Pre-intermediate reading activity  By Viv Quarry (www.vivquarry.com)

 

Name:________________________________________

 

Put 'in' (x16), 'on' (x9) and 'at' (x3) in the spaces in this article.

 

Match the words in the article with their meanings:

 

1) bolstered     , 2) caucus       3) sued           4) tougher       5) inmates       6) graveyard

 

7) bill               8) hurdle

 

__ = harder,  __ = barrier,  __ = cemetery, __ = prisoners,  __ = planned law,  __ = made stronger,

 

  __ = take to court,  __ = political group

 

Friday 17 April 2015 12.00 BST Last modified_____Friday 17 April 2015 12.03 BST

 

Brazil's 'bullets, beef and bible' caucus wants to imprison 16-year-olds

by  Bruce Douglas_____Rio de Janeiro

Bolstered by rising resentment toward President Dilma Rousseff, Jair Bolsonaro and other right-wing politicians want to lower the age of criminal responsibility

Among Brazil’s weak and demoralised left-wing members of Congress, they are known as the “Bancada BBB”: Bullets, Beef and Bible Caucus.

These conservative hardliners – from Brazil’s security forces, agricultural sector and evangelical churches – triumphed_____last October’s legislative elections, while President Dilma Rousseff, of the left-wing Workers’ Party (PT), only narrowly won re-election.

Over the past few months, the president’s authority has been undermined by a massive corruption scandal, major street protests and the open revolt of many of her former political allies.

With a survey this week showing that 63% of Brazilians would support impeachment proceedings against her, an energised coalition of right-wing deputies are attempting to impose their agenda_____Congress.

Their long-term aims include liberalising Brazil’s gun laws and opening up its indigenous territories to industry. But their first goal is to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16.

Under Brazil’s Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA), the maximum legal punishment for someone aged 12-18 is three years’ internment_____a juvenile socio-educative detention centre._____theory, such a sentence is only applicable_____cases involving violence, though judges often interpret the law to include drug-trafficking.

One of the prime movers behind the attempt to change the age of criminal responsibility is Jair Bolsonaro, 60, a six-time federal deputy, who won more votes than any other congressman_____Rio de Janeiro_____the 2014 elections.

Speaking to the Guardian_____ his house inside an immaculate gated community_____Rio’s upmarket suburb of Barra da Tijuca, Bolsonaro said: “An adolescent can rape and kill 200 people and he is still not treated like a criminal_____Brazil. Most minors know that if they are going to commit a robbery, it is better to kill the victim as there is less chance of being caught, and if they are, the punishment will be the same.”

According to Unicef, however, Brazilian adolescents are far more likely to be victims of crime than perpetrators: of the 21 million aged 12-17, just 0.013% committed murder, robbery with murder, rape or bodily harm, while homicide was the cause of 36.5% of all adolescents’ deaths by non-natural causes. Thirty-three thousand Brazilian adolescents were murdered_____Brazil from 2006 to 2012.

Bolsonaro’s response to such statistics is to argue that PT’s social assistance programmes have encouraged “irresponsible paternity”. This has created a generation of Brazilians “who, sadly, have no future whatsoever” and who are prone to violence because of the lack of a rigorous criminal justice system.

The former army captain, who hopes to run for the presidency_____2018, is the indisputable poster child of the insurgent Brazilian right, and repeatedly courts controversy with gratuitously offensive speeches.

_____Tuesday he was ordered by a federal judge to pay R$150,000 (£33,000)_____damages for homophobic comments he made_____Brazilian TV_____2011._____an interview with Playboy that same year he said he would “rather his child died_____an accident than be gay”.

He is also being sued by Maria do Rosário, a former human rights’ minister from the PT, after he described her,_____Congress, as “not worth raping”. Over 10 years earlier he had told her the same thing,_____ the end of a televised discussion_____the age of criminal responsibility.

While claiming he exaggerated “a little” over his comments to Playboy, he was unrepentant over the comments to Do Rosário. “Who is tougher_____rape? I have presented two projects to Congress_____the issue: first, to strengthen the sentencing for rape; second, to offer chemical castration to offenders. But the PT has blocked them both.”

With over 550,000 inmates, Brazil has the world’s fourth-largest prison population. More than 40% of those incarcerated are still awaiting trial. But Bolsonaro believes prison is the best way to reduce the country’s extremely high level of violent crime. “I prefer a prison full of criminals than a graveyard full of innocent people,” he said.

_____31 March, the bill to lower the age of criminal responsibility passed its first legislative hurdle. A Datafolha opinion poll published_____Wednesday showed that 87% of Brazilians are_____favour of the bill. With such popular and congressional support, Bolsonaro is confident that finally, after almost two decades of trying, he will succeed. “As soon as the law is passed, I will put forward another constitutional amendment, to lower the age to 14,” he said.

However, even if Congress approves the bill, it would still require ratification by the senate. It may also face obstacles_____the supreme court. Earlier this week President Rousseff used her Facebook feed to condemn the proposal.

“Lowering the age of criminal responsibility will not solve the problem of juvenile delinquency,” she wrote, though she added that she had instructed her justice minister to begin a debate over the ECA.

Even those opposed to a lowering of the age of criminal responsibility question whether the three-year maximum sentence is sufficient.

Julita Lemgruber, a former director of Rio de Janeiro’s prison system, said there was a debate to be had over extending the period of custody for adolescents convicted of serious crimes. But she added the real issue was the state’s failure to implement existing legislation.

“The law is very clear_____the services that should be provided to adolescents when they are deprived of their liberty. But they never get them._____the contrary, instead they are put into these filthy and overcrowded places with nothing to do.”

But Lemgruber is worried that Bolsonaro will get his way. “The reality is that the federal government is very vulnerable_____ the moment. Everything is negotiable,” she said.