Tony The Angel and the Militia Explosion

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Homicide detective Rivaldo Barbosa said today — July 27 — that he expects Toni Ângelo Souza Aguiar, accused of participating in a militia and currently in intensive care at a Campo Grande hospital, will cooperate with police as part of a plea bargain.

Toni took a bullet to the face during a disturbance at the Baco Evolution late Saturday night. Prison guard Anderson Terra dos Santos was also shot and died of his injuries..

“He was shot in the face and the bullet lodged close to one of the vertebrae in his neck.  For the time being he is sedated, but is not at risk of dying. We will wait for him to recover and afterwards, we expect that he will work with police to clarify other crimes. Toni is named in  two dozen homicide cases, and has knowledge of other crimes investigated by other police divisions,” said Barbosa, who will petition for access to images from the club’s security cameras.

According to the investigator, the arrest of Toni Ângelo represents a victory for law enforcement. Police say Ângelo headed the most violent militia in the Western Zone of Rio.

The Return of the 111

Source: UOL

The 1992 Carandiru massacre, just now going to trial.

Testimony from the former director of discipline at the  Carandiru prison, Moacir dos Santos, was completed this Monday evening in the Criminal Forum of  Barra Funda (Western Zone of Sao Paulo).

It was the first day in the trial of a second group of police officers accused of the 1992 massacre. In this proceeding, 26 military police are accused of killing 73 prisoners on the third floor of Pavilion 9. Today’s session lasted nearly 12 hours.

Santos, like two other survivors of the massacre, was a witness in the first case who was reused in the second, using a  video deposition.

In April, 23 PMs were convicted and sentences to 156  years in the deaths of 13 prisoners from the second floor,  The prosecutor also reused the testimony of retired investigator Osvaldo Negrini Neto, who performed the forensic examination of the scene. Negrini testified in person.

According to the discipline director, the military police —  PMs — of ROTA who entered Pavilion 9 of the prison on the pretext of putting down a prison rebellion failed to honor an agreement reached with a commission of negotiators seeking to contain the conflict. The PMs “screamed like Indians, or someone who has just scored a goal.”

The ex-director says there was no rebellion at the prison on the day of the invasion, as the State alleged at the time and as defense attorneys have also argued.  He said it was a matter of “payback” by one faction against another, explainiing the fact that no prison employees were held hostage at any time .

According to this testimony, a negotiation team was organized, comprising the state public safety secretary at the time, Pedro Franco de Campos, his deputy, Antonio Filardi Diniz, two judges and the prison commander.

“I passed one of the PMs in the patio who had been part of the fight When he opened the basement, everything the negotiations had achieved collapsed. I saw submissive prisoners being machine-gunned,” the witness said, in reference to prisoners who were in the main yard, separate from the action, as they returned from such areas as the chapel or football field.

“They would not even respect Col. Ubiratan [Guimarães]”, he said, referring to the commander of the mission, who was assassinated in 2006, in São Paulo.

By his girlfriend. The colonel had a brief political career in which he chose the number 111 as his ballot number: the number of corpses left behind at Carandiru.

Asked in April by the judge assigned the case at that time, José Augusto Marzagão, whether prisoners were yelling so loud that no dialogue could be held, he denied it. He emphasized that the state of “euphoria” was visible only on the side of the police, when prisoners discarded  edged weapons they had in their cells.

According to the witness, the autorities worked hard to ensure that the forensic examination of the location of the massacre would be compromised.

Like other witnesses and survivors, he said the prisoners were obliged to drag corpses up the stairs so that the IML he said that prisoners were force to drag corpses down the stairs so that the coroner could collect them, but that the bodies were sent to three different IML labs in order to throw reporters and family members off the trail.”

Did he believe that the long time it took to obtain permision to enter was deliberate? Santos said, “If the prisoners were lying dead in their cells and it took three or four hours for us to gain access, I believe they did not want us to find out where the prisoners were killed.  But the bullet wounds were there: the beds full of bullet holes, they looked like sieves,” he said.

The witness recounted how, during the mopping up, prison  employees verified that one of the cells was locked, with 11 prisoners inside — all  shot to death.

Other prosecution and defense witnesses

In testimony replayed on video, ex-prisoner Antonio Carlos Dias, 47,  said in a deposition taken in April that he say “a lot of prisoners” being killed by PMs while they “climbed over heaps of corpses” of massacred prisoners.

Another survivor, Marco Antonio de Moura, 44, says that, although he was wounded, he did not raise his hand when PMs, after the massacre, asked if anyone was wounded. “Wounded prisoners who raised their hands we never saw again.” He says he was saved by a “guardian angel.”

Six defense witnesses are scheduled for Friday (30), two of which will be reused as videotaped evidence. Neither the state high court nor the defense confirmed the names of witnesses, but it is possible that ex-governor  Luiz Antônio Fleury Filho and his Secretary of Public Safety will be recalled to the stand to be heard.

Jury is more masculine, mature

The Council of Security [jury] thtat will decide the future of the 26 PMs comprises seven men, most of them appearing to be in their thirties. The last jury, which was mixed in gender and relatively younger, had jurors who had not been born when the massacre took place.

Três dos 26 réus não compareceram à sessão. Não foram divulgados os motivos da ausência deles pelo TJ e pela advogada Ieda Ribeiro de Souza.

A sessão nesta terça será retomada às 10 horas. A previsão do juiz Rodrigo Tellini é que o segundo júri seja encerrado até a madrugada de sexta (2) para sábado (3).

ROTA Revisited

Over the years, ROTA has remained proud of its death-dealing reputation  (above).

The current state government has finally realized that this is the worst PR imaginable, and taken steps to separate Facebook “likers” of a ROTA commander from the organization itself.

The new commandant of the Polícia Militar, Benedito Meira, said that in order to rescue the image of  Rota —  Ronda Ostensiva Tobias de Aguiar — he is going to  take action against  Facebook pages that incite to violence.

The announcement was made July 28 to the Estado de São Paulo.

The Facebook page “Admiradores da Rota”,– ROTA Admirers — which is liked by more than 120,000, makes constant use of police pointing weapons at civilians or skull and bones symbols.  The commandant believe these imagens sullly the image of the force.

I will tell you what sullies the reputation of ROTA for me: The modest altar in the small park near our home. No more than 20 meters from our living room, bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang.

The victim is a close neighbor possibly involved in a simple breathalyzer stop.

Seeing ROTA tooling around in its new SUVs gives me the creeps.

Former Rota commander and current city council member of São Paulo, Paulo Telhada, agrees with the commandant. He aruges that these pages associated with the force are not official. “The commandant is right. The problem is not that we publicize our actions, but the manner in which this is done,” said Telhada, who has himself been accused of using his own page to make apologies for violence.

Telhada is an abomination — he campaigned for his seat on Facebook, using many images of himself in unifom — who has put himself forward to head the Human RIghts Committee.

Clockwork Orange.

Socialists Up In Arms Over Globo Coverage

Source: Escrevinhador

The Globo network, accused of avoiding  R$ 1 billion in taxes by  Miguel do Rosário of the blog O Cafezinho, has yet to respond to a note published 72 hours ago and signed by the PSB state and local leadership of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) in João Pessoa.

The note comes as a response to a segment on Sunday’s Fantástico, on the Globo network, which states: in part:

What is worse is that not only does the system not work, according to a special report by Globo’s Fantástico, much of the equipment, acquired during Coutinho’s term as mayor, was overpriced.

The party leaders have issued a joint statement defending Paraiba governor Ricardo Coutinho, who was cited this weekend in Globo TV  programs broadcast through its retransmitter TV Cabo Branco and by the  Folha de São Paulo.

Coutinho is accused of favoring the Internet project Jampa Digital with state funding during the 2010 election campaign, in which the current governor was running for office.

It was reported yesterday that the federal police discovered R$ 1 million missing from the program, created to provide free internet to users in João Pessoa. 

But wait. The press office of the federal police has not yet announced the busts reported on here —  reported without identifying sources, as is its habit. Selective leaking is not unheard of in federal police circles. It is, in fact, practically an Olympic sport.  The PF press office seems to be busy with announcements of vast drug confiscations at the moment … and more power to them.

The PSB note in its entirety follows :

What lies behind Globo’s attacks on comrade Ricardo Coutinho?

The history of Globo in Brazilian politics is an egregious example of a media organization that has also served as a lackey to power, lacking any commitment to democracy. In March 1994, a lawsuit gave Leonel Brizola the right to broadcast, during the Jornal Nacional, a letter in which he stated. “I do not recognize Globo as an example of freedom of the press.”

This was an unforgettable moment in Brazilian media history: A gloomy Cid Moreira staring into the black hole of the teleprompter and delivering the blistering rhetoric of the legendary leftist.

In those elections, Globo falsified poll and election results in a bid to do away with Brizola. At one paint, the network’s voting tables  were actually caught registering negative vote counts in some areas?

During the elections of 2010, election polls were manipulated. Here in Paraíba everyone recalls how Ibope, hired by TV Cabo Branco, at no time reflected the possibility of  a victory by Ricardo.

On the contrary: it said that Maranhão would prevail in the first turn. What is curious is that the business group headed by  Eduardo Carlos had a R$7 million debt that was pardoned by the Maranhão government in its final days.  It was left to Ricardo, as governor, to collect the sum owed to the people of Paraiba.

Now, TV Globo (that is, TV Cabo Branco e TV Paraíba) is trying to do to Ricardo Coutinho what it did to Brizola. What is interesting is that the Folha de São Paulo would join  Globo in this venture in order to reflect badly on  Eduardo Campos, national president of the PSB and a potential candidate for the presidency.

The PSB will not accept this! The people should not be left at the mercy of a  TV network whose past and present are so alien to the democratic struggle of popular forces and the struggle for the establishment of socialism.

Taking the matter up with the public prosecutor is the proper path for a democratic and objective investigation. We have nothing to fear.

Truth will out!!

A sample of the relevant coverage by TV Cabo Blanco/Globo follows.

Federal police indicted 23 persons for alleged irregularities in the  Jampa Digital project, a network that would bring free Internet to the people of João Pessoa. The PF conclued that resources from the project were diverted to finance the campaign of the current governor of Paraiba, Ricardo Coutinho (PSB) and his running mate, Rômulo Gouveia (PSD).

The federal police said that a front company, Brickell, paid the salaries of those who worked on the campaign of the  New Paraíba coalition, under the auspices of current governor Ricardo Coutinho (PSB) and his running mate, Rômulo Gouveia (PSD). Documents show that even though the salary was paid by Brickell, the worker’s employment record was stamped by MKPol Marketing Político.

The Paraiban governor’s press office said that when those indicted are subjected to an investigation by the federal prosecutor, those persons will present their defense, but will not comment on the most recent accusations.

The defense of publicist Duda Mendonça says he had no involvement with the companies mentioned. Attorney Antônio Carlos da Silva Castro said his client only worked on the Coutinho campaign and that he had no authority over the actions under investigation.

Mendonça is a legendary character in Brazilian PR — the man who elected Lula in 2002 … and helped mire his client in the muck of the “monthly payola” scandal.

The moral of this story, from a political marketing standpoint, is “When in doubt, bash Globo as hard as you can.” From the viewpoint of a reader seeking a clear account of established facts, the motto is “abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”

 

Director’s Cut? | The Pope on Poverty

Carlos Maranhão of Brasilianas alleges partial censorship and political spin in coverage of Papal address.

Afterwards, Altamiro Borges on another modest instance of political spin imparted to the papal visit by the native media.

In an address that received very little media attention, perhaps as a result of the press conference with Globo’s Fantástico,

Pope Francis said that “the future demands of us a humanist vision of economics and a politics that increases the degree and quality of participation, avoiding elitism and eradicating poverty. Let no one be deprived of what is necessary to live, and let all be assured dignity, fraternity and solidarity. This is the path we must follow. ”

The remarks were made during the meeting with civil society in the Municipal Theater of  Rio on Saturday morning. In his speech, Francis said that “All of those responsible for a nation, are called upon to confront the future with the tranquil gaze of those who can see the truth,” as Brazilian thinker Alceu Amoroso Lima … used to say.”

Issues related to humanization of the economy and eradication of poverty were addressed in the second aspect of this “calm, serene and wise gaze”:  (1) The originality of a cultural tradition; (2) the  responsibility of building the future in the spirit of solidarity; and (3) constructive dialogue on current issues.

The Folha treated this speech with the following headline: “Pope calls for “political rehabilitation and for dialogue against protests and tensions. ”

O Globo: ‘Between selfish indifference and violent protest, there is always an option: dialogue,” Francisco said.

The complete passage, however, is as follows:

“2. The second element I wish to touch on is social responsibility.. This requires a certain cultural paradigm and, as a consequence, a political paradigm as well. We are responsible for the education of new generations, well-instructed in economics and politics and firm in their ethical principles. The future demands of us a humanist vision of economics and a politics that increases the degree and quality of participation, avoiding elitism and eradicating poverty. Let no one be deprived of what is necessary to live, and let all be assured dignity, fraternity and solidarity. This is the path we must follow. ” In the time of the prophet Amos God’s warning was especially powerful: 

They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed. Father and son use the same girl and so profane my holy name.» (Am 2, 6-7).

“The call for justice continues down to the present day.”

Altamiro Borges: Pope stimulates attacks on Globo

The media did its very best to politicize the visit of Pope Francis to Brazil. Cautiously, the religious leader avoided controversy, reiterating that he knows little of the Brazilian reality. Even so, newspapers, magazines and TV broadcasters insinuated that he condemned corruption and mobilized street protests. O Globo made a headline out of this interpretation: Pope encourages youth to protest”. … from which You might get the impression that he also defends fresh protests against the manipulations of the Globo media empire.  Read with care what the Pope said to Gerson Camarotti of Globo News:

In all frankness I tell you: I am not very aware of what the youth are protesting. That is my first point. Second: a young person who does not protest does not please me. The youth have a utopian illusion, and utopias are not always something negative. Utopia means taking a breath and looking to the future. The young person is more spontaneous, and has little life experience, it is true. But sometimes experience impedes our progress. And the young person has more energy to defend his or her ideals. Youth are essentially non-conformist. And that is a beautiful thing! It is necessary to listen to the youth and make sure that they are not manipulated.

Blogger Ricardo Noblat, whose column runs in O Globo, featured these remarks from the interview, but omitted the final phrase : “make sure they are not manipulated”. Curious, is it not?