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Politics

Brazil’s Amazon Hosts a Third of Country’s Most Violent Cities

  • Drug trafficking adds to traditional environmental crimes
  • Government agencies powerless to fight criminal organizations
Aerial view of Amazon rainforest 

Aerial view of Amazon rainforest 

Photographer: Dado Galdieri/Bloomberg

The Brazilian Amazon is home to 13 of the country’s 30 most violent cities as drug trafficking is adding to environmental crimes that have traditionally plagued the region.   

The number of intentional violent deaths in those cities topped 100 per 100,000 inhabitants between 2019 and 2021, compared with the national average of 22.3, according a survey published Tuesday by the Brazilian Public Security Forum, a Sao Paulo-based think tank.