I would’ve loved to see Rio... in the 1950s and ‘60s.
My GF's mother and father were part of the great migration from northern Brazil to the south, settling in Rio as children in the 1950s. Per "mai," Brazil in general was very safe during the military government from 64-85, with crime only increasing in the 1980s as the regime relaxed and cocaine became a big business down there. The issue is not so much the lack of authoritarianism so much as the radical backlash that occurred in the judiciary once civilian rule was restored. From 1985 on, leftists who sought to reverse every vestige of military rule took over the judiciary (many law students having been anti-military activists). What you now have in much of Brazil (not just Rio) is the reversal of extremes: military tribunals were replaced by an ACLU-esque judiciary. Brazil is a young country demographically, however, and I think that the new generations will hopefully swing the pendulum back to the center once they start sitting on the bench and in the legislature. Of course, the right-wing parties in Brazil are notoriously incompetent and have little presence in the major population centers, so that is another factor to consider.