Berkley Center

This question was most recently posed to me by a cab driver, but it was just one of many times I had been asked that question. Brazilians seem to be very curious about how the rest of the world sees them, likely a symptom of their increasing importance on the international stage. His next comment, however, was even more enlightening than the original question.

“They talk about the violence right? They must be worried about you in a city like this.”

I hate that he is right. When people think about Rio de Janeiro, the first things they think about are sun, sand, and beach, but the second things they think about are drugs, gangs, and thievery. One of the first things I heard from friends and family when I told them about my study abroad plans was “Be careful,” instead of “Have fun!” or “Enjoy your trip.”

I feel that when people picture Rio de Janeiro they still see the city as it was in the 1980s and 1990s, filled with “shantytowns” called favelas that were home to drug cartels powerful enough to essentially govern entire sections of the city. Police in favelas were nowhere to be found; the drug lords policed these areas. Turf wars were all but constant. This is the version of Rio presented in media such as the film Cidade de Deus (City of God) or the TV series Cidade dos Homens (City of Men). This is the Rio that a lot of people still see.

But Rio is a different place today. The government began sending Police Pacification Units (UPP) into the most dangerous favelas in 2008, taking weaponry, power, and influence from the biggest drug cartels and all but shutting them down. Favelas the UPP has occupied are considered “pacified,” and turf warfare and gang violence there are more rare. In light of the World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, even more measures have been taken by the government to pacify these areas.

That is not to say that Rio is no longer a dangerous place. I have visited unpacified favelas where the presence of dozens of military police wearing full riot gear and carrying assault rifles is a daily occurrence. I have had young students to whom I teach English remain absent from class for weeks on end because their parents refuse to let them leave their homes in the favelas. It is too dangerous.

Of course violence occurs outside the favelas as well. My host mom has been assaulted multiple times while living in Rio. A friend of mine had his backpack stolen at 4 p.m. on a bright Tuesday afternoon. Another friend had her necklace ripped off of her neck on a crowded street. That is one of the most unsettling things about violence here. Often violent acts occur under the cover of night, on dark streets or unlit corners. Here violence is bold, brazen. It could happen at any time.

Rio de Janeiro, just like many cities in the United Statesand around the world, has a violent past. In some ways, it has a violent present as well. But I do believe it has a decidedly less violent future. I think it is important to remember that Brazil, and every other developing country, is in a place now that the United Stateswas in decades ago. It is facing the same struggles, such as violence, civil rights, and the economy, that in many ways we have the good fortune to have already overcome. I hope that one day, when Brazilians ask me what my friends and family think of their country, I will be able to tell them that they see it for the rising power that it is instead of the violent nation that it was.