Post date: Nov 24, 2010 5:28:21 PM
Wave of violence continues in Rio de Janeiro after suspected drug traffickers burn more buses, cars and attack a police booth.
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (NOVEMBER 24, 2010) TV BANDEIRANTES - Suspected gang members in Rio continued burning cars and buses on Wednesday (November 24) in a fourth day of violence that defied a stepped-up police presence and raids on slum communities.
The wave of violence has raised a red flag over the city's ability to safely host the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games and marred the image of a city known for its beaches and easy-going tropical lifestyle.
Assailants set fire to a total of 15 cars and buses after forcing their occupants out on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
An unidentified man who woke up and saw a car ablaze in front of his house in Rio Comprido district said he was feeling unsafe.
"We see it happening on the television, we listen to it on the radio, but when you step out of your house and see something like that practically on your doorstep, you feel completely insecure. You don't know where to go, what to do… Rio de Janeiro is very complicated," he said.
Gunmen also opened fire on a police booth in the poor outskirts of Duque de Caxias, following a similar attack earlier this week.
A man who saw the shooting said people on the streets were in panic.
"People ran, there were a lot of people running on the sidewalks. They (criminals) really shot a lot here in front of the police booth," he said.
The violence began on Sunday with attacks on police stations and burning of vehicles, actions Rio's top security official said were ordered by imprisoned gang members.
An unidentified woman who had her car torched by criminals said she feared another attack.
"My only fear is that they come back. Because the car I can buy another, I have insurance, but my life there is no way to buy it back," she said.
Authorities say the attacks are a protest by traffickers angry at being forced from their turf by police occupations of more than a dozen slums in the past two years.
On Wednesday, police continue to set up checkpoints throughout the city and raid some 15 slum areas as they tried to contain the fourth day of violence.
Ten people were reported killed on Tuesday during raids, while two others were killed when their car was fired on in an incident that appeared to be unrelated to the broader wave of violence.
Hundreds of poor communities in the city of 6 million are still so violent that police and state authorities cannot enter.
Gang violence has spilled over several times since Rio was awarded the Olympic Games in October 2009. Gang members shot down a police helicopter weeks later, sparking police raids and violence that resulted in 30 deaths.
In August, gunmen from a slum armed with automatic weapons and grenades invaded a five-star hotel in one of Rio's richest neighborhoods and held 35 people hostage for two hours.