(Thumbnail image from O DIA)
On October 2, 2009 Rio de Janeiro was awarded the 2016 Olympics. Since that announcement, rival gang violence has left over 30 dead. That number includes police officers, after drug dealers shot down the helicopter using high-caliber weapons.
The warfare raises questions about Rio’s ability to control violence and what this means for the Olympic city. We take a look at the issue from the perspective of United Nations Television, Al Jazeera English, the Examiner, and the UK's ITN and the Mirror.
First, the United Nations Television summarizes the violence in Brazil.
"Brazil is the second largest market for cocaine in the Americas and a major transit country for illegal drugs heading for Europe. The drugs bring with them a tide of violence and crime.”
Al Jazeera English gives the perspective that the violence will continue to affect the city’s reputation.
“Police say the immediate situation is under control. But it likely wont be the end of it, with the rival group of traffickers thought to still be inside the slum, there are worries that violence could erupt again if police try to enter the area to make more arrests.”
“The famously violent reputation of Rio’s drug gangs was considered one of the major risks in hosting the Olympics in the city. Scenes of a downed police helicopter in flames certainly will do little to change that reputation any time soon.”
The Examiner reports on the severity of the issue and quotes a Rio police detective.
“…The drug and crime situation in Brazil is more grave than the international community knows. Unfortunately we do have more murders here than in Iraq and Afganistan wars.”
On ITN, however, the President of the International Olympic Committee has the perspective that Brazil will be ready by 2016.
“But we are confident that the Brazilians will find good ways to do that. We still have seven years of time to prepare. We will benefit also from the experience and the new measures being taken for the FIFA World Cup in 2014. So I would say we have to trust the Brazilians to do that.”
Finally, a column for the UK’s Mirror asks if reaction to the violence is an overreaction.
“Here's the question: does any of this vindicate the western world's stampeding panic about our greatest sporting spectacles being awarded to countries poorer than ours? …. The simple fact is this: the hysteria taking hold in Europe about security at the World Cup in South Africa next year and in Brazil thereafter is born of ignorance and fear.”
So, do you think the violence in Brazil cause will be problematic for the 2016 Olympics? Or does the country have enough time to find a solution?
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