The mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, asked people to understand the decision to ban blocks in the city. “I’m not going to run after revelers. What we ask for is people’s understanding, right? All that was needed was to put the Municipal Guard behind revelers. This will not happen. We expect people to understand,” he said.
In the official carnival, in February, even with the ban, some blocks circulated in the city. During the last week, 130 groups signed a manifesto asking that the revelry in the streets be allowed, which did not happen.
“The block is a lot of work, and I’m not complaining about this work, but the block requires logistics from public agencies that is much more complex than Sapucaí’s. The blocks are all over the city. So it’s Municipal Guard, it’s traffic, it’s thinking about the inconvenience it causes for people, it’s you minimizing the impact on the city streets. Anyway, it is very complex to organize properly. So I prefer not to take any risks”, explained Paes, discarding the possibility of a new date for the street Carnival, similar to what happened in São Paulo.
Next week, there is an expectation that the smaller blocks will parade, even without an organization on the part of the city hall. The biggest ones, who need a stage, electric trio and sponsors, chose not to perform.
With less than a week to go before the samba school parades at Marquês de Sapucaí, work in the clubs’ studios continues at a fast pace, with the last details.
During this Saturday morning, many revelers came to get their costumes for the parades, which will take place on Friday and Saturday of the next week.
The mayor spoke with journalists during the traditional visit he makes to the barracks of the samba schools of the special group before the revelry. Excited, Paes entered all the barracks and was greeted with great samba.
“I miss you so much. I really like carnival. Carnival has a lot of this identity of what we represent as a city as a country. Carnival shows a happy people, a people who do not have any kind of prejudice”, said Paes.
Source: CNN Brasil
