Brazil’s Tourism Agency Inadvertently Shared Post on Violence in Rio

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian Agency for International Promotion of Tourism (EMBRATUR) shared on Tuesday, February 4th, a comment from a tourist speaking ill of Rio de Janeiro. The mistake has already been corrected but not before it became viral.

In the message, according to the G1 website, the young woman – using the name Withlai – said that “Rio [de Janeiro] is a beautiful city, but beautiful is not enough”, continuing: “I just spent three days in  Rio with my family, and in those three days my family and I were robbed and my nine-year-old sister witnessed a violent robbery”.

“I can’t recommend visiting a city where I felt scared of even leaving the apartment,” she added.

The message ended with a wish that everything would improve and that “locals and tourists could enjoy the beauty that Rio has to offer.

EMBRATUR has already issued a statement on this matter. “EMBRATUR advises that the aforementioned share was a misunderstanding. The Agency is working to promote tourism internationally and to make the reduction in violence rates, presented in 2019, known to the international community”.

Rio’s State Tourism Secretariat said the Brazilian International Tourism Promotion Agency and the Federal Police are investigating the possible publication by a hacker.

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