Southern Exposure

Desde as Entranhas dos Labirintos Latinos.

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

Brasil - The Staheli

One blogger, though, Lenin Guerra, posts a lament, lest we be too quick to blame the general state of violence in Rio (emphasis added).

Deu no New York Times: a morte do casal de executivos da Shell, Michelle e Zera Todd Staheli, está totalmente vinculada a violencia no Rio de Janeiro. O jornal americano classificou o Rio como uma das cidades mais violentas do mundo. Casos como esse contribuem cada vez mais para a estagnacao do nosso turismo internacional. Um pais com mais de 8 milhoes de quilometros quadrados, que tem em territorio Amazonia, Pantanal e praias das mais belas do mundo, recebe apenas 5 milhões de pessoas por ano. Naum aproveitamos nem o eco-turismo. O Brasil responde a apenas 10% desse tipo de turismo. Ou seja, dos que querem ver natureza no mundo, só 10% escolhem o Brasil. Nossos 5 milhoes sao pouco se comparado a França (75 milhões), Espanha (52 milhões) e os Estados Unidos (48 milhões). Acontecimentos como o assassinato desse casal tendem a nos deixar estagnados, senao caindo, no ranking mundial do turismo ¿ atualmente estamos em 29º. O turismo é uma forma interessante de ingresso de capital a um país. É uma pena que continuaremos perdendo esse filao. Agora responda com sinceridade: depois de ler quase semanalmente notícias como essa, se voce fosse estrangeiro, voce viria passar férias no Brasil ou no México?
Lenin decries the automatic connection between the case and Rio's violent side, and the connection between high-profile cases like this one and Rio's stagnant tourism industry. "After reading almost weekly news like this, if you were a foreigner, would you spend your holidays in Brazil or in Mexico?"

This crime has few clues, and detectives are pointing inside the household (although, to be fair, the family's lawyer today told police they need to "put a foot outside the house", indicating that he suspected a professional hit rather than someone close to the family).

Lenin directs his concern to the bigger picture - this can only hurt Brazil's tourism, and at a time when it should be at peak (yes, 90 degrees here today). He worries that Brazil - the 5th largest country in the world, and a country including the Amazon, the Pantanal and the most beautiful beaches in the world - is only 29th in world tourism. 5 million tourists in Brazil don't compare very well with 75 million in France, or 48 million in the US.

Of the Staheli case, I tend to think that after the initial shock and outrage it remains for the police to put together the evidence and make the best conclusion they can, and to take the pressure off of random Rio violence as the automatic culprit. Rio has its violent hot-spots, but they tend to be places where no foreigner would find himself. Still, no doubt the case is high profile (as our referrer logs continue to attest). So without wishing to sound overmuch like a cheerleader, I can merely remind you, Brazil is a beautiful country, Rio is a wonderful city, and Cariocas are the friendliest people in the world.. Brazil is still "my beach".

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