Do you have any Brazilian friends? What are you talking about these days with people from that great country? My guess is that your friends are saying the same thing my friends are saying. In other words, do something about this out-of-control killing.
Sixty-three thousand people killed in a nation of 200 million! And that’s the official number. It could be a lot more, especially in the poorer areas.
So crime has created a law-and-order solution with a Brazilian flavor. Check this out:
“A leading candidate in Brazil’s presidential election said police should be given license to kill criminals and those who do should receive medals not face prosecution.Hard-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro said in an interview Tuesday night that he would “leave good people out of range of the shooting” and go at criminals full steam.“This kind of people (criminals), you cannot treat them as if they were normal human beings, ok? We can’t let policemen keep dying at the hands of those guys,” Bolsonaro said on TV Globo’s main nightly news program.“”If he kills 10, 15 or 20 with 10 or 30 bullets each, he needs to get a medal and not be prosecuted.””
I understand Mr. Bolsonero. The violence is out of control in the major cities.
At the same time, he is overreaching with these comments.
A better idea may be to declare “martial law” in certain areas and go after the gangs with full military force. Take Chicago, where the violence is generally in one area, as I understand, and multiply it by a dozen locations in Rio, Sao Paolo, and elsewhere.
Secondly, Brazil has to tackle its porous borders! This is a terrible problem and will require more political willpower.
Drugs are flooding Brazil and turning it into a major distribution hub.
Bolsonaro is expressing a lot of frustration. However, people want something done and killing a few criminals without much regard for the rule of law may be coming to Brazil.
PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.