The only story I've been following in Brazil is the Upp x favelas. I have been saying this whole time it is a paramilitary organization and the last 3 weeks or so you are starting to see the violence from the UPP.
I used to follow that, but got tired as its the same thing over and over. They chase out the problem with force, the problem sets up shop on another hill, repeat process. It got to the point where they even started returning to the hills where they already have declared as "pacified". I really don't have a strong opinion on this. It's not a fine line. The UPP are ultimately doing good, but in the process they are causing a lot of damage. Generally, I have absolutely no sympathy for criminals whatsoever. But like you said, a lot of the police in the UPP unit turns into paramilitary type operations and it's bad for the regular residents, and creates a lot of resentment and the like.
Your first paragraph has been my opinion from the onset yet people actually believed this would help. My main issue with the whole program is the motives.. Would they be doing this if the world cup is coming? I was worried about the Upp setting a dangerous precedent because at the end of the day it is force on your own people. Some low middle class people in Rio were protesting there land getting taken away and lets just say they were "forcefully" removed. Plus UPP supporters are actually trying to sell me a bag of goods that the favela people trust them... Yet last week a upp guy got gunned downed by a drug dealer and soon enough 7 innocents were dead who had nothing to do with the crime.
Since it's more NSR than soccer related.... Artigo novo - BBC Brasil http://t.co/hKtk80dgKQ— Tim Vickery (@Tim_Vickery) February 13, 2014
WOW ... I will have to agree that is a steam pile of crap article. First of all his example of the "empregada" in the airplane is very vague. Maybe if he explained it better. But regardless there are ignorant people in every country. The second point about the word gringo...for a vast majority of the time the word gringo is not used in a pejorative way and does not carry a negative connotation. He should know that by now. It's all about context and he should know that. For example the word "negro" in Brazil does not carry a negative connotation but the word "preto" does. Exactly the opposite as the US.
I agree. It seems like the comment made by the empregada hit home on him because they were English. This article seems like it stemmed from something personal rather than the word itself. He should educate himself about the origins of the word and ask other people about the word if he really wants to write an article about it. Then again, he should stick to focusing on football. Yes, this is sort of related to the Cup, but seems more like an excuse to get something off his chest.
Rio has been a warzone lately. Did any of you see the video where the police were dragging a wounded lady from the trunk? Plus the military has invaded a favela and said they are staying until July 31st. Pretty convenient they will be there until after the world cup.
I have no idea why they would put a gunshot victim in the trunk of the car. The other interesting thing going on lately is groups of residents taking the law into their own hands. Catching the ladroes and beating the shit out of them themselves. And some lately have been tying them up. I'm usually pretty liberal with my views, but I support this 100%, given the level of impunity in Brasil. These lowlifes have no reason not to rob, threaten, kill residents because 1) they very rarely get caught by the police and 2) when they do, the penal system is a joke, especially for underage kids.
Exactly. It takes 2 to 3 years to even prosecute those crimes and why should they even trust the government? In places like Algoas and other parts of the north this is common to take the laws into your own hands. I understand why especially when I read things like Maceio only solving 8 percent of it's murders.
Speaking of residents taking the law into their own hands, this is the bad that comes of it inevitably. http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/cotidi...z-internauta-em-site-que-divulgou-boato.shtml The earlier article from 2 days ago shows the beating on camera. I didnt watch it, but my girl did and actually got physically sick.
http://aovivo.folha.uol.com.br/2014/05/20/3306-aovivo.shtml Also have various police strikes going on. I'm afraid more and more strikes will happen right before the Cup.
The more strikes the better. The copa is great leverage so they better use it. I thought they would die down from now to the Copa because there are tons of days off and holidays let alone the military presence at some of these events.
The more people that see others taking advantage of the situation (and rightly so imo), the more will want the same improvements. It will only get worse, as they will have more leverage the closer the WC is. The middle class is marginalized. The government (PT especially) protects the huge companies and the very poor (for the votes w/out ever questioning their policies). Why should the working class continue to bust their ass everyday, while a very large percent make the same amount from gov handouts? Why should the middle class pay a completely unfair % of their money to fund an incompetent gov while to receive very little in return and have to live in fear bc of the impunity in the justice system? Brasil is a great country as it is, despite its faults. It has aspects that are phenomenal, but at the same time aspects that are extremely shameful. But now is a critical time for the people. This election imo will be a pivotal point where the country can take a giant step forward in becoming a economic superpower for a huge middle class, or it can continue to squander all the potential in the world and continue down the path of Argentinian and Venezuelan politics that rob the people blind and leave them worse off than before.
I think we'll see another military government before we see Brazil move away from their current style of government. The middle class people like you wrote about especially the old people are talking about how "safe" it was to walk on the streets and how robberies/crime were down during military government, which is all true. If the college graduates and upper middle class young people had a hard time finding jobs I would be a little more optimistic. A lot of the people in the Favela's actually work as well, Rio would shutdown completely without them. About your point of the middle class getting screwed on taxes you are right but it really isn't in the dialogue. Like I said the college graduates have jobs as soon as they graduate and the low middle class have to spend excessive amounts of time with work/travel let alone family issues so maybe that is why I haven't heard much concrete information about actually changing the country. Who is left to seriously organize and stay focused on bigger wins instead of the small concessions these protests usually produce? I am friends with a girl who goes to UFRJ and she recently had her camera smashed and was arrested at a protest lol, the intimidation factor is still there. Brazilians complain about the cost of ps4s, the internet being complete crap, and the cost of living/real estate yet I haven't heard them address anything regarding taxes and the import/export laws which cause all of these issues. Let alone your warning about foreign affairs which is serious and it was dead on a few months back when you said it.
I tried explaining to an extremely educated Brazilian why Florida has such low state taxes/cost of living but it was hopeless. I'm not saying tourism should pay for pretty much everything like it does in Florida but is it to much to ask for that people in Rio at least get a little relief from it? It honestly seems like they see nothing from it besides negatives like a longer commute to work and higher housing costs due to Gringos buying property.
No, but I get annoyed when foreigners talk about Canada like it is Switzerland while at the same time they view the US like its Russia. When in reality Canada, The US, and to lesser extents England, Australia, and NZ all benefit greatly from the shady shit the US does. The US does the dirty work and Canada benefits from it. The spy shit was just 1 example. We got the backlash, but info obtained was shared between all 5 countries, as well as each countRy doing their own spying. I used to be very critical of our foreign policies, but over time I've mellowed out on them a little after realizing that everything isn't so straight forward and black and white. I still don't agree with everything, but realize the world is a much better place with US and Western European influences than it is with Russian/Chinese/etc. And sadly and unfortunately that's pretty much what it comes down to today. Do countries sit idly and watch other powerful countries gobble up weaker ones? But it irks me a little that we are vilified by a large % of the international community, while the others in that group, especially Canada gets treated like Ghandi.
On a lighter note. Did you guys see the "pixulecos" of Lula and Dilma. Gotta love brazilians. And Fabio Junior's little speech in NYC recently was hilarious.
Couldn't have said it better myself. I'm just sick of Canadians and their obsession with the United States and how "safe" and "humane" it is compared to the USA. Like you said the dirty work this country does is never mentioned or even thought off. I feel like they talk down to me because I live here lol. I think i'm around more Canadians than you guys unfortunately.
I don't remember the last Canadian I've met, so I can't really comment what their attitude is towards the U.S. I also agree with ND. The U.S. has a bad rap for the "meddling" it does. Unfortunately, some of the bad decisions that the U.S. have made have been magnified and used to criticize their actions.