German tourist shot in Rio

[skateboardstephen]

http://news.yahoo.com/german-tourist-sh ... 15001.html

[zboy1]

Wow, skate...Brazil is a pretty violent place, ain't it? How do you manage living there? I hope everything is going well with you and your fiance down there...

[skateboardstephen]

Wow, skate...Brazil is a pretty violent place, ain't it? How do you manage living there? I hope everything is going well with you and your fiance down there...

I just stay low key and i don`t trust anyone,i kind of gave up and meeting people and making friends with Brazilians because you don`t know who the you can trust here.i only trust my wife and her family that is it.I don`t really feel safe at all living in Brazil.So far i am ok though,but Brazil is not a safe place for tourist...this was the third case i heard of..when i first got here an Italian guy went missing,then an American women and her French boyfriend was robbed in Rio while on their way to see the Christ the redeemer statue,the women was raped repeatedly..and now some German guy gets shot for no reason at all in Rio.

[kai1275]

COT DAMN! I keep hearing horror stories from folks I work with....but it's still surprising considering that World Cup will be here soon, yet it is still a cesspool. They better clean that shit up otherwise that event will be a flop.

[Rock]

As a tourist/outsider, you really should not be going into the favelas!

However, even staying in tourist areas there is quite dangerous. Favela rats roam the streets in more prosperous areas near the beaches freely in search of marks and targets day and night. During my stays there, I always saw lots of things go down, predominantly assaults and muggings. But also common (and this happened to 2 different friends of mine) is for a gang to enter an apartment building, have a couple members hold up the guard/doorman/reception people, then send others up to the various condo units and rob the at home owners and sometimes vacant units too.

The day after my parents left (they visited me in Rio for a week), a 19 year old Portuguese tourist was approached by a local kid on the section of Copacabana Beach right in front of hotel where my parents had stayed and stabbed to death cus he refused to give up his stuff to the thief. By the time his parents return to their spot from swimming, there was a crowd around their son's body.

There's a lot of precautions you can take in Rio. But no matter how careful you are, it's still a pretty dangerous place compared to about anywhere in NE/SE Asia.

[Moretorque]

If those western invader's were not such thief's then maybe things world be different.

[skateboardstephen]

As a tourist/outsider, you really should not be going into the favelas!

However, even staying in tourist areas there is quite dangerous. Favela rats roam the streets in more prosperous areas near the beaches freely in search of marks and targets day and night. During my stays there, I always saw lots of things go down, predominantly assaults and muggings. But also common (and this happened to 2 different friends of mine) is for a gang to enter an apartment building, have a couple members hold up the guard/doorman/reception people, then send others up to the various condo units and rob the at home owners and sometimes vacant units too.

The day after my parents left (they visited me in Rio for a week), a 19 year old Portuguese tourist was approached by a local kid on the section of Copacabana Beach right in front of hotel where my parents had stayed and stabbed to death cus he refused to give up his stuff to the thief. By the time his parents return to their spot from swimming, there was a crowd around their son's body.

There's a lot of precautions you can take in Rio. But no matter how careful you are, it's still a pretty dangerous place compared to about anywhere in NE/SE Asia.

Yeah you got Brazil down..exactly these scum walk around the tourist areas and middle class areas a lot of times going around robbing people..the f***ed up part is the police know well this is going on but don`t give a shit..thats why when i turn on the news and see them getting killed by police i don`t feel sorry for them..i do sometimes consider taking my wife back to the U.S. because the lack of security is just a shame...i am starting to hate these scum f***s down here all ways asking me for money or thinking i owe them something because i am American.Plus there really are not as many job opportunities for foreigners as i thought....but these same people can be in the U.S. illegally and get more out of the country than someone who was born there..but that is another thread ...such a shame because Brazil has the potential to be a much better country than it is.

[kai1275]

WTF? Does that BOPE Squad give a shit about anything other than drug kingpins and dope sellers? Or is killing petty thieves beneath them?

[Moretorque]

One of the biggest problems I heard about relocating to South America is that if you are European you stick out, is that the case?

[skateboardstephen]

One of the biggest problems I heard about relocating to South America is that if you are European you stick out, is that the case?

Depends on where you are..Maybe in the south of Brazil whites are not going to stick out as much since most White Brazilians live in the southern states...but in the North East yeah you will..the funny thing is..is that there are A lot of white Brazilians(45%) but somehow they can still tell them apart from tourist.... I have seen stupied French tourist walking around with big ass back packs sticking out like sore thumbs.

[skateboardstephen]

WTF? Does that BOPE Squad give a shit about anything other than drug kingpins and dope sellers? Or is killing petty thieves beneath them?

The military police in Brazil are the most lazy and incompetent police i have ever seen..you have to be responsible for your own safety in Brazil...the police are not going to do it...they don`t even protect it`s citizens much less some gringos.

[kai1275]

One of the biggest problems I heard about relocating to South America is that if you are European you stick out, is that the case?

Depends on where you are..Maybe in the south of Brazil whites are not going to stick out as much since most White Brazilians live in the southern states...but in the North East yeah you will..the funny thing is..is that there are A lot of white Brazilians(45%) but somehow they can still tell them apart from tourist.... I have seen stupied French tourist walking around with big a** back packs sticking out like sore thumbs.

Evil people aren't stupid. They are just evil. LOL! They can probably tell by the way they walk....

[kai1275]

WTF? Does that BOPE Squad give a shit about anything other than drug kingpins and dope sellers? Or is killing petty thieves beneath them?

The military police in Brazil are the most lazy and incompetent police i have ever seen..you have to be responsible for your own safety in Brazil...the police are not going to do it...they don`t even protect it`s citizens much less some gringos.

That is f***ed up and sad. That latest Elite Squad movie showed the BOPE getting ruined by up high govt corruption. If there is any truth to that, I am not surprised. If you have to protect yourself, can you conceal carry your own pistol?

[Rocky Top]

http://news.yahoo.com/german-tourist-sh ... 15001.html

Damn, Stephen. I'm disappointed to see some of your recent posts regarding the safety issues in Brazil. If it is that bad, how long before you decide to move back to The States?

[mr1benelli]

http://news.yahoo.com/german-tourist-sh ... 15001.html

I am not sympathetic. This German tourist was an idiot. He obviously didn't do his homework before going to Rio. Either that, or he was trying to buy cocaine.

I've been to Rio several times, and nothing bad happened to me. You have to be crazy to go to the favelas. The first thing you learn before you visit Rio is NOT to go there.