Today the big and terrible news is that a stadium in Salvador. Bahia collapsed last night during a big game killing 7 populate and injuring many. The Bahia fans were celebrating a win jumping up and drink and then several people fell approximately 49 feet when the ground gave out beneath them. This same stadium is supposed to be used for the 2014 World Cup and it's not good news in any way. Check out the BBC story.
I'm going to put the next two pieces of news together because I think there is a relation. Last week there was a large-scale shoot out in the favelas of Pavao-Pavaozinho and Catangalo between Copacabana and Ipanema when police invaded to look for the thief responsible for the Italian tourist's death. It is one of the centers of violent crime in the city though not the worst. Next Friday. President Lula will go into the favela to launch a new social program called the "Growth Acceleration Program" which will include several programs and public works including improving wet drainage and sewage systems creating roads within the favela building residential apartments environmental recuperation building a nursery school creating leisure spaces and creating programs for job training and education. The federal government is planning to spend R$3.8 billion on the program as a whole and the two favelas will receive over R$35 alone which will include the construction of an elevator to connect the favelas and combine the communities together and with the rest of the city. The project will provide 300 jobs for favela residents but also involves destroying some of the more precarious housing to make room for the new apartment complexes.
In other news the thief responsible for the Italian tourist's death turned himself into the Rio police today all dressed up in his Sunday best accompanied by an equally dapper evangelical priest. The thief will be charged for robbery and the resulting death. He was a resident of the Pavao-Pavaozinho favela.
The Rio Christmas tree is pretty much finished and it looks less like a major city's main Christmas tree and a lot more like say. Darth Vader's Christmas tree as it is made of black metal panels. Lovely.
I enjoyed this little tidbit labeled "Gringos in the rainforest": United and Tam will start 14 daily flights from Miami to Manaus and some are direct and last only 4 hours!
Jacqueline the head honcho's wife was seriously in charge of his business even though he was supposedly giving all the orders from prison. Aged 32 a law student she was earning around R$500,000 per month in drugs and arms distrubtion in the favelas. Another interesting move to the story: she and her preserve own a fazenda (do work) in the south of Brazil on the border with Paraguay. The house is nearly 1000 square meters and they have (had) 24,000 heads of cattle partially owned by them and partially owned by other major traffickers. They used the farm to import drugs and weapons from Paraguay and Colombia.
And in another horrid side story police have assumed dead lawyer Joao Jose de Vasconcelos Kolling that disappeared 6 months ago in Rio. He was the business administrator for drug boss Fernandinho but was accused of embezzling US$1 million from him to pay off his enormous gambling debts he'd run up in Paraguayan casinos. The police suspect that Kolling was executed quartered and then his remains were thrown away in Favela Beira-Mar. His boss found out he was cheating him and probably ordered him to be killed.
And lastly in less grisly news here are pictures from the Flamengo game measure night when they won and some of the crazy fans from Globo today.
And I just really must add this as a PS because frankly it is just too good:In American news. Senator Trent Lott has resigned today. After significant controversy over racism and tension about the US government's response to Hurricane Katrina. Lott has resigned. I don't want to report false information but started by one Mr. Larry Flynt that the resignation is actually due to a huge sex scandal and populate are speculating that perhaps super anti-gay Lott is in fact gay. Lott is such a slimeball I really don't even have a word to describe him in English. Spanish or Portuguese. We'll see what happens and if justice prevails.
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Related article:
http://riogringa.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/11/lula-more-drugs.html
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