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I’m the Canadian who was detained by ICE for two weeks. It felt like I had been kidnapped
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2025
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Inhabitant of a 3rd world country here
I don't think "kidnapped and tortured by the government" is a thing we've done much of since the US stopped funding our far right dictatorship in the 80s (and the military immediately fucked off and 'let democracy take its course' when the funding dried up).
.... Let us not speak of what our criminal factions get up to though.
So I've always wondered,
Are criminal factions avoidable in whatever country that is?
Like here in the US we always hear random horror stories about Mexican cartels, but we almost never hear about crimes elsewhere in the world. Honestly, I've kind of assumed that crime is a made up American thing to put minorities in jail.
The country is Brazil.
If you are unfortunate enough to live in the favelas (aka: Very very poor in a big city), you'll be under their thrall.
But the little secret is that.... They end up being not that different from the government. They have their own 'laws', and if you follow them, you'll be left alone. Their protection rackets become like taxes, except instead of going to jail for not paying, you'll get tortured -- And you might even benefit from them in a way.
A friend of mine tells a story about doing social work in a favela, and how after years of neglect from the government resulting in kids from the place not getting vaccinated, the local crimelord bought the vaccines with his own money and had his own paralell vaccination campaign for everyone that was properly paying their protection money. Hopefully you won't catch a stray bullet when the illegal liege lord of your neighbourhood-fiefdom is at war with the police or another neighbourhood-fiefdom's illegal lord for the umpteenth time that year.
If you are not in the favela....
... Well.... If you buy weed from a dealer or borrow money from illegal lenders and don't pay your bills, they'll probably abduct you and break your legs.
If you do none of those things... You might get pickpocketed or mugged, but that is honestly the extent of interactions that I, a rich boy from the third world, have had with the criminal factions of my country. Muggings. Being threatened and told to hand over my phone (which I did, I'm not stupid). Having a gameboy swiped from my bag while at an anime con.
Honestly? That sounds no different than living in the lowest income areas in the US.
That was my thought
So it's basically just like the US.
Except I can probably be mugged in any city over 50k. Pickpocketing I've only really known about in big cities.
Fuck I love Canada - I haven't been mugged in my entire life, and I have done lots of walking around dark cities
Most of us haven't been pickpocketed or mugged, but you hear about it in cities that approach 7 digits enough.
"Honestly, I've kind of assumed that crime is a made up American thing to put minorities in jail."
It's definitely not made up, although it may be exaggerated and positioned to drive fear.
I've been to a couple dozen countries at this point, primarily but not exclusively in low and medium low income countries.
Based on my experience (which is, in sum total, still pretty limited), organized crime groups will often try to avoid stirring up trouble with tourists and expats as incidents can generate too much heat and could hurt too many wallets.
I also got the impression that organized crime groups in most countries typically try to avoid stirring up too much stuff with locals as that too can draw heat. This is assuming that the locals likewise try to avoid stirring things up with organized crime members.
People living in Mexico may in many cases may be more exposed. Then you've got failed and near failed states like the DRC where things are really, really dire.
There often are areas that are best to avoid and if you do go there, you'll want to keep a low profile. This is true in the USA, parts of Europe, and many low and medium low income countries. I've ended up in some pretty shady areas through life but never had anything happen. That said, the risks are heightened.
There are also safe low and middle income countries that are, at least with violent crime, much safer than the USA and other high income countries. Examples: Malaysia (upper middle income), Vietnam, Costa Rica.