Thousands protest in Brazil against racism and police violence

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Thousands of people in several Brazilian cities protested against racism and police violence on Thursday, May 13, a week after an anti-narco police operation left 28 dead in a favela in Rio de Janeiro.

Under the slogan “No bullet, no hunger, no covid – black people want to live!”, demonstrators, wearing masks to protect themselves from the virus, demanded an end to structural discrimination against blacks and mestizos, 55 percent of the population, on the day commemorating the end of slavery in Brazil in 1888.

In downtown Rio de Janeiro, thousands of people paraded, still dismayed by the bloody operation in the favela of Jacarezinho that, according to the police, was aimed at dismantling a gang that recruited children and adolescents for drug trafficking, robberies, kidnappings, and murders.

Human rights groups say it was the most lethal police operation in the history of the city, which is accustomed to violent security force raids in poor, mostly black communities. The operation was the subject of an avalanche of criticism and a request by the UN to investigate allegations of summary executions.

“Bolsonaro out!”, “Justice for Jacarezinho”, and “Against genocide, to rebel is just” could be read on banners.

“What we see is that blacks are the ones who die the most, the ones who die the most by firearm, the ones who are unemployed the most, and the ones who are vaccinated the least. It is a policy of genocide, a necropolitics, a policy of death,” activists Dara Santana de Carvalho told AFP.

“We are here to ask for an end to black genocide, asking for vaccines, employment, and equal rights,” Alexandro de Santos Visosa said.

Similar demonstrations, organized by the organization Black Coalition for Rights, were organized in several other cities, such as São Paulo, Brasília, and Salvador. In Brazil’s largest city, some 500 demonstrators gathered on the emblematic Paulista Avenue.

Several protesters carried signs reading “Bolsonaro out”. The Brazilian president, accused of racism by many, came to power with a hard-line discourse against criminality. After last week’s operation, he closed ranks with the uniformed forces.

Data from the NGO Observatory Network reveal that deaths in this type of police raids have increased by 26.6%, going from 75 in the first quarter of 2020 to 95 in the same period this year.

The figures are higher if one looks beyond the raids. A total of 149 people died at the hands of uniformed officers in January, 147 in February, and 157 in March, according to data from the Rio de Janeiro state Public Security Institute (ISP).

“That is an average of 5 deaths by police every day. This was the worst first quarter in the history of Rio de Janeiro since the ISP reports deaths,” an expert points out.

According to official data, in 2019, more than 1,800 people died at the hands of uniformed officers. Last year there were more than 1,300 victims.

The tragic toll of victims in the favela also puts racism on the table. According to the expert, most of the victims are young blacks who, because they have these characteristics, are labeled as “criminals”. “It is enough to be young, black, and a favela inhabitant to be a suspect”, said the expert.