Eike Batista has been bragging about his vast wealth and its inexorable rise. Hubris swiftly followed by nemesis, as his son is all over the headlines - international as well as Brazilian - for killing a cyclist while driving daddy's supercar. An unfortunate accident ? Of course. Always, when you're part of Brazil's elite class. I was drawn to the second-most popular readers' comment in the Daily Mail coverage:
"I'm Brazilian and I have read the news in the Brazilian news papers, the victim was cycling on the side of the highway and was hit when Mr. Batista's son tried to overtake a truck. This guy is probably guilty but nothing will happen to him, needless to say why. There were plenty of eyewitness that confirm this version, why? Because most Brazilian highways have no points for pedestrian crossing, so probably there were other people waiting for 20 minutes or longer until they had a chance to cross it, who saw it happening. Poor people in Brazil like this victim are not considered human beings and all the system in place is designed to favour the rich and the influential. This only made headlines because he's the son of one of the richest men in the world, but action stops there. This sort of "accident" happens on a daily basis in Brazil. In time: Do not worry that Brazil now is the 6th largest economy, in many other aspects we are behind many African countries standards."
Update: Eike Batista hires former minister to defend his son. (HT: Pri)
"I'm Brazilian and I have read the news in the Brazilian news papers, the victim was cycling on the side of the highway and was hit when Mr. Batista's son tried to overtake a truck. This guy is probably guilty but nothing will happen to him, needless to say why. There were plenty of eyewitness that confirm this version, why? Because most Brazilian highways have no points for pedestrian crossing, so probably there were other people waiting for 20 minutes or longer until they had a chance to cross it, who saw it happening. Poor people in Brazil like this victim are not considered human beings and all the system in place is designed to favour the rich and the influential. This only made headlines because he's the son of one of the richest men in the world, but action stops there. This sort of "accident" happens on a daily basis in Brazil. In time: Do not worry that Brazil now is the 6th largest economy, in many other aspects we are behind many African countries standards."
Update: Eike Batista hires former minister to defend his son. (HT: Pri)
True.
ReplyDeleteI can attest to that perspective.
ReplyDeleteThat could only be something out of the Daily Mail. I can say that I know a lot of good people doing good things here in Brazil to change things for the better - it is easy to turn your back at problems, do nothing to change and yet criticise a whole country as if we were all the same!
ReplyDeleteAngelica, surprised to see you here again. I thought we were going to agree to disagree. You have a vested business interest in promoting Brazil and that's that. I didn't "turn my back" on the country but simply returned to my own country in order to improve my chances of making a living and supporting my family. As for Batista, it doesn't take much imagination to guess that he will have hired the best PRs around and spent whatever it takes to promote his side of the car crash story. If this blog's (nowadays very infrequent) comments on Brazil are so wrong-headed then please just ignore them. PS - The Daily Mail is I believe the world's best-read newspaper, thanks to it's online version; it's lazy journalism to keep shooting the messenger rather than counteracting the message with hard facts.
ReplyDelete