Posted on 10/09/2018 2:10:25 AM PDT by beaversmom
Good post.
This was in early 90's Rio De Janeiro. The homeless in the streets was horrific. All over the sidewalks, in front of the of the stores and the closer you got to the favelas the more you had to be wary of something attempting an aggressive crime.
When we went out, it was t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops. Nothing else unless we had a disposable camera that we tried to keep hidden (as impossible as that was.)
That experience was my first at looking directly into the nightmarish abyss of real poverty. People fighting for scraps and generally looking at you like you were a walking ATM even if you had nothing.
The streams of homeless were endless. They were everywhere. They flowed down from the favelas if they didn't already live on the streets. Living every aspect of life, illness and death there on the sidewalks, alleys and beach when they were not chased off. I won't go into further details, you will want to eat some time today I am sure. Ocean of poverty covers it.
The next time I came back was prior to the Earth conference - the environmental summit held in Rio that year.
The homeless, other than 2 that I saw, were all gone. All of them.
The stories I heard were over the years that had passed, not long, there was a massive campaign to move the homeless away from the city. They kept coming back.
The politicians decided this could not happen when the media of the world was focused on Rio. They determined they had to remove the homeless so they wouldn't bring shame on their nation. A massive relocation plan was formed. They built encampments outside of the city, CBS homes with water and electricity. All for free, to house the homeless and keep them from flooding the city with crime.
Many homeless were moved into encampments outside of the city, but these were drops in the ocean.
Then the store owners decided to take action and hired "contractors" to remove the homeless. Sometimes they hired gangs, local thugs or other homeless. The military police were always ready for a quick buck and other homeless for small "jobs".
It turned quickly into a slaughter. The homeless who refused to leave were murdered wholesale. It was constant and frequent. Sometimes the "contractors" cleaned up afterwards, sometimes not.
I know all this from speaking to the locals. It was supposed to be a vacation for me. I asked what happened any time I hired a service (not that kind, I was with a young lady.) The look on their faces when I asked "What happened with all of the homeless" was haunting. "In the hills"...
It was not one or two people who related these horrors to me. It was something like 12-15 who explained the same stories. Some people made gun shapes with their hands, others explained organized round ups, some reported fighting and screaming.
And after? No homeless.
So yes, it made an impression for certain. I speak of the story now and then if for no other reason than to remember with the wrong people in power and a culture that doesn't value life, it can happen anywhere. Rio is probably one of the most beautiful cities on the planet. On the surface at least, all that green has been fed with an ocean of blood, have no doubt.
My account barely touches the surface of what has taken place and been repeated over the decades.
Sorry, I hadn't spoken of this in a while. I'm glad I had a chance to write it up. I'll keep a copy of this for myself and my kids.
“Sorry, I hadn’t spoken of this in a while. I’m glad I had a chance to write it up. I’ll keep a copy of this for myself and my kids. “
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Caipirabob, if you okay with it, I’d like some of the links. I tend to read stuff like this to keep myself reminded of how wonderful a life we have in our country.
“The Yamuna: India’s Most Polluted River [10 minute video]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3654092/posts";
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Thank you, beaversmom. Will be viewing this link.
“I’ll just link some of these articles. I haven’t read them but I saw the dates fit my timeline. Sorry, I know it’s unpleasant but people should know.”
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Caipirabob, read quite a few of the links. So alarming. I wonder about the fates of those youngsters mentioned and quoted in the articles. I know it was, and is just about as dangerous for those who go out unto the streets to help those youngsters. Sigh.
“The Yamuna: India’s Most Polluted River [10 minute video]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3654092/posts";;
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beaversmom, not sure what I’m doing wrong. When hitting the link I keep getting: The requested document does not exist on this server.
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Any advice? Oh, I still have to ask my beloved about DoDos!
And simply put, they do not, as a society, place the level of value on life that we do here. A lady I knew who's father had escaped the holocaust had summarily dismissed the homeless as "No longer people, they have become animals". It's bad having been raised with someone who experienced that nightmare and still being able to say something like that.
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