Brazilian paper accuses the New Yorker of trying to scuttle Olympic bid

“It’s war!” cries Brazilian newspaper O Globo, lamenting an article in the latest New Yorker on gang violence in Rio de Janeiro, which comes out mere days before the International Olympic Committee decides the location of the 2016 summer games. The article, by journalist Jon Lee Anderson, describes the fighting between gangs in Rio’s favelas, ...

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A Rio de Janeiro's special police force officer guards William de Souza (C) and Anderson Botelho (R), accused of belonging to members of a traffickers gang, detained during an operation 05 September 2007 in the Jacarezinho shantytown, 35 Km from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Some 300 policemen blocked all access to the shantytown Wednesday searching for drug lords. AFP PHOTO ANTONIO SCORZA (Photo credit should read ANTONIO SCORZA/AFP/Getty Images)

“It’s war!” cries Brazilian newspaper O Globo, lamenting an article in the latest New Yorker on gang violence in Rio de Janeiro, which comes out mere days before the International Olympic Committee decides the location of the 2016 summer games.

The article, by journalist Jon Lee Anderson, describes the fighting between gangs in Rio’s favelas, which he says are spread everywhere in the city: “there is no way to completely escape Rio’s misery.”  O Globo, which has a section online dedicated specifically to the city’s Olympic bid, notes that Anderson said the timing of the article is a coincidence, and that he believes Rio is fully capable of hosting the games.

The paper couldn’t help but notice the “sad coincidence” that this same week, Chicago — Rio’s main competitor — faced its own shocking gang violence moment, with widespread circulation of a cell-phone video footage showing the fatal beating of 16-year-old Derrion Albert.

As Chicago booster Michelle Obama said herself, “the gloves are off”.

ANTONIO SCORZA/AFP/Getty Images

Jordana Timerman is a researcher at Foreign Policy.

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