Marco Archer and Rodrigo Case: The Last Years Of The Brazilians’ Lives

The profile of foreigners arrested while visiting Indonesia is almost always the same. Surfers who see a crime as a chance to stay in Bali, living a fantasy life, catching waves, going to parties and meeting beautiful women. "They live in a fantasy bubble that does not allow them to see the risk of what they do," said an Australian journalist.

They Lived In A Fantasy World

Foto: Reprodução/Web
Foto: Reprodução/Web

However, with the approval of the population, very hard laws rebuke the offenders and, if the penalty is the capital, the chance to escape is minimal. People know about the risks, but like any investment, the higher the risk, the higher the profit.

The problem in this case is that if it does not work, the price to pay is too high. Follow in the next slides the case of two Brazilians who bet high and ended up losing

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Republic of Indonesia

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The Republic of Indonesia, whose capital is Jakarta, is a large country located between Southeast Asia and Australia which is made up of the largest archipelago in the world, the Sunda Islands, and the western half of New Guinea.

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The location between two continents, Asia and Oceania, makes Indonesia a transcontinental nation. The country was invaded by the Portuguese, Dutch and English, mainly for the exploration and commercialization of spices.

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Many tragedies

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The Dutch ruled Indonesia for more than 300 years and in 1942, the Japanese arrived in Indonesia and ruled for three years. Indonesia declared its independence from the Japanese on August 17, 1945.

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The country has more than 250 million citizens and is trying to recover from a series of disasters such as the 2004 tsunami, the 2006 Java earthquake and the eruptions of Mount Merapi in 2010.

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Tourism

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Both its nature and local cultures are major components of the Indonesian tourism industry. The country has the third longest coastline in the world with 54,716 km, behind only Canada and the European Union. The beaches of Bali, diving sites in Bunaken, Mount Bromo in East Java, Lake Toba and the various national parks in Sumatra are some examples of popular destinations.

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These natural attractions are complemented by a rich cultural heritage that reflects the dynamic history of Indonesia and its great ethnic diversity.

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Beaches

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Tourism in Indonesia is currently overseen by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. International tourism campaigns have focused largely on its tropical destinations, with white sandy beaches, blue skies and cultural attractions.

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Resorts and beach hotels have been built in some of the most popular tourist destinations, especially on the island of Bali. In 2012, about 8 million foreign tourists visited the country.

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It's the law!

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As Indonesia has thousands of miles of unpatrolled areas, they compensate by imposing a very strict treatment on those who disregard the law. Whoever gets caught by the police there, does not have much to do but pray.

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The punishment will come without pity, and citizens and tourists alike need to be prepared to have the full extent of punishment for a crime to fall down on them.

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Marco Archer

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Brazilian Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira, who was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1961, was sentenced to death in Indonesia for drug trafficking in 2004 after being arrested in 2003 when he tried to enter the country with 13.4 kg of cocaine of the tubes of a hang glider.

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The case reverberated in Brazil, where capital punishment is prohibited by law.

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The First Westerner

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Marco Archer was the first Westerner to be shot in Indonesia. The Dutchman Ang Kiem Soe was the second - on the same day as Archer. Rodrigo Gularte was the second Brazilian.

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Rodrigo, 42, was executed in Indonesia at dawn on Wednesday, June 29, 2015. The penalty was also executed by a firing squad.

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His final day

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Marco Archer was shot in the early hours of January 18, 2015, after 11 years in prison and several adjournments of the sentence. It happened in the penitentiary complex of Cilacap penitentiary on Java Island, 400 km from Jakarta, the capital of the country.

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The execution, after denying all the requests for clemency made by the Brazilian government, created a crisis between Brazil and Indonesia. Brazil's President, Dilma Rousseff, called the Brazilian ambassador in Jakarta to discuss what happened.

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Documentary

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After the execution, Archer's body was cremated and his ashes transported to Brazil. On November 3, 2016,Curumim premiered in cinemas, a documentary based on Archer's life story. The videos were made by Archer himself.

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Before he died, Archer carried around a camera while on the death row and recorded images that were compiled in the film that was directed by Marcos Meadow.

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His life took a turn for the worst

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Archer himself confessed in the movie that he had done wrong and only asked for an opportunity to redeem himself. The chance was not given to him, after all, because he was executed by a firing squad in 2015.

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Originally from a privileged social class, he was the typical playboy from Rio, adept at beach and extreme sports. Well-related, talkative, good-looking, he made one risky decision that ended up ruining everything.

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He became a criminal

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When the money started to run out, the drugs Archer already consumed seemed like a good option to pay off his debts. He sold to his friends and, according to one of the deponents, even in the United States, he trafficked in the service of the Pablo Escobar cartel. He was not exactly an amateur, even though he considered himself a small drug dealer.

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The more he risked, the more profitable he was, to the point that Archer tried to pass 13.5 kilos of cocaine on the tubes of his hang glider at Jakarta Airport, knowing that in that country there is zero tolerance for drugs.

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Last chance

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The stash was discovered at customs, but Archer eluded the police and managed to escape from the airport through the airport's front door. He hid, but was captured 16 days later. He was then sentenced to death. Between appeals and delays, he waited 11 years before being executed. Smart, trickster, bon vivant, the poor judgment with the paraglider marked him.

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The years spent incarcerated began to weigh on him. And one last big stroke that seemed to him "the salvation of the crop" to raise big money and to retire: the operation Jakarta cost him his life.

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Dreams

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A surfer from Paraná Rodrigo Muxfeldt Gularte dreamt of living in Bali, Indonesia, catching waves all day and living in paradise surrounded by friends and, mainly, many women. In pursuit of this goal, he drew a bold plan: to sell cocaine in a country that punishes traffickers with the death penalty.

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The return would be high: almost $ 500,000 as a reward for carrying 6 kilos of cocaine to Bali.

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Comes easy...

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In an effort to make easy money to fulfill his dream of sex drugs and rock 'n' roll, Rodrigo did not seek information and therefore did not know that drug trafficking in Southeast Asia is playing roulette. Traffickers can face the death penalty in seven of the 11 countries in the region.

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In Indonesia, an archipelago with thousands of miles of unprotected coast, the danger is still greater.

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... Goes easy

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Rodrigo's daydreams went ashore on July 16, 2004, when he landed in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. The X-ray apparatus of the modern and newly acquired international airport quickly discovered the drug, hidden in surfboards.

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He became a prisoner, tried and sentenced to death by firing squad, Rodrigo waited for execution on the death row of the prison complex on the island of Nusa Kambangan, also known as the "Alcatraz" of Indonesia.

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He was born into a good life

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Born in Foz do Iguaçu, the son of Rubens Borges Gularte, a renowned physician from Rio Grande do Sul, and Clarisse Gularte, heir to a traditional family of soy farmers, Rodrigo always had opportunities and the best of everything. "What he wanted, he had. Just ask, "says Clarisse Gularte.

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"He was an angel, had good grades, studied, was educated. We dreamed that he would be a doctor, like his father. Like every jealous mother, Mrs. Clarisse blames the 'bad company' for her child's misbehavior."

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He started early

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At 13, in Curitiba, Rodrigo began to use drugs. First he smoked marijuana, then he smelled of solvents and before long he had tasted everything. At age 18, after being arrested for marijuana possession, he won a car and used the gift to travel around Latin America with friends, drinking and getting high.

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He then embarked on a frenzy of drugs, sex and rock 'n' roll. Always sponsored by his mother, Rodrigo traveled to Latin America, the United States, Africa and Europe, consuming all kinds of drugs.

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Mother is mother

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"I thought these trips would do well, that he would relax, get rid of bad influences," says Mrs. Clarisse. The result was the opposite. More and more addicted, Rodrigo returned in 1994 to Curitiba to meet with such "bad company."

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He ended up getting into traffic. He traveled to Europe and Latin America bringing various types of drugs. In 2004, the opportunity came to take the cocaine-filled planks to Indonesia.

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Prison and execution

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Rodrigo Muxfeldt Gularte was arrested with two other men living in the capital at Jakarta airport. The trio was caught, but Rodrigo took full responsibility for the transportation of narcotics. It was run in Cilacap, Java, on April 29, 2015.

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It's personal ... It's annoying, but they made their choices. Remember that life in crime is always shorter. Whether by law or for other reasons, offenders always leave early.