was record destruction of the Amazon in 2020, as the rainforest lost an area around the size of Belize,…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report continues to be a reference in the region

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in OAS, CARICOM Reports

28 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Staff Cited as Experts by International Media

21 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime deputy editor, Juan Diego Posada, was interviewed by the Associated Press about connections between the ex-FARC mafia and Brazilian criminal groups, and…