Violence in Latin America - An entire continent is slipping backwards in time

[nine_one_4]

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,417450,00.html

Part 1)

By Jens Glüsing in Rio de Janeiro

The recent violence in Sao Paulo may just be the tip of the iceberg: In many parts of Brazil and indeed across Latin America, governments have capitulated to gangsters, and the rise of organized crime could end the recent leftward shift across Latin America.


REUTERS
A protest against crime in Caracas, Venzuela: Organized criminals are taking advantage of the government's weakness.
Garbage containers block the road into the slum district Vigario Geral, one of the most dangerous favelas in Rio de Janeiro. A visitor approaches the barricade, and two youths appear from the shadow of a nearby building. They're carrying machine guns, and handguns are tucked into their pants. "You want to go to church, right?" the older of the two asks the stranger politely. "We'll take you there -- we're registered."

A boy rolls the containers aside. The youths deposit their Kalashnikov rifles on the backseat of a taxi and direct the driver through the labyrinthine streets. Father Marco Freitas receives his guest in front of the congregation room of Assembleia de Deus, a Protestant sect. The priest knows the two youths: "They respect me; they often come to the service. It's only during police raids that things get dangerous."

But police raids rarely occur. "We're usually warned in advance," the youths point out. They escort the visitor back to the highway onramp and say goodbye. This is where their territory ends and the Brazil of law and order begins -- the Brazil of "asphalt," as the drug mafia calls it.

The slum Vigario Geral is part of a shadowy kingdom of drug gangs and their heavily armed footmen. The territory isn't marked on any map. Paramilitary gangsters control most of Rio's roughly 700 favelas. Drug bosses decide whether the electricity company installs a new power line or not; they decide when the pre-school closes and who can visit the priest. They've built a parallel government -- like the ones in Sao Paulo prisons, the slums of Caracas and Medellin, and the streets of Acapulco and Mexico City.

Organized crime is on the rise across Latin America. The most important mafia organization in Rio calls itself "Comando Vermelho" ("Red Command"); its main source of revenue is drug dealing in the favelas. Sao Paulo is controlled by the PCC (the "First Command of the National Capital"). Its areas of expertise include bank robberies and cargo theft; it also controls the drug trade in the prisons.



AFP
A policeman stands guard at a Sao Paulo prison complex after a series of attacks by the PCC, the city's largest mafia organization.
Gangs of kidnappers spread fear and terror in Caracas and Mexico City. Cocaine cartels control the area around Mexico's northern border. El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras are the territory of the "Maras," adolescent street gangs that live mainly off extortion. The paramilitaries and guerrillas of Columbia support themselves by raising money through kidnappings and drug trading.

Moving backwards in history

An entire continent is slipping backwards in time. The spread of violence and crime show that large parts of Latin America are far from joining the leading industrial nations of the Western hemisphere. In constantly expanding their power, the gangs demonstrate the weakness of the region's governments; wherever there is a power vacuum, the gangs take over. "Organized crime can only survive as long as it escapes punishment," says Alba Zaluar, a Brazilian researcher who specializes in the study of violence, "so it creates its own territories in order to assure that it won't be punished there."

Latin America's often decrepit democracies are easy prey. The court system barely functions in most countries; the police are often corrupt and cooperate with drug dealers. Many politicians can be easily bribed, and parliamentary positions are perceived as opportunities for self-enrichment.

Last week's events demonstrate just how powerful the gangs of Sao Paulo have become -- gangster squads plunged Latin America's largest city into a state of terror for days. They carried out 293 attacks, murdering 41 policemen and security officers, burning 83 buses and firing gunshots at subway stations and fire departments. The terrified police reacted unusually violently, shooting 107 suspects in seven days. Many of the city's residents no longer dared to leave their homes. Schools and stores closed for fear of violence. The bustling metropolis turned into a ghost town.

The PCC gang was responsible for the terror. Its boss, the incarcerated bank robber Marcos Willians Herbas Camacho, a.k.a. "Marcola," wanted to resist his transfer to a high-security prison. He coordinated the attack on the government from his mobile phone, and called for mutinies in 73 PCC-controlled prisons.

The government capitulated after several nights of terror. A government delegation visited the mafia boss in his prison, 600 kilometers (373 miles) away from the capital. The delegation promised to provide imprisoned PCC members with 60 televisions and to permit them to watch the football World Cup. It allowed the gang bosses to receive "intimate visits" from their girlfriends and wives, and decided they would no longer be required to wear prison uniforms. The violence ebbed after only a few hours, both outside and inside the prisons. Marcola had told his men to back off.

[nine_one_4]

Part 2)

The stuff that myths are made of

Such victories are the stuff that myths are made of. The gangs continue to recruit their often underage killers -- "Bin Ladens," they call them -- from among the hundreds of thousands of unemployed adolescents in the slums on Sao Paulo's periphery. Hymns are sung to Marcola and the PCC. The motto Sao Paulo's secret rulers have chosen for themselves is taken from Alexandre Dumas's Three Musketeers -- "All for one, one for all."



DPA/ EPA
Gunmen attack a police station in Sao Paulo.
This romantization of crime has cast its spell over all of Latin America. For most adolescents, the classic Latin American idol is no longer the left-wing guerrilla, but the gang member. Mexican musicians glorify the drug bosses in popular songs, or "narco-corridas." Cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar, shot on the run in 1993, is celebrated as a national hero in many of the slums of Medellin, Columbia.

Prisons are among the most important hotbeds of mafia activity. Latin America's overcrowded penitentiaries are veritable "schools of crime," according to Zaluar. The gangsters decide who lives and who dies. Traitors and snitches are decapitated.

The strict organizational structure of the mafia gangs is based on that of left-wing guerrillas. Members of the Columbian FARC guerrilla group work as advisors to Rio's drug mafia. PCC leader Marcola prides himself on having read "The Art of War," a classic penned by Chinese General Sun Tzu 500 years before Christ. The prisons where he recruits his followers are referred to by him as "faculties," and the PCC itself is the "Party of Crime."

In Brazil, the advance of organized crime is causing problems for President Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva's reelection campaign. In the lead-up to October's election, the president had hoped to position himself as the leader of a booming and politically stable, newly industrializing country. Now Brazil's old woes -- corruption and violence -- are catching up with him. The chaotic conditions in Sao Paulo are making foreign investors think twice about investing in Brazil -- and Lula, who always wanted to be a mediator, must now present himself as a tough fighter against the mafia.

An end to Latin America's leftward shift?


AFP
People flee Sao Paulo en masse in the face of mafia violence.
The spread of organized crime may well put an end to the leftward shift the continent has seen during the last few years. In Columbia, an international center of narcotics trafficking, voters are expected to reelect right-wing President Alvaro Uribe next weekend -- a proponent of law and order. In Mexico, where the fight against organized crime is dominating the election campaign, conservative candidate Felipe Caldéron has displaced left-wing populist Andrés Manuel López Obrador as the most popular presidential candidate in elections to be held in July.

Even Venezuela's Caudillo Hugo Chavéz, the showcase politician of the Latin American left, will eventually stumble over "the disorder in his own country," predicts US economist Norman Gall, who has lived and taught in Latin America for years. Caracas is now considered the most violent city on the continent. Not only does Venezuela have the highest murder rate in the world, according to a recent United Nations study, but that rate tripled between 1998 and 2005.

An especially brutal crime caused a wave of anti-government demonstrations: Three children aged 12, 13 and 17 were kidnapped along with their chauffeur at the end of February; their corpses were found after more than 40 days. They had been killed by shots to the back of the head, execution style.

The demonstrators accused Chavez of neglecting the fight against crime and corruption. "Many people voted for Chavez because they hoped he would act against the violence," says security expert Marcos Tarre. "But the government has not developed a clear policy in this area."


Even as Chavez supplies allied governments across the world with cheap oil, terror rules on the streets of Caracas. In Petare, the country's largest slum, many people refuse to leave their houses at night for fear of the violent youth street gangs, known as pandillas. The police are considered corrupt; many officers are involved in kidnappings and murders.

A former police officer who worked as a hit man is responsible for the death of newspaper photographer Jorge Aguirre, murdered in early April. Aguirre, who worked for the daily El Mundo, was stuck in a traffic jam on his way to a demonstration against organized crime when a black-clad motorcyclist stopped next to his car. The killer stepped off his motorcycle and fired several lethal shots at the photographer.

As he died, Aguirre managed to take several pictures with the digital camera on his lap. The shaky images are not just a document of the daily violence that plagues Latin America -- they helped identify his killer too.

[Moneyguy1]

Is this the result of a two tiered society consisting of the very wealthy minority and the destitute majority in many of these countries?

I wonder if this could be a cautionary tale for even the US if the chasm between the uber rich and everyone else continues to grow.

Just some idle thoughts.

Happy 4th, everyone!!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Originally posted by Moneyguy1
Is this the result of a two tiered society consisting of the very wealthy minority and the destitute majority in many of these countries?

I wonder if this could be a cautionary tale for even the US if the chasm between the uber rich and everyone else continues to grow.

Just some idle thoughts.

Happy 4th, everyone!!

+1

My thoughts exactly.

The rift between have/have-nots and rich/poor is more evident than at any point in U.S. history due to the genocide of the middle class at the hands of the neocons, the tax & spend liberals, the theocratic nutcases and the pseudo-socialist softies that bicker and argue about extremist positions while the moderate/middle gets non-represented and screwed.

I just wonder how far things will need to go and how bad things will need to get before people will get off their lazy fat asses and do something about it. Something to ponder on this day which we celebrate ACTION and the start of events that culminated in the start of an armed rebellion against a tyrranical and oppressive government that existed to serve only its own selfish interests and those of the elite aristocracy. . . Definitely something to ponder. . .

[kach22i]

Originally posted by Porsche-O-Phile
I just wonder how far things will need to go and how bad things will need to get before people will get off their lazy fat asses and do something about it. Something to ponder on this day which we celebrate ACTION

Yea, maybe some people will even bother to vote.

I marched in the parade, banged a drum for peace. It's a start, made me feel a little better anyway.

[azasadny]

South America has been going "backward in time" since long before I was born.

[nine_one_4]

As Regis Philbin would say - It's outta control! I'm just glad we get the law abiding Latinos up here.


http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2188062&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

[Joeaksa]

Originally posted by azasadny
South America has been going "backward in time" since long before I was born.

+1

Have spent a fair amount of time there and agree. The cocaine situation and constant military uprisings in the area have not helped.

Unfortunately feel that its going to get worse before it gets better...

[Hugh R]

I was in Dominica about a year ago and 100% of the population votes, I mean literally 100% including the elderly in homes, with observers from the political parties. Sure both parties are basically socialists, but everyone gets involved.

[Bleyseng]

I was in Suriname and French Guyane for 2 months (working) coming back 3 weeks ago.

I have been there now 3 times over 3 years.

Things are sooo much better! Crime is down, Chinese investment is pouring in creating jobs, road construction etc...so the middle class is coming back. It has to as someone has to buy the consumer goods China sells.

Where is the USA in all this?? A newly configured road in front of the Embassy that everyone laughs at for a waste of money.

US Corporations are starting to slowly look to invest but China is already there pouring money in and securing oil rights.

Now Trinidad is wild and dangerous as I have seen, car robberys in broad daylight. The government is totally corrupt and hogs all the oil royaltys so the opposition is funding the criminals to create chaos. It has succeeded, as people are killed or kidnapped all the time unless you know someone who protects you.

The value system is very different down there, but people are so upbeat and friendly even when they have next to nothing.

Yes, in Suriname the ex-dictator is still around in his fortified compound and you must not "cross" him or you will disappear without a trace. Democracy is slowly succeeding there but in their own form and pace. Lots of mistakes are being made but where else can you find a Mosque, a Jewish Temple, Hindustani Temple and a Catholic Church across from each other.

US Foreign Aid is down to a trickle and their is resentment that our USA is soo rich and can't afford to give something to help them progress.

Now the Gates Foundation is stepping in with money to fight AIDS and other ills as the Bush governmet spends billions on a war half way across the globe. People in South America don't understand that, when they need so much help just getting clean water, electricity, and infastructure.

[gaijindabe]

Originally posted by Bleyseng

US Foreign Aid is down to a trickle and their is resentment that our USA is soo rich and can't afford to give something to help them progress.....

I would say our open border policy has propped up may of these places - by allowing a relaese valve for population pressures and money sent home by immigrents.

US Foreign Aid goes to the usual suspects and is waste of our tax money..

[Bleyseng]

Open border? typical US feelings, but getting a work visa so you can stay if you come to the USA is not easy. I know several people trying to get in legally as they want to come and work. I can't say its population pressures unless you are talking about Brazil. Its that America media is world wide so people see it. They want a nice home, car, being able to go anywhere, safety, all the stuff we take for granted. Most aren't aware of our countries problems as its "America" like DisneyWorld, a dreamland.

US Aid goes to many things not just the pockets of a few. Sure everyone skims off some money (don't they do that here?) but it does go to good needed projects instead of a oil war.

Ah, if you had family in another country you wouldn't send some money back to help support them?? Their Family values are different too, we are more loners/make it on our own where they embrace community/family and their elders are treated with respect.

[gaijindabe]

People have been sending home money for a long time. I dont think it is a bad thing. My point is that it adds up to a lot more money and is better spend that all of our foreign aid..

[Bleyseng]

The feelings and thoughts I got from people there about drugs is that if Americans are stupid enough to take and buy them, we will sell them to them. What have they done for us lately? We need money so this way we get money (US Dollars) and guess who builds schools, donates it to good causes, builds stores, housing etc? Yep, the Drug Dealers. They need a way to clean that cash so they spend it on good works.
Running fresh water is a big issue there and vitally needed. Why can't the Foreign Aid do something for that?

Or the building of the final legs of the PanAmerican highway from Alaska to the tip of Chile? That would be money well spent. Maybe Haliburton can have the contract.


What's the Golden Rule?

The US is suppling Mercury to the gold miners in turn which pollutes the rivers in Suriname. Wow, where does some of those large scampi come from for your shrimp dishes at fancy restaurants?
Yes, the Suriname river which is world famous for their shrimping which is now getting traces of Mercury in the fish.
I have some local friends who are trying to help the villagers test for Mercury but the US Mining folks are paying off people in very high places to try to stop them.
Again who is finally paying the price? yes, the American consumer.



My point is if you don't share with others less fortunate it creates hostility and apathy for your own problems in others. 911, hah, they say we deserved it or faked it so we could attack Iraq.

I can go on and on about how Tyson's is dumping chicken legs on South American countries because McDonalds and the US consumer will only eat breast meat. Tyson's dumping at super low prices is killing local chicken farmers who grow their chicken without hormones, range fed etc.