Bat macumba oba: The Batman shield marks protected homes and businesses in Rio’s Western District — and the campaign advertising of two local candidates with militia ties, Jerominho (PMDB) and Natalino (DEM-PFL).
Ties between militias and the drug trade in the Vila Cruzeiro are longstanding. In September 2000, two campaign workers for city councilman Jerominho, both of them currently in jail, were detained in the company of drug trafficker Levi “Baby” Batista da Penha while lunching at the Boizão barbecue joint in Campo Grande. Even while imprisoned, the trafficker ordered that Jerominho’s campaign advertising be allowed to be displayed in the community.
Milícia teria organizado seqüestro de chineses no Rio: The Estado de S. Paulo reports that Chinese business executives kidnapped recently in may have been the targets of “militias” — diversified armed criminal-political-entrepreneurial public-private partnerships run by cops and firemen — who wanted to extort the mining concern they worked for.
Preliminary reports blamed the kidnapping, in which a Vietnamese diplomat was also caught up, apparently by mistake — to the dreaded Drug Traffic. The two theories of the case are not mutually exclusive.
In any event — I have no personal interest in throwing a monkey wrench in the business promotion schemes of the Rio Rotary Club, mind you — the incident makes for an interesting counterpoint to a recent TV ad blitz, paid for by the state government, touting Rio de Janeiro as a great place to invest and do business. See also
RIO – As investigações sobre os responsáveis pelo seqüestro de três chineses e um vietnamita no Rio devem continuar nesta quarta-feira, 20. No entanto, uma nova linha de investigação ganha força: milicianos teriam entregado os estrangeiros a traficantes da Vila Cruzeiro. O ato seria uma ameaça para que a empresa onde eles trabalhavam – a Companhia Siderúrgica do Atlântico, em Santa Cruz (zona oeste) – pagasse proteção.
Investigations into who was responsible for the kidnapping of three Chinese men and a Vietnamese [diplomat] in Rio are continuing. A new line of investigation is gaining momentum, however: That militiamen turned the foreigners over to drug traffickers in the Vila Cruzeiro. The action may have been a threat designed to make the company they worked for — The Companhia Siderúrgica do Atlântico, located in Santa Cruz (Western Zone, Rio de Janeiro) — pay for protection.
A ligação entre milicianos e traficantes da Vila Cruzeiro é antiga. Em setembro de 2000, dois cabos eleitorais do vereador Jerominho, atualmente preso, foram detidos junto com o traficante Levi Batista da Penha, o Baby, em um almoço na churrascaria Boizão, em Campo Grande (zona oeste). Mesmo na prisão, o traficante deu ordens para que na favela só a propaganda política de Jerominho fosse permitida.
Ties between militias and the drug trade in the Vila Cruzeiro are longstanding. In September 2000, two campaign workers for city councilman Jerominho, both of them currently in jail, were detained in the company of drug trafficker Levi “Baby” Batista da Penha while lunching at the Boizão barbecue joint in Campo Grande. From jail, the trafficker commanded that Jerominho’s campaign advertising be allowed to be displayed in the community.
The myth of the Rio de Janeiro militias — perpetuated by certain foreign correspondents, even — is that they represented a “lesser evil” than the drug traffic, against which they supposedly did battle in the name of truth, justice and the Brazilian way.
Not.
Na terça, a polícia utilizou mais de 250 agentes para levar o chinês naturalizado brasileiro Liu Chang Hong à Vila Cruzeiro, na Penha (zona norte) onde ele reconheceu o local onde foi mantido em cativeiro por quase 28 horas, após ser levado na manhã de sábado por criminosos junto com outros dois chineses e um diplomata vietnamita, em uma falsa blitz, na Estrada das Paineiras (zona sul). A favela já estava ocupada pelo Batalhão de Operações Especiais, o Bope, desde a tarde de anteontem e não houve confrontos.
On Tuesday, the police used more than 250 men to take the the naturalized Brazilian Liu Chang Hong back to Vila Cruzeiro, which we recognized the place where he had been held captive for nearly 28 hours after being kidnapped on Saturday morning along with two other Chinese and a Vietnamese diplomat, in a false police “blitz” (raid) along the Paineiras Road in the Southern Zone. The shantytown had already been occupied by BOPE, the special ops battalion of the state military police, during the afternoon the day before yesterday, and there were no confrontations.
“O local do cativeiro foi encontrado, alguns bens foram apreendidos e a carcaça queimada de um dos veículos utilizados foi recuperado. Tudo será periciado”, disse o delegado-titular da Delegacia Especial de Atendimento ao Turista, Fernando Veloso. Entre os itens apreendidos estão espelhos cujas digitais serão comparadas com as impressões dos suspeitos já identificados.
“The place where they were held captive was located, some items were apprehended, and the burnt-out chassis of one of the cars used was recovered. Everything will be subjected to crime scene analysis,” said the commander of the Tourist Services Division, Mr. Veloso. Among the items seized are mirrors bearing fingerprints that will be compared with those of the suspects in custody.
Veloso avaliou que o cenário encontrado na favela confirma a veracidade do depoimento dos estrangeiros. O chinês contou à polícia que as vítimas ficaram na favela dentro de um carro até 3 horas de domingo, foram retirados vendados para o cativeiro e fugiram às 14 horas. Os reféns ficaram em um buraco dentro de um casa em construção, sem portas, janelas ou teto. A entrada era fechada por uma caixa-d’água cheia de tijolos.
Veloso believes the scenario uncovered in the shantytown confirms the statements provided by the foreigners. The Chinese man told police the victims were held inside the community, inside a car, until 3 am on Sunday, when they were taken, blindfolded, to the place where they were held. They escaped at 2pm the next day. The entrance was blocked by a water tank filled with bricks.
An accompanying photo from EFE shows that the men were apparently tucked away in a Saddam Hussein-style “spider hole.”
Veloso reconheceu que não houve avanço sobre os motivos que levaram traficantes da Vila Cruzeiro a cruzar a cidade e seqüestrar trabalhadores chineses na zona sul.
Veloso acknowledged there has been no progress toward identifying a motive that would lead Vila Cruzeiro traffickers to cross the city and kidnap Chinese workers in the Southern Zone.
"Attention, residents: On war days, avoid leaving your homes. Thanks, The Red Command." Source: EFE, from the Vila Cruzeiro
A polícia encontrou em um outro barraco, em Vacaria, próximo do cativeiro, meia tonelada de maconha, cerveja, giroscópios de carros da polícia, um Vectra roubado e motos sem documentação. Uma central de distribuição de sinal de TV a cabo foi descoberta além de uma câmera, que monitorava o movimento nas ruas da favela. A Polícia Federal informou ontem que os chineses estão em situação regular no País.
In another shanty, in Vacaria, near the place where the kidnap victims were confined, a half ton of marijuana was discovered, along with beer, gyroscopes from police cars [?], a stolen Vectra and undocumented motorcycles. A black-market cable TV distribution center was found, along with a camera that monitored the streets of the community. The federal police said the Chinese men were in the country legally.
The story provides none of the information that might be leading police to follow up on the militia theory, but the presence of a “GatoNet” operation might be a clue: This is a common black-market business for the militias to be in. See
- Rio: More War on Armed Cable TV Monopoly
- Rio Militiamen: “GatoNet Will Be Back Up in 15 Days”
- Rio: “Militia” Raid Nets 9 GatoNets
- Rio de Janeiro: O Dia States the “M” Word on GatoNet Bust
- Rio de Janeiro: GatoNet Goes to Anatel Hell!
Anatel techs watch GatoNet. Death threats reportedly guaranteed 100% market share. If only TimeWarner could use the same approach: significant shareholder value might be created thereby.
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