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Brazil has a
reputation as a rather dangerous place, both for people and their
possessions. It's not entirely undeserved, but it's a subject that
is often treated hysterically, and many visitors arrive with a
wildly exaggerated idea of the perils lying in wait for them. While
you would be foolish to ignore them, don't allow worries about
safety to interfere with your enjoyment of the country. Certainly,
if you take the precautions outlined below, you are extremely
unlikely to come to any harm - although you might still have
something stolen somewhere along the way.
Robberies, hold-ups, thefts
Remember that while being a gringo can attract unwelcome attention,
it can also provide an important measure of protection. The
Brazilian police can be extremely violent, and law enforcement tends
to take the form of periodic crackdowns. Therefore, criminals know
that any injury to a foreign tourist is going to mean a heavy
clampdown, which in turn means no pickings for a while. So unless
you resist, nothing is likely to happen to you. That said, having a
knife or a gun held on you, as anyone who's had the experience will
know, is something of a shock: it's very difficult to think
rationally. But if you are unlucky enough to be the victim of an
assalto , a hold-up, try to remember that it's your possessions
rather than you that's the target. Your money and anything you're
carrying will be snatched, your watch will get pulled off your
wrist, but within a couple of seconds it will be over. On no account
resist: it isn't worth the risk.
The Police
If you are robbed or held up, it's not necessarily a good idea to go
to the police . Except with something like a theft from a hotel
room, they're very unlikely to be able to do anything, and reporting
something can take hours even without the language barrier. You may
have to do it for insurance purposes, when you'll need a local
police report: this could take an entire, and very frustrating, day
to get, so think first about how badly you want to be reimbursed. If
your passport is stolen, go to your consulate first and they'll
smooth the path. Stolen travellers' cheques are the least hassle if
they're American Express: in Rio and São Paulo they take your word
they've been stolen, and don't make you go to the police.
If you have to deal with the police, there are various kinds. The
best are usually the Polícia de Turismo , or tourist police, who are
used to tourists and their problems and often speak some English or
French, but they're thin on the ground outside Rio. In a city, their
number should be displayed on or near the desk of reasonable hotels.
The most efficient police by far are the Polícia Federal , the
Brazilian equivalent of the American FBI, who deal with visas and
their extension; they have offices at frontier posts, airports and
ports and in state capitals. The ones you see on every street corner
are the Polícia Militar , with green uniforms and caps. They look
mean - and very often are - but they generally leave gringos alone.
There is also a plain-clothes Polícia Civil , to whom thefts are
reported if there is no tourist police post around - they are
overworked, underpaid and extremely slow. If you decide to go to the
police in a city where there is a consulate, get in touch with the
consulate first and do as they tell you.
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Drugs
You should be very, very careful about drugs . Marijuana - maconha -
is common, but you are in serious trouble if the police find any on
you. Cocaine is not as common as you might think as most of it
passes through Brazil from Bolivia or Colombia for export.
Nevertheless, the home market has grown in recent years, most
worryingly for crack cocaine, which is generally controlled by young
and vicious gang leaders from the favelas of the major cities.
Be careful about taking anything illegal on buses: they are
sometimes stopped and searched at state lines. The most stupid thing
you could do would be to take anything illegal anywhere near Bolivia
as buses heading to or from that direction get taken apart by the
federais. Much the same can be said of smuggling along the rivers
into Peru and Colombia: don't even think about it!
Google maps
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Brazil
guide
Brazil
Where To Go
Weather
Average temperatures
Getting there
Visas,
consulates
Insurances
Travelers with disabilities
Costs, Money And Banks
Getting Around
Eating And Drinking
Street foods, snacks
Restaurants
Vegetarian/natural
Soft drinks, hot drinks
Traveling with
Kids
Robberies, hold ups, drugs
Women travelers
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lesbian
Best of Brazil
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Info and
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-Carnaval
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Cup, Festas Juninas
Soccer, football
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to a football match
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teams, clubs, shirts
Nature and
Amazon
Brazilian
music
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sound
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singers, musicians
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rhythms
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