Numbers of the week: Sep. 28, 2019

This is Brazil by the Numbers, a weekly digest of the most interesting figures tucked inside the latest news about Brazil. Random numbers that help explain what is going on in Brazil. This week: Children shot in Rio, Congress investigating fake news, Bolsonaro lies to the UN, oil stains in the Northeast, sexual harassment, president’s approval ratings, GDP growth expectations.

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17 children

Brazilians were left shocked and outraged by the death of 8-year-old Ágatha Félix in Rio de Janeiro. Hit by a rifle bullet in the back during a police operation, Ágatha was taken to hospital but died shortly after. So far this year, 17 children have been shot in Rio de Janeiro—with Ághata being the fifth infant death of the year. Governor Wilson Witzel was heavily criticized for saying that his security policy—which encourages police officers to shoot to kill—was on the right track, despite the girl’s death. He blamed drug consumers for the case, and said the left shouldn’t “use a corpse as a political platform.” Meanwhile, President Jair Bolsonaro—who relies on the support of police forces—has remained silent.

(It is worth remembering, however, that such a display of moral laxity for political purposes is not unseen in Brazil. In 2011, a 14-year-old girl was kept for four days in a prison cell with five male inmates—and described gruesome abuses she suffered. Then-President Dilma Rousseff, as well as her Secretary of Women’s Rights at the time, chose not to speak about the case, in order not...