Governor Witzel Says City of Rio Is As Safe As Paris, New York and Madrid

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Wilson Witzel, the governor of Rio de Janeiro, said the state’s crime rates have dropped and that today the city of Rio is as safe as Paris, New York, and Madrid.

According to the governor, the rates point to a decline in the number of deaths in the capital. Witzel said the current rate stands at 16 deaths per 100,000 residents, but that figure has once been as high as 35.

According to the governor, Rio is the second safest capital in Brazil.

The governor’s statements were made during the launching of Segurança Presente em Caxias (Present Security in Caxias,) in the Baixada Fluminense, lowlying suburbs of Rio on Thursday morning, November 14th.

Furthermore, Witzel said that tourist areas are not as affected by crime.

“There is no gunfire in the tourist areas of the state, this happens in the [favela] communities. Robbery [in tourist areas] happens, not gunfights. We have recorded two tourists who have been victims of violence in the past ten months,” the governor said.

Inconsistent data

According to a survey by the G1 violence monitor, last year the state of Rio de Janeiro recorded 28.76 violent deaths for every 100,000 inhabitants.

In contrast, New York City, recorded 3.31 homicides per 100,000 residents, according to local police.

In Paris, the rate is even lower, which last year totaled 1.4 homicides per 100,000 residents.

Regarding the influx of guns and drugs across the country’s borders, the governor appealed to the federal government and called for a joining of forces to help fight crime.

“It’s not the time to cast blame on A, B, C or D. It’s time for unity, it’s time for the Federal Police to be reinstated, it’s time for the Federal Police to work in partnership with the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro.”

“Nowadays, we have the largest money-laundering department and the Police Station for Fighting Arms Trafficking, known as ‘Desarme’ (‘Disarmament’), but weapons don’t only come through state highways, through Guanabara Bay. They come in through Brazilian borders and Brazilian ports,” he said.

Violent deaths in Rio

In two days, a 5-year-old child and a garbage collector were killed after being shot by stray bullets in the city. On Wednesday, November 13th, the governor criticized the federal government when commenting on social media about the victims of stray bullets in Rio de Janeiro.

Witzel said the influx of guns and drugs feeds what he termed the “insane war raging in the states,” and that preventing the influx of drugs and guns into the country is incumbent on the federal government.

“The federal government needs to have a strategic perspective and stop dismantling the Federal Police and the Federal Highway Police.”

The Minister of Justice, Sérgio Moro, rebutted the governor’s statements, also on social media.

“The federal government has fought hard against drug and arms trafficking. It is wrong to compare the seizures of the first five months of 2019 with the total seized in previous years, as the governor of Rio de Janeiro does when seeking to transfer responsibility for crimes in the state to the federal government.”

Source: Globo