Tourist van robbed outside Rio

[Fattony]

http://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-politics/tourists-robbed-in-tijuca-forest-rio/

 

Apparently no one hurt, thankfully. Perhaps an incentive to, when on tours, to leave valuables, such as money and credit cards you don't need on the tour, iPhone, etc., in a safe in your hotel or on board the ship. I would go to Rio, and even Tijuca Forest, and probably wouldn't bother going without my camera, but I would make sure it was an inexpensive digital camera.

 

Yes, crime occurs everywhere in the world, but I doubt even many Brazilians would say cities like Rio, Sao Paulo, Recife, etc. are just another big city (that said, my Brazilian wife now feels that crime here in Fortaleza is getting worse than in Rio). How much of a difference the increased police/Army presence in Rio favelas is having on diminishing crime (vs. just pushing the gangs to other areas), remains to be seen. No need for anyone to get defensive about stories of crime in Brazil. Hopefully the police there, and elsewhere, are becoming reliable. The judicial system, a lack of stiff penalties (and the presence of early releases), may also be changing. Vamos ver.

 

I would not urge people to avoid Brazil, just to be very careful.

[VidaNaPraia]

This happened a few weeks ago (so why post now?) in a very remote area in Rio (within the city, but still a densely forested area with little traffic of cars or people).

And as noted in the thread below by the last poster, the crime was solved rather quickly by the police and the victims actually seem to have gotten their belongings back.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2315665

While it is always wise to remember to be vigilant, especially in larger cities in Brazil, an incident such as this should not deter tourists from visiting.

[Keith1010]

Yes, this was posted a few weeks ago.

 

Keith