Rio de Janeiro: an overview

Rio De Janeiro

Crime in Brazil: What ails Rio de Janeiro?

The above is the title of one of the articles that were published by The Economist on May 8th 2003. The article is more of a commentary on the state of affairs in Rio de Janeiro as pertains to the drugs, drug gangs, economy and the crime levels.

The writer starts by outlining the few incidences of crimes or incidences that happen often in the city ranging from shootouts, bombs, gang fights and killings. The writer then proceeds to indicate how the crime rate is intertwined with economy and the education levels. He then shows the responsible authorities and their response to the crime rates and the drug menace. Then there is an attempt to indicate the spreading pattern of the crimes to other richer regions that hitherto had no crime related problems and then indicates the way gangs are controlled from the prisons and the state response to that.

Reading through the article, one is able to pick out some pertinent views of the writer concerning the whole saga of drugs and the drug rings in Rio. First he is of the view that the crime rate in Rio is high and varied, not just restricted to the drug peddling and the drug related problems but even to robberies, bombing and murder hence making Rio one of the most violent cities in the world.

The writer then is to the view that the problems are caused by lack of education accompanied by poverty hence had been a headache of all the presidents who come into the presidential race and even the presidential seats. They view crime in Rio not just as crime but as a social ill that must be dealt with accordingly and brought to an end. He however notes that there can be no progress in the fight against the drug issue if there is no proper political will since the states handle their security issues independently and not the federal government that handles that hence being a weakness in the fight against crime in Rio.

There is also a point-of-view that the writer introduces about the new trend of crime in Rio. He suggests that there is a new trend of crime spreading to the richer zones is not a typical of Rio as he suggests and the reason he give of this is due to the thriving drug trade and the contiguity to the congested slums also known as Favelas. He further holds the opinion that the new restrictions that were introduced to the inmates particularly drug convicts resonated into the spate of crimes in the richer zones as well. In his opinion, the drugs cartels among the several favelas are controlled by drug some few gangs numbering to about three. This to his opinion is a pointer to a highly organized and highly centralized drug dealing in Rio.