BOPE/UPP and the taking over of Favelas

As many of you know, because of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics arriving here., the city is trying to clean up the image of Rio being a dangerous place. Statistics say that about 5-6 people a day are killed in Rio, this with a population of about 6.5 million. Most, if not all, are usually people from the favelas involved in drugs or innocent bystanders in these communities.

The UPP are supposed to be the “new” police force, a branch of the Policia Militar, who are to installed in the favelas. The idea is to get rid of the guns and violence. They know that they cannot eliminate drugs totally but they want the guns gone. There are many problems that come with this. Most communities of corse want guns and violence gone, but the problem stems in trust of the police. Favela residents, me included have no liking for the police becase of what they represent. To us they are corrupt and abusive people.

We have experienced so many years of abuse from the police even back when Brazil had the military dictatorship. Its very difficult after years of mistrust to all of a sudden expect the people to embrace the “new” police forces coming to “pacify” our communities. The police have a lot of work to do to gain the trust of the people and it will not happen overnight.

The way the police overtake a favela is they first send in the Elite Forces (BOPE) with their big skull, an armoured vehicles that drives through the favelas intimidating the residents, children included, by threatening to shoot them if they are on the street. They usually come in shooting. I think of them like trigger happy mercenaries that just want to destroy any living thing. The police usually announce they are coming beforehand to give the drug traffickers the opportunity to leave without incident. With most of the recent take overs, it has been fairly simple for the BOPE to come in and then after the UPP’s (Police Pacifying Units) are installed in the community. I often wonder if this is a temporary thing and if after the Olympics, will they leave and open up opportunity for the traffickers to return?

Once the UPP’s are there, their job is to show a presence in the community. In Santa Marta in Botofogo which has been under UPP control for over a year, there have been problems. When I went there to visit a friend, I spoke to him about the installation of the police and he felt, not much had changed in regards to them being there. Yes, the guns were gone, but drugs still were there. The safety net and security of the community that the traffickers provided was gone. People now in the favela were experiencing petty crime in the favela like house break ins and bicycles being stolen. These things did not happen when the traffickers were in control. These things are happening becase there is no punishment becase the police to not POLICE the favela. When I was there, they sat at the bottom of the hill in their car or were sleeping. I saw NO police walking through the favela trying to create a sense of dialog with the residents. My friend told me that not only petty crime but police abusing residents for no reason is still common.

I think most people, including the rich have a dislike for the police because they don’t do anything other than try to hustle bribes from mostly honest people. When I lived in the USA, I never saw this kind of thing. The police tried to police, but here they rarely do anything unless there is a cash payoff for them. This is becase they get paid so little. The police military starting salary is $1200 reais a month. I wonder where these guys live on this salary? Favelas perhaps? No wonder they extort bribes from innocents.

I live here in the favela and I fear the police more than the drug traffickers. There is something wrong with that when a law abiding citizen takes more comfort in feeling safe with a traffickers versus a police officer. There is something very wrong here. But this is our reality in the favelas of Rio.

Right now the favela is tranquil and quiet. We still have the PAC projet going on here which is why I think nothing big will happen yet. But after the government sponsored slum upgrading projet (PAC) is finished, I expect the UPP’s to make their move here. They want to clean up any tourist areas especially in the South Zone here in Rio.

It will be very interesting to see how things “go down” here in Rocinha, the largest favela in Rio with the implantation of these UPP units and if it happens. Who knows maybe the traffickers will make some sort of deal with the police. Hard to say as we can only wait and see.

For me, I am happy the way it is now as “the devil you know is better than the devil you DON’T know”

Jeep Tours Cancelled

I have written before about tourism here in the favela in previous blogs. I know that the Jeep Tours have been making tours of this favela for at least 10 years now. I remember seeing them back in 2001 but had no idea they were tours. I thought it was researchers working on specific projets here. I never really took notice of them until I started working in tourism myself. Then I started to take notice of what they do. This was important for me to know so I could offer a better experience for guests coming here.

They are a company that also does other tours around Rio de Janeiro. They are owned by a person who does not live in the favela and never did. Every now and then I would see then hire a driver from the favela, but not once did I ever see one of the tour guides from here. This is common with all the tour companies that work here. I only know 3 guides from the favela that work with these large companies. Favelatour.com I know has 10 guides working for them and only one is from here in Rocinha.

I know in the last three months many people in the favela started to speak up more against the Jeep Tours as they felt the tour operator presented Rocinha in a not very favorable way. First, people sitting in jeeps driving through a community, especially a poor one, made the visit out to be like a safari. The second was lack of connection or interaction with the residents. I know that I felt strange when walking in my community and somebody in a jeep would take my picture. I am not a (dangerous) animal in a zoo. I am sure that if I went to this persons community and did the same thing, I do not think they would like this. I know this sounds strange but imagine if I went to your community and took pictures of you, your house, your car, your child(ren), cat, dog etc., with little or no interaction with you…..you get the idea I am saying now? I can speak for most here in the favela when I say, that if you come on a tour here, please make a walking tour and try to find a guide who is from HERE IN THE FAVELA. When you walk through the community, you show that you embrace our community without fear. We appreciate this! And when you use a guide from here, you will get someone who knows everything about this place and will answer your questions honestly.

So, I cannot say the whole story but these tours stopped after the death of our Vereador (Councilman) Claudinho da Academia. All I can say is that our residents association decided that it best that these tours are not allowed here anymore. And I for one, are happy that they are gone. Who’s next?

Why English

Many people write and ask me why I write in English. The main reason is because in Brazil, people do not want to read about favela life. They have no interest. Actually most Brazilians have fear of favelas or they are ashamed about them. The majority of people who want to know about life here in the favela are people who are not from Brazil. Foreigners do not have the same kind of prejudice or judgement. Te media bombards people here in Rio especially about favelas and very rarely is anything nice said about them. This is why people grow up in Brazil, having these fears.

It is a shame becase a lot of good things come from places you would not expect, like favelas. My life is far from being a paradise or perfect, but I can say that my life is good and I am thankful. I have wonderful people in my life who I value. These same people are proud to live here and not ashamed to say they live in a favela.

I know many here in Rocinha that would not admit to living here to outsiders for fear of being judged. Unfortunately, there is this classist system here where poor people who live in favelas are made out to be criminals. The media does not help as all they show on tv about favelas are negative things. No wonder the middle and upper classes have fears of us. But these images need to change. The outside world needs to know that the favela is much more than the drugs and violence. There are many good and hard working people here.

I do not think people in Rio understand but take away, Carnaval, Samba, Capoeira, Feijoada, Pagode and Brazil, especially Rio would not have a identity. Those things I mentioned are ALL from the favelas.

Everyday life

Living in the largest slum in South America has its challenges. Life is very simple here. Water is one of those daily challenges. Here in Rocinha our water tanks on the roof are filled once a week. We have a pumping station at the top of Rua 1, which gets the water from the forest deep in the woods beyond Portao Vermelho, here in the favela. In the woods this water reserve is like a fresh spring and you can drink the water from there. Once the water is pumped through pipes, you cannot drink the water.

I watch how much water I use but I always have a back up. When it rains, I put buckets on the roof to collect the rainwater. I filter the water and put it in 2 litre bottles. I save this extra water for times when there is no water. I have saved about 30 bottles, about 60 litres. In the past, I have been without water, so conserving and saving is important.

When it rains its great as our resource builds up but for those who live high up the hill it can be dangerous. Some people who built shacks up under the tract of two brothers mountain did not think about erosion or building their houses into the rock. I read yesterday that 2 barracos (shacks) and a small bar were destroyed in the favela, becase of the recent rains. If it rains more than 3 days, there is always someone’s house damaged.
In April 3 lives were lost and 6 houses completely destroyed. This happens in many favela communities.

The streets here also flood and the water running down the hill could easily sweep a small child away to their death. Garbage is also taken down the hill. I once saw a refrigerator, a desk and a motorcycle helmet “swimming” downhill. The city clean up crews are used to this here in Rocinha as all the garbage meets at the bottom of the hill very close to the rich areas. So, of corse the city cleans it as soon as they can so the rich people do not complain.

Comparing US Ghettos to Favelas

These are MY observations and opinions about what I see are the differences between American ghettos and the Brazilian Favelas. I am not a expert. This is my opinions from being in both places, what I see are the differences between the two places.

I remember reading a somebodys post on a internet website about them wanting to visit a favela. There were people who responded negatively and one response in particular made me think. The responder had wrote “You would not go into a poor neighborhood in your own country, so, why would you want to do this in Brazil?”

For foreigners, I think attraction to favelas is different because of the way the media portrays these communities. It first starts in how Brazil is promoted by tourism and films. City of God brought the favela issue to the front and this brought more attention to the favela. Carnival and Samba also created curiosity about the favelas. Foreigners were not raised with the prejudice against the favelas like Brazilians have been. Its sad becase much of Brazilian identity is from that of the favelas. Carnival, Samba, Feijoada, many of brazil’s top football players, and Capoeira all come from favelas.

Ghetto’s, favelas, whatever we call them are underserved areas of poor people. How poor? You would have to decide on your own what levels of poverty exist there. I can tell you in living in the favela here, yes, we are poor but we are not as poor as the slums in India or Africa.


My Observations about USA Ghettos and culture in the United States

Ghettos can be the inner city black neighborhoods or the midwestern predominantly white trailer parks. Ghettos are poorer neighborhoods.

In the US there will always be this thing about the individual. They are always talking about individual rights etc..American ghettos show this first hand in the way some of the people speak “I gotta get whats mine!” I heard this many times. Rarely did I ever hear the word “we” as part of speech. The US is about the “me” or “I”. There is little or no community bonding in the ghettos.

The problem starts when the country tries to brainwash people into believing they have a right at the “American Dream”. Whats the American Dream? A house, car, good job, nice neighborhood, picket fence with back yard, 2 kids? What? This is what the country feeds to the people. You gotta buy a house with a 30-40 year mortgage?? What??? 30-40 years with a ball & chain?? How do you know if you will live that long?? The US is a big corporation consumerist place. If you do NOT have the lastest technology, there is something wrong with you. This is the problem. The system of economics makes the people feel inadequate if they do not buy. And people buy into this. This dream is only afforded to the very few. Now in the US it is so expensive to live that both mother and father are working so much to provide these “things” that they call quality of life. Instead of having a smaller house and living within their paychecks, they need to buy some huge house, fancy car and put themselves in debt for the next 10 years. why? For what? Who are they trying to impress? For all that working they do, who suffers? The children suffer becase their parents never have the time to give them the attention they need to develop as compassionate human beings. Instead the children become drone like becase their “parents” are now the video game, tv, computer or nanny. There is a lack of personal connection between parents and child which results in the cycle of the child becoming the same as the parents. Why have children if you do not have the time to give to them?

My interpretation of the American Dream is people who are slaves to their jobs. I could never live this way. Working 8-10 hours a day 5-6 days a week with 2-3 weeks vacation a year? What? Where is the quality of life? But people do this just to have that Landrover or 30 inch flat screen tv????

I do not understand this? There is nothing wrong with wanting nice things but at what cost to time and happiness? What happens with this is sacrifice of the family.

For people in ghettos the same brainwashing exists. Everybody wants nicer “things”. The key word here is “THINGS”. How about strong family values or a good education? What happened to those? Everything is about material things. So with that comes a culture of feeling like they need to have the nicest clothes, jewelry, cars etc.In many ghettos, there are cycles of families living off the government on public assistance/welfare in public housing projects. This welfare and public housing is provided to the poor by the government. This sets up people to be complacent and lazy. When the government gives you housing and 500 or more a month, why work? People get comfortable with this and eventually get trapped in it. All your needs are taken care of so why go out and find work?

In these housing projects, there is electricity, water and proper sewage.so, people do not have to worry about their toilet not flushing. Most of the inner city housing projects in places like New York and Chicago tend to be high rise buildings where the basic needs are met. In a high rise every person has their own separate compartment. It may not be pretty but its adequate. There is very little embracing of community with the way buildings separate people. And sad to say, that most housing projects get destroyed by the residents who need this housing. This I do not understand. Why would a person destroy a place they need?

With poverty, drugs, like most impoverished areas, are the way some feel they can “get ahead”. I think the government of the US dumped drugs into the black neighborhoods to destroy their communities. Back in the 1960’s and 70’s the black power movement was strong and developing many powerful leaders and role models for their communities. After the drugs came in, the community died. Money and power became more important than family and community values. Now in these neighborhoods, blacks are killing blacks. There is not so much the race war. Its about power, drugs, women, fancy clothes, expensive cars and who can get the most. This is the capitalist way but at what cost to these communities? With drugs, brings addicts, crime, prostitution and other social problems. Instead of growing up to be the next astronaut or fireman, kids want to be the king drug dealer. They learn what they see, kids are not stupid. And some of the rap music reinforces this negative cycle.

There are gangs which control drugs but they are in certain small areas of neighborhoods. If the guy on the next corner is selling more drugs, the other guy further down the road eventually wants to take the guys corner becase its about money. He doesn’t care if the guy is black or where he’s from. He just wants more money and will kill that guy to take his corner. This is how the gangs expand. And they instill fear in those neighborhoods by killing anyone who gets in their way. Some of the gangs are organized and connected to mafia like groups and some are more small time dealers. Everybody buys their stuff from somewhere and the connections run deep.

I always found it strange how in some of the US cities, whites would live in one area and other races would be in separate areas. In the southern states there is so much more racism against African Americans. They still have extreme groups who try to spread propaganda against immigrants and races who are not white as well. And violence against minorities still exists today. The only American city that I found had good integration, was San Francisco. That city still had areas like Hunter’s Point and Bayview which tended to be African American neighborhoods, but there were many areas where all races lived together with little or no problems.

People in ghettos are part of the problem with the drugs and violence. In order to have a drug dealing problem in your neighborhood, you first have to accept drugs in your neighborhood. Too many people turned their backs to this all becase of money and now look who’s in control. The parents are responsible to raise kids to stay out of that trouble. Parents are responsible to educate their sons and daughters about not getting pregnant at 15. Babies having babies and letting their kids run wild. But when they get shot, its all denial about how their kids was caught up in some bad shit. It all starts with parenting. If you raise your son/daughter to value school and education and follow through with discipline, why would he want to become a drug dealer. Every drug dealer has a mother or father. Kids learn from examples. The ghettos have lost their neighborhoods to thugs. And the people in those neighborhoods are responsible and to blame.

Americans have access to everything, if they have the money. The living standard is good. Food is plentiful. Water, eletricty and sewage work 99% of the time. Technology is some of the best in the world. Yet, when I was living there, people would complain about everything. It was as if the stress of trying to live up to a society expectation was a burden on some people. I saw many scenes of parents aggressively yelling or even hitting children in public. I started to see a country and people who were angry and on edge about their lives. It was as if it was impossible to keep up to expectations.

In the US they have everything, yet they are still not happy. I started to question, what is happiness in the US?


The FAVELAS (Rocinha)

Our origins in the favelas come from ex-slaves. We favelados started with nothing. We never had expectations. Our lives were about survival. But our communities are far different from the US ghettos. Our communities started with people migrating to different parts of Brazil to find work. We worked together to build our communities with very little resources.

The only thing we have in common with ghettos is that they are poor areas, but the way we in favelas function, it’s a world apart. Our favelas are very different from ghettos. I am glad I grew up here and not in a American ghetto.

The favelas are also called slums or shantytowns becase of the way the people constructed their houses. In the beginning we had no running water or electricity, no infrastructure. We would find land and we would build becase we had no choice. We built houses on the hills becase this was the land available to us. We used whatever materials we had or could get. Jobs paid very little and not enough for to afford rent in the “formal” city. So the government for the longest time turned their back while the poor would build their shacks on the hill. In the beginning there was not much confrontation becase the favelados represented a large work force for the middle and upper classes. Who else is going to clean your house or sweep the streets? As favelas grew the state started having concerns. When you live in conditions where there is no sanitation, eletricty, water or anything else, problems start. We had problems with garbage removal and becase of this rats and diseases spread. The government ignored our problems but always complained about us. In my favela Rocinha people started to organize and in 1961 we developed our own form of government to represent us to the outside world. We called it a residents association becase our leaders represent the people who live in our favela. They help educate us about our rights and protect our interests in the place we live. It is not perfect but they do more than the Rio government has ever done.

We are seen as marginalized becase we live in areas where the government does not or rarely provides services. Marginalization also has to do with the media and how we as people are portrayed to the non favela world. Most favelados do not have much education but then again we do not have opportunity to receive quality education becase the tax money is not there. But how can a person pay taxes when they are living on less than $700R (aprox.$400US) a month? The rich can send their kids to private schools which ensure them opportunity to get into university. This is foreign to the favelado. Our public schools fail to give us that opportunity no matter how smart you are.

In the favela, everybody works. We have no public housing/housing projects, welfare, food stamps or social programs. You don’t work, you don’t live. We care about our community regardless of the problems. In the favela it is a community effort for survival and nobody is better than anybody else. We are all equal, we are all favelados. Are favela is far from perfect but for us, it works.

When people construct their homes, there are always people willing to help. My neighbors helped my father build his house. There are groups of men in the community who know how to build houses so there is not shortage of help. The only thing that separates our houses in the favela from those on the outside, is money. This is the way it is. I remember a story my father told me when I was 8 years old. He was leaving the house and I asked him where he was going. He told me that he had to help a guy fix his roof. I asked him why? And he replied, becase someday son, you may need help with your roof. So, it shows that the people try to build a bond in their community. When the outside world ostrasizes the favela, the people in the favela bond together for support.

The difficult thing about favela life is that everybody lives so close together. There is very little privacy. If you are not careful, people can get in your business. My father always taught me to be nice to people but we don’t need tell everything about us to everyone. The house I live in has good privacy becase the walls are thick made of cement and bricks. I do not hear much noise from my neighbors. But when we lived in the shack, we heard everything.

Many people who do not live in favelas in Brazil think the favela is one big shit hole full of vagrants, thieves, and drug gangs. I think every place has bad people. We have people like this but the favela is much more than a few bad people. Most of the people who live here are honest hardworking types who only want their opportunity. The word “favelado” to me has only one meaning, a person from the favela. Just becase one is poor does not make them a criminal. This attitude of stereotyping favelados as marginal is similar to American ghettos residents being thought in the same way. Not every African American kid growing up in the ghetto is a drug dealer.

When I was a teenager growing up in the favela, life was very different. The favela did not have as much organization and we had more people who did bad things here. There was more petty crimes and abuse. Around 1983 came the drugs into the community and with that came the organized gang. There was a good and bad side to this but the community changed drastically after this point. In Rocinha, our first drug lord “Dennis” changed the way of negative social behaviors in the favela. The “traficantes” (drug dealers), not only sold drugs but acted as a internal police for the community. They protected the community from outside police and rival gang invasions and established social codes inside the favela. Dennis and his gang laid down the laws. There would be NO stealing, robbing, raping or killing. If you did any of these things, you would be punished severely. There were several reasons for this. First the gang was in control and wanted to establish stability in the community. The second was to show that the favela was a safe place for outsiders to come to buy their drugs. They only sell marijuana and cocaine. They have no interest in meth, crack, heroin, crank or any of that designer drug stuff. So if your looking for ecstacy (E) or mushrooms, you find that in the nightclubs outside the favelas.

Today in Rocinha, its one gang that sells here, only one and they work like a business. They work like a mafia type enterprise. They are a very organized cohesive group. If there is a problem within the gang, it is dealt with internally. The gang wants no problem with residents here. In exchange for selling inside the community the gang does provide some need help to people and will sponsor community events. They are certainly far from angels, but if you are not a threat to their business, they do not care who you are.

Today, the same social codes exist and unlike a US ghetto, I can safely walk through my favela anytime, day or night without fear of having crime done against me. In a ghetto in the US, I could be killed just for being the wrong color. There are no controlled social codes in the American ghetto. Its only the strong survive, again, all about the individual, certainly not about community.

Becase of our simple and different way of life, Brazilian society has referred to us marginals. Our community is not seen as the same as outside neighborhoods. Also, becase of the drug traffic and other bad things that go along with it, the “formal” city fears us. To admit to living in a favela is a stigma. I am at the age where I do not care and I will not lie about where I am from. I am proud of the people and my community here in ROCINHA.

Where else can I feel totally free and walk the streets safely at 3 in the morning with total freedom? Where can I walk in my community where I get greeted 10-15 times a day by my neighborhood people? All I need to do is walk out my door and find a party, no need to “crash” the party as there is no such thing. Today I decided I wanted peace so I stayed inside and relaxed. In Rocinha, you will never be lonely.

People socialize all the time here and there is always people out in the streets. When I show people my community they are amazed at how people are so friendly. I always tell them that just as you are curious about the favela, they are also curious about you. The media spreads so much lies about favelas that the outside world only knows this. When you have no more information about a place, you don’t have much choice on what you can think. We, who live in the favela knows that all the media talks of is negative things. So, we who live there often wonder if we live in such a bad place, why would people want to come. But we also know that people out there educate themselves and want to see for themselves. It is common to hear upper class Brazilians say to foreigners, “why would you want to go THERE?” Our lives are simple here, but we know how to enjoy life too.

Our street parties include everyone, nobody is excluded. We can have a party for any reason, samba, funk, football, birthday or just people who want to get together. If you decide to want to come for a visit, I am always available to show people a good time here that you will never forget. I do not know if the American ghettos have street parties anymore. In our club called “Emocoes”, we can have 3,000 people in there dancing and not one fight breaks out. Can that be said in any US ghetto club?

As I see it after all I have written, I hope you can see too that American ghettos are nothing like Brazilian favelas. We are both economically challenged but the people and the way they interact have nothing in common.



FAVELA ADVENTURES
http://www.favelatour.org
http://lifeinrocinha.blogspot.com
Facebook: "DeeJay Zezinho"
Orkut: "Favelado do Sucesso"
tel: 21-8221-5572

Shon Starr Tours

I had the opportunity to meet with Shon Starr, when he came to Brazil. He has been to Brazil before and he contacted me to see the favela of Rocinha, where I live. It was the normal initial contact of a person who wanted to see the community. I met him and his girlfriend Arielle at the Copcabana Palace at 9 am and we took the favela transportation to the top of the hill.

We eventually descended to see many things being a samba show, my friends awesome 360 degrees view of the favela, and to my roof where after a few hours we were able to sit have a drink, and talk with each other about our lives and goals with our work.

I found out that Shon was a Dj and had similar tastes in music and other things. When he told me about his tour company and website, I thought this was great because Brazil. Tourism is booming and will only get better with the coming of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games . I wanted to know more about his entrepreneurship so this is why I wanted to write this story about him. I find his company to be cutting edge and thing people need to know about him.

Where were you born and raised?

I was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I also spent about 5 years living in Nevada and California.
Tell me a little about your background (interests like art, sports, schooling etc)? I'm kind of a modern day renaissance man into everything from music to construction. I can make beats and rehab an entire house. I'm really into motorcycle riding though and own a couple of bikes, but my #1 passion is traveling, having visited over 13 countries and 100 cities.

Why did you decide to take my favela tour (and not another favela tour company) considering you had been here before?

Yes I had been to Rocinha before with some friends, but it was a quick visit and there was so much more that I wanted to see and learn about Rocinha. I had heard your name mentioned a few times for Favela tours and while doing some unrelated research on favelas in Rio I came across a video of you on Youtube talking about how your tours give you a much greater well rounded experience than what the other tour companies operating in Rocinha offer. So that really interested me especially since that's how I have always ran my nightclubs, done my promotions, and even deejayed my parties. I have always wanted to make what I do an experience and give people more and something different. This is also one of the main missions of Shon Starr Tours.

Were there things you saw in the favela that you could relate too?

Definitely! Even though there are many differences on the surface of how people live. When you get down to the basics we are all pretty much the same. Whether you're a trafficker, police, teacher, or even a tour guide most of us just want to live a nice life and have all of our basic needs met such as food, clothing, shelter, love, companionship, acknowledgement, etc. I saw this all over the favela and see it all over the world.

Your experience in the favela, how was it the same or different from poor neighborhoods in the United States?

One of the biggest differences was that it seemed like the residents of Rocinha have a lot more influence and control in their community than poor neighborhoods here in the US. It seemed to have very little outside influence. Poor neighborhoods here in the US are not as self sufficient as they are in Rocinha. There was one point in time when neighborhoods in the US were like this with many residents taking ownership and control of their community, but after segregation ended that drastically changed. Also in most poor neighborhoods here in the US you have a normal to heavy police presence. It still amazes me that with almost 300,000 people living on top of each other there is still law and order with absolutely no Police presence.

Tell me a little about the work (jobs) you have done in the past?

Every since I was a kid I had dreams of being in the nightclub business and owning my own club one day. I started out promoting and dj'ing my own teen parties at 14 years old and was spinning my first real nightclub gig even before I could drink at 16. I put a lot of time on the Philadelphia nightlife scene as a DJ/Promoter, eventually getting into management . After a few years I decided to take my act on the road and see what else the world had to offer and I ended up on the west coast in Nevada as a very successful General Manager running some well-known nightclubs for Caesars Palace Casino and celebrity Dennis Hof of HBO Bunny Ranch/Cat House fame. After a great run out west I came back home and took over running nightlife promotions for the Camel Tobacco Brand.

While taking a vacation in the Spring of 2009 in Costa Rica something magical happened during a hike in the Costa Rican jungle. I jumped off a 5-story bridge into a raging river and during that crazy jump I had a revelation that my purpose in life was now going to change. I knew right then and there that it would be my job to show people this adventure and thrill that I had just experienced and how beautiful the world really is. So I got back home and did a whole bunch of research, took some classes on tourism and travel, and then decided to launch Shon Starr Tours. But the world is big and I needed to focus on one place that I could learn like the back of my hand and become an expert on. So after visiting Rio de Janeiro in the Summer of 2009 I knew this was the place. I felt at home in Brazil and knew immediately that this was the place. After Rio won the 2016 Olympic bid that was the icing on the cake that sealed the deal for me. So I resigned from my comfy job with Camel Tobacco in February of 2010 and came to Rio to launch Shon Starr Tours and here I am.

Do you feel your past experiences in your other jobs will help with your new venture?

Absolutely! One of my nicknames in the nightlife world was the "Prince of Promotions" and I plan on bringing that same energy and success to my tour company. It's going to be a fun adventure not only for my clients, but also for myself. I don't care about being the biggest, but I will put my butt on the line and guarantee that I will be one of the best if not the best.

What first attracted you to come to Brazil?

I always like to say the beauty and the booty is what attracted me here. Brazil has the complete package. Hands down it has some of the most beautiful natural scenery, culture, music, people and also women on the planet.

What separates you from others in the tour industry?

I like to think of myself as the "special agent" of travel. I'm the guy you call when you want something adventurous, fun, and lot different than your usual plain jane trips. My focus is not only on being a great tour company, but being a great entertainment company as well. Meaning that along with the best tours you are also guaranteed a great memorable experience. I'm probably the one guy who could actually make a trip on a deserted island off the coast of Alaska fun and unforgettable. I mostly cater to private groups and VIP individuals and I don't just sit by the phone waiting for someone to say hey I would like to book a trip to Rio, can you help me? I create the party here too promoting at least one fun themed trip a month from the U.S. to Rio de Janeiro. On these themed trips I take between 10-12 special guests here to Rio for a week long party filled with plenty of culture, sight seeing, adventure, and partying. It's a real great opportunity to experience Rio in a group environment especially for those who would ordinarily travel alone.

What groups are you trying to attract with your tours?

I specialize in mid to high end Mancations, Girlcations, and Couplecations. I also will be promoting special Cougarcations for those energetic older women who still have it going on and are looking for some adventure.

What do you see in the future for your company Shon Starr Tours?

I'm very excited about this venture. I have a great team behind me and we plan on bringing some real exciting things to the tourism and travel industry. I'm a hustler, workaholic and perfectionist too so the future looks very bright. I actually see myself eventually being one of the most famous individual tour and travel promoters in the world and being a very instrumental player in promoting travel to Brazil.

Do you have plans to eventually move to Brazil?

Of course! Working on that now. Brazil is an amazing country and I love it. I'm a Rolling Stone though so I will never have one place that I call home, but Brazil will definitely be one of my homes.

Is there anything more you would like to say?

I was just like to say thanks to all the beautiful people of Brazil for all of their help, support and for creating such a great, fun, and exciting country. Yes Brazil has it's problems and has a way to go, like a lot of countries including the U.S. with things like poverty and a more equal distribution of wealth, but there is so much potential for great this country and I look forward to showing it off to the world.

Please tell us where we can see your website and any other websites/blogs you have?

I have my wild and crazy travel blog/website :
The Adventures of Shon Starr at http://www.shonstarr.com and my team and I also have the Brazil Geeks website at http://www.brazilgeeks.com giving you all the latest and greatest info and photos on Brazil.

Brazilian Police and their Cruel Tactics

Fundraising Party Cancelled!

I think everybody in the world knows about the immense flooding that took place here in Rio de Janeiro in the beginning of April. A total of about 250 lives were lost and 95% of those lives were favela residents.

The most lives were lost in Niteroi in places like Morro do Bumba, where the community was build on a garbage dump. But the Favela of Prazeres in the area of Santa Teresa in Rio de Janeiro, also lost about 30 people.

There has been a lot of donations and organizations formed to aid those people who have been displaced from their homes. My friend DJ Tee Cardaci lives very close to the Favela Prazeres and has many contacts there. Tee has had the opportunity to visit me several times here in Rocinha and he is a great guy.

He somehow through his connections, was able to hook up with dj’s who had planned a fundraiser for Prazeres. The plan was the party to be on Thursday night 29 April. There would be dj’s Tee, Marlboro and Sany Pitbull. And entertainer B’Negao. The thought of this party was to raise money to help those families living in the community that lost their homes or needed help.
All the money was to go to people in need. The Dj's are the best in Brazil.

I was in Santa Marta on Thursday and some of the guys there were going to go to the party. I would have loved to go, but there is a problem. Rocinha and Prazeres are controlled by two different drug factions. Rocinha is controlled by the ADA (Amigos dos Amigos) and Prazeres the CV (Comando Vermelho). I would be risking my life by going there. Even though I am not involved in any way with the drug factions, the guys who control Prazeres might think that I am somehow a threat. Sad, but true. It would be nice if the gangs could leave residents out of their personal wars.

I still think that the party is a great idea to bring exposure to the suffering of those in the favelas. And to help people who otherwise would receive nothing.

So, after returning from Santa Marta, I went to the internet to my Facebook page and read “PRAZERES COM MUITO ORGULHO” which means Prazeres with much pride. So, I thinking, great this party is on and many people will benefit from this. I may be from another “rival” favela, but I have in my nature wanting to see people helped who need it no matter where they are from. About 40 minutes later I read, “Party is cancelled due to problems beyond our control”. So, I am thinking wtf???

Today I get back on the internet after my tour and read that BOPE (Rio’s type of SWAT team) went into the favela to shut down the party. They kidnapped the head drug lord there and demanded a ransom. The police knew that it was the drug lords party and that there would be a lot of money around, which is why they did this. So much for cops just “catching the bad guy”. The story goes is that Eduardo Paes the governor of Rio does not want to see this favela helped and would like too see it removed. So it is as if the governor does not want to see these people helped. Especially by outsiders which the majority who would have gone to this party would have been. Shame on the government for doing this. Yet the government does not want to help people who need it the most right now, why not allow outsiders to help?

If I get more information, I will report it.