Another portrait of a country in flames.

Well, here we go: there's the planned attack against the semi-literate, provincial manipulator who goes by the name of Sergio Moro, there are the exorbitant interest rates imposed by the Central Bank commanded by the grandson of that original Roberto Campos, there are the clashes between the presidents of the Chamber and the Senate, and that's without mentioning Jair Messias, his children, and a Mrs. Michelle who is increasingly bouncy and self-important, all frilly and fussy.

 Result: what we just saw in Rio Grande do Norte will end up in the gutter of normality, of oblivion, in the same way that other extremely violent rebellions that occurred mainly in northeastern states, but also throughout the country in recent times, have been forgotten or almost forgotten.  

 It's as if the horrifying sequence of attacks, shootings, destruction, and deaths were natural.

 Everyone, or almost everyone, knows that for quite some time now, at least a decade, there has been a fierce dispute between armed groups for control of territories throughout Brazil, but with a growing focus on the Northeast.  

 The conflict is fiercest between the PCC, Primeiro Comando da Capital (First Command of the Capital), which left São Paulo to advance in other directions, and the Sindicato do Crime (Crime Syndicate), a splinter group of the PCC.   

That's right: nothing new, and this worrying situation is viewed with a certain degree of normalcy, as if it were normal that suddenly, in just three days – more precisely between March 13 and 16 – attacks occurred in 39 of the 167 municipalities of Rio Grande do Norte.  

The capital was left without garbage collection and without hospitals, without classes and without transportation, without commerce, a lot of vehicles were set on fire, and so on.  

 Governor Fátima Bezerra requested assistance from the federal government, troops and special forces were sent there, more than 70 people were arrested, who knows how many died, in short, a climate of maximum tension. And that's it: it's hardly ever talked about anymore.

It turns out that, at least this time, the confusion and violence were not caused by disputes between rival gangs for control of vast areas in the municipalities of the interior and also in the capital.

No, no, the opposite happened: the Crime Syndicate and the First Command of the Capital joined forces, in an unusual pause, to protest against what is happening in the prisons of Rio Grande do Norte.

  A report from the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship indicates that evidence was found of physical and psychological torture, lack of food, lack of healthcare, lack of hygiene, and overcrowding, among other atrocities.  

 The attacks on public services, businesses, and the population were therefore a cry of alarm raised by criminals who are at large, denouncing the actions of the criminals responsible for the prisons.  

 Of course, both the state government and the so-called security agencies say none of that is true, that it's purely a dispute between criminal gangs for control of territory in the cities.  

 Whatever the case may be, this is yet another clear observation: crime runs rampant, prisons are cruel pigsties, and this applies not only to Rio Grande do Norte or the Northeast, but to the entire country.  

 Rebellions happen and will continue to happen across the country, and the regions involved will vary depending on the era. Similarly, the level of violence will also vary, always increasing.

 The most terrifying thing is that there's no solution in sight. And every time this brutality happens, some other news story soon follows, like the threat against that Sergio Moro guy, and everything goes back to normal.

 In other words: more explosions of violence, more fires, more horror.

 Until when? That's the question.