Article

2005-04-26 Caribbean-Latin America

In violent Rio, it's police vs. the masses - both sides lose lives in vicious battles

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Posted by Anonymoose 2005-04-26 6:35:21 PM|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 "City of God" movie is a must to see on this topic...

Posted by borgboy 2005-04-26 7:44:48 PM|| 2005-04-26 7:44:48 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 "Itâs a unique act when you have the police force committing a terrorist act against the public."

Sadly, it's not unique at all. Pretty common, actually.

Posted by Robert Crawford 2005-04-26 8:55:04 PM|| [http://www.kloognome.com/] 2005-04-26 8:55:04 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 The rest of Brasil is much more interesting and peaceful anyway.

Posted by Kalle (kafir forever) 2005-04-26 9:29:15 PM|| [http://radio.weblogs.com/0103811/categories/currentEvents/] 2005-04-26 9:29:15 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 like the difference between Mexico's border (hustlers, movers, et al) and the interior (really nice people from my experiences)

Posted by Frank G 2005-04-26 9:34:17 PM|| 2005-04-26 9:34:17 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 The rest of Brasil is much more interesting and peaceful anyway.

Not true at all. I went out with a girl (on an off now) who was from Sao Paulo and have been there several times, which is also extremely violent, but not quite as bad as Rio (and that says a lot). Most of Brazil is very dangerous. The only âsafeâ areas are in the South. Cities like Curitiba (which is probably the nicest city in Brazil), Florianopolis and Porto Alegre have the lowest crime rates, but theyâre still pretty dangerous compared to most American cities.

Just to give you some numbers. Sao Paulo and New York City (where I used to live) are two cities of roughly the same size. New York averages about 600 murders a year; Sao Paulo can have 9000-11000 a year -- thatâs over 25 a day! This is worse than what we see in Iraq and thereâs no war going on in Brazil. And as bad as Sao Paulo is, Rio is worse, if you can imagine that. Then again, 60% of Cariocas live in slums. Another scary statistic: Brazil has something like 2% of the worldâs population, but 11% of the worldâs murders. Yes, itâs probably the most violent country in the world that isnât going through a âcivil warâ.

And actually, Rio is an extremely beautiful city and one of the highlights of the country. Rio is by far the most beautiful Iâve ever been to, and Iâve traveled a lot. Politics aside (Iâm no fan of Lula), Brazil itself is an astonishing country with a shitload of potential to really do something with itself. Brazilians are generally really friendly people, the food is great and the women are the most beautiful in the world. Itâs really sad to see a country with such beauty and potential in such a sorry state. No wonder so many people there actually miss the military dictatorship.

Posted by bonanzabucks 2005-04-26 11:38:03 PM|| 2005-04-26 11:38:03 PM|| Front Page Top

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