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Travelling to Rio



 
 
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  #81  
Old March 15th, 2004, 05:36 AM
Lise Sedrez
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Travelling to Rio

Dear Mr. Pan,

P E T E R P A N wrote:

You call the initial post below by this dumb loser Kurko a mild
comment? I hate to know what would be considered rude and offensive by
Brazilians!


Let me see: there was only one f-word, one comment regarding the wisdom
of your behavior, and a suggestion regarding your participation in the
genetic pool. No mention of race, sexual orientation or capacity,
Hitler, graphic obscenity, profanity or blasphemy, and no mention to
your parents, grandparents or (at least in the initial post) your whole
culture and nationality. For Usenet? oh, yes, it is mild. Insulting, but
mildly so.

I posted the bad experience to warn other tourists from running into
the same problem! This stupid jerk Kurko blamed the whole incident on
me, the victim, instead of the muggers! Is that how Brazilians
approach life? Is that fair?


I think we had already established that Mr. Kurko is not Brazilian. And
pointing risky behavior is NOT the same as blaming the victim. My
husband was once robbed in Torino of all his money, after letting his
wallet on a table for a couple of minutes, while talking to a friend. Of
course the thief is the guilty part, but knowing this did not prevent my
husband from feeling, as Mr. Kurko would put it, “a stupid ****” for not
paying enough attention to his wallet.

Regarding your intentions in posting your bad experience, well, I would
rather not to comment on that. People are free to read the post and take
their conclusions.

(snip)

Did you see any constructive suggestions from these dumb, nasty jerks
Kurko and JohnM on how the crimes and threats levels in Rio can be
reduced? Or are they just trying to shut me up and cover up the
crimes situation in Rio like they are losing their money and their
pride big time because of my posts?


Again, neither Mr. Kurko nor JohnM are Brazilians—although I should
point out that JohnM is the author of an excellent book on Brazil, much
more revealing, thoughtful insights, with many more denounces about
organized crime, denounces of inequality and wrongdoings, portraits of
life in favelas, tourist traps, in Rio, São Paulo, Amazon, Recife, Rio
Grande do Sul, Minas Gerais and many other places, than any of your
posts. No, it is not a flattering book—not in the easy sense of the
word—but it is very passionate.


I am very disappointed in ignorant, dishonest, rude and abusive people
like Kurko and JohnM. I am disappointed in you for siding with these
2 pieces of trash against the truth, and against my attempt to shine
some light on this horrible crime problems in Rio, so some good can be
done.


Mr. Pan , I don’t understand how you can be possibly disappointed in me.
I mean, I am one of those people among which you “found, through my own
experience, some serious flaws of characters [in theBrazilian people in
Rio]”, you know, one of those with “disturbingly bad attitudes [among
various young, old, educated and wealthy Brazilians in Rio, Sao Paolo
etc…]. What, I just found out that I am very likely to pee on the
streets! (Hopefully, my mother will never know.) So I wonder how I can
have brought you any disappointment, when your “opinions of Brazil and
her people, after much reviews of the events, facts and
rationalizations, to be honest, [are already] very low,” or as you put
in another post, “that Brazil is a very unsafe, lawless place, populated
by a lot of dumb savages” (that would be me) who “would p*ss on
sidewalks and someone else' cars on the busy streets of Rio in broad day
light, who should be removed from the gene pool!” Mostly Brazilians,
according to you, can be characterized as “uncivilized jerks” [Mr.
Kurko’s attitude--did I mentioned that he is not Brazilian?--is supposed
to be “typical of many, if not the majority, Brazilians I
encountered.”], and show a “lack of honesty [that] is the complete
opposite of the people in Argentina and US!” We belong to “the country
of dumb, unprincipled losers” and “some Brazilians and residents of
Brazil do appear to have probably the worst, the most uncivil attitudes
among the peoples I visited!” All of this in a quite ugly city/ country,
as “the scenaries in Rio is [sic] much poorer than many places in North
America, Europe, Asia, the Caribbean... Rio is full of homeless,
undesirables people sleeping on the streets, watching tourists intensely
for the opportunities to commit crimes!” What a terrible contrast with
the “friendly, fun, warm, honest, civilized, law-abiding Americans!”

Considering such low expectations, I can’t understand how I can have
disappointed you.

But you know what? I find out that I really don’t care.

Neither do I care in engaging in discussions--about
Brazil/Rio/Brazilians/whatever—with you. You are, of course, entitled to
your views about Brazil/Rio/Brazilians/whatever. I am entitled to be
selective regarding my interlocutors. If you believe that it is because
I feel some kind of “deep shame” about myself and my society, “that
prevent” me “from discussing some of these problems openly and honestly,
at any level, emotional, intellectual or educational…” it is just too bad.

I will, of course, thank you wholeheartedly for your very sincere
intentions of shining “some light on this horrible crime problems in Rio
[at the Usenet], so some good can be done”, as your “heart is for these
poor people” in the favelas of Rio, for whom you have already manifested
such warm feelings.

Sincerely,
Lise

  #82  
Old March 15th, 2004, 05:48 AM
Lise Sedrez
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Travelling to Rio

Dear Mr. Pan,

P E T E R P A N wrote:

You call the initial post below by this dumb loser Kurko a mild
comment? I hate to know what would be considered rude and offensive by
Brazilians!


Let me see: there was only one f-word, one comment regarding the wisdom
of your behavior, and a suggestion regarding your participation in the
genetic pool. No mention of race, Hitler, heavy obscenity, profanity or
blasphemy, and no mention to your parents, grandparents or (at least in
the initial post) your whole culture and nationality. For Usenet? oh,
yes, it is mild. Insulting, but mildly so.

I posted the bad experience to warn other tourists from running into
the same problem! This stupid jerk Kurko blamed the whole incident on
me, the victim, instead of the muggers! Is that how Brazilians
approach life? Is that fair?


I think we had already established that Mr. Kurko is not Brazilian. And
pointing risky behavior is NOT the same as blaming the victim. My
husband was once robbed in Torino of all his money, after letting his
wallet on a table for a couple of minutes, while talking to a friend. Of
course the thief is the guilty part, but knowing this did not prevented
my husband from feeling, as Mr. Kurko would put it, “a stupid ****” for
not paying enough attention to his wallet.

Regarding your intentions in "posting your bad experience," well, I
would rather not to comment on that. People are free to read the post
and take their own conclusions.

(snip)

Did you see any constructive suggestions from these dumb, nasty jerks
Kurko and JohnM on how the crimes and threats levels in Rio can be
reduced? Or are they just trying to shut me up and cover up the
crimes situation in Rio like they are losing their money and their
pride big time because of my posts?


Again, neither Mr. Kuko nor JohnM are Brazilian—thought I should point
out that JohnM is the author of an excellent book on Brazil, much more
revealing, with many more thoughtful insights, many more denounces about
organized crime, or denounces of inequality and wrongdoings, or
portraits of life in favelas, or tourist traps, in Rio, São Paulo,
Amazon, Recife, Rio Grande do Sul, Minas Gerais and many other places,
than any of your posts. No, it is not a flattering book—not in the easy
sense of the word—but it is very passionate.


I am very disappointed in ignorant, dishonest, rude and abusive people
like Kurko and JohnM. I am disappointed in you for siding with these
2 pieces of trash against the truth, and against my attempt to shine
some light on this horrible crime problems in Rio, so some good can be
done.

Mr. Pan , I don’t understand how you can be possibly disappointed in me.
I mean, I am one of those people among which you “found, through my own
experience, some serious flaws of characters [in the Brazilian people in
Rio]”, you know, one of those with “disturbingly bad attitudes [among
various young, old, educated and wealthy Brazilians in Rio, Sao Paolo
etc…]. What, I just found out that I am very likely to pee on the
streets! (Hopefully, my mother will never know.) So I wonder how I can
have brought you any disappointment, when your “opinions of Brazil and
her people, after much reviews of the events, facts and
rationalizations, to be honest, [are already] very low,” or as you put
in another post, “that Brazil is a very unsafe, lawless place, populated
by a lot of dumb savages” (that would be me) who “would p*ss on
sidewalks and someone else' cars on the busy streets of Rio in broad day
light, who should be removed from the gene pool!” Most Brazilians,
according to you, can be characterized as “uncivilized jerks” [Mr.
Kurko’s attitude--did I mentioned that he is not Brazilian?--is supposed
to be “typical of many, if not the majority, Brazilians I
encountered.”], and they show a “lack of honesty [that] is the complete
opposite of the people in Argentina and US!” We belong to “the country
of dumb, unprincipled losers” and “some Brazilians and residents of
Brazil do appear to have probably the worst, the most uncivil attitudes
among the peoples I visited!” All of this in a quite ugly city/ country,
as “the scenaries in Rio is much poorer than many places in North
America, Europe, Asia, the Caribbean... Rio is full of homeless,
undesirables people sleeping on the streets, watching tourists intensely
for the opportunities to commit crimes!” What a terrible contrast with
the “friendly, fun, warm, honest, civilized, law-abiding Americans!”

Considering your expectations, I don't understand how I can have
disappointed you.

But you know what? I find out that I really don’t care.

Neither do I care in engaging in discussions--about
Brazil/Rio/Brazilians/whatever—with you. You are, of course, entitled to
your views about Brazil/Rio/Brazilians/whatever. I am entitled to be
selective regarding my interlocutors. If you believe that it is because
I feel some kind of “deep shame” about myself and my society, “that
prevent” me “from discussing some of these problems openly and honestly,
at any level, emotional, intellectual or educational…” it is just too bad.

I will, of course, thank you wholeheartedly for your very sincere
intentions of shining “some light on this horrible crime problems in
Rio, so some good can be done” [???], as your “heart is for these poor
people” in the favelas of Rio, for whom you have already manifested such
warm feelings.

Sincerely,
Lise

  #83  
Old March 15th, 2004, 05:53 AM
Lise Sedrez
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Travelling to Rio

Dear Mr. Pan,

P E T E R P A N wrote:

You call the initial post below by this dumb loser Kurko a mild
comment? I hate to know what would be considered rude and offensive by
Brazilians!


Let me see: there was only one f-word, one comment regarding the wisdom
of your behavior, and a suggestion regarding your participation in the
genetic pool. No mention of race, Hitler, heavy obscenity, profanity or
blasphemy, and no mention to your parents, grandparents or (at least in
the initial post) your whole culture and nationality. For Usenet? oh,
yes, it is mild. Insulting, but mildly so.

I posted the bad experience to warn other tourists from running into
the same problem! This stupid jerk Kurko blamed the whole incident on
me, the victim, instead of the muggers! Is that how Brazilians
approach life? Is that fair?


I think we had already established that Mr. Kurko is not Brazilian. And
pointing risky behavior is NOT the same as blaming the victim. My
husband was once robbed in Torino of all his money, after letting his
wallet on a table for a couple of minutes, while talking to a friend. Of
course the thief is the guilty part, but knowing this did not prevent my
husband from feeling, as Mr. Kurko would put it, “a stupid ****” for not
paying enough attention to his wallet.

Regarding your intentions in "posting your bad experience," well, I
would rather not to comment on that. People are free to read the post
and take their own conclusions.

(snip)

Did you see any constructive suggestions from these dumb, nasty jerks
Kurko and JohnM on how the crimes and threats levels in Rio can be
reduced? Or are they just trying to shut me up and cover up the
crimes situation in Rio like they are losing their money and their
pride big time because of my posts?


Again, neither Mr. Kuko nor JohnM are Brazilian—thought I should point
out that JohnM is the author of an excellent book on Brazil, much more
revealing, with many more thoughtful insights, many more denounces about
organized crime, or denounces of inequality and wrongdoings, or
portraits of life in favelas, or tourist traps, in Rio, São Paulo,
Amazon, Recife, Rio Grande do Sul, Minas Gerais and many other places,
than any of your posts. No, it is not a flattering book—not in the easy
sense of the word—but it is very passionate.


I am very disappointed in ignorant, dishonest, rude and abusive people
like Kurko and JohnM. I am disappointed in you for siding with these
2 pieces of trash against the truth, and against my attempt to shine
some light on this horrible crime problems in Rio, so some good can be
done.

Mr. Pan , I don’t understand how you can be possibly disappointed in me.
I mean, I am one of those people among which you “found, through my own
experience, some serious flaws of characters [in the Brazilian people in
Rio]”, you know, one of those with “disturbingly bad attitudes [among
various young, old, educated and wealthy Brazilians in Rio, Sao Paolo
etc…]. What, I just found out that I am very likely to pee on the
streets! (Hopefully, my mother will never know.) So I wonder how I can
have brought you any disappointment, when your “opinions of Brazil and
her people, after much reviews of the events, facts and
rationalizations, to be honest, [are already] very low,” or as you put
in another post, “that Brazil is a very unsafe, lawless place, populated
by a lot of dumb savages” (that would be me) who “would p*ss on
sidewalks and someone else' cars on the busy streets of Rio in broad day
light, who should be removed from the gene pool!” Most Brazilians,
according to you, can be characterized as “uncivilized jerks” [Mr.
Kurko’s attitude--did I mentioned that he is not Brazilian?--is supposed
to be “typical of many, if not the majority, Brazilians I
encountered.”], and they show a “lack of honesty [that] is the complete
opposite of the people in Argentina and US!” We belong to “the country
of dumb, unprincipled losers” and “some Brazilians and residents of
Brazil do appear to have probably the worst, the most uncivil attitudes
among the peoples I visited!” All of this in a quite ugly city/ country,
as “the scenaries in Rio is much poorer than many places in North
America, Europe, Asia, the Caribbean... Rio is full of homeless,
undesirables people sleeping on the streets, watching tourists intensely
for the opportunities to commit crimes!” What a terrible contrast with
the “friendly, fun, warm, honest, civilized, law-abiding Americans!”

Considering your expectations, I don't understand how I can have
disappointed you.

But you know what? I find out that I really don’t care.

Neither do I care in engaging in discussions--about
Brazil/Rio/Brazilians/whatever—with you. You are, of course, entitled to
your views about Brazil/Rio/Brazilians/whatever. I am entitled to be
selective regarding my interlocutors. If you believe that it is because
I feel some kind of “deep shame” about myself and my society, “that
prevent” me “from discussing some of these problems openly and honestly,
at any level, emotional, intellectual or educational…” it is just too bad.

I will, of course, thank you wholeheartedly for your very sincere
intentions of shining “some light on this horrible crime problems in
Rio, so some good can be done” [???], as your “heart is for these poor
people” in the favelas of Rio, for whom you have already manifested such
warm feelings.

Sincerely,
Lise

  #84  
Old March 15th, 2004, 05:58 AM
João Luiz
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Travelling to Rio



Lise Sedrez schrieb:

Mr. Pan , I don’t understand how you can be possibly disappointed in me.


Eu já disse hoje que eu sou seu fã?

JL

  #85  
Old March 15th, 2004, 07:21 AM
P E T E R P A N
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Travelling to Rio

Why did JohnM not post some info about the horrible drug lords and
crime problems in Rio so everyone can be alert? Why did JohnM instead
try to poke holes in the victim's story?

JohnM sure appears like he's not acting with honest, unselfish
motivations!

Is JohnM trying to conceal the horrific nature of crimes in Rio to
lure more visitors in, so he can sell more books?


João Luiz wrote in message ...
P E T E R P A N schrieb:

This stupid, nasty guy JohnM was not able to provide any information
or any arguments to defend his interests in Brazil,


Actually, he IS ABLE to provide that kind of information, and maybe in
more detail than you might ever be able to absorb:

http://www.fetchbook.co.uk/search_18...b_reviews.html

JL

  #86  
Old March 16th, 2004, 09:31 AM
WAS
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default List names most dangerous stops for business travelers

New-York - Year 2000 - Crime statistics

Violent = 124,890
Property = 483,078
Murder = 952
Rape = 3,530
Robbery = 40,539
Assault = 60,090
Burglary = 87,946
Theft = 395132

WAS

"P E T E R P A N" a écrit dans le message de
m...
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/getawa...99/dngr28.html

January 28, 1999
List names most dangerous stops for business travelers

POST-INTELLIGENCER NEWS SERVICES

Air Security International, a 10-year-old Houston company that
provides security services for traveling executives, has issued a list
of what it considered last year to be the most dangerous
business-travel destinations in the world.

The company's listing of travel dangers is largely based on the
detailed reports of paid agents -- including employees of airports and
international corporations, and owners of overseas businesses --
working in the field.

The dangerous destinations are divided into four risk categories:
crime, kidnapping, political violence and wars or insurgencies.

The only destination to appear in all four categories is Colombia.

That country is cited as the one with the most kidnappings, as home to
"the longest insurgency in the Western Hemisphere," and for its high
crime rate exacerbated by the cocaine trade, as well as bombings,
assassinations, guerrilla insurgencies and power struggles among drug
lords, politicians, judges and the military.

The 10 places cited for their dangerously high crime rate are
Johannesburg ("carjackings, robberies and assaults continue
unabated"), Mexico City (corrupt police and "taxi-related crime"),
Tijuana ("getting a reputation as the next Medellin"), Sao Paulo, Rio
de Janeiro, Papua New Guinea (gangs armed with high-powered rifles,
machetes, even grenade launchers), Kazakhstan ("corrupt officials and
police impostors continue to target foreigners"), Lagos (pickpocketing
to armed robbery and murder), Moscow and Colombia.

The company found a heightened threat of kidnapping in five places.
Besides Colombia, they were the Caucasus region of Russia ("extremely
common"), Mexico ("rings operate throughout the country"), the
Philippines (where it's on the decline, but still prevalent) and Yemen
(tribesmen seeking government concessions use foreigners as bargaining
chips).

The political-violence category cites Bangladesh, where labor strife
has been known to turn violent; Indonesia, where violence between
security forces and demonstrators still flares on occasion; Pakistan,
where "more than 4,000 people have died in ethnic, sectarian and
political violence in Karachi since 1995" and, yes, Colombia.




"B H" wrote in message

...
I think PETER PAN refers to my posting about crime/pickpocket aviodance
guide in a thread
further down here (rec.travel.latin-america).
I was the one who experienced the problem with the self-appointed

parking
attendant.
I think there are at least two kinds of parking attendants. Official

ones (I
think I have heard
that they have som kind of cloth or id to be sure they are official) and
self-appointed ones.
The one I met certainly looked highly unofficial to say the least. But

from
there to say that
he is into some organised crime and mafia is taking it a bit far (but of
course I do not know that).
Can anyone shed some light on the facts here? Are there official and
self-appointed parking
attendants, or just official ones in Rio? I think I know the answer, but
would like a more
qualified statement than my own here.

Borge

"Kurko" wrote in message
news
3. In 3rd world countries there are JOBS like parking attendants.

These
guys have
actually licence to operate as such (atleast in Rio they do). There is

no
MAFIA involved here, just some people trying to get their livelihood

with
honest way (read
not robbing the tourists).



  #87  
Old March 29th, 2004, 12:55 PM
David
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default The Ghosts of Rio

Who is this idiot, Craig D. Guillot. What a crock of Sh_t.
I have lived in Rio for 3 years and I can tell you that there are
very, very few Porches and BMW's or any other expensive cars in Rio.
Most of the people that can afford them do not buy them. They do not
want to call attention to themselves. It is a poor country and yes
there is a very large difference between the have and have-not's.
This country, of over 175,000,000, has only 3% of its population
graduating collage. With the average Brazilian never going past the
8th grade what can you expect. It's a shame when a person can actually
earn more by begging on the streets then by working. I pass a street
every day that has a young boy of about 16 or 17 years old sleeping on
the side walk. I actually felt sorry for him and on occasions I would
by him food…. I assumed he lived on that street and lived in the
cardboard box he slept on. One morning at 7 am I had to walk down the
street and the boy was noticeably absent. I asked the doorman of the
building next to where the boy had been laying where he was and he
said he usually showed up at about 9am with his box and leaves about
8pm…. When by begging they can earn you as much in a month as someone
working 45 hours a week. What incentive do they have to work? I now
tell my friends NOT to give them anything.. sounds heartless but I
don't care…

I guess Craig D. Guillot has never been to NYC with the street people
there being ignored by all the New Yorkers. I think he should have a
very good carrier as a fiction writer.






The Ghosts of Rio
By Craig D. Guillot

Christ watched over me, high on his hill in the distance, as I
prowled the streets of Ipanema's shopping district on a muggy
September afternoon.
Behind the thick glass windows of the ritzy stores lay the products
destined for Rio's elite. Up and down the avenue cruised some of the
newest luxury cars on the market, as the upper class pranced along in
their designer clothes, gold jewelry, and cash-laced wallets. There
was a sale on gold Rolexes, and Ferrari had one of its newer models in
stock. Next door, a new shipment of Persian rugs had arrived.

I thought for a minute that I had stepped into Beverly Hills or New
York's 5th Avenue, but as I looked harder, beneath the glitter and
glamour of Ipanema, I could see something entirely different. Between
the stores and malls, stood nervous men armed with Uzis and AK-47s.
With fingers rubbing the triggers, their bloodshot eyes wandered up
and down the block.

They were on the lookout for ghosts.

Among the Porsches and BMWs creeped the ramshackle city buses, packed
with the rest of Rio's 10 million residents. Crammed like sardines in
a tin can, the desperate souls in fourth-hand clothes leered and
pointed at the commerce around them. Belching clouds of exhaust, the
buses cruised towards the shantytown favelas rising high into the
mountains. It was a cruel, teasing form of urban planning, where day
after day the poor would look down to see the world that didn't want
them; nowhere on earth does such wealth and poverty lay side by side.

Along the elaborately designed sidewalks and outside the jewelry
stores, lay the occasional motionless body. A small child was curled
up underneath a sidewalk bench, while a legless man begged on the
corner. Then there was an old woman, who lay in a pile of trash on the
shoulder of the road. With her head resting upon her hands, she slept
like a baby as cars raced past only inches from her head. A taxi
pulled up alongside of her as two women, with gold necklaces and bags
of loot, stepped right over the sleeping body.

Across the street, a group of small children, with dirtied faces and
rags around their malnourished bodies, scurried underneath the outdoor
tables of restaurants in search of crumbs. They looked just like
pigeons pecking for birdseed in a park. It wasn't long before a
bearded man with an automatic weapon chased them away like a pack of
wild dogs.

Every block or two, a body lay right across the sidewalk. I did as the
cariocas, Rio's residents, did, and stepped right over them. The
cariocas shopped for gold and talked on their cell phones, as the rest
of the city died beneath their feet. The poor simply did not exist.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched a man emerge from what appeared
to be a small drainage hole. Slowly standing into a hunchback
position, he started to wobble his way onto the sidewalk. Draped in
torn, filthy rags, he had a ski mask on his head; it was tilted
sideways, so that only the right eye showed, but through the left
hole. A large tear in the rags around his body revealed what appeared
to be burnt and disfigured skin.

The man crept his way in my direction, dragging his aching feet along
the concrete as men with Armani suits and Rolex watches scurried
around him. Mothers led their children around the trail of blood,
while others trudged right on through, as if the blood were just a
puddle of water.

As the monster walked in front of the small store where I was
standing, a man with a pistol strapped to his waist came outside and
started yelling at him. All I could understand of the Portuguese was
"Leave, leave... you are f*****g up the sidewalk!"

The masked man slowly wandered into the street. Cars honked their
horns and swerved around him. A splashing sound suddenly caught my
attention. I looked back down the sidewalk: a shop owner was dumping
buckets of water on the blood.

As the masked figure made it to the other side of the street, he
dropped down onto an open area of concrete, falling on his back. The
enormous pool of blood forming from his feet made it apparent that
death was coming for him. While the sun started to set, the crowds
began to thin, so that the drug gangs and killers could take control
of the streets. After all, Rio had to meet its annual murder count of
6,000.

Taking one last look at the man, I thought that was why he had crawled
out of that hole in the first place: to die in front of everyone, in
the hope that someone would notice.

Nowhere on earth have I seen such indifference to so much suffering. I
wanted to show the man that I cared. I walked around him.



Kurko wrote in message ...
Simply because in normal daily life its next to impossible to encounter all
these
drug lords, thieves, muggers and murderes. In Rio more annoying are
beggars, shoeshiners and all kinds of sellers not to mention "samba bands".

Rio is very beautiful city (Cidade Maravilhosa), quite safe too for
tourists as long as you understand
and obey the "rule": Don't be stupid.

Kurko

On Fri, 12 Mar 2004 21:40:02 -0500, clint wrote:

After reading all the Rio posts, why with all the wonderful places to go,
would anyone travel to Rio?

  #88  
Old March 29th, 2004, 01:02 PM
David
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Suffer the Children

Avenida N.S de Copacabana and Rua Sao Paulo?? Firstly, there is no Rua
Sao Paulo in Copacabana.... The closest street with a name like it, is
Rua Sao Paulo State, and it's nearly 8 kilometers from Avenida N.S de
Copacabana...

I personally do not believe anything this guy writes. It's easy to
make claims but he does not offer one bit of proof to back up his
stories.....




(P E T E R P A N) wrote in message om...
http://www.bootsnall.com/travelstori...ferchild.shtml

Suffer the Children
By Craig D. Guillot

The screaming and shouting had been attracting a crowd near the corner
of Avenida Copacabana and Rua Sao Paulo. Breaking out into a
slow-paced jog, I approached the corner of the building as a small
child in tattered clothes ran past me. He fled off into the distance
and vanished into a crowd of pedestrians. My dark curiosity continued
to draw me around the corner and into the commotion.
With bare, bloodied feet slamming against the broken glass on the
concrete, dozens of children scattered like roaches from the abandoned
building. Crying, cowering, and throwing rocks at the police, they
scurried along the block as the men tried to grab hold of them. One of
the street kids' only sanctuaries had been discovered by the local
community, and it was time for them to leave.

It looked as if someone had discovered a rats' nest and they were
shaking it up to get all of the pests out. In the streets of Rio de
Janiero, Brazil, that's exactly what it was - exterminators getting
rid of the unwanted pests.

As the crowd of spectators grew, the police began to control their
tempers. A few of the older and larger kids were whacked with small
clubs, while the rest were left to flee down the street towards the
shanties that loomed in the mountains above us. There would be no
exterminations today, but the children knew that when the sun went
down, the wolves would be out to get them. As I went to sleep that
night to the symphony of gunfire, I wondered how many of those
children would wake up dead.

More than a half-million children sleep beneath the arms of Christ the
Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. They run the gamut from runaways to
orphans to toddlers fleeing abusive parents. With few options, the
children resort to whatever it takes to survive. Sleeping in the
parking lots of the Mercedes dealerships and eating out of the garbage
of the five-star hotels, they wabble the streets like lost and
abandoned animals. In the quest for survival, the children form small
gangs and bands for protection and companionship. Sharing horror
stories about narrow escapes from armed men, they tell each other new
ways to make money and bandage each other's wounds with dirty napkins
found in the gutter. Quite too often, they bury one of their friends
in an unmarked grave.

It's perfectly logical to turn to crime in such desperate situations.
Stealing to eat, some children advance in their deeds, from armed
robbery to murder-for-hire. If only by sheer numbers, they threaten to
tear the city apart, and there are those who refuse to sit by and
watch. There are an average of 1,200 children murdered every year on
the streets of Rio. They are called "pivettes" (little farts),
"undesirables," "trash;" they are hunted down, tortured and killed by
the city's mysterious death squads. It is widely known that many
business owners and police plan an active role in the squads, which
pick off the children in their sleep like flies.

The average price to have a "street urchin" killed: a mere $70.

In Ipanema, the mutilated body of a 5-year-old boy is found wrapped up
in a rug. Not far from the scene a boy walks into a hospital, bleeding
from the groin. His penis had been cut off.

When city workers went to unclog a drain during a recent flood, they
found a young girl with a slit throat. Ask anyone about the Candelaria
Massacre, and they walk away. Rio would rather you forget about that
time a group of armed men fired upon 70 sleeping children outside of a
church. It's a picture that wouldn't look too good on a postcard.

At the young age of 11, Jao is the head of his family. He and his two
younger sisters live in an abandoned chopperia which had been vacant
since the owner was sent to prison for murder. I could look into Jao's
eyes and see the cold, hard stare of a war veteran. It was the look of
a boy who had seen far too much in his short life. The two girls do
what they can during the day to scavenge food from dumpsters in the
backs of hotels and restaurants, while Jao does other things that he
would rather not tell me about. Tonight was a special night though, as
Daniella, the older sister, had found a few half-eaten hamburgers, a
stale loaf of bread, and a half-full pint of beer.

As their aching bodies grow weary, under the cover of darkness Jao and
his two sisters creep back to the shack. The two girls cuddle in the
corner on a stolen beach blanket, as Jao peeks through a crack in the
wall at oncoming pedestrians. He knows that their lives depend on his
suspicions. All across the city, beneath the view of Christ, sleep the
hundreds of thousands of homeless children. It is not just the poverty
and loneliness that haunt children like Jao. It is that the city wants
them dead.




Kurko wrote in message ...
Simply because in normal daily life its next to impossible to encounter all
these
drug lords, thieves, muggers and murderes. In Rio more annoying are
beggars, shoeshiners and all kinds of sellers not to mention "samba bands".

Rio is very beautiful city (Cidade Maravilhosa), quite safe too for
tourists as long as you understand
and obey the "rule": Don't be stupid.

Kurko

On Fri, 12 Mar 2004 21:40:02 -0500, clint wrote:

After reading all the Rio posts, why with all the wonderful places to go,
would anyone travel to Rio?

 




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