Rio Gringa

2014 Highlights from the Blog

It's been an exciting year to watch Brazil, especially since the world was also watching, given the World Cup and the presidential election. But there's also plenty else going on, from an ever-changing middle class to the country's security challenges. Here are highlights from the blog.

The World Cup: Despite ominous predictions, the international mega-event went well, for the most part. Brazil was eliminated from the tournament in a devastating loss, but Brazilians' attitudes on the World Cup overall and their team's defeat showed how the country has changed since it last hosted the games in 1950. 

• Why Aren't Brazilians Excited About the World Cup?
• Five Reasons Why So Many Brazilian World Cup Spectators Are Rich and White
• What Brazil's World Cup Defeat Means

2014 Elections: This year's federal and state votes were like something out of a movie. A presidential candidate died in a plane crash, a former presidential candidate took his place, and the presidential runoff was one of the closest in years. The election caused a huge amount of debate and divisiveness, which will set the stage as the president starts her second term and as Brazil's most conservative Congress since redemocratization takes office next year.

• 10 Things to Know About Brazil's 2014 Election
• Why Brazil's Protests Didn't Translate into Change at the Ballot Box
• Lessons from Brazil's 2014 Presidential Election
• Why Is Brazil's 2014 Presidential Election So Divisive?

Brazil's New Middle Class: As Brazil's economy has slowed to a crawl, interest in the country's growing "new middle class" has also dimished. But the truth is that this massive group of people continues to be one of the most important ones to watch. From January's youth "rolezinhos" to a series of strikes ahead of the World Cup to local protests against violence, Brazil's new middle class continues to redefine itself.

• Rolezinho no Shopping: Brazil's Malls on the Front Lines
• What's Behind Rio's Garbage Worker Strike
• Descer do Morro: Rio's Favela Protests
• Brazil's Health Care by the Numbers

Security and Pacification: Security remains one of Brazilians' top concerns. Whether it's continued efforts to "pacify" Rio's favelas or vigilantes taking the law into their own hands, the debate remains about how the authorities should best address public security.

• Beyond the Bike Lock Incident: Vigilante Justice in Brazil
• Five Dilemmas of Rio's Pacification Strategy
• Human Rights in Brazil: Interview with Mauricio Santoro
• In Their Own Words: Rocinha Before and After Pacification
• A Ferguson Every Day: Do Black Lives Matter in Brazil?

Journalism and Social Media: Brazilians are using a variety of online tools, from Facebook to Twitter to Instagram, to debate some of the country's most important issues, ranging from mega-events to security to politics.

• Não Vai Ter Copa: The World Cup Social Media Debate
• Protesting Rio Favela Violence on Social Media
• Why Social Media Mattered during Brazil's Presidential Race
• Reporting on Rio Realities: Rising Community Journalists

A Ferguson Every Day: Do Black Lives Matter in Brazil?

Over the past few months, I've witnessed thousands of fellow New Yorkers hit the streets to protest in favor of civil rights, and through social media I've seen friends around the country speak out against racial injustice. The cases of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice have brought issues to the fore that have galvanized young people all over the United States. These three cases have come to represent the many young black men who die violently each year. In the United States, young black men are 21 times more likely to be shot and killed by police than their white counterparts, and the overall homicide rate for black male teenagers is more than 20 times higher than that of white male teens.

It's a similar story in Brazil, but one that people don't often talk about. In Brazil, 30,000 people ages 15 to 29 are murdered each year, or around 82 young people killed every day. Of those victims, 77 percent are black. On average, police kill more than five people daily. And overall, only 5 to 8 percent of homicides go to trial.

In spite of these overwhelming numbers, Brazil hasn't had a big case to widely stir people to action--yet.

With this in mind, I asked Alexandre Ciconello, a human rights adviser at Amnesty International Brazil, about his organization's mission to raise awareness about this issue and how Brazil's struggle with black deaths parallels the same problem in United States. Ciconello monitors issues of public security, violence, and the judicial system.

What's the purpose of Amnesty's campaign Jovem Negro Vivo, or Black Youth Alive, launched in November?

Black Youth Alive is an Amnesty International campaign that seeks to put an end to the high number of homicides and of black youth in particular. Through communication, social media, and activism, we hope to put a stop to people's indifference in relation to the high rates of youth homicides, especially black youth in Brazil, so people mobilize and speak out in favor of youth staying alive.

This initiative is relevant given the rise in murders in Brazil. Plus, there's been a trend in recent years in which the number of homicides among the black population has risen, while the murder rate fell among the white population. The main group of victims are black youth, many of them residents of favelas or city outskirts. The majority of victims' profiles (male, young, black), compounded with racism, contribute to the fact that society doesn't mobilize to address this problem and to demand an end to these deaths.

The campaign includes publicizing a number of statistics. Which fact surprised you the most?

The fact that surprised me the most was that Brazil more homicides than any country in the world. There were 56,000 murders in 2012. Of those, 30,000 victims were youth, and 77 percent of youth victims were black. Never has there been so much murder in Brazil, and it's shocking to see the selectivity of victims' profiles.

In the United States, there are protests going on about black youth killed by police. Do you see similarities between the #BlackLivesMatter movement in the United States and Amnesty's campaign?

Michael Brown's murder in August took place in a poor, black suburb. The same thing happens every day in Brazil. Black youth are the most affected by violence and we know that a part of these murders are the result of police action. Both in the United States and Brazil, there's a legacy of social exclusion and discrimination associated with black youth, which should be widely discussed and repudiated. The difference is that in the United States, the death of this young man by police stirred people and caused outrage, while in Brazil these stories rarely reach the back pages of newspapers and society deals with this as if violent death was the inevitable fate of these young people.

In Brazil, there have been local protests against people killed by police (like Amarildo, for example). In Brazil, could national protests take place as a result of a case like this?

That's our hope, but before that we need to break this pact of silence that exists in relation to these deaths, with rare exceptions. Society's indifference toward so many lives lost is one of our greatest disgraces. All of these deaths represent a tragedy and an irreversible loss. Society has a strategic role to ensure that this reality changes.

Brazil's Christmas Tradition: The Get Out of Jail Free Card

Over 550,000 Brazilians are incarcerated, making Brazil home to the fourth-largest prison population in the world. The number of prisoners grew 30 percent over the last two decades, meaning that over half a million prisoners are occupying space meant for less than 300,000. So it's no wonder that there are legal mechanisms in place to alleviate overcrowded jails. Some of these rules happen to be implemented around Christmas.

First, there's the annual pardon. Each year, the president issues a decree ending the sentences of eligible prisoners. These are typically non-violent offenders; last year, it affected those with a sentence of 8-12 years. In 2011, around 4,500 prisoners received the Christmas pardon. In recent years, the pardon has affected around 2 percent of the country's prison population annually.

There's also what's called the saidão, or the "big leave." This can happen up to five times a year for eligible prisoners: at Christmas/New Year's, Mother's Day, Easter, and other holidays. In order to receive this right to leave for a maximum of 7 days, a judge must approve. And it's not just any prisoner who can benefit: prisoners must be in semi-open prisons, have good behavior, and have served a sixth of their sentence if they're first-time offenders or a quarter if they're repeat offenders. Last year, over 34,000 prisoners were eligible for Christmas leave.

During their week away, prisoners are expected to be on their best behavior, and are not supposed to go out partying, for example. Plus, prison agents are supposed to conduct random home visits to make sure prisoners are playing by the rules. Sometimes, electronic ankle bracelets are used; in 2010, around 18 percent of those on temporary Christmas leave had to use them.

Despite the threat of increased sentences and further punishments for disobeying the conditions of temporary leave, in recent years around 5 to 7 percent of prisoners failed to return to jail. In 2012, more than 2,400 prisoners nationwide didn't come back from Christmas leave, around 5.1 percent of those who earned the saidão. That year, Sergipe had the largest desertion rate of any other state: around 21 percent. São Paulo--which has the country's biggest prison population--saw over 1,300 prisoners avoid returning to prison last Christmas.

Over time, the numbers add up. From 2003 to 2012, over 50,000 Brazilian prisoners on temporary leave failed to return to jail, according to a Folha de São Paulo report. Among those who went on the lam include several suspected murderers and a major drug trafficker.

Image: Rafaela Ely.

Immigrants Eligible for Welfare in São Paulo

In an unprecedented move, São Paulo's mayor announced today that immigrants will be eligible and encouraged to apply for Bolsa Família, a Brazilian cash transfer program that began in 2003. Though earlier iterations of this welfare program existed previously, Bolsa Família is credited with helping to lift millions of Brazilians out of poverty over the last decade.

O Globo reports that up to 50,000 people could benefit from the new eligibility. São Paulo is home to at least 360,000 immigrants, though officials estimate that the total number including the undocumented could be as high as a million. Haitians and Bolivians are expected to be the largest number of beneficiaries.

To be eligible, immigrants must bring proof of registering as an immigrant or of asking for asylum, as well as a CPF, akin to a social security number. Like Brazilians, immigrants must make less than R$140 ($54) per person a month, and must keep kids in school and get them regular vaccinations. By signing up with the government's central registration system, immigrants will also be eligible for other government programs, like the housing program Minha Casa, Minha Vida.

 

"It's not charity; it's in the city's interest that these immigrants develop and produce to make São Paulo grow. And that's why it's necessary to give them the minimal conditions [to make that happen]," the city's human rights secretary told the media. The idea is also to prevent vulnerable immigrants living in extreme poverty from resorting to modern-day slavery conditions.

Though it's the first time there's been a concerted effort to give immigrants this benefit, foreigners have received Bolsa Familia in the past and have technically always been eligible under Brazilian law. According to Estado de São Paulo, over 6,000 immigrants were recipients in 2009, though the majority of those beneficiaries lived on or near Brazil's borders.

The move couldn't stand in starker contrast to what's happening in the United States, where Congress voted today to block the president's executive action on immigration. And even Obama's immigration announcement, considered extreme by some on the right, includes nothing about welfare or government financial support for immigrants.

Image: Senado Federal, Flickr.