Well, I can tell that a property company made a half page advertising here in Dubai for the property show; and the only Brazilian city on their list was Natal, That's when I decided to cancel my family trip to Italy (paid all the fines for cancellation), and buy something in the NE of Brazil.
Dotty, just for the record, Brazil is not a third-world country. JM already correct you but you keep forgetting, or don't understand ...
San Francisco easily goes in my top 5 cities of the world (disclosure: I'm not gay! not that there is anything wrong with that), nevertheless I was robbed there from Sheraton to the airport. My Argentinian friend was beaten to the floor, by two guys using guns, just for his pocket money. Still I love San Francisco!!
Anyway, I doubt that any foreigner doesn't know that there is violence in Brazil, they might be surprised that it is actually less than they would expect, especially outside Rio-Sao Paulo.