Brazil - Brazzil Mag - One Year Later, No Word on Brazilian Kidnapped in Iraq

It has now been a year since Brazilian engineer João José Vasconcellos Júnior was kidnapped in Iraq where he was working for Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht.

A convoy that Vasconcellos Junior was travelling in near the city of Baiji, in the so-called Sunni triangle, was attacked by terrorists and he was taken hostage on January 19, 2005.

The Foreign Ministry says that ever since the confirmation of the abduction of the Brazilian everyone in the government, from president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva down, has done all that was possible to free him.

However, the Ministry adds, the area where the kidnapping took place is very dangerous and the site of frequent skirmishes, attacks and bombings, which makes it extremely difficult to get reliable information.

Brazil has set up an "Iraq Center" at its diplomatic representation in Jordan and used that as a base for investigating the case.

Army...
written by Guest, 2006-01-20 16:27:00

Send in the powerful brazilain army to fetch the guy.
Perhaps the Navy? The marines? oops there are not such thing as marines in Brazil. There are however lots of marinas and Marinas.
How about the glorious Air Force. Is there any plane left in flying conditions? Any pilot ?
Better yet drop Da BOMB.
Perhaps the aliens will help. Call in the little green men from Mars.

Offer: Brazil gives you 100 corrupt politicians and you let the poor guy come home.
Hey, Abbdullahh, you might learn a trick or two regarding corruption as a way of life. No more war. Just corruption imported directly fro baaaraazilll.

Too risky, right?
But then, who cares?
Those idiots kidnapp each other parents and ask Allah to be meu bon Allah for ransom.

Maybe a bit of:hualh bazir haung rehez iathir addballa.
may convince them suckers.

But its true and sad. I wonder if the guy isn't alredy dead meat. Saddness in the family.
Lets pray anyway. The guy was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Life sucks.

Drove past the scene right after it happ
written by Guest, 2006-01-20 22:12:18

I work for a PSD company (not Janusian) and we drove past the ambush scene right after they got hit. I have often wondered what happened to this poor guy. In all likelyhood he is no longer alive, to be brutaly honest. He never really stood a chance, with the way his security team operated.

After ONE year......
written by Guest, 2006-01-21 09:29:34

.... not a word from Brazilian justice or government for the policemen who violently killed 30 brazilian innocents for no reason.

Nobody remembers ?

It is curious that the 2 or 3 brazilians killed outside Brazil are far more important in the brazilian press than the thousands deaths of innocent brazilians, killed by policemen and landowners that never go to jail.

Suggestion to family of Brazilian Engine
written by Guest, 2006-01-21 10:25:03

I am familiar with the insident, I never met the man. Thats got to be one of the worst areas in Iraq (security).

I have heard comments that the reason why the convoy was attacked was because the main security company (jenusian) was using iraqis from another part of Iraq and the local tribe (jengi) wanted to make a statement: that unless they were given a prominant role in helping secure the project site....no one would be safe.

After the incident Jenusian fired the iraqis, and quickly hired on the local Iraqi's from the jengi tribe. After this, it was peacefulll as could be.

Bayji, Iraq is the heart of Iraq's electrical power generation, from there multiple 400KV transmission lines spread throughout Iraq, it is also the main hub for locomotives in Iraq, many rail lines meet in Bayji. There is a major oil refinary there also.

It was a stupid desision not to involve the local tribe with the security from the beginning. The way things work in Iraq is that anywork taking place within a certain tribal boundary has to be blessed and money, and major cooperation has to be sought from the local tribe.

I don't blame the Iraqis for the incident,..I would have done the same thing...it would be an insult to me and I would have also been very pist off if someone else was profiting from the land that my family had owned for hundres if not thousands of years and not paying me a dime and acting all arrogant.

During saddams time, he paid the local tribes to keep the Bayji refinary area open and running as smooth as possible. The stupid americans and all those helping them are slowly realizing how buisness is done in this part of the world. Sadly an innocent victim who was trying to do his job had to go missing for justice to be done.

I recommend that Odebrecht send and the brazilian government send a delagation to bayji. They can stay at the transient camp inside the refinary, next to Unit 3 & 4. They should offer the local Jengi tribe money and meet with them in person. Inorder to secure the body or the release of the man. I personally beleive that he died in the incident. An office in jordan will do nothing to solve this mistery,....you need to talk to these people face to face.