Wtf?

[BSS]

I try not to watch the news too much because I find it biased and sensational, but I couldn't help but follow the news of the murdered boy, Matías Beradrí. While I don't pretend that his death is different from many other deaths that occur here in Buenos Aires, or Argentina in general, I find myself very affected by it.

I studied here during University and have lived here for several years, so I understand that Argentine crime is a complicated issue. But instead of becoming numb to all of these terrible stories, I find them hitting me harder and harder.

The people who committed this crime originally asked for 500 pesos. A life goes for 500 pesos these days. The fact that this boy was able to escape but was recaptured and killed because no one would help him speaks volumes about our society. I can stop thinking about how desperate and sad that child must have felt-going from door to door, begging for someone to help.

What would I have done in a situation like that? Would I open my door and try to help, or would I hesitate? Would I just assume that the kid was trying to rob me, high on paco? I don't know, and that is extremely sad to me.

 

[steveinbsas]

For those who wonder what this is about:

http://www.buenosairesherald.com/BreakingNews/View/46848

 

[Sleuth]

For those who wonder what this is about:

http://www.buenosairesherald.com/BreakingNews/View/46848

Yeah, this story is really tragic. Everyone too afraid to open the door and try and help him too...

Also, does the Buenos Aires Herald actually have native English writers? What a horribly written story. It's almost unreadable.

 

[SaraSara]

I can stop thinking about how desperate and sad that child must have felt-going from door to door, begging for someone to help.

What would I have done in a situation like that? Would I open my door and try to help, or would I hesitate? Would I just assume that the kid was trying to rob me, high on paco? I don't know, and that is extremely sad to me.

That's a difficult question. Honestly, I must admit that probably I wouldn't have taken the boy in. I live alone, and would have been afraid it was s trick.

Nowadays things are so bad that we distrust everyone, and teenage boys are supposed to be particularly dangerous. Taxi drivers are deadly afraid of them - say they often are so high on drugs they fear nothing, and are capable of doing anything.

 

[davonz]

Also, does the Buenos Aires Herald actually have native English writers? What a horribly written story. It's almost unreadable.

I dont know, but i agree with you that it is very badly written..

You should contact the editor and tell him so:

http://www.buenosairesherald.com/Contact#

 

[sesamosinsal]

People are scared, and everyone runs around saying, "Yo, argentino, no me meto."

I was talking to an Argentine about this last night. His thought process made little sense to me. I had told him about how I saw two boys looking to pickpocket on the subway, and I was watching them like a hawk. If I had seen them do anything, I would have said something. His response was, "Noooo, because they might take out a gun and shoot you!"

This response makes sense up until you think what happens when it is your turn. Don't we all want someone to help us if we're in a similar situation? Wouldn't we want someone to tell us if someone were trying to pickpocket? Wouldn't we want someone to help us if we were kidnapped? All that time preserving your own your life by not saying a damn thing, and then you lose your own life (or your phone, purse, whatever) because.. no one said anything.

It makes me think of this quote in a way:

They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

Of course, this problem is really complex. But a good start to resolving it would be if people started thinking of themselves as being part of a community, as a group of people working together. There is a lot of divisiveness here.

 

[katti]

Indeed a shocking story, I have a 17 year old son who goes to fiestas de engrasados in Pachà (that's where Matias went to that night)... Although he was not kidnapped at that place, I don't think I will sleep next time he goes.

 

[sesamosinsal]

What a tragic thing. Logic can not come into play here. The criminals who did this are simply sociopaths and they are the ONLY ones to blame.

Everyone is cautious in this city...it is a necessary survival skill.

Why shouldn't logic come into play here? I think some logic is precisely what this debate needs. People demand more police, more public safety, blah, blah. Does anyone ever think how that's going to fix the problem? Putting more police on the streets is like patching up one hole in a tire and leaving several others open.

Maybe if people sat down and thought reasonably about this incident, then we could really solve the problem. You are correct that these people who killed the boy are to blame. But this is superficial, and there will be another group of people who do the same thing in the future. What about social justice and the values that are being taught? Where are the leaders of this country urging people to care for their fellow human? Why aren't the media urging people to cooperate with each other, to behave as community? (I know politics comes into play here...)

Everyone has to be cautious in this city because no one ever works out these problems. They don't ever think (Earth to logic! Earth to logic!) about anything. They just throw more poorly-paid police officers on the street, and the people here think that's progress. That's not progress because it's not fixing the root of the problem.