How Brazilian drug gangs are fighting coronavirus
Traffickers imposing containment measures amid criticism of government inaction
Drug traffickers in one of Rio de Janeiro’s largest favelas have imposed a curfew to protect residents from infection during the coronavirus pandemic.
Gang members this week began ordering the 40,000 residents of the impoverished Cidade de Deus (City of God) favela to remain indoors after 8pm, after “the low-income community – made famous by Fernando Meirelles’ 2002 blockbuster of the same name – became the first such area to record a case of coronavirus”, reports The Guardian.
A video shared on social media shows a loudspeaker broadcasting the message: “Anyone found messing or walking around outside will be punished.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
How bad is the outbreak in Brazil?
The virus is spreading fast in the South American country, with more than 2,500 cases and 50 deaths reported since the first case was confirmed on 26 February.
President Jair Bolsonaro has downplayed the threat and has accused the media of “fear-mongering”. But there is speculation that he may have had Covid-19, after 22 colleagues from his multiparty government who accompanied him on a recent trip to the US tested positive, reports the BBC.
Bolsonaro insists his test came back negative but he has refused to provide proof.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Start your trial subscription today –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
What are the gangs doing?
Rio newspaper Extra reports that gang members with loudspeakers are telling Cidade de Deus residents: “We are imposing a curfew because nobody is taking [the new coronavirus] seriously. It’s best to stay at home and chill. The message has been given.”
Other favelas in Rio – which together are home to around two million of the city’s seven million citizens – have also seen gang members introducing safety measures, with traffickers distributing soap and encouraging hand-washing, and discouraging gatherings of more than two people.
And some shops and churches have been warned to cut their opening hours to stem the spread of the virus.
“The traffickers are doing this because the government is absent. The authorities are blind to us,” one favela resident told The Guardian.
Maintaining good hygiene practices during the outbreak poses a major challenge for many people in Brazil, where “some 40 million people lack access to the public water supply, while 100 million - nearly half the population - live without a connection to sewage treatment”, says Reuters.
A Cidade de Deus resident told the news agency: “Basic sanitation is terrible. Sometimes, we don’t even have water to wash our hands properly. We are very concerned with the coronavirus issue.”
What is the Brazilian government doing?
Bolsonaro has resisted calls to close the country’s borders and impose mass preventive measures. In a televised address last weekend, the president said that while those aged over 60 were at risk from the virus, most people - including himself - had nothing to fear.
“With my history as an athlete, if I were infected with the virus I would have no reason to worry. I would feel nothing, or it would be at most just a little flu,” he added.
Criticising his state governors for ordering residents to stay at home, Bolsonaro said: “The people will soon see that they were tricked by these governors and by the large part of the media when it comes to coronavirus.”
But Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta last week warned that Brazil’s healthcare system is heading towards a total collapse by the end of April, with coronavirus cases hitting a plateau in July, reports Al Jazeera.
As the virus continues to spread, the Los Angeles Times reports that Brazilians are turning against Bolsonaro over his handling of crisis, with leading officials meeting to plan measures to combat the crisis without the president and his closest political allies.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Quiz of The Week: 13 - 19 April
Puzzles and Quizzes Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
By Rebecca Messina, The Week UK Published
-
'Colleges warn of punishment for disruptions'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Peter Murrell: Sturgeon's husband charged over SNP 'embezzlement' claims
Speed Read SNP expresses 'shock' as former chief executive rearrested in long-running investigation into claims of mishandled campaign funds
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Sydney mall attacker may have targeted women
Speed Read Police commissioner says gender of victims is 'area of interest' to investigators
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
Why are kidnappings in Nigeria on the rise again?
Today's Big Question Hundreds of children and displaced people are missing as kidnap-for-ransom 'bandits' return
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
Haiti's mass jailbreak: what do gang leaders want?
Today's Big Question Gangs hope violence will bring down Prime Minister Ariel Henry amid a growing security and economic 'nightmare'
By The Week UK Published
-
Deaths of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies hang over Sydney's Mardi Gras
The Explainer Police officer, the former partner of TV presenter victim, charged with two counts of murder after turning himself in
By Austin Chen, The Week UK Published
-
How the idyllic Galapagos Islands became staging post in world drug trade
Under the radar Ecuador's crackdown on gang violence forces drug traffickers into Pacific routes to meet cocaine demand
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Armed gangs, prison breaks and on-air hostages: how Ecuador was plunged into crisis
The Explainer Gangs launch deadly revenge after president declares state of emergency following escape of feared drug boss from prison
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Ecuador tips toward chaos amid prison breaks, armed TV takeover
Speed Read New President Daniel Noboa authorized the military to 'neutralize' powerful drug-linked gangs after they unleashed violence and terror across Ecuador
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Prague shooting: student kills 14 people at university
Speed reads Police believe suspect, who killed himself, may have shot his father before carrying out mass murder
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published