Surviving the soccer gangs

Luckily, everyone made it out of the stadium alive and without major injuries after yesterday's game between the U and Alianza. The barras bravas make it hard to get out of the stadium with your cell phone and money, much less without scars or bruises. 

Organized gangs of soccer fans, otherwise known as barras bravas, support a certain team. They stand throughout the whole game, shout organized chants and wear team gear. 

A few of them even have websites, including the Barra U Oriente and Comando Sur.

But they are also known for taking advantage of the large crowds at soccer games to steal in an organized fashion and create general chaos. Most games, spectators stampede out of the stadium to escape the barras bravas. 

A few months after I arrived, a young accounting student named Paola was killed trying to escape from the barras bravas. On the bus, she was suddenly surrounded by a group of guys from one of these soccer gangs returning from a game. Trying to escape, she jumped from the bus and was ran over. 

After the media coverage surrounding her death, the problem of the barras bravas escalated up to where finally Peru's president, Alan Garcia, responded to the incident.  Now, Paola's Facebook page has 64,600 friends in support of pursuing justice after her death.

The name barras bravas actually has it's origin in Argentina in the 50s and 60s. This article by GlobalPost shows how this organized crime has escalated to the point of stabbings and other violent acts at many Argentinian soccer games.

I was all excited to go to a game, after catching a bit of yesterday's Clasico, but I think I need to have all the stadium exits memorized before I go.