Many citizens in Brazil have been urging the government to enforce a national lockdown, but to no avail. This is despite the country having over 2000 reported cases of Coronavirus and death rates rising rapidly. However, reports from the country suggest that some renowned Brazilian organised crime gangs have been there to take the measures that the government will not.
Local news stations from Rio De Janeiro have shared photos of posters that are supposedly up around the area. The posters read:
Attention all residents of Rio das Pedras, Muzema and Tijuquinha! Curfew from 8pm today. Whoever is seen on the street after this time will learn to respect the next one. We want the best for the population. If the government does not have the capacity to fix it, organised crime will solve it.
The new rules come after Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, referred to the pandemic inducing virus as a ‘little flu’ and claimed that worldwide reactions and measures were nothing but ‘hysteria’.
However, it must be noted that Bolsonaro opted to sport a surgical mask when giving this statement, which makes it all seem a little hypocritical.
This is the same leader who six months ago made claims that Wolf of Wall Street actor Leonardo DiCaprio was to blame for the Amazon rainforest fires.
The fires, which devastated much of Brazil’s ecosystem, were thought to have been started deliberately as a means of obtaining donations, and Bolsonaro clearly thought DiCaprio was involved in the scheme somehow.
The threats from the notorious gangs don’t seem to be as much of a shock to the people of Brazil as they are to the rest of the world, suggesting that this is not the craziest thing they have done.
Previous reports have claimed that the same gangs were responsible for the decapitation of a referee after a football match gone wrong in recent years. Pretty crazy.
Either way, these guys are really not people to be messed with.
Even if some of their actions are questionable, this new curfew could save countless lives, which is always a good thing. No matter how it may be done.
Check out some other scary measures that have been taken to stop the spread of the virus, this time in China, here…
Featured image via Wikipedia