Plaything or peril? Brazilian kites are endangering lives and prompting a push for a national ban

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https://apnews.com/article/brazil-kite-fighting-danger-bill-cutting-lines-c88d815e5c7b13028287ada709f4f5d9

Plaything or peril? Brazilian kites are endangering lives and prompting a push for a national ban

BY ELÉONORE HUGHES
Updated 6:24 AM EDT, August 21, 2024

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Two groups of men stood on opposite rooftops perched on a hillside overlooking Rio de Janeiro’s Ipanema beach, taunting one another. It was a macho showdown between opponents wielding unlikely weapons — kites.

On this July morning in the impoverished neighborhood, they were using taut, sharp-edged kite lines — known as “cerol” in Portuguese — to slash their opponents’ lines, ripping their kites from the sky.

Kite fighting has caused horrific injuries and even deaths, and a bill moving through Brazil’s Congress is seeking to prohibit the manufacture, sale and use of the razor-sharp lines nationwide, with violators facing one to three years in prison and a hefty fine.

The lines are already outlawed in some congested areas of Brazil, including Rio, but that didn’t appear to trouble the men jousting with their kites above Ipanema; indeed, some of those flouting the law were police officers. A couple of them called kites their therapy.

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AP videojournalist Lucas Dumphreys contributed to this report.

[Wonder Why]

1. Cops trying to kill each other for therapy? Beats killing those with a mental crisis.