Rio gangsters enforce slum curfew with threats
Criminal gangs in Rio de Janeiro’s most notorious slum have imposed a strict curfew to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus, saying they had to act since the authorities were failing to protect the city’s poor.
Residents of the Cidade de Deus (City of God) favela have been ordered to stay indoors or face summary punishment after the first coronavirus case was confirmed inside the community in recent days.
Gangsters, driving vehicles with loud speakers, have patrolled the area warning residents to stay inside to stop the outbreak spreading, saying: ‘‘Whoever is in the street screwing around or going for a walk will receive a corrective and serve as an example. Better to stay home doing nothing. The message has been given.’’
The number of cases in Brazil has increased fivefold in a week to 2100, the highest number in Latin America, with almost 50 deaths, and there are concerns the outbreak could rip through the shanty towns in Rio and several other Brazilian cities.
President Jair Bolsonaro has been accused of risking the lives of millions by shrugging off advice from experts and playing down the severity of the coronavirus, which earlier this week he referred to as ‘‘a little cold’’.
In a televised address to the nation he criticised the authorities in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo for imposing restrictions to try to curb its spread, urging then to ‘‘abandon their scorched-earth ideas’’ such as closing public transport, businesses and placing restrictions on assembly.
‘‘What is happening around the world has shown that the atrisk group are those over 60. So why close schools?’’ Bolsonaro, 65, who has been tested twice for the virus, said. Both tests came back negative, he said. Yet at least 22 members of the president’s cabinet have tested positive for Covid-19, some after a visit to the United States this month when they dined with President Donald Trump.
Instead, state governments have been forced to take the lead against the outbreak. Rio’s mayor, Marcelo Crivella, ordered an indefinite shutdown of nonessential businesses from Tuesday.
Schools and beaches were closed more than a week ago but the authority’s power in the favelas, where about a fifth of the population lives, is often tenuous.
Poor access to a continuous water supply and adequate sanitation leave communities like City of God, which is home to roughly 38,000 people, especially vulnerable.
Community leaders of another Rio favela, Rocinha, have delivered an official request to the state tourism department to ban all foreigners from entering the hilltop neighbourhood.
Officials will leave free soap at the entrances to favelas and there are plans to move elderly residents with known health conditions to hotels. The city has already signed a deal to secure 400 rooms, Crivella said.
‘‘It’s worrying because many people are still out in the street working, and then come back home to the favela,’’ Gilson Rodrigues, 35, leader of the informal Paraisopolis neighbourhood in Sao Paulo, said. He has set up a ‘‘solidarity network’’ of volunteers this week to warn the 100,000 favela residents about the impact of the coronavirus, a plan he hopes to roll out in other areas.
‘‘The government has abandoned the favelas. There’s no plan at a federal, state or municipal level to deal with the spread of the virus,’’ Rodrigues said. ‘‘It could get very serious, very quickly.’’