By James Davenport
So a 17 year-old British tourist in Brazil has been murdered, dismembered, and the limbs and head disposed of separately to the torso. Police have the torso, still looking for the rest, though they have a 20 year-old man who has apparently confessed to killing her.
Brazil is the most violent country in the world. The surprise is not that a British tourist has, tragically, been murdered, but that it occurred far from Rio or Sao Paulo.
Few British tourists stray from these two cities, which coincidentally are the most violent of them all. But every city in Brazil, even Brasilia (though a long way out of the city) has favelas. These slum areas are marked by the most extraordinary poverty, the people living in wood and tin shelters packed tightly together. Mostly roads do not exist, people making their way between the buildings across wooden walkways over open sewers and drains. You've not seen poverty until you've seen it Brazilian-style.
So it's not entirely surprising that there is a massive level of crime. The favelas themselves are to a great extent no-go areas for the police, who instead largely pursue a policy of containment.
Although many of Brazil's criminals live in the favelas, it is certainly not the case that criminals (or crime) are limited to them. You can, if you are not careful and do not seek local advice, quite easily find yourself the victim of a mugging or worse. The greatest danger is not having cash in your bank account. Frequently a victim will be marched to the cashpoint and ordered to empty their account. If they can't or won't, they are simply shot.
Brazil does not have the death penalty, although the number of extra-judicial executions by the police are almost enough to worry the great man Donal Blaney. Arguably, however, Brazil has a far more frightening deterrent - it's prisons. They really are as bad as the portrayal in the 2003 film Carandiru, an account of the events and conditions in the prison of the same name leading up to the infamous 1992 massacre.
Having seen a Brazilian prison (from the outside, I hasten to add), I can vouch for the realism. Indeed that film was shot in the prison itself, shortly before it was demolished.
Yet crime remains at an incalculable level. Murder, violence and robbery are everywhere. It seems even the concentration camp conditions of Brasil's prisons do not deter.
So what to do about the terrible level of (mostly violent) crime in Brazil? How can this most wonderful of (partly) tropical paradise be rescued from endemic crime?
It seems to me that the answer lies in Brazil's greatest resource: the Amazon rainforest. There has been much talk of the developed world paying the developing countries with rainforest to preserve them. The argument is that, since the rainforest is an environmental resource for the whole world, the whole world must contribute to its preservation. The very poor nations on whose territories the rainforests are located cannot reasonably be expected to forgo the economic benefits of exploiting the resources that the rainforests hold, without compensation for doing so. This could be done by diverting the mostly wasted existing aid budgets, and I believe is a reasonable demand.
In Brazil, as in the other rainforest states, the funds could be used to do something dramatic: invest in the country's poorest. The funds could be used to build decent housing, with roads, sewers, fresh water and legitimate electricity connections. After this capital investment the continuing flow of funds could, combined with an expansion in open markets*, provide the kick-start to Brazil's economy that it needs to lift its people out of poverty. A hand up, not a hand out, to coin a phrase.
I must declare an interest here. My partner is Brazilian and Brazil has a very special place in my heart. I love the country and its people. It is a place where, despite astonishing poverty, a guest is made almost embarassingly welcome. Brazilians know how to live - their food, music, parties and hospitality are second to none. Having travelled into the Amazon, up the great river itself, I can speak for the beauty of the land and the greatness of its people.
Brazil is a nation of monumental contrast - the beauty of its environment and its people, against the ugliness of its crime and its poverty. By investing in the future of the human race and of our planet itself, we can at the same time give this most wonderful of nations the means to fulfil it's potential.
*Sadly the lastest WTO talks have collapsed. Maybe one day our politicians will see sense.
38 comments:
No doubt someone else has easier access to the data but I thought that in terms of murders per capita South Africa, Colombia and Jamaica were more violent than Brazil.
Follow that path, and we'd end up with another African nation scenario - enriching the corrupt politicians and Swiss banks.
Improvement has to be self-generated.
But if those poor criminals were given better living conditions they would simply reproduce faster. I'm sure this thought has occured to those in charge of Brazil. More often than not the problem in such countries is not the lack of aid or opportunity, it is the will of those in power.
If the rainforest is so precious to the planet, which I believe it is, should it not be wrested from any one countries control and protected by the planet police? However much money you give people they will always want a little more.
Unsigned? The most violent country in the world? What rubbish Iain.
Wasn't it said at the time of the shooting of the Brazilian on the underground by the Met Police that the police in Brazil shoot more people in a week that the Met do in a year?
Brazil is essentially a rich country Iain. It is also actually rich and getting rapidly richer. An interesting article but your conclusion that we should throw money at it, I do not agree with.
The real solution to Brazil's complex social problems, a reflection of the country's intricate history and racial/social composition,lies with the Brazilians themselves. Having known several over the years I am continually struck at their unbothered attitude to it all, which I suspect is a major part of the problem.
Why is it that people seemingly can't read? I don't write the Giest Blogs. Er, that's why they are called Guest Blogs and have a different byline!
What Judith said.
You need to rid the country of corruption before trying to dust cash through those sticky fingers.
Iain ... to be fair, as you well know this one did not have a different byline for at least the first 45 minutes of its published life.
Stealth editing does not change that fact. The fact that it was unsigned is not the main problem. the fact it makes unsubstantiated claims is more serious. There are lots of places that are more violent than Brazil.
But it must be said that your readers do appear a bit slow on the uptake on this guest blog feature. The items are "double signed" I suppose. Which must be difficult for the hard of thinking.
With respect James, if you think Brazil is the "the most violent country in the world" and that "you've not seen poverty until you've seen it Brazilian-style" then you clearly haven't traveled around South America very much!!
Being half-Brazilian and a regular visitor to RdJ, I'm perfectly willing to admit the country is poor but the advances that have been made in both policing and poverty eradication over the past fifteen years (chiefly because of the work of President Cardoso up to 2002) have been staggering.
In terms of the favelas, you are wrong to claim that all are "no go areas" for the Police. This has never been the case. Whilst criminal (generally drug dealing) gangs continue to control a number of favelas, the vast majority are comparatively safe and should be viewed more as areas of working class housing than slums.
In terms of crime, the only piece of advice I'd give those visiting RdJ is to be careful where you choose to visit in the city and dress appropriately at all times. Basically: exercise common sense and spend your time in areas like Jardim Botanico and Leblon.
How many times have you actually been to Brazil or Rio de Janeiro in particular, James?
As for your comments about the rainforest, I at least agree with your comment that Brazil "cannot reasonably be expected to forgo the economic benefits of exploiting the resources that the rainforests hold". Perhaps the only sensible policy implemented by the military junta that operated until 1985 was the early requirement for Brazilian cars to be powered using ethanol hybrids - something which will cushion Brazil from the worst of the coming global recession. I'm sure there is scope for expanding the country's fuel exports.
The idea that Brazil is "essentially a rich country" is what they would call porcaria.
If you mean it has vast natural resources, then this is certainly true. They're mostly in the Amazon rainforest and Atlantic forest. Are you proposing we chop them down so that Brazil has the benefit of them? The point is that if we are to preserve the forests for the benefit of all humanity and for the planet, we're going to have to compensate those countries in which the rainforests are situated.
To Philipa, ignoring the racist bit about people reproducing faster, who exactly are the "planet police"? Your proposal of invading Brazil and then using some sort of force to prevent deforestation is ludicrous. Have you any idea of how big the Amazon rainforest is, never mind adding to that the Atlantic forest?
the funds could be used to do something dramatic: invest in the country's poorest. The funds could be used to build decent housing, with roads, sewers, fresh water and legitimate electricity connections. (This could) provide the kick-start to Brazil's economy that it needs to lift its people out of poverty.
This has been tried before. The problems recently highlighted in Glasgow East were in spite of all the money being thrown at them, all of it wasted.
The answer is probably quite simple, involving more police, more prisons and capital punishment.
I thought it was an interesting piece and well-meant. I found the mostly negative responses depressing.
Brazil, like many developing countries is extremely unequal.
The answer to this is the free market. Protectionism and favoured local producers made a small number of people extremely rich and the rest poor. It will take a long time to change.
Now I'll have to go and read CP's blog just to find out what he means.
Your blog is his main inspiration and if he's spotted a mistake/discrete adjustment he'll be dancing up and down with delight.
Regarding the comments over whether Brazil is really the most violent country in the world, the answer is Brazil probably has more murders in total than any other country in the world but on a per capita basis it is not. In terms of homicide rate per capita the most violent country is Venezuela whose rate has soared under the misrule of Hugo Chavez to 66 per 100000.
"Anonymous said...
I thought it was an interesting piece and well-meant. I found the mostly negative responses depressing."
I don't think anybody would dispute that it was well meant but the author needs to look at the real causes of the problems in Brazil. It is a rich country with a wealth of natural resources, certainly compared to many other countries both in the region and elsewhere. It has the solution to its problems which I daresay are no worse than the situation in Britain in the nineteenth century. European countries solved similar problems with slum clearances, social housing and universal education. The Brazilians will no doubt do the same, although they may need some encouragement to get over their inertia.
Tudo beim, Iain. CP is upset that you apparently 'stealth added' the author's name. Honestly, how evil of you. In future please phone him personally and give live TV interviews before making alterations to your own blog.
'My partner is Brazilian' should have rung some alarm bells.
Yawn. Apparently Brazil has the tenth highest murder rate in the world. Violence is a bit more nebulous. They definitely have one of the worst-natured venomous spiders in the world.
My insightful opinion on the matter is: why don't you see Brazil nuts in Tescos any more? Have all the nut-gatherers been murdered or the Brazil nut tress cut down? Aflatoxins? People just don't like them?
The question is not should we do plenty to protect rain forests or try to assist the people of Brazil to create a better place for themselves to live in.
The question is. Can we trust the international organizations that will be inevitably payed vast amounts to do so, to indeed do so?
I trust NO completely unaccountable organizations to do anything positive about anything important to ordinary people except by accident. I suggest others start to learn to distrust them as well, its not difficult, one only has to look at the historical evidence.
If they could have ever been trusted, Brazil would not already be in the utter mess it currently is in. Neither would places such as Africa, come to think about it.
Atlas
F*** me. I don't know who I hate most, people who don't read things properly, people who don't do their research properly or people who like the sound of their own voice (or should that be sight of their own post). Tw@'s
Try watching the truly excellent Brazilian film City of God.
Isn't this post arguing the classic "inequality is the cause of crime" nonsense that we hear from the socialists in this country? This is arrant nonsense. Criminals cause crime. It is that simple. There are plenty of poor people in Brazil, the UK and indeed every country who do not go around murdering people or stealing foreigners' wallets at gunpoint. Poverty is no excuse.
I would say before we prescibe sorting out Brazil, you need to sort out your own country.
As a frequent visitor to Brazil I am always shocked by the levels of poverty in the favelas, but...
Throwing someone who's pregnant onto a railway line??? What the f***???
That's got nothing to do with poverty. That's values.
killemallletgodsortemout said...
"... the murder of the Brit chav, referred to in para 1, was carried out by another Brit, or so his confession leads us to believe."
He is Brazilian not British. He lived here for two years and returned to Brazil when his visa expired.
And what will the Brazilians do when they run out of rain forest to pay their poor with?
I am not sure I will worry about Brazil or any other developing country now when we in the UK are
facing so many problems that some of the old age pensioners that I know are living the life of those in a developing country.
Every large developing country from India to Brazil have rising population which puts heavy pressure on resources of all kinds, Corrupt politicians, police and government officials of all sorts look after primarily themselves producing inequality, the genesis in third world violence.
Solution: I am sorry to say I do not have one and do not see any.It sounds pessimistic and that is the truth.
killemalletc. @13:24
the man who has confessed to her murder is Brazilian.
It seems to me that the answer lies in Brazil's greatest resource: the Amazon rainforest. There has been much talk of the developed world paying the developing countries with rainforest to preserve them. The argument is that, since the rainforest is an environmental resource for the whole world, the whole world must contribute to its preservation. The very poor nations on whose territories the rainforests are located cannot reasonably be expected to forgo the economic benefits of exploiting the resources that the rainforests hold, without compensation for doing so. This could be done by diverting the mostly wasted existing aid budgets, and I believe is a reasonable demand."
Why should the world pay to keep Brazilians poor? NGOs and UN appointed bodies would be hideously corrupt, wasteful and incompetent - they always are.
What Brazil deserves is the same as any other nation; a fair shake of the stick at developing itself. Let them manage their forests and profit from it rather then paying them to be idle.
As an aside; If the 'world' should pay for Brazilians to not chop down it's trees should the UK be paid by the rest of the world to not mine it's coal?
"inequality is the cause of crime" nonsense that we hear from the socialists in this country?
Inequality is neither possible or desirable. In reality trying to create such a thing is a crime in itself against the individual.
We can't even manage equality under common law in this country anymore. Stopping random and specific victimization carried out daily by our own elected governments would be a fine thing to at least wish for. The last eleven years have taken us further away from this concept, then we have been for many generations.
Systems that seek to create social and economic equality must repress the majority in favor of a minority of government officials and the starving poor. Thus creating a system that equally starves virtually everyone. Zimbabwe being a current example.
Managing a majority half financially independent, half free, half educated middle class is hard work for the elites that run the world. It is far easier and almost infinitely cheaper to control starving powerless peasants. Which is why so many people still starve in the year 2008.
Ask a leading member of our own establishment quite how much hard work controlling the British and American populations has been for them so far.
"Very tricky and expensive. Especially without them working out for themselves, that they are being controlled." Is the answer you should likely get, if he or she is in an honest mood, that is.
Socialism is the equal sharing of misery. WSC
Atlas
yeah Peter Mandelson's holiday home
Anonymous, you miss the point when you say"inequality is the cause of crime" nonsense that we hear from the socialists in this country", leaving my argument about how this inequality is created- corruption in all layers of public services.
Reading your observation, I cannot help commenting that the factors which drive crime and violence in a large developing country are different from ours. If I have time and space I can develop this much further with examples from India and Brazil.
Just hope Iain that the police are not instutionally incompetent like you say they are here.
An interesting guest blog.
I thought the huge amounts of oil was Brazil's greatest resource.
niccolo - I wrote a long explanation last night for you and lost the lot. I suggest reading my comment again (I was not being racist, thankyou) and working it out.
Anonymous said...
"I found the mostly negative responses depressing."
The truth can be like that.
Note for weirdo Chris Paul: go and stand for a few minutes in a Brazilian favela and then come back and tell us "there are lots of places more violent than Brazil".
Sure there are parts of Brazil that aren't violent at all. Most of the Amazon rainforest, for instance, is uninhabited. But the brutality of the violence, particularly in Rio and Sao Paulo, is extraordinarily high.
The idea that there is reliable data on the number of murders and other violent crimes that occur in the favelas is laughable - and only someone who'd never been there would make such a moronic claim.
Is he argumentative for argument's sake, or just a generally annoying twerp*?
* I don't believe "twerp" breaks the 'no swearing' ordinance.
"Brazil is a nation of monumental contrast - the beauty of its environment and its people, against the ugliness of its crime and its poverty. By investing in the future of the human race and of our planet itself, we can at the same time give this most wonderful of nations the means to fulfil it's potential."
Doesn't this seem a perfect model of how Britain is becoming - replete with its footballing obsession ?
What to do about Brazil ?
Learn from it.
We can't cure the World of its ills. We can only look after our own relatively crime-free enclave as best we can.
So long as politicians and intellectual elites posture abroad rather than act robustly against crime at home we are at risk.
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