Brian
Bass
- In 1980 58 per 100,000 male teenagers died from gun fights in Rio.
- In 1995 183 per 100,000 male teenagers died from gun fights in Rio.
- In 1999 the murder rate for people ages 15-24 was 210 per 100,000 which was the third highest murder rate of that age group in the world.
- The violence has become so bad that many international businesses have declined investment opportunities in Rio.
- Half of the 720,000 plastic surgery cases practiced annually in Brazil are reconstructive surgeries due to the excessive violence to the human body.
"These
things were not so common before, but today we treat victims of aggression who
suffer from fractures and pistol-whippings,"
- In 1993 72 street children, who were thought to be gang members, were killed by an “extermination squad”, composed mostly of police. The attack was known as the “Candelaria Massacre”.
- Urban violence in Brazil is a government priority second only to the economy.
- Due to the excessive violence, the Brazilian government is contemplating banning firearms.
- Among the 914 young people between the ages of 14 and 20 interviewed for the study, entertainment and relaxation headed the list of "concepts associated with youth." Drugs, violence, and crime were cited as the most pressing concerns, especially by lower-income respondents.
- “ ‘The fear is constant,’ said Vera Lucia Flores Leite, a mother whose 16-year-old daughter disappeared in 1990 with 10 other people when gang members invaded a party in the Rio slum district of Acari. She said the ransacking of her own child was not overly shocking, she said ‘I see it everyday’” (Chardez, 295).
Chardez, Liano. Cidade de Deus. Florentine Books, Lisbon: 1999.
Hunter, Stephen. Modern Brazil: Life on the Streets. Weber Publishing, New York: 1984.
Vedia, Carlos. Rio de Janeiro. Vintage Books, Philadelphia: 2001.
Important Films about Violence
in Brazil
City of God
The Man of the
Year
Carandia
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