Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 29 June 2017
Rising violence takes huge psychological toll in Rio favelas

By YESICA FISCH a few blocks until Arruda fear. Last year, 920 people While there, the AP wit- crowd-sourcing data and
LEO CORREA stopped to wait out the died during police raids or nessed children, even monitoring social media.
Associated Press shooting — and started patrols in Rio state, more toddlers, talking about On a recent Friday eve-
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — crying. than double the 413 in violence in their commu- ning, a military police
nity, mothers forcing their tank suddenly appeared.
children to take cover dur- Shouting to alert her fam-
ing police patrols and a ily, Thaisa da Silva Ribeiro
man recovering after be- grabbed 4-year-old Isaac,
ing shot. The roar of gunfire who was playing in the
was often present, prompt- door of their building, and
ing residents to break up brought him inside. Isaac’s
activities when they be- sister, 2-year-old Isadora,
lieved the skirmish to be looked terrified.
particularly close. “It’s not possible to get
Different than hundreds of used to this, but unfortu-
other Rio favelas that grew nately this is the routine in
out of squatter communi- City of God,” said Ribeiro,
ties, City of God was built who is pregnant.
in the 1960s as a housing Minutes later, Isaac cried
project for people who about the incident while
had been forced out of Isadora hugged her broth-
other favelas. It sits just a er and tried to calm him
few miles from the Olympic down.
Park in upscale Barra da In war zones, children and
Tijuca. Despite proximity to adults can suffer post-trau-
wealth, government ser- matic stress disorder, anxi-
vices are practically non- ety, nightmares, insomnia
existent. Parts of the slum and other psychological
In this June 12, 2017 photo, Almir Arruda wipes tears as he waits for a shootout between drug are covered with garbage disorders.
traffickers and police to stop, as he stands over his four-year-old daughter Jamile in the City of and the stench of sewage Many of those symptoms
God slum of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “If it hits me I don’t care, but what if it hits her?” said Arruda, 43, permeates the air. are being observed in
talking about stray bullets through tears and over the sounds of gunshots close by. “I feel like a While teeming with resi- residents of slums, particu-
prisoner in the community.” dents, even during the larly children, according to
(AP Photo/Leo Correa) day the streets are often health experts at Fiocruz,
empty because violence one of Brazil’s top research
Almir Arruda rode his bicy- “If it hits me I don’t care, 2013, according to Rio’s can erupt at any moment institutes, which is conduct-
cle quickly across the City but what if it hits her?” Ar- Public Security Institute. — residents even complain ing a large study on health
of God slum in Rio de Ja- ruda said, talking about And this year’s figure is up that police operations issues related to urban vio-
neiro when he heard there stray bullets through tears by almost 60 percent over happen while children are lence in Rio.
was a shootout between and over the sounds of 2016. in school. Leonardo Bueno, one of
drug traffickers and police gunshots close by. “I feel To document the psycho- When residents leave the the researchers, says that
near his 4-year-old daugh- like a prisoner in the com- logical impact of the vio- slum to go to work, relatives anxiety and depression
ter’s preschool. munity.” lence on favela residents, and friends stay in touch via from the violence are com-
Arruda, a 43-year-old un- Amid a sharp increase in vi- an Associated Press team texts. They let them know if pounded by the feeling
employed construction olence in favelas, or slums, spent eight days with two there has been a shooting, the state has abandoned
worker, arrived to find chil- millions of Rio residents are families in the City of God, in which case they have to poor areas.
dren and teachers lying on facing daily stresses akin a slum of about 50,000 resi- wait until it’s over to return. “All of that increases the
the floor to protect them- to those in a war zone. dents made famous by the “Fogo Cruzado,” or “Cross- level of illness in an area,”
selves as the pounding of Heavily armed drug traf- 2002 Oscar-nominated film fire,” is a free app created he said.
bullets continued nearby. fickers battle for control of of the same name and by Amnesty International Fueling the tension is a
He scooped up daughter many favelas, and violent visited six years ago by Brazil that helps Rio resi- widespread belief among
Jamile, who look terrified, police operations add to then U.S. President Barack dents track shootings in favela residents that police
and they rode the bike the death toll and sense of Obama. real time by combining see them all as criminals
and will be quick to rough
Dominican hospital scrutinized as 14 newborns die them up without cause.
Like Ribeiro, 45 percent of
favela residents fear that
police will confuse them
SANTO DOMINGO, Do- lack of equipment and officials said late Tuesday percent of deaths blamed with criminals and 75 per-
minican Republic (AP) — A bad conditions. He said that the deaths were sim- on premature births. cent believe the police
medical association in the that the Our Lady of Alta- ply a result of complicated It is the second time officials act more violently in fave-
Dominican Republic on gracia Maternity Hospital pregnancies and denied raised concerns about a las than in wealthier areas,
Wednesday demanded in Santo Domingo does not Suero’s allegations. string of hospital deaths in according to a survey by
improvements at one of have enough incubators Nelson Rodriguez, direc- the Dominican Republic. the Center for the Study of
the country’s main public and that only three of 10 tor of the National Health In October 2014, President Safety and Citizenship at
hospitals, where at least operating rooms are in use. Service, said some of the Danilo Medina dismissed Rio’s Candido Mendes Uni-
14 newborns died over the The hospital has been un- babies were born prema- the health minister at the versity.
weekend. Waldo Ariel Sue- dergoing renovations since turely, had respiratory or time and the director of the Alexandre Henrique da
ro, president of the Domini- 2014, and the association neurological problems or main pediatric public hos- Cruz Correia, a 29-year old
can Medical Association, said it should be temporar- congenital cardiac mal- pital after 10 children died father of three, was recent-
has said the alleged the ily closed, with patients and formations. He said Domini- one weekend due to fail- ly shot while walking from
deaths occurred because doctors transferred to other can Republic still has a high ures in the care and quality his grandmother’s home to
of patient overcrowding, hospitals. Dominican health infant mortality rate, with 80 of the health center.q his own. q