Nervous Nellies Take Note. . .

[trilingual]

It was NOT a good day today in Rio, according to the local papers. The drug gangs went to town, tossing some homemade bombs at apartment buildings on Av. Vieira Souto (the extension of Av. Atlântica in Ipanema, with some of the highest-priced real estate in Brazil), burning buses in several parts of town, and closing down businesses across the metro area (to the tune of tens of millions of reais of lost business) because of threats of violence. There weren't any reports of any tourists being caught up in all of this, but heightened caution would be a good idea, because it doesn't look like this is over, by a long shot. If you notice that the streets or beaches are unusually empty, something may be going on and you should try to find out what it is. Ask at your hotel desk, ask friends, ask the guys at the saunas. Any local should be able to fill you in. If you notice all the shops closing unexpectedly, it would probably be a good idea to stay indoors somewhere, either at your hotel or one of the saunas.

 

There seem to be a lot of factors at work in this mess, but part of it is the government's seeming inability to control the Bangú prison where some of the worst drug traffickers are locked up. Thanks to the magic of corruption and the easy availability of cell phones, these guys continue to run their empires and arrange to settle grudges while inside. There's also a vendetta going on between the traffickers, who used to have a free hand in the favelas, and the state government (in particular) which has been trying to crack down. This explains why some of the attacks have been against government buildings. Today's upheaval was a large, concerted action and there's gonna be hell to pay as a result. The state government will have to take some real action against the dealers if it hopes to survive (the elections are barely over and it's already deeply enmeshed in a multi-million dollar bribery and Swiss bank account scandal involving intimates of the current governor's hubby). Of course, the dealers aren't going to take that lying down, so more unpleasantness is fairly predictable.

 

Personally, this isn't going to stop me from going back to Rio next month for a long stay. Naturally, I'll be making greater efforts to pay attention to what's going on in an effort to avoid trouble. For anyone else visiting Rio (especially between now and Carnival), if you can understand Portuguese, you should watch the local TV news and read the local papers to keep informed of the situation. If you can't, ask people what's going on. Believe me, they won't be shy about telling you! Then use common sense to try to avoid trouble. Do keep in mind that Cariocas sometimes get a bit hyper-hysterical about this stuff, so you have to take what they say with a grain of salt. Another problem when things like this occur is that the wildest rumors start flying, which is especially common in Rio because Cariocas LIVE for gossip! However, that doesn't mean ignore everything they say, either. You're just going to have sift the information yourself and then make decisions about what to do based on your own judgement.

 

So now you've been alerted by the "Chamber of Commerce!"

[catnip]

This was also in the Times today, along with the "Carnaval-isn't-what-it-used-to-be" piece. Has me totally psyched for my first trip to Rio (leaving Thursday!!!).

 

IO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 24 — Police and military units arrested 30 people here today after a police station, supermarkets and apartment buildings were attacked with bombs and machine guns, and cars and buses were set afire.

 

The attacks were believed to have been carried out by powerful drug-trafficking gangs based in the city's squatter slums, who brought normal activity in Rio to a halt five months ago as a protest against conditions in the prisons in which several of their top leaders are held.

[Guest Deweywop]

Do these folks know how to party or what?

[Guest Alex Apollus]

AMIGO NAUM CONSEGUI FAZER ACHO DE UMA OLHADA NO TEXTO PODES ME EXPLICAR MELHOR OU PODES COLOCAR PARA MIM!! TKS ABRAÇOS KSSES ALEX

[Guest Tomcal_]

>AMIGO NAUM CONSEGUI FAZER ACHO DE UMA OLHADA NO TEXTO PODES

>ME EXPLICAR MELHOR OU PODES COLOCAR PARA MIM!! TKS ABRAÇOS

>KSSES ALEX

Tri, I put the above in my translator program I have on my computer and it came out like he was asking for a explaination? (the translator program wasn't much help on this one..lol)

[gulliver]

Just returned this morning to nyc from a six day trip. Robbguy,floridarob, sucker and I all hung out togethor every night doing the saunas and ended with a late night dinner at Yellow Awning.

 

Other than the newspaper articles and Tris post we had no idea anythin was amiss. The beaches were the same as usual as was the rest of our day to day experience. Imagine the surprise when we found out what had been going on. A heavier police presence was noticed in the area immediately surrounding 202 (the entrance roads to the mountain top favelas or villages - whatever). there were three police cars at the intersection. other than that it was as usual.

 

some of us are planning to get togethor late March in cuba (sometime after 3/16 for five nights or so and would possibly rent a private house) email me or floridarob if interested.

[trilingual]

Yes, I think Alex is still figuring out how the message center works. I don't think this post was intended to go in this thread. Looks like Alex posted something separately, so he's at least figured out SOME things!

[Guest sucker]

AP reports today the Brazilian government is sending in 3000 troops to Rio to protect the city during the Carnival celebration.

Now, if only some of those troops would go to the saunas for some relaxing....

[trilingual]

Some of those soldiers just might show up at the baths! They get paid almost nothing, they're horny, they're often far away from home. . . Sounds like a recipe for sauna work to me!!! These wouldn't be the first military guys to go to the saunas or otherwise escort. For years, the Presidential Guard in Brasilia was famous for being available on a "rental" basis! They still may be, for all I know.

[Guest Deweywop]

Oh Senhor Trilingual, you are cruel. Presidential guards in every country are selected for their charm and presentability in uniform. Just the thought is giving me the vapors.

 

BTW, any word on the Brasilia scene?

[trilingual]

I think someone reported on the Brasilia scene not that long ago. Try using the search function to see what pops up. There are a couple of saunas in Brasilia, and some bars/discos. The city has grown dramatically over the decades, and there are now more than 2,000,000 in the metro area, so you know SOMETHING is going on in a city that size!

 

The scene is kind of low-key because of all the prominent people in a national capital who want to be discreet, but it's there. Escorts advertise in the classifieds. Cruising still goes on in the Conjunto Nacional, the big shopping center at the junction of the "wings" and "fuselage" of the original, planned part of the city. The food court and restrooms have a reputation. So do the little bars and restrooms of the bus terminus across the street. The military usually are free on Wednesday nights and weekends. Lots of recruits, paid something like R$100/mo: young, broke, bored, horny and a long way from home. A friendly face and a few beers are reputed to work wonders in such situations! Feel like going prospecting?

[+ Lucky]

Six people were shot by police and one killed last night outside the Carnaval stadium as muggers roamed through the crowds.

Another routine Carnaval!

[Guest Jake]

I was one of the 100,000 or so at Sambadromo Sunday night having a ball. Didn't notice one mugger or hear one shot. But then again that's also been my experience at Super Bowls, U.S. Opens and other venues where such things do happen. Do the same things to safeguard yourself (I hope) as you would do in any other big city of the world and the odds are pretty overwhelming that you're going to be just fine.

Life is not a dress rehearsal and I, for one, am going to live it.

[Guest Jake]

I was one of the 100,000 or so at Sambadromo Sunday night having a ball. Didn't notice one mugger or hear one shot. But then again that's also been my experience at Super Bowls, U.S. Opens and other venues where such things do happen. Do the same things to safeguard yourself (I hope) as you would do in any other big city of the world and the odds are pretty overwhelming that you're going to be just fine.

Life is not a dress rehearsal and I, for one, am going to live it.

[Luv2play]

Where did you get that news? On television last night, they said the Carnaval was not experiencing any undue violence, contrary to expectations. Of course a police shooting of a mugger is not all that unusual here in Miami, goes on all the timex(

[Luv2play]

Where did you get that news? On television last night, they said the Carnaval was not experiencing any undue violence, contrary to expectations. Of course a police shooting of a mugger is not all that unusual here in Miami, goes on all the timex(

[+ Lucky]

It was in my trusty NY Times!

[+ Lucky]

Our dear friend Iam0000 has posted a related article on another thread here.

[Luv2play]

I read the Times every day and missed that. Maybe it wasn't in the Miami editionx(

[Guest Ernani]

Well, these facts happened, but the drug dealer king who was comanding all this is now doing time in a high security jail (along with other guys who participated of it) and he lost his power of manipulating his "employees";

His intention was to distract policeman to free his partners who were in a big jail in Rio.

All of them are now in this new security jail and normality is reigning again.

No need to be nervous ( nellies )anymore