Black organizations denounce racism in taxis in Salvador.

Brazil Agency - The Collective of Black Entities of Salvador organized today (27) an act against police and taxi driver racism in the capital of Bahia in which cases such as the detention of the black journalist and activist Eduardo Machado, on June 23, were denounced.

Gathered in Praça da Piedade, in the center of the capital, the group of activists marched to the Coordination of Taxis and Special Transport (Cotae) of Salvador, chanting slogans such as "racist taxi drivers will not pass".

Discrimination

Journalist Eduardo Machado recounts that, in June of this year, he tried to get into one of the five taxis lined up by the beach in the Calçada neighborhood, where he was with his wife and a couple of friends. After all the drivers refused, he says he questioned why he hadn't been served, which led the taxi drivers to call the police. After the police car arrived, Eduardo and a friend were put in the back of a police van, where they remained for two hours while the officers drove around the city. After that, they were taken to the Flagrant Crimes Police Station in the Iguatemi neighborhood.

“We have already filed a complaint with several agencies, including the Public Prosecutor's Office, after the incident. But so far we have not received any adequate response regarding this case. I haven't even had access to the police report. More than a month has passed. This struggle we've been undertaking only proves how difficult it is to file a racism complaint here in Brazil,” said the 32-year-old journalist, who also works as a political coordinator for the Agência de Comunicação do Subúrbio multimedia community center.

On the day of the arrest, Eduardo's wife, filmmaker Larissa de Andrade, remained at the scene after the incident and contacted members of Black collectives, of which they both are part. As a result, the matter gained traction on social media, and at the end of the night of the 23rd, Eduardo was released.

“I went to several places, on the streets of Salvador, looking for him, desperate, looking for my partner and, regardless of that, a life. The first issue is the right to life. When I arrived at the police station, there was a lot of mockery. Nothing happened, thankfully, but we are here, literally, remembering that something could have happened because of something as small as trying to go home and having a ride denied,” said Larissa.

Larissa and Eduardo believe the case was resolved the same day because they are both part of Black movement groups. Due to the almost instantaneous repercussions of the case, the ombudsperson for the Government of Bahia, Vilma Reis, personally went to the police station to resolve the matter.

Protest

During today's protest, upon arriving at Cotae's headquarters, several demonstrators gave testimonies about cases in which they were discriminated against or overlooked by taxi drivers in Salvador. The couple Eduardo and Larissa were received in the office of the organization's coordinator, Marcelo Tavares, who claimed to be unaware of the case.

Contacted for comment, the Municipal Mobility Secretariat (Semob) stated in a note that it "cannot comment as it is a case of racist crime." Regarding the allegations of police violence, the State Public Security Secretariat had not responded by the time this article was published.