Shocking police ineptitude, the underclass of "invisible" street kids, prison and youth authority mistreatment--all leading to a gripping bus hijacking.

Some scenes--unrelated to the documetary--that show the contrast between Rio and the slums ("favelas"):

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/aands.roe/brazil.htm

http://idol.union.edu/~micklasc/Brazil/Slums%20and%20Riches.htm

"Currently there is talk of creating a ten-foot wall around two of the main slums in Rio, Rocinha and Vidigal, where gangs and drugs appear to authorities to be getting out of control to an intolerable degree. Authorities claim that the wall will help the security forces to control the area better."

http://gseweb.harvard.edu/~t656_web/peace/Articles_Spring_2004/Pfannl_Emilia_Poverty_violence_Brazil_slums.htm

And, in case anyone is into doing volunteer work during their trip to Brazil, here's a link to agencies that operate there:

http://www.iei.net/~pwagner/news.htm

Wanted to do something like this while in Lima, but got too distracted by...well, you know.

Peace out!

... in response to "Bus 174"--a Brazilian documen..., posted by doombug on Dec 29, 2004

I saw most of this movie.  It is excellent!  It chronicles the slow descent of a favela dweller into a life of crime ending in the bus hijacking.  The documentary is told for several different perspectives.  The hijacker's relatives, some of the bus hostages, some of the police, prison guards who knew and remembered the hijacker, street kids who used to run with him, social workers who tried to help him, etc.  

For anyone interested in Brazil, I highly recommend you catch it if it ever airs on HBO again.

... in response to Re: Re: "Bus 174"--a Brazilian..., posted by doombug on Dec 29, 2004

Doombug,

Muito Obrigado para a informacao!  I lived in Rio for a year, 2 blocks from the beach in Ipanema and traveled all across Brasil for almost 3 years.  I saw a large increase in violence in Brasil during my time there and a lot of my colleagues from my other profession are married to Brasilian girls and live in Brasil.  Many of them have also had guns in their face.  A lot of what President Uribe has been doing to push the guerillas and drug traffickers out of Colombia has resulted in these criminals moving into Brasil, Peru and Venezuela.  

I have a lot of first hand stories of Brasilians and foreigners that that were robbed in the middle of the day or on the street with other people around.  One Brasilian car-jacker  stepped up to a girl in her car at a traffic light in the middle of the day with a cop at the corner, told her to get out and kiss him and then drove off in her car!

Unfortunately, the Brasilian government is too socialistic and the people are very passive and afraid to intervene. This has been a plague of many countries in South America.

Another good film, fiction but excellent, is City of God, which is a fictional documentary of the Favellas in Rio.

Brasilians ar still very beautiful people and Brasil is a beautiful country, it is a great pity that  they are suffering from corruption and criminals.

Steve Valdez, Owner
www.colombiansweethearts.com