Massacre

 We seem to be surrounded by death here in Brazil! A 36 year old man is another that has just died from Covid in Patos and thousands are dying everyday here with the government continuing to back pedal on doing anything which helps combat the pandemic.

Then yesterday came the horrific massacre of 24 men in Rio de Janeiro in the Jacarezinho slum/shanty town or favela as its called in Portuguese. The massacre was carried out by 200 highly armed police who sealed off part of the slum and killed 24 men. One policeman was killed too. Many are calling this attack an "execution" raid done by a "death squad". That this shanty town is in the grip of organized drug crime is a fact, but it doesn't justify extrajudicial executions. My friend and pastor colleague Antonio Carlos Costa has the headquarters of his work exactly in Jacarezinho and he is horrified by what happened yesterday. The United Nations Human Rights office has strongly criticized this the deadliest raid in Rio de Janeiro's history. Residents say police killed suspects who wanted to surrender and entered homes without a warrant. Police deny any wrong doing. One man is said to have been executed in the same room as an eight-year-old girl. I have seen a video of the room with pools of blood on the floor. Please pray for Brazil.