Brazilian soldiers’ bloodbath of slum dwellers

This 14 May 2018 video says about itself:

In Brazil, a soldier killed a civilian on Saturday evening in a favela in the north of Rio de Janeiro. It is the first victim killed by the army since the military intervention in Rio decreed by President Michel Temer last February.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

14 people killed in military operations in Rio slums

AT LEAST 14 people were killed in Rio de Janeiro on Monday as thousands of troops poured into the densely populated Alemao and Mare favelas during military operations.

Brazil’s army confirmed that 4,200 soldiers entered the slums and were backed by armoured vehicles and aircraft.

The military said that eight people were killed in the operation, admitting that “there may be more”, but no details were given on how they were killed or why.

Soldiers dismantled roadblocks they claimed had been set up by “drug gangs” …

“Troops distributed leaflets asking for co-operation from the population”, a military statement said.

Right-wing President Michel Temer, who came to power in an administrative coup after the ousting of Dilma Rouseff, introduced emergency measures just over six months ago which saw the military take control of police forces in Rio de Janeiro.

But since the move, which was criticised by civil society groups as a step towards a return to Brazil’s military dictatorship of 1964-1985, both murders and the numbers killed during police confrontations have risen.

In 2017 there were almost 64,000 homicides in Brazil and the increased levels of violence have become a key issue for October’s presidential elections.

In March, eight people were killed during a similar military operation in the Rocinha favela amid allegations of a revenge attack following the killing of a police officer.

The operation followed just 11 days after the shooting of Rio councillor Marielle Franco, who was a vocal critic of Rio de Janeiro’s police forces killing innocent civilians.

According to government statistics, 1,115 people were killed as a result of “opposition to police intervention” in Rio state.

Human rights activists warned that the deployment of soldiers marked a worrying development.

Observatory of the Intervention spokeswoman Silvia Ramos said: “We think this is very serious. If there is confirmation that the dead were executed by officers of the armed forces, it would be a troubling change.

“The armed forces cannot enter this logic of useless confrontations and unacceptable killings that are the hallmark of the Rio police.”

MILITARY guards shot a left-wing parliamentary candidate at point-blank range yesterday as he was leafleting in the city of Curitiba. Renato Almeida Freita of the Workers Party (PT) was wounded after being shot with rubber bullets by guards who demanded he leave the Sao Francisco district, where he was campaigning for next month’s parliamentary vote. He explained that he was in the area distributing pamphlets lawfully as a candidate for the Brazilian parliament, but the guards opened fire at close range, causing injuries to his hand and back, before arresting Mr Freita and taking him into custody: here.