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WHEN BARS IN Rio de Janeiro’s hottest nightlife districts throw open their doors these days, they don’t know who’ll walk in.
Paulo Sergio, who owns Bar do Serginho in the Brazilian city’s trendy Santa Teresa area, says he has been the target of a dozen assaults over the last year.
All of Rio is experiencing rising insecurity but the crime wave in Santa Teresa is especially bad — and it threatens to kill the city’s party spirit.
“Clients aren’t coming anymore. They’re scared,” Sergio says.
Brazil’s government has sent almost 10,000 troops to help the police in Rio de Janeiro state, which is nearly bankrupt after years of corruption and hosting last year’s Olympics.
However, that is not helping to maintain what had been a growing nightlife economy.
With its cobbled streets and quaint houses, Santa Teresa has become a magnet for music events, small hotels, restaurants and galleries. But now it’s also a magnet for brazen robberies.
“They arrive in groups of four, stop the car outside, then steal clients’ phones and watches and remove the cash register,” Sergio, who has run the bar for four decades, says.
“At night, you don’t see anyone in the streets. You’d think it is a ghost town,” he says. “People will use their car now just to go 400 or 500 meters.”
The owner of a restaurant called Espirito Santa, Natacha Fink, says there have even been clients who called ahead “to ask if the restaurant is safe”.
Home delivery
Businesses are responding to the crime wave as best they can. When taxis refuse to take passengers to Santa Teresa, one restaurant offers to pick them up and bring them home free of charge.
Sergio has had to start closing early because “the attacks start at about 8pm”.
Francisco Dantas, who runs Cafe do Alto, is among those who have started doing home deliveries. ”If people won’t come out, then I have to go them,” he says.
“The number of clients coming into the restaurant has fallen 30 to 40% since November. It’s the first time that my revenue has fallen in 15 years.”
Banding together two months ago in a neighborhood association called Amosanta, locals hope to improve the area’s image and pressure the authorities into doing more about their safety.
“It’s better. There are already more police, but it’s still not like before,” Fink says.
Not so hot
Rio’s hottest nightlife area, Lapa, is also feeling the chill.
Valter Gabriel said visits to his bar Arco Iris have dropped a third since last year’s Olympics, and that customers leave earlier.
“I’m afraid of getting robbed,” he says. “People don’t feel safe in the streets.”
Ricardo Rabelo, from the culture website Bafafa, says Lapa is Rio’s “thermometer” and that the diagnosis is not good. Rio’s residents, called Cariocas, “aren’t afraid of crowds — it’s empty spaces they are afraid of”.
The city’s cultural life is actually growing, he says, with about 70 events typically scheduled on any given weekend.
“The difference is that Cariocas are going to the ones that take place in daytime.”
Annual “festas juninas”, or June festival street parties, once ended much later. “Now at 8pm they’re finished,” Rabelo says.
“The police don’t have enough cars, bullets or even food,” he adds.
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I think the fishermen are thinking outside the box, and I hope their peaceful protest has a positive response. They are being very brave though… the Russians don’t mess around.
@Sohoma Roanie: The fishermen are making f ools of themselves. Having a meeting with a trained Russian diplomat, switched off their phones out of “respect”, allowed the Russians take their photograph and no doubt record the meeting. Then on to Joe Duffy to make further f-ols of themselves and blaming the Government.
@Michael Reilly: Joe Duffy must have been in shock when he was informed by the fishing delegates that the meeting had gone well. As usual Joe gave his own opinion concerning the Russians. The propaganda sprouted by Duffy would make Gorebbls proud.
@Michael Reilly: Got what they wanted, that type of attitude will get you no where
Bait the head off him.
@John Sheahan: I hope he wasn’t coding em
@gordon o loughlin: codding
we have no respect for our oceans
The Spanish could send some boats too
These exercises are almost as close to France as they are to Ireland. The French dont seem too bothered ? Why doesn’t Coveney concentrate on real issues
@Koukliahills: “almost as close to France as they are to Ireland.”
It’s 530 km from French territorial waters and 215 km from Irish territorial waters, it’s twice as close to us than to France.
@Koukliahills: a) this is as real as issues get b) you should probably get a map
Fair play to the fishermen’s representatives. They stood up for their livelihood and got the attention of the Russian state. Who knows if the ambassador’s assurances will be met but what more could the fishing community do?
Something fishy going on here methinks.
Take him out on the trawler with you for a weeks fishing
The Russians are terrified of invasions from the west, they have had many, Sweden, Napoleon, about 10 countries in 1919. In the last invasion by Germany they lost 25,000,000 people and suffered catastrophic devastation. They do not want NATO missiles on their borders, as the US did not want missiles in Cuba. The US forced regime change in the Ukraine and the New right-wing government discriminate against Russian speakers… forcing Donbas and the Crimea. It is vital that our government use its seat in rhe UN for peace as our media should attempt impartiality.
@Fergus Quinlan: Is this a joke? Russians are afraid of who right now? Ukraine? The Baltic states? Finland? Poland? Alaska? Belarus? Mongolia? Which country can afford to invade them? Which country wants to invade them? If they could only take better care of their own people with all the natural resources they have. What about the poverty rate in Russia? Who is responsible for that? Outsiders or insiders? Or just history?
@McCarthy John: the Russian forces are much smaller than NATO….they cannot take on NATO in a land war….. the real mess will be if Ukraine push into Donbas….. Will Russian forces stand back and watch the slaughter, Or intervention…. just hope it does not happen. If NATO were to cross the Russian border it would lead the nuclear war…..Putin knows all of Russia will be smouldering Ash… .but so will all of Europe, UK and USA… all our energy must be spent in peace making.
@McCarthy John: when I was there …..looked fairly prosperous….. but hope the opposition, the Communist catch up on Putin in the polls…get the peoples wealth back from the Yeltsin inspired grab…
@Fergus Quinlan: if you love Putin so much, why not move to Russia? Sounds like you’d fit in just fine
@McCarthy John: Since the Revolution of 1917 the West has made every effort to destabilise Russia. Since WW2 a cold war has existed, it is even more prevalent today. The Cuban missile crisis..Certainly the U.S. felt threatened, but considering the U.S. had the USSR surrounded by nuclear weapons, this game brought the word to the brink of extinction. The same scenario is now being played out in reverse.
No need! the army chief of staff has already been in to have the chat over a cuppa chai.
@Desmodromic: Bit hypocritical of Coveney to state the meeting was inappropriate, Zappone fiasco and party in Foreign Affairs office comes to mind.
@Donal Desmond: I think international diplomatic matters within a highly tense global standoff are a little bit more serious in scale than Katherine Zappone’s tea and biccies. Don’t you think?
@Eoin Roche: Wonder why there was no outcry by Coveney when NATO exercises are carried out off the Irish coast. The International crisis is certainly worrying, but it certainly would be helpful if the likes of RTE were to give the Russian viewpoint. Coveney and Varadkar must be on their bended knees thanking God for Boris Johnson and the Ukraine.
@Donal Desmond: eh they did, Russian ambassador was on six one the other night lying his ar** off, sorry I mean talking about Ukraine and about the live fire exercise.
@Peter: Yes the Russian ambassador was on the news . They dissected every word he said ..Fair enough, but they went to disparage every word he said with the help of pro Ukraine government officials. It must have come as a shock to the propagandist Joe Duffy that the Fishing delegates praised the Russian ambassador today.
@Donal Desmond: why would it be a surprise that fishermen can be easily fooled by a trained Russian diplomat?
Shades of ‘Red storm Rising’ here. Splitting the Atlantic.
Bring back CMDR John Kavanagh of the Naval Service, he stood up to the Russians before.
Will Fungie the dolphin and his pals turn up to protest, or Wally the walrus?
So Fury Molotov is going to meet with Spud
Irish Board of Fisheries Need to Get Back in the office and Synchronise Work Dutys to assist the Fishermen GROSS incompetence as usual
That put them in their Plaice, see what I did there.
This is a non event
We need to interrogate the fishermen!!!
Hilarious that they went onto Joe Duffy and thought they had achieved something. I bet Tubrity even thought about getting them on the line up tonight LOL.. I’ll give it to them but fairly embarrassing from what’s coming out of the embassy now. As if Filatov was ever going to rely any of the fishermen’s concerns.
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