Brazil murders maintain downward path in first three months under Bolsonaro - data

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro poses for a picture with students of the military college during an Army Day ceremony, in Brasilia, Brazil April 17, 2019. REUTERS/Adriano Machado

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - The number of homicides in Brazil, which hit a world record in 2017, has continued to fall in the first three months of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro's term, according to preliminary state crime data compiled by Reuters.

Between January and March, there were 5,711 murders in 11 of Brazil's 26 states and the federal district around Brasilia, down 27 percent from 7,783 homicides in the first quarter of 2018.