Residents of Complexos do Alemão and Penha staged a protest this Wednesday (29) in front of the Guanabara Palace, headquarters of the government of the state of Rio de Janeiro. They accused governor Claudio Castro of having led “a carnage in the police operation” that left more than 100 dead.
The group was escorted from the Penha Complex to the Guanabara Palace by police officers from the Military Police’s Mobile Tactical Battalion.
Protesters displayed posters with phrases such as “genocidal state”, “all lives matter”, “150 deaths for a political war” and “Killer Castro”. There were also dozens of Brazilian flags with red spots.
“It is not possible for this governor not to be held responsible for so many lives. Or do we already have the death penalty in the country? What happened within the community was a genocide. Every day before the election, there is a strategy of entering our communities, killing our people and causing terror”, said Rute Sales, resident of the region and black activist.
“The bodies are being used politically. And the bodies that fall are ours, those of black people and poor people. We can’t take it anymore”, he added.
THE The act occurred shortly before the meeting between Castro and the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Ricardo Lewandowski. They announced the creation of an emergency office to combat organized crime in the stateo, and improve integration between the federal and state spheres.
Coordination will be shared between the national secretary of Public Security, Mario Sarrubbo, and the secretary of Public Security of Rio, Victor Santos.
Lewandowski said that the federal government will increase the number of Federal Highway Police by 50 agents on the roads and the number of intelligence agents in the state. Experts and vacancies in federal prisons were also made available, should the state government request them.
Even with the number of deaths, the chaos that took over the city and the complaint made by residents of Penha and Alemão that executions and torture had taken place in the communities, the governor of Rio, Claudio Castro, said that the operation was a success and the only victims of the clashes were the four dead police officers.
He said he had dealt a “hard blow to crime” and that there was no rashness from the security forces.
