MUSIC: Radar: his imprint is all over
ear 11—No.1100—October 1999
POLITICS: FINDING REASON FOR OPTIMISM
IN GOIAS ALL THAT GLITTERS IS GOLD
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LIFE AND DEATH JOAO CABRAL
IMPRESS BUNDA, A BRAZILIAN DELIGHTFUL LANDSCAPE
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While not making headlines as Kosovo. Brazil is in the middle of a civil war, so insidious and vicious in fact that the country is battling every year the equivalent of four Kosovo wars. There were 10,000 deaths during the 16 months that lasted that conflict. This year alone, 37,000 Brazilians will be murdered, most ofthem in cases related to drug trafficking.. According to UN guidelines, a nation with more than 50 homicides a year in a group of 100,000 should be considered in a state of war. Although the country as a whole is half way from that mark, some urban centers are more than qualified as war zones. VitOria (capital of Espirito Santo), for example, has 64 murders per 100,000 residents; Sao Paulo, 59; Rio, 50. Up until recently it was common for people to shrug this tragedy off with a "it's a lost case" or "there's nothing I can do." This it-comes-with-the-territory attitude, however, has ended, at least for now. Fueled by a congressional enquiry that seems intent on not leaving any stone unturned the whole country is in the midst of a cleaning-up frenzy, denouncing abuses and stripping the power from all kinds of elected and nonelected thugs. The collective action is working as a national catharsis and many people are abandoning their fears of reprisal and their misgivings and thoughts that is useless to do anything. Many are coming into the open to tell what they know about abuses and corruption. Corrupt politicians and police officers are being made accountable. It's been a great start. R. M. As you might know, Brazzil is a very small operation: one person and some volunteers who help as and when they can. The magazine is coming out almost two months late and I'm sorry for that. I don't see me catching up soon, but rest assured that the content is fresh and you will get all the issues you've paid for. Thanks for understanding and all the best. Send mail to: P.O. Box 50536 - Los Angeles, CA 90050-0536 Ads/Editorial: (323) 255-8062 Subscription Information: (323) 255-4953 Fax: (323) 257-3487 Brazzil on line: http://www.brazzil.com E-mail: brazzil@brazzil.com Publisher and Editor: Rodney Mello Art & Design Director: Marina Yoshie
Cover Taking a bite out of crime
11
onia Mthine
Contents
17
Memory There goes Bardi, Mr. Museum himself Economy Guarana soft drink goes global
21
Politics Finding reasons to be upbeat
22
Poetry Joao Cabral, our greatest poet, is gone
24
Impressions A landscape called buttocks
27
Short Story "The Train Departure" by Clarice Lispector
34
Travel The gold and the people of Goias
31
Music Everybody wants to do a chorinho
45
Profile Radar. For sure you know his music
54
Special Life in Brazil before inflation times
E-mail: marinayoshie@hotmail.com
Commercial Director: Leda Bittencourt Entertainment Editors: Sam & Harriet Robbins Book Review: Bondo Wyszpolski Music Editor: Bruce Gilman Brazil Bureau Chief: Marta Alvim
Departaments
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TIME TO RENEW? Sorry, we don't send reminders. Look at the label to know when your subscription ends. BRAZZIL (ISSN 1091-868X) is published monthly by Brazzil 2039 N. Ave. 52, Los Angeles, CA, 90042-1024.Periodicals Postage rate paid at Los Angeles, CA. Single copy sold for $2. One year subscription for 12 issues is $3 (three dollars) in the U.S., $15 in Canada and Mexico, and $18 in all othercountries. No back issues sold. Allow 5 to 7 weeks to receive your first issue. You may quote from or reprint any of the contents with proper copyright credit. Editorial submissions are welcome. Include a SASE (self addressed and stamped envelope) if you want your material mailed back. Brazzil assumes no responsibility for any claims made by its advertisers. Brazzil Library of Congress ISSN: 1524-4997 POST MASTER : Send address changes to BRAllIL PO Box 50536, Los Angeles, CA 90050-0536
BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
06 Rapidinhas 10 letters 49 Cultural Pulse 51 Classifieds 52 That's Brazilial
She's been called Leoa do Norte (North Lioness). The epithet given singer Elba Ramaiho, 48, is an acknowledgment of her persistence and ferocity when necessary. Rama-lho is celebrating 20 years of a very successful musical career and to mark the occasion she decided to go on tour with a new show; release Solar, her latest album, and take off her clothes, showing her inti6
macy to her fans in the book Elba 20 Anos (Elba 20 years). Solar was recorded live at Salvador' s (capital of Bahia state) Teatro Castro Alves. Some friends gave their contribution in a studio. Lenine in "NO Cego", Ze Ramalho in "Ave de Prata", Chico Buarque in "NAo Sonho Mais"), and Nana Caymmi in "Imaculada". In a recent interview with Rio's daily 0 Dia, Elba talked about how she feels about life and her work: "I am solar. I am an actress. My dimension of art is big. I am not even disturbed by the interpretation people give to whatever I do. I escaped intact from my 20-year-old dive. I matured in public. I've built a castle with all the stones thrown at me. I am a messenger of joy" Elba 20 Anos contains texts by recently deceased Joao Cabral de Melo Neto, one of the three best Brazilian modern poets. In the picture book with photos by Luiz Garrido, Ramalho—according to herself—wanted to show more than her naked body. She wanted to share her intimate life with her husband, the model Gaetano. And no Playboy model, as she already was, had ever reasons so convincing to bare it all: "This essay exalts the body, not the sex. Most of all I have posed with Gaetano because he is a gorgeous model. I didn't make any violence to myself. I used my body to promote a productive cause, a commemorative book. The pictures are sensual, but artistic." For another popular singer, Marina Lima, 44, who has been fighting depression, taking off her clothes for Playboy was a therapy. She is the latest celebrity to appear on the pages of the magazine. Marina is in the cover of the November issue, while the October edition exhibited actress Angela Vieira, who plays Janete in Terra Nostra, the prime-time TV Globo novela (soap opera). Angela made history becoming the oldest cover girl ever to appear in the Brazilian version of Playboy. She is 47, with a 18-year-old body and a 15year-old daughter. The pictures were taken on the scenery of Stealing Beauty, the movie by Italian director
Bernardo Bertolucci. Marina has resisted invitations to undress for the cameras for several years, but the barriers have fallen and she seems happy with her decision. After saying no to many proposals in the past, this time she took the initiative to look for Playboy and offer her nakedness. For the pictures (they were a total of 1600 in four sessions) she did without special make-up or jewels, but kept a skimpy white panty. The singer, who lost her voice due to depression, had stopped singing and making shows for three years. She explained to 0 Dia her decision to uncover it all: "It was a movement to leave the cave where I stayed for too long due to depression. I•think Playboy will help me recuperate my self-esteem." Marina is plann ing a comeback to the showbiz, starting next year. As for her depression, she revealed that it was caused by a personal problem and not by any disenchantment with her career. "I'm getting better, starting
to believe in life and in people and to love again. When you believe in life you feel like singing." BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
Art's Master Im
Latin America's most important art museum, the MASP (Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo) was closed to the public on October 2 although the institution was showing one of its most popular exhibits ever: Picasso: War Years 1937-1945 . The reason for the closed doors: MASP's founder, Brazilian-naturalized Italian Pietro Maria Bardi, at 99, had died the previous day on his sleep, after a sevenyear fight against several diseases. He was cremated according to his wishes. The wake was in the museum's auditorium and a Spanish Christ from the 15th century looked over while Bardi's body stood between Rafael's The Resurrection ofChrist and Maestro del Bigallo's Virgin in Majesty, both of them acquired by Bardi. The Italian art dealer moved to Brazil with wife Lina Bo Bardi in 1946. It was during an exhibit in Rio of Italian art that Bardi met media mogul Francisco de Assis Chateaubriand and received the invitation to create a museum. The timing was perfect. With the end of the World War II there was plenty of works of art for sale but few people willing to buy them. Chateaubriand seized the moment, assured a $4 million loan from Chase Manhattan Bank and sent Bardi to Europe to haggle. He returned to Brazil with Rafael's ResurBRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
rection, Diego Velasquez's CountDuke of Olivares, and 73 bronze sculptures by Degas. MASP was born in 1947. In the following decades Bardi would be responsible for selecting much of the impressive museum collection, which comprises more than 5000 works estimated to be worth $1 billion. Bardi would fill up the museum's walls with the likes of Cezanne, Degas, Gauguin, Goya, Lucas Cranach, Modigliani, Picasso, Rafael, Renoir, Ticiano, and Van Gogh. Bardi was able for example to acquire Van Gogh's The Scholar for mere $35,000. The painting is worth $30 million today. For a few million dollars Bardi and Chateaubriand bought among other treasures 1 Rafael, 13 Renoirs and 73 sculptures by Degas. Bardi used to say that he hadn't done anything, that the museum was the work of Chateaubriand. One of the stratagems of Chateaubriand to raise funds for the museum was to promote parties in which unsuspecting guests were presented to everybody as donors. Chateaubriand and Bardi bought many items on credit, waiting for money that sometimes never materialized. After accumulating $4 million in debts, Chateaubriand, using the paintings as collateral, was able to secure a loan from American financier David Rockefeller. This debt, however, was never paid. The federal government ended up taking over the loan, transferring it to Caixa Economica Federal, a government savings institution. Education minister Jarbas Passarinho, during general Medici's administration found a way to wipe out this debt: he used money from the Federal Lottery to pay the remaining debt. Most of it had already been eaten by inflation. MASP started on an exiguous borrowed space at the Diarios Associados building downtown Sao Paulo
before moving in 1968 to its exclusive address at chic Avenida Paulista and slick space designed in 1958 by architect Lina Bo Bardi, Pietro Maria's wife. Britain's Queen Elizabeth II was present at the opening. Since the beginning of MASP, Bardi was accused of filling the museum with fake works of art. Among the museum's works that have been considered forgery—there was never positive proofto back this contention, however—there are Rafael's The Resurrection ofChrist , Rembrandt' s Self-portrait, and Ticiano's Portrait ofCardinalCristoforo Madruzzo. But nobody has cast any doubt on the authenticity of Van Gogh's The Scholar or Velasquez's The Portrait of the Count-Duke of Olivares or the five Cezannes all brought by master haggler Bardi. When the first accusation appeared in the '50s, Bardi answered by organizing a tour of the works starting by the Museum of the Orangerie in Paris. From there they went to Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and finally the Metropolitan in New York. They went back to Brazil in 1957 legitimized by this foreign exposure. Bardi has been also criticized for conflict of interest since he continued to own an art gallery and kept his hobby as art collector after becoming MA SP's director. His response to the critics: "I never received a cent for being the museum's director for over 40 years." Quite the contrary, point his defenders. Bardi has sold pieces from his private collection to help the museum, they say. Bardi was born in La Spezia, on Italy's Liguria region, on February 21,1900. According to his own story, he had a sad childhood without friends and without fun and games. The author of more than 30 books on art and philosophy was not particularly bright in elementary school. Au 7
contraire, he was so bad that after flunking three times third grade he had to abandon school. Bardi told that everything went better after he hit his head due to a fall. He taught himselfphilosophy and history, went to war at 17, wrote for newspaper II Giornale di Bergamo for eight years, and opened the Bardi Gallery in Milan in 1925. He called himself the most perfect example of a self learner. He used to study by himself at the law library of one of his father's friend. He published his first book at 17. It was an essay on colonialism. Bardi also used to paint, but very rarely he would show his paintings. In 1929 he became director of Galleria di Roma, which was controlled by the fascist government. Bardi was a close friend and admirer of Benito Mussolini but ended up being expelled from the fascism movement after challenging the fascist aesthetics and inviting Jews to write for the publications he edited. He considered a big mistake the fact that Mussolini allied himselfto Hitler. All the Details Until the end Bardi kept the title of MASP's president of honor even though due to ill health he had abandoned all functions in August of 1990. His last and emotional visit to the house he founded happened on October 2, 1996. He went there to celebrate MASP's 50th anniversary. While Bardi's legacy survives the building where the masters live has become rundown lately. In the last three years he could hardly speak and in some days he was not able to recognize his closest friends. His health deteriorated very rapidly after de death ofhis wife, Lina Bo Bardi, in 1992. That year, while writing Historia do MASP, de 1946 a 1990 (MASP's History, from 1946 to 1990), his 50th and last book, Pietro Maria Bardi had an aorta rupture. Almost a dream come true. He had said that he dreamed to die while working. Bardi was not only a fine connoisseur of art, he was also an expert pro-
vocateur. He didn't hide his connections with Mussolini and fascism and didn't care about making enemies when he attacked the internationally acclaimed Bienal de Sao Paulo as "a mere copy of the old-hat Venice Biennial." And in 1982 he didn't care about the public reaction when he scribbled repeatedly on the museum's walls: Merda, Merda, Merda (Shit, Shit, Shit). As he explained, it was his way ofprotesting against the political posters glued to the MASP's faรงade. The theatrical gesture landed him in jail and he only escaped serving a longer term because he was already over 70. His comment: "How nice. I can keep on writing shit." A stickler for details he used to visit the museum's bathrooms to check if it had been cleaned properly. More than once on the vernissage day he would take a broom and sweep the exposition room. MASP's director didn't like parties and used to go to bed at 9 PM waking up almost invariably at 4 AM. He talked about growing old: "I'm not worried about becoming old. I wait for death as something absolutely normal. It was fun to live, I let things happen my way, except for natural explosions." He used to give the recipe for his longevity: "I don't drink, don't smoke, and don't know what is a novela (soap opera). My secret is to always work and to not pay attention to the envious, vero?"
Economy Jung e lavor "The Brazilian Rain Forest Original," that's the way the world is going to be presented to a typical traditional Brazilian soft drink: Antarctica guarana. Guaranci is already the 15th most sold soda in the world, but AmBev with a little help from Pepsi is sure it can improve this mark and make guaranci fam ou s around the globe. AmBev
(American Beverages) is the Brazilian newborn multinational beer and soft-drink manufactures resulting from the marriage between two traditional beverage makers: Brahma and Antarctica. The announcement of the international strategy to spread guarana was made with pomp and circumstance. Victorio de Marchi and Marcel Telles, AmBev's president and Steve Reinemund, PepsiCo's world president were received by President Fernando Henrique Cardoso to tell him about the agreement. Soft drinks represent an annual market of $70 billion, 51% of which belongs to Coca-Cola. In Brazil, guarana represents 30% of the market. AmBev would already be happy if it could get 1% of this total in the next five years. If everything works as planned the North (US and Europe) should be drinking much more guarand beginning next summer and soon after 175 countries would have access to Brazil's tangy beverage. While PepsiCo will be in charge ofbottling and marketing the product, all the concentrate needed will be coming out from Amazon's natural fruits. In the US, a new approach will be used this time to present the product, since past attempts to introduce guaranci were a flop. Antarctica itself tried to present guarand as an aphrodisiac and three years ago Pepsi launched Josta, its own guarana concoction. Both tries failed. Antarctica, however, has a niche as a guaranci seller in Japan and Portugal. Guaranci is just for starters, as de Marchi announced: "We will start by exporting soft drinks but intend to get in the future into partnerships to produce beer in other countries. We expect our exports to reach 15% of our company's production in the next five years."
According to a report published by Brasilia's daily Correio BraBRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
ziliense, disregard for the law and lack of control by the government has caused scores of cases of mental retardation among Brazilian children. The paper denounced that between 1995 and 1998 10% of all salt produced in the country didn't include iodine as is required by law since 1956. Iodine is essential to children growing and its absence can stunt development and cause goiter. Some children deprived from iodine have a hard time to learn even the most elementary concepts in school. Among other symptoms being observed in Brazil are blindness and deafness. Data collected between 1994 and 1995 by the Brazilian Health Ministry show that 59,000 among 179,000 students from 428 Brazilian municipalities had deficiency of iodine. For 9,000 of the kids this deficiency was severe. Most hardly hit are the poor kids who don't have a varied and rich diet and depend exclusively of salt to get their dose of iodine. In an interview with Correio Braziliense, endocrinologist Denise Franco, who is responsible for a program that studies the effects of the lack of iodine in the human body, declared: "Although we are not seeing today more acute manifestations, those that shock people, these consequences will appear in the future. It is absolutely inadmissible that there is lack of iodine in any civilized nation." The government's responsibility in the disaster is not only lack of enforcement, but its inability to supply the nation's 169 salt manufactures with the iodine, which according to law No 9005 should be provided by the Health Ministry. This mishap has harmed mainly children in the states of Acre, Amapa and Tocantins. The ministry blames the excess ofbureaucracy and the extinction of the INAN (Instituto Nacional de Alimentacao e Nutricao—National Institute for Food and Nutrition) in 1997 for what
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BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
happened. Abesal (Assoc iacao Brasileira d Extratores e Refinadores de Sal Brazilian Association of Salt Extrac tors and Refiners) says that the pro lem is limited almost exclusively t small salt companies. But an analys made in the last 12 months by Id (Institut° Brasileiro de Defesa Consumidor—Brazilian Institute Defense of the Consumer) show that from 65 brands being comme cialized, 34 didn't have the requir amount of iodine, and in some cas had no iodine at all. The irregulan was also found in leading brands Arisco, Brilho and Cisne.
Favelas, those poor hillside co munities encrusted in Rio, have b en for decades the birthplace of gi ed sambistas (samba composers) nd more recently a hideaway for d g
traffickers. But it's also from the morro (hill) that comes much ofthe always changing lively slang in Ri and all over Brazil. It's usual today to ear middle-class youngsters who n ver went up to the favelas talking a out "armar um barraco" (literally t set up a shack) when they say they ar getting into an argument or"botarp lha" (to place battery) when they are aking someone mad. So you won't feel lost on you next trip south of the equator here is little glossary with the latest in Bra ilian slang as compiled by Rio's da ly 0 Dia. If you find there is a wordy u've heard before, maybe the mean g has changed or it just regained its pr stige. This is the case, for example, I th "a vera" (seriously) an expressio that after years in disuse is back i full force.
•A chapaestcifria (the plate is cold)— everything is quiet • A chapa este quente (the plate is hot)—things are hectic • A vera—seriously •Aliviar osovaco (to relieve the armpit)—to put on deodorant • Aplicar um pe de macaco (to apply a monkey foot)—to con someone •Armaro barraco (to set up shack)— to dispute or discuss • Barulhar/Pipocar (to make noise)—to shoot • Rater urn farol (to beat a light)— to have lunch or dinner • Bater um sal (to beat a salt)—to eat • Bebe de Rosemary esta na boca da serpentina (Rosemary's baby is on the coil's mouth)—to be pressed to go to the bathroom • Birimbolado—con fused • Bolado—suspicious • Botar pilha (to place battery)— stir up, make someone mad • Caiu/dancou (if fell/it danced)— it didn't work • Chamar na bigorna (to call to the anvil)—apply a stranglehold • Couro de rato (rat leather)— cheap, trifling matter • Dar 157 (give I 57)—to carry out an armed robbery • Dar um cala-boca (to give a shutmouth)—to bribe • Dar urn estio (to give a summer)— to do a favor • Dar urn sal (to give a salt)—to spank • Dar uma carga na mina (to give a load to the gal)—to have sex with a girl • Dar uma vazada (to give a leakage)—to have sex • Desalmocar (to unlunch)—to go to the bathroom • E dez (it's ten)—great • Ele é fib desencapado (he is uncovered wire)—he is grouchy, he is high on drugs • Estar de mancada—to hesitate • Estci formado—ie s OK • Estar que nem papagaio no arame (to be as a parrot on the wire)—to be drunk • Este calcio de ostra e forte (this oyster calcium is strong)—this woman is pretty 9
• Este carro é cabrito (this car is a little buck)—this car is stolen • Formar—to court, to have sex • Já é (it already is)—done deal • Lombrar—to arrive (said of police or enemy gang) • Mandar uma letra (to send a character)—to say something forcefully • Pagar urn banho (to pay for a bath)—to take a bath • Passa amanhei (pass tomorrow)— give me a break • Picar a mula (to slice the m u to go out running • Pula esta parte (skip this part)— change the subject • Quebrar uma mina (to break a gal)—to have sex • Qual foi o placar? (what was the score?)—how many have you bedded? • Rebolar o queixo (to swing the chin)—to eat • Sacolejo (shaking)—police search • Sarado (cured)—strong • Sinistro (sinister)—weird • Ta baludo—he has money • Ta no estilo (it's in style)—a good thing • Tirar urn baiano/estar no baiano (take out a Baiano)—to sleep • To no veneno (I'm in poison)— I'm penniless • Total—great • Urubuzar (act as a buzzard)—to envy • Vazar (to leak)—to leave • Vou chegar (I'll arrive)—I will leave • Zoar—to get rowdy
TV
Little Girl Blue Her name is Michelly Fernanda Machri and she is 20 years old. But everybody in Brazil knows her as "a garota do Sukita" (the girl from Sukita), an orange flavored soft drink, and thinks she is not more than 15. That's because Michelly has become famous playing an innocent Lolita who is constantly being courted by an ill-fated and older Don Juan she politely calls tio (uncle). Michelly, who is from FlorianOpolis (capital of Santa Catarina 10
state) lives in Sao Paulo by herself for almost three years. Thanks to several articles published on the daily press and the magazines we know that the model met her boyfriend in the elevator, the same way as it happens in one of the scenes of the commercial in which she is approached by the "tio." Michelly started her modeling career when she was 14. Her participation on a competition by Sao Paulo' s teen magazine Car/c/a, when she was 16, opened her the doors of modeling agency Ford. Only recently, though, she was able to buy herself an inexpensive car, a Fiat Pali°. She had been using the bus. The commercial's tio is 49year-old Roberto Arduim. Arduim and Machri have already paired in three episodes, but thanks to the success of the ad campaign six new episodes are in the works. In real life, though, Michelly has no interest
in older guys. Arduim is always the loser in the ad scenes. First on the elevator, then when he is barred from a party at the girl's home. In a third episode, the old wolf is in a bar by himself when the girl arrives with some friends. She gets close and asks: "Are you by yourself?" He nods positively. The girl touches the spare chair by his table, asking, "Can I?" When he thinks she will sit down with him, she simply takes the chair and goes away with a thank you. To become the Sukita girl—a creation of the Carillo Pastori ad agency—Michelly, who was already 19 at the time, had to dispute the role with 90 other candidates, most of
them still in their early teens, the age of the character. She got the part because while the other girls had heavy makeup to look older, she went with a washed face. Claudio Carillo, 46, creation director of the company tells why his agency ad is a hit: "The ad deals with middleage big boys who want to be with little girls. Every man faces, has faced or will face the same situation lived by the uncle. We cannot escape that." TV, model agencies, magazines and ad agencies have been knocking at Michelly's door. Playboy and other men magazines were sent back with a resounding no, but she agreed to sensuous poses—but keeping her clothes—for monthly magazine Trip. "It was the first time that I posed for sexy pictures, but these portraits mostly explore my little-girl side. I wouldn't accept invitations to pose in the nude. For a model, to pose naked is a career bust. This is something that might be cool for an actress, who can get some promotion from that." It's a sure bet that she will be soon working in some prime-time TV novela. Apparently unimpressed with the sudden fame, the model has plans to save money and retire from modeling in three years. Her dreams? Go to a marine biology college. Travel do Australia. Go back to her hometown, have two children and be a fulltime mother or maybe a teacher like two of her three sisters. To move to Bahia would also be great. She wants to live by the Marinha—Sea Turtle) project and I love sea turtles."
BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
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According to the United Nations, a country with more than 50 murders a year per 100,000 inhabitants is in a state of war. That is what's happening in several big cities in Brazil. The increasing presence of drugs is the main reason for this situation. Behind the organized crime that controls the distribution of drugs in the nation are the very same people paid to protect the citizens against criminality: police officers, House representatives, judges, and even state ministers. This time, however, the population is not taking it lightly and society is up on arms in a Brazilian-style "operation clean hands". FRANCESCO NEVES
According to estimates by thelVINDH (Movimento Nacional de Dire itos Humanos—National Movement for Human Rights)
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there will be 37,000 murders in Brazil this year, against 34,250 in 1998 and 33,664 in 1997. The current Brazilian scenario has been likened to a relentless war. While 16 months of combat resulted in 10,000 deaths in r that. People do it for security reasons, to avoid being mugged at the intersections. A recent study by InfoEstado, the research branch of daily 0 Estado de Silo Paulo, showed that 57 percent of the Sao Paulo population has already thought about leaving the city due to its violence. Another 55 percent said they have been forced to either change their routine or give up doing something they usually like to do, also for fear. The same study, published in October, revealed that drug trafficking and homicides are the two most feared crimes by Paulistanos, pointed by 24 percent of the respondents. Rape and robbery, each chosen by 18% of the population, follow as their worst fears. 4 A little overwhelmed by the situation, the Sao Paulo Secretariat for Public Security has elected crack cocaine as its public enemy number 1. Public Security secretary, Marco V inicio Petrelluzzi, thinks that crack, directly or indirectly, is responsible for many of the crimes. In Rio, governor Anthony Garotinho boasted recently that Rio's criminality index was lower than New York's, even after the Great Apple's adoption of its much touted zero tolerance policy. "We have 7.5 homicides per 100,000 people, against 8.5 in New York," Garotinho gloated. But he was talking about Rio's south zone. In reality, the number ofmurders in Rio is more than six times higher than in New York. For the whole of 1998 Rio had 50.1 murders for every 100,000 residents. Using a popular expression to convey that every crime will be punished, and to remind that his police force will be tough with criminals, the governor said: "Escreveu nao leu, o pau comeu" (literally, "you wrote and you didn't read, you get the stick."). On the other hand, Sao Paulo governor, Mario Covas, seems resigned to the violence. "There is no solution to the violence increase as long as the unemployment index continues at the present level, and this shameful poverty persists. When I took office, the police was arresting 2,000 people a month; today this number has increased to 4,500." While the number of murders in Sao Paulo's central areas has decreased in recent months, it has increased in suburban areas. Official data for 1998 show that police solved 57 percent of murder cases in the capital, against only 24.2 percent in the neighboring areas. According to sociologist Guaracy Mingardi, coordinator ofthe state's Sector ofCriminal Information Analyses, the more urbanized an area, the lower the incidence of crimes. As an example, he cites a region in downtown Sao Paulo, known as Cracolandia, where there is a concentration of trafficking and consumption of drugs. "While there is a fair amount
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of massacres linked to drug trafficking in sao Paulo, there are no massacres in Cracolandia, because the region's urbanization makes impunity less likely there." In Rio, only 15 percent of all crimes are ever solved. The ICCE (Instituto de Criminalistica Carlos Eboli) that is in charge of technical reports and analyses has had a chronic lack of personnel and material resources, even though the institute has moved to a new and modern building a little more than a year ago. The situation has been deteriorating for a decade. Currently, there are 120,000 processes waiting in line to be examined, about 100,000 of them for ballistic tests. There is no lack of plans. One of them calls for an initial investment of $5 million, and would unite several departments under the CUPTEC (Centro Unificado de Policia TecnicoCientifica—Unified Center of Technical-Scientific Police). The new center would have state-of-the-art equipment and the best professionals in the area. But the police have been so impotent that four years ago, Rio's foremost authority on police matters, Security Secretary Josias Quintal, had his apartment raided by robbers. They took his money and his personal revolver. For lack of e quipment, the technical police was never able to collect fingerprints in the apartment. And nobody was ever indicted for the case, even though there was a suspect. A few weeks ago, former Rio's governor, Marcello Alencar, had his house robbed as well. The Carioca (from Rio) police receive 100 new requests for forensic tests daily. Cases that make headlines in the media get priority treatment. The others get in line and wait. There are more than 8,000 handwritten reports waiting to be typed right now. Ten people were hired for the job, but they only have three computers to work with. At the same time, kits for drug analyses imported from the US are often used long past their expiration dates In an interview with Jornal do Brasil, Luis Eduardo Soares, coordinator of the security area declared, "Unfortunately, our technical police represent the worst there is in the profession: it is decentralized and lacks organization. We need to create ways to make our work more agile." If corruption is rampant in the police forces across the country, the salaries they get may help to explain the phenomenon. In Rio, a police technician, who has gone through all possible promotions, is able to make a mere $600 a month. Someone just starting in the career does not make more than $350. The situation is a little better in Brasilia (the federal capital) and in the northeastern state of Sergipe, where the starting salary is $1,500. Conversely, a youngster who sells drugs can make $1,000 a month, or about 20 times more than the $50 he would be able to earn in a regular job. While in the US crime costs represent 4 percent of the GDP, or $330 billion, in Brazil, with a homicide rate four times bigger, crime costs reach $80 billion, or 10 percent of the country's yearly production of goods. Americans spend $25,000 a year for each prisoner it maintains in jail, four times more than Brazil, which spends $3,000 with every inmate. Steven Levitt, economy professor from the University of Chicago, who has been studying criminality in Brazil, believes that there is no direct causal relationship between poverty and violent crime. Comparing New York and Sao Paulo, he com-
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mented that corruption was acute among the New York police during the '70s. Only after a clean up of the ranks things started working. While there was a 65% decline in the number of homicides in Nev York in the last ten years, Sao Paulo went in the opposite direction, with murder cases increasing by 35 percent during the same period. His recipe for a solution is imprisonment, harsh sentences and fighting police corruption. Talking to Epoca, Levitt defended the idea that it is better to have no police at all than to have a corrupt force, as it is the case in Rio: "It is absurd that there are policemen in Brazil who moonlight for the drug cartels. How can Vve expect to combat violence if the police work for criminals Who, in addition, guarantee them more decent salaries than tOose the State pays them?" This new 4wareness about rampant crime has convinced many Braziliafts that it is time to get tougher with crime. Despite the opposition to the death penalty by both politicians and authorities, there has been a shift among the population in favor of capital punishment. A just-released study by Sao Paulo polling company Instituto Brasmarket revealed that 38.6 percent of the population favors the death penalty, against 27.8 percent against it. The Brasmarket research also revealed an almost unanimous popular backing of a law that would lower criminal responsibility from 18 to 16 years of age. While 6.8 percent want' to maintain the present law, 91.4 percent would like to change it. The lopsided result seems to be in response to a series of well-publicized rebellions by minors at sao Paulo's FEBEM, the; federal institution in charge of reeducating delinquent minor.
Enough is Enough "It is tine to clean up the police!" The appeal camcrecently from the highest source, Justice Minister Jose Carlos Dias. The President, joliticians, judges, media, the population and the police the selves seem to agree that such a clean up is overdue. And n ver in recent memory so many people got together to do just t at. Joining the fray, President Fernando Henrique Cardoso p omised a "crusade against impunity" and a fight against or anized crime and drug trafficking. "As far as drug traffickin goes", he said, "the roots have grown much deeper than anyone of us could imagine. This problem affects political and gove mental sectors. Luckily, they haven't yet reached the high sphe es of the legislative, executive, and judiciary powers." And t e President went on to say: "If we don't act forcefully against i punity, we will see the growth of violence to levels that are i compatible with democracy... There is no Brazilian man or w man who is not afraid of the insecurity and not revolted wi the impunity. And this has been happening in such a crescen o that the country cannot take it anymore. We need to take ef ective measures to put a stop to this situation." Cardoso has also c eated anew body to help the CPI's work. It is the Group to Fight mpunity, which is formed by federal police officers, a sheriff and a former Justice prosecutor. Dias who has been in his post as Justice Minister less than six mont s, has already provoked several controversies, besides angerin some politicians. His main goal is to change the Penal
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Code, build more prisons, and integrate the efforts of the state and federal police. In a growing problem for the jail system there are almost twice as much inmates than cells to house them. While there is only room for 107,049 prisoners, the current inmate population is 197,975. This situation has caused a series of mutinies and jailbreaks around the country. The minister also wants to do without the notion of "crime hediondo" (hideous crime), a classification introduced by the 1988 constitution to punish kidnapping, torture, and rape. As these crimes have become unbailable, those accused of such offenses remain incarcerated while their case is being judged. Dias's argument is that "No crime is adorable. Crime is crime. There is no reason for one being hideous and the other not." He also wants the introduction ofalternative penalties like community service for white-collar and other lesser crimes, thus creating prison vacancies for more serious criminals. In the same context, drug users would have lighter penalties than drug dealers. In an interview with weekly newsmagazine Epoca, the minister talked about his mission: "We have to answer the following question: do we want to be civilized or not? Do we want to stay in the wild world of revenge or do we want to evolve? This is the debate I propose. Statistics show that tough penalties or death penalty, as in the case of the United States, don't inhibit crime. The adoption of the minimum penal right will allow us to protect the citizens' fundamental rights. This has nothing to do with siding with the criminal. Crimes that are considered hideous today will continue to be punished with severity. Crimes considered less grave will be punished with alternative sentences, fines or suspension of rights." While applauding the Minister and the President, assemblyman Hello Luz, Rio's former Secretary of Public Security, cast some doubts about the feasibility ofthe clean up operation: "This is a good start, but we still have to see if the Brazilian state, the executive, legislative, and judiciary powers are able to live without a corrupt police." Luz defends the thesis that, from its creation, Brazil's police force was intended to serve the government and not the citizenry. The national commotion has resulted in several middle-level suspects being jailed. In two days in November, for example, police detained 18 people atfavela Beira-Mar in the neighborhood of Duque de Caxias. That's the headquarters ofdrug dealer Luiz Fernando da Costa, better known as Femandinho BeiraMar. According to police, one of the suspects, 25-year old Marcelo Vieira Mariano, was arrested in a bakery carrying 81 packs of cocaine. The Brazilian "operation clean hands", inspired by similar work in Italy, has implicated all kinds of authorities and community leaders who should be above any suspicion. One of the people being investigated is retired judge Valdeci Lopes Pinheiro. The judge is believed to be part of a fraudulent Social Security scheme that yielded her close to $70,000 in the past. On November 10, Rio's daily Jornal do Brasil, in an editorial entitled "The Last Straw", applauded President Fernando
Henrique Cardoso for asking that congressmen involved with organized crime have their mandate revoked. "The quality of the parliamentary 'representation," wrote the liberal paper, "deteriorated in recent years proportionally to the indiscriminate ascent to power of manipulators from several sectors, from civil construction to drug trafficking, including police officers and former police officers linked to organized crime e extermination groups. Whole "powder" caucuses from northern states ended up becoming folklore, which contributed to demoralize parliamentary representation as a whole"... "Obviously these people are intent on obtaining mandates in order to protect themselves behind the skirts of parliamentary immunity. For years on end Congress has refused requests by the Supreme Court to prosecute House representatives and senators accused of common crimes, making them untouchables. Well, parliamentary immunity was created in the 17th century, in England, to protect the right of opinion, not to turn the Parliament into a cover for criminals, smugglers, drug traffickers and other categories ready, today, to join forces as a cartel under the coat of organized crime." Cases of criminals who have been elected to Congress and to other important official positions are abundant. The media has been revealing new stories almost on a daily basis. Every State seems to have several skeletons in its closet. One of the most notorious cases was that of Congressman Hildebrando Pascoal, from the state of Acre, a former policeman with a violent past and a criminal history. Pascoal was finally expelled from Congress and sent to prison. The CPI do Narcotrafico (Committee for Congressional Investigation on Drug Trafficking) created by Congress has been going on for months. However, only recently it became big news
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and started to get the interest it needs to encourage more people to testify against corruption and police intimidation. Early in November, the whole nation was following the efforts ofthe CPI to arrest Fernandinho Beira-Mar, who is believed to have fled to Paraguay. According to the Federal Police, Beira-Mar is responsible for 30 percent of all cocaine con- at VP sumed in Rio, the largest market for the drug. Beira-Mar said no to a Garotinho entrepra a CPI proposal in which he ,, names de poiciais corrupts would provide the CPI with information in exchange for partial immunity. In recent weeks, the CPI has focused its attention in Rio. The presence of the committee's members in the city showed how powerful and threatening is the organized crime there. In one incident, the CPI group was examining Guanabara Bay's security aboard a Federal Police boat, when all of a sudden they had to interrupt their tour. The federal police suspected that they were being followed and might be shot by the drug gang that controls the Cajufavela. All of the 19 House representatives who are part of the CPI have received bulletproof vests after getting death threats. "I have received telephone calls with the recommendation to forget the investigation," Rio's representative, Paulo Cesar Baltazar, revealed. Baltazar, who is an evangelical, said he was not afraid, though. He won't wear his protective vest, and explains: "Like David, who didn't need a shield to defeat Goliath, I also refuse to wear the vest." But other members of the CPI are not taking chances. Representative Laura Carneiro, for example, revealed that she has asked police to search hers and her husband's phone lines for possible tapping. TIV:10.030..V.40111156(AP.V46
0 GLOB°
Vague Data Police reports show that most of the drugs and weapons smuggled into Rio come both through the Volta Redonda airport and Rodovia Presidente Dutra—also known as Via Dutra— , Rio's main road connection to the rest of the country. By the end of October more than 800 kilos (nearly a ton) of several drugs had been apprehended at Via Dutra, in its stretch close
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to Rio. Those report , prepared by Cisp (Centro de Inteligencia da Secretaria de eguranca Pfil;lica—Secretariat of Public Security's Intel gence Center), also reveal that Brazil has become one of th world's ten most important markets for drug money launde ing. By September ofthis year five tons ofmarijuana and tw tons of cocaine had been apprehended, while Rio's police ad detained 13,864 people for being involved with drugs. The doc ent equally details how the drugs get to Rio, coming from several cities in the states of Acre, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Parana and Rond6nia. There are five main areas in Rio controlled by druglords. These are places police are afraid to go to. They are the Alemao complex, the Jacarezinho favela (shantytown) and the Dende, Providencia, and Man'4=tX11601. gueira morros (hills). The report also details the drug trafficking hierarchy, which is divided in three levels. The top level belongs to the bosses, none of whom is identified. These capi use legal compaFH chama CPI para tracar nies as fronts for their Under them acao contra o narcoirafico work. there are the matutps (hillbillies) who are in charge of distributing , 1111..1k 11111.11,11011110211,11111111111,1111X. the product. They a *1 /a 111/ work with a battalion of helpers, including accountants and lawyers. Fernandinho Beira-Mar is one of these second-level executives cited by the police. Third in rank are a series ofm id and lowlevel aide with different names and attributions: avi5es (literally airpl es, the middlemen), vapores (steamboats, the person who akes the drug directly to the consumer), olheiros (scouts), 1 aders, managers, security men, and soldiers. These people ge a salary for their work and are also involved in the riskier an dirtier jobs, such as bank robberies, car thefts and kidnapp gs. The involvement of minors in this third level has increase fivefold since 1994. While 11 percent of the 2,200 children etained by police in 1994 were working with drugs, this num er had increased to 55 percent of 4,000 children apprehend d in 1998. Hous representative Moroni Torgan, the CPI's reporter, believes th t drug trafficking mobilizes more than 200,000 people
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in the country, a contingent bigger than that of the Brazilian Army. He believes Brazil would have become a new Colombia in five years ifthe ongoing clean up process hadn't been started. According to the Military Police, the commerce of drugs employs more than 10,000 people, 35 percent of them children and teens who work as avicies and informers. This little army is believed to count with the help of 300 lawyers, who work as liaison between the workers in the field and the incarcerated leaders. The MP has mapped 606 drug-selling spots, which are served by 1,500 scouts and more than 5,000 security men. For those who show service and get managerial positions salaries can be as high as $15,000 a month. By comparison, the best salary paid by the government is $6,500, which is the salary paid judges of the Electoral Supreme Court. The President himself earns $4,250 a month. The CPI work has been hindered by a lack of precise data about drug trafficking in the country. Often, different departments present different numbers for the same situation. As pointed by Sao Paulo House representative Robson Tuma, "This is a very serious problem, figures can be drastically different from an institution to another and this has to be checked." While the CISP report stresses that Rio has become the main center for heroine consumption, another report prepared by Rio's military police entirely ignores the problem, stating that marijuana represents 65 percent of the market and cocaine the remainder 35 percent. In another example, the civilian police report that Rio commercializes 7 to 8 tons of marijuana and 3 to 4 tons of cocaine every month, while the federal police says that the volume of cocaine sold a month is 600 kilos, or just a little over half a ton. Just half an hour from downtown Rio, the west side suburb ofCampo Grande has been considered the most secure neighborhood in Rio, ac-
cording to a study prepared by Databrasil, the research branch of Universidade Candid° Mendes. However, in order to create an air of interior the community has joined hands and businesses have been helping the local police financially. They even contribute to the maintenance of the police fleet.
Tough Act to Follow Congressman Magno Malta, the CPI's president, criticized the Central Bank for taking too long to release information on bank accounts that were used for money laundering. Malta also made a passionate appeal to everyone to be brave and denounce cases of drug trafficking. He praised Rio's governor Anthony Garotinho for his "courageous attitude" in delivering a dossier on drugs in his state, risking his own security. On the other hand, Malta lamented that no one has stepped up in Espirito Santo, his home state, to depose against those involved in drugs. "We know the problem exists, but no one blows the whistle, no one has the courage to speak up. If we have been successful in Piaui, Acre, Rio, and Maranhao it's because people there has had the courage to go ahead, stick their neck out and offer to testify to the CPI." Renowned jurist Miguel Reale Junior, who is drafting a new Penal Code, was asked by Justice minister Jose Carlos Dias to include an article on organized crime in it. The proposal, which was dubbed the Anti-Mafia Law, is a way to give the judicial power legal instruments to punish criminal organizations and its members. The present code does not talk about organized crime, even though it mentions the formation of gangs and criminal groups as a crime. Presidente Cardoso is also sending congress a bill that forbids the possession and carrying of a firearm by all civilians, with the exception of gun clubs, collectors, and those who live in the wild and need a weapon to protect themselves against nature's predators. Nine out of 10 murders in Brazil are committed with a firearm. The original bill, sent to legislators on the first semester ofthis year, was even more stringent, limiting the use of arms to police, armed forces and duly authorized security companies. The proposal, however, was shot down by the arms lobby and was criticized even by parties belonging to the coalition that backs the government. The original text had so many changes that the Cardoso administration preferred to submit a less-tough new proposal.
Joint Operation The CPI on organized crime has been working since March. It is investigating the connections of organized crime in at least 14 states and in Brasilia, the nation's capital. More than 40 hotshots have been arrested so far, including doleiro (someone who buys and sells dollars) Khaled NawafAragi. The creation of the Nucleo de Combate a Impunidade (Nucleus for Fighting Impunity) is an attempt to adopt in Brazil the same tactics of Operation Clean Hands, which were used successfully
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against the Mafia in Italy. Not everybody is impressed with the government effort, though. Federal prosecutor Luiz Francisco Fernandes Souza, in charge of the investigations in the state of Acre, criticizes the lack of resources to do an effective work: "The combat to organized crime announced by the Justice Minister is a publicity stunt. A real combat against organized crime would not allow that only 32 Federal Police agents would have to patrol the frontier with Peru and Bolivia, in Acre. Any action would also need the backing of a program to protect witnesses. The Brazilian program never left the normative phase because it needs money to be structured." The CPI has already found out that in the states of Acre, Alagoas, and Piaui, military police colonels are bosses of crim inal organizations. In Acre, it is believed that a death squad led by former House representative Hildebrando Pascoal has already killed 150 people in recent years. Pascoal was also commander of Acre's military police. He is accused of protecting traffickers and hit men, and of using his farm in the frontier with Bolivia to stash cocaine. Pascoal and 33 other people connected with him are in jail. In Alagoas, lawlessness seems to be the norm. Alagoas's Colonel Manuel Cavalcante was finally arrested in 1998, but before that he had been acting with impunity at the helm of a band that killed people and robbed banks. Cavalcante is a suspect in the murder of police chief Ricardo Lessa, the brother of Alagoas governor Ronaldo Lessa. In June, police chief Ant6nio Camilo de Carvalho got a 69-year prison sentence for leading a death squad in the state. In Teresina, capital of Piaui, colonel Jose Viriato Correia Lima is in jail, apparently with enough evidence to keep him there for a longtime. Correia Lima is accused of being the head of a scheme to swindle and defraud mayors from the interior of the State. The band led bST Correia Lima had several illustrious citizens, including police chiefs, judges, businessmen and attorneys. A telephone tapping by police revealed negotiations the colonel had with a hit man to kill a police chief. In the state of Espirito Santo, Jose Carlos Gratz, the state assembly's president, is the main suspect of running the illegal jogo do bicho (animal lottery) and taking part in a death squad. In Maranhdo, assemblyman Jose Gerardo de Abreu has a lot to explain about his connections with drug trafficking and truckload theft. Also involved in this scheme are mayors and judges from small towns. Their work was to facilitate the transportation of the stolen trucks and goods. Gerardo is accused of having paid $100,000 to a hit man to kill, in May 1997, police chief Stenio Mendonca, who was on the trail of the gang. Some of the gangs have become very sophisticated and are spread throughout several states. In Mato Grosso, judge
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Leopoldino do Amaral has prepared a dossier against 16 state court of appeal judges. They are accused of several kinds of frauds, including the sale of sentences and involvement with drug trafficking. The revelations came to light in July. Two months later Amaral was found dead with two bullets in his head. There are suspects in the highest levels of the government. Defense Minister Elcio Alvares, a former governor of Espirito Santo, has being accused by police chief Francisco Badenes of too much coziness with his home state's mafia. It has been pointed that Alvares, during his term as a senator and leader of the govern ent in the congress, was the main force behind the push to de at a bill that would extinguish the military police and transfe its members to the civilian police. With roughly half of the sena ors being also former governors with ties to their home state.' military police, it has been hard to pass any law that will g' against the interests of the military police lobbies. The ec inomy may be stagnant, with unemployment reaching record ighs, but these are boom times at least for one sector, that o bullet proofing cars. About 20 armoring-car companies w o do business in the -country have been very busy lately. Th Sao Paulo office of O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt Armoring Co., for example, has seen its business increase threefold since ast year. The Fairfield, Ohio-based company has been shielding 90 cars a month this year, against 30 in 1998. The armoring car market revenues are expected to reach $70 million in 1'99, a 60 percent increase from last year. The c st of armoring a single car can run from $20,000 to $35,000 depending on the material used. The addition of importe a bulletproof glass makes the job even more expensive. These p ices do not include items like walkie-talkies, antiexplosiv gas tanks, or sirens. Protecting the car against powerful au omatic weapons is especially costly. Some experts believe at armoring a car is more a show of status than an adequate r sponse to a real threat.
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I'll like to know why I subscribed to your magazine a while ago and so far I only got the August magazine. I appreciate your reply, telling me your personal problems and that the explanation is on page 5 of the magazine, but I'm also a mother, and I also work full time and that never affects my job. Sonia Pagotto Via Internet I meant to write long ago and say how much I admire all the work you obviously put into your interesting magazine. I skim thru every issue you send me and only wish I had time to read it all more thoroughly, but I'm always unbelievably pressed for time, I returned from three months in Europe recently to find three boxes stacked with mail and unread publications. I even quoted Brazzil once in a column for Art Kunkin's revived Los Angeles Free Press. I have been to Brazil only twice: once to write chapters for my Occult Guide to South America in 1970 and then again a few years ago when I went on a press thp, which is how presumably the tourist board came to have my address. But I loved the country and especially the music. Sometimes I consult your listings and think that I really must attend one of the musical events but somehow never get around to it. I'm off to Mexico (book on the Mayans) next week. John Wilcock Western Editor- Insight Guides Topanga, California
You are invited to participate in thisdialogue. Write to. Letters to the Publisher P 0 Box 50536 Los Angeles, CA 90050-0536 or send E-mail to. brazzil@brazzilcom
lam very concerned for the safety, health, education, civil rights, housing, and nutrition of street children in Brazil, Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. I would like more current information about them and how we all can help. The economic crisis in Brazil may place children in further peril. I am a member of Amnesty International and a contributor to Covenant House. Please send me information on the Brazil Project of the International Child Resource Institute (ICRI) in Berkeley, CA. Apathy and feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness in the face of human suffering and persecution are truly deadly forces in this wodd. lam also very concerned for gay street children. Richard E. Shannahan, Jr. Lutherville, Maryland mmimuajjiivaimmmsm I am a Carioca da gema, who nas lived longer in Florida. However my heart is still in Rio. I've enjoyed second-hand issues of your magazine and in spite of a certain amount of what I consider bordering on porno, I would like to subscribe for a year 'cause I dearly love the essays on travel in various Brazilian cities, especially those written by the couple who also advertise their B.B. in lpanema. More pictures (scenery) would be most welcome for all of us who don't have the opportunity to return to see for ourselves the Brazil of 1999. G. B. Alberti Daytona Beach, Florida 1111.1.1111 1:11 11111111 1111:11.111j1: I discovered your magazine while visiting L.A. earlier this year and subscribed to it immediately. I now have it sent to my local (L.A.) address and then shipped to Bangkok. Being a musician, I find the music articles priceless especially the lyrics. lam the only musician performing Brazilian music exclusively in Bangkok and probably in the country (I am based in Thailand) and am always in need of Portuguese lyrics. The issue celebrating the 40 years of bossa nova was simply excellent. I'd really like to know more about your magazine, e.g., when it got started and how many issues have I missed (I've been subscribing since the beginning of 1999). I understand you do not have back issues but... is it possible for you to photocopy the music articles especially the lyrics? I will pay for the cost to photocopy, mail. etc. I really need it for my work! This magazine means a lot to me! Sirabhorn lt Muntarbhorn Bangkok, Thailand 18
you that I feel in no way exploited nor brainwashed. I stayed at Ceu do Mapia in a villagers house free of charge, and paid only for my airfare (to an airline, not to the community) and a small contribution ($100.00) for services that I might use in the three months I lived there. Your exaggerated claim that Jose Rosa, the much loved teacher, now deceased, who helped bring Santo Daime to many grateful followers in the USA, was overcharging people is very hard to believe. He was a man famous for his charity. It is most unfortunate that what tries to be a pro Uniao do Vegetal article only makes that organization look bad in the light of uncharitable and false witness. Irineu was never called a second Christ, we call him Master because of his understanding of our doctrine. Clancy Cavnar San Francisco, California 1111.1111111MUMJIZEill.m I'll be visiting Brasilia in the summer of next year and I am interested in visiting a Santo Daime service. Could you please send me some info on how I could go about doing that? Israel Baker Israe1311©webtv.net
The other day I was able to go to your Website and do a search on references to the Internet in the back issues of the magazine. I seem to be having problems doing so now. My connection was lost while searching. The results of my search brought me to 124 references that would be very useful. I had gotten through 80 of the 124 when my computer shut down. I remember it being a Thank you so much for providing me with your insight- list of 124 references to the Internet and they were exful and timely bridge to a culture and economy I find so tremely helpful. I was wondering if you could guide me fascinating. back to that list. Your help would be greatly appreciated. If Chris M. Collins you were not able to lead me back I would appreciate if you San Francisco, California could tell me anywhere else I could go to obtain the information. 1:111.111 H1111111111111frEMM Cecilia Rubiera I write to express my surprise that you would give Via Internet forum to such an incendiary and damaging article about IMIMMIMLaUMUL Ill Santo Daime ("Tea Party"). At the same time, the article seeks to praise Uniao do Vegetal, another organization I've read your article on Brazilian blacks ("Up and that uses ayahuasca. It appears that the author would like Coming") and it really moved me. I'm from the USA and we the reader to believe that Santo Daime is an outrageous here as you know have the same problems. I've been to practice, while Undo do Vegetal is the correct path to use Brazil many times, actually every month I'm there. I guess ayahuasca. that being on the outside looking in I didn't realize Brazil This article can only harm those who use ayahuasca had a problem with color. I say this because as a black and other entheogens, within these traditions and in other American I didn't get the feeling of being blackest do in the traditions. If the author had an understanding of shamanic US. But I've have notice as of lately that blacks in Brazil— tradition before Uniao do Vegetal and Santo Daime, he some, not all—think that white is the beauty of choice might understand that it extends back thousands of years there. I must say to the writer of this article: black is and includes many plants including marijuana and peyote. beautiful, please keep writing articles like this to keep For people who are careful and respectful of these people informed on what's going on in Brazil and around plants, they offer great spiritual teachings and solace. the world with black people. Samuel Barnes Furthermore, as an American participant in Santo Daime, Via Internet and a recent visitor to Ceu do Maple in Brazil. I can assure
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Politics
And Now, for the Silver Lining Many observers agree that Brazil needs the same mindset that helped the country get rid of rampant inflation in order for political and other reforms to succeed. ADHEMAR ALTIERI At times, when we focus on specific aspects of Brazilian events, it's difficult to feel optimistic about the current status and future possibilities for the country. So it is sometimes necessary to step away from the news of the moment, take in a broader chunk of what goes on, and hopefully come to some conclusion about where things are headed. With the exception of the three years (1994-97) that followed the introduction of the Real Plan, Brazil's ride has been generally filled with rough spots in the past several years, some worse than others. There were failed or mishandled economic plans in the eighties, new currencies introduced so frequently that people lost track of the value of money and goods, galloping inflation, lackluster economic growth rates and lately, rising unemployment. In fact, the nineties began in less than auspicious fashion, with the ousting of president Fernando Collor de Mello for involvement in a still not totally explained corruption scheme. For Brazilian society, it was a tough blow psychologically, because Collor was Brazil's first civilian president elected by a direct vote in close to 30 years. He was supposed to represent a return to institutional normalcy. Collor's departure, on the other hand, was also a moment ofnational affirmation 20
and optimism, because he was removed in an entirely proper institutional procedure, not a stereotypical military overthrow, South American style. Society, the media and institutions joined together to apply pressure, and obtain the desired result. Brazil became the only country in the world other than the US (Nixon) to remove a president "by the book". This brief, highly condensed rundown of the past few years, may leave you wondering whether there's an "up" side to Brazil at all. There is, but to see it, it is essential to deal with trends, general directions and results that span longer periods. Negative events tend to grab a moment's attention and make a lasting impression, but they don't necessarily determine an overall direction. In a recent article for Brazil's top weekly newsmagazine, rieja, political scientist Sergio Abranches argued that it is impossible "to seriously sustain the argument that we're much worse off today". And he backed his argument with solid data: * Social mobility statistics show that 80 percent of Brazilians are better off than their parents were, while 20 percent are worse off; * Brazil's standing on the UN's Human Development Index has improved steadily since 1970, which means rising income, health and education levels; * Poverty, which affected 60 percent of all Brazilians in 1970, dropped to 40 percent in 1980, and 20 percent now; After adding the demise of runaway inflation—a major accomplishment of
extreme importance to the poorest on the social ladder—Abranches concludes that Brazilian society, overall, is actually much better off now than it ever was. Does that make Brazil "a tropical paradise" he asks? Ofcourse not—there's no avoiding the inequalities and huge problems— social, economic and structural, that must still be dealt with. Still, that's probably the best way to put where Brazil currently stands: yes, there's been movement, there are visible and measurable improvements, but it has not been enough and major problems remain unsolved. And as society becomes better equipped to assess what happens, and the democratic game is learned and understood by growing segments of the population, there is also a greater understanding of what is still wrong, where priorities lie, and what must be done. There's a restlessness in Brazil today, precisely because more and more people have a better understanding of what surrounds them. And a source of growing frustration is the disappointing performance of political structures that should be pushing ahead with what society rightfully wants, and are instead focusing on their own, often small interests, that tend to boil down to simply "getting there"— meaning, getting elected. A scan ofthe 15 years since the return of civilian democracy to Brazil in 1985 will show that politicians of all tendencies have had a shot at every level of public administration, except for the presidency where no left-wing candidate has been elected. With very rare exceptions, the BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
end result of most municipal and state administrations and legislatures has been poor. The disappointments pileup, while those worth mentioning for their positive performances are few and far between. This applies federally as well: a quality member of congress or the senate is a very rare bird indeed. The quality of Brazil's politicians, then, is a very major obstacle to further gains, and society is quickly realizing this. While it has progressed, its elected representatives have not. The most visible expression of what people think is in the monthly surveys that show President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's approval rating—or should we say, more appropriately, disapproval rating. Cardoso is the most visible of all politicians, and thus, he pays the price, with about a 60 percent negative rating, and only about 12 percent support from voters. To be honest, this ought to be the national rating for all politicians in Brazil—it would not be inaccurate. And this is not to excuse the President, who has missed numerous opportunities that may have changed things profoundly in Brazil, including his own standing with voters. Many political observers have begun to analyze the current situation in Brazil, and seek ways for the logjam to be broken up. For now, the conclusion seems to be thatthe country is in for more ofthe same: gradual, not always steady progress, generally—and hopefully—in the right direction. Whether society will gladly accept that things must move slowly because its mostly inefficient, selfish and corrupt politicians want it that way, is clearly another matter. Political reform is the obvious solution, but it has been bounced around in Congress for years without significant progress—clearly, those who must forge ahead with it and vote on it, are not terribly interested. The conclusion among many observers has been that the same mindset that helped to get rid of rampant inflation in Brazil, must be installed in order for political and other reforms to one day succeed. Society now understands the importance of keeping prices under control, and behaves in a manner that will not allow inflation to take offas it did in the past. The next step is for society to feel the same way about changing the ways of its politicians, and applying the pressure that will finally make it happen. Until this level of consciousness is in place, with elected officials responding appropriately, Brazil and its people will continue to endure lengthy, frustrating negotiations, not always made difficult because the parties involved are seeking what's best for the public_ And Brazilians have them-
selves to look to for an example, when assessing whether such profound changes are in fact possible: they are the ones who accomplished the ouster of president Fernando Collor de Mello in 1992. Society was able back then to work together and set things straight. Voters in Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, will soon have the opportunity to show whether at least that particular lesson has been learned: Collor de Mello has thrown his hat in the ring, and will run for mayor of sao Paulo in September of 2000.
the Virtual Intelligence Community, formed by The Greenfield Consulting Group to identify future trends for Latin America. He is also the editor of InfoBrazil (http://www.infobrazil.com), an Englishlanguage weekly e-zine with analysis and opinions on Brazilian politics and economy. You can reach the author at editors@infobrazil.com
Adhemar Altieri is a veteran with major news outlets in Brazil, Canada and the United States. He holds a Master's Degree in Journalism from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and spent ten years with CBS News reporting from Canada and Brazil. Altieri is a member of
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Poet of Contained Emotion With Manuel Bandeira and Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Joao Cabral de Mello Neto constituted the Holy Trinity of the Brazilian poetry. The poet was also Brazil's best hope for a Nobel Prize in literature. ALESSANDRA DALEVI He once took the time to explain that it was quite natural that he was terrified by the idea of hell although he did not believe in God. Maybe it was also quite natural that atheist poet Joao Cabral de Mello Neto ended up dying in Rio, on October 9, a few months before turning 80, while holding hands with his wife Marly de Oliveira and praying to the God he didn't think existed. According to Marly, after reciting Our Father, the head ofJoao Cabral fell to one side and she thought he had fallen asleep. "It was a moment of beatitude," she commented later. "It was so serene that I wished at that moment that we could go together. 1 believe it was his contact with religion that made his passage so peaceful. He started having another vision of life." Joao Cabral was better known for his long poem Alone el'ida .S'everina (Severino Life and Death), but he considered this work made at the request of playwright Maria Clara Machado as a Christmas play, a minor one. "I didn't write forte e Vida Severina for intellectuals," he once tols:Ipoet Vinicius de Moraes. "I wrote it for the illiterate folks who listen to folk poems at the Santo Amaro open market in Recife." He once complained against those who asked for more political commitment from him when the play poem was presented: "I think that some people would like me to go up there on stage and scream at the end ofevery show: 'Long live the agrarian reform.'" A recluse for most of his life, the poet and diplomat had become even more ofa hermit after being struck by blindness in 1994. He rarely gave interviews and stayed in touch only with close friends and family. Losing his sight also made him bitter and he refused to dictate new poems. The poet was born in Recife on January 9, 1920 in a wealthy family that owned a sugar cane farm, but the contact while growing up with farm workers, drought-stricken folks, and popular Theratura de cordel (string literature) made him highly tuned to the plight of the poor peasants. He was very popular among the workers at the farm since he was a little boy. As nobody knew how to read, he became their main source of entertainment. When these men had some money left they would go to the city and bring little booklets written by improvisers telling in verse stories oflove and misadventure, tales ofmiracles and dreams, the adventures of the heroes and villains of the Northeast. On these occasions, Joao Cabral was more than happy to oblige and read to them this popular literature—often from the top ofan ox cart. Fifty years later he would remember those sessions in "Descoberta da Literat ura" ( Discovery of Literature), a poem included in the book .1 Escola das Facas (School of Knifes) from 1979:
No dia-a-dia do engenho, toda a semana, durante, cochichavam-me em segredo: saiu um novo romance. E da feira do doming° me traziam conspirantes para que os lesse e explicasse um romance de barbante...
In the sugar-mill's day-to-day, the whole week, throughout, they whispered to me in secrecy: there is a new novel out. And from the Sunday open market they brought me conspiring so I read them and explained a novel of string...
He moved from Recife (capital ofPernambuco)to Rio in 1945. He was still 17 when he started to work as a bureaucrat and continued doing this for eight more years. During this time he wrote poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade an untitled poem that remained unpublished for more than 50 years: Dificil ser flincionario nesta segundaleira. Eu te telefono, Carlos, pedindo conselho. Nilo e la fora o dia clue, me deixa ass/m... E a dor das coisas, o Into desta mesa: o regiment° proibindo assovios, versos, flores...
Hard to be a public servant this Monday. I call you on the phone. Carlos. asking for advice. Its not the day outside that makes me like that... It's the pain of things, this table's mourning: it's the regulation forbidding whistling, verses, flowers...
He was 22 when his first book„4 Pedra do Sono (The Sleep's Stone), was released. The work, a manifesto against the dominant poetry of the time—Parnasian ism and its adherence to metrical form—became a landmark and an inspiration for future poets. Three years later, in 1945, he published 0 Engenheiro (The Engineer). By this time, he had already become friends with the best poets of the day: Vinicius de Moraes, Murilo Mendes, Jorge de Lima, and Carlos Drummond de Andrade. In 1946 he married Stella Maria Barbosa de Oliveira—granddaughter of renowned writer Rui Barbosa (1849-1923).Together they had five children. Poetic Journeys Having passed in 1945 the exam to the Institut° Rio Branco, which prepares Brazilian diplomats, Joao Cabral would become another kind of bureaucrat traveling the world as a representative of the Brazilian government. In 1947, he was sent to Barcelona. Spain, for his first foreign mission. There he met and became a friend of painter Joan Mini and created a printing shop to publish Spanish and Brazilian poetry, including two of his books: Psicologia da Composictio (Psychology 'tion), 1947,
22 BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1599
and 0 Ca° Sem Plumas (Featherless Dog), 1950. His Barcelona stint would change his life and deeply influence his poetry. It was also in 1950 that an unexplained headache struck the poet, a cross he would carry for most of his life, getting only mild relief from drugs. The pain would inspire him to write a hymn to aspirin, a product he avidly consumed for years, until he was given other drugs by his doctors. Monumento a Aspirina Claramente: o mats prcitico dos sins, o sol de urn comprimido de aspirina: de ernpregofácil, portant e barato, compacto de sol na lápide sucinta. Principalmente porque, sol artificial, que nada limita a funcionar de dia, que a noite nao expulsa, cada noite, sol imune as leis de meteorologia, a toda hora em que se necessita dele levanta e vem (sempre num claro dia): acende, para secar a ania gem da alma, quara-la, em linhos de um meio-dia....
Monument to Aspirin Obviously: the most practical of suns, the sun of an aspirin tablet: of easy usage, portable and cheap, a sun compact in the succinct headstone. Mainly because, artificial sun, that nothing limits to work by day, that at night, does not expel, each night, sun immune to the meteorology laws, any time you need it gets up and come (always in a clear day): turns on, to dry soul's burlap, whiten it under the sun, in linens of noon....
From 1950 to 1952 the poet stayed in London. Accused of being subversive and a communist at the time McCarthyism was raging in the US, he had to return to Brazil. Placed in a forced sabbatical in 1953 he worked for Rio's newspaper A Vanguarda until being reinstated to the diplomatic career in 1954. In 1955 he wrote the painful story of a poor northeastern man who has no place to stay after losing his little piece of land to the drought and a rich farmer. This was Vida e Morte Severina. Maria Clara Machado, who had ordered the play, returned it to the sender expl ining that her 0 Tablado had no structure to stage it. The poet decided then to cut the St ge indications and publish the work as poem in Duas Aguas (Two Waters), a book he as publishing and had not enough material according to his publisher. Finally in the '60s, with music by Chico Buarque de Hollanda, Morte e Vida Seve ma was shown on stage, first in Brazil and then in Europe, receiving awards and appl use wherever it was presented. In 1966, the show was presented by the Tuca troup in France's Nancy Festival and Cabral received the Best Author Alive award. An enquiry on his alleged leftist connections didn't prove anything. He was ack in Barcelona in 1956. In 1972 he was sent to Senegal as ambassador. He would 'still work in Ecuador (1979), Honduras (1981), ending his career in Porto, Portugal. He re ired as diplomat in 1987. Joao Cabral had a dry way of writing verses. In an interview with Cadern s de Literatura Brasileira, he said: "For me, poetry is a composition. When I say corn sition, I mean something built, planned-from the outside in. No one imagines that Picasso made the paintings he made because he was inspired. His problem was to take a canvas, to study the spaces, the volumes. I only understand the poetic in this sense. I am going to write a poem this size, which such and such elements, things I keep placing as they were bricks. That's why I can spend years creating a poem: because there is planing. For me, poetry is a construction as a house. I learned this with Le Corbusier." The Brazilian poetry has its Holy Trinity, which is comprised of Manuel Ban eira, Carlos Drummond de Andrade, and Joao Cabral de Mello Neto. Joao Cabral was B il's best hope to get a Nobel Prize in literature. In the last five years every time the S edish Nobel Foundation asked for a Brazilian candidate for the Nobel, the ABL (Acajlernia Brasileira de Letras-Brazilian Academy of Letters) offered his name. He was himself a distinguished member of that 40-member literary club. The poet was elected to the Academy in 1968. He occupied seat 37, which belonged among others to Pre ident Gettilio Vargas and media mogul Assis Chateaubriand. Liciies de Sevilha Tenho Sevilha em minha cama eis que Sevilha se faz came, eis-me habitando Sevilha como é impossivel de habitar-se Nada em volta que me lembre a Sevilha cartclo-postal, a que é turistica-anedatica, a que é museu e catedral Esta Sevilha que é trianera, Sevilha fundo de quintal, Sevilha de lenco secando, a que é corriqueira e normal E a Sevilha que ha nos seus pops, se ha pogo ou nem, pouco importa, a Sevilha que (la as sevilhanas 1kb-es de Sevilha, de fora. BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
Seville Lessons I have Seville in my bed Here's Seville becoming flesh, here's myself inhabiting Seville in a way it is impossible to inhabit Nothing around that reminds me of a postcard Seville that is touristy-anecdotic that is museum and cathedral This Seville that is neoclassical Backyard Seville, Seville with drying kerchief, which is ordinary and normal It's the Seville that exists in its we Is, if there's a well or not, it doesn't atter, Seville which gives Sevillan worn n Seville lessons, from the outside
Bibliography: • Pedra doS'ono(1942), published by the author • Os Tres Ma/-A inados (1943), Revista do Brasil • 0 Engenheiro(1945), paid for by poet Augusto Frederico Schmidt Ps icologia da Composicclo (1947 ), • 0 Livro Inconnitil (Barcelona, 1947) • 0 Cao sem Phinrcrs (1950) • 0 Rio (1953), Sao Paulo's Commission for the 4'h Centennial • Poemas Rennidos (1954), Orfeu • Dua.s Aguas (1956), containing "Morte e Vida Severina," "Paisagens corn Figuras" and "tJma Faca SO Lamina," Jose Olympio • Onaderna (1960), Guimaraes Editores (Portugal) • Dols Parlamentos (1960), published by the author • Terceira Feira (1961), published by the author • Educaceio pela Pedra (1966), published by the author • Poesias Completas (1968), Jose Olympio • Muse?! de Did° (1975), Jose Olympio A Escola das Facas (1979), Jose Olympio • Poesia Critica (1981), Nova Fronteira • A uto do Frade (1982), Nova Fronteira • Agrestes (1985), Nova Fronteira • Poesias Completas - 1940-1965 (1986), Jose Olympio • Crime no Ca//c Relator (1987), Nova Fronteira • Ahiseti de Tido e Depois (Poesia Completa 2)(1988), Nova Fronteira • Poemas Pernambucunos (1988), Jose Mariano Foundation and Nova Fronteira • Primeiros Poemas (1990), Faculdade de Letras of UFRJ • Sevilha Andando (1990), Nova Fronteira • Poemas S'evilhanos (1992), Foreign Ministry and Nova Fronteira • Ohra Completa (1994), Nova Aguilar • Serial e Antes (1997), Nova Fronteira • Educacclo pela Pedra e Depois (1997), Nova Fronteira .
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Rio is one of those •destinations you either love or hate, and if you love it, you keep coming back. You just cannot get enough of Rio. So, even if you have been to Sugarloaf 20 times, it is still magic to go back and see it again.
Postcards from Rio de Janeiro JOHN MILLER I think it would be fair to say that a number ofreaders have been requesting I do a feature on the "bundas" ofRio de Janeiro. I try to be very sensitive to my audience ofreaders, so this section will be done with decorum, dignity, and taste as humanly possible. At the same time, I do not expect this to be well accepted by the entire readership. So be it. So with great care, thought, research (a heap ofthis), and because it is getting close to Christmas, I am going to talk about the bundas of Rio de Janeiro. So here goes, if you do not like this, skip over it. Guys & girls, the bundas here are great, just awesome. Bundas come in all shapes, colors, textures, soft, plump, rock hard, pointed, round, pear-shaped, not-so-pear-shaped, you name it, they have it. This is bunda heaven. When God gave out bundas, Brazilians were given first choice. Bundas bump, grind, and bounce. Bundas lie everywhere. Bundas go deep brown in summer and light brown in winter. A bunda is something to take in, admire, sculpt, worship, hold in your hand (if invited), stroke, spank lightly (again if invited), to adore, to cover in oil, to drive you crazy, to make your head turn, to caress, to ohhhhhhhhh. The female bundas are pretty nice as well. Bundas in Brazil are generally shown to great effect on the beach with a type of bathing suit calledfio dental (dental floss). This type of bathing costume is synonymous with Rio de Janeiro. The dental floss, as the name implies is designed to reveal the maximum amount of bunda, let it all hang out so to speak. Now it does not matter too much what shape the bunda is, a dental floss is still the go. The Brazilian is very famous for their admiration of bundas. Some people like legs, some like chests, some like waists, but for the Brazilians, especially the Carioca, it is the bunda that counts. And they count them day in and day out. Some days it can be a little hard not to break your neck looking at bundas. I have seen bundas lined up like pears in a fruit shop. I have seen bundas riding on bikes that would make 24
you want to turn into a bicycle for the rest of your life. I have seen bundas dance and gyrate in a manner that makes gravity seem to disappear. The collective noun for a bunch of bundas is "pour beer down your chest" bundas. After much research, I have determined the optimal age for a bunda is about 30. A 30-year-old bunda can sometimes reduce me to walking into telegraph poles. And I have. I once saw a bunda so perfect, I just followed it around for twenty minutes, then asked the bunda owner if it was bionic or surgically created. Nup, no silicon here. He really was not offended that I asked at all, which was nice. You know, you can have a crap day sometimes, but just glimpse one good bunda and the sun seems to come out again. Once again, I am only talking about the male bundas, but you are free to use your imagination otherwise. I think it was Winston Churchill who said, "A cigar is a cigar, but a good bunda is a smoke!". Or he would have, if he had visited Brazil. Bundas, better quit while I am ahead on this one.
More Bus Adventures When I first arrived in Brazil, I noticed a lot ofpeople would make the sign of the cross on their chests when they sat on the bus. Initially I thought they were thinking like me. "Pray to God this bus driver will slow down". But then I noticed that the drivers would do this as well. "Attention bus passengers, we have a small malfunction with the main Mercedes bus engine, it's stuck on full throttle, and we have no brakes. Please remain calm and seated, in the event this bus finishes up in Guanabara Bay, you will find the life jackets stowed underneath your seat". Now I realize it's just another one of those "mic" things. Every time the bus goes past a church, all the Catholics on board make the sign of the cross. With so many churches in Rio de Janeiro, this can look like some cabin scene out of a Boeing 747 disaster movie from the 70s.
Samba on the Buses One of the really nice things about traveling on the buses BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
is the free use of the buses if you do samba as you enter the bus at the rear turnstile. Let me explain. Usually it's only done by teenage boys in casual beach attires (read thongs, shorts and maybe a T-shirt). As you enter the bus at the rear, you approach the turnstile and start to samba on your lands and knees. Gradually, you samba your way underneath the turn style, then swing your body up and turn around and smile at the ticket collector. If the ticket collector likes the way you samba, then you can enter the bus and sit down, and it does not cost you anything. However, if the ticket collector does not like the way you samba, (or sometimes the bus driver judges you as well), then you have to get off the bus straight away, or pay. Whatever, I think it is a great custom, although for some reason, not all the paying passengers agree with this. (Some of the bus passengers even suggested to me that these people were not actually doing samba, but were entering the bus illegally, but I could not believe this.) Anyway, one Friday night, when I was coming home from the office,! entered e bus at Cinelandia and decided to try the samba bus entry myself. I was dressed in a suit and tie, • with my briefcase I hoisted myself onto the bus, and threw my briefcase over the turnstile. I then st ed to lower myself on my hands and knees and trying to samba under the turnstile. Well, I don't kno. what !did wrong, but the next thing! know is! fmdmyselfbeing shown the front entrance to the bus in' aia de Flamengo MMMinmmm, must get some more Samba lessons before I try this again.
The tunnels of Rio
Rio de Janeiro is very famous for its tunnels. The geography of Rio requires e major roads go under the mountains in and around Rio (i.e. too steep to go over). There are about ight major tunnels at present, and some more under construction. The longest tunnel at present is a' out 3-km long, but one under construction is about 8-km long. All of these tunnels are dual carri geway (2 lanes each way minimum). Driving in these tunnels is very challenging, the speeds incre ible. One of the saddest sights you will ever see in Rio de Janeiro is the people eeping in these tunnels. It is impossible not to be moved by this, it is just so tragic. Sometimes you see whole families sle ping together in these tunnels. I am not sure if they just do not know the danger they are in, or just so poor, or do not care or seek the warmth and shelter at night that a tunnel offers. God, this city makes you cry, but also it makes you feel so aU e.
Telerj
Telerj wiped me out this month for two days, twice. No reason, but the while apartment had no phones for two days. No apology, no ringing to say sorry, no letter of apology. Just wiped out. For two ys we were going down the street to use the pay phone, waiting in line with other people in the apartment to make a pho e call. Gees....
The family that manicures together
Question. How many guys out their get a manicure of their hands and feet om their wives each week? If by some remote chance this is not the case (like sure, doesn't everyone), you may be interest -d in the following. As your average Aussie sow (see how I keep sidestepping this Pig word s well, even though Marta uses it as my second name),! have learnt a thing or two (belted into more likely) about clothes, groo ing, hair, etc., since arriving in Rio de Janeiro. One of the rituals that takes place when Marta, Marina (Marta's mom) and B bara (Marta's daughter) get together on every second Sunday is to play pin-the-manicurist. Usually it is a Sunday morning thing. Everyone sits around cutting, groom ng, filing, cleaning, painting hand and toe nails (I get excused from this part), combing hair, waxing, picking, and preening. e precision with which this is done is amazing. Marta does my hands and feet first, then Barbara does Marta, Marta does M rina (note the pecking order). Me, you think a gringo would be entrusted with this important duty? I just lie in my hammock Sunday morning and enjoy it, reading 0 Globo and having coffee. Afterwards, all the finger and toe nail clippings, hair, belly button lint, de • skin and pubics are gathered up, put in a bowl, mixed with incense and burned over a candle to orship the Goddess of Brazilian Beauty. (Sick joke I know). Brazilian women are just so fasti ious about their appearance, they really pay close attention to every aspect of perso al grooming. It is to be admired, enjoyed, and appreciated. So I do.
Novelas (Soa s)
How is Melrose P ce lately? We got that here too. Ah, but the novelas of Brazil. Re! do Gado (K ng of Cows) My favorite no ela, it is one hour every night of the week. It is basically Dallas i Brazil. Situated around a family in the south of Brazil, they ow a cattle farm the size of Tasmania. I love to watch this show just fir the scenery of Brazil, the Pantanal wetlands, the fazendas, the I I d cities and cobblestone streets. The acting and camera work is j t first rate. The novela is even exported to Russia. That kind of ma es me laugh if you could imagine Boris Yeltsin voice-overs on B azilian actors. "Nyet Ivan,! will not bring my cows to Moscow this inter!" Xica da Sil a This novel is through the eyes of a female slave, the daughter of Portuguese ourtesan who has an illegitimate baby to an African slave. Th Portuguese courtesan never owns up to his deeds of course, so he is also brought up as a slave, but she knows who BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
25
her father is. Some scenes in this novela are very graphic, a bit like "Roots", and quite controversial. The acting again is first class, the lead female actress is just brilliant (and a dead set 12/10). Costuming is just outstanding. It is largely situated in and around gemstone mining towns of Minas Gerais. You do see some things on the Brazilian novelas that I am pretty certain would not make the final cut and censorship in other countries. In one scene, the soldiers are looking for stolen diamonds, so they stop a priest and his burro (/). The soldier then proceeds to put his arm inside the vagina of the burro (in close up) to look for the diamonds (Man, took me by surprise when I saw this I can assure you). Didn't find any diamonds, but the burro looked pretty happy and contented.
Beach Culture continued... Thought I had done this to death, but I have just scratched the surface on this one. My notes on this topic are going to be a little more random now, just observations, rather than a time of day thing. See, to know the beach, is to know a lot about Brazil, and especially the Carioca. The beach is life, death, spiritual, therapy, the office, the backyard, the playground, the culture, the warehouse, the shopping center, the place to meet, to play, to romance, to surf, to sell, to tan, to parade, to work out, to chill out, to ah, life is a beach. Rio de Janeiro is one of those tourist destinations you either love or hate, and if you love it, you keep coming back to it. You just cannot get enough of Rio. There is so much to do in this city, its natural beauty is its very essence. So, even if you have been to Sugarloaf 20 times, it is still magic to go back and see it again. I never tired of crossing Sydney Harbor Bridge, or going on Harbor Ferry rides in Sydney, and it is the same here. You just keep on coming back to find more and relive the moment. One of my favorite sights is sunrise over the Atlantic and Sugarloaf. I see this most mornings when I ride my bicycle, and there are so many different sunrises here, I never realized the sun could make so many different colors. I hope one day to capture this properly on film, so far I think I have seen about 15 different types of sunrises here. One in particular is my favorite, I call it "The Fire from Africa". It is like seeing a fire come racing out of Africa and goes on around the planet as it sweeps up in the sky and engulfs Rio de Janeiro in a scorching hot day. It has flames that streak the sky in arrows of light just prior to sunrise, then in a matter of seconds the fire spreads and the sun engulfs the whole city in a day of 40C temperatures. It is just magic.
Beach Volleyball I mentioned that I sometimes played beach volleyball with some old dudes in the morning. It has been pretty sporadic of late, just too busy, and well, let me explain. All of the guys I play with are retired or semi retired pensioners. The youngest would be in his late 40s (some people in Brazil get to retire on full pensions pretty young much to the economy's sadness), the oldest is 81, and I think one of the best players. They have been playing all their lives and they just know every trick in the book. None of us can get too much daylight under the soles of our feet when it comes to spiking at the net, so we are all pretty equal in this regard. But they are just so skilful, and know exactly where to place the ball. It always seems they hit the ball to me just out of reach of my fingertips. Anyway, lately they have been acting a little bit "stand-off'. You know what I mean, like "Ah John, can you let one of the other guys play this time" or "John, do you mind if Eduardo, our blind and crippled pensioner play this game to sort of even things up a bit". I don't know exactly what is going on here. Maybe it has something to do with me being the last one to be picked on the team. Or! seem to always play on the losing team or something. Anyway, one guy is eventually sent over to explain that they are getting ready to compete for the senior or veterans division final for beach volleyball in a couple of weeks, and you know, would you mind letting another older guy play to get some practice. I think I just got told, "You are not good enough. Go find another team." Very humbling, and somewhat humiliating. "Hey, anyone want to have a game of fresco ball? Carlos, Marcio, Romario, come on, I am getting better at this boing boing thing, truly!" Another dimension to the beach volleyball is that the summer competition has just started. This is Saturday afternoon serious stuff, like cricket in Sydney. I have developed a keen appreciation for the finer aspects ofthe female beach volleyball teams, so athletic, so skilful, so much teamwork, so strenuous, so "pass me another beer, por favor".
The BBQ (Churrasco) Now, the beach would never be complete without a BBQ would it, especially for Brazilians as they love their churrasco. What you won't find though is a Weber or a gas BBQ with volcanic hot rocks, or God forbid an electric public BBQ. The best BBQs are made from the rims of car tires (the older and rustier the better) or a stainless steel beer keg cut in half. Mount it on a tripod of scrap metal poles, throw in some wood and charcoal, put a grate on top, hey presto, the perfect portable BBQ to go to the beach. Sausages and kebabs are the standard meat on the BBQ. Also toasted cheese pieces on a stick, which is just heaven. The wood/charcoal they use is very slow burning, and just makes the most delightful low visible smoke yet high flavorsome char grilled meats you ever tasted.
John Miller is an Australian, living in Rio de Janeiro, selling Australian wine. 'Postcards from Rio' is a journal of his journey in the land of the Cariocas. For contact: • John and Marta Miller Rua Joaquim Nabuco, 106 - Apt 1001 • Copacabana CEP 22080-030 • Rio de Janeiro • Brazil Tel: +55 (021) 521 8568 • E-mail: millerjgbl.com.br 26
BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
Short Story For Dona Maria Rita, a common person, to die was not a conmon act. To die was something startling. She talked and even thought Ebout death, but deep inside she was skeptical and suspicious. She thought 3eople d ed when there was a disaster orsomeone killed someone. The old lady had little experience. CLARICE LISPECTOR
A partida era na Central corn seu relOgio enorme, o major do mundo. Marcava seis horas da manha. Angela Pralini pagou o taxi e pegou sua pequena valise. Dona Maria Rita Alvarenga Chagas Souza Melo desceu do Opala da BRAZZ1L -OCTOBER 1999
filha e encatninharam-se para os trilhos. A velha bem vestida e corn jó. s. Das rugas que a disfarcavam saia a fo a pura de um nariz perdidO ria idade, e de uma boca que outrora devia ter sids cheia e sensivel. Masque importa. Cheg -se a um certo ponto—e o que foi nao mporta. Comeca uma nova rap.. Uma lha nao pode comunicar-se. Recebe o beijo gelado de sua filhdque foi emb ira antes do trem partir. Ajudara-a antes subir no vagao. Sem que neste hou esse um centro, ela se colocara do lads. Quando a locomotiva se Os em mo imento, surpreendeu-se urn pouco: nâa esperava que o trem seguisse nessa irecao e sentara-se de costas para o c inho. Angela Pralini percebeu he o movimento e perguntou-lhe: —A senhora deseja troc r de lugar comigo? Dona Maria Rita se esp ntou corn delicadeza, disse que nao, ob *gada, para ela dava no mesmo. Mas p ecia ter-se perturbado. Passou a mao obre o camafeu filigranado de ouro, spetado no peito, passou a mao pelo bro he, tirou-a,
levou-a ao chapeu de feltro corn uma rosa de pano, retirou-a. Seca. Ofendida? Perguntou afinal a Angela Pralini: —E por causa de mim que a senhorita deseja trocar de lugar? Angela Pralini disse que nao, surpreendeu-se, a velha se surpreendeu pelo mesmo motivo: nao se recebe favor de uma velhinha. Ela sorriu urn pouco demais e os labios cobertos de talco se partiram em sulcos secos: ela estava encantada. E urn pouco agitada: —Que amabilidade a sua, disse-lhe, que gentileza. Houve urn movimento de perturbacao porque Angela Pralini riu tambem, e a velha continuava a rir, mostrando a dentadurabem areada.Deu discretamente um puxao para baixo na cinta que a apertava demais. —Que amabilidade, repetiu. Recomposs-se urn pouco depressa, cruzou as mans sobre a bolsa que continha tudo o que se pudesse imaginar. As rugas, enquanto ela rira, haviam tornado urn sentido, pensou Angela. Agora estavam de novo incompreensiveis, superpostas 27
num rosto de novo imodelavel. Mas Angela tirara-lhe a tranqii ilidade. Já vira muitamoca nervosa que se dizia: se eu rir urn pouco mais estrago tudo, vai ser ridiculo, tenho que parar—e era impossivel. A situacdo era muito triste. Corn imensa piedade, Angela viu a cruel verruga no queixo, verruga da qual saia urn pelo preto e espetado. Mas Angela lhe tirara a tranqiiilidade. Via-se que sorriria a qualquer momento: Angela pusera a velha nas pontas dos pes. Agora ela era uma dessas velhinhas que parecem pensar que estdo sempre atrasadas, que passaram da hora. Dai a urn segundo ndo se conteve, ergueu-se e espiou pela sua janela, como se fosse impossivel manter-se sentada. —A senhora esta querendo levantar o vidro? disse urn rapaz que ouvia no radio de pilha Haendel. —Ah! exclamou ela aterrorizada. Oh ndo!, pensou Angela, estava se estragando tudo, o rapaz no deveria ter dito isso, era demais, nao se devia toca-la de novo. Porque a velha, quase a ponto de perder a atitude de que vivia, quase a ponto de perder certa amargura, tremia como musica de cravo entre o sorriso e o extremo encanto: —Ndo, no, ndo, disse ela corn falsa autoridade, de modo algum, rigada, so ‘4, i,joiciasimman queria olhar. Sentou-se imediatamente como se a delicadeza do z e da mop a vigiasse. A velha, antes de subir no trem, persignou-se corn tres cruzes no coracdo, beijando discretamente as pontas dos dedos. Estava de vestido preto corn gola de renda verdadeira e urn camafeu de ouro puro. Na escura mao esquerda as duas aliancas grossas de vinva, grossas como lido se faziam mais. Ouvia-se do outro vagdo o grupo de bandeirantes que cantavam o Brasil agudamente. Felizmente no outro vagdo. A musica do radio do rapaz entrecruzava-se corn a rrulsica de outro rapaz: estava ouvindo Edith Piaff que cantava Fattendrai. Fora entdo que o trem de repente deu, urn solavanco e as rodas se puseram em movimento. Comecara a partida. A velha disse baixinho: Ai Jesus! Ela se banhava na calda de Jesus. Amem. Pelo radio de pilha de uma senhora soube-se que eram seis e trinta da manha, manila friagenta. A velha pensou: o Brasil melhorava a sinalizacdo de suas estradas. Urn tal de Kissinger parecia mandar no mundo. Ninguem sabe onde estou, pensou
Angela Pralini, e isso assustava-a um sozinha corn os criados, enquanto a filha pouco, ela era uma fugida. "public relations" passava o dia fora, so —Meu nome é Maria Rita Alvarenga chegava as oito da noite, e nem sequer lhe Chagas Souza Melo--Alvarenga Chagas dava urn beijo. Acordara-se neste dia as era o sobrenome do meu pai, acrescentou cinco da manha, tudo ainda escuro, fazia em pedido de desculpa por ter que falar frio. tantas palavras s6 em dizer seu nome. Depois da del icadeza do rapaz estava Chagas, acrescentou corn modestia, eram extraordinariamente agitada e sorridente. as Chagas de Cristo. Mas pode me chamar Parecia enfraquecida. No riso ela se de dona Maria Ritinha. E o seu nome?, a revelava uma dessas velhinhas cheias de sua graca qual é? dentes. A crueldade deslocada dos dentes. —Meu nome é Angela Pralini. You O rapaz já se tinha afastado. Ela abria e passar seis meses na fazenda de meus tios. fechava as palpebras. De repente bateu E a senhora? corn os dedos na perna de Angela, corn —Ah, eu you para a fazenda de meu extrema rapidez e suavidade: filho, you ficar la para o resto da vida, —Hoje todos estao verdadeiramente, minha filha me trouxe ate o trem e meu mas verdadeiramente amaveis! que filho me espera corn a charrete na estacdo. gentileza, que gentileza. Sou como um embrulho que se entrega de Angela sorriu. A velha ficou sorrindo sem tirar os olhos profundos e vazios dos olhos da moca. Vamos, vamos, chicoteavam-na de todos os lados, e ela espiavaparaca epara la como se fosse escolher. Vamos, vamos! empurravam-narindo de todos os lados, e ela se sacudia ridente, delicada. —Como todos sao amaveis neste trem, disse. Subitamente procurou se recompor, pigarreou falsamente, se conteve toda. Devia ser dificil. Receava ter chegado a um ponto de nao poder interromper-se. Manteve-se em severidade e tremor, fechou os labios sobre os innmeros dentes. Mas nao podia enganar a ningam: seu rosto tinha uma tat esperanca que perturbava os olhos que a viam. Ela ja nao dependia de ninguem: uma vez que mao em mdo. atinham tocado, podia-se ir embora—ela Os tios de Angela ndo tinham filhos sozinha se irradiava magra, alta. Ainda e tratavam-na como filha. Angela lem- queteria dizer qualquer coisa e ja prepabrou-se do bilhete que deixara para Edua- ravd um gesto social de cabeca, cheio de rdo: "Ndo me procure. Vou desaparecer graca previa. Angela se perguntava se ela de voce para sempre. Te amo como nunca. saberia se exprimir. Ela pareceu pensar, Adeus. Tua Angela ndo foi mais tua pensar, e achar corn ternura urn pensaporque voce ndo quis". mento ja todo feito onde male mat podia Ficararn em silencio. Angela Pralini acmihegar seu sentimento. Disse corn entregou-se ao mid° cadenciado do trem. cuidado e sabedoria de ancido, como se Dona Maria Rita olhou de novo para o precisasse tomar esse ar para falar como prOprio anel de brilhantes e perola no seu velha: dedo, alisou o camafeu de ouro: "Sou —A juventude. A juventude amavel. velha mas sou rica, mais rica que todos Riu urn pouco fingida. la ter uma crise aqui no vagdo. Sou rica, sou rica". Espiou de nervos? pensou Angela Pralini. Porque o relogio, mais para ver a grossa placa de estava tao maravilhosa. Mas pigarreou de ouro do que para ver as horas. "Sou muito novo corn austeridade, deu no banco uma rica, ilk) sou uma velha qualquer." Mas batidinha corn as pontas dos dedos como sabia, ah bem sabia que era uma velhinha se ordenasse corn urgencia a orquestra qualquer, uma velhinha assustada pelas uma nova partitura. Abriu a bolsa, tirou menores coisas. Lembrou-se de Si, o dia um quadradinho de jornal, desdobrou-o, inteiro sozinha na sua cadeira de balanco, desdobrou-o, ate torna-lo um jornal BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
grande e normal, datado de tres dias atras—Angela viu pela data. Pos-se a ler. Angela tinha perdido sete quilos. Na fazenda iria corner que ndo era vida: tutu de feijdo e couve mineira, pararecuperar os preciosos quilos perdidos. Estava magra assim por tentar acompanhar o raciocinio brilhante e ininterrupto de Eduardo: bebia cafe sem acncar sem parar para se manter acordada. Angela Pralini tinha os seios muito bonitos, eram seu ponto forte. Tinha as orelhas em ponta e uma boca bonita arredondada, beijavel. Os olhos corn olheiras profundas. Ela aproveitava o apito,gritado do trem para que ele fosse o seu prOprio grito. Era urn berro agudo, o seu, s6 que virado para dentro. Era a mulher que mais bebia uisque no grupo de Eduardo. Agnentava de 6 a 7 de uma vez, mantendo uma lucidez de terror. Na fazenda iria beber leite grosso de vaca. Uma coisa unia a velha a Angela: ambas jam ser recebidas de bracos abertos, mas uma nao sabia isso da outra. Angela de salt() estremeceu: quem daria o ultimo dia de vermifugo ao cachorro. Ah, Ulisses, pensou ela para o cdo, nao te abandoneiquerer, por, é que eu precisava fugir de Eduardo, antes que ele me arruinasse totalmente corn sua lucidez: lucidez que iluminava demais e crestava tudo. Angela sabia que ostios tinham remedio contra picada de cobra: pretendia entrar em cheio na floresta espessa e verdej ante, corn botas altas e besuntada de remedio contra picada de mosquito. Como se saisse da estrada Transamazonica, a exploradora. Que bichos encontraria? Era melhor levar uma espingarda, comida e agua. E uma bfissola. Desde que descobrira—mas descobrira realmente corn um torn espantado—que ia morrer um dia, entdo ndo teve mais medo da vida, e, por causa da morte, tinha direitos totais: arriscava tudo. Depois de ter tido duas uniOes que haviam terminado em nada, estaterceira que terminava em am or-adoracao, cortada pela fatalidade do desejo de sobreviver. Eduardo a transformara: fizera-a ter olhos para dentro. Mas agora ela via para fora. Via atraves da janela os seios da terra, em montanhas. Existem passarinhos, Eduardo! existem nuvens, Eduardo! existe urn mundo de cavalos e cavalas e vacas, Eduardo, e quando eu era uma menina cavalgava em corrida num cavalo nu, sem sela! Eu estou fugindo do meu suicidio, Eduardo. Desculpe, Eduardo, mas no quero morrer. Quero ser fresca e rara como uma romd. BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
A velha fingia que lia jornal. Mas Dona Maria Rita era tao antiga que na pensava: seu mundo era urn suspiro. Man casa da filha estavam habituados a ela queria que os outros a acreditassem como a um move! velho. Ela nao era abandonada. Deus me deu sande para eu novidade para ninguem. Mas nunca the viajar s6. Tambem sou boa de cabeca, rid() passara pela cabeca que era uma solitaria. falo sozinhae eu mesmaé quetomo banho SO que nao tinha nada para fazer. Era urn todos os dias. Cheirava a agua de rOsas lazer forcado que em certos momentos se murchas e maceradas, era o seu perflime tornava lancinante: nada tinha a fazer no idoso e mofado. Ter urn ritmo resinra- mundo. Sendo viver como urn gato, como tOrio, pensou Angela da velha, era a cOisa urn cachorro. Seu ideal era ser dama de mais bela que ficaradesde que dona Maria companhia de alguma senhora, mas isso Rita nascera. Era a vida. nem se usava mais e mesmo ninguem Dona Maria Rita pensava: depois de acreditaria nos seus fortes setenta e sete velha comecara a desaparecer para os anos, pensariam que ela era fraca. Mc) outros, so a viam de relance. Velince: fazia nada, fazia so isso: ser velha. As momento supremo. Estava alheia a e tra- vezes ficava deprimida: achava que ndo tegia geral do mundo e a sua prOpri era servia a nada, ndo servia sequer a Deus. parca. Perdera os objetivos de aior Dona Maria Ritinha ndo tinha inferno alcance. Ela já era o futuro. dentro dela. Por que os velhos, mesmo os Angela pensou: acho que se cue con- que nao tremem, sugeriam algo delicadatrasse a verdade, no poderia pen a-la. mentetremulo? Dona Maria Rita tinha um Seria impronunciavel mentalment tremor quebradico de mnsica de sanfona. A velha sempre fora urn pouco azia, Mas quando se trata da vida mesmo— bem, um pouquinho. Morte? era squi- quern nos ampara? pois cada um é urn. E sito, ndo fazia parte dos dias. E rnesmo cada vida tern que ser amparada por essa "nao existir" ndo existia, era impc:Oivel prOpria vida desse cada-um. Cada urn de ndo-existir.Ndo existir ndo cabiananossa nOs: eis corn que contamos. Como dona vida diaria. A filha no era carinhosa. Em Maria Rita sempre fora uma pessoa compensacdo o filho era tdo carinhoso, comum, achava que morrer ndo era coisa bonachao, meio gordo. A filha era sl equi- normal. Morrer era surpreendente. Era nha como seus beijos rapidos, a "public como se ela ndo estivesse a altura do ato relations". A velhatinha certapreg Ica de de morte, pois nunca lhe acontecera ate viver. A monotonia, porem, era que a agora nada de extraordinario na vida que viesse justificar de repente outro fato sustentava. Eduardo ouvia mnsica corn o pensa- extraordinario. Falava e ate pensava na mento. E entendia a dissonâ cia da morte, mas no fundo era cetica e suspeitomnsica moderna, s6 sabia enten er. Sua sa. Achava que se morria quando havia inteligencia que a afogava. Voc é uma urn desastre ou alguem matava alguem. A temperamental, Angela, disse the ele velha tinha pouca experiencia. As vezes uma vez. E dal? Que mal ha nis o? Sou tinha taquicardia: bacanal do coracao. o que sou e ndo o que pensas qu sou. A Mas sO isso e mesmo assim desde mociprova que sou esta nesta partida o trem. nha. No seu primeiro beijo, por exemplo, Minha prova tambem é dona Ma ia Rita, o coracdo se desgovernara. E fora uma ai defronte. Prova de que? Si . Ela já coisa boa em limite corn o ruim. Alguma tivera plenitude. Quando ela e duardo coisa que lembrava seu passado, ndo estavam tdo apaixonados urn pelo outro como fatos mas como vida: uma sensacdo que estando juntos numa cama, de maos de vegetacdo em sombra, tinhoroes, dadas, eles sentiam a vida c mpleta. samambaias, avencas, frescor esverdePouca gente conheceu a plen tude. E, ado. Quando sentia isso de novo, sorria. porque a plenitude é tambem u a explo- Uma das palavras mais eruditas que usava sdo ela e Eduardo covardemen e passa- era "pitoresco". Era born. Era como ouvir ram a viver "normalmente". P rque ndo O man.ilho de uma fonte e ndo saber onde se pode prolongar o extase se morrer. ela nascia. Urn dialog() que ela fazia consigo Separaram-se por urn motivo til quase inventado: ndo queriam morrer i e paixdo. mesma: —Esta fazendo alguma coisa? A plenitude é uma das verdades ncontra—Estou sim: estou sendo triste. das. Mas o rompimento neces ario fora —MID se incomoda de ficar sozinha? para ela uma ablacdo, assim como ha —Ndo, eu penso. mulheres de quem sdo tirados • ntero e os As vezes ndo pensava. As vezes a ovarios. Vazia por dentro. 29
pessoa ficava sendo. No precisava fazer. Ser ja era urn fazer. Podia-se ser devagar ou um pouco depressa. No assento de tras, duas mulheres falavam e falavam sem parar. Seus sons constantes se fundiam no barulho das rodas do trem nos trilhos. Bern que dona Maria Rita esperara que a filha ficasse na plataforma do trem para dar-lhe urn adeuzinho mas isto nao aconteceu. 0 trem imovel. Ate que dera a arrancada. —Angela, disse ela, uma mulher nunca diz a idade, por isso so posso lhe dizer que é muita mesmo. No, corn voce—posso chamar de voce?—corn voce you fazer uma confidencia: tenho setenta e sete anos. —Eu tenho trinta e sete, disse Angela Pralini. Eram sete horas da manha. —Quando eu era moca eu era muito mentirozinha. Mentia a toa. Depois, como se ela tivesse se desencantado da magia da mentira, parara de mentir. Angela, olhando a velha dona Maria Rita, teve medo de envelhecer e morrer. Segura minha mao, Eduardo, para eu nao ter medo de morrer. Mas ele nao segurava nada. So fazia era: pensar, pensar e pensar. Ah, Eduardo, quero a docura de Schumann! A sua vida era uma vida desfeita, evanescente. Faltava-lhe urn osso duro, aspero e forte, contra o qual ninguem pudesse nada. Quem seria esse osso essencial? Para afastar a sensacao de enorme carencia, pensou: como é que na Idade Media eles faziam sem telefone e sem aviao? Misterio. Idade Media, eu vos adoro e as tuas nuvens pretas e carregadas que desembocaram na Renascenca luminosa e fresca.
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Quanto a velha, desligara-se. Olhava para o nada. Angela olhou-se no pequeno espelho da bolsa. Pareco-me corn urn desmaio. Cuidado corn o abismo, digo aquela que se parece corn urn desmaio. Quando eu morrer you sentir tanta saudade de voce, Eduardo! A frase nao resistia a logica porem tinha em si urn imponderavel sentido. Era como se ela quisesse exprimir uma coisa e exprimisse outra. A velha já era o futuro. Parecia ter vergonha. Vergonha de ser velha? Em algum ponto de sua vida deveria corn certeza ter havido urn erro, e o resultado era esse estranho estado de vida. Que no entanto nao a levava àrnorte. A morte era sempre uma tal surpresa para quem morria. Tinha, porem, orgulho de nao babar nem fazer pipi na cama, como se essa forma de safide bravia tivesse meritoriamente sido oresultado de urn ato de vontade sua. So nao era uma dama, uma senhora de idade, por nao ter arrogancia: era uma velhinha digna que de repente tomava urn ar assustadico. Ela— bem, ela se elogiava a si mesma, considerava-se uma velha cheia de precocidade como crianca precoce. Mas a verdadeira intencao de sua vida, ela nao sabia. Angela sonhava corn a fazenda: lã se ouviam gritos, latidos e uivos, de noite. "Eduardo", pensou ela para ele, "eu estava cansada de tentar ser o que voce achava que sou. Tern urn lado mau—o mais forte e o que ptedominava embora eu tenha tentado esconder por causa de voce—nesse lado forte eu sou uma vaca, sou uma cavala livre e que pateia no chao, sou muffler darua, sou vagabunda—e Traci uma letrada'. Sei que sou inteligente e que as vezes escondo isso para nao
ofender os outros corn minha inteligencia, eu que sou uma subconsciente. Fugi de voce, Eduardo, porque voce estava me matando corn essa sua cabeca de genio que me obrigava a quase tapar os meus ouvidos corn as duas maos e quase gritar de horror e cansaco. E agora you ficar seis meses na fazenda, voce nao sabe onde estarei, e todos os dias tomarei banho no rio misturando corn o barro a minha abencoada lama. Sou vulgar, Eduardo! e saiba que gosto de ler historias de quadrinhos, meu amor, oh meu amor! como te amo e como amo os teus terriveis maleficios, ah como te adoro, escrava tua que sou. Mas eu sou fisica, meu amor, eu sou fisica e tive que esconder de ti a gloria de ser fisica. E voce, que 6 o proprio fulgor do raciocinio, embora nao saiba, era alimentado por mim. Voce, superintelectual e brilhante e deixando todos admirados e boquiabertos." —Acho, se disse devagarinho a velha, acho que essa moca bon ita nao se interessa em conversar comigo. Nao sei por que, mas ninguem conversa mais comigo. E mesmo quando estou junto das pessoas, elas parecem nao se lembrar de mim. Afinal nao tenho culpa de ser velha. Mas nao faz mal, eu me faco companhia. E mesmo tenho o Nandinho, meu filho querido que me adora. —0 prazer sofrido de se cocar! pensou Angela. Eu, hein, eu que nao you nessa nem noutra—estou livre!!! Estou ficando mais saudavel, oh vontade de dizer urn desaforo bem alto para assustar todos. A velha nao entenderia? Nao sei, ela que ja deve ter parido varias vezes. Eu nao caio nessa de que o certo 6 ser infeliz, Eduardo. Quero fruir de tudo e depois morrer e eu que me dane! me dane! me dane! Se bem que a velha é capaz de ser infeliz sem saber. Passividade. Eu nao you nessa tambem, nada de passividade, quero e tomar banho nua no rio barrento que se parece comigo, nua e livre! viva! Tres vivas! Eu abandono tudo! tudo! e assim nao sou abandonada, nao quero depender sena° de umas tres pessoas e o resto e: Born dia, tudo bem? tudo bem. Edu, voce sabe? cute abandono. Voce, no fundo de seu intelectualismo, nao vale a vida de urn cao. Eu te abandono, entao. E abandono o grupo falsamente intelectual que exigia de mim urn vac' e nervoso exercicio continuo de inteligencia falsa e apressada. Precisei que Deus me abandonasse para BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
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14. que eu sentisse a sua presenca. Eupreciso matar alguem dentro de mim. Voce estragou minha inteligencia corn a ma que é de genio. E me obrigou a saber, a saber, a saber. Ah, Eduardo, no se preocupe, levo comigo os livros que voce me deu para "seguir urn curso em casa", como voce queria. Estudarei filosofia perto do rio, pelo amor que tenho por voce. Angela Pralini tinha pensamentos tao fundos que nao havia palavras para expressa-los. Era mentira dizer que s6 se podia ter um pensamento de cada vez: tinha muitos pensamentos que se entrecruzavam e eram varios. "Sem falar no subconsciente' que explode em mim, queira eu ou nao queira voce. Sou uma fonte", pensou Angela, pensando ao mesmo tempo onde pusera o lenco de cabeca, pensando se o cachorro tinha tornado o leite que lhe deixara, nas camisas de Eduardo, e no seu extremo esgotamento fisico e mental. E na velha dona Maria Rita. "Nunca you esquecer teu rosto, Eduardo." Era urn rosto urn pouco espantado, espantado corn sua propria inteligencia. Ele era urn ingenuo. E amava sem saber que estava amando. Ia ficar tonto quando descobrisse que ela fora embora, deixando o cachorro e ele. Abandono por falta de nutricao, pensou. Ao mesmo tempo pensava na velha sentada defronte. Nao era verdade que s6 se pensa urn pensamento anico. Era, por exemplo, capaz de escrever urn cheque perfeito, sem urn erro, pensando na sua vida, por exemplo. Que nao era boa mas enfim era sua. Sua de novo. Sua de novo. A coerencia, nao a quero mais. Coerencia é mutilacao. Quero a desordem. S6 adivinho atraves de uma veemente incoerencia. Para meditar tirei-me antes de mime sinto o vazio. E no vazio que se passa o tempo. Ela que adorava uma boa praia, corn sol, areia e sot. 0 homem esta abandonado, perdeu o contato com a terra, com o ceu. Ele nao vive mais, ele existe. 0 ar entre eta e Eduardo Gosme era de emergencia. Ele a transformara numa mulher urgente. E que, para manter acordada a urgencia, tomava drogas excitantes que a emagreciam cada vez mais e tiravam-lhe a fome. Quero corner, Eduardo, estou corn fome, Eduardo, fome de muita comida! Sou organica! "Conheca hoje o supertrem de amanha."Selec5es do Reader's Digest que ela as vezes ha escondida de Eduardo. Era BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
como as Selec5es que diziam: conheca hoje o supertrem de amanha. Positivamentenao o estava conhecendo hoje. Mas Eduardo era o supertrem. Super tudo. Eta conhecia hoje o super de amanha. E no suportava. Nao suportava o moto-perpetuo. Voce e o deserto, e eu you para l a Oceania, para os mares do Sul, para as ilhas Taiti. Se bem que estragadas pelos turistas. Voce nao passa de urn turista, Eduardo. Vou para a minha prOpria Edu. E digo como Fellini: na escurida° e na ignorancia crio mais. A vida que ti ha com Eduardo tinha cheiro de farma ia nova recem-pintada. Ela preferia o ch iro vivo de estrume por mais nojento ue fosse. Ele era correto como uma qu ra de tenis. Alias, praticava tenis para ma ter a forma. Enfim, etc era urn chato qu eta amava e quase nao amava mais. Es ava recobrando no trem mesmo a sua s ade mental. Continuava apaixonada por Eduardo. E ele, sem saber, tambem e va por ela. Eu que nAo consigo fazer ada certo, exceto omeletes. Corn uma so do quebrava ovos corn umarapidez inc ivel, e os despejava na vasilha sem derr mar uma gota. Eduardo morria de inv a de tanta elegancia e eficiencia. Ele as ezes fazia palestras nas universida es e adoravam-no. Ela tambem assisti , eta tambem o adorando. Como era esmo que etc comecava? "Sinto-me p uco a vontade ao ver as pessoas se leva tando quando ouvem anunciar que eu fa arei." Angela tinha sempre medo que las se retirassem e o deixassem sozinh A velha, como se tivesse re ebido uma transmissao de pensatnento, ensava: que nao me deixem sozinh r . Que idade mesmo eu tenho? Ah ja netm sei. Logo em seguida ela esva+u seu pensamento. E era tranqUilamen e nada. Mal existia. Era born assim, mu to born mesmo. Mergulhos no nada. Angela Pralini, para se a almar, contou-se uma hist6riabem catmmente, bem tranqiiila: era uma vez um homem que gostava muito de jabuticaba . Entao, etc foi para um pomar onde havit arvores carregadas de protuberanciasne as, lisas e lustrosas, que the caiam nas aos toda entregues e que das maos lhe c lam aos pes. Era tat a abundancia de ja uticabas que etc se dava ao luxo de pisa- as. E elas faziam urn barulho muito gostos . Faziam assim: cloc-cloc-cloc etc. An eta acalmou-se como o homem das ja uticabas.
Na fazenda tinha jabuticabas e eta iria fazer corn os pes nus o "cloc-cloc" macio e ñmido. Nunca sabia se devia ou nao engolir os carocos. Quem iria responder essa pergunta? Ninguern. SO talvez urn homem que, como Ulisses, o cachorro, e contra Eduardo, respondesse: "Mangia, bella, que te fa bene". Sabia urn pouquinho de italiano mas nunca tinha certeza de estar certa. E, depois do clue esse homem dissesse, ela engoliria os carocos. Outra arvore gostosa era uma cujo nome cientifico esquecera mas que na infancia todos haviam conhecido diretamente, sem ciencia, era uma que no Jardim Botanic° do Rio fazia urn cloc-cloc sequinho. Viu? viu como voce esta renascendo? Sete folegos de gato. 0 nitmero sete acompanhava-a, era o seu segredo, a sua forca. Sentia-se linda. Nao era. Mas assim se sentia. Sentia-se tambem bondosa. Corn ternurapela velha Maria Ritinha que pusera os Oculos e ha o jornal. Tudo era vagaroso na velha Maria Rita. Perto do fim? ai, como dOi morrer. Na vida se sofre mas se tern alguma coisana mao: a inefavel vida. Mas e a pergunta sobre a morte? Era preciso nao ter medo: ir em frente, sempre. Sempre. Como o trem. Em algum lugar existe uma coisa escrita no muro. E é para mim, pensou Angela. Das chamas do Inferno vira urn telegrama fresco paramim. E nunca mais 31
minha esperanca sera decepcionada. Nunca. Nunca mais. A velha era an6nima como uma galinha, como tinha dito uma tal de Clarice falando de uma velha despudorada, apaixonada por Roberto Carlos. Essa Clarice incomodava. Fazia a velha gritar: tern! que! haver! uma porta! de sailida! E tinha mesmo. Por exemplo, a porta de saida dessa velha era o marido que voltaria no dia seguinte, eram as pessoas conhecidas, era a sua empregada, era a prece intensa e frutifera diante do desespero. Angela se disse como se se mordesse raivosamente: tern que haver uma porta de saida. Tanto para mim como para dona Maria Rita. Eu nao pude parar o tempo, pensou Maria Rita Alvarenga Chagas Souza Melo. Falhei. Estou velha. E fingiu ler o jornal sO para se dar uma compostura. Quero sombra, gemeu Angela, quero sombra e anonimato. A velha pensou: seu filho era tao bondoso, tao quente de coracao, tao carinhoso! Tratava-a de "maezinha". Sim, talvez eu passe o resto de minha vida na fazenda, longe da "public relations" que nao precisa de mim. E minha vida deve ser muito longa, a julgar pelos meus pais e avOs. Podia alcancar facil, facil, cem anos, pensou confortavelmente. E morrer de repente para nao ter tempo de sentir medo. Persignou-se discretamente e pediu a Deus uma boa morte. Ulisses, se fosse vista a sua cara sob o ponto de vista humano, seria monstruoso e feio. Era undo sob ponto de vista de cao. Era vigoroso como urn cavalo branco e 1 ivre, sO que ele era castanho suave, alaranjado, cor de uisque. Mas seu pelo e undo como o de urn energetic° e empinado cavalo. Os milsculos do pescoco eram vigorosos e a gente podia pegar esses milsculos nas maos de dedos sabios. Ulisses era um homem. Sem o mundo cao. Ele era delicado como um homem. Uma mulher deve tratar bem o homem. 0 trem entrando no campo: os grilos grilavam agudos e roucos. Eduardo, uma vez por outra, sem jeito como quern é for-cad° a cumprir uma funcao--dava-lhe de presente urn gelid° diamante. Ela que preferia brilhantes. Enfim, suspirou ela, as coisas sao como sao. Tinha as vezes, quando olhava do alto de seu apartamento, vontade de se suici-
dar. Ah, nao por Eduardo mas por uma quando ela fizera nove anos de idade. especie de fatal curiosidade. Nao dizia Mesmo doente mas corn vida servia. isso a ninguem, corn medo de influenciar Mesmo paralitica. urn suicida latente. Ela queria a vida, vida Entre ela e Eduardo o ar tinha gosto planae plena, bem bacana, bem lendo as de sabado. E de slibito os dois eram raros, abertas as SelecOes. Queria morrer sO aos a raridade no ar. Eles se sentiam raros, nao noventa anos, no meio de urn ato de vida, fazendo parte das mil pessoas que andasem sentir. 0 fantasma da loucura nos vam pelas ruas. Os dois as vezes eram ronda. Que é que voce esta fazendo? coniventes, tinham uma vida secreta Estou esperando o futuro. porque ninguem os compreenderia. E Quando finalmente o trem se pusera mesmo porque os raros sao perseguidos em movimento, Angela Pralini acendera pelo povo que nao tolera a insultante 6 cigarro em alelula: receava que, enquan- ofensa dos que se diferenciavam. Eles to o trem nao partisse, nao tivesse cora- escondiam o amor dales para nao ferir os gem de ir e terminasse por descer do olhos dos outros de inveja. Para nao vagao. Mas logo depois ja estavam feri-los corn uma centelha luminosa sujeitos aos amortecedores e no entanto demais para olhos. repentinos solavancos das rodas. 0 trem Au, au, au, latira o meu cachorro. Meu marchava. E a velha Maria Rita suspirava: grande cachorro. estava mais perto do filhoamado. Corn ele A velha pensou: sou uma pessoa poderia ser mae, ela que era castradapela involuntaria. Tanto que, quando ria—o filha. que era raro—nao se sabia se ria ou Uma vez em que Angela tivera dores chorava. Sim. Ela era involuntaria. menstruais, Eduardo tentara, muito sem Enquanto isso Angela Pralini efervesjeito, ser carinhoso. E dissera-lhe uma cendo como as bolhinhas da agua mineral coisa horrorosa: voce esta dod6i, nao 6? Caxambu, era um a: de repente. Assim: de Era de se corar de vergonha. repente. De repente o que? S6 de repente. 0 trem corria quanto podia. 0 maqui- Zero. Nada. Estava corn trinta e sete anos nista feliz: assim é que é born, e ele apitava e pretendia a cada instante recomecar sua a cada curva da estrada. Era urn longo e vida. Como as bolhinhas efervescentes da grosso apito do trem em marcha, ganhan- agua Caxambu. As sete tetras de Pralini do terreno. A manha era fresca e cheia de davam-lhe forca. As seis letras de Angela ervas altas e verdes. Assim, sim, vamos tornavam-na anonima. para a frente, disse o maquinista para a Corn urn longo apito uivado, chegamaquina. A maquina respondeu corn va-se a pequena estacao onde Angela alegria. Pralini saltaria. Pegou sua valise. No A velha era nada. E olhava para o ar intervalo entre o bone do carregador e do como se olha para Deus. Ela era feita de nariz de uma jovem, la estava a velha Deus. 1st° é: tudo ou nada. A velha, dormindo inflexivel, a cabeca empertigapensou Angela, era vulneravel. Vulnera- da sob o chapeu de feltro, urn punho vel para o amor, amor de seu filho. A mae fechado sobre o jornal. era franciscana, a filha era poluicao. Angela desceu do vagao. Deus, pensou Angela, se voce existe, Naturalmente isso nao tinha a menor se mostre! Porque chegou a hora. Enesta importancia: ha pessoas que sao sempre hora, é neste minuto, e neste segundo. levadas a se arrepender, é um trap de E o resultado foi que ela teve que , certas naturezas culpadas. Mas ficou-a disfarcar as lagrimas que the vieram aos perturbando a visao da velha quando olhos. Deus de algum modo lhe respon- acordasse, a imagem de seu rosto espandera. Ela estava satisfeitae engoliu urn so- tado diante do banco vazio de Angela. luco abafado. Como viver magoava. Afinal ninguem sabia se ela adormecera Viver era uma ferida aberta. Viver é ser por confianca nela. como o meu cachorro. Ulisses nao tern Confianca no mundo. nada a ver corn Ulisses de Joyce. Eu tentei ler Joyce mas parei porque ele era chato, The original title of this short story desculpe, Eduardo. S6 que urn chato is "A Partida do Trem". genial. Angela estava amando a velha que It was published in Os Melhores era nada, a mile que the faltava. Mae doce, Contos Brasileiros de 1973, ingenuae sofredora. Suamae que morrera Editora Globo, 1974, 228 pp.
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Travel
Walking through Goias Velho, the former state capital, you quickly notice the main legacies of the gold rush: 18th-century colonial architecture, and a large mulatto and mestigo population. The capital of the state of Goias, Goiania is 200 km southwest of Brasilia and 900 km from both Cuiaba and Silo Paulo. Planned by urbanist Armando de Godoi and founded in 1933, it's a fairly pleasant place, with lots of open spaces laid out around circular streets in the center. There are three main zones—housing is in the south, administration is in the center, and industry and commerce are in the north. Go iâni a ' s economy is based on the commercialization of the region's cattle. Information Tourist Office Goiastur, the state tourist body, is located on the 3rd floor of the Serra Dourada stadium, in the suburb ofJardim Goias. The effort to get there is not worth it. Everything you ever wanted to know about Goiania, and lots of things you didn't, can be found in the Novo Guia Turistico de Goiania, a book available for $5 at most newsstands. It includes a map of the city and details of local bus routes. Turisplan Turismo (224-1941) is at No 388 Rua 8, T'his central travel agency sells airplane and bus tickets. Money You'll find the Banco do Brasil at Avenida Goias 980. The Banco do Estado de Goias (BEG!) is at Praca do Bandeirante 546, on the corner ofAvenida Goias and Avenida Anhangtiera. If you're going to Goias Veiho or Pirenlapolis. change money here.
the Caldas Novas hot springs, Lake Pirapitinga, Pousada do Rio Quente and the interesting rock formations of Para una. Plates to Stay There are a couple of cheap places near the rodoviaria. The Star Hotel, atNo 537 Rua 68, is run by a friendly family. Some strange characters live there but it's OK for a night. Very basic quartGs go for $5 per person. The center of town is so close, however, that it's worth staying there instead. The Hotel Del Rey (225-6306) is centrally located, in the Rua 8 pedestrian mall, at No 321. Apartamentos cost $12/18 a single/double. Another cheapie is the Hotel Paissandu (224-4025), at Avenida Goias 1290, with quartos for $10/18 a single/double ad apartamentos for $13/25. All of the rooms have fans. The Goicinia Palace (225-0671 ) charges the same prices as :he Paissandu, but doesn't have fans. The Principe Hotel (2 4-0085), at Avenida Anhangiiera 2936, costs a couple of d :Mars more but is better value. In the mid-range, the Vila Rica Hotel (223-2733), at Avenida Anhangilera 3456, and the Cabiana Palace ('224435). at Avenida Paranaiba 698, each charge $35 a double. Both are two-star Embratur hotels. 1 here are plenty of top-end alternatives. A couple of centrally located ores are the Hotel Karajas (224-9666), at No 860 Rua 3, which charges $40/50 a single/double, and the Hotel Bandeirantes (224-0066), near the corner of Avenida Anhangiiera and Avenida Goias, which charges $55/65.
Post & Telephone The post office is right in the center of town, at Praca Civica 11. Long-distance telephone calls can be made from the Setor Norte Rodoviaria, from the airport and from the corner of Rua 3 and Rua 7.
Places to Eat Since they are surrounded by cattle, the locals eat lots of meat. They also like to munch on pamonha, a very tasty green-corn concoction sold at patnonharia stands all over town. Try it. If you want to tasle some typical Goianian dishes, such as Things to See & Do arroz corn pequi,arraz corn guariroba orpeixe na telha, then There's not much for the visitor in Goiania. head for the Centro de Tradiclies Goianas, at No 515 on Rua Our advice is to get out to one of the nearby colontat, 4,inbove the Parthenon Center, or Dona Beija, on Avenida towns as quickly as you can. But if you have some time to Tocantins between Rua 4 and Avenida Anhangiiera. Our kill, try the Parque Educativo, on Avenida Anhangaera in favorite dish is the eripadeio de Goias, a tasty meat pie. Setor Oeste. It has a zoo, a zoological museum and an Praca Tamandare. a short bus ride or a long walk from the anthropology museum. It's open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. center, has quite a several restaurants and bars surrounding it; Excursions within a 200-km radius of Goiania include try 'hurra.s•caria e Chouperia do Gazicho for meat, beer and I 34
Ade BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
live music or Modiglianni for agoodpizza. Wander around the Portuguese E4babas arid soon the black slaves. With '.everything imported from so far away, prices were even and see what takes your fancy. .1 The Restaurante Macrobiotico Arroz Integral, at No 326 ; higher than in Minas Gerais, and many suffered and died, Rua 93 in Setor Sul is Goiania's antichurrascaria. It's open particularly the slaves. The boom ended quickly. from Il am to 2 pm and 6 to 9 pm. Other natural food is Information available in the center at Reserva Natural, No 475 Rua 7, Serra Dourada TilliSt110 (371-1528), next to the river, at close to the Parthenon Center. It's open for lunch Monday to Avenida Sebastiao Fleury Curado 2, is a new outfit that Friday from 11 am to 2.30 pm. organizes treks, mountain-bike rides, horse rides and oxcart rides into the surrounding hills. Prices are reasonable: Getting ThereA Away $5 for a six-hour tont'. They're,. also happy to give out In addition to the regular domestic carriers, there are information (in Portuguese) about the area. The office is several air-taxi companies, which go anywhere and every- open from 8 am to 6 pm daily. where in the Mato Grosso and Amazon, but they are expenThings to See sive. One company quoted me $1500 for a return trip to Walking through Goias Velho, the former state capital, Parque Nacional das Emas, in a plane that would hold four . you quickly notice the mainlegacies of the gold rush: 18th-fl people. colonial architecture, and a large mulatto and mestico Major airlines include Varig/Cruzeiro (224-5049) and VASP population. The streets are narrow, with low houses, and (223-4266). If you're interested in hiring an air-taxi, call Sete Taxi Aereo there are seven churches. The most impressive is the oldest, the Igreja de raula (1761), at Praca Zaqueu Alves de (207-1519) or Uniao (207-1600). Castro. Bus The huge, relatively new rodoviciria (224-8466), No 399 The Museu das Bandeiras is well worth a visit. It's in Rua 44, still holds the award for the most TV sets on poles (14—down from 22 on the last research trip) in a rodoviaria. the old town council building (1766), at Praya Brasil Caiado. There are buses to Brasilia ($6, three hours), Cuiaba ($26, 16 Other interesting museums are the Museu de Arte Sacra— hours) and Caldas Novas ($7, three hours). Buses to Goias in the old Igreja da Boa Morte (1779) on Praca Castelo Velho ($6, 21/2 hours) leaveevery hour from 5 am to 8 pm. For Branco)—, with lots of 19th-century works by local Goianian Viega Vale, and the Palacio Conde dos Arcos (the old Pirenopolis ($6, two hours), there's a 5 pm bus. Distances from Goiania to major cities are immense—it's governor's residence). All museums are open from 8 am to 2000 km to Belem, 900 km to Belo Horizonte, 2620 km to - 5 pm Tuesday to Saturday and from 8 am to noon on Sunday. Fortaleza, 3289 km to Manaus, 2414 km to Recife, 1340 km Festival to Rio, 1730 km to Salvador and 900 km to Sao Paulo. The big occasion in Goias Velho is Semana Santa (Holy Week). The main streets of town are lit by hundreds of Getting Around Aeroporto Santo Genoveva (207-1288) is six km from the torches, carried by the townsfolk and dozens of hooded figures in a procession, which re-enacts the removal of city center—$10 by taxi. You can walk from the rodoviaria into town—it's 15 Christ from the cross and his burial. minutes to the corner of Avenida Anhangiiera and Avenida Places to Stay Goias. Alternatively, catch a local bus at the bus stop 50 You can camp in town at the Chafariz da Carioca, just meters from the main terminal as you walk towards town. A couple to look for are the No 163 'Vila Uniao-Centro' and the behind the Pousada do Ipê. The best low-budget place is the Pousada do Ipe (371No 404 `Rodoviaria-Centro'. Both go down Avenida Goias. 2065), a colonial house on Praya da Boa Vista. It offers a To get to Praya Tamandare, catch the 'Vila Uniao' bus. good breakfast and nice views, and the owners organize treks and horse rides. Quartos are $12/17 a single/double and apartamentos are $15/20. Cheaper, but not nearly as GOIAS VELHO The historic colonial city of Goias Velho was formerly pleasant, is the Hotel Araguaia (371-1462), at Avenida Dr known as Vila Boa. Once the state capital, it is 144 km from Deusdete Ferreira de Moura. It's a bit of a hike from the bus Goiania and is linked to Cuiaba by dirt road. The city and its station—about 15 minutes—but has very comfortable baroque churches shine during Semana Santa (Holy Week). apartament s ($7/14 a single/double). It also has quartos for $6/10. The Hotel Vila Boa (371-1000) is up on a hill, with a view History On the heels of the gold discoveries :in isofinas Gerais, and a swimming pool. Singles/doubles go for $60/90. bandeirantes pushed further into the interior in search of Places to Eat more precious stones and, as always, Indian slaves. In 1682, The Caseiro, at Rua D Candido 31, is the place to go for a bandeira headed by the old Paulista Bartolomeu Bueno da Silva visited the area. The Goyaz Indians gave him the regional food. It's open from 11 am to 3 pm and 6.30 to nickname anhanguera (old devil) when, after burning some 10.30 pm. Near the Praya do Coreto, Podium is a good place cachaca (which the Indians believed to be water) on a plate, for a beer and a snack. The run-down place upstairs at the he threatened to set fire to all the rivers i f they didn't show him corner of the praya and Rua Moretti Foggia serves great where their gold mines were. Three years later, having been- empadaes ror $3. given up for dead, the old devil and a few survivors returned Getting There & Away to Sao Paulo with gold and Indian slaves from Goias. There re frequent buses from Goias Velho to Goiania, In 1722, his son, who had been on the first trip, organized another bandeira. The gold rush was on. It followed a pattern 144 km a ay. similar to that in Minas Gerais. First came the Paulistas, then BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
35
PIRENOPOLIS Another historic colonial gold city, Pirenopolis is 70 km from Anapolis, 128 km from Goiania and 165 km from Brasilia, on the Rio das Almas. It's become a popular weekend retreat for the well-off from the capital. Founded in 1727 by a bandeira of Paulistas in search of gold, Pirenopolis was originally called Minas de Nossa Senhora do Rosario da Meia Ponte. In 1989 it was placed on the Patrimonio Nacional (National Heritage) register. The •city's colonial buildings sit on striking red earth under big • skies. Information Cerrado Ecoturismo (331-1374), at Rua Santana 13, organizes treks, mountain-bike rides and tours at reasonable prices. Their historic tour leaves from the Igreja Nossa Senhora do Rosario Matriz every day at 9.30 am and 2.30 pm. They also do daily treks up the Morro do Frota, starting at 7.30 am from the Pousada das Siriemas.
are waterfalls and interesting rock formations. Places to Stay Pirenopol is is crowded on weekends, during the Cavalhadas and at Carnaval time, and prices then are almost double those quoted here. All pousadas fill up during the Cavalhadas festival, so most visitors camp out near the Rio das Almas or rent a room from a local. There are lots of pousadas in town. The simple Pousada Dona Geny, on Rua dos Pirineus, charges $8 a head. The Hotel Rex (331-1121), at Praca da Matriz 15, is pretty basic, with quartos going for $10 per person. The Pousada das Cavalhadas (331-1261), Praca da Matriz I, has double apartamentos for $30. In the mid-range, the pink-and-white Pousada Matutina Meiapontense (331-1101) is a friendly, comfortable place with a swimming pool. Apartamentos go for $40/48 a single/ double. A couple of expensive, top-end places have sprung up in the last few years: the Hotel Fazenda Qzlinta da Santa Barbara (331-1304), at Rua do Bonfim 1, and the Pousada dos Pirineus (331-1028), at Alto de Carmo, just past the bridge. Places to Eat The Restaurante As Flor, on Avenida Sao Jayme, serves good regional cuisine. Don't fill up on your main course— there is an assortment of 18 different desserts, each sweeter than the last. The Restaurante Aravinda, in Rua do Rosario, is also recommended. Nena, at Rua Aurora 4, has an excellent buffet lunch of regional dishes for $5. Things to Buy At Piretur, Avenida Comandante Joaquim Alves, you'll find a good selection oflocal crafts in ceramic, leather, wood, straw and soapstone. PirenOpolis is also considered to be the national silver capital, with more than 80 studios scattered around town. ,
Churches The Igreja Nossa Senhora do Ro• sario Matriz (1732) is the oldest sacred monument in the state. The Igreja Nosso Senhor do Bonfim (1750), with its beautiful altars, contains an image of the Senhor do Bonfim brought here from Portugal in 1755. The Igreja Nossa Senhora do Carmo (1750) was built by the Portuguese and is used today as the Museu das Artes Sacras. Santuario de Vida Silvestre--Fazenda Vagafogo Six km from town, the Vagafogo Farm Wild life Sanctuary is well worth a visit. Landowners Evandro Engel Ayer and Catarina Schiffer, both of whom speak English, have set aside 23 hectares of cerrado and gallery forests on the margins of the Vagafogo river as a nature reserve. The rich fauna includes brown capuchin and black howler monkeys, armadillos, pampas deer, agouti and many bird species. The forest is impressive, with a canopy top averaging 25 meters. Entry to the sanctuary is $4. For sale at the visitors' center is. a good range of fruit preserves produced on the farm. Parque Estadual da Serra dos Pirineus The park contains the 1385-meter Pico dos Pirineus, 18 km from town on a well-used dirt road. Along the way there 36
Festa do Divino Espirito Santo Pirenopolis is famous for the acting out, 45 days after Easter, of the story Festa do Divino Espirito Santo, a tradition begun in 1819. If you're in the neighborhood, make a point of seeing this stunning and curious spectacle, one ofthe most fascinating in Brazil. For three days, the town looks like a scene from the Middle Ages. Cavalhadas, congadas, mascardos, tapirios and pastorinhos perform a series of medieval tournaments, dances and festivities, including a mock battle between Moors and Christians in distant Iberia. Riding richly decorated horses, the combatants wear bright costumes and bullheaded masks. In the end, proving that heresy doesn't pay, the Moors are defeated on the battlefield and convert to Christianity. The festival is a happy one, and more folkloric than religious. The towns population swell several-fold during the festival. Getting There & Away There are bus services from Anapolis and Goiania, as well as from Brasilia. As,/
CALDAS NOVAS Caldas Novas, 167 km from Goiania and 393 km from Brasilia, has more than 30 hot springs, with average temperatures of 42°C (107°F). Now a very popular resort, the region has dozens of hotels at all levels of price and luxury. Studies
BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
have shown that the healing waters are particularly beneficial for people suffering from high blood-pressure, poor digestion, weak endocrine glands or impotency. Tourist Office There's a tourist information booth in Praca Mestre Orlando, open from 8 am to noon and 1 to 6 pm. It has lots of information about the various springs you can dip into, most of which are out of town. Places to Stay One km from the city is Real Camping at Rua do Balneario, which has a cante en and two thermal swimming pools. The cost is $6 a head. A couple of relatively cheap places in the center are Serra Dourada (453-1300) at Rua Orozimbo Correia Neto 200, with simple apartamentos costing $15 a double, and Santa Clara (453-1764) at Rua America 109, which charges $25 a double. The best place to stay is the Pousada do Rio Quente (421 -2255), 28 km from town, on the banks of the Rio Quente. They charge $90 a double, including lunch. Places to Eat The Comida Caseira e Natural, at Rua Jose Borges 550, is a self-serve health-food place, open from noon to 3 pm and 6 to 9 pm. It's closed on Wednesday. Meat-eaters will prefer the rodizio at Choupana, on the corner of Rua Rui Barbosa and Avenida Orcalino Santos. It's open from 11.30 am to 4 pm and 7 to 10.30 pm. Getting There & Away The rodoviciria is at the end of Rua Antonio Coelho de Godoy. Frequent buses go to Brasilia ($15, six hours) and , Goiania ($7 , three hours), as well as to Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. PARQUE NACIONAL DA CHAPADA DOS VEADEIROS Just over 200 km north of Brasilia, this scenic park is located in the highest area of the Central West. With high waterfalls, natural swimming pools and oasis-like stands of wine palms, it has become a popular destination for ecotourists. Animal life includes the maned wolf, banded anteater, giant armadillo, capybara and tapir. Birds include rheas, toucans and vultures. The best time to visit the park is between May and October. Admission is $1. Places to Stay Camping is the best option here—it costs about $1 a night. Basic accommodation can be found in the small nearby town of sao Jorge. Getting There & Away From Brasilia, take a bus to Alto Paraiso de Goias, from where you can either catch a local bus to Sao Jorge, or walk to the park, a couple of hours away. If you have a car, take the road to Alto Paraiso and turn left 50 meters before entering the town. Take the dirt road to Colinas for 30 km, then follow the sign to the park entrance, five km away. Sao Jorge is a bit further on. BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
r-.
PARQUE NACIONAL DAS EMAS Emas is arelatively small (1300 sq kri) park in the corner of the state of Goias, where it meets the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. The park lies along the Brazilian great divide, between the Amazon and Parana river basins, at the headwaters of the Araguaia, Formoso and Taquari nvers. The three rivers take divergent paths to the Atlantic. The Araguaia courses north to the equator via the Tocantins and the migh:y Amazon. The Rio Taquari travels westward to flood the Pantanal, then flows south via the Paraguai. The Rio Formoso changes name midstream to Corrientes, and flows into the Parnaiba and then the Parana. The Paraguai and the Parana flow on either side of Paraguay, meet at Argentina, and enter the Atlantic a few hundred km east of Buenos Aires and some 35 latitude south ofthe mouth ofthe Amazon. Surrounded by rapidly encroaching farmlands, the Parque Nacional das Emas is on a high plateau covered by grassy plains and open woodlands. There is little foliage to obstruct the sighting of wildlife, which includes anteaters, deer, capybara, foxes, tapir, peccaries, armadiflos, and blue and yellow macaws. It is the home of endangeled wolves, and is the exclusive sanctuary of the jacamai i and other rare species Another interesting spectacle in the park is the large number oftermite mounds, which at certain times ofthe year 'glow' in the dark (the result of fluorescence produced by the termite larvae). Dining the dry season (July to October), the area is dry enough for spontaneous fires. In 1988, a fire raged for five days, burning 65% of the park area. Be careful with sparks! Places to Stay Basic acc mmodation inside the park costs about $5 per person per n' ht. You'll need to take your own food, but there is a kit en and a cook available. It's also possible to camp ,n the jark, and this costs around $2 per person per night. Getting There & Away Access tc the park is tough: even though it's surrounded by farrnland,I there are no paved roads or regular bus routes. Visitors mu t arrange with private companies for 4WD or air-taxis froifri as far away as Cilia)* Goiania and Campo Grande. Adventurous types may consider taking BR-364 to Alto do Araguaia/Santa Rita do Araguaia (531 km from Goiania, 423 km from Cuiaba), then hitching 63 km to Placa dos Mineiros, arid 40 to 60 km further along dirt roads to the park. 37
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38 BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
Music Choro is more alive than ever,
thanks to the many clubes do choro that have spread all over the country. Several well-known interpreters have rediscovered the genre. GILSON PEDRO BORGES
According to Ary Vasconcelos, in his book Carinhoso, Etc. (Historia e Inventdrio do Choro), choro was born in Rio de Janeiro around 1870, and it was, initially, not a musical genre of its own, but a Brazilian way of playing waltzes, polkas, mazurkas and other European genres that were very common at that time. He also points out that the birth certificate of choro was probably "Olhos Matadores" (Killer Eyes) by Henrique Alves de Mesquita. The origin of the word choro is very controversial anti Vasconcelos provides some possible theories for it. First, he cites Luis da Camara Cascudo, who claimed that the word might have originated from the parties of Afro-Brazilians during festival days like Saint John's Day, that were first called xo/o, then xoro and, finally, choro (crying), because of the confusion involving its Portuguese paronym. Second, he states that, according to Jose Ramos Tinhorao, the term came from the melancholy impression caused by the way of playing that rhythm and, consequently, the name of chord° was given to those who played it. However, Vasconcelos' favorite theory is that the word resulted from the simplification of choromeleiros, a group of musicians highly regarded in the Brazilian colonial period. Bruce Gilman, in his article Choro, Chorinho, ,Chordo (Brazzil, February 1996), emphasizes that many people think that choro is "Brazilian jazz", because both choro and American jazz are based in the improvisation and mixture of African and European musical elements. However, choro was born before jazz, so it would be more appropriate to call jazz "American choro". BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
39
In the beginning, choro was exclusively instrumental and played by amateur musicians who formed a group composed of flute, guitar and cavaquinho. Most of the musicians were government employees and members of the lower-middle class. They played without receiving any money at parties where food and drink were plentiful. Concerning this point, Vasconcelos says that "a chorao didn't care spending all the night playing, provided that the host paid him well, not financially—he wouldn't accept a penny—but gastronomically. For that reason he used to introduce himself when he arrived in a party and go directly to the kitchen to check if "the cat wasn't sleeping in the stove"—a common expression in that time—that is, if there was food ready to be served. AdhemarNobrega, in his book Os Choros de Villa-Lobos, also mentions the figure of the peru (turkey), a slang term for the people who went along with choro groups, paying the bills and solving occasional difficulties with the police in the streets. The peru was a kind of public relations agent for the group.
Ciqiiinba Gonzaga
Choro Phases #r*:'
Vasconcelos proposes the division of choro history in six different generations, from its beginning, in 1870, to the present. The first generation (1870-1888) consists of the composers and flutists Joaquim Antonio Calado Junior, Viriato Figueira da Silva, Virgilio Pinto da Silveira and Luizinho, who can be considered the "fathers" of choro . Another important figure was Chiquinha Gonzaga (Francisca Hedwiges Gonzaga), the first woman in Brazil to conduct a military band and a theater orchestra, as well as author of the first song composed especially for carnival: "6 Abre Alas" (Make Way). Nobrega describes her as "a daring woman who, facing the prejudices of the time, honored the profession of popular musician, in a time when that activity didn't experience a good reputation in the eyes of society. Composing songs for the musical theater and playing them by herself, beyond supporting her own choro group, Chiquinha Gonzaga triumphed over those prejudices, thanks to her strong personality." The last individual in this phase was Ernesto Nazare, who left 215 compositions, including tangos, polkas, waltzes, etc., such as "Odeon" and "Apanhei-te Cavaquinho" (I Got You Cavaquinho). Zequiviba Oe Atireu The second generation (1889-1918) is considered the golden age of choro and has Anacleto de Medeiros as its principal proponent, since he was responsible for the popularity of choro, after promoting its execution by civil and military bands, mainly by the Rio de Janeiro fire brigade band, founded by him. After his death Anacleto was succeed in the leadership of the band by another remarkable composer, Alberto Pimentel, who also made a huge contribution to the choro repertoire. In this generation bands were responsible for playing choro but, because of the beginning of the First World War, they were replaced by pianists like Nazar& a member of the first generation, and Zequinha de Abreu (Jose Gomes de Abreu), who composed, among others, two classics: the choro "Tico-tico no Fuba" (Tico-Tico Bird in the Cornmeal) and the waltz "Branca" (White Woman). Finally, it is important to mention Irineu de Almeida, who was a musician, composer and also teacher of Pixinguinha. During the third generation (1919-1930) the most outstanding name of all times emerges: Pixinguinha (Alfredo da Rocha V iana Jfinior), son of the chor'do Alfredo da Rocha Viana. Pixinguinha composed his first choro, "Lata de Leite" (Milk Can), at the age of 14 when he started studying with Irineu de Almeida. He recorded for the first time when he was 16, and at the age of 20, he composed the tango "Sofres Porque Queres" (You Suffer Because You Want To) and the waltz "Rosa" (Rose), which later received lyrics by Otavio de Souza. In 1919, Pixinguinha formed the group Oito Batutas (The Eight Masters) that played, initially, in movie theaters and, later, in high society parties. They also played for the kings of Belgium, who were visiting Brazil in 1920, and in trips throughout the country, including one presentation in the Cabare Assfrio (Assyrian Night Club), where they accompanied the dancers Duque and Gaby, who were very famous for Pixinguinba -
40
BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
dancing maxixe (a 19th-century dance) in Paris. Influenced by Duque, the Brazilian millionaire Arnaldo Guinle financed a tour of the Oito Batutas to Europe, in 1922. When they returned to Brazil, the name f the group was changed to Os Bat utas (The Masters). In the book Filho de Ogum Bexiguento, by Marilia Trindade Barboza da Silva and Arthur Loureiro de Oliveira Filho, the frn llowing poem by Pixinguinha describes how he sees himself:
Auto-Retra to
Viiila Lobos
Eu tambem nasci chorando Como todo mundo nasce E embora a chorar vivesse Nan chorei o que bastasse
I as born crying too L ke everybody does d though I've lived crying I aven't cried enough
No choro a vida passei Corn prazer e na labuta Sustentei mulher e filho Chorando fiz-me um batuta
I choro I've spent my life ith pleasure and working hard I ye sustained wife and son rying I've became a master
Chorei muito choro alheio Toquei maxixe e marchinha Alfredo sou por batismo Mas no choro Pixinguinha
I've cried many someone else's choros I've played maxixe and marchinha lfredo I am by baptism ut in choro I am Pixinguinha
Fiz mnsica fui maestro Fui Ingenuo Carinhoso Soprei meu triste Lamento E o meu riso mais gostoso E assim o ciclo se fecha Pois cumpri o meu papel Plantei o choro na terra Pra colher risos no cal
Francisco Alves
S If-Portrait
'ye composed songs and was conductor 'ye been naive and affectionate 'ye blown my sad lament nd my best smile And so the cycle closes Because I've carried out my duties I've planted choro in the earth To harvest smiles in heaven. Villa-Lobos Role
During the 20's, choro lost its ppeal for a new genre called foxtrot, which was played by new jazz-bands and orch stras. The bandleader Roineu Silva played a very important role at this time, because e was responsible for bringing choro to the jazzbands. What it is very strange in Vas oncelos' division is the fact that he seems to be unaware of the existence of Villa-L obos in this or any other generation. Possibly, he considered Villa-Lobos too "class cal" for playing popular choro. The truth is that Villa-Lobos was part of choro grotips in Rio de Janeiro, at the beginning of the century, and he was the only Brazilian li composer to have his songs played in the Semana de Arte Moderna (Modern Art Week), held in Sao Paulo, in 1922, which established vanguard art in Brazil. His series 6f 14 choros, plus the "Choro (B is)" [Choro (Encore)], "Introducao aos Choros"( troduction to Choros) and "Quinteto em Forma de Choros" (Quintet Molded Like Choros)- composed between 1920 and 1929 - are considered high points of Villa-L bos works and of Brazilian music in general. The fourth generation (193 I - I 46) was characterized by the emergence ofthe first electric gramophinies and the p ularization of the radio in Brazil. The most wellknown names from the other gen rations continued producing, but only a few compositions reached the radio stations and records. Choro became a genre with a restricted audience, made for and by its composers and, with the emergence ofMlisica Popular Brasileira (Brazilian Popular Music), the chor5es were reduced to mere accompanists for new singers such as Francisco Alves, Carmen Miranda, Silvio Caldas, Orlando
Carmen Miranba BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
41
OrfanOo Silva
Silva, Araci de Almeida, Joao de Ban-os, Mario Reis, etc. In 1930, Orquestra Colbaz (Colbaz Orchestra) was responsible for the popularization of what was called choro paulista (choro from Sao Paulo state), which was followed by choro mineiro (choro from Minas Gerais State), whose most important promoter was the accordionist and composer Anten6genes Silva, who first recorded in 1929. Other important musicians were Radames Gnattali, pianist and composer who moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1933 and started looking for new ways of playing choro, the guitar player Anibal Augusto Sardinha (Garoto), and the flutists Benedito Lacerda and Dante Santoro. In 1941, Pixinguinha experienced a revival with two of his most famous choros: "Lamentos" (Laments) and "Carinhoso" (Affectionate). In the fifth generation (1947-1974) new groups were formed and the Orquestra Tabajara (Tabajara Orchestra), whose leader waS Severino Araajo, appeared in Rio. Jac6 do Bandolim, who started playing for the first time in 1933, became a soloist at the end ofthe 40's. The cavaquinho player Valdir Azevedo assumed the leadership of the Dilermando Reis band, in 1947. Altamiro Carrilho became the best Brazilian popular flutist and the Northeastern accordionist Severino Dias de Oliveira played in records for the first time, in 1951. The Northeastern guitar player and composer Francisco Soares de Aranjo (Canhoto da Paraiba) came to Rio, where new talents appeared on the musical scene, such as the saxophonist Paulo Moura and the mandolinist Deo Rian. In 1954, Sao Paulo hosted the I Festival da Velha Guarda (First Old Guard Festival), when a new group called A Velha Guarda (The Old Guard) was formed by many musicians, including Pixinguinha. In 1955, Jac6 do Bandolim organized the la Noite dos Choristas (First Choristas Night) at Record TV station and, in 1956, he organized the second and final 2a Noite dos Choristas. The genre started its decline in the early '60s. Jac6 do Bandolim died in 1969 and Pixinguinha a few years later, in 1973. At the end of 1973, however, Paulinho da Viola started his new show called Show Sarau, where he played choros with the group Epoca de Ouro (Golden Age), bringing new life to the rhythm. The sixth generation (1975 to present-day) started with the Semana Jac6 do Bandolim (Jaco do Bandolim Week), promoted by Ary Vasconcelos, at the Museu da Imagem e do Som (Museum of the Image and Sound), in Rio, from June 16 to 22. Since then, more and more young people have shown an interest in choro throughout the country, new groups have appeared and old ones have been reestablished.
Choro Alive and Well
Pautinbo ba Viola
Henneto Pascoai 42
In 1975, many groups were formed, including Clube do Choro (Choro Club), in Rio; Conjunto Atlantic° (Atlantic Group) and Evandro's group, in Sao Paulo; Canhoto da Paraiba's group, in Recife; Jesse Silva and Plauto Cruz's groups, in Porto Alegre; Os Ingenuos (The Naive Guys), in Salvador; etc. Also in Rio, in this same year, the Departamento de Cultura (Culture Department) started the projects Concerto de Choro (Choro Concert) and I Concurso de Conjuntos de Choro (First Contest of Choro Groups). In 1976, musicians under 20 formed the group Os Carioquinhas (The Little Cariocas). In 1977, Sao Paulo hosted the I Encontro Nacional do Choro (First National Choro Meeting) and the I Festival Nacional do Choro (First National Choro Festival), which was broadcast by the Bandeirantes TV station. Meanwhile, in Rio, a project called Choro na Praca (Choro in the Square) began. In 1978 the popularity of choro continued with the II Concurso de Conjuntos de Choro and the II Festival do Choro. In 1979, the III Concurso de Conjuntos de Choro took place in the Music College of the University of Rio de Janeiro, followed by the IV Concurso de Conjuntos de Choro, in 1980, in the same place. In 1983, the Rua do Choro (Choro Street) was opened in Sao Paulo. All these festivals revealed new talents such as the groups and musicians N6 em Pingo D'Agua (1(116t in*Drop of Water), Amigos do Choro (Friends of Choro), Arthur
•
BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
Toni Jo an
Moreira Lima, Raphael Rabello, Hermeto Pascoal, Novos Baianos (New Bahians), etc. Nowadays choro is more alive than ever, thanks to the many clubes do choro that have spread all over the country. Many interpreters of MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira—Brazilian Popular Music) have rediscovered the genre, such as Zizi Possi, who recorded "Lamentos" by Pixinguinha on her CD Valsa Brasileira (Brazilian Waltz), of 1993, and Marisa Monte, who recorded the choro "De Mais Ninguern" (No One's But Mine), that she and Arnaldo Antunes composed for her CD Verde, Anil, Amarelo, Cor-de-Rosa e Carvao (Rose and Charcoal), and that was accompanied by the choro group Epoca de Ouro. Vasconcelos ends his book asserting that choro is essentially instrumental and when vocalized it loses its value and becomes a song like any other. However, he seems unaware of the fact that, among all the "classical" choros listed at the beginning of his book, the ones that are still known are exactly the ones to which lyrics were added and, consequently, are being interpreted by new singers. According to Gilman, the lack of lyrics was exactly one ofthe reasons for the decline of choro, since lyrics started being as important as music itself in the MPB movement. Evidence of that are the songs "Tico-Tico no Fuba", composed by Zequinha de Abreu in 1917, with lyrics by Eurico! Barreiros, that was immortalized by Carmen Miranda, in 1945; "Lamentos", composed by Pixinguinha, whose name was initially , "Lamento", but in 1962, when it became part ofthe soundtrack ofthe movie "Sol Sobre a Lama" (Sun Over Mud), the poet Vihicius de Moraes added lyrics to it and changed its name to "Lamentos"; "Carinhoso", composed by Pixinguinha, in 1937, with lyrics by Joao de Barros, and immortalized by Orlando Silva, in 1937; "Apanhei-te cavaquinho", by Ernesto Nazare, with lyrics by Hubaldo Mauricio; "Odeon", by Ernesto Nazare (1910), with lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes (1968); and "Brasileirinho" (Little Brazilian), by Valdir Azevedo. All these choros are part of the top ten "classical" choros in Vasconcelos' list, and all of them have lyrics. Finally, I add to that list ofhits the wonderful "De MaisNinguem", by Marisa Monte and Arnaldo Antunes, that is one mor important step in the popularization and survival of choro:
De Mais Ninguem
Os Novos Baianos
Marisa Monte BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
Se ela me deixou, a dor E minha sO, no é de mais ninguem. Aos outros eu devolvo a do, Eu tenho a minha dor. Se eta preferiu ficar sozmha Ou ja tern urn outro bem. Se eta me deixou a dor e minha, 1 A dor é de quem tem. o meu trofeu, é o que restou, o que me aquece sem me dar calor., Se eu nao tenho o meu amor, Eu tenho a minha dor. A sala, o quarto, a casa esti vazia, A cozinha, o corredor. Se nos meus bracos eta nao se aninha, A dor e minha.
No One's But Mine (Translation from Rose and Charcoal) If she left me, the pain Is mine alone, no one's but mine. I give their pity back to them, I have my pain. If she chose to remain alone, Or already has another to love. If she left me the pain is mine, Pain belongs to the one in pain. It's my trophy, it's what's been left, It covers me but doesn't keep me warm. If I no longer have my love, I have my pain. The living room, the bedroom, the house is empty, The kitchen, the hallway. If in my arms she doesn't nestle The pain is mine.
Gilson Pedro Borges is a graduate student at the University of New Mexico, where he also teaches Portuguese. You can reach him at gpborges@unm.edu 43
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Radar's fame came from his work as a pianist and arranger in the mythological Radio Nacional and his popular music records, but it was in classical music that he left his mark as a great composer. ARTHUR DE FARIA
RADAMES GNATALLI (Porto Alegre, January 27, 1906—Rio de Janeiro, 1988) Radar é ()qua alta E fonte que nunca seca E cachoeira de amor E chora-o rei de peteca
Radar is high water. (He is) the fountain that never dries up. The waterfall of love. The choro interpreter, king of shuttlecock.
Radar is a concert artist, 0 Radar é concertista composer, pianist, compositor, pianista orchestra leader, great maestro. orquestrador, maestrao E, mais que tudo, é amigo And, more than anything, a friend, He sails with you, Navega junto contigo, It's a donation bill E conta de doacdo He helps everyone Ajuda a todo mundo And what's more, he helped me. E mais ajudou a mim Hello, Radar, I'm calling you A16, Radar, eu te ligo Vamos tomar um chopinho Let's have a beer This is Tom Jobim speaking. Aqui fala o Tom Jobim (poem by Tom Jobim dedicated to his great friend Radames Gnatalli) BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
Who has heard it has never forgotten. So, you should remember. Example one: the tcham-tcham-TCHAM, tchamtcham-tcham-TCHAM! that introduces the true Brazilian postcard of music known as "Aquarela do Brasil." Example two, this for the more conversant in Brazilian music: the soft bed of guitars, violins, and cellos that spread about their sheets for the tender voice of the young Orlando Silva to lay and roll in the original recording of "Carinhoso." Or still: the revolutionary base of the fantastic film like instrumentation of Copacabana, with the voice of Dick Farney (eight violins, two violas, a cello, oboe, piano, guitar, bass and drums played with little brushes. Bossa nova twelve years before the bossa nova). You don't remember any of the three?? At least you remember the little band of "Rancho da Goiabada," by Joao Bosco with Aldir Blanc, don't you? (No?!? Then put down this magazine and go buy some MPB records, man!). The author of all these feats is just one person. Answering to his baptized name of Radames Gnatalli and, at the 45
end of his life, to the nickname of Radar. Piano player, arranger, maestro, band-leader, classical and popular music composer. Instructor of people like guitarist Rafael Rabello and Tom Jobim—and partner of Tom's father, Jorge Jobim, in at least one lost song. By the way, on a cold morning in '91—"at that hour that all the annoying people are still sleeping"—Tom, who was fighting with the Brazilian press, hung on the phone for more than a hour for an interview only because the subject was Radames. According to Jobim, "a big Gazicho (someone from the state of Rio Grande do Sul) of Italian and German blood, fond of wine, beer and mate (tea)". Jobim was jubilant with the fact that the name of his teacher was given to a hall in the Aradjo Vianna Auditorium, one of the biggest places for shows in Porto Alegre, located a few blocks from the house where Radar was born: "Radames was an advanced soul, a spirit ahead of his time, a pioneer that wrote music for the future, a father. He wasn't just talented, he was a very generous man". *** Radames was a radar. A radar that pointed out, caught and signaled what was the best that was done in Brazilian music during a period of more than 60 years. In reality, more than radar—he was a real transmitter of signals picked up by several musical generations. Born on Fernandes Vieira Street, heart of Bomfim--a neighborhood ofJews, Italians and blacks—, from a young age the boy was prepared by his family to be a concert pianist. With a preference for European stages. his father began life as an Italian cabinet-maker and died a Brazilian maestro. And he wanted to see his son at least in the Scala of Milan. He ended up having to be content with the middle of the road between the south hamlets and the Old Continent: his bambino became famous as a tenacious adopted Carioca. But before this, he made history in Porto Alegre, a city located in the extreme south of Brazil, capital of the state ofRio Grande do Sul, neighbor to Uruguay and Argentina and very distant in cultural terms from other Brazilian cities because of its large number of European immigrants, cold climate, and a certain modesty and reservedness far from the Brazilian stereotype. The ever versatile prodigal son, it was in Porto Alegre that Radames won his first award at just 9 years of age, in 1915. And straight from the hands of the Italian Consul. His work: to direct with total success a small orchestra of six musicians in arrangements written by himself. Our Mozart of Bomfim was also already tearing up the piano and the violin. And he was the biggest star of a family of musicians—which also included the violinist Olga Fossati, his cousin and first music teacher. His mother, Adelia Fossati, was a respected piano player and also gave music lessons. The father, Alessandro Gnatalli, besides also being a piano player and teacher, little by little became renown as maestro, bassoonist and proud anarchist. was, he became a union Good Italian that he leader and, at the front of the Musician's Union of Porto Alegre, he organized the first—and only— musicians' strike ever in the city, in 1921. But in spite of his classical foundation, the seduction of the music of the streets didn't delay in entering the window in the new Gnatalli house, now on 46
Joao Telles Street and still in Bomfim. Result: in the beginning of the 1920s, the young man besides being good at violin and the piano became also famous for his mastering of the guitar and of the cavaquinho—a small guitar with four strings of steel frequently used in samba and choro: Sixty years later, he would remember with longing this phase: "Sotero Cosme, Luis Cosme, Julio Grau, myself and some other musicians formed a Carnaval group, kind of modern for the time—Os Exagerados (The Exaggerated). Every one played an instrument. And since I couldn't bring the piano, I began to play the cavaquinho". But his mischief didn't take him away from his studies. So much so that he was directly admitted to the fifth year of piano at the School of the Arts, where he became the professor's favorite, who was the renowned Guilherme Fontainha, also director of the school. During this time, another classical instrument became a part of his repertory: the viola. To make some money—and have a good time—, the boy played piano, guitar and cavaquinho during the movies in the Colombo theater and in various dance orchestras. Also, he was beginning to write his first compositions—still strictly classical, but already with a strong Brazilian theme. Before his graduation in piano, he gave a much-talkedabout concert at the National Music Institute in Rio. All the time that he wasn't studying in the first season in Rio, Radames was spying inside the Odeon Theater, his ears dazzled by Ernesto Nazare, official piano player of the theater and one of the most respected popular composers of the time. Radames discovered there that—to be popular and respected—is possible. However, he continued with his studies until graduating, in Porto Alegre, in 1923—as it couldn't be any other way, with the highest grade and the Araujo Vianna Medal, made of gold. Between 1924 and 1926, the boy stayed in a come and go phase on the "sea bridge", between Porto Alegre and Rio always standing out be it in concerts and recitals or dances, cinemas, theaters and radio. But he still found time to put together the Henrique Oswald String Quartet, at the side of the Cosme brothers, his inseparable friends. They played daily and became one of the best chamber music groups in the Brazil of then. Radames played viola. And they appeared in many shows throughout Rio Grande do Sul. His official debut as composer took place in 1930, at 26 years of age. At a concert in the Sao Pedro Theater, he introduced two Preludes for Piano. Directly afterwards, he moved permanently to Rio. There was no other way: the classical frock was changed forever to the straw hat. Good-bye Europe. Ironically, he would only visit the European stages that he father dreamed of decades later, playing popular Brazilian music at the front of his inseparable quintet. And, according to percussionist Luciano Perrone, "we were a spectacular success". Luciano Perrone, by the way, besides being Radar's faithful percussionist during his life—more than 50 years, certainly ,was one of his best friends. They met in 1925, during Luciano's honeymoon, in a resort in Lambari, in Rio. Radames was playing piano, and he had percussion instruments at his side. He addressed Perrone with a terse "sit there" and they were intimate friends for the rest of their lives. The partnership
would found the Brazilian way of playing percussion, the creation of the pair. Crazy with joy to find someone that wanted to hear his stories, the old man spent hours on the phone recounting them. Like the real version of one of the most classic legends of Brazilian music. One day, tired of the inconveniences he put up with by the "illiterate" percussionists that he had to direct in the recordings of the arrangements that Radames was making for RCA Victor, Perrone suggested: "Radames, why don't you change the format of these arrangements? Instead of so many BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
PRIMMOti percussionists, try using other instruments in the orchestrant also create a beat......" Typical Radames response: Tiin —Because it's not going to turn out right. The next day he arrived with the arrangement. Spectacular. Taking advantage of a suggestion of rhythmic division dictated by Perrone himself, the two ended up inventing4he Orchestration of the samba, unheard until then (what was doer at the maximum—since samba wasn't for an orchestra, was to write melodies for wind instruments or harmonies for the string instruments and leave just the beat and the swing only with a rhythmic base. From this first arrangement, quicldy, Radames was inventing an orchestra language that had nothing to do with what was done before him, and much less with the American orchestrations for the same formation (brass, reeds, rhythmic base of the piano, bass and percussion). He who thinks that h4 orchestrations are Americanized is because he doesn't know a thing. This was at the end of the 1930s and the first song arranged in this concept was not, as the legend goes, "Aquarela do Brasil." Aquarela was, in reality, the first to really take off with this concept. Anyway, from this date on—and thanks to the popularization of radio—Radames would become the best, most requested, and most imitated arranger of a generation of ingenious men in the area. A generation that had only three names—Pixinguinha, Lirio Panicalli and Leo Peracchi. Result: As happened with Ary Barroso, it didn't take long, in the 1940s, for Disney Studios—Disney himself was enchanted with "Aquarela"—to invite Radames to live in the United States and do the musical direction in some of Disney's films. As happened with Ary (who couldn't manage to stay in the United States because they "don't have Flatnengo [a Rio soccer team])", he didn't want to leave Brazil. He couldn't have. At that time he had already formed a dream group for any composer, one of the best instrumental formations that Brazil had seen: Chiquinho, also from Rio Grande do Sul, on the accordion; Ze Menezes on the guitar, fiddle, cavaquinho and an innovative electric guitar; Radannes on the piano; Vidal on the double bass and the insuperable Perrone on drums. At times reinforced by his sister Alda on a second piano. It was the Radames quintet. They were the base of almost all the maestro's orchestrations, they recorded records, and went on tour. The group lasted for decades on end, always with the same formation. Between the 1960s and 1970s, with the decline of live radio, Radames lost his great projection vehicle. On Radio Nacional—the most powerful station in the history of Brazil— he directed dozens of programs, sortie of which remained on the air for decades on end. In spite of all the efforts of Tom Jobim to call attention to his teacher, during all the years of bossa nova, Radames—a lover of elegant orchestrations— became "out". He began to dedicate himself more to classical music, which in some way he disliked. are From this time are masterpieces like Concerto Carioca and a fantastic suite for electric guitar and piano, a duo recorded with Laurindo de Almeida, the ingenious Brazilian violinist, that won ,five Grammies. But the virtual resurrection of the old man for new generations occurred at the end of the 1970s with Camerata. After years comfortable at home, composing and arranging, Radames was engrossed with the idea of getting the quintet back together. He began to travel with frequency throughout Brazil, with both formations. He got back his prestige, backed by names already mentioned, plus the composer and singer Dorival Caymmi—author of Carmen Miranda's biggest hits, like :0 Que é Que a Baiana Tem?"—JoRo Gilberto and a few others. Then, at the height of the activity of this unexpected comeback at brink of turning 80 years old, God was cruel to BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1989
him. Radames died after a log, period of physical suffeting agony of nore than two years on top of a bed, fruit of two brain schemias. Righexto-Gnatallii is-nrphew, maestro and anot er diligent disciple, speaks emotionally of the months that the elderly RadamOs spent in a coma, almost a vegetable: "Radames didn't deserve that. He died when his talent was at its peak." One of, the last phrases said by the uncle to his nephew before he stopped recognizing people: "What the fuck, Roberto, now that everything was going o well..:" ***,, '
'
If Radar's f e came from his work as .a pianist and arranger in the ythological Radio Nacional and his popular music records, it as in classical music that he left his mark as a great compose : He considered himself a neo-classical nationalist musici and was, according to the cavaquinho player and producer, ique Cams, "by far, the Brazilian classical composer that p oduced the most". Cazes, famous musician and chorus prod cer, is one of the nostalgic friends of Radar's. And, like the pr maturely departed Rafael Rabello;was a part of Camerata Carioca., , Camerata was created specifically to present a new version of "Suite Retratos," written originally by Jaco do Bandolim, and it was a group of young choro musicians that in 1979, brought Radam s back to the stage. The young men idolized him: "Radames was younger than us, always with that slightly crabby, pricele s humor". Cazes is also the founder of the Radames Gnat lli Association, that strives to bring together Radames origii sheet music'spread throughout the entire country. A tharkless venture, in fact: "He saw, someone play well, was charmed and wrote a song for the guy. There's just one detail: he gave him the original sheet music as a gift and didn't even make a copy". Among this sheet music there is one—extremely rare—of 4tthfor piano and sextet on... a box of matches. an arrangemeI: And also from e concerts, for practically all the instruments that you can ' agine, and always written especially for some virtuoso friend: flute, violin, guitar, harmonica (!), saxophone, mandolin, accordion :U), tumbadoras (!!!). Not to mention "Jivertimento1 para Marimbafone (?!?) e Orquestra," or the already cited tnd splendid "Suite Retratos," mandolin, folk band and strin orchestra. Re ligiousl , Radames defended the exercise as a necessary evil for the composer as much as for the violinist that studies eight hours per day or an athlete that runs 20 km every morning. Radames himself, when his health permitted, woke up every day at four and wrote until ten. Cazes tells that many times the fever of the composer to write music was so great that he didn't worry if music would be played one day or not. Paulinho da Viola—the greatest composer of samba born after the 1940s—is another that remembers: "He wrotethings for absurd groups of instruments, that he knew would never be heard. But he didn't care, he wrote anyway". One very interesting detail is that Radames wrote vertically (explanation: normally the rranger writes the melody first, after the bass, the harmony an so on.Radar wrote all these things at the same time, one m sure at, a time). Paulinho lwaya w,as a thnid fan of Radar. He watched him from a distan e, hidden behind his father, Cesar Faria, violinist in the Regio al Epoca de Ouro—founded by another great 4
,
47
friend and inspirer of Radames: Jacob do Bandolim. Paulinho and Radames only met for the first time in 1980, when the first composed, in homage to the second the choro "Sarau para Radames." Paulinho invited him to play the music together with him, on a TV Globo special: "He picked up the sheet music, which was difficult, and started playing. He knew it all". Luis Carlos Braga—excellent performer of the difficult seven-string guitar, one of the founders of Camerata Carioca, was a part of the group that recorded Sarau on one of Paulinho' s records. Until today he enjoys remembering the grimaces of the poorly disguised impatience of the old man every time that someone in the band made a mistake and they had to start over. Evidently Radames never was the author of a mistake. With regard to Radames fantastic reading of music and improvisation capabilities, the Gaucho Marcelo Sfoggia, dentist and doctor in recording, remembers a fantastic nightlong party in his house in the 1980s. Without stopping the conversation, Radar rapidly touched the piano's keyboard in Marcelo' s living room, apparently distracted. Immediately after, he started playing. In a quick pass with his fingers, he memorized the different keys that were out of tune or stuck. When he played, he substituted one note for another, and the piano sounded perfect.) Another of the more devote followers of Radames, the guitar player Rafael Rabello was considered by people like Paco de Lucia nothing less than the greatest guitar player on the planet. He died prematurely, at 36 years of age, for reasons never very well explained, Rafael defined Radames as "a visionary, an anarchist". And he finished: "What Villa-Lobos did with rural and folkloric Brasil, Radames did with urban Brazilian folklore. More or less what George Gershwin did in the United States. He never stopped being an anarchist, like his Italian father and striker. But, above all, he was a humanist. Without exception, he helped all the big names of Brazilian music". Rafael remembers that it was his instructor that put together the first MPB orchestra, and also was one of the first to record with percussion in Brasil. And he also was, exactly for these reasons, very much accused of being a jazz man by the purists ofthe time, which, by the way, infuriates Tom Jobim by the similarity of what happened to him in the 1960s: "the critics, as always, are completely out of it". Rafael, Henrique, Paulinho and Tom when they spoke for the interviews that gave birth to this profile were unanimous in remembering that, besides a great musician, Radames was also a great guy. And the owner of a carefully cultivated crossness, that was the delight ofthe regulars of his table in the Restaurante Lucas, in Copacabana, in Rio. It was there that every afternoon—when he left TV Globo, where he worked as an arranger —that he met with his friends. All in a strict age group between 20 and 80. But, between us, preferentially between 20 and 30. Henrique says: "He never liked to spend time with old people. He liked that we would take him places. When we traveled with the Camerata, he seemed like a child without his mother: he would eat vatapa at midnight and afterwards we had to go walking so he could digest the food.". Aluisio Didier, maestro, pianist and friend at Globo network, disagrees a little: "He was a man of many friends, of friends that lasted 30, 40, 48
or 50 years, a very devoted guy". Aluisio, by the way, collected through the years a series of witticisms of his hero, transformed into a precious home video-book called Radames. Only one: right at the table at Restaurante Lucas, the head talk went on for hours. They &cussed whether Vivaldi, the baroque composer, was or wasn't repetitive. And Radames quiet, visibly annoyed. After dozens of arguments and beers, they became tired of the discussion and upon one of those sudden silences in which one prepares for the next subject and only then, looking at the bottom of his beer glass, the old man muttered: "Vivaldi was the Martinho da Vila ofBaroque". Discussion closed (Martinho is an excellent, however tremendously repetitive, samba composer). Just one more, which is another good one, told by Henrique. They always asked him if he still was a sympathizer of the Communist Party, as he was in his youth. Radames would respond: "The Communists would tell me: 'make your music and we'll make the revolution.' I made a bunch of songs and they, until now, nothing!" And another quick one, to finish up: the protest singer Taiguara, at the height of his most impassioned phase, asks him for an arrangement. Radames arrives at the studio, delivers the music and the musicians do a run through. Taiguara is enraptured, embraces him and says with eyes full of tears: "Radames, this arrangement is a victory for the proletariat!" Without either pulling away or returning the embrace, the old man replies, indifferent: "Victory of the proletariat, the fuck, Taiguara. This arrangement is mine!" Discography: 1964 Retratos with Jac6 do Bandolim and Orchestra (rereleased on CD) 1984 Tributo a Garoto with Rafael, for the series Todos os Sons, from Ariola. 1992 Suite Retratos with Rafael, Joel do Nascimento and Chiquinho do Acordeon. Also, re-released on CD, by Kuarup aria, the author, a journalist, writer, and Rio Grande do Sul, may be contacted at poprock(a)ulbra.tche.br
BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
folks during colonial Brazil. Teatro Luca Pardo Filho. Um Certo Faroeste Caboclo (A Certai Hillbilly Western)—Musical. Directed b Paulo Faria, with Beto Magnani and Danie Alvim. A landless peasant goes to talk to the president and become a dangerous bandit. Inspired by a Renato Russo song Centro Cultural Elenko Qualquer Gabo Vira-Lata Tern uma Vida Sexual mais Sadia Que a Nossa Comedia (Any Street Cat Has a Healthier Sexual Life than Our Comedy)—Written by Juc-a de Oliveira, directed by Bibi Ferreira, with Giuseppe Oristanio, Rita Guedes, and Felipe Folgosi. Professor creates a revolutionary theory of love conquest, but ends up falling in his own trap. Teatro Bi i Ferreira
Just-released American movies:
RIO Relax...It's Sex—Music comedy. Written, directed and composed by Wolf Maya, with Adriana Garambone and Danielle Winits. Common people in unusual circumstances, like a man falling in love with the voice of a telesex girl. Teatro Café Pequeno. A Falecida (The Dead Woman)—Drama. By Nelson Rodrigues, directed by Robert McCrea with the Sao Paulo Cia. de Teatro Fabrica. Zulmira wants to be buried like a chief of state and raises hell for that. Teatro Sesc Tijuca. A Bofetada (Hard Blow)—Three classics of besteirol (nonsense theater) written by Miguel Magno, Mauro Rasi and Ricardo Almeida. Directed by Fernando Guerreiro with Cia. Baiana da Patifaria. Teatro do Leblon. A Familia E Tudo (Family Is Everything)—Drama. Written and directed by Fernando Berto, with Beth Schmitz, Rita Waehneldt, Marta Rosa, Angelica Breyer and Marco Antonio. A large family gets together to celebrate the 80'h birthday of its patriarch and goes in crisis when a granddaughter shows up with her boyfriend. Espaco Cultural dos Correios
S110 PAULO Pequena Historia do Brasil — 500 Anos em 50 Minutos (Short Story of Brazil500 Years in 50 Minutes)—Comedy. Text and direction by Tuna Serzedello, with Maria Lima and Soledad Yunge. As the title says, a brief story of the country, starting with the discovery and going up to the current Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration. Espaco Cultural Inglesa. Mem6rias de um Sargento de Milicias (Memoirs of a Militia Sergeant)—Comedy. Classic text by Manuel Antonio de Almeida adapted and directed by Jose Paulo Rosa, with Regina Pessoa, Rafael Burgath, and Zhe Gomes. A portrait of the common BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
October Sky (0 Ceu De Outubro), Cooki 's Fortune (A Fortuna De Cookie), The Si th Sense (Sexto Sentido), The Love Letter (A Carta Anonimo), American Pie (Amen i an Pie—A l'Vez E Inesquecivel), The Wins! w Boy (Cadete Winslow), Fight Club (Cl be da Luta), A Midsummer Night's Dre m (Sonho de uma Noite de Vercio), Blue Streak (Um Tira Muito Suspeito), Deep Blue Sea (Do Fundo Do Mar), Happy, Texas (Ha. oy, Texas)
o Primeiro Dia (The First Day)—Br zil/ 1999—Drama. Directed by Walter S lies Junior, with Fernanda Torres. It's Dec mber 31, 1999. Two youngsters from o • p0site worlds get together on the roof f a building in Rio. Maud-0 Imperador e o Rei (Maud The Emperor and the King)—Brazil/198— Directed by Sergio Rezende, with P ulo Betti, Othon Bastos, and Malu M der. Irineu Evangelista de Souza, the aud Baron and Viscount is only 30 and co sidered the richest man on earth. Em eror Dom Pedro II gets jealous. Dois C6rregos (Two Brooks)—B azil/ 1999—Drama. Directed by Luis Vi with Beth Goulart, Ingra Liberats and Carlos A. Riccelli. Story narrated in ashback. The antics and dilemmas o Ana Paula and her friend Lydia at the fa ily's ranch in Dois COrregos. Serial Lover (Serial Lover)—Fr nce/ 1998—Comedy. Directed by James Huth with Michele Laroque and Albert Du ntel. Courted by three men a 35-year-old oman decides do marry. Things get compi cated when by mistake she kills one of th m. Todo Sobre Mi Madre (Tudo Sobre inha Mde)—Spain/France, 1999—Dra a. By Pedro Almodovar, with Cecilia Ro h and Marisa Paredes. After death of so , who died without knowing who his fath r was, mother goes looking for ex-husb nd, a transvestite, to tell him about the on he never knew he had. Spain/ Nono Me Dejes Nunca (Tango Argentina, 1998—Drama. Direc ed by Carlos Saura, with Miguel Angel S la and Cecilia Narova. An author and s irector start rehearsing a tango show to g istract from his own personal problems. 0 Viajante (The Traveler)—Brazil 1998— Drama—Directed by Paulo Cesar S raceni,
with Marilia Pera, Jairo Mattos, Leandra Leal, and Miriam Persia. How the arrival of a salesman changes the life of a Minas Gerais state little town.
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best sellers FICTION
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BUSINESS/ECONOMY 1 0 longo amanhecer, Cel so Furtado. Paz e Terra, R$ 14 2 Assim e que se fala, Reinaldo Polito. Saraiva, R$ 24 3 A crise do capitalismo, George Soros. Campus, R$ 34 4 Globalizacao e globobagens, Paul Krugman. Campus, R$ 34 5 Economia global e excluslio social, Gilberto Dupas. Paz e Terra, R$ 27 6 Macroeconomia moderna, Gilberto Tadeu Lima and Joao Sicsu. Campus, R$ 39 7 Ah, se eu soubesse, Richard Edler. Negocio, R$ 29.80 8 Marketing Digital, Marcio Chleba. Futura, R$ 22.50 9 De lider para lider, Paul Cohen and Frances Hesselbein. Futura, R$ 39 10 A globalizacdo da pobreza, Michel Chossudovski. Moderna, R$ 22 According to Jornal do Brasil, http:// www.jb.com.br 49
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For Ad, call (323) 255-8062 or E-mail: brazzil@brazzil.com 50
BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
4> FEIRA LIVRE 4
MARKET Babalawo Zezito D'Oxum, 45 anos no Rio. Rua d Carmo 15, Parque Amonm, Belford Roxo, Rio Brazil Zip: 26185-340. Tel.: (021) 761-1682 [156] Beautiful CriseOpazio, $14.95 per stone. I sell onl the best. Send check/MO to: GVB, Suite 471, 25 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains, NY, 10605 El 611 Cavaquinho for Sale, hand made in the USA, II solid wood, under saddle, pick up is optional. (Me ) (310) 412-6071 Los Angeles [163] USW Brazilian Music in its totality. Samba, bossa no a, chonnho, balk, axe, and more. Merchant Expr (954) 785-5991
ewspapers agaztnes ; mess ppor buy Sales Representative—PA based mid-sized firm is looking to increase contracts with federal government as well as private industry throughout the US. The candidate should be adept at the phone and in person presentations; organization is a key. Some travel. Interested candidate should fax résumé to (215)782-9043 or mail it to Job Opportunity, PO Box 45052, Philadelphia, PA 19124 [166]
a enng Massas, assados, feijoada, quibe, coxinha, empadinhas, sobremesas. Congelados ou a pedido pelo fonelfax (619) 223-2243 [166]
asses English teacher (Aulas de ingles). Professor experiente (americano), todos os niveis, gramatica, conversagao, ingles profissional, expressOes idiomaticas, girias e outras necessidades, classes individuals ou para grupos. Aprenda rapidamente. Chame por Ben (415) 759-6042 San Francisco [165] Portuguese Courses in Salvador da Bahia, Dialog°, http://www.brazilstudy.com, E-mail: dialogo@ brazilstudy.com, fax: 01155 71 336-6329 [155] Portuguese Lessons, all levels, very affordable. Call Luciana (415) 421-3665 [165]
or
20
BRAZIL-Wildlife Refuge - 130 acres Atlantic Forest, near Recife. Also tropical fruits. Excellent income from tourism. Price: $100,000. (310) 832-4367 [156]
Oil Ore Housekeeper needed to live in. In the San Diego Area, beautiful horse club. Private Estate. Call Dino (760) 749-4068 [160] Motorista part-time Santa Monica area. Buscar na escola menino de 10 anos. Segunda a sexta 5:30 ate 7:30 PM - 10 horas semanais -$300 mensais - Rita (310) 450-7501 [158]
o' "ane Looking for part/full time job. Housekeeper/babysitter experience. I have fluent English/computer skills. Marlene (310) 836-2458 [158]
ace aneous BFtAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
Jornais e revistas do Brasil. Recebemos jorn IS diarios e todas as principals revistas, inclui do masculinas e femininas. Tel. (954) 785-5991
ersona oman see s man Americana loura, 29, filha de brasileira e ale ão, gostaria de conhecer um rapaz negro, 25 34, morando em Los Angeles, para amizade e ta vez mais. Pode escrever/mandar retrato a 1111 S rtori Avenue, Torrance, CA 90501 [156] Brasileira, atraente, procura americano 40-50. oto para 170 Del Paso Ct, Fairfield, CA 94533 [16 Brazilian mulata lady—a knockout at 35—s eks young nice looking young boy 18+. Preferen e to dark skin. For good times. Letter and pict to: Cid ,P0 Box 894, Wildomar, CA 92595 [165]
ersona an ee s 'van African/American Male, 40, Engineer, hand ome, affectionate, romantic, in Houston, desire to meet Brazilian lady 25-35, send letter with photo; ilfred Edwards, PO Box 2025, Missouri City, TX 7459, USA E-mail: wilfred.edwards@usa.net [166] Brasileiro-Americano, 36 anos, roman ico e atraente, procurando relacionamento com br sileira ou americana. (818) 344-1881 [166] L.A. business owner, tall, blonde, blue-eyed seeks small, dark-skin Brasileira to be my wife. (31 ) 3019000 [168] Seeking beautiful, professional, English-s eaking Carioca woman for best friend and marriag . Write to: Jodaps, Box 1492, Morrobay, California 934431492, USA [163] Swedish gentleman, widower, 58, well e ucated, speaks Port., seeks independent, warmhea d, ed ucated lady with humor, and good profession I status in Brazil, USA or anywhere. Write Bjorn G nnarson PO Box 17242, Stockholm, 10462 Swe en - Email:bjorn_s@dataphone.se [164] Americano, 38, atraente, romantic° e sincere. Procura brasileira 18-45. Envier foto para 2 40-16th St, No. 179, San Francisco, CA 94103 [15 Seeking Bay Area single Brazilian wome to meet nice, single, attractive American men in the Bay Area for friendship, romance, and marriage. No ee. Send color photo and profile to Love Connec on - 964
Howard St, San Francisco, CA 94103 Suite 20 [160] Seeking ladies 18-45 years old to correspond with American men for friendship and companionship. FREE for all ladies. Write: TigerLilies, 2709 Lookout Dr., Suite 5206, Garland TX 75044 USA [160]
ersona 'an see s man Brazilian bottom, 33 y/o, 5'5, 123Ibs, white skin, seeks black, young top man who wanna move to Brazil and share a whole life. Valdeck - Phone 011 5571 981 1990, valdecka@hotmail.com [163] Very handsome, professional, 40's WM seeks sincere, VGL/black/Brasil man. Truly love the music from Caetano to Nana to Gil and more! Maybe we can make music! I'm real thing! (323) 227-8935 [158]
'en a Beautiful rooftop penthouse, 2 level, 2 bedrooms/ balconies, 2 kitchens, 4 baths, maid quarters. Private, quiet, sea/beach views, air, new secure building, great location Arpoador behind Rio Palace. $US150 day, $US900 week. E-mail to riopenthouse@yahoo.com.br [168] The ideal apartment for vacation or business Beautiful air-conditioned studio apartment with all new appliances and parkay floors, in the heart of Copacabana, located on quiet tree-lined street, around the corner from shopping area and restaurants, just 2 blocks from the beach. Building is clean, well managed and has 24-hour security. Perfect for one or two people. $45 per day during low season and $55 during high season. Monthly rates also available. Tel. (718) 658-4987. E-mail: rio988@gateway.net [164] . Rio de Janeiro - Apartment for Rent - Great Area! - Beat Hotel Prices! (510) 236-3684 [164]
rans a ton n erp. Dialogo Translates from and to Brazilian Portuguese: http://www.brazilstudy.com [155]
rave Receba seu cartao de s6cio do Club Brasileiro enviando $2.00 por ano com seu nome e enderego para A TTT SERVICES - (909) 627-2171 - 12400 Cypress, 88, Chino, CA 91710 e tenha 10% de desconto na passagem para o Brasil. [164]
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• POLICY: All ads to be prepaid. Ads are accepted at our discretion. Your canceled check is your receipt. Please, include address and phone number, which will be kept confidential. • DEADLINE: The 25th of the month Late material will be held for the following month if appropriate. *TO PLACE AD: Send ad with check, money order or your Credit Card number (plus your name and expiration date) to:
BRAZZIL P.O. Box 50536 Los Angeles, CA 90050-0536. 51
•tills
Finance Plus Mort. Corp. (310) 585-8911
•Ititiatultr
Fogo e Paixao (310) 450-4586
. physigo
Nilson A. Santos (213) 483-3430 . psychtisr mrsa usi '"""•'" Elizabeth Almeida, M.A. (310) 281-7536 Dr. Jefferson Sa (213) 207-2770 Tania Haberkom, M.A. (310) 840-5380
• Palthestitits
Brazzil
Livraria Plenitude (800) 532-5809
Creations (310) 693-2844 Culture Planet (310) 441-9808 Zebi Designs (310) 391-6530
Consulado do Brasil (617) 617-542-4000
Cosmo Auto Parts (213) 259-9818
Boston • EOM
•amlats
•best
Syivio P. Lessa (617) 924-1882
- fog 1 P111110
• kits
Banco do Brasil (213) 688-2996
•SINN
Brasil Brasil (617) 561-6094 Jerry's Cachaya (617) 666-5410
Vera° Brazil Bikinis (818) 887-1776
Approach Student Ctr (617) 787-5401 Braz. & Amer. Lg. Inst. (617) 787-7716
• Dees
•tastrutlaa
•Pthileztlos
•
•eats Hoak
, Brazzil (323) 255-8062 The Brazilian Monthly (617) 566-3651 Bossa: Braz. Jazz Guide (617) 262-9997
•ilasturairts
Café Brazil (617) 789-5980 lpanema (508) 460-6144 Tropicana (617) 567-4422 Pampas Churrascaria (617) 661-6613
Chicago • CHUMS Consulado G. do Brasil (312) 464-0244
• Trani:tins
Portuguese Lang. Ctr. (312) 276-6683
Dallas •Basturasts Fogo de Chio (972) 503-7300
• NM AIM
Brazil Brasileiro (972) 594-8894
•Catering
Joy's Catering (562) 438-3415 Samba Collection (562) 438-3996
• Chlii
Annlitlies
Brazil-Cal. Chbr of Corn. (310) 657-3161 Brazilian Sociocult. C. (310) 370-0929 Centro Cultural Gaucho (323) 256-6548 MILA • Samba School (310) 202-8091 Mov. Social Humanista (310) 281-6652 SambaLa -Esc. de Samba (562) 438-3996
•Cued*
Brazilian Consulate (213) 651-2664
• Dentist
Gilberto Henriques (213) 464-0524
• EMU Pfliall
Brazilian Nites Prod. (818) 566-1111 Samba & Saudade (323) 634-7811 Sayegh Promotions (562)863.3463
• Fug I PtidICIS
Cachaga Pitu (714) 731-7788
• Health I Muss
Hands of Care Mas. Thar. (213) 937-3835
•histractln
(323) 255-8062 Real Estate Cent 21 Tama Sayegh (562) 865-2992 exturati • Cafés Bossa Nova (310) 657-5070 Brazilian Tropical (714) 720-1522 By Brazil (310) 787-7520 Café Brasil (310) 837-8957 Carmen Banana (310) 837-4545 ipanema Grill (323) 933-7254 !Una Bahia (310) 657-6306 Rio Braz. Churrascaria (714) 739-2000 Zabumba (310)841.6525
• yriuggwviitim
Brazilian Int. Affairs (310) 854-5881
•iravilfiurs
Brazilian Way (800) 471-6333 ATW Travel (800) 529-2990 Brazil Air (800) 441-8515 Brazil Tours (818) 767-1200 Cheviot Hills Travel (310) 202-6264 South Winds Tr & Tours (800) 533-3423
• TV
New York N. Jersey •Mb
Brazilian Ch. of Corn. (212) 751-4691 Brazilian Corn. Bureau (212) 916-3200 Brazilian Trade Bur. (212) 224-6280
Transbrasil (800) 872-3153 yang (800) 468-2744 Vasp (800) 732-8277
. Away
Joel Stewart (954) 772-7
•tilts
Banco do Brasil (305) 358-3586 Banco Nacional (305) 372-0100 Banco Real (305) 358-2433 Banespa (305) 358-9167
•CMOS ASSININIES
ABFC - As. Bras. da Flor. (407) 354-5200 Cam. Corn. Brasil- EUA (305) 579-9030 ARARA • Amazon. As. (813) 842-3161
ArtMedia (310) 826-1443
Hedimo de Si (305) 262-8212
Bakari Art Studio (213) 731-3700
Meiojas & Ferraz (310) 360-0901
All Braz. Imp. & Exp. (305)523.8134
•teg SerWas
•Tilfld AIUCftI
Brazilian Wave (305) 561-3788 Discover Brazil Tours (800) 524-3666 Euroamerica (305) 358-3003 International Tours (800) 822-1318 Luma Travel (305)374.5635 Monark Travel (305) 374-5855 New Port Tours (305) 372-5007 Br Online Travel (888) 527-2745 Via Brasil Travel (305) 866-7580
Miami - S.Florida • Mau
yang (800) GO VARIG
• Arts S Crafts
•litilstratts
Boteco (954) 566-3190 Brazilian Tropicana (954)781.1113 Porcao (305) 373-2777 Steak Masters (305) 567-1718
Luso-Brazilian Books (800) 727-LUSO
Consulado do Brasil (305) 285-6200
•literset i Art lulu
• Piiiiiiestitint
Brazzil (323) 255-8062 Flonda Review (305) 374-5235 Real Estate Simone Bethencourt (954)704.1211
Brazil TV & Production (562) 437-6404
Brasil Brasil Cult. Ctr (310) 397-3667 Modern Lang. Center (310) 839-8427
Los Angeles •Mims
Armazem Brasil (305) 629-9233 Brazil by Mail (954) 472-7163 Guarani Esteves (305) 345-1540 Vanya's Sweets (954) 785-0087 Nfia Brasil (31;417 87 1 1 88 • Dr. Jorge Macedo (305) 271-7311 Dr. Mario Sanches (305)541.7819 Dr. Neil Franzon (305) 776-1412
• 01131110/
• Intl*
• NO
ii ROMPS
• 'nal Anulatins
• Crafilitif
Brazilian Pavillion (212) 758-8129 Cabana Carioca (212) 581-8088 Indigo Blues (212) 221-0033 S.O.B. (212)243.4040 Tapajos River (201)491.9196
• DWI OHMS
Barb Tour Service (201) 313-0996 Odyssea Travel Service (212)826.3019
San Diego • Allti Car Mania Auto Repair (619) 223-7748
•CNN I Lisiciatkits
Clube Bras. San Diego (619) 295-0842 Sunday Night Cl. Brazil (619) 233-5979 • laninattet Brazil Imports (619)234.3401
*Om Resttlaan
Vigo-California (800) 994-VIGO
San Francisco • DIM Varig (650) 794-1998 Vasp (8001117A;ASP Laura Basaloco-Lapo (415) 288-6727 Manoel Faria (510) 537-3533
•nits
Nelson Auto Body (415) 255-6717 Matts Auto Body (415) 565-3560
• Ratty Ulu
Bibbo (415) 421-BIBO Carmen's International (415)433.0441 Neyde's (415) 681-5355
• notlissubtlost
B.A.S.O. (415) 661-2788 Bay Area Brasilian Club (415)334.0106 Capoeira Institute (510) 655-8207 • MVO? Micronet (415)665.1994
* Cantlite
Brazilian Gen. Cons. (212) 757-3080
Brazilian Consulate (415) 981-8170
BBJ (Br. Bus. Junction) (212) 768-1545
Aquarela (510) 548-1310 Birds of Paradise (415) 863-3651 GInga Brasil (510) 428-0698 Escola Nova de Samba (415) 661-4798 Samba do Coragio (415) 826-2588 Samba, Swing & Suor (415) 282-7378
= Dinithig
• fatt Prailitta
Amaz8nia (718) 204-1521 Colsa Nossa (201) 578-2675 Merchant Express (201) 589-5884
• Pfritalitts
Brazzil (323) 255-8062 The Brasilians (212) 382-1630 Brazilian Voice (201) 955-1137 OCA Magazine (516) 596-1853 Portugal-Brasil News (212) 228-2958 Samba Newsletter (718) 937-0574
•lienturatts
Brasilia (212) 869-9200 Brazil 2000 (212) 877-7730
•listre histrimat
• fatal Cart
Roberto Sales, DDS (510)451.8315
•Matt Preaftba
Eyes For Talent (650) 595-2274 F. B. C. Events (415) 334-0106 Nativa Productions (408) 287-9798
• fat
Evergreen Market (415)841.4506 HGC Imp. Wholesale (408) 947-8511
•listrallto Portuguese- A. Frame (510) 339-9289 Portuguese Lang. Serv. (415) 587-4990
•May litittlatts
Brazil Express-Vigo (415) 749-0524 West Brazil (415) 695-9258
• NUM Cilia Malheiros (415) 738-2434 Fogo na Roupa (510) 464-5999 Ricardo Peixoto (415) 752-9782 Vox do Brazil (415) 586-2276
•Pertlealls
Emiliano Benewdes (415) 648-2441
* MOM Dr. Guilherme Salgado (415) 832-6219
• Metal •
le
M. C. Printing (510) 268-8967
•PilllcatIus
Brazil Today (510) 526-1115 Brazzil (323) 255-8062
• inilitfifillat Bahia Cabana (415) 861-4202 Cafe Mardi Gras (415) 864-6788 Canto do Brasil (415) 626-8727 Janete & Pedro Br. Food (415) 821-4600 Muzzarela Di Bufala (415)346.2284 Nino's (510) 845-9303 Porto Brasil (510) 526-1500 Terra Brazilis (415)863.5177
• Mediu
Port. Lang. Services (415) 587-4990
• DIM LINOS
Brazil Express (415) 749-0524 Paulo's Travel (415) 863-2556 Rio Roma (415) 921-3353 Santini Tours (510)843.2363 Travel Americas (415)334.0404 Tropical Travel (510) 655-9904 Tucanos Travel (415)454.9961
Washington DC • AitiMIS Transbrasil (202) 775-9180 Varig (202) 331-8913 Vasp (202) 822-8277
•lien
Banco do Brasil (202) 857-0320 Banco do Est. de S. Paulo (202) 682-1151
•Mai Ittesiatbes
Braz. Am. Cult. Inst (202) 362-8334 Inst. of Brazil. Business (202) 994-5205
• Mangy
•
Embaixada do Brasil (202) 238-2700
•itstitratle
Amazonia Grill (202) 537-0421
•Trill! Amides
Intern, Discount Travel (703) 750-0101 BRAZZIL - OCTOBER 1999
Brazil Air
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TEL: (954) 785-5991 BRAZILIAN MUSIC IN ITS TOTALITY Samba, Basso Nova, Jazz, Rock, Chorinho, Lambada, Baido, Freya, Axe Music, World Music, and more.
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CD'S AND TAPES MAIL DELIVERY AVAILABLE Daniela Mercury, Olodum, Banda Mel, Roca Negra, Alcione, Caetano, Djavan, Milton Nascimento, Clementina de Jesus, Beth Ca rva lho, Ma rgareth Menezes, Rosa Maria, Leny Andrade, Elza Soares, Marina, Elba Ramalho, Tania Alves, Ivan Lins, Joao Gilberto, Tom Jobim, Vinicius de Morais, Tog uinho, Roberto Carlos, Nelson Ned, Legicio Urbana, Chico Buarque, Paralamas doSucesso, Bard° Vermelho, Elis Regina, Nara Ledo, Ca rtolo, Maria Bethania, Gal Costa, Noel Rosa, Carmen Misanda, Gilberto Gil, MPB-4, Adoniram Barbosa, Moreira da Silva, Wagner Tiso, Sergio Mendes, Martinho do Vila, Rift Rodrigues, Jorge Benjor, Zeca Pagodinho, Bezerra do Silva, Nand Vasconcelos, Luiz Gonzaga, Alceu Valenco,Cazuza, Leila Pinheiro, Nelson Cavaquinho, Villa Lobos, Waldir Azevedo, Dilermando Reis and many others...
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. ' T-Shirts Cavaquinhos Brazilian Crafts Brazilian Music , Worldcup Shirts Calendar ' o of Brazilian Drums Brazilian Videos Go to Rio 2000 & Samba with ut: Custom Clothing 1 .Parade in RIG Camaval with Unidos do Mundo! Woddcup Clothes & Souvenirs •We take carp of your flight and registration! Camaval Costumes for Sale/Rent ..aiwaligratiLiEmAiall
*OIL Nov. 6(Sat)r Masked Ball at Tony's - 8 pm - lam Dec. 4 (Sat) - SambaLa at Tony's Restaurant- 8 pm - lam ''' Dec. 31 Vi)- SambaLa and New Years (to be announced) Jan. ((Sat) - SambaLa at Tony's Restaurant - Rpm - lam iesud oXbs 0 WI? X' ant4aXihit • -- 411
• See details at wkvw.rio2000.org SambaLa is founder and 'International Coordinator of Rio 2000! Don't miss it!
www.sambala.or BRAZZIL -OCTOBER 1999
Collection
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tel: (562) 438-3669 53
owinu Pains Economic growth, in general, and industrialization, in particular, were the main goals of Brazilian policymakers until the 1980s. Thereafter, all efforts were concentrated on attacking the balance of payments crisis and inflation. WERNER BAER AND CLAUDIO PAIVA In the mid-1990s Brazil had a population of 156 million and a gross domestic product (GDP) estimated at US$676 billion in 1995, placing its economy among the nine largest economies in the world. The per capita GDP was estimated at a little over US$3,000. Within the Third World Brazil is among the most industrialized countries, with industry's share having fluctuated between the low and high thirties, as against only about 10% for agriculture. Although it is amarket economy, the state has played an unusually large role, as both a policymaker and a direct participant in economic activities. In 1985, a survey of the 8.094 largest firms revealed that the share ofnet assets of state enterprises was 48%, while the share of private Brazilian firms stood at 43% and of multinationals at 9%. And in 1990, just prior to the introduction of the privatization process, another survey examined the 20 largest firms by sectors and found that state firms had the following percentage of total sales: public utilities, 100%; steel, 67%; chemicals and petrochemicals, 67%; mining, 60%; transport services, 35%; gasoline distribution, 32%(Melhores e Maiores, Exame, August 1991). Despite the rapid growth of nontraditional exports and recent effort toward internationalization, Brazil's economy remains relatively closed, with external trade (exports plus imports) amounting to less than 14% of GDP in the early 1990s.
Growth Record Brazil has experienced one of the highest growth rates among capitalist economies in the twentieth century. This observation is particularly true for the period ranging from the early 1950s to the mid-1990s, despite the crisis that lasted throughout most of the 1980s (the so-called lost decade) and into the early 1990s. A first assessment of the country's economic performance in the period can be made by noting that the yearly GDP growth rates averaged 7.15% in the fifties, 6.12% in the sixties, 8.84% in the seventies, 2.93% in the eighties, and 1.60% in the years 1990-95. For a comparative vision, one should note that the United States economy grew at a yearly average rate of 3% in the period 1960-92. It will be noted that the high yearly growth rates of the 1950s and 1960s took place with relatively low investment/ GDP ratios, when compared with the 1970s and 1980s. This may have been due to the lower capital intensity of the prevailing technology and also due to the great emphasis on the promotion of industrial sectors with low capital/output
BRAZZIL- OCTOBER 1999
ratios. In the 1970s and 1980s, the higher investment/GDP ratios reflect an emphasis on industries with greater capital-intensive technologies (such as capital goods production) and a large amount of investment in infrastructure projects (such as the world's largest hydroelectric dam at Itaipu), which use up a huge amount of capital relative to short-term output. Also to be noted is the decline of investments in the 1980s and early 1990s, which is even clearer when measured in constant 1980 prices. This reflects the crisis of the 1980s and early 1990s. (...) Besides the rapid increase in the national product, one should also note the structural changes that occurred in the economy during the growth process. Industry was the motor of growth and the centerpiece of all development strategies implemented throughout the period. Industrial production grew at a yearly average rate of 6.89% during the four decades but 8.5% if the lost decade is excluded. For the period as a whole, the yearly average growth rates of agriculture and services were 4.27% and 6.83%, respectively. As a result, the share of industry in GDP rose from about 24.14% in 1950 to 34.2% in 1990, after having reached 40.58% in 1980. Agriculture's share dropped from 24.28% to 9.26% in forty years, while the service sector's share rose from 51.58% to 56.54%. It should be emphasized that besides showing the fastest growth rates, the industrial sector became the main determinant of the economy's dynamism, triggering both the upturns and the downturns of the growth cycles. Structural changes also took place within Brazil's industry. The ISI (import substitution industrialization) process led to a greater diversification of the sector, both horizontally •(industries in different sectors) and vertically (industries related to each other as suppliers or customers), producing not only various types of consumption goods, but capital goods and basic industrial inputs as well. For instance, machinery production increased 205% in the seventies, electrical equipment, 223%, and chemicals, 163%. The share of the machinery subsector in industrial production rose from 2.2% in 1949 to 12.5% in 1992; the share of electrical equipment went from 1.7% to 6.8% in the same period. Some of the early dominant industries of the first half of the twentieth century had their relative importance decreased. For example, the textile industry's share of industrial output declined from 20.1% in 1949 to 4.6% in 1992, and the food and beverage products' share declined from 24% to 15.7% in the same period. Another characteristic of Brazil's industry that has emerged over the decades is its high degree of concentration. In the 1980s the share of the eight largest firms in total sales was 62% in transport equipment, 64% in pharmaceuticals, 100% in tobacco, 60% in printing and publishing, 72% in chemicals, 54% in beverages, and 81% in rubber. The average for industry as a whole was 52%. There were also notable changes in Brazil's employment structure. The share of agriculture in total employment declined from 62% in 1950 to a little less than 23% in 1990, and that of services increased from 25% to 54% in the same period. Industry's share in total employment rose to a much smaller extent than its share in GDP; in 1950 it amounted to 13%, rising to 23% in 1990. Accompanying the changes in the production structure of the country was the diversification of the commodity composition of exports. This was especially the case after the first intensive import substitution industrialization, from the late sixties on. The basic idea of ISI was to produce domestically goods that were being imported, thus stimulating the economy.
BRAZZIL- OCTOBER 1999
In 1950 the share of traditional export products (coffee, sugar, cotton, cocoa) was about 80%, while the share of manufactured products was about 13%; by 1992 the share of industrial products had risei to 66.7%, while the traditional exports' ,share had fallen t4 5.2%. In addition, it should be noted that Brazil also diversified its agricultural exports. For instance, soybean and orange juice, which were almost nonexistent in Brazil's exports in the early 1970s, accounted for 7.3% of total exports each (totaling 14.6%) in the 1990s.
Background Prior to the 1930s, Brazil was a primary exporting economy. Its majbr export products were coffee, sugar, cocoa, cotton, and, for a short period, rubber. Although some manufacturing industr. es made their appearance from the 1890s on, industry was no a leading sector. Coffee exports were the engine of growtl throughout most of the nineteenth century. Also, as in the l4ter part of the nineteenth century the coffee economy had shllfted from the state of Rio de Janeiro to the state of Sao Pa lo, so the economic center of the country gradually shifte4 to that region, where it has remained until the present day. The secondary effects of the sao Paulo coffee economy—employment of free immigrant labor, foreign investment in infrastructure, capital accumulation of coffee growers, and s me derived growth of industry—were to deepen regiona dualism between the dynamic Center-South and the rest o Brazil (especially taking into account the Northeast). The Great pression of the 1930s had a severely negative effect on Bram 's exports, whose value fell from US$445.9 million in 192 to US$180.6 million in 1932. The price of coffee in 1931 as at one-third ofthe average price in the years 1925-29. In a dition to the decline of export receipts, the entrance of for ign capital had come to almost a complete halt by 1932. The d cline of export earnings and the large amounts of foreign exc ange needed to finance the country's external debt, not cou ting the remittances of the profits of private entities, force the government to take some drastic actions. In August 19 1, it suspended part of the foreign debt payments and in roduced foreign exchange and other direct controls of i ports. Combined with a devaluation of the currency, whi h increased the price of imports, these controls caused a decli e of imports from US$416.6 million in 1929 to US$108.1 mi lion in 1932. Since at th beginning of the depression coffee accounted for 71% of to al exports, and exports, in turn, stood at about 10% of GDP, the government's main concern was to support the coffee se tor. The steep decline of world demand for coffee broug t along by the depression also coincided with a huge coffee • tput, which was the result of plantings that had taken place i the 1920s. In order to protect the coffee sector, and thus the conomy, from the full impact of the decline of world coffe markets and prices, the federal government, through the National Coffee Council, bought all coffee. destroying 1 ge quantities that could not be stored. Government protect on of the coffee sector also included measures to help debt-pl gued agricultural producers by haying the government pa off the debt, thus creating new money and enabling the debtor to postpone payments. The curtailment of imports and the continued domestic demand resulting from the income generated by the coffee support pro tram caused shortages ofmanufactured goods and a conseque r t rise in their relative prices. This acted as a
catalyst for a spurt of industrial production. In fact, the growth • pUblic utilities; (4) the creation of a development bank (Barn.. o was so pronounced that industry for the first time became the Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economic°, BNDE) that, in economy's leading sector, responsible for an early general the absence of an adequate capital market, provided long-term recovery from the impact of the World Depression. By 1931 investment capital to both state and domestic private enterindustrial production had fully recovered from a decline that nrisss, often at subsidized interest rates; (5) the direct promostarted in 1928, and in the following years it more than:--Traof specific sectors. doubled. Especially noteworthy by 1939 was the rapid growth The 1950s began with a more relaxed fiscal and monetary of production of such sectors as textiles (147% larger than in policy, compared to the austerity years of the late 1940s. The 1929), metal products (almost three times larger than in 1929), exchange rate appreciated in real terms (i.e., the exchange rate and paper products (almost seven times larger than in 1929). remained fixed, while the domestic price level increased, thus World War II caused shortages of imported manufactured making imported goods increasingly cheaper in cruzeiros), goods, which acted again as a stimulant to more intensive while import controls on consumption goods (especially domestic production. But the war prevented a concerted consumer durables) were instituted. The combination of these development effort, as there was little investment in new measures with easy credit policies reduced investment costs productive capacity. Output increased mainly through a more and improved the prospective returns, stimulating investment intensive utilization of existing capacity. Thus, at the end of and the importation of capital goods. The latter was further the war, Brazil's industrial capacity was obsolete, and trans- facilitated by increased revenues from coffee exports at the portation infrastructure was inadequate and badly deterio- time. As a result of these policies, the rate of investment rated. increased substantially, rising from 12% of GDP in 1950 to an Since the wartime years made it possible for Brazil to earn average of 15.2% in the following four years, and the economy a substantial amount of foreign exchange, the country found expanded by 47% in the first half of the 1950s. itself with a substantial amount of reserves at the end of the In the second half of the 1950s a number of specific war. This made it possible in the early years after World War programs were introduced in order to better control the II for policymakers to decrease barriers to imports. However, direction of the industrialization process, to remove bottletrade liberalization was short-lived. The overvalued exchange necks, and to promote the vertical integration of a number of rate established in 1945 and maintained fixed until 1953, a industries. Special attention was given to industries considpersistent inflation, and a repressed demand meant sharp ered basic for growth, such as the automotive, cement, steel increases in imports and a sluggish performance of exports, aluminum, cellulose, heavy machinery, and chemicals induswhich soon led again to a balance of payments crisis. tries. The administration of the exchange rate, tariffs, and Fearing a negative impact on inflation and having a other import controls was used to stimulate these industries. pessimistic outlook on the future of Brazil's exports, the For instance, foreign companies in such sectors as those government, instead of devaluing the cruzeiro, decided to mentioned above were given the privilege of importing madeal with the crisis with exchange controls. In 1950 a system chinery without foreign exchange cover. Without this privioflicensing was established, giving priority to the importation lege, foreign investors would have had to send dollars to of essential goods and inputs, fuels, and machinery and Brazil at the free market rate and with the cruzeiros bought discouraging that of consumer goods. These policies had the they would have had to repurchase dollars in the auction effect—initially unanticipated—of providing protection to market at a higher price. Also, the special Tariff Law of 1957 the existing consumer goods industry. expanded protection of favored industries with tariffs as high Starting in the early 1950s, Brazil's policymakers adopted as 60, 80, and 150%. import substitution industrialization as the country's main The government announced a very ambitious program of development strategy. In the initial stages of ISI, exports were public investments in infrastructure, especially electricity almost totally neglected, while from the mid-1960s on it was generation and transportation. Illustrating the increasing paraccompanied by simultaneous efforts to diversify exports. ticipation of the public sector of the economy, the share of government expenditures in the national product went up Industrialization Policies from 19% in 1952 to 23.7% in 1956. Private investments were favored by facilitated access to internal and external credit, Two distinctive phases can be observed when analyzing and expansionary monetary and fiscal policies completed the Brazil's economic policies between 1950 and 1994. Eco- stimulation of the economy. Among the most impressive nomic growth, in general, and industrialization, in particular, results of this phase were industry's growth rate of 16.8% in were the main goals of policymakers until the 1980s. There- 1958 and the 10.8% GDP growth for the same year. Investafter, all efforts were concentrated on attacking the balance of ment went up for four consecutive years, from 15.2% of GDP payments crisis (early 1980s) and the inflationary process. In in the first half of the decade to 18% in 1959. this section we focus on the growth strategies implemented in The 1ST strategy also left and even created a number of the period, leaving the stabilization policies to be discussed problems. The type of growth that occurred resulted in a separately. substantial increase of imports, notably of industrial inputs As already mentioned, from the early 1950s on Brazil's and capital goods, and the foreign exchange policies of the policymakers adopted import substitution industrialization period resulted in an inadequate growth of exports (no efforts (1ST) as the country's main development strategy. They had were made to diversify them). The balance of trade deficits in come to the conclusion that the only hope for rapid growth was the second half of the 1950s were financed by a substantial to change the structure of the economy through 1ST. This was influx of foreign capital, both in the form of direct investments achieved through (1) protection ofthe domestic market through and in the form of loans. By the beginning of the 1960s tariffs, exchange controls, and import licensing; (2) the attrac- Brazil's foreign debt amounted to more than 2 billion dollars. tion of foreign direct investment through various incentives; A large proportion of the latter was short term, and both the (3) the creation of state enterprises in basic industries and interest and, amortization payments, combined with profit
56
BRAZZIL- OCTOBER 1999
remittances of foreign firms, produced increasing balance of payments difficulties.
Stagnation and Rapid Growth,1960-74 The first half of this period was characterized by economic stagnation while in the second half Brazil experienced the highest yearly growth rates ever achieved. The stagnation has been attributed to the end of the initial ISI cycle, to the imbalances it had created, to inflationary distortions, and to political instability. The subsequent boom was the result of structural changes brought about by military governments within a favorable international setting. The above-mentioned period of stagnation occurred after a decade of prosperity. The GDP growth rate in 1963 was below 1%, and the inflationary impact of the policies adopted in the previous years started to be felt. The main explanations for the crisis were the completion of another stage of the ISI process and the resultant higher level of capital intensity of the domestic industry, which would inhibit new investments; low incentives to invest as a consequence of existing excess capacity and political instability; and insufficient domestic demand resulting from a highly concentrated income distribution. In 1964 military forces took over Brazil's administration. Its first economic team believed that the main elements impeding growth were high inflation and an unfavorable balance of payments. Inflation, in turn, was considered to be caused by the public deficit, which was around 4% of GDP, the expansionary credit policies implemented in the late fifties, and the wage increases above productivity gains. In accordance with this diagnosis, economic policy until 1967 concentrated on reducing the deficit (which declined to 1.1% in 1966); controlling monetary expansion; and implementing a new formula to determine wage adjustments. The balance of payments problems were tackled by a reform and simplification of the foreign exchange system, with the introduction of a mechanism of periodic devaluations of the cruzeiro, taking into account inflation, and by stimulating a greater internationalizing of the economy by increasing exports and attracting foreign capital. Public investments were also expanded to improve the country's basic infrastructure and modernize and expand state-owned basic industries. These policies succeeded in reducing inflation and attracting foreign capital, predominantly in the form of foreign loans. The adjustment was considered completed for the most part, and the economic team that took over in 1967 initiated a new development strategy. The remaining inflation was considered to be of a cost-push type, and the austerity policies were replaced by price controls. Interest rates were reduced, various forms of subsidies and tax incentives to encourage diverse types of investments (in backward regions, in sectors whose development was considered essential) were implemented, and measures to modernize capital markets were introduced. The resulting recovery of private investment was accompanied by an increase in public investments, especially in infrastructure (road building, power generation, telecommunications, etc.). Quite notable during this period was the expansion of such state enterprises as Petrobras and Companhia Vale do Rio Doce. The former, founded in 1952, began with a monopoly in oil exploration. It expanded its activities into refining and various types of petrochemicals through the
BRAZZIL- OCTOBER 1999
foundation of a umber of subsidiaries. Vale do Rio Doce, which was foun ed in the 1940s to export iron ore, expanded into other types f mining activities, steel mills, and various types of forest roducts. Foreign investment also increased significantly, re ponding to a more favorable legislation on dividend repatri tion, the existence of a well-defined growth strategy, and th country's political stability. These meas res, together with the rapid expansion of the world econom , helped to bring about a time of very rapid growth betwee 1968 and 1974, during which the yearly growth rate of DP was 11.1% with industry expanding at over 13% a year. Its leading sectors consisted of consumer durables, transportation equipment, steel, cement, and electricity generatic?n. The period also witnessed a rapid increase in demand for utomobiles, luxury goods, and upscale housing, which was i rought about by a rapid growth of upper-strata income and by credit schemes created by the capital market reform. As a result of the post-1964 policies, external trade expanded sub st tially faster than the economy as a whole. There was a ignificant growth of exports, especially of manufactured roducts, but imports grew considerably faster, rapidly incre ng the trade deficit. This did not present a problem, how ver, since there were massive inflows of capital, and the b lance of payments showed surpluses. In the 19 8-74 period the concentration of personal income worsen d and the regional disparities became larger. Industrial ex ansion took place more vigorously in Brazil's Center-South the region that has benefited most from the 1ST strategy. Its er capita income considerably exceeded the national aver ge, its infrastructure was more developed, and it had an adeq ate supply of skilled workers and professionals. This enabled he region to take advantage of the opportunities and incentiv •s offered by the military regime. Although there was a speci 1 regional development strategy for the poor Northeast of e country, it promoted a distorted industrial ization that ben fited only a few of that region's large cities; its linkages wi the Center-South were stronger than those within the r gion.
ebt-Led Growth, 1974-80 The lat -1973 oil shock (which quadrupled the price of oil) hit Br. il very hard as the country was importing more than 80% f its oil needs at the time. Contrary to most countries, azil did not accept the conventional thought that
had steadily declined, the trend was reversed from 1974 on. Yearly price increases rose from 16.2% in 1973 to 110.2% in 1980.
Stagnation, inflation, and Crisis, 1981-92
it would have to face a slowdown of economic activity as a response to the oil shock. In fact, Brazil's response to the international crisis was to implement an ambitious program of investments and to reinforce the economic policy instruments used to stimulate ISI. Import substitution was promoted in basic industrial sectors like steel, aluminum, fertilizers, and petrochemicals. More intensive efforts were made in oil exploration both by Petrobras and through risk contracts with foreign oil multinationals. In addition, Brazil engaged in a vast program to substitute alcohol for gasoline. Largepublic investments were also made to expand the country's economic infrastructure and to promote and further diversify exports. Besides the usual fiscal incentives and market protection through import controls, private investments were stimulated by subsidized credit and faster capital depreciation rates. Due to these policies, Brazil was able to maintain a high growth rate, the annual real GDP and industrial growth rates in the 1974-80 period being 6.9% and 7.2%, respectively. Although the goal of these investments was to reduce imports, their immediate growth impact resulted in a higher quantum of imports (especially of capital goods). In addition, the rising value of imports was also attributable to the higher prices of imported oil. The resulting large deficit in the current account balance, which rose from US$1.7 billion in 1973 to US$12.8 billion in 1980, forced the country to borrow heavily in the international financial market. This borrowing was facilitated by the glut of petrodollars, which international banks were eager to lend. Policymakers expected that the combined effect of import substitution and export expansion would eventually bring about trade surpluses needed to service and repay the debt. By the end of the decade, however, interest rates rose dramatically (most of Brazil's external debt was on a flexible interest rate basis), forcing the country to borrow more just to meet its debt service obligations. Asa consequence, the foreign debt rose from US$6.4 billion in 1973 to US$54 billion in 1980. The situation was worsened by the Mexican foreign debt moratorium of August 1982, which resulted in the closure of the international credit market to most Latin American countries, including Brazil, and the debt crisis became the major concern of Brazil's government. In the same period Brazil experienced an acceleration of inflation and a steady worsening of its public finances. Not only were revenues decreasing because of the many tax incentives, but government expenditures were also rising rapidly due to many subsidies (especially to public service state firms whose prices were not allowed to rise with increased costs and whose resulting deficits had to be covered by government subsidies), the high level of public investments, and the rising domestic and foreign debt servicing obligations. While between 1968 and 1973 the rate of inflation
58
Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s Brazil suffered from both inflation and economic stagnation. This contrasts with most advanced industrial economies, where long periods of stagnation have usually been accompanied by either no or very low rates of price increases. Brazil's stagflation comes as no surprise to the observer since both inflation and stagnation can be interpreted as different manifestations of the same imbalance.
The Fiscal and Monetary Crisis Over many years Brazil's public sector experienced chronic budget deficits that were financed by increases in the indexed domestic debt. The problem in the 1980s was the gradual decline of the government's credibility with the public: there was increasing doubt about the government's capacity to service the debt and eventually to repay the principal. This gradual loss of credibility required the shortening of the terms of financing, reaching a point at which most of the debt had to be refinanced daily through the overnight market. Extremely high real interest rates were also required to roll over the debt, which substantially increased the government's financial expenditures. This created a vicious cycle of rising debt leading to rising deficit leading to further increases in the debt. Besides the negative impact on the budget, the debt had an additional perverse effect on monetary control due to the characteristics of its financing. On top of the short terms and high rates, the government was forced to offer an extra attraction to financial institutions that acted as intermediaries in the sale of public bonds. The Central Bank was committed to repurchase from these institutions those bonds that did not find buyers in the market. This hindered the control over monetary policy, as net withdrawals of funds from the overnight market implied automatic increases in the money supply. The large fiscal deficit, debt, and high interest rates also had a profound impact on resource allocation and economic growth. There was an increasing allocation of credit to the government, as the financial system became less and less an intermediator of resources to the private sector and increasingly a facilitator of the transfer of savings to the public sector. For instance, in 1980 the private sector received 74% of total credit, the rest going to the public sector. In 1990 this composition had changed significantly, as the private sector received only 47% and the public sector, 53%. The rising amount of funds placed in the financial rather than in the productive sector implied a decline in economic activity. In the years 1981-90 the average growth rate of the financial sector was 5% per year, which was double the growth rate of the GDP. As a result, the share of the financial sector in the GDP rose from 8.56% in 1980 to more than 19% in 1989. Excerpted from The Political Economy of Latin America in the Postwar Period, edited by Laura Randal, University of Texas Press, Austin, 1997, 329 pp
BRAZZIL- OCTOBER 1999
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