Fábio da Silva, 31 years old, is one of the survivors from the Candelária Massacre occurred in 1993, 15 years ago. What many people call “chance” – word that André Luiz asks to be removed from the Spiritist thoughts – made Fábio spend the night in a different place that unfortunate day. 

The case of Fábio da Silva was shown in the media because of the kidnapping of a bus occurred in the Southern District of Rio de Janeiro city in June 2000, which the outcome, as transmitted by the TV channels, was the death of both the teacher Geisa Firmo Golçaves and the killer, Sandro do Nascimento, a teenager who used to be one of Fábio’s colleagues and who also survived the Massacre which made Candelária known worldwide. 

The kidnapping is the central theme of the movie “Última Parada 174” (Last Stop 174) by Bruno Barreto, released in Brazil last October, having Sandro’s life as the focus, during a period when he was 20 years old. 

The violence observed in the case of the teacher Geisa and shown in the movie commoved the whole country and brought an old discussion up: the need to implement the Death Penalty in Brazil since, according to the idea defenders, only the fear of the death would be able to diminish the flood of violence that has increased out of control in our country. 

At that time, Fábio da Silva was no longer living on the streets as he could gradually recover his social life and find a job to support himself. Unfortunately, the same did not happen to Sandro who, in moment of desperation, abbreviated the life of a young woman who had never been seen by him and thus could not be hated by him. 

A journalist from a major magazine asked Fábio the reason by which he decided to leave his home and live on the streets at the age of seven. “It was right after the suicide of my father”, the explained. “He threw himself from the 17^th floor of a building”. Then his mother died from a heart disease, and with no-one remaining to offer a support, eleven brothers got lost.  

Stories like Fábio’s one are the root of many cases similar to the one experienced by Sandro, the criminal who the majority of the Brazilian society, without much care, would like to take to the electric chair, if the the Brazilian Constitution and the Penal Code so allowed. 

However, it is necessary to understand that weak souls like Sandro’s one need more a doctor than an executioner, more affection than a whip. 

Violence tends to generate more violence. While affection, care, understanding and support generate balance, harmony, preparing the individual to face tough moments with serenity because they are not rare in the world we live in.