Violence in Sao Paulo...

[ohgwm226]

From BBC News:

 

 

Attacks in Brazil leave 30 dead

 

 

At least 30 people including police and off-duty prison guards have been killed in a spate of overnight attacks in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

 

At least two civilians were among the dead and at least 30 people were injured in 55 separate attacks.

 

The authorities are blaming a criminal faction known as the First Command of the Capital (PCC) for the violence.

 

Correspondents say the wave of attacks could be a response to Friday's mass jail transfer involving PCC inmates.

 

The transfer of around 600 prisoners to a maximum security unit was organised to try to counter a co-ordinated rebellion planned by the PCC for the weekend in a number of prisons in Sao Paulo state.

 

Separately, PCC leaders were moved to police headquarters in Sao Paulo.

 

Revolts have nevertheless broken out in more than 20 state jails, but a state official, quoted by AP news agency, said most were minor.

 

Pools of blood

 

PCC leaders were being questioned on the subject when the attacks started on Friday night, targeting police officers in police stations, mobile units, at their homes or in bars.

 

 

The police will not retreat from these attacks - they have struck at the spinal cord of our security

Saulo de Castro Abreu Filho

Sao Paulo state security secretary

 

As well as in the city of Sao Paulo, they took place in the suburbs of Osasco, Guarulhos and Carapicuiba, and in the coastal cities of Cubatao and Guaruja.

 

Local TV footage showed scenes of bullet-hole-riddled police cars and stations with pools of blood in seats and on the pavement.

 

Police officials said they would not be intimidated.

 

"The police will not retreat from these attacks," Sao Paulo State Security Secretary Saulo de Castro Abreu Filho told local TV.

 

"They have struck at the spinal cord... of our security."

 

Founded in 1993, the PCC has been involved in drugs and arms trafficking, kidnappings, bank robberies, and prison breaks and rebellions, police say.

 

In November 2003, the gang attacked more than 50 police stations, killing three police officers and wounding 12.

 

Those attacks were thought to have been orchestrated by PCC leaders in jail.

 

OHGWM226

[ohgwm226]

From BBC News:

 

 

Attacks in Brazil leave 30 dead

 

 

At least 30 people including police and off-duty prison guards have been killed in a spate of overnight attacks in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

 

At least two civilians were among the dead and at least 30 people were injured in 55 separate attacks.

 

The authorities are blaming a criminal faction known as the First Command of the Capital (PCC) for the violence.

 

Correspondents say the wave of attacks could be a response to Friday's mass jail transfer involving PCC inmates.

 

The transfer of around 600 prisoners to a maximum security unit was organised to try to counter a co-ordinated rebellion planned by the PCC for the weekend in a number of prisons in Sao Paulo state.

 

Separately, PCC leaders were moved to police headquarters in Sao Paulo.

 

Revolts have nevertheless broken out in more than 20 state jails, but a state official, quoted by AP news agency, said most were minor.

 

Pools of blood

 

PCC leaders were being questioned on the subject when the attacks started on Friday night, targeting police officers in police stations, mobile units, at their homes or in bars.

 

 

The police will not retreat from these attacks - they have struck at the spinal cord of our security

Saulo de Castro Abreu Filho

Sao Paulo state security secretary

 

As well as in the city of Sao Paulo, they took place in the suburbs of Osasco, Guarulhos and Carapicuiba, and in the coastal cities of Cubatao and Guaruja.

 

Local TV footage showed scenes of bullet-hole-riddled police cars and stations with pools of blood in seats and on the pavement.

 

Police officials said they would not be intimidated.

 

"The police will not retreat from these attacks," Sao Paulo State Security Secretary Saulo de Castro Abreu Filho told local TV.

 

"They have struck at the spinal cord... of our security."

 

Founded in 1993, the PCC has been involved in drugs and arms trafficking, kidnappings, bank robberies, and prison breaks and rebellions, police say.

 

In November 2003, the gang attacked more than 50 police stations, killing three police officers and wounding 12.

 

Those attacks were thought to have been orchestrated by PCC leaders in jail.

 

OHGWM226

[trilingual]

This is a good reminder about Brazil's darker side, but it's not something that should deter visitors, unless they're planning on visiting a prison! This should also be a reminder to travelers to read and pay attention to the safety tips here and at http://www.gaytravelbrazil.com Most visitors who have read and heeded the advice given have managed to avoid serious problems. If you're thinking of visiting Brazil and haven't read this information, please do yourself a favor and inform yourself so you know what to do to stay safe during your travels.

[trilingual]

This is a good reminder about Brazil's darker side, but it's not something that should deter visitors, unless they're planning on visiting a prison! This should also be a reminder to travelers to read and pay attention to the safety tips here and at http://www.gaytravelbrazil.com Most visitors who have read and heeded the advice given have managed to avoid serious problems. If you're thinking of visiting Brazil and haven't read this information, please do yourself a favor and inform yourself so you know what to do to stay safe during your travels.

[sf traveler]

Ditto Tri. From reading the Brazilian papers and talking to people in Sao Paulo, the deaths come mostly from police and security forces killed in raids on police stations and the bandits killed in these shootouts. A few civilians have been killed or injured but at least the ones I read about were visiting the police station for some reason when it came under attack. I don't want to minimize the seriousness of what's going on for Brazilian society, but people don't seem to fear for their personal safety walking up and down the street in situations that would be considered safe normally. The criminals have burned a number of buses that people use to get to work and the bus companies have suspended operations so traffic is horrendous. But this does not mean that you're likely to encounter gunfire on your way to Lagoa. The worst thing will likely be that the metro is more crowded because there is less alternative transport, or maybe some of the boys will have problems getting in from the suburbs. But in a week it will all calm down anyway. If I were going to Sao Paulo today, I wouldn't be worried. SF Traveler

[sf traveler]

Ditto Tri. From reading the Brazilian papers and talking to people in Sao Paulo, the deaths come mostly from police and security forces killed in raids on police stations and the bandits killed in these shootouts. A few civilians have been killed or injured but at least the ones I read about were visiting the police station for some reason when it came under attack. I don't want to minimize the seriousness of what's going on for Brazilian society, but people don't seem to fear for their personal safety walking up and down the street in situations that would be considered safe normally. The criminals have burned a number of buses that people use to get to work and the bus companies have suspended operations so traffic is horrendous. But this does not mean that you're likely to encounter gunfire on your way to Lagoa. The worst thing will likely be that the metro is more crowded because there is less alternative transport, or maybe some of the boys will have problems getting in from the suburbs. But in a week it will all calm down anyway. If I were going to Sao Paulo today, I wouldn't be worried. SF Traveler

[sf traveler]

I've talked to more Paulistanos today and the transit situation seems pretty bad, at least today. The Metro isn't working and there are few buses available. Everybody who doesn't have to go out seems to be staying indoors. Things will probably calm down in a day or two but for right now people seem to be staying home. Stay tuned for further developments. SF Traveler

[sf traveler]

I've talked to more Paulistanos today and the transit situation seems pretty bad, at least today. The Metro isn't working and there are few buses available. Everybody who doesn't have to go out seems to be staying indoors. Things will probably calm down in a day or two but for right now people seem to be staying home. Stay tuned for further developments. SF Traveler

[ohgwm226]

The number of dead exceeded 80 by today. Though most are not your average civilian, life can not be normal in Sao Paulo now. My hope things would calm down quickly, and soon. President Silva offered sending Federal troops to SP. I hope the government would get tough on short term and hit the criminal gangs back hard, but also would address the underlying issues including drug trafficking, unemployment, and social injustice that make young Brazilian more willing to join these criminal gangs. The government should send the already incarcerated gang leaders very far from SP so they would stop being able to give orders from their prison cells.

Brazil is such a beautiful country, Brazilians are such charming, warm, and full of life people. They deserve much better than those criminal gangs...

 

 

OHGWM226

[ohgwm226]

The number of dead exceeded 80 by today. Though most are not your average civilian, life can not be normal in Sao Paulo now. My hope things would calm down quickly, and soon. President Silva offered sending Federal troops to SP. I hope the government would get tough on short term and hit the criminal gangs back hard, but also would address the underlying issues including drug trafficking, unemployment, and social injustice that make young Brazilian more willing to join these criminal gangs. The government should send the already incarcerated gang leaders very far from SP so they would stop being able to give orders from their prison cells.

Brazil is such a beautiful country, Brazilians are such charming, warm, and full of life people. They deserve much better than those criminal gangs...

 

 

OHGWM226

[trilingual]

My guess is that this will calm down in a couple of days. From the latest news reports the situation seems worse than it did when I first read about it. Lula has offered federal help, but the state of SP has been resisting because the governor of the state, Geraldo Alckmin, is the presidential candidate of the PSDB, the main opposition party. Alckmin must think he'll lose face if he has to accept federal aid from Lula, but this tactic is likely to backfire. Voters will be much more concerned about restoring order and getting São Paulo back to work than in who out-machos who on the political battlefield!

 

As we have often said, Brazil is not a destination for the faint-hearted, the safety-obsessed, or those who have nervous breakdowns when things don't function like clock-work. Brazil has made gigantic strides in the past 20 years, but there are still lots of kinks to be worked out in the way its institutions function before it will be on the same level as other developed countries. Readers have to weigh for themselves their own comfort levels about traveling in countries where things can (and do) go seriously haywire every so often. Because if it's not something like this, it could be a general strike, or a currency crash, or any of a number of other unpredictable occurrences. Switzerland this is not!

[trilingual]

My guess is that this will calm down in a couple of days. From the latest news reports the situation seems worse than it did when I first read about it. Lula has offered federal help, but the state of SP has been resisting because the governor of the state, Geraldo Alckmin, is the presidential candidate of the PSDB, the main opposition party. Alckmin must think he'll lose face if he has to accept federal aid from Lula, but this tactic is likely to backfire. Voters will be much more concerned about restoring order and getting São Paulo back to work than in who out-machos who on the political battlefield!

 

As we have often said, Brazil is not a destination for the faint-hearted, the safety-obsessed, or those who have nervous breakdowns when things don't function like clock-work. Brazil has made gigantic strides in the past 20 years, but there are still lots of kinks to be worked out in the way its institutions function before it will be on the same level as other developed countries. Readers have to weigh for themselves their own comfort levels about traveling in countries where things can (and do) go seriously haywire every so often. Because if it's not something like this, it could be a general strike, or a currency crash, or any of a number of other unpredictable occurrences. Switzerland this is not!

[trilingual]

RE: Crime Wave Wanes in Brazil

 

From the AP this morning:

 

May 16, 2006 7:58 AM EDT

 

SAO PAULO, Brazil - The unprecedented crime wave that killed at least 97 people and terrified the 18 million residents of South America's largest city seemed to be waning Tuesday as stores reopened and bus service was fully restored.

 

Authorities found the bodies of 13 dead inmates after quelling rebellions at dozens of prisons in and around Sao Paolo and retaking control of the lockups, according to Brazilian media. Local reports also said that three suspected criminals were shot to death in a Sao Paulo suburb by police after they opened fire on authorities and hurled a grenade.

 

The death toll in the spree, set off by a gang's fury at prison transfers, included 39 officers and prison guards killed since Friday and four civilians caught in the crossfire between police and criminals.

 

A homemade bomb was set off outside a police station in the city of Tremembe, about 90 miles northeast of Sao Paulo, destroying a car but causing no injuries.

 

Sao Paulo nonetheless appeared to be returning to normal Tuesday morning, a day after it was paralyzed by dozens of bus torchings that prompted businesses to close. Overall there were only a few reported attacks Monday night and Tuesday - compared with 181 in the previous four days.

 

Bus service, which keeps commerce alive in the city, was fully restored after panicked drivers took Monday off over fears they might be attacked, leaving 2.9 million people scrambling to find a way to work.

 

Stores that were shuttered before dark Monday had reopened. But traffic was light, with many people apparently avoiding work and keeping their children at home.

 

Through the night, heavily armed police stood guard around the sprawling city as authorities announced a tight clampdown on the gangs that launched the attacks on police stations, bars and banks.

 

"We're at war with them, there will be more casualties, but we won't back down," state military police chief Col. Elizeu Teixeira Borges said.

 

Near hastily shuttered businesses in a blue-collar neighborhood, a dozen officers with shotguns and pistols said they did not fear gang attacks that already killed dozens of their comrades.

 

"We'll be here waiting," said a grim Officer Edvan Oliveira, his finger resting on the trigger of his shotgun. "We want them to come."

 

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva offered to send 4,000 elite troops to restore order, but Sao Paulo state Gov. Claudio Lembo said Monday the help wasn't needed - even as the chaos prompted the stock market to cancel late trading and a city that never sleeps was eerily quiet at the start of the work week in Brazil's financial and industrial heart.

 

"We are in control of the city and we will preserve this control," Lembo declared. "At this moment the army is unnecessary."

 

By late Monday night, all 73 prison rebellions had been quelled. The tally of dead in overnight violence from Sunday to Monday was almost exclusively suspected gang members killed in shootouts with police.

 

The violence was triggered Thursday by an attempt to isolate leaders of the First Capital Command gang - which controls drug trafficking and many of Sao Paulo's teeming, notoriously corrupt prisons - by transferring eight of them to a high-security facility in a remote part of Sao Paulo state. Leaders of the gang, known as the PCC, reportedly used cell phones the next day to order the attacks.

 

Officials were worried the violence could spread to Rio de Janeiro, where 40,000 police were put on high alert and extra patrols were dispatched to slums where drug gang leaders live. There were also sporadic reports of violence in other cities in Sao Paulo state, including the killing of a prison guard hit by 20 shots, Globo TV reported.

 

Police in Sao Paulo said at least 91 people had been arrested since Friday night, when gang members began riddling police cars with bullets, hurling grenades at police stations and attacking officers in their homes and afterwork hangouts.

 

In the bus attacks, gunmen ordered passengers and drivers off and torched the vehicles. There was no mention of injuries in the dozens of bus burnings.

 

The PCC was founded in 1993 in Sao Paulo's Taubate Penitentiary and became involved in drug and arms trafficking, kidnappings, bank robberies and extortion.

 

It staged a massive prison uprising in 2001 in which 19 inmates died, and attacked more than 50 police stations in November 2003. Three officers and two suspected gang members were killed and 12 people injured in those attacks.

[trilingual]

RE: Crime Wave Wanes in Brazil

 

From the AP this morning:

 

May 16, 2006 7:58 AM EDT

 

SAO PAULO, Brazil - The unprecedented crime wave that killed at least 97 people and terrified the 18 million residents of South America's largest city seemed to be waning Tuesday as stores reopened and bus service was fully restored.

 

Authorities found the bodies of 13 dead inmates after quelling rebellions at dozens of prisons in and around Sao Paolo and retaking control of the lockups, according to Brazilian media. Local reports also said that three suspected criminals were shot to death in a Sao Paulo suburb by police after they opened fire on authorities and hurled a grenade.

 

The death toll in the spree, set off by a gang's fury at prison transfers, included 39 officers and prison guards killed since Friday and four civilians caught in the crossfire between police and criminals.

 

A homemade bomb was set off outside a police station in the city of Tremembe, about 90 miles northeast of Sao Paulo, destroying a car but causing no injuries.

 

Sao Paulo nonetheless appeared to be returning to normal Tuesday morning, a day after it was paralyzed by dozens of bus torchings that prompted businesses to close. Overall there were only a few reported attacks Monday night and Tuesday - compared with 181 in the previous four days.

 

Bus service, which keeps commerce alive in the city, was fully restored after panicked drivers took Monday off over fears they might be attacked, leaving 2.9 million people scrambling to find a way to work.

 

Stores that were shuttered before dark Monday had reopened. But traffic was light, with many people apparently avoiding work and keeping their children at home.

 

Through the night, heavily armed police stood guard around the sprawling city as authorities announced a tight clampdown on the gangs that launched the attacks on police stations, bars and banks.

 

"We're at war with them, there will be more casualties, but we won't back down," state military police chief Col. Elizeu Teixeira Borges said.

 

Near hastily shuttered businesses in a blue-collar neighborhood, a dozen officers with shotguns and pistols said they did not fear gang attacks that already killed dozens of their comrades.

 

"We'll be here waiting," said a grim Officer Edvan Oliveira, his finger resting on the trigger of his shotgun. "We want them to come."

 

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva offered to send 4,000 elite troops to restore order, but Sao Paulo state Gov. Claudio Lembo said Monday the help wasn't needed - even as the chaos prompted the stock market to cancel late trading and a city that never sleeps was eerily quiet at the start of the work week in Brazil's financial and industrial heart.

 

"We are in control of the city and we will preserve this control," Lembo declared. "At this moment the army is unnecessary."

 

By late Monday night, all 73 prison rebellions had been quelled. The tally of dead in overnight violence from Sunday to Monday was almost exclusively suspected gang members killed in shootouts with police.

 

The violence was triggered Thursday by an attempt to isolate leaders of the First Capital Command gang - which controls drug trafficking and many of Sao Paulo's teeming, notoriously corrupt prisons - by transferring eight of them to a high-security facility in a remote part of Sao Paulo state. Leaders of the gang, known as the PCC, reportedly used cell phones the next day to order the attacks.

 

Officials were worried the violence could spread to Rio de Janeiro, where 40,000 police were put on high alert and extra patrols were dispatched to slums where drug gang leaders live. There were also sporadic reports of violence in other cities in Sao Paulo state, including the killing of a prison guard hit by 20 shots, Globo TV reported.

 

Police in Sao Paulo said at least 91 people had been arrested since Friday night, when gang members began riddling police cars with bullets, hurling grenades at police stations and attacking officers in their homes and afterwork hangouts.

 

In the bus attacks, gunmen ordered passengers and drivers off and torched the vehicles. There was no mention of injuries in the dozens of bus burnings.

 

The PCC was founded in 1993 in Sao Paulo's Taubate Penitentiary and became involved in drug and arms trafficking, kidnappings, bank robberies and extortion.

 

It staged a massive prison uprising in 2001 in which 19 inmates died, and attacked more than 50 police stations in November 2003. Three officers and two suspected gang members were killed and 12 people injured in those attacks.

[Guest msclonly]

How did LAGOA do week after the violence?

 

I canceled this week in SP due to last weekends violence.

Did it cut down or jack up the activities at LAGOA, people wise, etc?

[Guest msclonly]

How did LAGOA do week after the violence?

 

I canceled this week in SP due to last weekends violence.

Did it cut down or jack up the activities at LAGOA, people wise, etc?

[trilingual]

RE: How did LAGOA do week after the violence?

 

I doubt it registered much more than a ripple at Lagoa. The guys still need to earn money, and clients are still thinking with their "little heads." And when a guy's in the mood, there seems to be no stopping him! I remember, in a New York that existed long, long ago and in another universe, the major blizzard that cost Mayor Lindsay his job. Manhattan was paralyzed, buried under drifts of snow. The streets were eerily quiet and deserted. But I was in college, and horny, so I walked over to the legendary trucks under the West Side Highway. There was hardly a soul on the streets while going there, but when I arrived the abandoned trailer was packed with men getting it on with each other! It was probably the only thing happening in all of NY that night! So I'm sure that the urge to merge overruled other, more rational options, and Lagoa was probably just about as busy as ever during this past week's disturbances in SP.

[trilingual]

RE: How did LAGOA do week after the violence?

 

I doubt it registered much more than a ripple at Lagoa. The guys still need to earn money, and clients are still thinking with their "little heads." And when a guy's in the mood, there seems to be no stopping him! I remember, in a New York that existed long, long ago and in another universe, the major blizzard that cost Mayor Lindsay his job. Manhattan was paralyzed, buried under drifts of snow. The streets were eerily quiet and deserted. But I was in college, and horny, so I walked over to the legendary trucks under the West Side Highway. There was hardly a soul on the streets while going there, but when I arrived the abandoned trailer was packed with men getting it on with each other! It was probably the only thing happening in all of NY that night! So I'm sure that the urge to merge overruled other, more rational options, and Lagoa was probably just about as busy as ever during this past week's disturbances in SP.

[+ Axiom2001]

RE: How did LAGOA do week after the violence?

 

It's unfortunate that you chose to cancel your trip to Sao Paulo. As I view it, this city is so, so huge that if you had gone without the knowledge of this problem, you perhaps might have thought everything was normal.

 

When my friend and I flew to Rio for Carnaval in 2003, we stopped for an hour or so in Sao Paulo; the plane flew over the city for almost a half hour to forty-five minutes before landing. I just thought: damn, this place is huge, huge.

 

I've also been there on 3 occasions and have found it not to be as easily navigatable as Rio, but I know you probably measured the pros vs the cons in your cancellation. Perhaps a few months from now you will find yourself there? A supportive cyberfriend....axiom

[+ Axiom2001]

RE: How did LAGOA do week after the violence?

 

It's unfortunate that you chose to cancel your trip to Sao Paulo. As I view it, this city is so, so huge that if you had gone without the knowledge of this problem, you perhaps might have thought everything was normal.

 

When my friend and I flew to Rio for Carnaval in 2003, we stopped for an hour or so in Sao Paulo; the plane flew over the city for almost a half hour to forty-five minutes before landing. I just thought: damn, this place is huge, huge.

 

I've also been there on 3 occasions and have found it not to be as easily navigatable as Rio, but I know you probably measured the pros vs the cons in your cancellation. Perhaps a few months from now you will find yourself there? A supportive cyberfriend....axiom

[marko]

RE: How did LAGOA do week after the violence?

 

I am in São Paulo now, having arrived the day before yesterday. I had also considered canceling the trip, but friends here told me that the situation was rapidly returning to normal and that I should come...so, here I am. I do not frequent the saunas, but I imagine that they are also going strong since everything seems just fine. I am in the downtown and the streets where the trade flourishes are busy indeed, and the parks and cinemas are as busy as ever. So, São Paulo it seems, is its sexy old self again.

 

However, there will be continued fallout from the violence. I saw in the paper the other day that the police chief announced that not a single innocent person lost his life--hardly a credible claim; the police are still refusing to release the names of a number of people that did die and how they died--most likely summarily shot by the cops. Not hard to believe at all, Brazilian police being what they are. Though they maybe better here than in Rio and elsewhere, the news about respect for rights, due process, etc., is not encouraging. So, not as bad as Rio perhaps, but improvements on those scores in São Paulo in the wake of this violence seem very doubtful in the short term. and probably will get worse for a while.

 

All things considered, however, I am glad--at least up to this point!--that I did not cancel. Despite the terrible problems in some parts of the city, São Paulo has so much to offer!

[marko]

RE: How did LAGOA do week after the violence?

 

I am in São Paulo now, having arrived the day before yesterday. I had also considered canceling the trip, but friends here told me that the situation was rapidly returning to normal and that I should come...so, here I am. I do not frequent the saunas, but I imagine that they are also going strong since everything seems just fine. I am in the downtown and the streets where the trade flourishes are busy indeed, and the parks and cinemas are as busy as ever. So, São Paulo it seems, is its sexy old self again.

 

However, there will be continued fallout from the violence. I saw in the paper the other day that the police chief announced that not a single innocent person lost his life--hardly a credible claim; the police are still refusing to release the names of a number of people that did die and how they died--most likely summarily shot by the cops. Not hard to believe at all, Brazilian police being what they are. Though they maybe better here than in Rio and elsewhere, the news about respect for rights, due process, etc., is not encouraging. So, not as bad as Rio perhaps, but improvements on those scores in São Paulo in the wake of this violence seem very doubtful in the short term. and probably will get worse for a while.

 

All things considered, however, I am glad--at least up to this point!--that I did not cancel. Despite the terrible problems in some parts of the city, São Paulo has so much to offer!