A series of muggings, armed robberies and confrontations during Rio de Janeiro's Carnival celebrations are underscoring the deteriorating security situation in the city.
TV Globo on Wednesday showed videos of gunfire between rival drug gangs, teenagers punching tourists in areas usually considered relatively safe and a policeman narrowly escaping after several people attacked him in front of his home.
Merrymakers tale part in the Carmelitas street party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 9, 2018. Much of the appeal of Rio street parties is the variety of themes and that people can dress up in costumes or not. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Rio state Gov. Luiz Fernando Pezao acknowledged there weren't enough police on hand during the first couple days of Carnival, though more than 17,000 policemen worked in Rio state each day during the festivities.
"We were not prepared. There was a failure on the first two days, and then we brought backup for police. I think there has been a mistake in our part," Pezao said.
Statistics from the Friday to Tuesday bash have not yet been released. However, Pezao said the number of firearms confiscated by authorities was "incredible."
People take part in the Terreirada Cearense street carnival party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018. Much of the appeal of Rio street parties is the variety of themes and that people can dress up in costumes or not. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
A year after hosting the 2016 Olympics, Rio is experiencing a spike in violence. Days before Carnival, rival drug gangs closed key arteries of the city.
Last year Rio used almost 12,000 policemen during Carnival, but it also counted on the help of 9,000 members of the country's armed forces. This time there was no federal aid during the bash.
Politicians avoided Rio during one of the most political Carnivals in Brazil's history, with revelers targeting Pezao, President Michel Temer and especially Mayor Marcelo Crivella, an evangelical bishop who is no fan of the party and left the city for Europe.
Members from the Beija Flor samba school gather outside the Sambadrome after parading in the Carnival celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018. The world-famous two-day parade finished earlier on Tuesday with samba-schools also criticizing the country’s politicians amid a series of corruption scandals. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Beija-Flor de Nilopolis won the samba-school parade title on Wednesday in Rio's Sambadrome using corruption as a theme. One of its floats portrayed a rat below the building of state-oil Petrobras, which is at the center of a corruption scandal that has engulfed politicians across Latin America.
Crowd favorite Paraiso do Tuiuti finished in a surprising second place, likely because of its political tone. The samba-school's anti-slavery theme attacked Temer's labor reform and the president himself. One of Tuiuti's floats featured a vampire wearing a presidential sash.
Next week Temer, whose popularity is at single-digits, wants to push through a reform of Brazil's pension system. Analysts have said bill is unlikely to pass with October's presidential election approaching. The Carnival atmosphere did not help the president make his case for austerity.
GUWAHATI, India (AP) — Voters at a handful polling places in a northeastern Indian state went back to the polls amid tight security on Monday after violence disrupted the vote last week.
Indian election authorities voided the results at 11 of Manipur state's nearly 3,000 polling stations after armed men damaged election machines during the first day of voting in national elections on Friday.
State officials said that at at least six of the stations, armed men broke the electronic voting machines which citizens use to cast their ballots.
Manipur has been wracked by ethnic violence between the state’s two dominant ethnic groups since May 2023. Around 200 people have been killed and over 60,000 displaced as mobs have rampaged through villages and torched houses.
The unrest broke out when Christian Kukis protested a demand by the mostly Hindu Meiteis for a special status that would let them buy land in hills that populated by Kukis and other tribal groups. The clashes have persisted despite the army’s presence in Manipur, a state of 3.7 million people tucked in the mountains on India’s border with Myanmar.
The world’s largest democratic election began in India on Friday, as millions across 21 states cast their votes. The six-week long multi-phase election is seen as a referendum on Narendra Modi, the populist prime minister who has made Hindu nationalism mainstream as he seeks a third, straight term as the country’s leader. The votes will be counted on June 4.
The main opposition Congress party on Friday had alleged that the vote was being rigged in Manipur and demanded re-polling at 47 stations. Earlier that day, there were incidents of clashes among armed groups in the state. Despite the violence, the state saw 66.5% voter turnout.
Other parts of the state state will also head to the polls on April 26 for a second phase of voting.
This article has been edited to correct the voter turnout figure for Manipur state.
A paramilitary soldier stops a vehicle from entering a polling booth area during a re-polling in Imphal West District, Manipur, India, Monday, April 22, 2024. Voters at some polling places in this northeastern state went back to the polls amid tight security on Monday after violence disrupted the vote last week. (AP Photo/Bullu Raj)
A woman, right, casts her vote during a re-polling in Imphal West District, Manipur, India, Monday, April 22, 2024. Voters at some polling places in this northeastern state went back to the polls amid tight security on Monday after violence disrupted the vote last week. (AP Photo/Bullu Raj)
A woman carrying a child poses after casting her vote during a re-polling in Imphal West District, Manipur, India, Monday, April 22, 2024. Voters at some polling places in this northeastern state went back to the polls amid tight security on Monday after violence disrupted the vote last week. (AP Photo/Bullu Raj)
A Border Security Force soldier stands guard as women queue up to vote during a re-polling in Imphal West District, Manipur, India, Monday, April 22, 2024. Voters at some polling places in this northeastern state went back to the polls amid tight security on Monday after violence disrupted the vote last week. (AP Photo/Bullu Raj)
A woman carries a baby in a sling on her back as she shows her papers to a security personnel at a polling booth before casting her vote during the first round of polling of India's national election in Bishnupur constituency on the outskirts of Imphal, Manipur, India, Friday, April 19, 2024. Nearly 970 million voters will elect 543 members for the lower house of Parliament for five years, during staggered elections that will run until June 1. (AP Photo/Bullu Raj)
