The economy tanked, President Dilma Rousseff faced toxic approval ratings and the threat of impeachment, the shoddy, megalomaniacal caperings of the likes of Eduardo Cunha, the Speaker of the country’s Lower House, dragged an already grubby political landscape further into the mire, and the internet reflected back a society that often seemed riven by social(…)
Arquivo - Tag: Crime
Dangerous work: journalist murders in Brazil
Over 30 journalists and bloggers have been murdered in Brazil since 1992, making it a dangerous place for those who speak out against local corruption – especially in the country’s remoter regions. And a culture of impunity means the killers are rarely brought to justice. By James Young Belo Horizonte In a country like Brazil, where there(…)
Crime and punishment in Brazil
Overcrowded, unsafe, and wracked by sickening levels of violence, Brazil’s prisons were described by a report published last week as a “human rights disaster”. To make matters worse, many inmates have not yet been convicted but must endure months in appalling conditions while they wait for their case to be heard. By James Young Belo Horizonte If, as Dostoyevsky put(…)
Fear, loathing and vigilantes on Rio’s beaches
A weekend of mob robberies on Rio’s beaches saw some Zona Sul residents attempt to take the law into their own hands. But the “crime mobs”, the vigilantes, and the social divisions that underpin them are nothing new, as James Young explains. By James Young Belo Horizonte Despite the start of the summer season and the giant Rock in(…)
As politicians fight in Brasília, reality bites in the periferia
Once a symbol of growth and rising confidence, the sprawling suburbs outside Brazil’s urban centers are feeling the pinch as the economy nosedives. And there are few places in the country where it is so obvious how out of touch the bickering politicians in Brasilia are with the realities of daily life. By James Young Belo Horizonte(…)
Demilitarizing Brazil’s violent police
One officer speaks out about death squads and a public backlash against a police system they know is broken. Above, the Folha cover photo which helped to spur on Brazil’s June protests. Of all the complex and sometimes contradictory consequences of the demonstrations in Brazil since June, the clearest lesson may have been that the(…)
São Paulo protests – what do they mean?
Brazil-watchers have all seen that protests exploded into violence last night, and that the police handled the situation horribly and perhaps even maliciously, over-reacting, letting the situation get out of control, and committing shocking acts of violence. None of that is actually in dispute anymore. Claire Rigby described the tension and fear last night excellently(…)
Fear and loathing in São Paulo
Claire Rigby describes the nightmare scenes she lived through in last night’s protest, as well as a society grappling with the idea of protest itself. Above, Folha’s own Giuliana Vallone, shot in the face with a rubber bullet. By Claire Rigby I took my press card to the demonstration in São Paulo last night, seeing a(…)
Santa Maria – the worst kind of journalism
Unfortunately, I spent much of last week in Santa Maria, covering the nightclub fire that took the lives of so many young people. I say unfortunately not only because of the deeply horrific nature of the ordeal for everyone involved, but also because this is the worst kind of journalism, both to practice and to(…)
Blue murder: São Paulo police accused of massacres
Death squads within São Paulo’s military police are widely suspected of mass killings and extra-judicial executions in poor neighborhoods on the city’s outskirts. Above, police inspect the scene of a bloodbath in Jardim Rosana that six of their colleagues are now accused of carrying out. By Claire Rigby With a grim tally of almost 100(…)
