Rio de Janeiro’s militia ordered the torching of 35 buses in the western region of Brazil’s second-largest city on Monday in retaliation for the police killing of one of its leaders, Matheus Rezende. Rio City Hall has declared a “mobilization phase,” the second level of a scale of five that foresees “high-impact events in the city.”
Brazil – Rio de Janeiro
So far, more than thirty buses, vans, passenger cars and trucks have been set on fire.
SEE: Moment desperate passengers leave bus set on fire in RJ. pic.twitter.com/N9TbXlpY8e
– Alerta Mundo (@AlertaMundo_) October 23, 2023
Rezende, known as Teteu, was killed by the police’s Special Resources Coordination during a shootout in the community of Três Pontes hours before the fires started. The militiaman is the cousin of Luís Antônio da Silva Braga, known as Zinho, the current leader of the criminal group, and Wellington da Silva Braga, or Ecko, the previous leader, also killed by police in another confrontation, in 2021. third uncle, Carlos Alexandre da Silva Braga, whose nom de guerre was Carlinhos Três Pontes, had already been killed in a police operation in 2017.
Most bus lines and other public transport were closed all day, causing chaos in Rio. The fires broke out in five regions of the western zone and also forced the closure of Avenida Brasil, one of the city’s main arteries.
The militias are a parallel force in Rio that acts like a mafia that, in exchange for protection from drug traffickers, charges taxes and services to the population in the city’s most deprived neighborhoods.
Source: DN
