Rio City Hall suspends New Year's Eve party in Copacabana

Announcement was made by Mayor Eduardo Paes

Published on 04/12/2021 - 12:17 By Cristina Índio do Brasil - Repórter da Agência Brasil - Rio de Janeiro

The city of Rio canceled the New Year's Eve party at Copacabana Beach. The announcement was made by Mayor Eduardo Paes on the preliminary recommendation of the scientific committee of the state, to suspend the event in the classic way, to avoid crowding on the shore. The city hall committee has a different understanding and agreed with the traditional New Year's Eve party. According to the mayor, as there were differences, he opted for the most restrictive and out of respect for science.

“We respect science. As there are divergent opinions between scientific committees, we will always stick with the most restrictive. The city council says it can, the state committee says it can't. So it can't. In this way, we are going to cancel the official New Year's Eve celebration in Rio”, posted Paes on his Twitter profile.

“If this is the command of the state (that's not what the governor had been telling me), let's accept it. I hope I can be in Copacabana, hugging everyone in the passage from 2022 to 2023. It will be missed, but the important thing is that we continue vaccinating and saving lives”, he commented in another message.

Paes met today (4) with the secretariat at the Sulamérica Convention Center, in Cidade Nova, central Rio. In a press conference after the meeting, the mayor said that he took the decision with sadness. “I am very sad, personally and as mayor. I think the New Year's Eve celebration in Rio is one of the most incredible parties. It is an incomparable celebration, which mixes people, mixes creeds, in which people embrace. There's nothing more anti-carioca than this crap covid. Rio is the city of celebration, embrace, public space, meeting, but we will bravely resist. We are going to prevail, and Rio is still beautiful and wonderful here”, he commented.

The mayor stated that until that moment he had only seen restrictions on holding the party, but that if there are more restrictive decisions, the municipality will comply. “If they put in more restrictive measures, we'll comply. I saw, in the decision of the scientific committee of the state, the decision regarding the New Year's Eve party. There were no other recommendations. I'm not going to decide. If there is another recommendation, we will follow”.

Paes said that there was a limit, until the end of the first fortnight of this month, for the city to make the decision whether or not to keep the celebration in Copacabana and, while this was being done, there was planning, because for an event of this size to occur it is necessary to have a series of measures that cannot be taken overnight. “We plan a lot to make an event of this dimension and proportion”.

The mayor said that he was surprised by the recommendation, although he maintains frequent contacts with the governor of Rio, Cláudio Castro, who, according to him, has been supporting the municipality. But in the case of scientific committees, neither he nor the governor have any interference. “It's not my opinion. I wish there was the party, that I could have the celebration, but I'm not going to stand here fluttering. This is not guessing. The political manager follows the decisions of science. This is our role”, he stated.

“Scientific committee is a scientific committee. Neither I control mine, nor Cláudio Castro control his"

About carnival, the mayor said that there are still almost three months to go, but if there is a recommendation from the science of suspension, the city will follow. “I always follow science, and these things have to be very clear. I hope you don't have to cancel the carnival, not only because of the importance of the party and celebration for the country's culture, but also because of the economic importance for the city of Rio and for the whole of Brazil”, he added.

Text translated using artificial intelligence.

Edition: Graça Adjuto

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