José Luis Haile was arrested after allegedly calling a Brazilian woman a “black whore”, and he was not denounced by her, but by another progressive Argentinian who would have heard the argument.
The situation took a turn when Garcia decided to intervene. “At first I didn't pay much attention to it because I thought it was a silly argument. But when the racist told her to shut up and insulted her, I realized that it was serious. I decided to intervene because I saw her as very vulnerable and I thought it was the right thing to do. I am mixed race and we also suffer from racism in Argentina. But there is no law there that prohibits it. So I put myself in his place. Unfortunately, these types of people still exist, but we have to act with a heavy hand against them, otherwise this will never end,” he said.
A new episode starring an Argentiniancitizenin Brazil generated international repercussions after the arrest of a man from 67 years old accused of racial insult in Copacabana, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The incident occurred on Monday morning at a branch of the World Channel, located on Siqueira Campos Street, and involved Samara Rodrigues de Lima, a 23-year-old Brazilian girl, and as a defendant the Argentinian José Luis Haile, who was arrested and charged after the incident. The scene was witnessed by another Argentinian, the bricklayer Juan Esteban García, who decided to intervene and report the situation to the authorities, which
led to rapid police action.
The conflict began when Samara, who works as an application deliverer, was waiting in line at the supermarket with four orders to be processed. According to his story, he decided to stand in front of a box that was still closed with the expectation of expediting the purchase. Behind her was Haile, who began to express his discomfort at the delay and the supposed slowness in attention, which quickly escalated into an argument. According to the complaint cited by the media and the testimony given to O Globo, the young woman tried to avoid the conflict. However, when she answered that the line was closed and asked not to be sent to shut up, the man insulted her twice with the expression “black slut
”. Another Argentinian arrested for “racism” in Rio de Janeiro
The episode lasted approximately 15 minutes, from the moment the young woman arrived at the place until she managed to complete her purchase, in the midst of a climate of increasing tension and without the intervention of the establishment's staff. “I started to get angry with him and called him a coward because he spoke in a low voice during the racist insult. At the time, I was very nervous and angry. I didn't expect this to happen and expected a little more support from the supermarket staff, but the security guards didn't do anything. I went back to work this Wednesday. I couldn't work yesterday. I feel tired, still a little frustrated and afraid that something like this could happen again,” Samara said
It was Garcia himself who alerted the security guards, contacted the police and facilitated the intervention of two Municipal Guard officers, who proceeded to arrest Haile. The defendant was transferred to Police Station 12 in Copacabana and, as reported by O Globo, after a custody hearing held on Tuesday, the Rio de Janeiro Justice decided to convert the detention into preventive detention, ordering it to be transferred to the José Federico Marques Prison, located in Benfica, in
the city's North Zone. The Agostina Páez case and her return to the country
For its part, the World Supermarkets chain assured that the situation was quickly controlled thanks to the intervention of the Municipal Guard and emphasized its commitment to a “safe and respectful environment for all”. It was also reported that Haile has been living in Brazil for two years
.
The case adds to a recent precedent that also involved an Argentine citizen: Agostina Páez, a lawyer from Santiago who was held in Brazil for more than two months after being accused of racial insult in a bar in Ipanema, where she was filmed making gestures considered racist towards local employees. Páez returned to Argentina on April 1, after paying a bond of 20,000 dollars and with judicial authorization to await the final ruling in the province of Santiago del
