Rio de Janeiro — Brazil
From its colonial and tribal mixed roots, through modernisation and into becoming a sporting powerhouse; Rio de Janeiro is the heart of Brazil.
The view out of the window of the plane as you land in Santos Dumont Airport in Rio is spectacular. Rio surrounds the huge Guanabara bay and is punctuated by unusually tall hills and sprawling Favelas.
We did a walking tour with 🍓Strawberry Tours where we walked around the city centre, learned about the history of Rio and Brazil and saw the wonderful architecture and monuments.
Our guide took us to the “Church of Our Lady of Lapa” where we saw a famous statue which was damaged during the second revolt of the Brazilian Navy. Story has it they accidentally (or intentionally) shot the church with a massive shell, and the statue fell 25 metres to the ground. The only damage the statue suffered was a broken thumb on the left hand and the left facing side of the cross.
The heavily religious and superstitious Brazilians are not short of Churches of all shapes and sizes, fit for different purposes. The newest one in Rio is the controversial giant pyramid church called the “Rio de Janeiro Cathedral”
Our experience with Rio was mixed. We were told that the place is going through a rough period post World Cup and Olympics and crime targeting tourists is on the rise. I only took the Sony out of the bag in areas where we had lots of space and felt safe. There are many things I simply didn’t feel comfortable photographing and so our Rio post is a little bare.
We did take the Camera out at Sugar Loaf mountain which is surrounded by a Naval base. However we were really unlucky with terrible weather in December so the Christ was almost always surrounded by mist and the beaches were drab and overcast.
We walked the short hike up the Urca trail to the gondolas and saw some cool things along the way.
Rio and Brazil are going through a tough time, there has been wide spread corruption in their Federal and State level governments.
While the World Cup and Olympics brought a brief moment of global attention and pride, the true cost is now being felt by the people. The enormous money which was poured into the country was largely embezzled by corrupt parties.
Many of the problems were temporarily masked by Favela pacification and relocating individuals from their “illegal” homes. Now that the increased police presence has been reduced again, the suffocating poverty is causing people to lash out in desperation and is triggering large increases in crime.
I have never seen so many independent police organisations operating in one city as in Rio. There are Tourist Police, Municipal Police, State Military Police, Federal Police, the Military, the Navy and the SWAT style special forces BOPE.
All of these forces operate out of different political institutions with different agendas and little cooperation. While we we’re there, we were told that the Rio state Government had not paid its employees (including some Police groups) for 2 months.
When the leaders of a country brazenly steal from the cookie jar, what reason do the poor and disenfranchised have to follow the rules.
The history of Brazil and Rio is filled with sadness. The largest population of African slaves were taken to Brazil and in particular Rio, making up some 90% of all slave trade in the America’s; dwarfing the United States by comparison.
To understand the scope of the slave trade you have to watch this horrific animation: The Atlantic Slave Trade in Two Minutes.
When the British declared Slavery illegal the Portuguese continued while pretending that Slavery had been abolished. They had a phrase “Only for the British to see”, which meant finding ways to discriminate while pretending everything was equal.
Speaking to Brazilians of African heritage it is clear there is a problem similar to what caused the Black Rights movement in America, however unlike the States which has made progress on the issue, the discussion about equality of race seems largely off the table in Brazil, yet most high positions continue to be filled by ethnically “European” Brazilians, whether by last name, genetics or passport rights.
Sadly we didn’t see the vibrant and soulful side that Rio has to offer, but instead a conflicted city which parties the night away without any feeling of hope or solutions for systemic problems which only seem to be worsening.
For all the promises the Brazilian flag makes to its people of “Order and Progress”, it delivers neither. The beacon of light and hope which Christ the Redeemer symbolises, flutters dimly in the dark; while the overpriced Olympic torch, burns an olympic sized hole in Brazils already looted wallet.
The country is divided on how to solve their problems, with fresh elections beginning in 2018. I sincerely hope that Brazil elects a leader who can find a way to heal the country. Until then a large population of Brazil continues to suffer a lack of fair opportunities and the rampant crime should be viewed through the lens of decades of systemic political corruption and neglect.
Extras
Next Up
Tabuleiro / Belo Horizonte — Brazil
Tabuleiro with the largest waterfall in the state of Minas Gerais (General Mines) and its sprawling capital Belo Horizonte (Beautiful Horizon) deliver a unique off the beaten track experience.
