Sunday, December 14, 2008

Unreported World | Venezuela: Cult of the Thugs


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Aired: November 21, 2008 on Channel 4
Unreported World reveals how Venezuelans are increasingly turning to a mystical cult that worships the spirits of dead Robin Hood-style gangsters as they seek supernatural protection from a crime wave that the police seem unable to contain.

Reporter Nima Elbagir and producer James Brabazon join thousands of pilgrims on the slopes of Quibayo mountain as they converge for a mass "spiritist" ceremony- the holiest night of the year for a religion that seeks the protection of local gods and invokes the healing powers of ancestral spirits.

But the team discovers that adherents of spiritism have turned gangster-ism into an act of veneration, legitimising violent criminals with the trappings of mainstream religious belief. Murder is so commonplace that infamous gangsters are invoked not as criminals - but saviours.
Thanks to The Sydenham Infidel for the link

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