By Randy Paul of Beautiful Horizons
Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva has unveiled his program to fight crime in Brazil. There are plenty of good ideas here:
Brazil's prisons suffer from chronic overcrowding and aspart of the plan160 new ones will be built with special facilities toprovide jobs and education.
Brazilian prisons are notorious for corruption and especially for overcrowding and it has been festering for years, culminating in the massacre at Carandiru prison, resulting in the deaths of 111 prisoners. Prison guards are poorly paid, making them easy targets for drug dealers to compromise them. Torture and abuse of prisoners is endemic to the system. While this may please some with the impression that the authorities are being tough on crime, it is essential to remember that no one in Brazil serves more than thirty years in jail no matter the crime. Those who are treated badly will be back on the streets again with years of resentment and rage at Brazilian society - and precious little in the way of hope.
The proposals also aim to confront some of the problemsfaced by poorly paid police officers who have in the past often beenaccused of corruption. Grants are to be made available for training andhousing aimed at officers working in the most violent areas.
This is an excellent idea and has taken far too long to implement. Police in Brazil are very poorly paid and are expected to risk their lives for wages that often is barely above subsistence. Moreover, the poor pay and poor training often fails to attract those with the skills necessary to be effective and humane police oficers.
More than 400,000 young people, including former convicts, will receive job training and financial aid.
It is virtually an article of faith that those on the lower rungs of Brazilian society have litle reason to be optimistic about their future. While much more needs to be done in this area, this seems like a good start.
I agree with the comment from Viva Rio's director that the question is whether this can be implemented and Lula's comment that this is "not enough to compensate for centuries of inequality that gave rise to violence," but it is a start. While I would like to see other issues being addressed more directly, including torture committed by police and impunity for these acts, I'm glad to see that crime is being addressed in Brazil on a national level with more than just an iron fist and that the root causes are being addressed.
