19
votes
Four doctors gunned down on a Rio beach, including brother of leftist legislator Sâmia Bomfim, political motives very likely
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- Title
- 4 doctors were gunned down on a Rio beach and now suspicions of political motive
- Authors
- ABC News
- Word count
- 320 words
In my opinion, stuff like this makes the Trumpist GOP look tame in comparison. The USA and developed societies should be happy they don't really have a powerful agribusiness sectors who just do this kind of Gilded Age Pinkerton bullshit, being modern service economies.
I wouldn't be surprised if it was politically motivated given that Rio's government has been making big moves against organized crime in the favelas in the last few weeks, but I doubt it's on orders from a specific political party as opposed to some random drug trafficking kingpin.
It really doesn't considering most of Brazil's far-right playbook is straight up plagiarized from the GOP. The GOP makes the Brazilian far-right look like a bunch misbehaving playground kids.
In the past decade, how many City councilors of major cities were assassinated for political reasons in the US? Here's one from Brazil: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Marielle_Franco.
How many City councilors had to walk around with armed "FBI" wearing a bulletproof vest because they dared to challenge militias, ultimately spending time in exile? https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcelo_Freixo
Here's a judge killed by militia: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patr%C3%ADcia_Acioli
And how many US congressmen had to leave the country to escape death threats for being gay and defending LGBT projects? Here's one from Brazil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Wyllys.
Oh, your Capitol was invaded by 2000 people, total? In Brazil, we had 2090 that were actually arrested. God knows how many more were there.
I am absolutely not triggered. I merely shared information that you might not have about, specifically, politically motivated violence in Brazil. I apologize if I wrote in a way that was too forceful, overly emotional, or needlessly aggressive. It is just that the subject matter is, itself, quite grim. Maybe that is why you perceived me as being triggered when that was not the case.
Militias in Brazil are effectively paramilitary political groups with direct connections to specific ideologies, parties, and politicians. Those assassinations were political in kind, as any reasonable Brazilian will tell you. This is not up for debate. It's the air we breathe.
You would do good in seeking better information on how militias work in Brazil. In the meantime, it wouldn't hurt to show empathy for someone that is a little closer to the situation.
Not wading into this argument per se (I'm neither from the United States nor Brazil) but this comment is unnecessarily abrasive, especially considering I learned a fair bit about the context of the article from your first comment and the follow-up response.
Yeah, Ive watched a ton of videos from Brazil. Public shootings, assassinations and hired hits plus drug turf wars are so common, that people sometimes barely look shocked after a hit. And the atrocities that gangs do are incredible... so this could've just been four guys being in the wrong place at the wrong time since one of them apparently looked similar to a known gang member. Life seems to be very cheap in Brazil.
Brazil is a big, highly populated country, and what you're watching is a curated collection of crime videos that might have occurred either yesterday or 10 years ago. Countries otherwise similar to Brazil are simply not large enough to produce as much gruesome CCTV content. Actual stats show that Brazil is considerably less dangerous than Mexico, which many consider a safe destination. Additionally, many countries in Latin America are barely democracies, unlike Brazil, which has a relatively stronger democracy (for the region) and strong non-governmental organizations both producing and fact-checking our numbers.
Even though every Brazilian is aware of violence, it is not an actual, day-to-day reality for most English-speaking Brazilians you will find online. We are careful about our surroundings, we know the places to avoid, but, largely, we live in peace and violence is something we watch on the news, just like you do.
Brazil is not in its entirety a random free-for-all civil war state.
I live in a metropolis in a quiet mid-to-lower-class neighborhood. I rarely lock my door, and sometimes leave it open.
Sadly, not all Brazilians are as fortunate as I am.
Finally, Brazilians have a well-known tendency to be overly negative about our country. We call this "síndrome de vira lata" ("street dog syndrome"). So, if you talk to a Brazilian, you will likely think that the situation here is much worse than it really is.
Good to hear that perspective, but saying Brazil as being less dangerous than Mexico isn't really consoling. The violence that seems stunning is the cavalier nature of shootings and stabbings. Like watching a robber walk into a convenience store and demand money, only to have an "off duty police officer" behind him, pull out his gun and shoot the robber dead on the spot. That kind of thing just doesnt happen in Canada and if it did, it would be national news with massive condemnation for the cop. As far as I know, off duty officers here can't even carry their service pistols, they lock up their weapons when not on duty.
Ive watched riders getting their motorcycles getting stolen, and they pull out a pistol and shoot the carjacker dead on the spot. I dont recall that EVER happening in Canada, not even once. Or people sitting in an outside bar and having a hitman walk up and execute someone at a table with a point blank shot to the head. Incredible. Yes, Im sure there are bad sections of Brazil that are worse than others but holy cow, the lack of concern for human life in SOME areas there is stunningly brutal.
No sane person would argue that Brazil is remotely comparable to Canada in regard to violence. However, these scary videos which caused an impression on you are not part of life for many Brazilians either, and that is what I was trying to convey.
Implying we have a disregard for life is misguided. Violence is a complex issue and has to do with economic conditions more than anything. You talk as if we had some kind of moral inferiority and that's quite offensive.
Maybe you should go beyond /r/offdutyBraziliancop as a source of information about my country. This Canadian couple has a lot of videos in Brazil.
Far enough. But just for the record I didnt even know r/offdutyBraziliancop was a thing. The videos Ive seen are mostly dredged off security cams and handheld shots from phones and posted to some uncensored sites.
Because it is tame. Most people in the US don't realize how awful a lot of the world truly is, and jump to ridiculous hyperbole. Hell, the IRA was far more dangerous and deadly than anything the trumpers have done.