4 ms·

Where did you live in Brazil? As an American I visit the interior of São Paulo and Belo Horizonte often and have never experienced anything like this, nor does

Where did you live in Brazil? As an American I visit the interior of São Paulo and Belo Horizonte often and have never experienced anything like this, nor does it seem my Brazilian friends live in constant anxiety.

jonathanjaeger 8y ago
I went to Rio and São Paulo last year, and EVERYONE I met gave me constant warnings about being safe in Rio. I felt a lot more comfortable walking aimlessly around São Paulo than Rio, not because I saw anything bad, but because of the warnings and general feel.
goshx 8y ago
In Florianópolis. It is a big island and it used to be very peaceful, until the work to "clean up" Rio's and Sao Paulo's slums was started in preparation for the World Cup and Olympic Games.
personlurking 8y ago
Two of my experiences living in the interior: at a rather crowded county fair, a group of teens ran by and I thought nothing of it. They ran by again and I took another look and realized it was a group chasing one guy. And the guy from the group, closest to the one being chased, had a proper machete in his hand and was just about to put it into the back of the neck of the one being chased when the latter slipped on something, just enough to be able to regain balance and run away, while the rest chased him. Another time, I heard a ruckus from my room and looked out the window to see a group of about 20 men shouting. I had no idea what it could be about, but later realized it was a public lynching. That is, someone who either did something bad or was just thought to have done something bad, was caught by the group. Usually in these cases, there's no stopping the mob (from collectively beating the person to death). Despite my two comments in this thread about some of the negative aspects of living in Brazil, I was never robbed or anything. And, it goes without saying (or, perhaps it needs to be said), there are many reasons to love the country, culture and people. These very real extremes, of positivity and negativity, make it a confusing place to be.
mrisoli 8y ago
I'm from Belo Horizonte and the constant anxiety is real, of course it's not a problem every moment but shows up in every situation. Waiting for the bus every day of the week for 15-30min, you're very exposed, and should be careful with your phone out, and some people learn your commute time, follow you, it's rare, but if you're not paying attention, it can happen. I personally used to(don't live there anymore) double check every corner I step into to make sure there's nothing suspicious. It's anecdotal of course but I've had three of my friends having their cellphone stolen in the same day, and at least one per day for a two week span. My parents moved into a gated community which is supposed to be safer, only to have their house robbed their first month there, robbers get in facilitated by the staff. I could go on with anecdotes for a long time, and just for the last year.
- malandrew 8y ago
  Brazil is the example I use to explain to people why I'm in favor of the 2nd amendment and Stand Your Ground laws. When owning a gun is criminal, only criminals will have guns and everyone else will be unable to defend themselves. If ordinary citizens had guns, at least in their own home, the criminals would think twice about breaking and entering because they won't know which homes are armed.
  - mnm1 8y ago
    This also somewhat works as a deterrent when those criminals are dressed in blue and carry badges if it's widespread in society, although clearly it only prevents the worst of the worst abuses as seen in the US.
  - lhorie 8y ago
    In Brazil? I don't think US gun mentality works there. Have you seen what middle class houses look like in Sao Paulo? They have metal bars in all windows, tall spiked gates and tetra locks are fairly common. But that doesn't stop thieves from being crafty and daring. They rob people at gunpoint at busy intersections and ATMs in broad daylight, do flash kidnappings, etc. There was even a raid at a police headquarters one time. And we haven't even got to favelas, which are an entire different can of worms.
hugocbp 8y ago
I'm from Belo Horizonte now living in Canada... Mostly moved because couldn't take the anxiety of being in fear every single time I had to leave home. Most people just play the numbers game. I, for example, have been robbed at gunpoint, with a knife, with 4 teenagers threatening to beat me up when I was 14 and I was even "lightning kidnapped" (I don't even know the term in English, but I was put in a car and bandits kept me for 8 hours and drove me around waiting for the banking hours to reset the withdraw money from ATM to take more form my account). A lot of my friends, though, have never been robbed at all. In general, we all know we are subject to that, but in the end it is mostly just bad or good luck. Just being in the wrong place in the wrong time. From all the people I know, those that have never been through this just live life mostly normally. But once you've suffered that at least once, you can never really fully rest again. The homicides problem on that news is actually not that relevant in that context because, as others have said, it is really concentrated in poor neighborhoods or slums, where the State basically is nonexistent. For example, in a lot of violent slums, criminals take and sell access to pirated cable TV, energy and water, to the point where the official employees can be made to fix stuff when they go there to try and cut signals. That is how absent the state is in those places. But when you see homicides numbers like that go up, probably the random crimes to the whole population is going up as well.
- malandrew 8y ago
  I had a friend in São Paulo that was mugged twice in the same day.

jonathanjaeger 8y ago

I went to Rio and São Paulo last year, and EVERYONE I met gave me constant warnings about being safe in Rio. I felt a lot more comfortable walking aimlessly around São Paulo than Rio, not because I saw anything bad, but because of the warnings and general feel.

goshx 8y ago

In Florianópolis. It is a big island and it used to be very peaceful, until the work to "clean up" Rio's and Sao Paulo's slums was started in preparation for the World Cup and Olympic Games.

personlurking 8y ago

Two of my experiences living in the interior: at a rather crowded county fair, a group of teens ran by and I thought nothing of it. They ran by again and I took another look and realized it was a group chasing one guy. And the guy from the group, closest to the one being chased, had a proper machete in his hand and was just about to put it into the back of the neck of the one being chased when the latter slipped on something, just enough to be able to regain balance and run away, while the rest chased him. Another time, I heard a ruckus from my room and looked out the window to see a group of about 20 men shouting. I had no idea what it could be about, but later realized it was a public lynching. That is, someone who either did something bad or was just thought to have done something bad, was caught by the group. Usually in these cases, there's no stopping the mob (from collectively beating the person to death). Despite my two comments in this thread about some of the negative aspects of living in Brazil, I was never robbed or anything. And, it goes without saying (or, perhaps it needs to be said), there are many reasons to love the country, culture and people. These very real extremes, of positivity and negativity, make it a confusing place to be.

mrisoli 8y ago

I'm from Belo Horizonte and the constant anxiety is real, of course it's not a problem every moment but shows up in every situation. Waiting for the bus every day of the week for 15-30min, you're very exposed, and should be careful with your phone out, and some people learn your commute time, follow you, it's rare, but if you're not paying attention, it can happen. I personally used to(don't live there anymore) double check every corner I step into to make sure there's nothing suspicious. It's anecdotal of course but I've had three of my friends having their cellphone stolen in the same day, and at least one per day for a two week span. My parents moved into a gated community which is supposed to be safer, only to have their house robbed their first month there, robbers get in facilitated by the staff. I could go on with anecdotes for a long time, and just for the last year.

malandrew 8y ago
Brazil is the example I use to explain to people why I'm in favor of the 2nd amendment and Stand Your Ground laws. When owning a gun is criminal, only criminals will have guns and everyone else will be unable to defend themselves. If ordinary citizens had guns, at least in their own home, the criminals would think twice about breaking and entering because they won't know which homes are armed.
- mnm1 8y ago
  This also somewhat works as a deterrent when those criminals are dressed in blue and carry badges if it's widespread in society, although clearly it only prevents the worst of the worst abuses as seen in the US.
- lhorie 8y ago
  In Brazil? I don't think US gun mentality works there. Have you seen what middle class houses look like in Sao Paulo? They have metal bars in all windows, tall spiked gates and tetra locks are fairly common. But that doesn't stop thieves from being crafty and daring. They rob people at gunpoint at busy intersections and ATMs in broad daylight, do flash kidnappings, etc. There was even a raid at a police headquarters one time. And we haven't even got to favelas, which are an entire different can of worms.

hugocbp 8y ago

I'm from Belo Horizonte now living in Canada... Mostly moved because couldn't take the anxiety of being in fear every single time I had to leave home. Most people just play the numbers game. I, for example, have been robbed at gunpoint, with a knife, with 4 teenagers threatening to beat me up when I was 14 and I was even "lightning kidnapped" (I don't even know the term in English, but I was put in a car and bandits kept me for 8 hours and drove me around waiting for the banking hours to reset the withdraw money from ATM to take more form my account). A lot of my friends, though, have never been robbed at all. In general, we all know we are subject to that, but in the end it is mostly just bad or good luck. Just being in the wrong place in the wrong time. From all the people I know, those that have never been through this just live life mostly normally. But once you've suffered that at least once, you can never really fully rest again. The homicides problem on that news is actually not that relevant in that context because, as others have said, it is really concentrated in poor neighborhoods or slums, where the State basically is nonexistent. For example, in a lot of violent slums, criminals take and sell access to pirated cable TV, energy and water, to the point where the official employees can be made to fix stuff when they go there to try and cut signals. That is how absent the state is in those places. But when you see homicides numbers like that go up, probably the random crimes to the whole population is going up as well.

malandrew 8y ago
I had a friend in São Paulo that was mugged twice in the same day.