Residents of Paquetá Island, a neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro surrounded by the waters of Guanabara Bay, appealed to the Rio Public Prosecutor's Office and created a digital petition to try to prevent the parade of the unofficial carnival bloc Boto Marinho, scheduled to happen this morning. The residents argue that the event poses a risk to public order.
The bloc's organizers claim that the criticism is motivated by prejudice and intolerance toward popular culture. Riotur and the Municipal Secretariat for Public Order (Seop) stated that no authorization request was submitted to municipal agencies for the parade and that they will act to prevent the event from taking place.
The Rio de Janeiro Fire Department stated that it was not notified about the event and that there is no pending process in the corporation regarding the event's approval. The Military Police was also being called upon to act in the case.
