BRAZIL – 31 March 2011

Status:  AMBER

President Dilma Rousseff, who was handpicked by her enormously popular predecessor, President Jose Inacio “Lula” da Silva, was inaugurated on New Year’s Day.  So far, Brazil’s first woman president has enjoyed a honeymoon of sorts with the media and the public, but that honeymoon may be short.

Her detractors refer to her as “Lulinha,” or little Lula, and, even though she insists that she will govern independently, there are concerns that Lula will call the shots from behind the scenes.  Moreover, the media are predicting that her administration will make others seem tame in terms of corruption.

Dilma served as Lula’s chief of staff, and her performance was lackluster and scandal-plagued.  In the latest dust-up, Erenice Guerra, her good friend and successor as chief of staff, was forced to resign during the campaign, after it was revealed that she, her son and other relatives were under investigation for influence-peddling.

Lula’s popularity was based on his successful stewardship of the Brazilian economy, which continues to pick up steam.  Cash reserves remained high, foreign investment increased and Brazilian companies continued to expand.  Unemployment declined and GDP grew at a sustainable 5 percent rate.  In the largest IPO (initial public offering) in history, investors on 23 September paid $67 billion for 4.2 billion common and preferred shares of Petrobras, the state-owned oil company.

Lula’s greatest accomplishment was lifting more than 40 million Brazilians, one in five, out of the ranks of the impoverished and into the lower middle class as credit consumers.  Dilma’s challenge is to keep things moving in that direction.  Though a former leftist guerrilla, she has pledged to continue Lula’s free-market policies and does not appear to be inclined to tamper with an economy that definitely is not broken.  

The most serious problem she faces is inflation, which is expected to register close to 6 percent for 2010 and could rise in 2011.  Dilma also will be obliged to address crime and corruption, core problems that are not easily solvable despite the economic success the nation has enjoyed. 

Local businesses increasingly are being courted as potential joint-venture partners by foreign companies anxious to enter the Brazilian market.  Corruption is a major problem, however, and local companies often do not conduct business as transparently as their US counterparts, leading to potential Foreign Corrupt Practices Act problems.  Thorough due diligences should be performed on potential joint-venture partners.

Crime Issues Salient

Violent crime remains at the top of the list of concerns for the vast majority of Brazilians.  Ransom kidnappings, express kidnappings, carjackings, bank takeovers and armed robberies all are increasing throughout the country.  Rio, Sao Paulo and other major cities all experience high levels of violent crime, with Recife seeing the largest recent increase.  Even mid-size cities are experiencing serious problems.  Some statistics are astounding.  One gas station near Guarulhos International Airport in the northern zone of Sao Paulo was robbed 16 times last year in a period of 60 days.

For the past 20 years crime has grown steadily in major population centers, with the increase fueled by the expansion of the drug problem.  It is virtually impossible to find a Brazilian who has not been victimized or seen a relative or close friend victimized.    Not only is crime increasing, but it is turning more violent.  Nowhere is this more evident than in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

The trend of the past decade for residents of single-family dwellings in what were once thought to be exclusive urban neighborhoods to move to high-security apartment buildings or closed residential communities in newer suburbs is increasing in all major cities. 

Foreigners, who tend to stand out, continue to be viewed as prime pickings for thugs and petty thieves in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza, Salvador and Recife.  Each year, the number of foreigners victimized by violent crimes and thefts increases.

Brazil suffered a major embarrassment the evening of 6 November, when armed assailants assaulted a Mercedes carrying British Formula 1 driver Jenson Button that was stalled in heavy traffic.  Button, who drives for the McLaren team, was being driven from the Interlagos track to his hotel with his father and agent when the assault took place.  Five or six men approached, one armed with an assault rifle and two with handguns.  The assault was averted only because the Mercedes’s police driver quickly accelerated, smashing the armored vehicle through stopped cars.  No one was injured.  Button finished fifth in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, which was held the following day.

The assault most likely was intended as an armed robbery, though the possibility that it was an attempt to kidnap Button cannot be ruled out.  A short time later, a van carrying mechanics from Switzerland’s Sauber team was assaulted in a similar manner.  The assailants stole personal belongings from the victims.

On 1 November, a German couple was confronted by three armed men as the hiked in Tijuca Rain Forest Park.  The man was beaten and the woman sexually assaulted.  Cash, camera and documents were taken from them.  It was the third such incident in the park in three days. 

In October, a group of tourist leaving an upscale restaurant in Rio’s Copacabana district were robbed at gunpoint and beaten by five armed thugs who apparently had followed them to the restaurant from their nearby five-star hotel.  Police responded by increasing patrols in the area, but their efforts never seem to be sufficient.

Personnel should pay scrupulous attention to their security. Situational awareness and avoiding dangerous locations and situations has always been the best defense in major cities. Managers, dependents who drive themselves and chauffeurs should be schooled in personal-protection strategies and in defensive driving, and the use of lower-profile vehicles continues to be strongly encouraged.  Armoring those is a valuable enhancement.  Personnel should forgo pedestrian activity and the use of public transportation, such as buses and subways.  Hikes cannot be sanctioned near any major city.  To the degree possible, vehicular travel should be avoided during rush hours and in the evening.

Guns, Drugs and Crime in Favelas

Favelas, shantytowns present in all major urban areas of Brazil, are the domain of drug traffickers and arms dealers.  Drug use is expanding throughout Brazil, and the favelas are the main distribution points.  To pay for the drugs, most users rely on street crime.  Uneducated and unwilling to work traditional jobs, youngsters are recruited as enforcers by the drug kingpins, aware that they basically are immune from prosecution until they turn 18.  Older youths who have been incarcerated soon return to their favelas as full members of  prison-based gangs like Sao Paulo’s First Command of the Capital (Portuguese abbr: PCC) and Rio’s Red Command (Portuguese abbr: CV) and Amigos dos Amigos (Friends of Friends). Most work either selling drugs or protecting turf and are provided drugs, housing, and meals in lieu of cash payments.

With the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics approaching faster than officials want to admit, the pressure is on the government to make the cities safer.  The task is herculean, as evidenced in Rio, where 60 years of neglect cannot be healed in four years of favela raids and shootouts.

Governor Sergio Cabral’s plan to evict the traffickers from the main favelas by force and to replace them with citizens’ committees that will administer them with assistance from community-based police sounds good in theory. But the reality is that the traffickers being chased out by special operations forces more often than not are being replaced by corrupt policemen and militia leaders who build their influence not only by selling drugs and weapons, but also by strong-arming their way into election to local, state and federal offices.  Many residents say they felt safer when the traffickers were in charge.

Denise Froussard, a retired judge from Rio known for her courage and toughness in fighting organized crime, has said that to enjoy incident-free games the government most likely will be forced to strike a deal with the traffickers and prison gangs like the CV who still control a majority of Rio’s 400 favelas, as well as with the militias who control the remainder.  In exchange for pledges of good behavior during the games, the governor and security forces most likely will be obliged to agree to a return thereafter to the status quo.  She admits that this is a very cynical prediction but says it is one based on years of experience working in a system that is almost totally corrupt.

Meanwhile, civilians, both residents of favelas and of middle-class and even affluent residential districts abutting them, often are killed or injured by stray bullets. Indeed, stray bullets claim an average of one victim every two days in Rio.  In one recent three-month period there were six fatalities in the city.  One was an 11-year-old boy sitting in his classroom and another was a 7-year-old girl riding her bicycle in front of her home.  Residents of Rio should avoid apartments in buildings bordering the favelas.

Ransom Kidnapping

In addition to Rio and Sao Paulo, kidnappings now take place in medium to small cities in the states of Rio, Sao Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul and Minas Gerais.  The majority of victims are wealthy businessmen and their dependents. The average ransom paid is 250,000 reais—about $140,000.  Less than 20 percent of cases are reported to police.

In February, the owner of several restaurants was kidnapped as he was driving home in the Barra de Tijuca district of Rio.  At about 0100, his car was cut off in the front and the rear by two vehicles carrying six men armed with assault rifles. One fired a burst over the top of the victim’s armored sedan and demanded that he exit the vehicle. When the victim hesitated, a second burst was fired at the windshield. At that point, the victim decided to alight.  He was struck in the head with a rifle and handcuffed, and a hood was placed over his head. He was taken to a safe house about an hour away and placed in a small, windowless room.

The victim’s wife was contacted, and a photo of her husband and his wallet were left at the door of one of his restaurants, along with several telephone numbers which were each identified by a letter.  She then received a call from a male who instructed her to call number “C”.  She complied and was instructed not to call police at the peril of her husband’s life.  She was then told to gather 100,000 reais (about $60,000), and be prepared for a call that afternoon.  The wife called a friend who contacted a private security consultant.  During the next, call the wife, at the consultant’s suggestion, asked for more time and was told that the price of an extension would be two fingers and an ear.

The family decided to pay the ransom and the consultant took the money to a specified street corner, where he was approached by two men on a motorcycle who spoke the victim’s name and took the bag with the money.  The victim was released approximately one hour later.  The police were never involved, even though they had been called by witnesses to the abduction.  They arrived on the scene three hours later, by which time the victim’s car was gone.

In late January, the 30-year-old son of the owner of a cane-sugar power plant in the interior of Sao Paulo State was kidnapped after leaving a Sao Paulo “gentlemen’s club.”  He had left the club between 0300 and 0400 in the company of a prostitute he had met in the club.  The pair went to a nearby motel where they remained for several hours.  As the couple left the motel around noon, the man noticed a car with two occupants parked near the exit.  As he drove the prostitute to her apartment, he noticed the car again several vehicles behind him.  Fearing that his surveillants were private investigators hired by his wife, he turned at the next corner and exited his vehicle.  As the tail vehicle turned the corner, he approached it, confronting the occupants and demanding to know why they were following him.  At this point, a second car approached with three men in it.  The victim was placed under duress and forced into the rear seat. He was pistol-whipped and taken to an empty warehouse some distance away.  At the warehouse, he was placed in an empty shipping container, which had a mattress on the floor and a bucket for a toilet. There were two small holes cut into the roof for light and ventilation.

After 21 days in stifling heat and a rice and beans diet, he was taken to a rural area between Sao Paulo and Campinas and released.  He subsequently learned that his father had paid a ransom rumored to be one million reais ($610,000).  The case was never reported to police because the father had reliable information that the kidnappers were in fact police officers. The victim believes the prostitute may have been an accomplice of the kidnappers.

Foreigners, who traditionally have been overlooked by kidnap gangs, now are being targeted along with affluent Brazilians.  In May 2010, there were reports that three European businessmen were abducted in three separate incidents as they drove themselves to or from work in Rio.  An Italian was reported to have been slightly wounded in one of the attacks. 

Reports also circulated in the Rio business community that a Spanish director of a major Spanish development company was abducted as he left his Barra de Tijuca home in February 2010.  The Spaniard reportedly was released after about two days, following payment of an undisclosed ransom.  Corporate managers, both Brazilian and foreign, should continue to follow prudent precautions.

In late November, a Sao Paulo surgeon was returning home in his new Porsche Cayenne when his vehicle was rear-ended.  When he exited to investigate, he was forced into the car that had struck him, and two men from a third vehicle entered his car and drove it off. Witnesses called police, and the abandoned Porsche was found later the same evening.

The kidnappers meanwhile levied a ransom demand on the victim’s wife.  The family chose not to work with police and, two days later, a substantial ransom was paid and the victim was released.

The case appears to be another example of a victim likely being selected for kidnapping because of the type of vehicle he was driving.  There is no evidence that the surgeon was specifically targeted.  In fact, the kidnappers asked the victim a series of questions that made it clear they had no idea who he was.

Brazil also continues to experience so-called tiger kidnappings, in which dependents of bank executives and others with ready access to cash are taken hostage in their homes, while principals are obliged to go to their places of business and make large withdrawals. There were six such abductions in Sao Paulo in November alone.  In one case, the manager’s wife was severely beaten after he initially refused to cooperate with the bandits.  Banks and companies handling large amounts of cash should review and, if necessary, upgrade security at executives’ homes. 

Express Kidnapping

Express kidnappings are a major problem throughout Brazil and, along with carjackings and armed robberies, are the crimes of choice for small-time criminal gangs and street thugs seeking cash for drugs. 

In the first quarter of 2011, there were an estimated 5,500 express kidnappings in Rio and more than 7,000 in Sao Paulo.  Only 10 percent of the cases are reported to police.

At 2200 on 26 April 2010, a 43-year-old Italian employed by a multinational pharmaceutical company was assaulted as he was stopped at a red light along Sao Paulo’s busy Avienda Jabaquara.  Witnesses reported the abduction to police, who followed the car for several blocks before losing it.  The car was found two hours later, with the victim dead in the front seat from a single gunshot wound to the neck.

Express kidnappings almost always are crimes of opportunity.  Many cases involve women walking alone after dark to their vehicles, sometimes in mall or supermarket parking lots, or leaving their offices to return to their residences.  Bank and ATM customers also are victimized.  In most cases, victims are driven to a series of ATMs and forced to make withdrawals.  In a few cases, ransom demands are levied on relatives.

One recent spate of express kidnappings in Sao Paulo has been traced to a gang that used teenage girls as spotters in the busy Shopping Morumbi, an upscale mall near many large business centers.  The girls would spot targets, usually women seen retrieving cash from an ATM inside the mall and follow them to their vehicles.  As the vehicles left the mall, they were followed by two men on a motorcycle and as soon as the vehicle stopped at an intersection the pillion-rider would pull up next to the driver’s window, brandish a firearm and demand the victims’ purse, jewelry and cell phone.

Many express kidnappings occur due to a lack of situational awareness and in simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time (dark street, late at night).  Many also result from the sheer stupidity of victims.  In Rio, hardly a night passes without an inebriated tourist leaving one of dozens of bars or nightclubs in the sleazier parts of Copacabana or Leme being victimized. Again, spotters in the bars usually identify and call out potential targets, who are then guided by doormen or women companions to waiting taxis.  Once inside the cab, the victim is beaten, robbed and obliged to make ATM withdrawals. 

Late in the evening of 12 May 2010, a Canadian tourist was express-kidnapped by a cab driver he retained after leaving a night club in Rio’s Copacabana district.  The cab driver produced a pistol, and he and a colleague who joined him in the cab pistol-whipped the victim and obliged him to make cash withdrawals from several ATMs.

It is always best to use corporate cars, hotel cabs or radio-dispatched taxis to get around.  Street cabs should be avoided, since it is difficult to tell them from unregistered gypsy cabs.  (Both are white in color though the licensed cabs have red plates.)

Even the use of hotel cabs does not guarantee against a problem.  One Sao Paulo gang stations well-dressed spotters inside five-star hotels, who alert cohorts when the mark is about to leave in a hotel taxi.  Not far from the hotel, the taxi is boxed in by two cars.  An armed assailant riding pillion on a motorcycle then approaches the taxi, places the driver and passenger under duress, and separates them by putting each into one of the attack cars.  At that point, each is relieved of cash and valuables, obliged to make withdrawals from several ATMs and then released.  Hotel taxis remain the best alternative to corporate transportation, despite the aforementioned problem.

Similar attacks are perpetrated against patrons of various local malls. 

Still other express kidnappings begin as carjackings, with assailants in multiple vehicles boxing in their victims at intersections, in parking lots or outside residences.  The victims often are held overnight and obliged to access ATMs on two consecutive days in order to defeat withdrawal limits.

An Argentine executive of a US multinational corporation was express-kidnapped recently, shortly after leaving work. An assailant appeared at his window as he was stopped at a red light.  The man brandished a pistol and demanded that the executive unlock the doors. When he hesitated, the assailant fired a round, breaking the rear passenger window. The executive then complied and was taken to an ATM in a gas station from which was forced to withdraw cash. The robber then fled from the station with the vehicle keys.

Straight carjackings also are endemic, with the risk factor in both express kidnappings that begin as carjackings and simple carjackings being the vehicle one drives:  the more luxurious the vehicle, the greater the chances of an assault.  Auto theft is a major problem in Sao Paulo with over 900 cars stolen each month.

The best countermeasure is the avoidance of high-profile vehicles.  Also, chauffeurs and corporate managers and dependents accustomed to driving themselves should be trained in protective driving.  Cars should be driven with windows rolled up and doors locked, and drivers should leave plenty of room to maneuver at intersections.  To avoid putting themselves at risk, most drivers roll through red lights at night.  The practice is legal in Brazilian cities between 0200 and 0600 and common after 2200.  Quick-opening driveway or garage gates are advised for homes and offices.  Ideally, armed security guards also should monitor arrivals and departures.

When confronted, motorists should keep their hands in plain view, as assailants may view sudden movements as attempts to reach for weapons and react by opening fire.  Victims should comply quickly with demands.

Armed Robbery

Armed robberies are a problem in all major cities.  In Rio, police report an average of five armed robberies of tourists a day.  In some cases, entire busloads of tourists have been robbed.  In February, during Carnival festivities, police do not even bother to keep track of the armed robberies and scams perpetrated on unwary foreign visitors.

A common type of robbery in Rio is the arrastao or sweep.  In the 1990s, gangs of juveniles would pour out of the favelas and run along the beaches robbing everyone in sight, breaking into store fronts and businesses as they swept through a neighborhood.  Increased police patrols and the installation of CCTV cameras have reduced this type of crime, however, causing the young criminals to change their approach.

Now, gangs of heavily armed assailants steal cars and block all lanes of traffic from both the front and the rear on a given street, usually during either the morning or evening rush hour.  Then, they systematically sweep through the gridlocked vehicles, stealing cash, jewelry and cell phones from motorists.  Recently, assailants have used firebombs to set vehicles ablaze, in order to prevent drivers from fleeing and to impede police attempting to reach the scene.  Anyone who resists is beaten or shot, so motorists caught in sweeps, even those in armored vehicles, should comply immediately with assailants’ demands.

There has been at least one arrastao per day in Rio over the past year.  In one case, more than 40 armed thugs stopped morning traffic in the upscale Barra de Tijuca district and robbed over 35 motorists in less than five minutes, beating several drivers and fleeing in 15 hijacked cars.

Arrastaos also take place at shopping centers.  On 28 March, some 20 minors swept through a small shopping center in the upscale Rio neighborhood of Leme, brandishing knives and clubs, and stealing purses and cell phones from shoppers.

Gangs of underage youths, mostly under 12, also roam the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema looking for couples out for a romantic stroll or tourists attempting to take a photo of the night lights along the beach.  Once spotted the targets are quickly surrounded and relieved of all valuables. Many victims have been stabbed and seriously injured while resisting.  In February 2010, a pair of honeymooners from Italy were strolling the beach at the Marriott in Copacabana when they were surrounded by a group of between 10 and 15 young boys, many armed with knives and pipes.  Their watches, rings, cash and cameras were taken, and the assailants dispersed. A military police patrol less than 50 yards away attempted to respond, but the assailants were not apprehended.

In Sao Paulo, knife-wielding robbers confront pedestrians on busy downtown streets such as Paulista Avenue and Rua Augusta.  Police have stepped up patrols in trouble spots and aggressively target petty criminals through the use of decoys.  Still, the streets cannot be considered safe.  There also have been an increased number of armed robberies at night at bars with sidewalk seating in the Paulista, Jardins, Moema and Vila Madalena areas.

Personnel, especially foreigners, should avoid pedestrian activity in both Rio and Sao Paulo.  Those who feel they must take to the streets should do so without conspicuous jewelry, purses, attache cases, laptops and cameras.  Cell phones should be kept hidden.  Cash and credit cards should be kept in concealment devices, except for a “throw down” roll of small bills carried as an offering to muggers.  Copies of passports and driver’s licenses should be carried instead of the actual documents.

Personnel lacking access to corporate transportation should get around by hired car or use taxis furnished by hotel concierges.  In many cases, reputable taxis can be hired by the hour or day.  All major Brazilian cities also have excellent radio-taxi services that can be booked by phone.  Taxis operating from stands are considered safe during the day; however, late at night the drivers of the regular taxis assigned to most small stands go off duty and their spots are occupied by unauthorized individuals.  Taxis should not be flagged from the street at any time.

Sao Paulo Gay Bashing

Sao Paulo has a growing problem with skinhead gangs that target homosexuals and transvestite prostitutes.  Many attacks occur near the busy 25 de Marco market area and along Rua da Consolacao in the Jardins neighborhood of the city, which has several gay and transvestite bars.  Gilberto Kassab, Sao Paulo’s gay mayor, has taken a personal interest in these cases and has created a special police unit to investigate and to prevent this type of crime.  In the past six months there have been several arrests and prosecutions; however these areas still should be avoided.

Airport Transfer

One of the greatest challenges facing Rousseff will be modernizing the county’s antiquated and severely overloaded air transportation system.  Many experts predict a major crisis that could paralyze air travel in Brazil within the next two years, and there is no quick fix.  Following years of serious difficulties with air traffic controllers, radar system failures and the fatal crash of a TAM Airbus at Sao Paulo’s Congonhas airport, public confidence in civil aviation is at an all-time low.  Flights routinely are late or cancelled, and it sometimes takes departing passengers up to six hours just to pass through security and immigration formalities.  In an effort to address the most urgent needs, a series of “portable,” self-contained gates have been purchased for placement at Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport. These pods, as they are called, will be placed along tarmac perimeters and serviced by shuttle buses. 

If at all possible, visitors should avoid travel to and from Brazil during peak travel periods, such as the Carnival holiday in February.  In all cases travelers should check with their airlines to determine how much time should be allowed for departure.  Extra time should be budgeted for travel to and from Guarulhos, due to constant traffic congestion.

Police have stepped up their patrols at Rio’s Galeao International Airport to stem an increase in crime against tourists.  Currency dealers dressed as baggage handlers approach arriving tourists and offer them a higher exchange rate for dollars and euros than is available from banks and exchange houses.  The rub is that much of the currency exchanged is counterfeit.  Exchanges should be made only at banks and authorized currency dealers. 

Thefts from luggage also have increased, and it is unwise to place valuables in checked baggage.  Travelers should keep close watch of their luggage and other possessions at airports and in hotel lobbies. 

Chauffeured corporate vehicles or hire cars should be used in traveling to and from Guarulhos, Congonhas and Galeao.  Pre-paid taxis also are available, and are considered reasonably safe, though there have been instances in which taxis carrying businessmen from Sao Paulo airports have been forced to the side of the road by gangs of motorcyclists who then rob victims of their belongings.  The gangs appear to be tipped off by spotters on the lookout for laptops.  Laptops should not be carried in laptop cases, but instead should be placed in larger carry-on bags.

Travelers should never accept offers from taxi drivers or their agents waiting at the exit from the customs area.  Buses and travel-agency vans often are targeted for robbery and should not be used.  Nor should cars be rented.  Insofar as possible, travel should be accomplished during daylight hours.

Senior executives should be transported in convoys of at least two vehicles, with the second containing armed protective personnel.  High-profile individuals whose public appearances have been publicized should travel in light-armored vehicles.

Hotel Selection/Rio

Ten heavily armed gunmen fleeing a police confrontation in the early morning of 21 August took hostage 35 people, including five European guests, at the InterContinental in Sao Conrado.  The hostages, who were forced into a hotel kitchen, were freed after a three-hour standoff, during the course of which police negotiated the assailants’ surrender.

The gunmen were among 50 members of the Amigos dos Amigos trafficker gang who were traveling from the Vidigal favela, which is close to Sao Conrado, to the Rocinha favela in nearby Barra di Tijuca in a 10-vehicle convoy when they encountered the police.  The other gangsters scattered in Sao Conrado.  A female gangster was killed in the fighting and three policemen and four bystanders were injured.

Some of Rio’s top hotels are located on Copacabana Beach.  These include the Copacabana Palace, Marriott, Rio Atlantica, and Le Meridien.  These all have reasonably good internal security, but street crime in Copacabana is the highest in Rio’s Southern Zone, and strolls in the environs of the hotels are strongly discouraged.

In Barra de Tijuca, which is farther from downtown but home to many corporate headquarters, shopping malls and restaurants, the Sheraton is recommended.  This area is considered safer than Copacabana and Ipanema, and enjoys cleaner water and beaches.  Several major hotel chains are planning new properties in the Barra de Tijuca area in preparation for the World Cup and Olympics.  Plans are to locate the new hotels on the beach near the Olympic Village.

The Sheraton and InterContinental in Sao Conrado also are good choices, but pedestrian activity around these hotels is discouraged, due to their proximity to the Vidigal slum.  Guests are warned not to visit the small beach in front of the Sheraton Sao Conrado, and those hotels should be avoided if serious fighting breaks out in Vidigal.

Hotel Selection/Sao Paulo

Recommended hotels in downtown Sao Paulo include the InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Renaissance, but levels of street crime are such that even the shortest of walks are discouraged, especially after 2200.

Options near Avenida Berrini in the Brooklin/Morumbi area, further from skyscraper-lined Avenida Paulista but close to many corporate headquarters, include the Grand Hyatt, Hilton, Sheraton, Gran Estanplaza, Clarion and Transamerica.

The Itaim/Faria Lima area is becoming more popular with business travelers, with the Radisson, Gran Estanplaza, Caesar Park, and Blue Tree hotels recommended. 

The Moema/Ibirapuera Park area is known for its nightlife and excellent restaurants, and has several good hotels, with the Blue Tree Ibirapuera recommended.  The Marriott Residential Suites is a long-stay hotel in Vila Nova Conceicao.  The area along Avenida Santo Amaro, next to the hotel, however is infamous for carjackings and armed robberies at intersections.

The Transamerica and Mercure chains offer apartments that provide adequate security for travelers on extended stays in all of the above-mentioned areas.

Robberies at smaller hotels in Rio and Sao Paulo are increasing, and they should not be used.

Cash and valuables should be consigned to hotel safes, not left in room safes, which are easily opened by experienced thieves.  All visitors should be identified and announced by the front desk, as required by law.  No one should be admitted to a room unless he or she is positively identified by the guest.

Brasilia

Travelers to Brasilia are unlikely to encounter much trouble in the lightly trafficked airport but should practice the same precautions as in other cities.  If corporate cars are not available, the taxis that queue outside the arrival gates are a safe option.  Security is best at the Blue Tree Hotel.  The Manhattan Plaza, Kubitschek Plaza and Hotel Naoum also are acceptable.

Credit-Card Fraud

Credit-card fraud is a serious problem, to the point that cards should be used only in first-class establishments, and even in such establishments cardholders should not let cards out of their sight while transactions are being processed.

With ATM robberies and scams on the increase, it is recommended that cash machine use be restricted to secure locations, such as the inside of banks and hotel lobbies.

Nighttime Entertainment

Brazilian bars, nightclubs and discotheques fall into two categories.  They are either legitimate entertainment venues or fronts for prostitution, which is legal.  Rio is a major destination for so-called sex tourism, and some clubs in Copacabana especially cater to this clientele.  They also attract robbers and scam artists.  In selecting nighttime entertainment venues, travelers should consult guide books and hotel concierges, and should not be afraid to ask what type of entertainment the club provides.

Interior Travel

Highway travel in Brazil is relatively safe, though caution is in order, owing to high accident rates and heavy commercial truck traffic.  In the past five years, more than 150,000 Brazilians have died in traffic accidents.

Sao Paulo is the hub of a national roadway system (Rodovias) that links most major cities in Brazil.  Many of these roadways have been privatized.  They collect tolls and are well maintained.  Travel on any highway or rural road other than a toll road is discouraged at night, with caution appropriate even during the day.

Travel by car to northern Brazil, and the Pantanal and Amazon regions is discouraged.  Western portions of the states of Parana, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Caterina, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso and Rondonia (the Paraguayan and Bolivian frontiers), should be visited only with experienced guides because of the high volume of drug- and weapons-smuggling that takes place in those areas.  Unwitting eco-tourists who have stumbled onto back roads used by traffickers have been detained, beaten, robbed and even killed.

Terrorism

While the government publicly paints a pretty picture of a country without terrorism concerns, intelligence officials continue to fear that Muslim extremists, either from within Brazil or neighboring Paraguay, ultimately will strike against Sao Paulo’s large Jewish community.  They point to the attacks in the 1990s against Jewish targets in Buenos Aires as proof that a country need not be an active participant in the War on Terror to be targeted.  Sao Bernardo do Campo, a working-class suburb of Sao Paulo, is the home to the largest mosque in the Western Hemisphere, with several thousand faithful. Most are of Lebanese and Syrian descent and are strong supporters of Hizbollah. Radical clerics have been appearing with increasing frequency at the mosque.

While publicly critical of US foreign policy, Lula and Dilma have allowed Brazilian intelligence agencies to cooperate fully with their US counterparts, as they keep a close watch on several potential hot spots.  The area that has always been of the greatest concern is the tri-border region with Paraguay and Argentina, but there is a radical fringe of Brazil’s own Muslim community, which numbers between 1.5 and 2.2 million, that also bears monitoring.

MST, VC and Indigenous Groups

On 18 June 2010, Earth Liberation Front (Portuguese abbr: FLT) militants firebombed a Land Rover dealership in the northern zone of Sao Paulo, destroying eight new vehicles.  In an Internet video claiming credit for the attack, the FLT said that Land Rover had been targeted because its vehicles were high polluters.  The assailants’ actions were captured on a security video, but there have been no arrests. 

There are no other indigenous terrorist groups in Brazil, but indigenous groups are becoming more brazen in demanding their rights.  Guarani Indians living near the Paraguayan frontier are becoming especially aggressive.  The government has promised them lands along the frontier, but demarcation of the properties has been delayed because farm lobbies repeatedly have blocked the necessary surveys. 

The Movement of the Landless (Portuguese abbr: MST) remains active and has been focusing on the states of Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul.  The MST objects to the increased substitution sugar cane for soy beans as a cash crop, on the grounds that soy beans feed the world, while sugar cane is being cultivated mainly as a bio-fuel.  The MST also targets foreign agribusinesses that grow genetically altered crops.

Land occupations and other troublemaking by the MST and the transnational peasants’ rights group Via Campesina (VC) continue to bear careful monitoring.

The MST does not shy away from confrontation, and is adept at provoking violent reactions by police and landowners, which then become fodder for adverse press coverage of alleged human-rights violations.  It has been documented that in many instances MST agitators initiated violence to provoke a response in kind by security guards and police.

Brazil’s largest corporation, Vale (formerly Companhia do Vale do Rio Doce), has been a frequent target of the MST and VC, which claim that the government’s controlling interest in the company was auctioned off illegally in 1997, and that control should be returned to the people.  Agitators repeatedly have blocked train lines from mines in northern Brazil and occupied numerous Vale facilities.  Again, the use of violence by the protesters has been common, and more than 50 of them have been killed in recent years by security guards and policemen.

There is another aspect to land invasions that is little reported.  Squatters, often migrants from the poor northeastern sectors of Brazil, are paid to occupy land until it can be developed by well-capitalized entities registered as independent business entities.  Violence often takes place when government forces try to eject the squatters or when the squatters refuse to depart when the business entity attempts to take control.