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Bahia, a state with the highest absolute number of murders in the country for at least five years in a row, was selected to host, together with the Federal District, the first public security seminar organized by the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) in Brazil. , divided into two steps. The event in Brasília took place on the 25th and 26th, while in Salvador it began this Thursday (28th) and will end on Friday (29th) at the Wish Hotel with authorities and experts from 15 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Strangely, the Bahian government was slow to participate and virtually ignored the event in institutional communications coverage.
Amid the wave of violence caused by the advance of drug trafficking groups in the capital and the interior of the country, the IDB’s 13th Citizen Security and Justice Week provided a unique opportunity to share experiences and learn more about initiatives that Latin American and Caribbean countries in the fight against organized crime, the central theme of the panels presented at this farm in Salvador. These include Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Paraguay and Uruguay as well as representatives from other Brazilian states. However, the presence of the highranking Bahian government was limited to the opening ceremony of the event, which was attended by three secretaries: Marcelo Werner from Public Security (SSP); José Maia from the Department of Corrections (Seap); and Felipe Freitas from Justice and Human Rights (SJDH).
Reporting provided by the state government and published online was limited to advice from SJDH, a partner of the IDB in organizing the seminar, along with the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. No material about the event has been published on the SSP and Seap websites or on the Social Communication Secretariat (Secom) website until the conclusion of this edition. Governor Jerônimo Rodrigues (PT), who has been criticized for the explosion of violent deaths in Bahia this year, sent his deputy Geraldo Júnior (MDB) to represent him at the ceremony, while attending the Forum of Interfederal Health Consortia. takes place in Savior in the morning. In the afternoon, the PT member focused his agenda on Feira de Santana.
The low visibility that the Jerônimo government is giving to the IDB seminar comes precisely at a time when Bahia is in the national news spotlight on violence following a series of highprofile cases. The list includes armed clashes between factions vying for control of the drug trade in the capital and the death of PF agent Lucas Caribé on the 15th during a raid in Valéria, which also injured two plainclothes police officers. The choice of the state to host the event was linked by the media to the fact that this state is considered the most violent in the country.
When contacted by its communications department to assess the significance of the seminar, Seap’s director did not comment on the event. The report also contacted the SSP to find out Marcelo Werner’s position, but received no response. The reporting material published by SJDH on the organization’s portal late in the afternoon did not include a speech by department secretary Felipe Freitas about the IDB initiative.