Temer's minister spoke of a 'lethal war' in the favelas and warned that 'cute children' could become targets.
"You see a cute 12-year-old child entering a public school, and you don't know what they're going to do after school. It's very complicated," said Torquato Jardim, Minister of Justice under Michel Temer, in February of this year, shortly after the military intervention in Rio; days ago, Marcos Vinícius, a 14-year-old student, was murdered from behind, in his uniform and on his way to the public school where he studied; according to the witness who helped him, the shot came from a police armored vehicle.
247 - "There is no war that is not lethal," said Torquato Jardim, Minister of Justice under Michel Temer, commenting on the military intervention in Rio de Janeiro, in an interview with Correio Braziliense.read here).
Although it was made in February of this year, shortly after the official announcement of the military intervention, the minister's statement needs to be remembered following the death of 14-year-old Marcus Vinícius, who was in uniform and on his way to a public school, during a police operation in the Complexo da Maré, last Thursday the 21st.
"If you're there with the Military Police, Civil Police, and Armed Forces, and a 15-year-old kid walks by—you see his picture, he's already killed four people, he's been in and out of the rehabilitation center a dozen times, and he's there with a rifle exclusive to the Armed Forces—what are you going to do? Arrest him. The kid goes there and gets out, and the fourth or fifth time you see him, what are you going to do? You have a human reaction there that must be very well managed psychologically and emotionally by the Military Police officer or soldier. You're at the post, aiming from a distance, in the sights, that kid who's already been out four or five times, has the weapon, and has already killed about four people. And now? Do you have to wait for him to get the weapon to arrest him in the act, or do you eliminate him from a distance? Is he a citizen under suspicion because he's not committing the act at that moment, or is he an enemy combatant? The US faced this issue as an enemy combatant. It's the notion of asymmetric warfare; we are living through a symmetrical war," he stated at the time.
"You don't even know what resources are needed, you don't know how many are needed and what weapon to use. How many do I need for Rocinha? I don't know. How are you going to prevent that crowd from entering and leaving all 700 favelas? There are 1,1 million people from Rio living in favela areas, in dangerous zones. Of those 1,1 million, how do you know who is on your side and who is against you? You don't know. You see a cute 12-year-old child entering a public school, you don't know what they're going to do after school. It's very complicated," he added.
Marcos Vinícius was shot in the back and, according to the witness who helped him, the shot came from a police armored vehicle.