A follower of the Afro-Brazilian religion Umbanda pays tribute for Iemanja, goddess of the sea, in Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil December 29, 2017. Hundreds of practitioners of Brazil's Afro-Brazilian Candomble and Umbanda faiths have gathered at Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach to honor Yemanja. Worshippers were mostly dressed in white as they launched their offerings to Iemanja: small boats with flowers and bowls with candles and fruits. (Photo by Ricardo Moraes/Reuters)

A Guarani boy pets a puppy in the Mata Verde Bonita village, in Marica, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, Thursday, February 25, 2020, where healthcare workers are making the rounds with coolers containing doses of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine as part of a mass immunization program aimed at inoculating all of Rio's 16 million residents by the end of the year. (Photo by Bruna Prado/AP Photo)

Carnival revellers take the metro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on February 19, 2023. Shaking the ground to the beat of their drums, Rio de Janeiro's famed carnival parades returned Sunday in a swirl of glitter, sequins and samba, the festival's first full-on edition since Covid-19 and Brazil's bitterly divisive elections. (Photo by Carl de Souza/AFP Photo)

A worker inspects the Christ the Redeemer statue which was damaged during lightning storms in Rio de Janeiro January 21, 2014. (Photo by Severino Silva/Reuters/Agência o Dia)

A biker shows his 12-year-old cat “Chiquinho” – which always rides with him on his motorbike – in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 19, 2016. (Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP Photo)

A reveller takes part in an annual block party known as “Cordao de Prata Preta”, one of the many carnival parties to take place in the neighbourhoods of Rio de Janeiro, February 6, 2016. (Photo by Pilar Olivares/Reuters)

An armed forces members patrol during an operation against drug dealers in Vila Kennedy slum in Rio de Janeiro, March 7, 2018. (Photo by Pilar Olivares/Reuters)

Revelers dance during the “Ceu na Terra”, or Heaven on earth, carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, February 7, 2015. Rio's over-the-top Carnival is the highlight of the year for many local residents. Hundreds of thousands of merrymakers are beginning to take to the streets in open-air “blocos” parties. (Photo by Felipe Dana/AP Photo)