Brazzil - Year 14 - Number 202 - February 2003 by Brazzil Magazine

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The Oscar voters apparently didn't think Cidade de Deus (City of God) was Academy Award fare and didn't include the Brazilian masterpiece in its list of five nominees for this year's Oscar ceremony. The movie, however, has already won the world's heart with its raw depiction of a Rio taken over by machine gun toting thugs of all avs, some of them under 10. Luckily, City ofGod is not an aberration but rather another filmic triumph in a string of little jewels produced recently by the Brazilian movie industry. They include films like Central Station, Madame Saki, To the Left of the Father and Behind the Sun. They are enough in quantity and quality to constitute a movie renaissance in the country, enough to be the theme of this issue's cover story. Brazilian filmmakers have also mastered the tricky art of the documentary. Two masterpieces pf the genre, Edificio Master (Master Building) and Onibus 174 (Bus 174), this one based on the story of a hijacked bus in Rio, have just been released to public and critical acclaim. Brazzil is glad to welcome to our pages one of the most respected Brazilian journalists, Alberto Dines, who is the founder of Labjor, the Laboratory for Advanced Studies in Journalism. Journalists' journalist, Dines, who is the editor of Observatorio da Imprensa, will be commenting on the Brazilian media. For starters, he shows how President Lula is dragging reporters from the comfort of their far-away offices to the sore and hard reality of a backward Brazil. RM Send mail to: P.O. Box 50536 - Los Angeles, CA

90050-0536 Ads/Editorial: (323) 255-8062 Info: (323) 255-8062 Fax: (323) 257-3487 Brazzil on line: http://www.brazzil.com E-mail: brazzil@brazzil.com Publisher and Editor: Rodney Mello Assistant Editor: Leda Bittencourt Commercial Director: Airton Mandarino Art&Design Director: Manna Yoshie (marinayoshie@hotmail.com) Entertainment Editors: Sam & Harriet Robbins Book Review: Bondo Wyszpolski Music Editor: Bruce Gilman Brazil Bureau Chief: Marta Alvim E-mail: mItdalvim@yahoo.com With the help of volunteers around the world TIME TO RENEW? Sorry, we don't send reminders. Look at the label to know when your subscription ends. BRAllIL (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 other countries. 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. The Library of Congress ISSN: 1524-4997 POST MASTER: Send address changes to BRAZZIL PO Box 50536 - Los Angeles, CA - 90050-0536

BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

Cover Cidade de Deus and a movie renaissance Cover by Alex Korolkovas

Contents 18

Press 0 Estado de S. Paulo, a provincial paper

Media B-azilian journalists get to know Brazil's reality

Brazil/USA Lula and Bush should swap jobs

Presidency Comparing Lula and Bush

Ideas The world meets in Porto Alegre

Poverty Bad start for Zero Hunger program

Politics Little happening until Carnaval

iconomy All the right moves by Lula's cabinet

Children A school of love for poor kids

Bilingual "God and Satan in the Land of Camaval"

Language Brazil doesn't know Portugal

Culture Brazil doesn't care for Portugal

Impressions Why I love Brazil

Nation The landless movement's struggles

Music Spreading Brazilian sound in New Orleans

Music The best music of the past year

Interview Beyond Carnivals author on gays and the Left

Departments .0.40VM OS Rapidinhas 14 Letters 49 Cultural Pulse 51 Classifieds 52 That's Brazilian

All the Gossip lloti to Print JOHN FITZPATRICK

Since president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and the electorate are still enjoying their honeymoon and the Cong-ess s settling down to business, let us put politics aside for the moment and catch up an it few other happenings. . Estado de Stio Paulo - Narcissistic NewspaperThe press in most countries has a high opinion of itself and is often selfTh important, hypocritical and arroga1. Here in Brazil things are no different. Take the 0 Estado de S. Paulo newspaper. for example._ It is, without doubt, the most comprehensive and serious paler Pt the cly and, perhaps, even in am Bra-41. It provides a good coverage ofpo Utica, business hard news and sport andhas a tearn of regular and occasional correspondents. Tecimicai y, it is let down by the layout, which is dreary and grey, with the niain news pages oftenfilled with mug shots of politicians. Since Lula's government is packed with beardies the faces areII a beginning to look alike. The arts section is the weakest link and has aever managed to bridge the highbrow-lowbrow gap. Instead we have long, unreadable essays on enreaeable writers like Kafka and Same or on unwatchable film directors like Fritz Lang and Pedro Almodovar next to two and tree-page spreads on the latest James Bond h r of a new CD ay teenybopperidols Sandy and .le say, or the release c:ncy, hliiorn °. M of this material s ightforward PR produced by the film Or Musjitc-c which enjoys the free publicity. The paper's arrogance and vanity is apparent in the readers' Ie*ers page in which endless letters appear congratulating the paper on its coverage of events or praising its opir ion pieces The paper is owned by a family,calied. lv!esquita and the Ivlesquita name is treated with a reverence that borders tea personality eult. I have thoughtofsetzitna a spoof letter praising it extravagantly and mentioning the Mesquite ninepin to see if it wtatild 0 ESTADO OE S. PAULO fall for it. At Christmas time, iteven publishes a list ofpeople who have sent it cards. Can you i kettflono da ON coirni expe-tatr.a dos EU% readers in any other country paying money to buy a newspaper and confroat material like "The Estado has received Christmas greetings from the da Silva Bakery ia Phtheiros, thedos Santos Brothers Calendar Company, the Santa Cecilia shopping center [not tele-reel names ard vvishes them a Happy Christmas." When the paper celebrated its 100dranniversery itprinted literally hundreds of letters of congratulations over a period of months. One letter it did nat publish was mine protesting about this orgy of self-congratulation. When I told them that self praise was no praise the response was that the letters were spontaneous feelings of resp • affection by loyal readers. "Hi" Society.... However, the part of the newspaper I most love to hate is the social page. It th "Persona" banner and chronicles the lives of a couple of hundred so-call These range from socialites whose lives seem to consist of being photographed and !parties to the latest celebrity chef. The comings and goings ofthese fly-by-night e are faithfully recorded alongside those of the more established upper echelons and record for posterity. I f future historians want to know where the trendiest hairdresser ofthe day piP' his Christmas holidays or what calor of dress the wife of a prorninert hanker we at a Year's party they will only need to consult the files of the Estado de S. Paulo. Here are some recent examples: •Horacio Lafer is very elegant these days. He is having suits made to measun •Today is the birthday of Carla Balla Lillian Ring Farkas Eduardo Barcellos Daailibi. are offering dinner to • Chef Alain Uzan and the partners of L'Assiefte, Gilles Montanger e chefs of Sao Paulo. There's No Smoke... describ jut. fu o ti However, you shoulcInot think that the Persona .page issllf events which the moneyed few hold for deserving causes, it prints wnatit regarS a&news Recently, teenagers had been smoking cannabis in an exclusive building in Gaantja, the clue weekend resort of the be Paulistanos. According to the Persona newshound, the law-abiding owners were diocked that the parents tolerated this activity and even more shocked when the parents told the nosy neighbors to mind their own business. Presumablythe few hundred members of the in-crowd recognize who this family was butbutiblet folk like you and lean only guess. think, however, we can assume they were not members of the 1VIesquita family. Beggar's Banquet The posh Jardins and Monanbi districts are Persona's beat and while m the rest of the city, Persona has an eye open for misdeeds in these distticts iRe families who beg in the Rua Oscar Freire area of the Jardins had been seen being o picked up again in the evenings and presumably taken back to the faaelas where th

BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

•

Of course, all right-thinking people wotild agree that: a) beggars should not be allowed to continue littering Oscar , Freire and presenting their children to the Nike-shod, Tommy Hilfiger-clad Jeep-riding passers by; and b) if these beggars are permitted, then they should. at least, walk all the way from the favelas or commute by overcrowded bus van. Imagine the cheek of it—beggars being dropped off in cars as though were normal people! Whatever next? If you want to know keep an eye on Persona. Marta the Red or Marta the Blonde? Still one has to feel sorry for Persona because while it would be natural to blame the leftwing PT government of Sao Paulo's mayor Marta Suplicy for everything that goes wrong, the problem is that Marta herself is a member of the jet set which provides Persona's bread and butter. Marta is more blonde than red and as Guccified as any of those featured in the pages. Therefore, she is basically off limits since Persona might find some doors slammed in its face if it were to attack such a philanthropist. In true Marta style, at the time of writing, she is currently in Paris on holiday while the bus drivers have brought havoc to the city by goingon strike. Almost one million people have been put to a lot of bother (including your correspon- , dent) while our mayor enjoys the delights of the French capital. „_ Going Hungry.. Lula's campaign to stamp out hunger has got off to a weak start. While every one approves of the idea everytine also knows it will be an administrative nightmare. The minister in charge, Jose Graziano, was hardly in office before he was coming under criticism. The lingh spot for him was when Brazil's most famous female after Carmen Miranda, Giselle Buendchen, gave him a check for R$ 50,000 (US$ 14,000)as her personal contribution to the campaign, It looks downhill * , from now on. Graziano has to administer a scheme covering thousands of places across a vast country, often in remote areas. This program will be watched closely, not only in Brazil but abroad. The system is to be administered through a kind of credit card, which will allow people on a low income to buy food up to R$ 50 (US$ 14) a month. Questions have been raised on whether it is a good thing to give people money rather than help them to help themselves more actively, whether there should be restrictions on the kind of food bought e.g. should biscuits be seen as a normal perk for children or as a „luxury, and on how the process will be monitored to prevent fraud. There will be lots of problems but this campaign is an -• faith by Lula and he will put all his resources into it. If it fails then he will be seen to have failed. Doctor Death meets Doctor Strangelove I don't approve of journalists who quote taxi drivers, as it gives the impression that the hack has flown in to a place he does not know and gathered all his information from the back of a cab. However, a taxi driver recently said sometlung that sent a shiver through me. We were complaining about the cost of private medical insurance and he told me that he would rather put all his savings into a private scheme than go into a public hospital. "You go into a public hospital and you die", he announced with the kind of sour grimace you associate more with a Presbyterian minister of the Church of •. Scotland disapproving of joyful activities like fornication than with a representative of a cheery, happy race. In fact, as two recent revo.ting stories, which have gripped the popular imagination show, private doctors seem to be the ones to avoid. The press has been feasting on the gruesome case o f a plastic surgeon who killed his ex-girlfriend, who was also a former patient, cut her body into pieces and removed the skin from her face, presumably to prevent identificat caught, a swas another private doctor last year who had gg ung and adolescent boys and Fortunately tey wasiyacs%gthem.caliy3otlthesed0ctoaresharinga cell whileawaitng heircasestocore he filmed himself sexua to court. I would not be surprised if one of Brazil's most tasteless TV presenters, Ratinho, whom I have written about before, did not end up getting poth of them on his nightly television show to describe in detail just what they got upto., with their patients. Brazilians—tropical Russian? Russians—Siberian Brazilians. I was reading Alexander Solzhenitsyn'snovel August 1914 recently and was struck by this passage in which a German general called Hermann von Francois considers the difference between the German and Russian national characters and how he can exploit them to win a battle. "Von Francois considered that speed and aggressiveness were the essential qualities of the German soldier and of his military training whereas the Russian temperament was distinguished by such features as a disinclination to work methodically, lack of a sense of duty, fear of responsibility, and a total inability to appreciate the value of time and make use of it." Try substituting "Brazilian" for "Russian". See what I mean? A perfestfit, Who would have thought Braziliar.s and Russians had so much in common?' Sex—Active or Passive? According to Veja magazine, sex is the main search made by Brazilians surfing the web while for Americans it is something called PlayStation2, which I believe is a computer game. This comes as a great surprise and disappointment to me as I had always thought that,when i,-. came to sex. Brazilians were players rather than spectators. I have never beenInside a Brazilian sex shop but have always been impressed by the window displays which concentrate on all kinds of weird-looking clothing and equipment (masks and whips are particularly prominent)rather than videos and magazines. Itseems now that these are just for show and, behind closed doors, the Brazilian is as lazy and unimaginative in bed as the rest of the worhi. Does anybody know how to say "Not tonight, Josephine' in Portuguese? John Fitzpatrick is a Scottish journalist who first visited Brazil in 1987 and has lived in Sao Paulo since 1995. He writes on politics and finance and runs his own company, Celtic Comunicacks— www.celt.com.br , which specialize.; in editorial and translation services for Brazilian and foreign clients. You can reach him at jf(celt.com.br „ BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

Witi Lula, the Brazilian media will have to face the country. The Brazil of statistics and intographics will finally be transformed into actuat im and negative. The media will move Pushec, as always. The riew"itinerant action'prograin 3f the Lii la administration isa simple idea that confirms the saying "a good soludorris the solution that solves at least two problems". Besides its polnical, social and administrative benefits, it will give the media a very healthy jere. Cr, if you wish- a huge lemon on Brazil to those who have gotten used Ire the easy read covering the wintry without leaving home (or their newsrooms). From now on, all TV newscasts, radio stations, newspapers and magazines will have to forget the nice life o the Rio-Sao Paulo-Brasilia triangle and start showing Brazil to Btazilians. Somehow the television media will have to rind the time, the resources and, most of all, the cony:dim to forget hat"'clones' the petty little world sunnier muses' and current girlfriends of eawrite playboys. Now timy will have so hit the road and eat dust, of .

tracking behind the new heads of federal departments. :Somehow, newspapers will have to earn to get ahead of the facts. lust like the other day, when they found out that the itinerary of the first presidential trip would include Cuaribas, interior of the state of Piaui. Even if they From now on, national news ecitors cannot be confined whh political editors they will all have to diversify, eycho aealg uhhoaed ne ve:tohoneciiortsivneeerwn rtaInY ,efprac oblac lekwa,irdttlEhogsp estT :are_ : sp tini_ sspir thaetrdeGsslitiasq od rdieubtf aee . iro rere gis an(fl t:::Gr i.13 nnre wiler bth:e"GO Breerajaerrt irtune elear:Mit oktiBm cra i:InM ilt°i: rern a t.h°vuets— ra wpiAl f"ingeS ttrilaisgiltihae' . .sterios + 1"lidce:f Nnada dos Mini the media Nia 2sPB-'I untg4e rsp. feel change, the Brazil will e Mith , staaessl:na 4,, , the local will notice second And -third trip, we v.? Where flay: an the ne — .es who _ _scars ...i„, regional ..--,---;' el- Must advertisers L _l PaPe ce: themselves uitr P°Bu selves to en ,„q--ationat n.",,.„„• 4amed og reustric em rs'res9 Is the,'N itseffestoanselfcoc heotuan ,., afic„,,,ehiCS will t anitge nz a___ : int0 new a pharnlavuwyof —statistic im,4.0"-".r ittive. ) °nay bead! tit news _, '• arin depress rilv mg and Ileg asatlly be transtorme 'in The media will move. Pushed, as always. Gruesome numbers sa We are going tolose the fear, recover hope feel pmud, ignite so , ), country-wide consensus. A few details get 'tithe way though. On Saturday ( all the major newspapers in Sao Paulo, in unison and inadvertently, gave us a picture of the Iceig way we still have to go. In in Cidades (Cities) section, Estadeio[Estado aeS. Pazdol reports that during the three kirSi days of the year, an extended holiday, 4' people were murdered in So dead was a military Paulo, of those in the capital city alone and the rest in the nearby towns. One tem in 3 days, with 3 polizeinan, victim of armed robbery. And that's not all—in Diadema, there were 3 slaugh dead. Total: 45. In the Cotidiano (Day to Day) section of Folha de S. Paulo, we learn that during theNew Year's ho I ay a 109 people were killed in federal highways, victims of accidents. On the same date Lastyear, 106 were killed. One accident in Santa Catarina left six dead, but k's not clear ifthose are mcluded in that total. Adding two more deaths reported after the survey by Fa/ha (early morning Friday and reported by &radii°, p. C-3), we have 111 fatal victims tor 116, if we include the Catarioenses). Universal Fratern ity. e dead on New t,clding murders and highway crashes, we had 161 Christmas numbers were not computed. orv was featured The brutality of the numbers is only parelleledby the mseisuvry of the editors the p. C-4), ahead of Sports. The as a smith note in the "Panoramic' column, thrown in the con oraianaged to insert a catch atadclo story was published with 30111e prominence (headline on page on the bottom of the front page ( 'Violence on the Eve of the }levy Year in SP). Folha didn't' even do that. his worth adding up this gruesome balance ofthe almost two weeks oftelehmtions mid joy during this happiest anon ofthe year. It is also worth asking the question of what is the role ofthis press that walks away from tragedy such indifference. This article was originally published hi the Oaservatdria du Imprensa ¶The Press Observatory)-Alberto Dines, the author, is a journalist, founder sal researcher at 14,1LIOR—Laboraterio de Estudos Avancsidos em Jornalism) [Lab iraikiry for Aevaneed Studies in Jeuraiddsm) at EN1CAMP (University of Canipinas) and editor of the Obsenatario da Imprensa. He also writm a column or cultural issues for the Rio dal} fornal de Brasil You can reach him by email at obsinuaie coni.br Trarslated by Term...Braga, email: tbrazatingArs.com

BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

Beyond City of God As if from an Asian swell there has been a rising tide of Brazilian cinema masterpieces.

Every

month, Brazil has seen a steady flow of high-level cinematic creation. And every semester has ushered in a masterpiece. NORMAN MADARASZ

BRAZ711 - FEBRUARY 2.(Fi3

Blame only your curiosity if you've failed to notice it. Over the past ten years the eyes of creative filmmakers and film theorists alike have been set on Central and EastAsia. Perspective lines have focused right. East-Asian cinemaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;in Japan, China, Hong-Kong and Taiwan foremostâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;has been challenging Western conceptions of beauty and narrative form. It has won over audiences of cinemaphiles the world overâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; wherever the infrastructure to project foreign films has not been exterminated. On that issue, the AmericanHollywood conglomerates, who spread their management doctrines to the film theaters, have banked their money and contract signatures to decide on what films you get to see. And whenever they can help it, those films aren't from abroad. Takashi "Beat" Kitano, Wong KarWai, Hsiao-Hsien Hou, and John Woo pre-Hollywood flight, are just some of the director names worth memorizing. Failing which, you might miss a golden opportunity at capturing artists chiseling at the cutting-edge marble of the seventh art. Even more than representing their respective national artistic renaissances, these filmmakers participate in the universal category of `auteur cinema'. The Asian tigers may have refined art just as they renewed collective capitalism. Yet nothing compares with the outstanding production of Iranian cinema. No other country over the past ten years has contributed so prolifically to retracing the boundaries of the audiovisual art. No other culture has challenged the dictates ofthe postmodern American medley, welding consumerized business principles to artistic creation, as has the land of Attar and Hedayat. A Camera in the Passenger's Seat Many Westerners are dead-set convinced of the repressive nature of Iranian society in the aftermath of the Shiite revolution. But how do you equate the following situation? In the U. S., the self-declared bastion of free speech and art, the majority of film viewers are deprived of exposure to the world's greatest films. They are force-fed a monopolistic potpourri of that ol' ultraviolence, voyeuristic nudity and fantasy representation to such a degree that Hollywood long ago became a synonym of an insult to intelligence. Whereas in 9

Iran you may find an astonishing depiction of a millenary civilization, whose past contributions to the arts and sciences were left unexceeded even by Rome. This is a culture bursting into high-tech modernity, although one that refuses to merely be co-opted into the Western system of representation and value. American cinema no longer has anything to teach the Iranians. Not only are we the ones who have all to learn from them, it's learning to learn from them which has become our work. Our incessant exposure to insipid commercial products has warped our minds. The beats that pound in our hearts echo to a war cry. This is why seeking out the films of the contemporary Iranian masters is a duty not only to art, but to thought. Islamist Iran never put the great filmmakers Abbas Kiarostami or Mohsen Makhmalbaf in jail. Yet Makmalbaf was tortured at the hands of the Shah's U. S.trained and funded secret police. As for Kiarostami, he had to await an invitation from freedom's bastion to be denied the right to speak. Last summer he was refused entry into the U.S. as he planned to attend an homage to his life's work, organized by Harvard University no less. As forthe timeliness of Makhmalbaf s film Kandahar and publication of his film journal, they have given us more information and wisdom on the plight of Afghan society than the hundreds of hours of ideological soup produced by CNN and its cronies. If that wasn't enough, he has brought up one of the shining lights of young Iranian cinema, his own daughter, Samira, already the director of two critically acclaimed features. For just cause the filmworks of Kiarostami and Makhmalbaf, among several others', whispers in the same breath as 1940's Italian Neo-Realism. Their filming strategy allows the real to supervene as it settles into artistic form, emerging autonomously from the human agents who set about its creation. Art matched up fully with the real in the film Kandahar, its release coinciding with the American bombing of Afghanistan. Form spoke transparently to those intent on gazing. As areal living object, Makhmalbaf s work took an even more ominous turn. It appeared that Tabid Sahib, playing the medical doctor in Kandahar, was living out a film within the film. An American ex-pat at other times known as David Belfield, he is allegedly involved with the assassination of an ancien-regime Iranian diplomat in the late seventies. 10

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Upon conversion to Islam, he took the name of Daoud Salah Addine and escaped to Iran. The nom-de-plume of Hassan Tantai launched his acting career. Spot the fiction, if you can. In a statement issued by Avatar films and published in The Guardian in January 2002, Makhmalbaf claimed to know nothing of the controversy. "I have made more than 20 feature films. I have always chosen my actors from crowded streets and barren desserts. I never ask those who act in my films what they have done before, nor do I follow what they do after [finish shooting my film. Kandahar is no exception." As for whether Makhmalbaf would have still hired him had he known of the actor's involvement in a political murderer, the director stood tall. Governments tend to pardon political crimes when committed against injustice, why would the filmmaker act the moralist? A neo-realist film aesthetic and methodology draw out the moral norms. Makhmalbaf avowed wanting to make "a film with him about the murder that he had committed, in order to explore why it is that in the civilized and opulent United States, a black man commits a political assassination and then escapes to a country like Iran, which has a tense relationship with the United States. In fact it has just occurred to me that if I were to see him I will make that film." As it also dawned on him that, while Belfield is a marked man internationally, the filmmaker's own torturers live comfortably in the U. S., the land of the free.

Faced with the most fascinating moral issue to burst from the art world since Giuliani banned the Sensations exhibit, the American Academy of the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided to do the public's philosophical work. After winning Cannes' Ecumenical Jury prize in 2001, and a sure-set nominee for the Best Foreign Film category, Makhmalbaf s masterpiece was dropped from the roster. As it's a foreign film, the issue of censorship was never raised. That's because when it comes to foreign films, they're already earmarked for censorship by commercial and linguistic interests. So where does the globalized world begin? Cinema Novo A brand of exclusion stands equally for the rising tide of Brazilian cinema masterpieces. Those interested in Brazil's golden year of 2002 have had to search long and hard to find information on the country. In every article where the New York Times South America correspondent links the word 'leftist' to newlyelected president Lula da Silva and uses innuendo to twist the sense of 'anti-globalization former metalworker union leader', a thousand people loose out on the chance to see a Brazilian film. Sure Brazil's World Cup victory was celebrated in the international press. And if you live in Europe or NYC you've probably had the opportunity of getting familiar with some of Brazil's recent musical creation—crafted either by exiles or natives. But it only takes a bat to flutter its wings for a glance to be sidelined. When handsomely paid corresponds are the henchmen to belittle foreign cultures, how easy is it to keep an open mind and broaden it evermore toward their creations? As with Iran, how many are aWare of the outstanding years of cinematic creation the country has lived? The background to this creation is far different from the Cinema Novo movement of the 1960s, spearheaded by the late Glauber Rocha. It had given Brazilian art its international laurels in a century pierced with thorns. The country was then under a harsh military dictatorship. To quell the mounting social and political revolution of 1968, the generals increased the brutality. Glauber Rocha's films express the desperation of an entire generation seeing themselves severed from the international youth movement. Sprouting minds were forced to keep living under a centralized hold on power that set the country back to the nineteenth BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

century latiffindios in terms of political freedom. In reaction, these minds grew into radicals and revolutionaries, unleashing as they did the State's violence. Use of torture became commonplace. The rest of Latin America turned to authoritarian rule as its landed aristocracy crushed the will to reform and distribute wealth either in the fields or the cities. The early years of Brazil's military rule seem polite in comparison. Nowadays Brazil is teaching the world a lesson in deliberative democracy. Its society is still gnawed severely by rampant inequality and the environmental catastrophe ofdesertification in the NorthEast states. Residents of its largest cities live in a continual state of preparation for violence wrought by a generation ofyouth with nothing to lose but a snort of glue or coke and padding their pockets with the 'green bill. Still, this country has historically ushered into power a government with a potential to introduce social change on a scale not seen since Chile's Salvador Allende assumed power by popular vote in 1970. It's against this contemporary background that, ever since Walter Salles's surprise Oscar victory in the best Foreign Film for Central Station (Central do Brasil), every month has seen a steady flow of high-level cinematic creation. And every semester has ushered in a masterpiece. Excuse me for flogging the poverty of American cinema to a pulp fiction. It's a lesson that so many Brazilians also have yet to wake up to and learn With the exception of David Lynch, American cinema has become a medium organized only for the ideological dissemination of triumphalist abnegation. With every additional Gladiator thrown at a crowd starved for art, U. S. people continue in their simultaneously pathetic and arrogant self-portrait, forever in denial over the fact that their country is now nothing less than an Empire. Caught in the web of the victim-hero complex. Americans suffer raw of being art-deprived by the commercial control on what gets to be shown and advertised in their Homeland secure. They prove BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

to the world that vis-a-vis their State t population acts so often in complici For lack of political opposition, Ame cans underwrite the nightmare its curre administration is forging around t world. The scenario there is of inten fled poverty, spread of war and hatre and a deregulated environment. Was ington intellectuals seem unable to lo at these outgrowths with clear eyes, we their spirits imbued with reading C cago School economics and attendi Georgetown University foreign poli lectures. As Noble laureate Joseph Stiglitz p t it in his last book, Globalization and ts Discontents, the presence of the gra d Logos of Channel, Calvin Klein, or ev n MacDonald's on the streets of the fo socialist block states (Europe's n power centre, as Rumsfeld would ha it) is anything but a sign of econo IC progress when ramping corruption aid and abetted by the IMF's fiscal ideolo sends the masses tumbling into spirali poverty. Five Masterpieces Brazilian intellectuals long ago derstood that art was incorporation, c nibalism. Failure to ingest leads a natio 'S art to wilt from depression, ifnot explo in fury. Nor has the country been spared t ravages of globalized shareholder ca talism. After all, its ruling financial cliq has been among the IMF's star players in market deregulation. Still, as if on a b relief, Brazilian cinema has become 0litical only in a broader sense. Were o e

to consider five bona fide cases, To the Left of the Father (Lavoura Arcaica), Hans Staden, Madame Satii, Behind the Sun (Abril Despedacado), or the greatest Brazilian international success since Dona Flor and her Two Husbands, City of God (Cidade de Deus), all of these films are set in the past. Lavoura Arcaica is Luiz Fernando Carvalho's mood piece of a young man's passion for his sister. Based on one of the foremost works in contemporary Brazilian literature, Raduan Nasser's eponymous novel, it tells the tale of a Lebanese immigrant family's life in the Pindorama, toward the interior of Sao Paulo State. The images are crafted by Walter Carvalho, the leading innovator among DoPs working in Brazil, or anywhere in the world at the moment. At times distorting images of lust into anamorphic ecstasy, he reminds one of Alexander Sokurof s tonal inversions of Christ's passion. Caught amidst the humidity of hills and forests, in which secrecy and denial carve at the family patriarch's staunch insistence for the Arabic homeland values to prevail, Carvalho's camera inches by quoting Andrei Tarkovsky at the edge of Starker' s void. The film's opening draws the viewer into a rush channeled by a stunning soundtrack mainly performed by Brazil's premier experimental ensemble, Uakti, with sound switched into curdled milk bathing your face. Not before its 171 minutes stretch into the finale is the viewer released from penetration by the loss of

unlivable desire. Luiz Alberto Pereira's Hans Staden is based on the autobiographical account of a German explorer and adventurer of the same name, The True History of his Captivity, published in the 1557. It recounts the explorer's plight at the hands of a Tupinamba tribe on the coast of what was to become Sao Paulo state. The music composed by Marlui Miranda and LeloNazario, is performed by Uakti once again. Its effect is to make the film's language, spoken in Tupi, into a universal expression. Staden had in fact learned the language, a trading lingua franca, after three years in Brazil. I can think of no film so intelligently designed on earlier Amerindian life that has been produced in either Canada or the U. S.. Hans Staden's nobility is acknowledged by the Tupis, the privilege of which for a prisoner is to be eaten. The Tupis grace the "Friesian" explorer with foremost hospitality. He is given a wife and allowed full participation in daily and spiritual life, as he awaits his fateful moment. When illness starts ravaging the tribe, Hans Staden not only steals his fate by fleeing to Europe. He witnesses the future devastation that disease would inflict on all American native nations without exception. Madame Satti, directed by Karim Ainouz, is another film shot by Walter Carvalho, this time taking on Fassbinder's 12

Querelle as deconstruction. Set in the hot Lapa district of Rio de Janeiro in the 1930s, swarming with malandro hustlers, it traces the origins of a transsexual who would become one of the great celebrities of Rio's Carnaval, dancing as a star with numerous samba schools. A masterpiece of acting, Madame Satastars Lazaro Ramos, whose pathologic outbursts are only offset by his finesse, artistic grace and brooding sexuality. Living from the gregarious gender-bending cabarets that brought Brazilian transsexuals their international fame, Sata becomes a hunted animal. He has slain an intoxicated gay-hater, who taunts him as if by a prohibitive messenger ofGod sent to keep the marginal deep within the Styx. The film is an aural experience. Music and chatter reverberate through the narrow alleys spreading under the bleach-white aqueduct that today hosts the roots samba revival. Through the heat and sweat, sex and murder, the hands of the narrative leave the cavaquinho and cuica to pound drums built up multiplying five-hundredfold as the film sambas to climax. Walter Salles was involved in Brazil's recent tide of cinema from the start as was his family. In 1996, brother Murilo Salles shot a stunning tale of regular teenage banditry, Como Nascem os Anjos (How Angels are Born). It may only be seen these days by subscribers of Brazil's fine cable channel, Canal Brasil, but this film anticipated the theme of kid-adults turned into psychopathic killers as if fed on a diet of rampant poverty. Their latefather, founder and former head of Unibanco, one of Brazil's major investment banks, was a patron of the arts for many decades. His lavish house, an architectural wonder in the heights over Gavea, is now open as an art and photo gallery, seating one of Rio's best smallscale cinemas. A music center has also recently been added to a research wing that had previously funded projects such as Claude Levi-Strauss' Odyssean Saudade for Brazil. Whereas the name ofmost art patrons are lost within the stone and paint and glass of which their funds release the creation, Salles passed his patronym onto cinema in the work of his sons. In Behind the Sun, Walter sets a story written by Albanian author Ismael Kandare in the legendary sertao backlands. It's a his-

torical journey into the gang-related violence today tearing apart Brazil's urban fabric. The setting juts straight out from the initial chapters of Euclides da Cunhaa Rebellion in the Backlands (Os Sertoes), but focuses on the plight of two clans condemned by the Law of Talion to seek retribution generation after murdered generation for the killing of past loved ones. Walter Carvalho is again behind the lenses, this time venturing alone into the infernal representational maelstrom as if following a caatinga plant's offshooting stems. Carvalho's astonishing work as director of photography should incite the reader to see his own documentary on blindness, featuring Hermeto Pascoal and Wim Wenders. Indeed, Brazil's documentary production has been second to none. This year has seen two outstanding features, Edificio Master and Onibus 174, both set in contemporary Rio de Janeiro. The outstanding films discussed above may innovate on fiction, representation and narrative through historical palettes. But the documentary formâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;whether classically demarcated or integrated into fictional narrativesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;borrows present-time as its instrument for staining tears with blood. As a blood banquet, City of God reaches paradisiacal heights of filmic expression. Dovetailing so many features composing this rising tide of cinema, its historical backtracking encapsulates what Brazil's current renaissance is all about. The samba and the funk, the poverty and rebellion, intensify the grind of living in two of the hemisphere's largest cities, need I say megalopolises. Much is still being written on the film and its social import, and more will surely be said. When I think of its hip action, and its sanguine humanism, I grow into a victim, subdued by the syncopation of legendary samba composer and cantor, Cartola. His Psalm of Psalms beckons to art "Chora, disfarca e chora"â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Weep, disguise and weep. And I do so neither because of what lies within the film's form, nor owing to what attacks from without the cinema's doors. No, I cry and clap and scream because art exceeds life here in neo-realist form, reaching into the pantheons of creation and eternity as if set afloat on Yemanja's barque gliding beyond the underworld. Norman Madarasz is a Canadian philosopher based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He welcomes comments at normanmadarasz2@hotmail.com.

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DOWN WITH INTOLERANCE

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@brazzil.com

CLOSE TO THE BEATING HEART After reading through the gamut of opi n i on pieces included in this most recent issue (online) of Brazzil, it seems to me that many of the arguments are resounding.. first, some like to denigrate your publ ication by rhetorically questioning its status as a magazine. I find that amusing: If the articles engender debate, and if the opinions raised are heated, then response has been made, and thought has been provoked.. .what better can we ask of our literature? It seems to me you run the risk of raising the ire of the nationalists regularly, when exercising that fundamental freedom we like to harp on about, speech. Evidently the 'mute newt' crowd forgets that their philosophy is in contradiction to their avowed philosophy. For those weeping tears for Cardoso, freedom from speech is their lust—since Lula's coup de maitre has led to an expansive vocalization of otherwise ignored opinions. I myself have been attached to Brazil for several years, the magazine, the nation, and some of the more attractive members of its citizenry. Without resorting to hyperbole, I can say that a nation so vast, with such a variegated ethnic heritage is a study in contradictions, and when I see people comparing those things I love about Brazil (the indolence, the laissez-faire, the concerts on Copacabana beach [and the cultural center in the middle of economically non-viable neighborhoods]) With some measure of failure—too bad lam not happy making millions while shut into a glossy 80-storey jailhouse—I find it amusing in a pathetic degree. To compare Brazil with the U.S. is to invite some sharp differentiation, but to take Brazil for what it is, and it certainly has aspirations to that measure of respect, is to love the beating heart of a nation alive, rather than our dead decadent Roman-inheritance. I have just failed to follow my philosophy, by . comparing. the U.S. to Brazil—see how easy it is to categorize? All those who suddenly injected adrenaline on reading that sentence would know that I might believe in the wonder of the U.S., and Brazil, without needing to compare the two to see which is 'better. With warmest regards, Matt O'Neill (on TAM from Miami to Sao Paulo) 14

I read several of your published articles and letters sent by some angry Americans complaining about your anti-Americanism tone. I must agree with some of them. However. I do not agree with a letter sent by someone called Cintia. Long Beach, NY. It was very un-American of her: she has no reason to offend Brazil the way she did just because she is judging us basing on some articles or magazine. She should not judge an entire country basing on some morons we have in Brazil. Can you imagine if people in the world decide to judge all the .Americans by their movies? I think America has its greatness. I realize that the USA is not perfect; however Brasil now is far less perfect than the US. We must remember that the Americans do open their arms to immigrants and people from all over the world and they are more tolerant than you want to consider. It is unbelievable that some writers are using your magazine to promote international hatred. I am protesting about the disrespect some of the articles are conveying against other countries, this is not the Brazilian way! By stating my knowledge of American social and economical issues coes not make me an anti-American! I also complain, more loudly yet, about several social and economical problems we have in Brazil. John Fitzpatrick, for example, lives in Brazil and he is voicing some concerns he has about our social problems. That is very commendable. He is indeed welcome to do so because he lives there, that is his home. However, he does not promote international intolerance, let's follow his example. Shouldn't we all get together, Brazilians, Americans. Europeans, etc, to resolve our mutual problems instead of promoting hatred against each other? Shouldn't we Brazilians shake hands with the other countries instead of , turning our backs to them? We are all sharing the same planet and resources. The world economies arc now intrinsically linked and Brazil needs a great deal of help from other countries to fully develop. Let's us, Brazilians, be humble in this matter and promote peace and international collaboration instead of promoting stupid resentments. Some of Brazil's magazine writers claim to be "intellectuals". What kind of intellectuals are they when they are proposing very naïve and silly solutions for the social and economical conditions in Brazil? These writers are truly doing a disservice to our country. Pay attention to the art icl e written by Steven Rozengaut (-How Brazil Wooed Me"). That

was a great article about international friendship and we should welcome Americans like him all the time. Very Sincerely, Sergio Tunes San Diego, California

DEAR READERS am a I razi ian in t e Unites tates. may, I would like to explain a few things that the readers of this magazine should know about. This is for fellow Brasileiros as well as non-Brazilians. First of al I there is a very good reaspn why there is a remaining anti-American sentiment in Brazil. During the early part ofthe 1960s, the U. S. government supported a military coup in Brazil, and continued to give support to a regime that brutalized the population. The United States government participated in a set of events that distroyed the Brazilian (as well as other Latin American nations) ecopomy.and social systems. That being said, the Brazilian people do not hate Americans. On the contrary, the collaborations between our two peoples in the arts and sciences have been a thing of great beauty. Also, during the Clinton administratiorpolitical relations between our two countries had become quite friendly, and the United States was held ingreat respect. Most of the anti-American sentiment that I read in this magazine was directed towards the Bush administration, not the United States or its people. Secondly, when people write critical arguments about the American political system, one must keep in mind that they are not necessarily saying that Brazil is the greatest country in the world. While I consider myself a patriot, I recognize that Brazil and its government have been . party to their own disgraces. However, it is the right of every human being to formulate and express his opinions. Finally, to those Brazilians who wrote that Mr. John Fitzpatrick does not understand Brazil or its people, you are being ridiculous. While I myself do not agree with much of what he says that does not make his opinions any lessvalid. Perhaps he does not reflect the sentiment of our people, but it is necessary to give every man a voice. Furthermore, .to be insulting to him as a foreigner is insulting to our own people. I have always said that "Brasileiro é do coraedo "to be Brazilian is to love Brazil and its people. If he does, then he is as much Brazilian as you or I. Muito obrigado pela revista, Rafael Charge! Via Internet FOR MANY MORE LETTERS AND ENTIRE LETTER SEE: http://www.brazzil.com

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It's surprising that no one has noticed this, but it looks as if there has been a terrible mix-up involving American presidents. For some time there have been suggestions that U. S President George Bush doesn't know what's he is doing. The answer is simple: he's supposed to be the president of Brazil. Meanwhile, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva—or Lula, as the new president of Brazil is known—should be president of the United States. The mix-up is obvious, when you consider the facts. Wealthy oligarchs, who reach high office through nepotism, promoting friends of their family into government while presiding over corporate sleaze, and running up vast debts by making tax giveaways to their rich, rightwing supporters—that's the sort of behaviour that South American presidents are renowned for. Meanwhile, policies of stern fiscal prudence, applauded by the international financial markets, coupled with tough welfare reform, is what is expected from leaders of the United States. But in a bizarre geo-political twist; these stereotypes have been turned on their heads. While the President of South America's most important country couldn't be more different as a person than the President of North America's most important country, it's hard not to think the world would be a better place if the two men swapped jobs. The irony is that during the 2000 U. S. presidential election, the difference between Bush and Democrat candidate Al Gore was so slim that the pair were mocked as "Gush and Bore". Coming from a conservative background and party, Bush was supposed to stick to the status quo of balanced budgets and a strong U. S. currency inherited from the Clinton administration. Few, analysts—if any—thought Bush's narrow victory would make any difference to the way the U. S. economy was run. Lula's election was far less auspicious, preceded by dire warnings of economic meltdown—although no one accused the populist former union leader as being indistinguishable from Jose Serra, his technocrat opponent. A one-time trade union radical from Brazil's huge working class, who had run for the Brazilian presidency four times, Lula's election was treated with dismay. He was said to be a firebrand leftwinger who would destroy the stability that Brazil has enjoyed since the pragmatismo policies of the previous administration, headed by Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Yet since his election, Lula's policies have met with praise from the bankers that rule the financial markets. Brazil was dragged down by Argentina's economic implosion last year, but since BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

Lula's victory, Brazil's currency, the real, has made a remarkable recovery on world markets. At the same time, the interest rate on Brazilian government debt has halved since before Lula's election in November, as bankers have started regarding the country as a lower

Why Lula Should Be in the White House It's hard not to think the wo Id would be a better place if Lula a d Bush swapped jobs. Wealt y oligarchs, who reach high offi e through nepotism are suppos d to be South American. In a biza re twist, global bankers love L la and despair of Bush. RICHARD ADAMS

risk. While Bush talked a good game about "leaving no child behind" as president, Lula has made social welfare reform his centrepiece, to help balance his government's budget and lower interest rates. Policy is moving in the opposite direction under Bush. The U. S. dollar has sunk to its weakest levels since his election, while the economy continues to splutter along—despite the U. S. central bank pumping out cheap money at a rapid rate. Bush's answer to the weak economy has been to reach back to the discredited "trickle down" supply-side policies of Ronald Reagan, and hand out huge tax cuts to the wealthy—exactly the sort of policies that his own father, George Bush the elder, memorably described as "voodoo economics". Throughout his election campaign in 2000, Bush regularly pledged to balance the government's budget. Instead, in the words of economist Paul Krugman, the U. S. government "faces the prospect of large deficits as far as the eye can see". Bush is offering tax cuts that will cost over $600bn, with more than half the benefits going to the wealthy, those making more than $200,000 a year. Of that sum, $150bn is to go to the very wealthy— those making more than $1m a year. But the most obvious reason that George Bush should swap Washington for Brasilia is that it suits him better. Bush spends so much time trying to deny his blue-blood, Ivy League-educated background, by posing as a man of the people—slipping offto work on his Texas ranch, wearing cowboy hats, driving a pick-up. Lula, on the other hand, grew up in abject poverty near Sao Paulo, selling peanuts and working as a shoeshine boy. He is a real man of the people—and in an ideal world would be in the White House. Of course it also means Brazil ends up with George Bush. But then Jorge Arbusto, as he would be known, might quite enjoy life up the rugged Amazon. Whether the people of Brazil want him is another matter. The original article was published by The Guardian. Richard Adams writes for British daily The Guardian. Y ou can write him at richard.adams(a)guardian.co.uk 15

e Real Wog When Bush talks about "leaving no child behind," you can as much as see the smirk behind it all. With Lula, you feel the resonance deep in your gut. His sincerity is undoubted because you know his own personal story is so real. MARC COOPER

Porto Alegre, Brazil—It's hard not to be moved deeply moved—when you hear Brazil's new president speak. And even harder not to be downright jarred by the realization—by comparison—of how very hollow, how very dead-ended, our own national politics have become. I can't think of two countries today more politically divergent than the U.S. and Brazil, or two presidents who reveal more startlingly opposite political possibilities than George W. Bush and the newly inaugurated Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. I stood last Friday afternoon, along with 75,000 others, surrounded by a sea of flapping flags, in the riverside Kir do Sol amphitheater to hear President Lula speak to the third annual World Social Forum, the "people's alternative" to the elite World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. This year's international powwow of the anti-globalization movement drew more than 100,000 participants to 1,500 panels and seminars, featuring A-list lefties ranging from Noam Chomsky to Danielle Mitterrand to Arundhati Roy to Che Guevara's daughter to Danny Glover. 1:4 But it was Lula who towered above all. There he stood diminutively on the stage, short and pudgy, 57 years old, and bearded. He spoke softly and calmly, with a conversational tone, and with none of the rehearsed trademark theatrics of a trained pol. As the man who now presides over this country of 175 million, with the eighth biggest economy in the world, but with wealth so radically ill-distributed that as many as 30 million live at sub-Saharan levels of poverty, Lula focused his talk on the injustices ofthe global economy. "There are those who eat five times a day," he said. "And those who eat maybe once in five days." And then, his soft voice hesitating and catching with emotion, Lula continued, "African babies have the same right to eat as a blond, blue-eyed baby born in Scandinavia." When Bush utters similar phrases about "leaving no child behind," you can as much as see the smirk behind it all, the cold political calculations of his chuckling speechwriters and pollsters. With Lula, you feel the resonance deep in your gut. His sincerity is undoubted because you know his own personal story is so real. Born to an impoverished farm family, Lula dropped out of school at age 12 and moved to the city. Carving out a meager existence on the mean streets of Sao Paulo (where today the murder rate is five times that of Washington, D.C.), Lula worked as a bootblack. He never returned to school, and during the 21 years of , Brazilian military dictatorship, Lula toiled as a metalworker. He courageously defied the regime and helped rebuild a powerful national trade-union movement. Since 1980 he has been leading another of his creations, the idiosyncratic Workers Party, an amalgam of Marxists, liberals and Christians. After three earlier failed attempts, Lula swept to a 61 percent landslide presidential victory, propelled by an electorate fed up with the "Washington consensus"—the dogmatic and disastrous application of free-market recipes that in this country has led to mounting unemployment and inflation, a consuming debt and shaky currency. And now Brazil calls on a metalworker and his party to solve the crisis. Comparing Cabinets Yet we're told by imbecilic pundits that Bush, son of a former CIA director, vice president and president, a lazy layabout admitted into Yale on the "legacy" affirmative-action program, with his Texas twang and scrambled syntax, should be venerated as a Regular Guy. Or that Bill Clinton's Cabinet "looked like America" because it vaguely conformed to the politically correct racial quotas of some university administrator's spreadsheet. Compare all of that with Lula' s Cabinet: seven trade unionists, a former rubber cutter and maid as environmental minister, BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003 1

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a black shantytown dweller and feminist as social-welfare minister, a Green Party activist and popular musician as cultural minister, and a chief of staff who spent 10 years in hiding for his armed resistance to the former dictatorship. Bush barreled into office rewarding the wealthiest elite with a double serving ofjuicy and fattening tax cuts. Lula' s first acts were to fire the gourmet chef from the presidential staff and then to cancel the $700 million purchase of 12 new air-force fighter jets, redirecting the funding to his new "Zero Hunger" program. Most of the trips taken by Bush's Cabinet members have been to high-ticket fund-raisers or—frankly—to their brokers, to check on their tenuous multimillion-dollar portfolios. Two weeks ago, Lula took his entire Cabinet to the drought-stricken Northeast for a two-day "reality tour," tramping them through and bunking them down into the slums of Recife. Imagine the political theater—if you can—of Don Rumsfeld and CSX CEO—turned—Treasury Secretary John Snow spending a cozy weekend with immigrant janitors, say, in downtown Chula Vista, California. I can just hear Snow, whose CSX received $167 million in tax rebates, lecturing poor Jose and Guadalupe over an albondigas-soup dinner to start being more self-reliant and to stop expecting so much from government. Which takes us to the nub of this meditation—our expectations. One adviser to Lula joked to me this week, if you will excuse the crudeness, that "Lula is like a Tampax. He's in the best place at the worst time." These are certainly the worst economic times for Brazil. Its debt accounts for 80 percent of its GDP (compared to 52 percent for Argentina, which has already collapsed). The gnomes at the International Monetary Fund have imposed a fiscal straitjacket putting crucial social spending at risk. But it is precisely now that Lula, and Brazil, have chosen to respond by acting on their dreams, not their fears. Yes, they say, to eliminating hunger. Yes, to doubling the minimum wage. Yes, to expanding health care. Yes, to more schools. And yes, to a more equitable trading position with the richer countries of the world. And what do we hear? We who live in the richest corner of the Earth, after a decade ofthe richest times? Only a thundering cascade of no, no, no. No tax rel ief for the poor—for that would be "class warfare." No new money for public schools, for that would be "throwing good money after bad." No rise in the minimum wage because that would be unfair to business. No national solution to the crisis of 50 million without health care because that would be "like going to the post office to see a doctor." Brazilians live precariously with the greatest of hopes. And we live with fabulous potential that is the legitimate envy of the globe, and we have, seemingly, no hope. Or at least none that we are willing to seriously fight for. For in all this, George W. Bush carries no blame. He is merely the product of our congealed aspirations—or lack of them. Just as in Brazil Lula is but a symbol of something much larger. "I wasn't elected by a TV commercial, or by a collection of powerful interests," he said humbly to the crowd in front of him. "Nor was I elected because of my intelligence or personality. 1 was elected by the intelligence and political consciousness of the Brazilian people, who have fought for 40 years for what they have wanted." Marc Cooper is a contributing editor to The Nation magazine and columnist for L.A. Weekly. His latest book Pinochet and Me: A Chilean Anti-Memoir is now in paperback from Verso. He welcomes your comments at mcooperthenation.com BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

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If Only Lula Were My President Dateline: Porto Alegre, Brazil. If the critics of globalization who massed here are divided about the world they want, there was a single issue that united nearly everyone: the U. S. war against Iraq. All political groupings and delegations from some 125 countries opposed the war. JENNIFER C BERKSHIRE

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Day 1 — January 24 Why Are We Here? What Do We Want? Porto Alegre, Brazil. In Davos, Switzerland, they're gearing up for the year's biggest apres ski hour: the World Economic Forum. While Swiss officials unloaded the corporate cocktail party on the Americans last year—they insisted that the stopover in New York Was intended as agesture of solidarity after September 11—the event has been kicked back to the Alps in 2003. Meanwhile, weighty deliberations await the 1,000 odd WEF delegates when they arrive in'the Swiss resort town later this week. While the restof the world watches and listens for word of material breaches, moneyed movers and shakers will mull menu choices at Alpine eateries—tafelspitz anyone? Also on the agenda, a selection of lectures seemingly better suited to a California spa vacation than a hegemonic retreat. Highlights this year include sessions entitled "Love: A Matter of Trust," "Can't We All Just Get Along?" and "Humor in the Workplace." Conference planners also display an unusual preoccupation with aging; a reflection, perhaps, of the advancing years of WEF founder Klaus Schwab. While residents in countries rather south of Davos battle infant mortality and falling life expectancy rates, attendees can hear about the latest robotics technology ("Will people start replacing worn body parts with robotic parts?" muses the official program) and reflect upon "Why do we age and why do we hate it?" On the other side of the Atlantic, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, sight of the 3" World Social Forum, the questions to be addressed are rather more fundamental. To begin with there is the logistical nightmare of the gathering itself. While Davos is confined to a relative handful of well-heeled delegates—and a smattering of handpicked NGO representatives—the Brazil gathering has exploded in growth since the first WSF was held in 2001. Just how many people are coming to Porto Alegre? "We think it will be 100,000, but we don't know for sure," said a member of the Brazilian organizing committee. "For certain there will be a lot," he said, wearing the dazed and frazzled expression shared by anyone with an official connection to the event. Already the city is teeming with delegates—those seasoned members of the globalization circuit armed with trademark black canvas attaché cases; their youthful colleagues sporting Che T-shirts. 30,000 young people--many from elsewhere in Latin America, others from as far away as Japan—are expected to set up tent in the sprawling youth camp on the outskirts of the city. Then there is the larger question ofthe Forum itself. Why exactly are we here? What is it that we're demanding? And of whom? While organizers view the predicted size of the event as a sign of success, dramatic growth has also produced a gathering—and a movementBRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

that is increasingly unwieldy. While delegates to Davos share a single economic agenda (and even the NGO reps attending this year's Open Forum know better than to pick up any bricks), there is no such unity among attendees at the World Social Forum. Reform or revolution? Not a question one asks in mixed company here. As Porto Alegre prepares for a human deluge, members of the somewhat murkily assembled International Council—the body that ostensibly, runs the Forum and other related gatherings— have been meeting behind closed doors. Among the contentious topics: should next year's forum take place in India, should the International Council come out against war in Iraq, and what, in fact, is the Council authorized to decide? While the closed-door sessions brim with international—of the Third and Fourth variety—intrigue, outside it seems to make little difference what Council members determine; tie sense of movement is already undeniable. Should the official body condemn Lula, Brazil's newly elected president, for his decision to travel directly from Porto Alegre to Davos? The youth camp is already planning a protest. Is the International Council opposed to war? Some 70,000 Forum participants are expected to march against the war later this week. But the most heated debate has been over the question of whether the Forum should leave Porto Alegre next year. A plan to hold the next global meeting in India has yet to be agreed upon, and determination by the Brazilians, who currently dominate the decision making structure, is strong and mounting. At a welcoming session attended by Porto Alegre's Trotskyite mayor and a representative from the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazilian officials urged Council delegates to keep the event in Porto 111111 'KC !Irk

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Alegre—and seemed to regard plans move the Forum as ill-fated. "If it we up to me, the World Sopial Forum wou never leave," said the mayor. "But will still be here in 2005 when you r turn." While the Forum has proved to b a cash cow for the city, not everyone if Porto Alegre will be sad to see it g it does; closed-door deliberations co tinue with no end in sight. Late o evening, a large group of U. S. delega happened into a restaurant in a decide ly middle-class suburb of Porto Alegre. we shuffled in, dreary from jet lag a clad in movement swag, a woman of obvious means was heard to sniff in ur direction. "Foro," she said derisively to her dining companions, signaling t e waiter for more meat. Day 2 — January 25 Building the Party, Brazilian St le "Can you imagine if the Left in the . S. looked like this?" one American act vist said wistfully, watching as the op ning march of the World Social For m snaked its way through the city streets in Thursday. His envy was understanda e: the parade of political parties, civil so iety organizations, marching bands d dancers that clogged downtown Po o Alegre for hours was a vivid, shimmy ng spectacle, a continent away from he dreariness that plagues most gatheri gs of the U. S. left. Also absent: the te se standoffs between demonstrators nd police that have marked nearly ev ry recent globalization gathering. Local 0lice were merely observers at this pol tical carnival. So what makes the Latin Ameni an Left so different from its U. S. coun erpart? Median age, for starters. I he youth—or juventude as their signs nd flags read—were everywhere. T ey marched by country, cause and polif al party. They danced and drummed or communism, socialism, anarch sm and everything in between. And w ile a small contingent of the now-i famous "Black Bloc" appeared late in the parade, it was only an obvi us lack of tropical clothing that dis inguished them at all. Then there's the rhythm th ng. Even the clunkiest slogans some ow roll off the tongue when chante in Portuguese to a samba beat (" op Bush U. S. Imperialist Aggres or" was particularly catchy.) Like previous gatherings eld here, this one was about global zation, a loose gathering of folk un ted by a shared beliefthat "another wi rld is possible," the close to official logan of the anti-globo movement. ut what kind of world? The rang of often conflicting visions was o vi-

ous. For many on the far Left, it's a socialist world, or at very least "Death to Capitalism," as one popular sign read. For the NGO's and issue groups, it's a world in which capitalism is better managed, trade is fair and financial transactions taxed. The distance between the two constituencies is immense, bridged here only by the savvy street vendors who managed to sell cerveja,caipirinhas and Che garb to both. The split between the revolutionaries and the reformists is fundamental; they do not speak the same language. One group of marchers had a novel solution: Esperanto. They carried signs—in Portuguese rather than Esperanto--imploring us to speak the universal language. If the critics of globalization who massed here are divided about the world they want, there was a single issue that united nearly everyone: the U. S. war against Iraq. The war was the thing, opposed by all ofthe various political groupings, and by delegations from some 125 countries. And while rumors of a large anti-American demonstration in the center of Porto Alegre swept through a gathering of U. S. delegates earlier in the day, the warnings proved groundless. The U. S. representatives carried placards opposing war too. Tacked to a telephone poll near the docks, a single sign condemning "Yankees, Jews and Nazis," hung limply. But no one seemed to notice, not even the delegation ofArgentine Jews that marched through the streets urging peace, and waving the Israeli flag. Enough about the marchers. What did ordinary Porto Alegrenses think of the spectacle? For a country that routinely shuts down for four days of Carnaval every February (March this year), this was no big deal: a fully-clothed preview of the coming ritual. Still, curious onlookers were everywhere. Workers, done for the day, lined the streets, and residents watched from their balconies, some showering the crowd with homemade confetti. A group of cafeteria workers pointed and waved to the marchers from their restaurant window. And what of the Brazilian elite, notorious for their resistance to any social and political change? They gave up the center of Porto Alegre long ago, taking to the hills that surround the city where they live behind wrought iron gates. "We will make them hear us," said one marcher, an AIDS activist from Rio. "Even if they can't see us, they'll hear." Note: To sustain high spirits during a lengthy political gathering, a hefty shot of cachaca, the Brazilian cane liquor is essential. Caipirinha: 1 lime quartered, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 shot of cachava (Bra-

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zilian cane liquor), cup of ice cubes with water Place the lime and sugar in the bottom of a glass. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, crush and mash the limes. Add liquor and ice. Stir well. Day 3 — January 26 Lula: Savior or Sell-Out? When Brazil's new President, Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva, or "Lula" to friend and foe alike, took the stage at the Porto Alegre amphitheater this week, the mostly Brazilian crowd welcomed him like a rock star. TeenClima de age girls in midriff bearing Tshirts sporting the Workers' Party otimismo, insignia screamed Lula's name, prestigio while families waved small PT internacional flags in the air. One gentleman e urn nova came in a gaucho costume, the nacionalismo baggy pants and tall leather boots ofthe Pampas, along with a homenas rims: made sign proclaiming: "Lula? brasileiros You Are My President." - I rettescobrem o couldn't help wishing that he were amor pelo Pais mine as well. The sense of hope that fills the air here is almost tangible. Lula's victory last fall means more than Lula will simply kill the deal are likely to merely a new government; it is seen as a be very unhappy. "We will sit down to chance to try something different. And if negotiate the FTA A with determination," poor and working class Brazilians are said candidate Lula on the campaign trail. rushing to embrace the new president— Not ifthe Brazilian far left can help it. they poured into the amphitheater by the While the unions that are Lula's base thousands, long after he had finished take a rather more measured approach to speaking—the Americans who are here the question of FTAA negotiations, the in Porto Alegre embrace him too. "Lula extreme left parties want none of it. Signs can represent the interest of workers in reading "NAo a Alca" are everywhere Brazil and in the U. S.," said a labor around the- city, and during the Social activist from the U. S.. "There is no one Forum opening march, members of the in power in the U. S. that you can say that PSTU ((Partido Socialista dos Trabalhadores Unificado—United Workers' about." But while optimism abounds, there Socialist Party), a left-wing split off from are plenty of skeptics too. When Lula left the PT, loudly demanded a national plebi-. the amphitheater, he exited stage right: to scite On the hemispheric trade deal. Davos, offto attend the World Economic Meanwhile, many of the U. S. activForum. His decision to forego the ists present here have expressed disbelief people's forum for the annual ruling class that "their" president is likely to sellreunion has been a source of bitter divi- them out on the FTAA. "I keep hearing siveness here. Those representing the talk that 'another FTAA is possible," social movements—from Brazil and else- said Canadian labor activist Michelle where—view Lula as the anti-globaliza- Robidoux. "If that's where things are tion president, and expect him to act headed, people are going to be devasaccordingly. "He's making aterrible mis- tated. Canadians have seen what has haptake by going to Davos," said Chris pened as a result of NAFTA. We know Nineham from Global ize Resistance, the what this is going to mean." UK-based anti-war coalition. "It will lead But Lula is not the anti-globalization to disappointment and to the kind of president; he is the leader of sovereign compromises that let people down." Brazil. And for his anti-poverty agenda Another compromise certain to dis- to have any chance of success—he has appoint lurks in the not-so-distant future declared, famously, that his goal is for when Lula's administration resumes ne- every Brazilian to have three meals a gotiations over the Free Trade Area of day—he has to take on a larger opponent the Americas, known here by its Portu- than either Brazil's far left, or the very guese acronym ALCA. And activists in rich in his own country. Lula must go up North and South America who hope that against the global economy.

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When Lula announced from the stage that he would not be attending the World Social Forum, but was going to Davos instead, the crowd fell silent. The PT flags stilled, and the soccer chants, "Lula, Lula le-oh-le-ohle," stopped as well. In his trademark baritone, Lula explained to the crowd why he felt that he had to make the trip. All my life, he said, people have told me what I shouldn't do. When I told them that I wanted to join a union, they told me not to, that unions were corrupt and antiquated. In three years, we had the strongest union in Sdo Paulo. I'm going to Davos to tell them the truth about Porto Alegre, he said. Among some leftist commentators in the U. S., it is already fashionable to write off the new President. "Is it right to scream 'sellout'?" asked one such commentator. Like the Brazilians, I think I'll wait and see. For now, he's all they and we have. Day 4, January 27 Another Left is Possible Portb Alegre. In the waning days of any large anti-globalization event, talk turns naturally to accomplishments: what is it we've done here and where do we go next? To this end, reams of documents I (fondly referred to as "documentados") have been produced, proposals proposed, methodologies reviewed and official texts I released. But the real accomplishment of this, the third World Social Forum, is not to be found in these words, translated into multiple languages. The magic of this gathering has been far more ethereal, the kind of spark and energy produced I when some 100,000 people come together around an idea. What was created here was a kind of society, a term so often bandied about—abused really—but rarely experienced. The overwhelming majority of people who came to Porto Alegre were !not seasoned veterans of the anti-globalization circuit (most were attending their !first social forum). Nor were they political movers and shakers. They came here lout of curiosity and to explore a possibiliity. People packed into theaters to hear fstreamed testimony from newly-freed ideath row inmates in Illinois. They ;crammed into classrooms to learn about lthe war on Iraq, the privatization of waer, and what globalization will mean for hem. It may sound vague ("simpleminded" vas the description that one American ent to the event); far more time was devoted to talking about demands than to kiguring out how to make them. But for 6

BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

once, the phrase "another world is possible" seemed like more than trite globo talk; we were watching it unfold here. As in the US, much of public life in Brazil has been eroded by privatization, income inequality and a relentless process of mailing. There are few places where ordinary Brazilians of all walks of life can simply go to mingle together. "Public life has moved behind walls and gates," explained my friend Gianpaolo, a sociologist who grew up in Porto Alegre and now lives in the US. For five days, though, Brazilians and the people who'd traveled from countries all over the world to join them took that world back. Not everyone in attendance was satisfied with the breezy solidarity that ruled the day. Some in the crowd wanted rigor, lots and lots of rigor. On the Brazilian left, the award for "best display of militancy" goes to the PSTU, or the United Socialist Workers Party. The party held hourly rallies during the forum condemning Bush and Sharon and effectively utilizing the march as just another means of transportation. The PSTU also had one of the best chants of the entire event, roughly translated as 'Bush, assassin, go back to the place where your whore of a

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Jennifer Berkshire is a freelance journalist based in Boston who writes about globalization and immigration. She loved Brazil and hopes to return soon. She welcomes comments at jenniferberkshire(&,hotmail.com

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forumistas milled about on the campus of Porto Alegre's Catholic University, temporary home to perhaps the world's single largest collection of leftist swag. Che's visage could be seen everywhere, adorning tiny t-shirts and halter tops, buttons and berets. Lula was just as popular. Beautiful women tied their hair back with PT headscarves; their boyfriends wore the number 13, signifying the PT's spot on the electoral ballot. "There are so many attractive people on our side here," mused one labor activist friend, taking in the scene. I nodded and pointed out that it wasn't just the model good looks shared by so many of thejuventude that distinguished the crowd from a left gathering in the US, but that so many people were smiling. "Do you think another left is possible?" he asked as we prepared to head north. "I hope so," I said. "I really hope so."

mother gave birth to you.' From the North American left, the demands for discipline came from the Life After Capitalism contingent, a forum within the forum organized by Michael Albert and Z Magazine. While elsewhere in Porto Alegre, attendees were preoccupied with merely describing the world, Life After Capitalism was intended to present the way forward: a systematic exploration of what we want and how we can get it. The highlight of the gathering was to be a debate amongst political perspectives including socialism, anarchism, participatory democracy, and something called "par polity." I sided with that, having never heard of it before. But due to organizational snafus— namely that official forum information included nothing on the Life After Capitalism confab—few seemed to know how to find the way forward. Early sessions took place in cavernous auditoriums, while the sessions on political visions and the much anticipated debate took place in a location no one connected with official event seemed ever to have heard of. Meanwhile, life during capitalism continued apace. Tens of thousands of

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Sweat of Your Brow? No, Government Coupons President Lula da Silva hasn't read the Bible. Or why would he say, "It is not written anywhere, not even in the Bible, that one needs to go without food for clays". Work, the best antidote against hunger, does not seem to be a priority for the new administration. JANER CRISTALDO

"There was hunger in that land", says the first book of the Bible, when Abraham traveled down to Egypt, "as a pilgrim, because hunger was widespread on the land". In Genesis itself we learn that another famine descended on the land, "afterthe first one, which happened during the days of Abraham". The whole land of Egypt had enjoyed seven years of abundance. Seven years of hunger followed, all abundance was forgotten and hunger consumed the earth. "Abundance will not be known on earth because of the famine to come: because it will be severe". With hunger widespread, Joseph opened all the store houses and sold everything to the Egyptians, because hunger prevailed on the land of Egypt. There was also hunger in the land of Canaan. -The famine was very severe on the land. The Jewish people said to the pharaoh: "We came as pilgrims to this land; because there is no grass on which the flocks of your servants can graze, because hunger is severe in the land of Canaan". The land of Egypt and the land of Canaan were weakened because of hunger. Hunger was extreme in Samaria, I Kings tells us. In II Kings, Elysium tells us that hunger is the will of the Lord: "Raise and go, you and your family, and travel where you can travel; because the Lord called for famine and famine will come over the land for seven years". In Psalms, the Lord spares the hungry and keeps them alive: "And the eyes of the Lord are over those who fear him, over those who await on his benignity, to deliver them from death and to keep them alive in hunger". Still in Psalms, again hunger meets divine designs. "He called for hunger over the land; he denied them all sustenance from food". This same god, in Isaiah, makes hunger his government tool: "And the firstborn of the poor will be feasted on, and the needy will lay down safe; but I will make your roots die of hunger and your remains will be destroyed". Also in Isaiah, anyone deviating from the Lord knows his destiny: "Because thus says the Lord God: my servants will eat, but you will suffer hunger". Also in Jeremiah, hunger is an instrument of divine justice: "thus says the Lord of legions; I will punish them; the youth will die upon the sword, your sons and your daughters will die of hunger". Hunger is a recurring scourge in the Bible. To mention every time the phenomenon occurs would be exhausting and redundant. But behold, in this year of grace of 2003, a new interpreter of the Bible appears in Brazil, assuring us with all certainty that hunger is not in the Bible. The name of the novel exegete is Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and he did not wait even ten days to take his new professorial office. On the ninth day of his administration, he pontificated: "It is not written anywhere, not even in the Bible, that one needs to go without food for days". It is normal for uneducated people to think they understand the Bible just because they heard or read excerpts from it several times during the course of their lives. Coming from a president, though, such statement testifies against a country's entire culture. Hunger permeates the Bible. You don't even need to read it in order to know that. Biblical peoples were desert peoples and it doesn't take a genius to conclude that hunger followed these men in their paths. However, while we do find hunger in the Bible, what we don't find it is a State feeding its BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

famished. From the sweat on your brow you will get your sustenance, the Lord says to Adam, also in Genesis, after the latter had tasted from the fruit of the forbidden tree. When there was hunger in Egypt, Joshua does not donate food to the Egyptians. Joshua sells it. But this was a long time ago. In our days, the precept is different. With a coupon from your government you will get your sustenance—that is the new law. No more sweating. At least that's what we perceive from the cornerstone of the new PT (Workers' Party) administration—to end hunger in the country by giving food to the hungry. Work, the best antidote against hunger, allowing people to eat without waiting for handsout, does not seem to be prioritary. If we see Lula' s program fully accomplished, at the end of his administration we will have a crowd of well-fed beggars, all in line, their hands stretched out, begging alms from the government. Zero hunger? Ditto for dignity. The program to fight hunger started out well. January 10, a Friday, in Piaui state, following a visit to a bolsdo de miseria [impoverished area] in Teresina, the president and his ministers proceeded to the most luxurious hotel in town to participate in a luncheon offered by the State government for 250 people—lo-

cal authorities, politicians and advisers That's what daily Folha deS. Paulo tell us. In the menu, sautéed lamb, fish wit shrimp sauce, caipira (domestic) chicke with molho pardo (dark sauce), camn de sol (dried meat northeastern style and pacoca de pildo (regional meat an flour dish). For dessert there was an array o tropical sweetmeats made with lim guava, bacuri and jack-fruit. An exce lent start, no doubt about it: the gover ment team surveying the best diet t satiate the famished. It reminded me a historical episode which took place i Porto Alegre, during an event hosted b the gaucho PT. Following a rich an abundant feijoada (bean stew wit meats), the militants decided to sin "The International." They had hardl started the verse "raise, famished of th earth" when they could not resist an cracked up laughing. Facts, when the choose to juxtapose themselves, can b ironical. While vultures glided over the di paved square and women fainted und r the intense-heat, waiters dressed in whi jackets and bow-ties served iced wat r to the ministers and Lula. According the Chief of Staff, Jose Dirceu, the mi isters had a lesson in reality. If we u the same logic, the slum-dwellers had a

lesson in power. They did not participate, granted, in the sumptuous ministerial feast. But at least they saw up close one of the symbols most dear to the powerful—waiters in white suits and bow-ties. Touringfavelas (slums) is a favorite recreation activity for Germans, French, Swedish and other citizens of the First World. The fad seems to have arrived in the Third now—to the disgust of many, true, who probably were not yet contaminated with this European idiosyncrasy. The tour of the distinguished ministers, thank goodness, is always quick. A few hours of dust on a dog day, in the company of ugly and toothless people, compensate for four years of special privileges and air conditioning in the corridors of the Presidential Palace. As to hunger, better talk about in a more appropriate environment. At the Brasilia's luxurious Piantela, for example. Cristaldo is a journalist, writer and translator living in Sao Paulo. You can read more of his articles in Portuguese in Baguete - www.baguete.com.br. The author welcomes your comments at cristal@baguete.com.br Translated by Tereza Braga, email: tbra2alinecs.com

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Since Lula's colorful inauguration a week ago, statements by the incoming Finance Minister, Antonio Palocci and the new central bank president, Henrique Meirelles, have helped to strengthen the real and quotations for Brazilian assets. They repeated intentions to continue fiscal and monetary austerity and control inflation. Fiugh di Brazilian banks and blue chip prazo* companies are expected to raise nearly US$ 1 Billion in no Iraqi* international credit markets this month, which has contributed to a semi euphoric reaction on the part of market players. â&#x20AC;˘ So far the government has not indicated that a bond issue is in the mill. But it would 1110010.40 WU AO Aft TAO E not surprise me if Meirelles, 41010411. Mitt who must be sifting through offers of eager investment bankers seeking arrangement fees, takes advantage of this window of opportunity, which can slam shut again at the first sign of disillusion on the part of observers, most of whom still maintain an attitude of silent skepticism. With congress in recess until mid February when they will meet to elect the presidents of the two houses before taking another break until after Carnaval, facing the reality of governing may be postponed for a while. Before Christmas, federal legislators voted themselves a 54 percent increase in salaries and other benefits. This has caused state and municipal representatives of the people to think about increases for themselves. Now measures are proposed to allot more funds to the congressmen and senators to maintain their offices in their home states. Perhaps measures to give a raise to Lula and other members of the executive branch of government will be introduced. Lula now earns about 75 percent of what a congressman takes home. This foolishness will make it difficult for the government to resist the clamor for salary increases on the part of employees at all levels. Not much notice was taken of the fact that the only two heads of state attending the swearing in ceremonies that actually met in private for meals with Lula were Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro. Chavez seeks help from Petrobras to break the strike of Venezuela's government owned oil company that is crippling the country. Fidel has promised cooperation in Brazil's "social revolution" in the areas of public health and education where Cuba has done well by Latin American standards. I doubt if Lula, a union man, will allow Petrobras to act as a scab in Venezuela. There is a big difference between sending technical people to help out at PDVSA, something that Chavez

SUDENE and SUDAM, two inefficient regional development agencies that were always riddled with corruption and favoritism in the past. FHC managed to scuttle these organs. Lula's perhaps well meaning efforts to help develop the backward northeast and Amazon regions may only result in more money thrown away in salaries of cohorts. All for Hunger Fight 111,,ZPA The festivities in Brasilia on New Year's Day displayed a lack of decorum but the PT and Lula had their way. Lula, who likes rubbing shoulders with the people, has developed bursitis in his right shoulder. That plus concern on the part ofhis security forces may minimize these occurrences in the future. Lula's speech, only one of a series of long-winded orations, concentrated on his battle to eliminate hunger. No details as to how this worthy goal might be attained are yet available. Lula made it public that the purchase of 12 new jet fighters to replace the aging Mirage fleet, will be postponed in order to use these funds to combat hunger. The foreign press picked this up saying that Lula is wisely trading guns for butter. Local commentaries have pointed out that the US$ 760,000,000 earmarked for the purchase of new planes is not in the budget and in fact does not exist. The planes were to be financed by the yet to be chosen suppliers who would have to purchase an equal amount of Brazilian products to compensate. The Air Force was taken completely by surprise, but the new commander of the FAB (Forca Adrea Brasileira), brigadeiro Luiz Carlos Bueno, stoically accepted the measure saying that it is up to the government to determine priorities. I think we have not heard the end of this first act of demagogy on Lula's part. He probably was not informed on the details of the planned purchase to replace the fleet based in Anapolis, state of Goias, that must be retired in 2005. During his campaign for election, Lula and the PT actively courted the military. This seems ironic since Lula and many of his "comrades," as he has instructed people in the government to call one another, were locked up for subversion and other charges during the 21 year period of military rule. His more moderate stance, staged by Duda Mendonca Lula's campaign manager, plus promises to pay more attention to the needs of the three arms, managed to gain tacit support from this important part of Brazilian society. Army for All

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would like, and selling them a tanker load of gasoline, which was done in December. Lula has installed his ministers and heads of important secretariats and big government entities such as Petrobras, Caixa Economica Federal, Banco do Brasil, BNDES etc. He created three new ministries and a few special commissions in order to accommodate people of his own PT (Partido dos Trabalhadoresâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; Workers Party) and allies seeking employment. He also plans to resurrect

Stullering Start All is not as rosy as financial markets would have us believe. Congress practically will be in recess until after Carnaval (March lst to 4) and facing the reality of governing may be postponed for a while. RICHARD HAYES

40.1e.

BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

Since the election and Lula's taking office, the minister of defense, Jose Viegas Filho, who was not a man that the military wanted in the post, along with other ministers has volunteered the use of the army and its bases for non military purposes. The minister of sports wants to use bases for sports activities. The man in charge of the Zero Hunger program has enlisted the help of the armed forces to distribute food. The minister of education wants their help to eradicate illiteracy. The justice minister wants them to assume the role of policing Brazil's borders currently performed as stipulated in the constitution by the federal police that falls under the jurisdiction ofthe ministry of justice. Then there is the matter of road construction and maintenance offederal highways that the transport minister is requesting help from the military. It remains to be seen how all this will set with the military. Those on active duty cannot speak out, but through the retired and reserve officials, their discontent can be eventually felt. In my opinion, Lula would be wise to not neglect the armed forces whose budgets were drastically curtailed during the FHC years. Lula has yet to confirm or negate the recent declaration of the minister of science and technology. In an interview with BBC, minister Roberto Amaral ambiguously stated that Brazil should be capable of making an atomic bomb. The International Agency for Atomic Energy that has its hands full with North Korea and Iraq at the moment was surprised. Foreign minister Celso Amorim is doing his best to clarify Amaral's stupid remarks. But in a matter of such gravity, it is up to the president to come out and deny such intentions and fire the incompetent minister who should have kept his mouth shut. Amaral is in the hospital being treated for pneumonia and could resign for health reasons saving Lula the trouble. All is not as rosy as financial markets would have us believe. But Brazil is looking to Lula to bring about a timer life for its citizens. It is too early to judge how this will all work out. We are in summer and many people are on vacation so things are still not running at capacity. The next two or three weeks will give us a better idea if Lula is up to the task that 62,000,000 Brazilians bestowed upon him.

5.)

It's Still Honeymoo It may be a while before t e current feeling of good will a grace period toward the ne government dissipates. The loc I media is beginning to point o t some of the deficiencies and pa t history of participants in Lula s government and their confus d actions thus far. RICHARD HAYES

The real remains steady as seve al loans to Brazilian banks and compan es are supplying dollars to the market. Ma ro economic factors such as the ratio of public debt to GNP have improved, he trade balance, helped by exports of a cultural products, is positive. C- Bo ds are now quoted at over US$ 0.70 to he dollar, a huge advance since the pre el ction jitters. Inflation is abating. There as been talk of voluntarily increasing he target of the primary surplus before m etMg with the IMF again in February. nterest rates are expected to remain nchanged when COPOM (Comite de Politica Monetaria-- Monetary Pol cy Committee) meets next week. Attent I ts by state governors to obtain help fr o m Brasilia to solve their financial probl s have met with a strong "no" from Palo ci. So far silver-tongued central b nk president, Henrique Meirelles nd Antonio Palocci, the doctor turned ma or and now finance minister, are saying he right things to inspire confidence on he part of lenders and investors. Even Ge â&#x20AC;˘ ge Soros has made some positive statem nts this week. Soon, however, some conc ete signs of the government's ability to do what it says it intends to do in the onom i c/financial area may be expecte . In my opinion, the following proposed reforms will be difficult if not imposs ble to complete soon: I.) Central bank independence 2.) A through reform of the social security (previdencia) system 3,) Modernization of labor laws 4.) A new bankruptcy law

BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

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I do not foresee congress authorizing central bank independence quickly. First of all, not all legislators understand what central banks are supposed to do. This measure, which is not universally approved by even the government's own Workers' Party, will be tied into a general banking reform, which before reaching the floor could take many months to be debated by various committees once congress reconvenes sometime after Carnaval, March IÂ° to 4, this year. Meirelles is under suspicion by some since he formerly worked for Fleet/Boston and is drawing a healthy pension of US$ 750,000 per year, according to recent press reports. Although it is normal for someone who worked many years for an American bank ofthis size and reached the higher echelons of management to have this benefit coming to them, it may complicate his relationship with congress. Although the Public Ethics Commission, an organ subordinated to the President, has found nothing wrong with Meirelles healthy pension, certain elements could say that he is looking out for the interests of his former employer and the international b,anking system in general rather than being concerned about resolving Brazil's social problems. Although the idea of an independent central bank does not in theory depend upon the current incumbent, Meirelles' pension plus his well known political aspirations may hinder his becoming the first president of an independent Brazilian central bank, in my opinion. His photo has appeared in five of the last six editions, including a front page, of 0 Estado de S. Paulo, one of Brazil's most respected newspapers. This demonstrates that his PR people are functioning. Normally a discreet central bank president behaves differently. Tough Changes Reforming the social security system that unfairly favors retired government workers over those of the private sector is bound to be polemic. Former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso tried for years to change things without success mainly because of opposition from the PT (Workers' Party) that now in government says it will reform the system. Cutting the benefits of the judicial and military has already met strong resistance. The plan recently proposed by welfare minister Ricardo Berzoni would be a big improvement to reducing the annual deficit of R$ 54 billion caused by benefits paid to inactive government workers. However, in my estimation, any attempt of correction of these distortions, which are necessary if the country expects to attain firm financial footing, will be time consuming and will cause disillusionment on the part of creditors

among other more disruptive effects (for Venezuela) caused a reduction in the US oil reserves Palocci: Vamos to their lowest level in cortar ludo que several years. Naturally the US would like a swift, no seja urgente clean solution to socialmente' Venezuela's internal problems that would result in the normal flow of oil. It is not clear how the "Friends of Venezuela" committee will assist Itd, pvdc.spid., wro tan... OAS Head, Cesar rei (Am .Iit,LontrA Gaviria, negotiate a peaceful, democratic, • political solution to the impasse caused by Chavez reluctance to and investors who follow things here. Attempts to change Brazil's labor step down or anticipate elections or a laws, which go back to the days of dicta- plebiscite scheduled for August. Lula's Busy Schedule tor Getnlio Vargas (1883-1954) and make This matter that should be resolved hiring people formally very expensive, may get nowhere soon. This, along with internally by Venezuelans may yet be improving the laws concerning bank- settled without more bloodshed. Chavez ruptcy, probably does not attract much has met with leaders ofCOPEI, the major attention abroad. But they are important opposition party that has ruled the counif Brazil is to become more competitive try alternatively with AD (Accion internationally with manufactured goods. Democratica) since PJ (Marcos Perez Previous attempts to simplify Brazil's Jimenez) a right wing military dictator taxes have never advanced. Perhaps with who favored US oil interests, was ousted firm leadership from the executive branch in 1958.1 suspect that Brazil's role in all this will be minimal as Lula's has clearly progress can be made. January 15, President Luis !nazi° Lula expressed his preference for supporting da Silva made his first trip out of Brazil Hugo Chavez, who was legally elected since being sworn in. He went to Quito president and who still enjoys a great for the inauguration of Ecuador's re- deal of support from the poor. Lula's traveling schedule in January cently elected president, Ludo Gutierrez a nationalistic leftward leaning military will include his presence at an anti gloman. In addition to offering photo oppor- balization rally in Porto Alegre (state of tunities of Lula conversing with Fidel Rio Grande do Sul) followed by his at23rd of the Castro and Hugo Chavez, their second tending a meeting January world's business, banking and political encounter in two weeks, the meeting in Quito gave Lula a chance to launch the leaders in Davos, the Swiss mountain "Friends of Venezuela" initiative, which holiday and conference center. One wonhad been suggested then later criticized ders when he will find time to forge the political alliances needed to pass the legand now tepidly endorsed by the US. The strike at Petroleos de Venezuela islation necessary to implement some of (PDVSA), now in its seventh week, has the measures eagerly expected by the

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financial community. Relations with the PMDB (Partido do Movimento Democratico Brasileiro—Party of the Brazilian Democratic Movement) have been soured by Lula's preference for ex-president Jose Sarney to preside over the senate whereas the main stream PMDB members would prefer Renan Calheiros, an old pal of former president Fernando Collor, who was impeached. It may be a while before the current feeling of good will and grace period toward the new government dissipates. The local media is beginning to point out some of the deficiencies and past history of participants in Lula's government and their confused actions thus far. We all wish Lula and the PT good luck as they struggle to improve the lot of Brazilians in general. They need legislative support, which may be difficult to obtain without falling into the same patterns that other political parties use. Without support from congress, to which he once referred as 500 "picaretas," Lula may to tempted to go directly to the people, which would not be good for institutional stability. For those not familiar with Brazilian slang, a picareta can be defined in English as a shyster, chiseler or cheat. It is not a complimentary term but is not far off in describing certain members ofthe legislative branch ofgovernment whose main concern seems to be lining their own pockets and those of their family and friends rather than working on matters of interest to the general population. Richard Edward Hayes first came to Brazil in 1964 as an employee of Chase Manhattan Bank. During the past thirtyeight years, Hayes has worked directly and as an advisor for a number of Brazilian and international banks and companies. Currently he is a free lance consultant and can be contacted at 192louvre*uol.com.br

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School is in session at the Maanaim Center in the rural poor outskirts of Parelheiros to the south of SAo Paulo, Brazil. The children are dressed neatly in their navy sweats, the uniform for the days when the weather is cold and windy. At the front of the class stands one of the five teachers' aides, 17 year old Sandra. She knows the program well. This was her program. Not long before, this daughter of a bereft prostitute had been a student here, commencing at the age of three and continuing up until the time of her current college enrollment. This helped to secure her present employment at the Center, where she had not only benefited through Maanaim's on site projects, but also received, a United States funded scholarship to attend a private school offering a better compulsory education. A woman passes by in the halls. It is one ofthe two cleaning ladies, Edna. She had first come to the center walking six miles to enroll her four girls. Today, all four continue to be beneficiaries of the program while, through the provision of her present salary, Edna has been able to move from her leaking roof, lightless shack into a closer home complete with functioning electricity. Since it is a Friday, things are being readied for tomorrow's monthly parenting class. The staff hopes to see a number of the children's single mothers who will learn about the basics of hygiene. This is often neglected in homes which have no bathroom facilities, plumbing, or power and consist usually of four adobe walls, an interior dripping wood-shingled roof, dirt floors with a single mattress for furniture and propane stove for cooking meals. While the attendance is mostly women, the staff expects to also see Carlos whose three children currently attend the center. This exemplary father had first become involved after his wife had kicked him out of the house. Desperate to talk to someone, he had come to Maanaim for counseling. Today, he is back in the home, but avails himself of any new information, as well as making it a point to be on hand for soccer games in which his son, Carlos Jimior, participates as a member of the school team. The dream began in 1966 with a couple, Billy Joe and Josephine Hart, who felt the stirring to become missionaries after making a trip to Sao Paulo, Curitiba, and Rio with an uncle who was BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

At the Maanaim Center, Paulo, children are expected 0 maintain personal and clothi cleanliness. Some of them ha never seen themselves in a mirr r. The younger ones, in particul r, will spend hours before the gla s, getting to know their own fo and features. TEXT: JENNIFER GRANT

PHOTOS: TEENA EVANS

a pastor in Los Angeles. At the ti e, Billy Joe was a construction foreman nd Josephine was working as a teller i a branch of Bank of America. Follow ng their call the couple found a chur h, which was willing to sponsor them or $400 per month. Soon after, they set off for Paran to help build a Bible school for the missi nary, who was currently serving th re. Daughter Teena, who currently acts as the director and fund raiser for Brazil an Children, the American arm of the c nter, recalls the red earth of Brazil's so th and her three-year induction into exp ate living. "We were just kids and it as

all new. But what I remember was my parent's determination, my mom beginning to pick-up the language and my Dad just going on faith, loving everyone. And most of all I remember that red soil spreading out around us on all sides." After the completion of the Parana project, the family headed to SAo Paulo so that Billy Joe and Josephine could attend the Camp inas Language School. Josephine made great progress in facility with the Portuguese idiom, but, up until his death in 1998, Billy Joe preferred to rely on nonverbal communication and the help of others more fluent. Squatter Town While living in Brazil's most populated city, the couple felt a burden to help the children who had been abandoned by either families who could not support them or were living in abusive situations with inadequate care, the result of a lifestyle of poverty as affects the home. For someone who has not traveled there, it is difficult to conceive of this type ofneed. Parelheiros is a rural area with two million inhabitants, about half of whom are squatters transplanted from the interior ofthe country. Thirty percent of them are illiterate. Men work as field hands or day laborers helping to cultivate the local crops of soybeans, manioc, and bananas. Women either serve as maids to the sao Paulo upper and middle class or turn to prostitution to support themselves. Without access to, or the finances to afford birth control, many of the women become pregnant without knowledge of who the father is. On an average income of R$40-R$50 (US$11.50-US$14.50) per month, the outlets for recreation are few. The more athletic men compete in local soccer (futebol) matches. Some men fish. Doing mechanical projects such as fixing cars or auto parts is another positive outlet. However, for many, alcohol and drugs provides the leisure of choice. Some even choose to advance their social position through trafficking the substances. Thus, relationships, even among known partners, are unstable. Only 10 percent of fathers can be found in the homes, leaving the majority of women to handle the challenges of single-motherhood. What these mothers are left with is a structure of cinder blocks with a tin or wood-shingled roof consisting of one or two rooms and a small kitchen area. Four 27

or five people share one mattress. Cooking is done over a propane stove. Water comes from rain, which is collected in large plastic vats. There is no sanitation. Laundry is washed in water carried from rivers. Pride comes from maintaining a clean swept dirt floor. For the few homes that have the luxury of electricity, the prized possession is the television, which often blares day and night, spreading an illusion of life in the outside world. Orphanages Outlawed Billy Joe and Josephine's first attempt to make a difference was to construct an orphanage as a means to house more children than those they had already begun to take into their Sao Paulo home. Billy Joe discovered the property on which to establish his mission as he was driving through the Parelheiros countryside. Using money obtained through a pledge offered by an American church, construction commenced in 1974. Billy Joe supervised the building which took four years to finish, a wall going up there, a room completed here, as the funds trickled in. By 1989, the orphanage was thriving with a total of 60 children being cared for. Then came the shocking decision of the Brazilian government to outlaw orphanages in their attempt to force parents to take responsibility for their own children. Such institutions were given one yearto find relatives for all oftheir wards. Brokenhearted, the Hart's set out to place the children. They managed to locate someone in each child's family tree to be responsible for all except four remaining boys. They were officially adopted by the Harts. The couple were now left with a large property and nothing they could use it for. Praying about the next step, the pair felt directed to look to the physical needs ofthe community, as well as find a way to incorporate the teaching ofspiritual principles in a manner which would change the lives of both needy children and their families. In response, the complex, now known as the Maanaim Educational Center, became an academic institution in 1990. Today it serves 160 children from preschool through completion of high school, incorporating bible basics and Christian principles into its activities, though all faiths are welcome. The facility does not replace the regular four hours of public school, which each child is required to attend, but supplements it 28

with the goal of equipping the enrollees to be able to secure better employment, and thus a better future. Josephine remains the figurehead, main fund raiser, and spiritual leader. Otherwise, the staff is all Brazilian and is under the supervision oftwo sisters: Sueli, who is the official director of the center, and Sonia. who oversees the school as its principal. Such has been with Maanaim for 16 years and Sonia for five. The young women commute for two hours each way five days per week, while also attending masters' programs at a local Sao Paulo university. Death But No Grief Each weekday morning, the children appear at the center, brought by parents who sometimes walk three to 4 miles along rural dirt roads to bring them and deposit them at the gate. Others arrive by public bus or Parelheiros' illegal shuttlevan. But the routes which serve this area are few and do not venture into many of the terrains where a large number of the shacks have been erected. Besides the distance, the walk is sometimes difficult for other reasons. One student was forced to walk by the un removed body of his uncle who had been shot in a drug deal gone bad. Grief was not called for. Such a sight is not uncommon. Early death is accepted as one of the hazards of daily life. Not everyone arrives at once. Many of the first to come are preschoolers. Since the complex opens at ,7 am, mothers can deposit their children and then go on to domestic jobs. Since the local public schools stagger their four hour sessions, the other children arriye in varying shifts. Each is required to appear in uniform, furnished by the center. Since a standard of acceptable hygiene is expected to be adhered to, the kids often take advantage of the showers and onsite washing machine.

Two faithful employees man the kitchen, which serves a total of 500 meals per day to the staggered attendees. Nourishment consists of breakfast, a midmorning snack, lunch, and a late afternoon snack. There is no dinner, since Maanaim's doors close at 6 pm. All fare is chosen through the recommendation of a professional nutritionist. Staples are picked up in town once per week except for the meat and bread, which arrive on a contracted delivery schedule. Besides hygienic rules, in which training became necessary due to the lack of bathrooms and utensils in some homes, there are other 'house regulations' which are enforced. Children are expected to arrive in uniform and maintain personal and clothing cleanliness. Some of them have never seen themselves in a mirror. The younger ones, in particular, will spend hours before the glass, getting to know their own form and features. They must be respectful with no fighting or cursing permitted and follow general standards of good citizenship. Chapel is offered three times per week, where Bible basics, which include the ten commandments, the divinity of Jesus' personhood, and beginning Bible stories and scriptures pertinent to developing character, are introduced. While a willingness to adopt the Christian belief system is not an entrance requirement, Maanaim makes no apology or attempt to hide the faith under which it was established. Practice Over Theory Since the goal of the center classes is to prepare the children for high levels of employment, most of what is offered is practical in format. Besides the preschool director, there are five degreed teachers and five aides on staff. Classes include woodworking, silk-screening, horticulture, music, and computer science. There is also an opportunity to participate in sports since there is a gym for volleyball and basketball along with a field for soccer. The school soccer team participates in matches with outsiders on the weekends. Computer classes are divided among two age groups. Basic operational and beginning word-processing skills are taught to ages 3-14. 15-18 year olds learn practical programs such as Excel, Power point, other modern programs requiring more advanced word-processing skills, BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

and how to do research on the Internet. violence and the misfortunes of living in official Brazilian NGO, Sociedade Currently, there are seven computers for subhuman conditions. Religious practic s Evangel ica Beneficente Betania, at Caixa each of the learning levels. such as the ceremonial practice Postal 42001, CEP 04073-970, Sao Since Maanaim takes in a maximum Macumba can play a distracting role. Paulo, S.P. Brasil or e-mail of 160 children, not everyone who apA recent episode, with an ending Maanaim@br2001.com.br. The local plies is able to attend. Screening inter- which Billy Joe was proud, illustrates t telephone is 55-11-5920-8148. Informaviews are conducted by the center's di- later. One of the student's mother, a n tion can also be obtained through their rector who evaluates the ability and will- former priestess of Macumba, decided web site at www.brazilianchildren.org. ingness to learn and be committed to become a Christian after attending Brazilian Children is a registered staying with the program until gradua- evangelism outreach. Upon learning 501(c)(3) charitable organization here in tion from public school. There is no tu- this, members of her black magic s the United States and the equivalent within ition charge, though the 15-18 age group religion locked her in a bathroom a Brazil. Tax-status numbers may be obof computer program participants, who Spiritualist center so that she could 'co tained through the web site or by calling undergo a separate application and to her senses'. Her son came each day for one of the telephone numbers provided. screening process, are asked to contrib- two weeks and sat on the other side of the ute R$10 (US$ 3.50) toward their in- door, tapping on it while singing t Jennifer Grant, the author, wishes to struction if at all financially able. This Portuguese equivalent to the childrer 's thank Teena Evans for most of the helps to secure a deeper personal com- hymn, "Jesus is knocking on my hearinformation in this article. She also mitment to their training. No one knows the true struggle of at wishes to acknowledge friends, Eduardo School operates year round except mother's spirit during the time she spent Borgerth of Niter6i, who has received his for one week in July and two more during in that bathroom. Yet, she finally emerg d, own call from God to help less the Christmas/New Year's season. A va- with a tug in her heart which caused er advantaged young people through a cation Bible school is offered during the to follow up with further evangelism to radical sports enterprise; Jazon da Silva four days of Carnaval. the point of reaching her decision to Santos, formerly of Maceio, who taught Since medical care is not readily avail- renounce the Macumba voodoo practi her the Portuguese language and much able, Maanaim also operates a small, but in response to the devoted visits by er of Brazilian culture; and Ana Paula equipped medical and dental clinic. A son. Duarte, formerly of Rio, with whom she volunteer dentist arrives twice a month to maintains language skills. Jennifer hopes attend to basic tooth needs. At the mediFor more information about Bra il- to inspire both Brazilians and Americans cal clinic, exams are performed and vac- ian Children, United States residents c n to better understand each other and cinations given. Basic triage supplies and contact the Hart's daughter, Teena, at participate in helping those less economiantibiotics are on hand, but more serious (562) 434-0592 or by writing P.O. B ix cally fortunate. You may e-mail her in cases are referred to other facilities, which 41351, Long Beach, CA90853 sr English or Portuguese at are, unfortunately, an hour away. tevans1396@aol.com. Brazilian re siennig(&,yahoo.com Parent's Turn dents can contact Maanaim through ts Josephine and her staff also reach out to the parents and to the surrounding community. Once a month, parenting classes are offered on a Saturday. These deal with hygiene, nutrition, and other issues pertinent to child-raising, such as discipline in the home. Basic counseling is available for those who just need someone to listen to the stresses of their daily lives. Evangelism outreaches are periodically offered and involve speakers, music, and performances by a mime-group. A Christmas celebration, which occurs on the Saturday preceding the holiday, involves not only a celebration of Jesus' birth, but the distribution of food and clothing as well. To those who need it during the school year, a monthly cesta basica (food basket) containing staples such as coffee, rice, beans, flour, and sugar is supplied. Maanaim is not without ongoing challenges. It takes about US$ 18,000 to US$ 20,000 per month to pay staff salaries and purchase food and other supplies. Eighty percent ofthe funds come through United States church pledges. The remaining percentage is made up of private donors. Some of the children have psywww.teethtalk.com - Free Toothbrush chological problems due to the pressures ofneighborhoods where there is ongoing

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Deus e 0 Blab° God and Satan in the Land of na Terra do Carom! Carom! Carnaval em Paraguacu. Ao som da excelente batucada promovida pelos mirsicos da Liga Operaria, rugiamos, pulavamos e lutavamos como felinos esfomeados. As vezes corriamos e cacarejavamos em otimo astral, feito urn bando de galos e donzelas garnise. Era uma festa total no terreiro da alegria e da descontracao. DARIO BORIM JR

0 Carnaval do Brasil, como os de outras nacdes, tern seus disparates. La homem adora se vestir de mulher, pobre se fantasia de rico, e pecado é santificado pelos jovens em praca poblica. Sera que todo ano Deus faz algum pacto corn o diabo e fecha os olhos por somente quatro dias? Ndo creio, mas parece, porque é muito milagre para um santo so. Por conta de umas afinadas batidas de surdo (e delimao, claro), mais vale é habitar ou sonhar corn urn mundo onde a alegria e as alegorias de paz e cidadania so produzidas ou patrocinadas por ineomparaveis artistas, incorrigiveis malandros e incrivelmente bem-intencionadas — e bemhumoradas! — autoridades. Nos carnavais das decadas de 1960 e 1970, a Prefeitura da minha pacata cidade natal, Paraguacu, contava corn uma legido de voluntarios e organizava dois desfiles de rua. um no domingo, e outro na terca-feira. Claro que tinha mais. Cada urn dos tres clubes da chamada Princesinha do Sul de Minas oferecia duas matines para as criancas e quatro noitadas para os maiores de 14 anos. Conjuntos e orquestras tocavam ao vivo, das 11 da noite as 5 horas da manha. A estratificacdo da sociedade revelava-se, em parte, atraves dos proprios nomes das associacOes. Uma faccdo da classe trabalhadora ia para a Liga Operaria; outra, de individuos menos sacrificados economicamente, freqiientava o Democrata; enquanto que a classe media mais abastada e a elite dancavam no Ideal Clube. Nas ruas, a espontaneidade era sempre uma das melhores caracterlsticas da Festa de Momo. Entre oito e meia-noite, os timidos e os extrovertidos, bem como os cultos e os iletrados, saiam todos para a colorida Praca Oswaldo Costa, onde dancavam, bebiam e apreciavam a maluquice geral. 30

Carnaval in Paraguacu. We ran around crowing like big roosters on drugs, or maybe hyper-excited hens in lust. With toy-teeth laces around our ankles and chicken bones on our heads, this flock of teenage pals was roaring and jumping, fighting and running. It was a total blast on that voodoo land of joy and relaxation! DARIO BORIM JR. Carnaval in Brazil has its own peculiar absurdities, just like similar celebrations do in other countries. There, men just love dressing up as women. The poor get away as if they were rich, and certain sins of the youth are sanctified outdoors, usually in public squares. Is it possible that God strikes a deal with Satan, every year, and closes his eyes for just four days? I don't think so, but it looks like it, because Carnaval is too much of a miracle to be bestowed upon us by one saint alone. With some alluring drumbeat in our ears and some delightful cuipirinha shots in our throats, it's better not think too deeply. Let's just live in or dream of a world, instead, where enjoyment and allegories of peace and civil rights are produced or sponsored by incomparable artists, incorrigible rascals, and, believe me, well-humored city authorities. As it happened in many small towns of Minas Gerais in the 1960s and 1970s, the Paraguacu City Hall and a good legion of volunteers would put on two major street Carnaval parades: one on Sunday, the other on Fat Tuesday. There was more, of course. Each of the three social clubs in town organized two matinees for children and four night parties for fourteen-year-olds or older. Live bands and orchestras performed from eleven in the evening to five in the morning. The stratification ofsociety stood out through the very names of the private clubs. The blue-collar went to League of the Laborer; the better off of the working class, so to speak, attended the Democrat; the middleclass and the elite, in turn, frequented the Ideal Club. The spontaneity of the yearly festival was one of its best assets. Roughly between eight and midnight, the outgoing and the timid, the educated and the illiterate, all went BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

Naquela primeira noite de Carnaval em 1976, meu irmao Jose Carlos (o Tatau) e eu pertenciamos a urn bloco-da pesada: os Homo-sapiens. Eramos urn dos maiores e mais extravagantes grupos de foliOes. Contando corn quase 40 jovens, o grupo de fantasiados dramatizava o seu tema antropolOgico. CordO-es de dentes de plastic° nos tornozelos e ossos de galinha no cabelo (ainda tinhamos, todos, muito cabelo) acompanhavam uma tanica de cetim laranja corn manchas pretas redondas, semelhantes as de urn leopardo. Ao som da excelente batucada promovida pelos masicos da Liga Operaria, rugiamos, pulavamos e lutavamos como felinos esfomeados. As vezes corriamos e cacarejavamos em otimo astral, feito um bando de galos e donzelas garnise. Era uma festa total no terreiro da alegria e da descontracao. A masica parecia surgir dos quatro cantos da praca, ecoando nas nossas almas adolescentes. 0 melhor ritmo, porem, ressonava no Bar do Vatinho, para onde convergia a rapaziada mais animada. Ali dancavamos e farreavamos, quando, de repente, uma voz me chamou a atencao para fora do circulo de homens da cavema. "Alah, Alah, Alah, hundulilah, handulilah", gritava o caro amigo Delson Ribeiro de Andrade. Sem medo, ele se punha de pe numa banqueta do Bar do Vatinho. Ainda assim, conseguia rebolar os quadris ao compasso do samba, enquanto invocava a presenca divina de Maome. Corn os cabelos ondrilados, agora crivados de confetes, e os olhos castanhos irradiando paz, como que diante de urn paraiso em pleno caos Camavalesco, Delson se vestia de garota havaiana, corn muito estilo. Descalco entre outras "garotas tropicais" a esconder os pelos da face, o vulgo Amarradinho ironizava a lei seca dos Arabes e agradecia aos ceus por tanta alegria (e cerveja gelada) cintilando no planeta Terra. A farra continuava sem tregua, mas no domingo a noite, muitos ja sentiam a necessidade de assentar por um instante e fazer acontecer outro lado fabuloso da tradicao de Carnaval de muitas familias brasileiras. Antes de sair mais uma vez para o espaco public° do Carnaval de rua e dos bailes de salao, era hora de beber e corner umas coisinhas na descontraida intimidade dos parentes e arnigos. Desta vez, um grupo de aproximadamente quinze pessoas curtia o frescor de uma noite enluarada. Na varanda lateral da casa de meus pals alguns tomavam a especialidade da estacao: whisky corn agua-de-coco. Dois quern charmosos coqueiros que ainda cresciam no jardim sabe ameacando a estrutura da casa — mantinham o nosso estoque em dia. No ano anterior tinhamos colhido, all Mesmo, nada menos que trezentos cocos da Bahia. Um aspecto divertido daqueles encontros familiares era que certas pessoas, normalmente serias e reservadas, naquela hora soltavam as redeas. Muitas vezes este era o caso de meu pai. No espaco domestic° do Carnaval se permitia desfrutar as histOrias que filhos, parentes e amigos contavam sob a inspiracao major do elemento alcoolico. Entre tira-gostos e goladas refrescantes, todos eram afetados de urn modo ou de outro pelo born-humor suspenso no ar. Ate minha mae, que aos cinqiienta anos mal suportava meio copo de vinho, deixava transparecer seu contentamento, apesar de uma crescente preocupacao corn os possiveis excessos dos filhos adolescentes. BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

dancing side by side—whether in the highly decorated central square or at noi y different bars. On that firs Carnaval evening in 1976, my brother (best known as Tatau) and I belonged to a large group of costumed revelers, certainly one of the liveliest sets of buffoons on the streets. Forty of us, The Neanderthals, lived up to our theme, in our orange cotton garments with black leopard spots. We ran around crowing like big roosters on drugs, or maybe hyperexcited hens in lust. With toy-teeth laces around our ankles and chicken bones on our heads (most of us still had good chunks of hair), this flock of teenage pals was roaring and jumping, fighting and running. It was a total blast on that voodoo land of joy and relaxation! Music from just about everywhere, inflated our buzz. The best rhythm, though, resounded from Bar do Vatinho, the open-air hang-out, a favorite spot for batucada, the jam session for samba dancing. Suddenly I could here somebody babbling, "Allah, allah, allah, hundulillah, hundulillah." Somebody was shouting again and again in front ofthe watering hole. It was Delson, one of my dearest childhood friends, swinging his hips to the samba beat. With crispy dark hair and soothing brown eyes, he was a funny dude dressed like a Hawaiian girl. Barefoot, among other "young ladies" doing their best to hide their facial hair, and the rest of the crowd packing onto the sidewalk in front of the bar, Delson now evoked the goodwill of the Muslim divinity and thanked the Holiness for such hurrah. The party went on without a break. When it was Sunday evening, though, many people already felt the need to slow down for a little while. They would then put together another side of Carnavaractually, a fabulous family tradition in Brazil. Before going out once again into the public sphere of that fourday holiday (the streets and the ballrooms), various generations would sit aroune in a circle to eat and drink in casual intimacy. This time we were sitting on the side porch of my parents' home. While some fifteen of us siblings, cousins and other relatives lingered around, some drank the specialty of the house: whisky mixed with milk from newly-picked Bahian coconuts. The two nearby trees in the front-yard perhaps threatened the stability of the house, but in the meantime they kept us supplied. They were good trees. The year before we had harvested over two hundred coconuts. One of the amusing sides of these family meetings was that people who didn't habitually drink ended up consuming some booze and then bringing forward the oddest sides of their personalities. This was frequently the case with Dad. Usually adopting an austere pose towards daily matters, he, at Carnaval time, tended to let down his hair. He was actually able to enjoy the spicy stories people told each other between hot canapes and refreshing sips. Even Mom, who at the age of 50 could not drink a glass of wine without feeling a bit dizzy, seemed to enjoy our gatherings all right, despite an occasional look of concern about her teenage boys' probable excess. One could clearly feel her mellow-sweet look of detached appreciation. The stories, often exaggerated by the enthusiasm of each storyteller in charge, retold the adventures of danger and 31

As narrativas, retocadas pela an imacao do relator da vez, muitas vezes retomavam enredos de extravagancia e perigo vividos por meu irmao e eu (alem de nossos amigos mais aloprados). 0 cunhado Jose Codo recordou, a certo momento, a no ite em que minha mae e sua irma Guida voltavam a pe para casa, depois de apreciar por algumas horas o bai le de Carnaval no Ideal Clube. As duas senhoras passavam pela parte de cima da Praca Oswaldo Costa — os estrondos da mnsica de said() ainda reverberando nos seus ouvidos — quando minha rude percebeu algumas marcas de sangue no passeio por onde andavam. Quando as duas irmas viraram a proxima esquina, a da casa de Tia Noernia, continuaram seguindo as mesmas marcas. Urn quarteirao acima, as duas respeitaveis senhoras viraram direita e continuaram seguindo as bolas de sangue. Mamae ja estava preocupada— afina I de contas, ela é Mendes— quando sua pressao sanguinea subiu pra valer, pois as bolas de sangue cruzaram a rua, subiram as escadas e passaram para o outro lado da porta de entrada de nossa casa. Uma vez dentro da casa, ela nem precisou olhar para o chao. Atravessou a sala e foi direto ao quarto dos meninos. Minha irma Silvana falou da rapida e variada sucessdo de sentimentos. Primeiro, mamde é tomada pelo medo, ao ver as marcas subindo as escadas; depois, pelo nojo e a pena de ver o filho mais velho, Tatau, dormindo ern uma poca de vomito. Por ultimo, ao acender as luzes e pesquisar bem a situacao, mamae certamente entrou em grande confusdo: apesar do sangue acumulado ao lado da cama, o filho de dezoito anos ndo apresentava qualquer ferimento. Alias, dormia feito uma momia, e assim permaneceria por muitas horas manha adentro. 0 misted° continuava vivo para alguns dos presentes aquela reuniao precarnavalesca. "Mas, e as marcas de sangue?", perguntou minha prima Nilbe. Corn uma risada mal contida Silvana explicou que Marcelo Viana, outro Homo-sapiens, tinha percebido que Tatau se encontrava muito bebado no salao do Ideal Clube e precisava de urn born banho frio. Para Marcelo, a agua suja da fonte da Praca Oswaldo Costa era a solucao. Mas o Born Samaritano se deu mal corn urn caco de garrafa, que lhe cortou o pe no fundo da fonte. Como Marcelo tambern era chegado ao "me", naquela noite encontrava-se anestesiado demais para notar qualquer coisa estranha consigo mesmo. SO assim pode dar continuidade ao seu projeto humanitario, e quase matar d. Lucci Prado Mendes Borim de pavor. Nenhum show da Terra, nao importando se é born ou se é ruim, deixa de ver, um dia, o seu prOprio fim. Mais uma Quarta-Feira de Cinzas, entao, chegou como sempre chegava: trazendo fadiga e ressaca. Entre outras mudancas, era hora de voltar para o trabalho e para os estudos. Parentes, amigos e amantes se despediam sem muita alegria, vigor ou poesia. 0 silencio profundo desde as sete da manha era costumeiro, enquanto o sol naquele dia nacional da dor-de-cabeca seguia seu curso normal. Boa parte do comercio permaneceria fechada ate o meio-dia. De repente, "Dleng, dleng, dleng...," mas poucos seres adormecidos sequer tinham ouvido os quatro imensos sinos da Igreja Matriz marcando presenca em todas as casas e anunciando que eram 32

extravaganza involving my brother and me (apart from our most agitated friends). At a certain point, Jose COdo, my future brother-in-law, recalled the day Mom and her sister Guida were going home after spending some time at the Ideal Club. In their late forties, they usually felt they were too old to dance, but they had a particular interest in watching the costume contests and laughing at the widespread silliness throughout the ballroom. The two ladies were walking through Oswaldo Costa, the town's central square. With loud music echoing through her ears, Mom noticed bloodstains on the sidewalk. She and Guida turned the next corner, so did the spots. One block ahead the ladies turned right again they were following the smears. Mom was getting worried. By the middle of the block, she was on the verge of panicking: the bloodstains went marching up our steps and through our door. Inside the house she didn't need to look down at the floor; she went straight to the room of the teenagers, my brother and I. A couple of years later my sister Silvana spoke of the variety of feelings Morn must have gone through: first, dread at the door; then, pity and disgust at the sight of her older son sleeping in a mass of vomit. At last, Mom was in utter bafflement, for she could see very clearly that her seventeenyear-old was not hurt at all. Mother would be puzzled till the next day, since her son had turned into a mummy and would re, main one for quite a few hours. To those on the porch who hadn't ever heard the end of the tale, the mystery was still buried. "But what about the bloodstains?," my cousin Nilbe wondered aloud. After a short grin Silvana explained that Marcelo Vianna, another Neanderthal, had thought Tatau was too drunk to be left alone at the club. Trying to be a Good Samaritan, Marcelo decided to give him a cold bath in the central square fountain. The "good boy" ended up cutting, very deeply, his own foot on the bottom of the pool. Rather wasted himself, Marcelo didn't perceive his injury. He carried out his humanitarian deed by delivering the sick and, as we knew it, almost scaring Mom to death. No show, however good or bad, may go on entertaining us forever. So, it had been a typically quiet Ash Wednesday morning in 1976. Ash Wednesdays bring about fatigue and are normally the most depressing day of the year in Brazil. People realize they have to go back to work and school, and siblings, friends and lovers part. The moveable and renewable fantasy of Carnaval is doomed to turn into crude reality for another year, without as much fun, energy or poetic adventure. Traditionally a national hangover day, the sun was up but the air was now toned down due to the extravaganza of the night before. It was only ten o'clock, businesses remaining closed till noon at least. All of a sudden, "dleeng, dleeng, dleeng," there came rattling the mighty church. The unrelenting clangs knew no challengers. The four bells entered everyone's home. They trespassed people's privacy as though all of us were Catholic, as if one tenth of the sleeping Christian or pagan souls ever cared about religion on the day after such profane rioting. "What are these goddamn bells ringing for?," maybe hundreds of people—especially the town visitors—were asking themselves at that very moment. BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

dez horas. Por certo nao faltou quem praguejasse aquela After the a noying twangs, four loudspeakers played some invasAo de lares catOlicos e no catellicos. annoying son about angels and shepherds. Then a sober voice Logo a seguir ecoou, por toda a cidade, uma cancao falando broke out: de anjos e pastores, seguida de um vozeirAo: "Announc ment. Dr. Felix Moreira, an optician from "Anuncio. 0 Dr. Felix, oftalmologista de Varginha, estara Varginha, wil be attending in Paraguacu...." atendendo a populacao de nossa cidade nesta quinta-feira..." Another t o or three ads, news on church- or bureaucratic Vieram outros tress ou quatro anOncios de propaganda e de affairs, and s me loud music reached the remotest ends of servicos da Igreja, ate que uma pausa se instaurou. Mas durou town. The ton had radically changed: pouco, pois outra melodia logo alcancava os cantos mais "Ave Ma ia, blah, blah, blah...." I wondered if Franz remotos da cidade. Desta feita o torn era bem mais Ifigubre: Schubert wou d have finished this composition had he known "Ave Maria, bla, bla, bla..." that so many eople would curse his music one hundred years Teria Franz Schubert terminado sua famosa peca sacra se later in the tr pics! soubesse que ela seria recebida nos Tropicos corn tantos When so e folks had finally managed to go back to sleep, palavroes? thanks to the s othing Austrian mourning aria, they were rudely Quando alguns folioes já tinham conseguido retornar ao awakened ag in. After the music, the loudspeakers' message sono, apesar do encanto melOdico daquela obra classica, voltou returned: o vozeirao no alto-falante da Igreja Matriz: "We regr t to announce the death of Sr. Joao de Deus, "E corn grande pesar que anupciamos o falecimento do sr. whose corpse as been veiled at...." It was just unfair, a case, Joao de Deus, cujo corpo esta sendo velado a rua..." perhaps, oft! vine injustice. Paraguacu didn't have a radio Para alguns revoltados, aquilo soava como um caso de station and th burden of such news and ads had to fall on the injustica divina. Paraguay.' nao tinha uma estacao de radio, e a unhappy reve ers and worn-out lovers alone! But maybe it was culpa recaia sobre os ombros — digo, os ouvidos — de God' swords ut there, opening people's minds with a sad tune. infelizes bebuns e mocinhas namoradeiras. Mas, talvez fosse a His message as, after all, rather realistic: voz de Deus abrindo alas, ao som de um aria triste. Sua "Watch o t, wild folks. Satan, that hides behind all that mensagem, era, afinal, deveras realista: samba, all tha cigarette, and all that devilish rum-like cachaca, "Cuidado, galera! 0 diabo do samba, do cigarro e da also kills. A d there is much more about living than just cachaca tambem mata. E nem tudo é Carnaval". Carnaval." "Deus e o diabo na terra do Carnaval," was excerpted from Paisagens Humanas ( araguacu, Minas Gerais: Editora Papiro, 2002). This book was launched in Paragu cu and Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, last December. Dario Borim, the author, is a storyteller with an M.A. degree in Creative Writing a d a Ph.D. in Brazilian Literature from the University of Minnesota. He teaches at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. You may re ch him and get information on how to obtain the book through his e-mail, dborimumassd.edu

A EDGARD() QUINT ILLA, Es ATTORNEY AT LAW/ABOGA 0/ADVOGAD9 MEMBER, STATE BAR 0 CALIFORNIA

(818) 986-1295 IMMIGRATION MATTERS BUSINESS VISAS DEPORTATION DEFENSE DIVORCES SAN FERNANDO VALLEY, CALIFORNIA BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

What Portuguese Is This? In Brazil there is almost a total ignorance about the mother nation. After a Portuguese rock group performed in Rio, a Brazilian commented: "It was OK, but I couldn't understand a word." A package of Portuguese films sent to celebrate Brazil's 500 years could only be shown to Brazilians with subtitles. RAY VOGENSEN

As an American married to a Brazilian, with two Brazilian children, and with 17 years experience with Bra-. zilian Portuguese (BP), coming to Portugal and trying to adapt to the Continental variety of Portuguese (CP) was not easy at first. I think that if I had not known any other variety of the language, in effect coming with a clean slate, the period of linguistic adaptation would have been smoother. When we first arrived in Porto it was very difficult to understand the people. They could understand us but the opposite was not true. Now that we have been here for nine years, going on ten, the language presents less of a problem, and communication is not so labored. As in most language learning situations we tend to struggle with the less educated. This of course is because as teachers we have most of our contact with middle-class people with some schooling, who speak a standard form of the language. Knowing Brazilian Portuguese was help and a hindrance when we arrived in Portugal. On the one hand, most of the arduous process of learning the local language was facilitated and we could communicate from the first day on. On the other hand, the knowledge of the other linguistic variety impededthe learning process in many ways. Prejudices about the supposed attractiveness and even superiority of Brazilian Portuguese made it harder to accept Continental Portuguese. Many Portuguese themselves say that the sounds of Brazilian Portuguese are more melodious and softer than Continental Portuguese. Another problem is that the Brazilian Portuguese speaker has no, or almost no contact with Continental Portuguese. Outside the restricted world of the Portuguese colony in Rio and sao Paulo, with its clubs and codfish dinners, Brazilians have no experience of what Continental Portuguese sounds like. Even the Portuguese who have lived in Brazil for a certain period of time soon lose their accent and do their best to blend in with the local culture. This rarely occurs with the Brazilian in Portugal. Perhaps this blending in Brazil was because the Portuguese immigrants were looked upon as ignorant and backward, despite their economic success. The his-

torical idea of what a Portuguese was like has never been a positive one in Brazil. In fact, most of the jokes told are about the Portuguese. The prejudice and ignorance can be shocking at times, if one is Portuguese. One student of mine was told he had such an interesting conversation that he didn't even seem to be Portuguese. In a situation in which no cultural input from Portugal enters Brazil, there is almost a total ignorance about the mother nation. Portuguese singers have never even tried to penetrate the Brazilian market. Recently a Portuguese rock group performed live at a rock concert in Rio. The Portuguese television reporter interviewed several young people and asked them what they thought about the music. The first comment was that it sounded ok but they couldn't understand a word. Only with Subtitles Portuguese television and films have likewise never been shown in Brazil, outside a few art cinemas in Rio or Sao Paulo. A recent package of Portuguese films was sent to be shown during the celebrations commemorating the discovery of Brazil. It was decided that the films could only be shown with subtitles. The Continental Portuguese language is almost never heard in Brazil, especially in the interior. A student of mine, when visiting a small town in Brazil, was asked if she was speaking Italian. Brazilian women who went to a women's congress in Moscow in the early sixties, before the revolution of 1964, said that when the delegates' words were being translated into Continental Portuguese on their headphones, they had to switch to a Spanish translation to understand. Surely the same would not happen with Spanish from Spain and Mexican Spanish, or even with American and British Englishâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;although dialects like Geordie or Scouse can be unintelligible for Americans. But they are dialects; here we are talking about standard varieties. When the Brazilian arrives in Portugal he encounters two types of reactions to his Portuguese. There are those who think he has a "nice" accent and enjoy listening to it. There are also those who seem to resent the fact that a different type of Portuguese is being spoken, and more so in Brazilâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a country that most people in the world today identify with the Portuguese language. A Portuguese student ofmine resented the fact that in Paris, on a sightseeing bus, the symbol for the Portuguese language was the Brazilian flag and the narration of the tour was in Brazilian Portuguese. Ironically this is in a city with close to BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

half a million Portuguese immigrants. Obviously they don't go on sightseeing tours. Children, adolescents, and simple working people, be they villagers or city folk, are very accepting of Brazilian Portuguese. They watch soap operas from Brazil, listen to Brazilian singers like Daniela Mercury, Gal Costa etc. and generally accept the different accent and vocabulary. The problem arises with more educated older people, usually those who have gone to university or are at university. We have seen that negative language attitudes towards Brazilian Portuguese come from the middle class. Stop this Rebellion The comments made about Brazilian Portuguese are always the same. The mother tongue is Continental Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese speakers should not persist in their linguistic rebellion. Centuries of separation from the mother country are not taken into consideration. Brazilian children who enter the Portuguese school system see their writing covered with red marks, with every Brazilian Portuguese word or spelling singled out for correction. They either learn the Portuguese way or fail. There is no such thing as linguistic diversity or multicultural education in Portugal. All immigrants must adapt to the standard or risk failure. As most of the articles or books required for university'studies are written in foreign languages—nine times out often in English—and not in Continental Portuguese (the market is too small for translation) the students either have to read in the foreign language, pay someone to translate it, or heaven forbid, read a translation made in Brazilian Portuguese. The negative reaction to the reading of these academic articles and books in Brazilian Portuguese is almost pathological. "The Brazilians don't know how to translate." "The Portuguese is all wrong." "We prefer to struggle with English than have to read in a Brazilian translation." Ignorance? Yes, a lot of it does stem from total ignorance of linguistics. But there is also the possibility of nationalistic pride and that same inferiority complex that makes the Portuguese so negative about Spain. "Spanish food is terrible," or "the Spanish language is harsh and ugly." The fact that Brazilians have translated such articles and books, and the Portuguese haven't, wounds their nationalistic pride. They forget that the Brazilian market is so much larger—with hundreds of universities compared to Portugal's dozens—and it is logical that the publishers would have a translation in Brazilian Portuguese. The solution for all of this is of course for Portugal to try to make Brazilians more aware of their modern culture, including the language. I don't think the two languages will come closer together in the near future though. Certainly it won't occur by way of government fiat. As long as Brazil remains so far away, with much more in common with its Latin American neighbors, and with the United States, Portugal and Brazil will not be close linguistically or culturally. The force of Brazilian culture is much stronger because it comes with economic clout and the reality of having over one hundred and sixty million people versus ten million. In the future there will be much more infiltration of Brazilian Portuguese because of music, television, and immigration. Perhaps with a strong Portuguese presence in the Brazilian economy— supermarkets, electricity, banks, and cellular telephones—there might be an accompanying cultural and linguistic input, but this is yet to be seen. The Portuguese companies that have acquired a position in the Brazilian economy will most likely do everything they can to blend in and appear to be Brazilian.

The Samba and the fib The attachment to the Portuguese language among Brazilians is more related to the fact that it makes them stand out from their Spanishspeaking neighbors. Despite the obvious connections, one can say that the average Brazilian cares little for Portugal. JOHN FITZPATRICK A recent Brazzil article featured an extremely interesting article by Ray Vogensen on the differences between the Portuguese spoken in Brazil and in Portugal itself. I would like to complement this by adding a few brief personal comments on the rather ambiguous relationship between Brazil and its so-called mother country. On September 7, 1822, Dom Pedro! made his famous declaration of independence: "Independencia ou morte" (Independence or death) during a visit to Sao Paulo. On December 1, he was officially crowned Emperor of Braziland three years later, after much bloodshed, Portugal was forced to recognize Brazil's

Ray Vogensen was born in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. He lived in Brazil for 17 years and then moval to Portugal where he has been living for 10 years. You can visit his Portuguese Culture Web site - www.portcult.com — which includes several topics related to Portugal and the Portuguese language. He welcomes comments at portcult(&hotmail.com BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

Independence or Death 35

independence. Not only did the Portu- related to the fact that it makes them guese lose the jewel in the crown of their stand out from their Spanish-speaking empire but they also lost most of their neighbors rather than any innate love for economic influence in Brazil, to the Brit- Portugal. In fact, had history developed differently, Portuguese may not have been ish. Since then, the Portuguese influence the language spoken by Brazilians at all. In the early I 9th century, Portuguese has remained, principally in terms of language, religion and architecture. In was only spoken in the Northeast, with a some places you still find beautiful colo- variant of the Tupi Indian language sponial-style buildings and churches and ken elsewhere. The gold rush, which since names like da Silva, dos Santos, brought in more Europeans and African Nascimento, Mello etc. are common, this slaves and led to the opening of the inteinfluence will remain for as long as Bra- rior changed this'. While the Portuguese language eventually linked all of Brazil, zil remains. A special relationship undeniably still unfortunately it led to the suppression of exists, formally and informally. For ex- native languages, like Guarani, which ample, Portuguese citizens enjoy privi- thrive in places like Paraguay. Overall, Portugal's links with Brazil leges under the Constitution denied to are much weaker than those which Britother foreigners. Relations at government level are good and there is a con- ain still has with, say, Canada, Australia, stant coming and going of political lead- New Zealand, South Africa and other ers. If you have ever had the misfortune former colonies, including the U.S.. In to attend a ceremony between represen- political terms, for example, there is no tatives ofeither country atwhich speeches Portuguese equivalent of the Commonwere made, then you will have been ex- wealth, which still links virtually every posed to the gushy, sentimental myth of former British territory. Nowadays the Commonwealth even includes eternal Luso-Brazilian togetherness. There is a large Portuguese commu- Mozambique, an ex-Portuguese colony. Just Talk nity here and a large Brazilian commuOne often reads reports that a Portunity in Portugal. Portuguese have been coming here for 500 years so there are guese-speaking political group will be still many family links although not nearly formed but nothing ever comes of it. as close as at periods of mass immigration. Many Brazilians making their first visit to Europe stop off in Lisbon where they have, at least, the reassurance of a (more or less) common language. The language forms a strong bond with other Portuguesespeaking countries. A few months ago, I attended a concert in Sao Paulo at which the guest ofhonor was the recently-elected president of East Timor. The warmth of the reception he was given by the audience, most of which had probably never heard of East Timor until recently, was quite astonishing. One ofthe reasons for this admiration may have been the decision by the East Timor government to make Portuguese the official language. This was an odd decision, since most Timorese do not speak it and the country's nearest democratic neighbor is English-speaking Australia, which will probably be its big brother for a long, long time. However, I believe this attachment to the Portuguese language among Brazilians is more 36

Even if such a body were formed it would have little political or economic weight. Apart from Brazil and Portugal, the others are among the world's poorest states with only begging bowls to offer. In the 20th century, all the British territories voluntarily sent troops to fight alongside British forces in two world wars. It would be difficult to imagine Brazil sending forces to assist Portuguese forces in any armed conflict. Portugal fought the wars in its African colonies alone, even though the military was in charge of Brazil at that time. Brazil has actually helped clear up the mess left by Portugal's incompetent imperialism in Africa and Asia. Brazilian troops are currently in East Timor and have also acted as peace monitors in places like Angola and Mozambique, which collapsed into anarchy and barbarism after the Portuguese simply walked out in the mid-70s. So despite the obvious connections, I think one can fairly say that the average Brazilian cares little for Portugal. Let us start with one or two small examples. In his book The Brazilians, Joseph Page makes an interesting point when he says: "Brazilian municipalities named after Portuguese cities and towns are exceedingly rare." Most places in Brazil seem to be indigenous Indian names (Ipiranga, where Dom Pedro declared independence or death), have religious origins (Sao Paulo) or were named after geographical features by practically-minded sailors or travelers (Rio de Janeiro, Porto Seguro etc.) or heroes (Benjamin Constant). There is, indeed, a remarkable shortage of New Lisbons and New Portos. I noticed recently that a square in Sao Paulo called Praca Portugal had been recently defaced and someone had scrawled "This is Brazil" on the signpost. Another example of this resentment is that even today many Brazilians still express annoyance that the Portuguese sent criminals to Brazil as though the country was a dustbin for Portuguese rubbish. Brazilians also believe that the Portuguese looted Brazil of its gold, which was sent to Lisbon but ended up in London since Portugal was indebted to the English. Less seriously, the Portuguese are the butts of a million jokes and, in an untypically cruel jest for the easygoing Brazilian, a Portuguese woman is always said to have a moustache. BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

I think the reason for this lack of respect and, at times, hostility to Portugal lies in the fact that Portugal, like Spain, exploited rather than developed its overseas territories. Of course, all imperialist powers have exploited the lands and peoples they conquered but the Iberians seem to have been particularly ruthless and, as a result, left little good will in their former colonies. The Portuguese seem to have been particularly inept. The east Timorese are just the latest example of a people being abandoned by their socalled protectors even though technically they were Portuguese citizens living in what were supposed to be parts of Portugal overseas. The same happened to the inhabitants of Goa when India annexed it in the 60s although fortunately the Indians treated the locals more humanely than the Indonesians did the Timorese. With the return of Macao to China in 1999, fortunately the age of Portuguese colonialism has ended and no other people, except the Portuguese themselves, will suffer their incompetent rule. Ingratitude and Arrogance

Portugal has also proved to be a poor role model, especially for Brazil. While Brazil was large, Portugal was small. While Brazil was rich, Portugal was poor. While Brazilians were developing the samba the Portuguese were listening to the gloomy fado. Portugal benefited not only in material terms from Brazil but also politically. In fact, it was the colony which came to the rescue of the mother country when the Portuguese court fled to Brazil to escape Napoleon's troops. The fact that most of the court eventually went back to Lisbon is seen by the Brazilians as a sign of ingratitude and arrogance. By refusing orders to return to Portugal, Dom Pedro I won the hearts of the Brazilians. His declaration of independence was, in fact, done in the spontaneous, cavalier manner of the true Brazilian as opposed to the mote cautious Portuguese. As E. Bradford Burns puts it: "Pedro unsheathed his sword right there on the bank of the lpiranga River and gave the cry "Independence or Death". One man, then, without the backing ofa congress or junta declared the independence of Latin America's largest nation. He left no formal, written document ofhis accomplishment. His declaration was solely verbal. In that solitary act, the personable prince accurately reflected public sentiment."' In more modern times, Portugal was one of the most backward countries in Europe and offered little to inspire BraBRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

zilians. Not only was it poor but, in places, primitive. I recall visiting northern Portugal as recently as 12 years ago and seeing wagons pulled by oxen. A trip from Porto to Braganca became a nightmare after a sudden storm flooded the poorly constructed main road and equired a massive detour. Lisbon, at that time, with its faded beauty, and cram ed Alfama district around the sao Jo ge castle, its crippled black beggars, eminders of the defeats in Africa, had an almost medieval feel. It may sound like a clichĂŠ but on y first visit to Lisbon I felt I was in an African rather than a European city. E en when Brazilians visited other parts of Europe, such as France or Germany, y Portuguese they met were probably i migrants working as low-paid waiters or construction workers. The drab, bad-te pered concierge in Paris was typicall a Portuguese woman.' Portugal's small size could not c e with a place as immense as Brazil. Th re were never enough soldiers or coloniz rs to penetrate it in depth. The Portugu se were always in a minority, outnumbe d by native Indians or imported black slaves. In 1822, for example, the population of Brazil amounted to around three million, of whom one-third were slaves, a quarter Indians and most of the rest of mixed raceÂ°. Since enslaved Indians and Africans were named after their owners this gives a false impression of the Portuguese nfluence, since most had no Portugu se blood. At the same time, intermixi g with Africans and Indians resulted i a huge mixed-race population, which, o ce again, had Portuguese names. Until t e mass immigration of the late 19th cent ry and early 20'h century the population of Brazil was overwhelmingly ofmixed ra e. Even the most recent census showed t at around 45 percent of the people said th y were of mixed race. The result of this is that a Brazilian bearing the most tra 1tional Portuguese name can easily ha e no idea about Portugal or affinity with i As well as being outnumbered phy cally by the Indians and blacks, the Pi rtuguese culture absorbed native and frican elements. Since the population as mainly of mixed race it adopted the 1 nguages and traditions of the three m in groups. In terms of coping with the en ironment the Indian element was ob ously the most reliable. It is interesting to note that the Brazilian national di h, feijoada, combines inferior cuts of m at destined for slaves with farinha, a coa se floury accompaniment made fr m

mandioca (manioc), a staple food of the

Indians. African Legacy

Whereas the Portuguese have tended to be rather self-effacing and introverted, the Brazilian became the opposite, thanks to the African influence. The slaves may have lost their names and languages, but they kept many of their cultural and religious traditions. Their dancing and singing helped create the culture, which the whole world recognizes as uniquely Brazilian. In religious terms as well, the Africans combined their traditional beliefs with Catholicism to such an extent that many white Brazilians adopted them. I have twice welcomed in the New Year by walking into the sea and throwing flowers on the waves accompanied by hundreds of others, of all races, everyone dressed in white, all of us enacting a ritual the slaves brought from their African homeland. Finally, I would like to stress that the point of this article is not to downplay the Portuguese contribution to the development of Brazil in any way but one cannot stop wondering how this continental-sized country would have developed had other powers been the colonizers. 1 Historia do Brasil, Jorge Caldeira 2 A History of Brazil, E. Bradford Burns 3 Having said that, in recent years Portugal has grown richer, thanks to the return of democracy and its membership of the European Union, and Portuguese businesses have started investing once again in Brazil. 4 Historia do Brasil, Jorge Caldeira 5 (I cannot let this point go without recalling an incident in Bruce Chatwin's book In Patagonia where he meets a redhaired Argentinean gaucho called Robbie Ross who announces that he is Scottish but has absolutely no idea about his Scottish roots. As Chatwin puts its rather plaintively: "He peered at me with milky blue eyes, feeling out affinities of race and background with a mixture of curiosity and pain.") John Fitzpatrick is a Scottish journalist who first visited Brazil in 1987 and has lived in Sao Paulo since 1995. He writes on politics and finance and runs his own company, Celtic Comunicacoes-www.celt.com.br, which specializes in editorial and translation services for Brazilian and foreign clients. You can reach him at if(&,celt.com.br 37

How Brazil Wooed Me I pictured myself living in Sao Paulo and I was comfortable with that. However, my indecisiveness started as I talked to other people who regarded it as a crazy move to a violent Third World country. STEVEN ROZENGAUZ

Over the course of the few months that I have lived in Sao Paulo, I have had to explain my reasons for choosing to move to this country countless dozens of times. To some Brazilians the fact that I visited Brazil, liked it and wanted to move here, usually does not sound convincing enough. As if the truth were not interesting enough, I sometimes get the feeling that it would be best to make up a more dramatic story. This whole scenario has given me ample time to think of the real reason that I decided to move here without a job or a place to live while knowing only one person in Sao Paulo. What follows is the story of how I fell in love with Brazil, in abbreviated form. The most beautiful language in the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Brazilian Portuguese My first introduction to the language of Brazil, came in the form of a Brazilian telenovela,Tropicaliente. One winter wh i le working as an executive search consultant in the snowy and dark capital of Russia, Moscow, I used to jealously watch the drama which would unfold nightly between the daughter from a poor fishing family and the son of a rich industrialist, their romantic passions played out on the sunny, tropical beaches of Bahia. While the gorgeous scenery and the lack of clothes made a permanent impression on my sun-starved psyche, it was the Portuguese language which was interspersed with the dubbed Russian translation, which convinced me that this was the most beautiful, sensual language I had ever heard. I was determined to one day learn it. For someone who had studied numerous languages, and even managed to master a couple of them, I was certain that someday this dream would become reality. Several years and careers later, I finally got my chance to learn the mysteriously beautiful language while working in Los Angeles for a major film studio. I started learning from scratch BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

and loved this language unlike any other, the pronunciation was a bit difficult, but my previous knowledge of Latin, French, Spanish and Italian helped my efforts tremendously. I never had trouble speaking any of the languages I studied and Portuguese was no exception. I mercilessly butchered the language and spoke a strange mixture of Spanish and Portuguese, most people taking me for an Argentinean or an odd Italian. I began earnestly planning a trip to Brazil, a travel adventure which would perhaps include a chance to study the language in the country. Brazil—here I come!!! While studying the language and trying to figure out where to go and what to see, I realized there was no way! could come to Brazil for one or even two weeks, the country was vast with so many exciting and interesting places, from the Amazon to the architectural marvels created by Niemeyer in Brasilia, to the beaches of Rio and Bahia and the wetlands teeming with life in the Pantanal. I knew I had to have more time to travel and also study the language. After much thought and internal turmoil, I decided to quit my dead-end job and take the time to study Portuguese, travel and see if I would like to live and work in Brazil. I planned a flexible trip, which would include visits to Rio, Sao Paulo, Belem, Cuiaba, Fortaleza and a two-week language study in Salvador, state of Bahia. Rio de Janeiro The very first stop on my trip would be to the beaches and postcard beautiful splendors of Rio. I arrived at the end of August, but Rio was not exactly what I expected. I had arranged to spend the first night in Brazil at the home of a friend from LA. Julian, my friend's dad, was a sprightly 75-year old who had arrived in Brazil over fifty years ago from Barcelona. Amazingly enough, although Julian had a successful career in Brazil and was now retired, he did not speak Portuguese and we spent the first day sightseeing while I got to practice my now rusty Spanish. As Julian's house and car were robbed many times, he advised me to be very careful. I took his advice to heart and left all of my valuables at the house and carefully placed my money inside my underwear (since I did not bring a money wallet) and spent the entire first day walking nervously around the city and being embarrassed when it came time to pay for something as I had to remove my now sweaty money from somewhere deep in my shorts. That first day in Rio was very overcast, there was no one on the beach, the city looked dirty and needless to say I was very disappointed. This was not the Brazil I imagined. Where were those sun-seeking beachgoers wearing tiny bikinis, where were the football and volleyball players, the music, the romance, the girls of lpanema? Day two however was much better, as I moved to a small hotel in Copacabana with a friend of mine who arrived from the US. We visited the Christ the Redeemer monument, Sugarloaf Mountain and various other tourist spots and night spots in the city, ate great food, and drank coconut water on the beach. As the weekend came and the clouds parted, hordes of Cariocas flocked to the beaches. Here finally was the Rio I always imagined, the city with the most interesting people watching, where the beach is never dull and is filled with exotic characters from all walks of life. My week's stay passed quickly and I really grew to love Rio, the most memorable moments being the sunset view from Sugar Loaf and the long walks down Copacabana Beach at twilight. Salvador Through an American website I had found a school in BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

Salvador, whic would provide four hours of Portuguese instruction per ay and also arrange a stay with a Brazilian family. I had he rd so many great things about Salvador that I thought it woul be a great place to study Portuguese because of its baroque istorical town center, the proximity of great beaches, its fas mating cuisine and its unique contributions to Brazil's cultural iversity in the forms of Bahian music, capoeira and candomble. I lived with very friendly family in the heart of Barra; all of the children h d grown up and the parents rented their rooms to students fro the language school. Every morning, I would be treated to a h ge breakfast feast, which included fresh juices, toasted sandwic es, several kinds of fruit, cake, eggs and lots of other delicio s hot foods, a far cry from a similar family! lived with in Lis on where the breakfast consisted of a roll and cereal—the sa e exact thing every day. Besides the arents, the cast of characters included a lot of friendly relative and neighbors and there was the ever-visible maid, whom ev ryone called Negra (as I came to learn, this is a term of affecti n in Bahia). She was about 25 years old and went to night sc ool as she had dropped out of school at an early age. It took me while to figure out that the maid had actually lived with us as I never saw her at night. Those sever I weeks spent in Salvador were truly unforgettable. My lang ge class had four other students, they were from Switzerla , France and Japan. We all got along really well and our aft -class routine involved eating lunch at a great vegetarian por- ilo (by-the-kg) restaurant, which would be followed by la sunning and swimming at Barra beach; then we would head ome for a nap after which we would meet up again at night an go out for dinner, drinks, music and dancing. It was in Sal ador that I became addicted to acai, the great Brazilian invent on full of vitamins, nutrients and calories, an acquired taste w ich looks like purple mud. There is one place in Salvador whi h is said to have the best acai in town, it is located near Bar a Shopping where they make a great big bowl of the stuff and dd guarand, banana, raisins and granola. Tuesday fig ts in Salvador are especially interesting as a lot of the locals nd visitors head to Pelourinho, the historical heart of the city t see performances by percussion groups such as the famous 01 dum as well as many other bands that play in the city's bars d restaurants and musical groups that start practicing for C rnaval. The impres ive Baroque architecture of the churches, squares and buil • ings all date from the time when Salvador was the country's ca ital during the colonial period. The weekends in Salvador were spent visiting the gorgeous beaches, which were adjacent to he city as well as the beautiful island of Morro de Sao Paulo. he island is an idyllic paradise, which is surrounded by g rgeous aquamarine waters and palm-strewn beaches, where he hotels are sophisticated shacks with electricity and air co ditioning. As I was st ing in Brazil longer than one month on a student visa, I ha to be registered at the Federal Police station in Salvador. A er putting off this task numerous times, I decided to take are of it once and for all on what seemed like a Tuesday unlike any other, September 11, 2001. My Brazilian host mother took me to the police station in the morning. While filling out a ye long application form in the department for foreigners, getti g pictures taken and waiting to be finger printed, I was wa ching a small black and white television in the waiting area. There was n sound coming from the TV, but the picture was now showin CNN with a shot of the World Trade Center on fire. I had und rstood that a plane had crashed into one of the 39

towers but would not learn that it was a terrorist attack until much later in the day. This event had a profound effect on me, it was very strange to be an American and to be outside the US during such a difficult time especially as I had grown up in New York and my family and friends still lived there. It made me want to go back to the US and I was questioning my decision to want to move to Brazil. After almost three weeks in Bahia, I said goodbye to my Brazilian family and friends in Salvador and headed North. Fortaleza Next stop on my Brazilian journey took me to the capital of the state of Ceara, Fortaleza. A friend of mine recommended it highly and said that the beaches surrounding the city were some of the most beautiful in Brazil. In fact the beaches were very impressive, some of the most beautiful landscapes I had ever seen were in Ceara. The gorgeous sand dunes of Praia Lagoinha, the multi-colored sand of Canoa Quebrada and Morro Branco, the moon-like landscape of the dry serra, which surrounds one of most beautiful and also the poorest states in Brazil. The people here spoke Portuguese with a funny accent, which added even more color to the place. Visiting one of the beaches with a group of Brazilian tourists from Sao Paulo and Santa Catarina, we all went out forro dancing at night. Everyone was so friendly and as the token foreigner, they all made sure I was enjoying myself and tried to explain the nuances of the comedy show which preceded the dancing. My next stop was at the biggest waterfalls in the world, Foz de Iguacu. Foz de Num' This truly is one of the wonders of the world. The most beautiful waterfalls, which are surrounded by a rainforest teeming with lots of fauna and flora. In fact, Iguacu, has numerous waterfalls and is located on the border between Argentina and Brazil. The Argentineans and Brazilians are constantly arguing about which side of the falls is more beautiful, what is even more interesting about this senseless debate is that while standing in Brazil, you are actually looking at the Argentinean side and vice versa. The falls are quite breathtaking and I spent a lot of time looking in the rain, the sunshine and the moonlight. Among the many interesting creatures which inhabit the forest such as toucans and giant butterflies is a furry little critter called coati, a South American version of a raccoon, which digs around garbage cans for food. Cuiaba I had always dreamt of going to the Amazon, but my guidebook and several friends suggested that I instead go to Cuiaba, state of Mato Grosso, and arrange a trip from there to the Pantanal, a wetland which has many rare species of animals such as the anaconda, jaguar, marsh deer, cayman, as well as lots of birds, and fish such as the piranha. The Pantanal is a national park where most of the land is privately owned by cattle ranchers. The Transpantaneira, the only road in the Pantanal, is made of dirt and traverses only half of the territory and includes about 160 bridges made of wooden planks. Lots of tourists come to Cuiaba to arrange tours to the Pantanal. There are many unscrupulous guides operating in the city and you have to be very careful in hiring a good guide as I luckily found out before choosing one. My trip to the Pantanal lasted three days and included stays in fazendas along the way. We saw lots of animals and birds such as the endangered blue hyacinth macaw, which lives in groups in tall trees. The trip included piranha fishing, horseback riding in the forest, and waking up very early to look at animal life by canoe along the banks of the river. A newly created private park called the Jaguar Reserve was

started by an Ametican environmental group and Brazilian cattle ranchers who are turning their farms into eco-tourism stations. This area has the highest rate for spotting jaguars, one out of every two people see one. This has to be done at night as jaguars are nocturnal. Sao Paulo After hearing horror stories from Brazilians in other cities about Sao Paulo, I was pleasantly surprised to find the city to my liking. It was certainly huge and spread out over a large area, very chaotic with a frenetic pace sort of like New York on speed. However what the city lacked in utter charm and grace, it certainly made up for in sophistication, especially when compared to the other cities in Brazil. I loved the incredible restaurants, great contemporary art museums such as MASP, MAM, MAC, Pinacoteca, interesting shopping, the variety of cultural events and the hip nightlife. Upon my arrival in Brazil I had arranged some informational interviews in the city, but since my change of heart after September 11th, I was unsure if! wanted to move to Brazil. However, I still decided to meet with people and discuss potential job opportunities. According to these contacts with my previous experience and language skills, I would be able to find a good position. All I had to do now was make a decision about moving heref After a week spent enjoying the various sights of the city, my two month Brazilian odyssey came to an end. Postscript I was really looking forward to going back to the US and felt that! had experienced enough of Brazil. What I found in the US though, did not agree with me. Los Angeles is usually a very happy-go-lucky city, people think about the beach and the sun, about hiking in the mountains and about barbeques. The city was really affected by the terrorist bombings in New York and Washington. There was a general feeling of gloom and doom, the entertainment industry had laid off workers as the recession worsened and most companies had put a freeze on hiring and salary increases. I really missed Brazil and wanted to go back immediately. Things that I missed about LA did nothing for me and I spent several months trying to figure out what I wanted to do and where I wanted to do it. Deep in my heart, I knew that I wanted the challenge and the excitement of living and working in Brazil, but the idea sounded preposterous and scary. I pictured myself living in Sao Paulo and I was comfortable with that. However, my indecisiveness started as I talked to other people who regarded it as a crazy move to a violent Third World country. I decided that I would make up my mind somewhere around the holiday season which starts with Thanksgiving and ends with the New Year. Well all the holidays came and went, my indecisiveness and anxiety grew, and I was not even close to making my decision. Finally I just decided to give it a chance, thinking that if I did not make the move, I would always regret it and if I really did not like Brazil, ficould always come back. I decided to move right after Carnavat I proceeded to sell my car and my furniture, packed and stored most of my belongings and finally arrived in Sao Paulo on February 28. Ever since then, I have really enjoyed living here, it has been challenging at times, but I have not ever regretted making the move. Steve Rozengauz, 32 years old, has lived in Sao Paulo during the last 7 months and has worked as a consultant to the Russian-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce. He is currently launching a marketing company. E-mail: steveroz*hotmail.com BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

Globalization Squad The Landless Movement emerged in Brazil, and has developed into the most important social movement in the country. But the movement has been the target of a pervasive attack by the media, which misrepresents and often fabricates stories to mislead the Brazilian and international public. DAWN PLUMMER BETSY RANUM

AND

Talking at t e World Social Forum on January 24, in Porto Alegre, capital of Rio Grande do Sul, in Brazil, Pedro Stedile. the main lead r of the MST (Movimento dos Sem-Terra-Landless Mov ment) announced that he and his organization will continue irganizing the poor of the country to occupy unproductive I rge landed estates. "There was no important change in man ind that occurred without mobilization of the masses," he ar ued. According o Stedile, the MST struggle is not limited to agrarian refor anymore. From now on the Landless Movement leaders a d members intend to step up their rhetoric and actions against ultinationals and international capital, which they see as con rolling how the whole world eats and buys its products. All he capitalist-type, assistencialist reforms that have been mad don't work because they are not enough for the rural worker co trolling the land. This kind of reform does not change the exiting social relations. A peasant who owns 10 hectares of Ian • is still a slave. First, slave of his ideology. Second, slave •f his illusion." The MST I ader was applauded several times by 5,000 people and re eived a standing ovation at the end of his conference at t e sports gymnasium Gigantinho. The theme of the debate was and, Territory and Food Sovereignty. Stedi le showed how th struggle for land has developed in the last centuries, critic zed the socialist countries and pointed out how globalization a d giant agricultural conglomerates have altered tlie relati anship of land and foud production. Stec, ile talk .d with enthusiasm about some land occupation •projects being 4 eveloped in India. For him is fundamental that the agro indust be in the hands of the peasants. "That's why we've been wag ng a fierce war against Nestle, against Monsanto and all those w o want to have dominance over us." And he concluded: "Hu ger is not a problem of food production since there's food for everybody. Hunger is the result of production concentration i the hands of the multinationals." Poorest of oor To understa d the situation of today's landless in Brazil, it is important to nderstand the drastic changes in agriculture and agricultural policy that Brazil has undergone since 1965, when a military oup set in motion the economic and political model, which w uld persist through the turn ofthe 21st century, subordinating : razil to the interests of international finance capital, at the e pense of the Brazilian people, and moreover, the Brazilian p or. The poorest of the poor in Brazil historically have been 'as sem terra"—the landless. The term "landless" is the nick ame that has been given to the social class of rural workers in razil who work land without having title to it, whether they be tenant farmers, agricultural workers working on largefazend s, or plantations, cultivating crops for export, or migrant work rs. In total today there are 4.8 million landless rural workers in Brazil. During the period of the military dictatorship, from 1965 to 1984, a new model of agro-industrial development was fiercely pursued, the go I of which was the so-called "modernization" of Brazi lian agri ulture. During this time rural policies favored large-scale, exp rt-oriented production, to the detriment of small-scale, fam ly farming. During these years of"modernization," the Brazi ian countryside became the site of violent conflict, as soci economic inequalities in the rural areas became more extr me. Because the modernization model preserved the historic concentration o land in the hands of the very few and very privileged (Braz 1 being one of the only countries in the world that has never un ergone agrarian reform), the historic struggle over land was in ensified. Violent expulsion of working families from land ecame increasingly commonplace as local elites sought t • secure the interests of agribusiness and "progress" in the countryside. The result was the expropriation of millions of p asants and their families from rural areas in Brazil during th decades of the military dictatorship. , All of Brazili n society was profoundly affected. Between 1965 and 1985 Brazil went from being a 75 percent rural society to 75 per ent urban, as literally half of the population migrated towar. Brazilian cities in search of a better life, chasing promise of salaried work in the rapidly industrializing

BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003 41

urban centers. While some found viable work, many more did not, as the cities could not support the influx of unskilled workers brought on by the massive ruralurban exodus. For masses of migrants, rural poverty became urban misery. Today, Brazil is one of the most unequal societies on the planet, with 1 percent of landowners owning 44 percent of all Brazilian land. The legacy of the "modernization" plan of the 1960's and 70's has been not only the 4.8 million landless families in the Brazilian countryside, but also the sprawling favelas, or shantytowns, encircling every major Brazilian city, typically comprising anywhere from 25-50 percent of a city's total population. Genesis of the Movement According to Stedile, the MST was the result of the conjunction of three basic factors. First, the economic crisis of the late seventies put an end to the industrialization cycle in Brazil, which began in 1956. The second factor was the changing orientation of the Catholic Church, with the growing ferment of liberation theology. Says Stedile: "Before, the line had been: 'No need to worry, you'll have your land in heaven.' Now it was: 'Since you've already got land in heaven, let's struggle for it here as well." The third factor was the growing climate of struggle against the military dictatorship in the late seventies, which was transforming local labor conflicts into political battles against the government. During the late 1970s, land occupations began to spread throughout the South, the North and the Northeast. These occupations were clearly planned and organized by local activists, but they were uncoordinated on a national level; there were no connections between them. Simultaneously, from 1978 onwards, the - first major labor strikes during the military dictatorship began to take place in urban areas, stoking the climate of a newfound fearlessness ofthe government. The Rise of the MST It is out of this context that the MST emerged in Brazil, and has developed into the most important social movement in the country—indeed the largest social movement in Latin America—and one of the most successful land reform movements in the world. The movement is premised on the Land Statute in the Brazilian constitution: a set of laws that require that land in Brazil fulfill a "social function." According to federal law, land must either be cultivated for production or held for environmental preservation, and worked in compliance with labor and environmental regulations, or it is "illegal"—effectively outlawing holding large tracts of land for speculation. The Land Statute was the product of decades of popular pressure, and was finally enacted in 1965, a year after the military dictatorship seized control of the capitol. Though this Statute went to the root of land inequality, as MST leader Ubiraci

Stesko explains: "With the coup in 1964, the agrarian reform program was pigeonholed. The movements of the era and their leaders were assassinated, or exiled. From 1964 to around 1984, everything stood still; no settlements were made." In 1978 and 1979, sectors of the Catholic Church, in the tradition of liberation theology affirming the righteousness of the poor and dispossessed, began to organize landless workers through the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT). By 1984, with the federal government finally preparing to transition to an electoral democracy, the CPT and other segments of civil society began to discuss the need for an autonomous movement focused specifically on the struggle for land reform, which would unite isolated efforts that were erupting throughout the Brazilian countryside. In 1984, 1500 representatives from 16 of Brazil's 27 states met in Cascavel, Parana state, and thus was born the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, or MST—the Landless Rural Workers Movement. Organized under the banner of "land for those who work it," MST established three primary goals: 1) the immediate struggle for land for landless families through the non-violent occupation of unproductive land; 2) agrarian reform in Brazil defined not only by the redistribution of land but also policies that would develop and sustain rural families, and 3) a more just society. The movement began to develop an organizational structure that would make it possible to successfully mobilize landless workers to occupy and settle land according to the provisions set out in the Land Statute. But as one MST lawyer from the state of Pernambuco points out, "The movement did not begin with the law to fight for land. The movement began with the concrete necessity of workers for food, for work, for living conditions that are minimally dignified. New Challenges With the ongoing struggle, through non-violent land occupations and mass mobilizations, the MST has emerged as one of the most powerful players in the mounting global challenge to international financial institutions and their corporate agenda. By the time the Zapatistas took the international community by storm on January 1, 1994, the MST was commemorating ten years as an autonomous social movement, and had not only peacefully settled thousands of families throughout the country, but had continued to struggle for governMent-run schools and health clinics in these communities. 1996 marked the begidning of a new phase ofthe movement with the massacre of 19 members of the MST at Eldorado dos Carajas. This massacre represented a culmination of the persistent and escalating violence by local police, private militia and military toward rural workers. In response to the national impunity of such violence, the MST decided to take their

struggle to the international community. The National March for Justice, Employment and Land Reform was welcomed with the applause of more than 100,000 people in Brasilia on April 17, 1997, which was the one year anniversary of the massacre. Delegations of marchers came from all corners of the country in just over a month's time. The Campaign against impunity, which included these efforts, attracted the attention of human rights organizations worldwide, giving rise to a new Human Rights sector of the MST and significantly elevating the struggle for land in Brazil into international visibility. While violence in rural Brazil has yet to de-escalate, with over 1,000 rural workers killed in land conflicts since 1985, the massacre at Eldorado dos Cara* brought about a new sense of international solidarity with the MST, and with it an increased expectation of accountability on behalf of the federal government to respect human rights. Where decentralized violence on the local level becomes a less and less viable means to counteract MST's tactics, the federal government, large landowners and others with vested interests in unequal land distribution, developed other methods. Perhaps the most pervasive attack on the MST comes through the media, which misrepresents and often fabricates stories to mislead the Brazilian and international public. A more subtle form of attack experienced by the MST is through intelligence agencies and infiltration. The MST also suffered an economic blow with the removal of lines of credit accessible to small farmers. In April 1997, the World Bank together with Brazil's federal government approved a US$90 million pilot program, known as the Cedula da Terra or "Land Bank", which is designed as a free market alternative to land reform via expropriation. The plan was this: large landowners would sell land to the World Bank at its market value, and the World Bank would in turn grant loans to landless farmers, with which they would purchase these same lands. The catch? The "invisible hand" of the market gives powerful landowners incentive to sell only the most marginal territories—rocky, hilly land which is difficult to cultivate or otherwise develop. So landowners are in effect compensated for their socially irresponsible, illegal landholdings, which ultimately takes away the government's responsibility to its people. Meanwhile, the landless—the supposed beneficiaries of the project—are left strapped in debt. A pilot project reported that the majority of recipients of Land Bank loans did not even understand the terms of the loans granted. While the Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration (Brazil's President from 1994-2002) had insisted that the Land Bank was "a compliment to agrarian reform," critics suggest otherwise. "The World Bank started to do agrarian reform because if BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

they didn't, the social pressure would be too great," explains sociologist Janaine Souza from Brasilia. "If they initiate the process ofagrarian reform, they can claim that the process has already begun, and that 'you need to be patient until the process comes to completion.' So they finance [the Land Bank], not with the intention of true agrarian reform, but to maintain social order." As MST activist Gilberto Portes of Brasilia says: "We defend the World Bank's money for agrarian reform, but to put it where? Into settlements, infrastructure, education. Why? Because 70 percent of peasants in Brazil are illiterate. Why doesn't the World Bank put this money into literacy for them? Ifthat were the case, we would borrow and pay with no problem! 'It's not that the MST is against the World Bank's money. On the contrary, we're in favor of it, but to be applied transparently for social programs including health, education, production, agroindustry. But to use the public's money, or another country's money—including the American people's—to come to Brazil and put it toward large landowners and corruption? No way!' The MST's evaluation is that, in the end, free-marketers in support of intemational agro-business will claim that the Program failure is evidence of the economic inviability oftoday's family farms. In the meantime, the Land Bank pales in comparison to the overall improvements in standards of living on MST settlements brought about by MST education and literacy programs, health education, art and culture, courses and training in agricultural techniques, and access to credit and start-up capital through MST rural cooperatives. MST settlements have been recognized for their success and economic viability by parties that would be otherwise unsympathetic to the intentions of the MST—such as local business people and political leaders. Portes explains: "Agrarian reform settlements organized by the MST produce more than other settlements and have the best structure in Brazilian agriculture today. Why? Because we have developed a very strong process of internal agricultural cooperation. We educate peasants in a way that they learn how to organize production and survive in this exploitative economy at a level superior to others." "Let's globalize hope, let's globalize the struggle!" -Via Campesina slogan MST has located itselfas a key player in networks posing the greatest challenge to the current global economic order: the well-established worldwide network of peasants' movements Via Campesina, the Latin America Coordination of Rural Organizations (CLOC) and the so-called "anti-globalization" movement against corporate globalization and its 'free trade" economic agenda, manifesting itBRAZZIL -FEBRUARY 2003

self though protests from Seattle in l9'9 to Genoa in 2000, to Quebec City in 2001. The MST has also linked up w th efforts to organize working and p or people in the United States and Cana a called the Poor People's Economic uman Rights Campaign spearheaded my the Philadelphia-based Kensington W 1fare Rights Union. The MST ev n marched in the 400-mile March of t e Americas in 1999 from Washington, I C to the United Nations in New York p otesting poverty as a human rights vio ation across-the continent. The MST has also been at the fo efront in organizing the World Social orum (WSF), which, different from t e World Economic Forum, which gath rs the world's economic and political le ders each year in Davos, Switzerland, ga hers social movements, community grou I S. non-governmental organizatio s (NG0s), academics and activists to d scuss alternative strategies to toda 's neoliberal globalization. Under the sl gan "Another World Is Possible," t e WSF has gathered for one week in Jan ary in 2000 and 2001 and again fr January 23-28, 2003 in Porto Aleg e, Brazil. Today, MST is at the forefront oft e hemispheric—indeed international ffort to stop the passage of the Free Tra re Area of the Americas (FTAA), a tra e agreement binding 35 of 36 countries n the Western Hemisphere (excepti g Cuba) under the dogma ofneo-liberali in a replica ofNAFTA that would exte d to include 800 million people under t e largest trade agreement in world histo At the anti-FTAA protest in Queb c City in April 2001, MST was hard o miss: from the picnic members held t gether with the notorious Jose Boyd (if the French farmers group Confëdératim n Paysanne denouncing GMO's (gene 1cally-modified organisms), to the o stage performance of MST songs sho ing that theirs is as much as anything a cultural movement, MST demonstrat d itself as a leader in the fight against t e FTAA. As awareness builds in the "dev loped" world around issues of food safe and organic foods, MST's critique f conventional agricultural production cu s through hype and goes straight to t e heart ofthe issue. For members of MS , "organic" food is not a luxury or a flas y marketing gimmick, but a necessity fir the health of farmers and the over II human population, the ensur d sustainability of their land for gener tions to come, as well as the health oft e consumer. And for family farmers, the• e three are most often inseparable. "In the beginning, when we wee working with agrochemicals, those w o worked the fields were getting sick" recounts Jandyra Guarneri, the direct r of a 26-family MST farming cooperati e in the state of Parana, in southern Brazi "This is why we made the change organic. There was no other way. T e

change was difficult technically, and expensive at first. But we saw an improvement in the health of the whole community—especially the children—as we began to consume foods produced without agrochemicals." The movement's stand on GMO's (genetically modified organisms) has been articulated with the same clarity. Early in 2001, MST members took direct action in "experimental" fields of GMO soybeans planted by Monsanto in the southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul. They destroyed the entire crop, sending a message that reverberated throughout all of South America: insofar as GMO's have not undergone sufficient scientific testing for long term effects, or even minimal public debate, and pose a real threat to both small producers and consumers, the cultivation of GMO crops will not be tolerated by the MST. The MST has championed seeds as the heritage and therefore property of humanity and not corporations. The MST's vigilance in their resistance to GMO foods serves as an inspiration to their allies and sympathizers throughout the world, including here in the U.S. and Canada. "They are so far ahead of us down there," says Niel Ritchie of the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, about the Brazilian anti-GMO campaign. "We have so much to learn from their public relations effort, how they've managed to educate and communicate with the public on this issue." Since 1985, the MST has continued to grow in numbers and gain momentum through a relentless commitment to truly grassroots politics, sophisticated and politically savvy national coordination, and a vision of a world in which life is valued above all else. But as the forces of neo-liberal globalization and U.S. domination grow stronger in the first years of the 21st century, so too do the challenges confronting the MST. In the coming years, support and solidarity across national boundaries will be fundamental to the survival of the movement. What can North Americans do to support the work of the MST? Says National Coordinator Joao Pedro Stedile: "Bring down your neo-liberal governments, help us get rid of foreign debt, stop importing Brazilian agricultural products that represent nothing but exploitation (wood, mahogany), and fight— build mass struggles." Dawn Plummer is the Coordinator of the US-based "Friends of the MST" and has worked closely with and studied the movement for six years. As a member of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, she is also active in building a similar movement to end poverty in the United States. She welcomes your message at dawnQmstbrazil.org. Betsy Ranum is a senior At Smith • College and has lived and worked with the MST. 43

The New OrleansBrazil Connection

There are many things I had written them down. It was pretty that are uniquely New Or- exciting." Independents' Turn leans; Dixieland jazz, red Another memorable moment for beans & rice, and the French Quarter. Katrina Geenen is Geenen was when she celebrated 20 years also a New Orleans gem on the air by traveling to Rio de Janeiro because for 22 years she and seeking out independent artists. "We hosted "Tudo Bern," New did all those live interview specials from Orleans' only Brazilian ra- Rio and those were the best, with Ryta de dio program. She showcases Cassia as my co-host and Carlos Fuchs a variety of styles such as on the controls. I cried during many of bossa nova, MPB (Masica those, it was wonderful." In recent years Popular Brasi le ira), choros, Geenen focused less on Bahian music sambas and even a little and plays ,a lot more independent music rock. In addition, her ex- from Rio and other parts of Brazil. "Axe music in Bahia was getting real pertise in Brazilian music serves as a history, lesson commercial and all of it was starting to sound the same to me, it was like bubble for listeners. Geenen's love for Bra- gum music. People started sending me zilian music began in her independent CDs, mostly coming out of college years. "I heard this Rio and I thought, wow! I thought this song "Mas Que Nada" on stuff was great and I wanted to know the radio when I was in my more about it, so I went to Rio and met all freshman year at University the people. These are people who are of Texas and I went wow! completely outside the commercial muSo, I rushed out and bought sic system, so they're making the music the album and around that they like to make." The first person same time I saw the movie Geenen met was Ryta de Cassia and she Orfeu Negro and I went introduced her to other independent artwow! So, I rushed out and ists such as Carlos Fuchs, Suely Mesquita, bought the soundtrack." Matilda Kovak, Paulo Baiano and Marcos During the early years of Sacramento. "What really impressed me "Tudo Bern." Geenen about these people was that they helped hosted the show in the living room of each other out, it was a real community brothers Walter and Jerry Brock in the feeling", she said. She's also releasing her CD High and Treme area of New Orleans. "At first I pre-recorded them because nobody did Low, which is produced by Matilda Kovak their shows live and in order to keep the and Paulo Baiano. She explained how the FCC license, they brought the pre-re- project came about: "I was trying to incorded tapes to the transmitter and there terview Matilda, but it turned into a party was a little, cement building underneath and we were having cocktails and having it, and they would sit in there for ten a good time. Ryta and Matilda had both hours in order to keep the license. You said to me separately, 'You must be a had ten hours a day on the air so they good singer, you have a great speaking would just bring all the tapes and some voice.' Everybody's passing around the poor guy would sit there in the cement guitar and singing. So I remembered some building and play ten hours worth of old blues songs, and after a while everytapes. Then we moved to Tipitina's, but t body loved it." A funny incident occurred when while I was still pre-recording the shows at that t time. I didn't go live on the air until we Geenen looked for Kovak, she felt somemoved to our current place. Because thihg on her feet and as she looked under Tipitina's had that live music and it was the table there was Kovak, kissing her really loud, it was good to pre-record the t feet and saying 'You're the voice for my songs.' Geenen recorded "A Billion for shows." "Tirdo Bern" got off to a slow start, ; Your Thoughts" for Kovak's CD in Carlos but when major labels started doing Bra- Fuchs's studio with him on piano. "A zilian releases in the U.S. in 1985, more year later, at another party, Carlos is people started listening. One of her most playing bits and pieces of the radio shows memorable moments was during singer and then he slips in "A Billion for Your Milton Nascimento's first visit to the Thoughts" and Baiano's at this party and U.S.. "I went to Austin, Texas, and inter- he goes 'Oh my God, you're the voice, !

For 22 years Katrina Geenen has been hosting "Tudo Bern," a New Orleans' radio program showcasing a variety of Brazilian musical styles. In recent years viewed him in his hotel room. I walk into i Geenen focused less on Bahian the room and there's Milton and I sit on his bed." music and plays a lot more down Geenen had a few drinks prior to the independent music from Rio and interview."! was at the bar, the interview other parts of Brazil. THEA ENGLISH

have some songs.' So he and Matilda got together really quick at the party and said, 'OK, Katrina, we're gonna do a CD and you're going to sing.'" Not only is Geenen a disc jockey and happened at eleven in the morning and I singer, but she's also a gifted artist. She was so hysterical about it, so I had a ; graduated from the University of Texas couple of quick shots at the bar and of with a bachelor of fine arts degree in course halfway through the interview I studio art and in 1999 she held an exhibit forgot some of my questions even though called Offerings to the Orixas. Carlos BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

Malta, who was in town that day, played the flute at the exhibit. "I've been really into the Afro-Brazilian religious belief system and there's no place to see Candomble around here." Geenen said the exhibit was well-received and that the turnout was better than she expected.

African Heritage Tour and on this t ur we went to the only government age cy to defend and promote African herit ge in Brazil, and it was at that meeting at Nei Lopes was there. I spoke with h m, we exchanged addresses and we sta ed corresponding. He was and still is w itGetting to Know Iemanja ing the Brazilian Encyclopedia of he 1emanja is Geenen's favorite orixa African Diaspora and he needed mate ial and she explained how she came to em- so I . started sending him stuff and he brace her. "Well, when I was in art school, started sending me stuff. He's been an 1 started drawing and painting a picture important friend and connection to of a woman in the water up to her waist Geenen also has some dislikes ab ut and she had seaweed in her hair. It was Brazilian music. "I'm not a big Brazil'an some kind of unconscious image that rock fan although I understand that thi is kept coming to me. And then I moved important to Brazilian music and I ill here and a good friend of mine said, play some on the radio because peo le 'Katrina that's a mermaid under there.' want to hear it and my job is to pay At the same time 1 started finding out everything I get my hands on." Gee en about lemanja and her feast day on Feb- has fans from all over the world. In ne ruary 2 in Bahia. incident, a Japanese listener who he rd "She was the patroness of the fisher- some soccer songs told her that if th re men, sister to the fishes and mother of all were more soccer there would be I ss the orixas. Then I started going to Brazil, wars. And a listener from Washing on hanging out at Candomble supply stores D.C. sent Geenen a vinyl collection. and going to terreiros to see Candomble. She also shared a funny story abo t a Several different high priestesses of misunderstanding of American foos in Candomble said, see lemanja standing Brazil. "My first trip to Brazil was in 80 next to you' and I got very excited. Fi- or '81 and this is Bahia's first mall. y nally I was told by a pai de Santo friend Jorge showed it to me prou ly, (Candomble priest) that lemanja was in 'Look, we're part of the civilized wo Id, fact my orixa." we have a mall.' So we went to this Ii le Geenen is also a good friend of singer fast food joint and 1 wanted a cheeseb rNei Lopes. was on a tour of Brazil with ger. There was the hamburger which as this guy named Jess Peters. It was an a burger with a piece of ham on it. I tr ed

to tell Jorge a hamburger was just a burger and that it didn't have ham on it. And he said, 'No, no we're doing it correct." The New Orleans Jazzfest in 2000 was another memorable time for Geenen because the festival honored Brazil that year and artists such as Hermeto Pascoal, Maracatu Nagai) Pernambuco and Carlos Malta came. Brazil was also celebrating its 500th anniversary. "There was really no samba, no bossa nova. They were trying to make a connection to Salvador, Bahia, north of Brazil and New Orleans. It upset a lot of Brazilians because they said 'How could you be featuring Brazilian music and not feature samba?' " Katrina Geenen is a woman who wears many hats: disc jockey, singer, artist and world traveler. She is New Orleans' unofficial ambassador to Brazil and her infectious passion for Brazilian music has spread to her listeners and future Brazilianists. You can hear "Tudo Beni" on Saturday afternoons from 2-4 p.m. on WW0Z-FM 90.7. For those outside of New Orleans, you can listen on the Internet at www.wwoz.org Thea English is a mass communications major at Dillard University. She can be reached at futurewriter21*yahoo.com.

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All That Samba land Duro and forrol Some of the best sound Brazil produced in 2002. Topping the list: Ze Renato and Tiso's Wagner beautiful Memorial, Milton Nascimento's heartfelt Pieta and Jacques/Paula Morelenbaum Ryuichi Sakamoto's Casa, Jobiniano

It appears that the recording industry in Brazil changed gears in 2002. Besides the obvious new releases, and as a replacement to the deluge of live recordings in previous years, recording labels opted for reissuing a number of great titles, some of which appearing on CD for the first time last year. From the albums I was able to get a hold of and listen to, here are my favorites of 2002. The problem with these types of lists is that a lot of good titles do not make the final count. So, keep in mind this is not meant to be comprehensive. Choro • Agua de Moringa: As Ineditas de Pixinguinha • Epoca de Ouro: Café Brasil 2 • NO em Pingo D'Agua: Domingo na Geral • Paulo Moura: K-Ximblues Choro is as Brazilian as the popular samba. In recent years, choro groups have released solid albums revisiting traditional works and introducing new compositions. Agua de Moringa and NO em Pingo D'Agua are two examples. Agua de Moringa's As Ineditas de Pixinguinha recovered some unknown gems by the grand master of choro, Pixinguinha. With special guests including Martinho da Vila, among others, this album is a good addition to your Pixinguinha collection. As for contemporary choro, N6 em Pingo D'Agua invited pianist Cristovao Bastos to add to their spicy Domingo na Geral. The album features new compositions written mostly by the group members as well as Bastos. The album is high energy choro. Bastos's piano accompaniment is an excellent addition to N6' s unique sound, and Paulinho da Viola guest stars in one track. Giving continuation to last year's successful Café Brasil, Epoca de Ouro closed the year with their Cafe Brasil 2. The formula used in the previous release is present again with the same good results. Some guests included here are Elba Ramalho, Sivuca, Ney Matogrosso and others. The opening track features a lively duet between the old and new choro generations, Epoca de Ouro and NO em Pingo D'Agua, respectively. Somewhere among these great releases, a disappointing album must be mentioned: Paulo Moura's K-Ximblues. The idea of making an entire album with K-Ximbinho's music was great. Paulo Moura is also a superb performer, but K-Ximblues did not live up to my expectations. K-Ximbinho was a choro composer who best showed the gray line that separates jazz from choro. In K-Ximblues, however, I couldn't help but hear more jazz than choro. Even guest star Mauricio Einhorn did not help make this release a great album this past year. Performances are good, but the music is far from choro.

recorded at Tom Jobim's home. EGIDIO LEITAO

BFtAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003 46

Instrumental • Azymuth: Partido Novo • Cesar Camargo Mariano: Nova Saudade • Cesar Camargo Mariano & Romero Lubambo: Duo • Daniela Spielmann: Brazilian Breath • Joao Donato: Managarroba • Kenny Barron & Trio da Paz: Canta Brasil • Romero Lubambo: Brazilian Routes Among other instrumental releases, 2002 brought more memorable albums. Azymuth's jazz fusion sound reappeared in Partido Novo. Pianist Kenny Barron delved deeper into a Brazilian repertoire with Canta Brasil. To make a good thing even better, Barron was accompanied by Trio da Paz. After 2001's multiple releases, Joao Donato marked his presence last year with the brand new Managarroba. This CD was hot and proved that Donato continues to bless us with his magic touch. Though originally released in Japan in 2001, these next albums were released in Brazil last year: Cesar Camargo Mariano's Nova Saudade, Romero Lubambo's Brazilian Routes and Daniela Spielmann's Brazilian Breath. Each album was distinctively Brazilian and featured great music along with special guests ranging from Paquito D'Rivera to songstress Marianna Leporace. Cesar continues to innovate with each new arrangement he writes. His creativity is remarkable. This is even more noticeable when one listens to Cesar Camargo Mariano & Romero Lubambo's Duo, their latest project. Duo shows the incomparable union between piano and guitar through the hands of these talented musicians.

The first release, A Voz e o Violdo,w s a live recording with vocalist Nels n Goncalves, a Brazilian lege d. Goncalves's rich vocals form a haunting pair along with Rabello's guitar artistry. It was, however, with the other relea e, Mestre Capiba, that Rabello soared. The repertoire of Mestre Capiba p id homage to the giant of frevo. What as more amazing is that the album focu ed on Capiba's serestas, instead of fre o. Each track had a guest vocalist, and he guest list included Paulinho da Viola, Chico Buarque, Maria Bethania a d several others. The only noticea le repertoire omission was the song "Ma ia Bethania."

Outside of Brazil • Bebe! Gilberto: De Tarde, Vendo o Mar • Josee Koning: Dois Mundos • Lisa Ono: Questa Bossa Mia... In the international market, Brazilian music was again well represented, with the exception of Bebel Gilberto's weak release De Tarde, Vendo o Mar. The album clearly showed a singer unsure of what she was supposed to do with her voice and with a long road ahead of her (the original recording dates back to 1991). Sometimes the vocals were almost incomprehensible to my ears (and I'm a native Brazilian!) and were overpowered by the instrumentation. I was glad, though, that Brazilians had Multisets and Boxes the chance to hear the magnificent Josee • Elis Regina: Transversal do Tempo Koning's Dois Mundos. Originally (21 CDs) released in the Netherlands in 1998, the • Gilberto Gil: Palco (28 CDs) CD was finally released in Brazil last • Historia do Nosso Samba ( 0 year. Koning has definitely been noticed CDs) in Brazil as you can see by the list of • Nara Leao: Nara (15 CDs) special guests in that album: Ivan Lins • Paulinho da Viola and Dori Caymmi. • Songbook Braguinha (3 CDs) Lisa Ono also released two albums in As far as multi-sets go, Lumiar Disc s Japan last year. The first was a started out 2002 with a 3-CD set of one f compilation of her hits from 1997 to the most respected songwriters in 2001. The other album, Questa Bossa Brazilian music. Well known for Cania al Mia..., was Ono's gift to Italy. The album music, Braguinha also wrote some other features well-known Italian songs classic serestas now forever a part oft e arranged by the incomparable Brazilian Brazilian music songbook. As with a y maestro Mario Adnet (who also plays other Lumiar songbook collection, t is acoustic guitar in several tracks). Though set is full of big names in Brazili n the repertoire is almost entirely of Italian music. Another multi-set title w s songs, the sound is so Brazilian that I the 10-CD collection Historia do Nos o couldn't resist including this album here. Samba. The set is sold separately and is a musical history lesson. Regional My only gripe about this collection is • Cordel do Fogo Encantado: 0 the lack of better liner notes and go d Palhaco do Circo sem Futuro track presentation. It would have be n • Elba Ramalho: Elba Canta Luiz nice to have the CDs follow a • Eugenio Leandro: Castelo chronological order, from volume 1 o Encantado 10. Instead, the label chose to prese t • Siba: Fuloresta do Samba each album in a somewhat chronologic I Elba Ramalho stuck to her roots and Acoustic Guitar order, but not quite rigid. In other wor s, did her tribute to Luiz Gonzaga in Elba • Paulinho Nogueira: Chico each CD covers all periods of samba. Canta Luiz. Let's not forget that just in Buarque - ' Primeiras Last year also brought us many gre t 2001, Gilberto Gil had already done Composicaes box sets. Of notable mention, we h d several Gonzagdo hits in As Cancdes de • Raphael Rabello& Convidados: Gilberto Gil's Palco (28 CDs), t e 'Eu, Tu, Eles'. Though the genre fits Mestre Capiba reissue of Elis Regina's Transversal 4o Elba's voice so well, this album was far • Raphael Rabello & Nelson Tempo (21 CDs)—too bad that the from being original. Nevertheless, the Goncalves: A Voz e o Viola° booklet from the first edition was omitt d result was good and very lively. Elba is For guitar lovers, Paulinho Nogueira this time—and Nara LeAo's long-wait d tantalizing singing forro. revisited Chico Buarque's first Nara (15 CDs). Incidentally, a seco d A hard one to find, Eugenio Leandro's compositions in Chico Buarque - set of Nara's CDs, entitled Ledo, was o fourth album, Castelo Encantado, is Primeiras Composicdes. A master of have been released in late November, b t worth any trouble you have to go through masters, Nogueira needs no introduction. it has not come out yet. Also along wi h in order to purchase it. His blend of However, for my own personal taste, those box sets, the Paulinho da Vio a regional and folk music is spellbinding. as far as acoustic guitarists are concerned, collection re-appeared on the market a d He wrote music to verses by Oswald no one compares to Raphael Rabello. vanished just as quickly. The CDs we e Barroso, Petnicio Maia and even a poem This past year listeners were lucky to sold separately. by Goncalves Dias. have two Rabello's CDs out in stores. BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

Two other regional albums are also a must in any list. Siba's Fuloresta do Samba and Cordel do Fogo Encantado's 0 Pa!hag° do Circo sem Futuro will place you in the middle of a celebration in the northeast of Brazil. Fuloresta is the first solo project by the Mestre AmbrOsio rabeca player. It's full of cirandas and maracatus. Like Eugenio's CD, Siba's and Cordel's releases are independent productions and very hard to be found. MPB and Pop

• Clara Sandroni & Marcos Sacramento: Saravci, Baden Powell! • Gal Costa: Bossa Tropical • Luciana Souza: Brazilian Duos • Lucinha Lins: Cancel° Brasileira • Maria Bethania: Maricotinha ao Vivo • Milton Nascimento: Pieta • Morelenbaum2 & Sakamoto: Casa • Nana Caymmi: 0 Mare o Tempo • Ney Matogrosso: Interpreta Cartola • Olivia Hime: Mar de Algodeio • Rosa Passos: Azul • Rosa Passos: Me and My Heart • Simone: Feminina • Trio MocotO: Samba Rock • Vania Bastos: Canta Clube da Esquina • Ze Renato & Wagner Tiso: Memorial Let's take a look at the vast MPB musical scene. This was again a mixed bag, but I won't spend too much time on the weak releases. Among the disappointments, the perennial names of Gal Costa and Simone take the honors of continuing the same old thing and releasing albums with not much added to them. Why they cannot come close to Maria Bethania's Maricotinha ao Vivo is a mystery to me. Though a live recording with lots of old material, Maricotinha ao Vivo was far better than Gal's Bossa Tropical and Simone's Feminina. Maricotinha ao Vivo moves you in the way that only Bethania can do. Whether singing or reading poetry, Bethania knows how to control the stage and the material she performs. Luciana Souza's Brazilian Duos (a 2003 Grammy nominee) features three great acoustic guitarists: Romero Lubambo, Marco Pereira and Walter Santos (her father). Luciana opens the album with a baiiio medley accompanied by Marco Pereira's stunning guitar in counterpoint with the excellent vocals.

The resurgence of Trio Mocoto with Samba Rock was another highlight last year. The sound is so lively and effervescent that one can hardly stand still listening to that release. It's great party music. However, if a more introspective sound is your cup of java, you are also in luck. Rosa Passos released two albums last year. The first release, Me and My Heart, was basically Rosa's vocals accompanied by acoustic guitar. Very intimate. The second release, Azul, was more dynamic. Passos's repertoire concentrated primarily on Djavan and Joao Bosco. The album was definitely more upbeat and showed how versatile Passos can be, something that her fans know quite well. Several other artists decided to simply pick one composer to be featured in their albums. Vania Bastos stretched that a little by picking songs from the Clube da Esquina gang (Milton Nascimento, Ronaldo Bastos, Toninho Horta, etc.). Nana Caymmi finally did her own tribute to her father, Dorival Caymmi. The CD, 0 Mar e o Tempo, was very good, especially when one considers the number of Caymmi tributes that have been previously released. Nana chose a good repertoire and included tunes not very often recorded. That gave -0 Mar e o Tempo a fresh feeling, not to mention the nice arrangements by brother Dori Caymmi. An even more daring Caymmi tribute was released by Olivia Hime. Her Mar de Algoddo was beautifully produced, arranged and performed. Besides the concept of presenting Caymmi's music as three seas—morning, afternoon and night—guest artists included Sergio Santos and Quarteto Maogani.

Arrangements were by Paulo Arag5o, Wagner Tiso and Francis Hime. Following up on his remarkable Batuque CD, Ney Matogrosso chose to sing only Cartola songs in lnterpreta Cartola. A polished production, as anything Matogrosso does, the CD has some seldom heard Cartola songs. Another tribute album, Sarava, Baden Powell!, was released by Clara Sandroni and Marcos Sacramento. Though Clara Sandroni has a voice that might require some getting used to it, Marcos Sacramento was remarkable in his performances. Yet another tribute must be mentioned here. Lucinha Lins did Can cab Brasileira, a very touching recording with the music of Sueli Costa. In closing, this retrospective of 2002 I could not omit what's on the top of my list as best albums of lastyear: Ze Renato and Wagner Tiso's beautiful Memorial, Milton Nascimento's heartfelt Pieta and Jacques/Paula Morelenbaum & Ryuichi Sakamoto's Jobiniano Casa, recorded at Tom Jobim's home. Jobim's heart and soul are all over that release. Paula Morelenbaum's voice was in rare form. It can't get any better than that. Memorial is lush with Wagner Tiso's beautiful orchestrations without being excessive. There is a good balance and moderation in how orchestra and voice blend. Ze Renato's voice is smooth as ever. The repertoire in Memorial focused on songs that marked former president Juscelino Kubitschek's life (Kubitschek was the president who created Brasilia) as well as Brasilia, Brazil's capital. Pieta goes back to the old Milton Nascimento of the Clube da Esquina captivating days. Without much fanfare and advance media promotion, Milton released a fantastic album. Pieta is Milton's celebration to the women in his life. His affection for Brazil's greatest performers, such as Elis Regina and Angela Maria, is present throughout the album. The CD also marks the recording debut of Elis Regina and Cesar Camargo Mariano's daughter, Maria Rita Mariano. Two other female guests, Marina Machado and Simone Guimaraes, also join Milton in other tracks. In his spare time, Egidio Leith° maintains two sites about Brazilian music: Brasilian Music Links http://thebml.com - is a collection of links, and MusicaBrasileira http://musicabrasileira.org - is dedicated to reviews and interviews. He can be contacted at egidioAmusicabrasileira.org BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

Pinto.

Auto da Paixdo e da Alegria (Passion and Joy Morality Play)—Four saltimbancos (acrobats) tells about Jesus passage throughout the Northeastern sertdo (backlands). Written by Luis Alberto de Abreu and directed by Ednaldo Freire. Four actors - Aiman Hammoud, Edgar Campos, Mirtes Nogu ira and Luti Angelelli play 20 characters. Interior (Interior)—Thirteen actors from Grupo Tusp tell their intimate secrets: one is gay, another one is a single mother's daughter. Everything's supposed to be real. —he confessions are interspersed with songs by Rita Lee, Secos & Molhados, Ze Rodrix and Walter Franco. Written and directed by Ab lio Tavares. Intimidade Indecente (Indecent Intimacy A couple reveal on stage with humor and drama their marriage crisis. The text written by Leilah Assumpcao gave the author the 2001 prize for best play from the Associacao Paulista de Criticos. Directed by Regina Galdino, with Irene Ravache and Marcos C..

III 0 Exercicio (The Exercise)—How a couple of actors deal with their tension the day before their premiere. Written by Lewis John Carlino, directed by Monica Lazar with Luciano Szafir and Larissa Bracher.

Vamos Sair da Chuva Quando a Bomba Cair (We'll Get Out the Rain When the Bomb Falls)—Angela, an independent woman and Hassin, the romantic bum meet and start a romance. Written and directed by Mario Bortolotto with Bartolotto and Fernanda D'Umbra. Vida Dupla (Double Life)—A ménage a trois involving two gay men and a woman in the jungle of a big city. Written and directed by Cadu Falter°, with Felipe Martins, Bruno Padilha and Luisa Third. Capitanias Hereditcirias (Hereditary Captaincies)—After embezzling a huge amount of money, a trio composed by an unscrupulous banker, his partner, plus the sister-inlaw try to leave the country. Written by Miguel Falabel la and Mari a Carmem Barbosa, with Jose Wilker, Ney Latorraca and Natalia do Valle. Norma (Norma)—A problematic and solitary fiftyish woman meets an outgoing young men. and things start to happen. Written by Tomo and Dora Castellar, with Ana Lncia Torre and Eduardo Moscovis.

IAI PAULI 0 Analista Macho° de Bage(Bage's Macho Analyst)--Paulistano actor Claudio Cunha is back on the stage after a three-year break interpreting his hilarious creation, a psychoanalyst. Written, directed and starred by Claudio Cunha, with newcomer Thais Lima. Memorial do Convento (Convent's Memorial)—The adventures of Father Bartolomeu de Gusmao ("the flying priest" - 1685-1724) and his flying machine. Adapted by Jose Sanchis SinisterrafromJose Saramago's 1982 Memorial do Convento, which was published in English in 1988 as Baltasar and Blimunda. Directed by Christiane Jatahy, with Leticia Sabatella, Caio Junqueira and Fernando Alves

JUST-RELEASED OR RE-RELEASED ENCLISH-LINGUAGE MOVIES:

007- Urn Novo Dia Para itiorrer (Die Another Day), A Onda dos Sonhos (Blue Crush), Assunto de Meninas (Lost And Delirious), Casamento Grego (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), Doidas Demais (The Banger Sisters), Downtown 81 (Downtown 81), Escrito nas Estrelas (Serendipity), Femme Fatale (Femme Fatale), Harry Potter e a C4mara Secreta (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), 0 Chamado ("he Ring), 0 Senhor dos Array - As Duas Torres (The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers), Os Thornberrys - 0 Filme (The Wild Thornberrys Movie), Planeta (lo Tesouro (Treasure Planet), Stuart Little 2 (Stuart Little 2), Um Amor para Recordar (A Walk to Remember)

Deus E Brasileiro (God Is Brazilian)—Brazi1/2 002—God decides to take a vacation, but before leaving his post, He has to find someone to take over during the break. Comedy directed by Caca Diegues, with Antonio Fagundes, Paloma Duarte, Wagner Moura, Bruce Gomlevsky, Stepan Nercessian, Castrinho, Hugo Carvana. Separacoes (Separations)—Brazi1/2001—A married couple decides to take a break in their stormy relationship, but the woman very soon falls in love with another man. Romantic comedy directed by Domingos Oliveira, with Fabio Junqueira, Rica do Kosovski, Dom ingos Oliveira, Maria Ribeiro, Nanda Rocha. A Vida em Cana (Life in Sugarcane/Jail) Brazi1/2001—Documentary directed by Jorge Wolney Atalla. The hard life of Brazilian sugar cane cutters. Interviews with the wo ters during the harvest show a suffering group who is still full of hope and dreams. onibus 174 (Bus 174)—Brazi1/2002—A retelling of the infamous June 12, 2000 bus hijack in Rio de Janeiro using newsreel footage. The episode ended tragically with the hijacker and a hostage being killed by the police, after hours of fruitless negotiations. Cidade de Deus (City of God)—Brazil/ 2002—Based on Paulo Lins's novel of same name. An inside picture ofRio'sfavela Cidade de Deus. How Dadinho e Buscape grow up in

world of drugs and crime. Directed by Fernando Meirefles and Katie Lund, with unknown actors, including Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino da Hora, Seu Jorge, Matheus Nachtergaele, and Phellipe Haagensen. Ed:lido Master (Master Building)—Brazil/ 2002—A documentary showing a week in the lives of people living in the Master building in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro. Directed by Eduardo Coutinho. Janela da Alma (Soul's Window)—Brazil/ 2001—Documentary on vision problems and its impact on life and creativity. Among the interviewees: writer Jose Camargo, German filmmaker Win Wender, and musician Hermeto Pascoe!. Directed by Joao Jardim and Walter Carvalho.

ooks Nest sellers FICTION I. A Casa das Sete Mulheres (Record) Leticia Wierzchowski (2 —2) 2. Seu Creysson Vidia i Obria(Objetiva)Casseta & Planeta (1 - 11) 3. Harry Potter e o Calice de Fogo (Rocco) J.K. Rowling (4- 80) 4. Harry Potter e o Prisioneiro de Azkaban (Rocco) J.K. Rowling (6 - 100) 5. As Mentiras Que os Homens Contam (Objetiva) Luis Fernando Verissimo (7 - 108) 6. 0 Senhor dos Aneis - Edicao Completa (Martins Fontes) J.R.R. Tolkien (3 -61) 7. 0 Homem Duplicado (Companhia das Letras) Jose Saramago (5 - 10) 8. A Intimacao (Rocco) John Grisham (10 - 24) 9. Cidade de Deus (Companhia das Letras) Paulo Lins (8- 18) 10. Harry Potter e a Camara Secreta (Rocco) J.K. Rowling (9- 119)

IIIFIC1111 I. Tudo Tern Seu Prep (Vida & Consciencia) Zibia Gasparetto (1 - 8) 2. A Ditadura Envergonhada (Companhia das Letras) Elio Gaspari (3 - 9) 3. Quern Mexeu no Men Queijo? (Record) Spencer Johnson (2 - 108) 4. A Ditadura Escancarada (Companhia das Letras) Elio Gaspari (5 - 8) 5. Criando Meninos (Fundamento) Steve Biddulph (0 - 0) 6. Quem Ama Educa! (Gente) Icami Tiba (4 7) 7. A Semente da Vitoria (Senac) Nuno Cobra (6 - 83) 8. Voce it I ns u bstitu ivel (Sextante)Augusto Jorge Cury (7 - 26) 9. Estacao Carandiru. (Companhia das Letras) Drauzio Varella (9- 147) 10. A Arte da Felicidade (Martins Fontes) Dalai Lama (0 - 105) The first number inside the parentheses tells the position the book was in the previous week. The second number indicates for how many weeks the book is in the list. According to /sto E Genie February 10,2003 www.istoe2ente.com.br

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ABFC -As. Bras. da PI& (407) 354-5200 Cam. Corn. Brasil- EUA (305) 579-9030 ARARA - Amazon. As. (813) 842-3161

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Brazilian Ch. of Corn. (212) 751-4691 Brazilian Corn. Bureau (212) 916-3200 Brazilian Trade Bur. (212) 224-6280

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Clube Bras. San Diego (619) 295-0842 Sunday Night Cl. Brazil (619) 233-5979 to' no Brazil Imports (619) 234-3401

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Coming Out in Brazil A candid talk with Beyond Carnival's author James N. Green. Says he, "I understood that the Brazilian Left, the PT and other groups, were ultimately likely to be allies of the gay and lesbian movements. Yet they were uneducated, rather stupid and backward about this question." BERNADETE R BESERRA

Last June, thousands of Cariocas poured onto the streets of Copacabana to celebrate the World Cup victory. They were joined by over a hundred thousand gays, lesbians, and travestis (transvestites), who were commemorating Brazil's fifth World Cup success and the annual Gay Pride Celebration. As local Carnaval street bands beat out samba rhythms amidst flag-waving soccer fans, a tidal wave of sweating bodies, rainbow flags, drag queens, and buffed up male beach beauties slowly pulsated along Avenida Atlantica. Following and mingling among a fleet of floats and sound trucks, they radiated sexuality, joy, and ecstasy about the nation's victory and their own visibility as wortien and men openly and unashamedly proclaiming their sexual desires. The merger and mixture of bodies— costumed and bare—spoke to an unleashed freedom, familiar during Carnaval, but generally repressed during the rest of the year. Beyond Carnival: A tale Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century Brazil is a colorfully written and unorthodox history that tells the story of the tensions between openness and repression, desire and distain that mark Brazilian attitudes toward those who enjoy same-sex love and passion. This award-winning work, published by the University ofChicago Press in 1999, debuted to rave reviews in Rio and Sao Paulo in August 2002 in a superbly translated version entitled Alen: do Carnaval: a homossexualidade masculina no Brasil no send() AX (Editora da Unesp). Academics and activists have given the thick tome exuberant praise for the depth o f analysis, the extensive and meticulous research, and the sophisticated way in which Green has woven the history of gay men's lives into the overall narrative oftwentieth-century Brazil. Now avai lable in paperback in English. it is simply a great read for praticantes, simpatizantes, and the curicus alike. I met James N. Green, the author of Beyond Carnival, at a rather serious editorial board meetRng of the scholarly journal Latin American Perspectives in 1996, and it was love at first sight. The openness with which he embraces the topic ofhomosexuality equals his sympathy and respect for Brazilian society, its people and their cultures. An associate professor of Latin American History at California State University, Long Beach. "Jimmy-, as he is affectionately called in Brazil, has also led a revolution as the president of the Brazilian Studies Association (BRASA), an international academic association, by transforming the organization into a dynamic intellectual forum for discussion and debate. Soon after the book had come out, I conducted a kicked-back interview with the author to understand some of the ways in which he analyzes Brazil's past and present economy of sexuality. Brazdl—How would you describe your book to a potential reader? Green—Wow, that is hard to answer. The truth is that Beyond Carnival is the first systematic historical study of how Brazilian men who enjoyed sex with other men coped in a rather hostile environment over the course of the twentieth century. It is a story of how they found a way to survive in a society laced with petty prejudices, stereotypes, and violence. In the midst of it all, they managed to create lives for themselves that were full of passion, pain, love, happiness, and a bit ofdrama. Beyond Carnival is a window into that world. It is a vehicle that can help the reader understand the multilayered and complex lives that these men fashioned for themselves. Brazzil—What kind ofstereotypes are you referring to? Green—Generally, people thought, and largely still think, that men who like to have sex with other men were all

BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

effeminate or even "women in men's bodies." On the other hand, the men who had sex with these supposedly effeminate men ("bichas," as they are pejoratively known in popular parlance) were not homosexuals, but rather "real" men, who have sex with bichas because women were not available to them. The "real" men could maintain their sense ofmascul in ity if they played the "active" role in sexual intercourse. Thus, ifa young man felt sexual desires for another man he faced what seemed to be two options. Either he was a bicha, and he assumed an effeminate persona, or he projected a masculine representation and penetrated the bicha; and, thus he maintained his virile self-image. That was largely how same-sex sexual interactions were structured in Brazil until the 1940s and 1950s when some men realized that they did not have to assume a feminine gendered role; and, at the same time, they did not have to perform a certain kind of masculinity to proclaim their "normalcy." Nevertheless, the pattern of the bicha andthe "real" man still plays out in everyday interactions and reinforces a unilateral stereotype about male homosexuality. At the same time, there is a growing masculinization of the homosexual: the gay man who goes to the gym, who wears stylishly butch clothes, and projects a prosperous middle-class image. Brazzil--Why do you th inkthat these stereotypes are produced by Brazilian culture? Aren't they universal? Green—Yes, they are, but they are also linked to Mediterranean cultural traditions where performative gender roles are still rather rigidly divided into the sexually "active" and "passive," that is, strong, virile, active, macho men and fragile, inferior, passive, and dominated women. The idea that two men might have sex or live together without reproducing these gendered roles seems almost impossible to many people. Brazzil—Isn't this "active-passive" duality the case in Anglo-Saxon cultures as well? Green—Absolutely, but to the extent that gender roles are rigidly constructed in a given society and notions ofsexuality are based on the ideas of"active" or "passive" sexual performance, then many ifnot most people expect everyone to behave along those lines, even those who transgress the • norms. Brazgl—Why did you decideto write this book? Green—That is a long, complicated story. In 1973, two things happened. I came out; I accepted my own homosexuality. At the same time, I got involved with a group ofNorth-Americans who were organizing opposition to the

BRAWL-FEBRUARY 2003

Brazilian dictatorship. During that y• ar, two major events were swirling aroun • in my head. I was accepting my o homosexuality and getting involved iri gay movement in the United States,. dl was becoming very active in the solida ity movement with the struggles taking pl ce in Latin America. Unfortunately, some ofthe people ho had an interest in expressi ng their solid .1 'ty with Latin America and opposi dictatorial regimes throughoutthe contin •nt still had very traditional notions ab rut homosexuality as being something ot normal or problematic. I understood at the kind of oppression that I was fight ng against in Latin America was similar to he oppression I experienced as a gay m ; . Others saw a tension in the link betw• en these two issues. To a certain extent, I ed a parallel life between working in the ay movement and doing work in the Ameni • an left in solidarity with Latin America. This was not entirely true though. In 1975, I organized "An Evening of C ay Solidarity with the Chilean Resistan • e" that brought together 350 people in the'an Francisco lesbian and gay community or a cultural and political event. We w re trying to draw the connection between political movement for equality in I United States and the fight against I Pinochet dictatorship in Chile. In 1976, I traveled to Brazil to visit friends there for six months and ended p staying six years. While living in S. Paulo, I got involved in the emerging to y movement, and I participated in t e Brazilian left, both in the anti-dictators ip struggles and in raising the issue of NI y rights within the Left. I did this even bef• re the founding ofthe Workers' Party (Parti • o dos Trabalhadores) in 1980. Brazzil—Was it as corn plicated th as it had been for you in the U.S.? Green—It was even worse beca Brazil was still under a dictatorship. In t United States in the early 1970s, a deb. took place between the gay and lesbi movement and the left. By the end oft decade, virtually all progressive grou had come to understand thatthe democra struggles of gay men and lesbians for equality was an integral part of a bro.. fight for social justice. We had to initiate those sa le discussions in Brazil in the late 1970s the country was comingout ofadictators and people on the left were largely resist to any ideas that did not boil everythi down to the question of econom exploitation. The Brazilian Left w particularly conservative and moralis about social questions. Many leftists h resisted the counter cultural movement either a U.S. import or as a middle-cl. • petty bourgeois, alienated phenomeno

People who raised questions about feminism, gender roles, or sexuality were not considered serious. When Fernando Gabeira [gay journalist who in 1969 took part in the kidnapping of Charles Elbrick, the American ambassador do Brazil] came back from exile in 1979, he faced the same marginalization when he raised similar questions. The majority ofthe Left felt that the only way to challenge dictatorship was to build "serious" revolutionary organizations that would organize against the regime. The Left considered cultural and social questions to be secondary issues that would be miraculously resolved at some nebulous future date. They really did not understand the connection between homophobia, sexism, racism, and a critique of capitalism. When I returned to the United States in 1982,1 worked with Central American and Mexican immigrant workers and in the labor movement for seven years. Exhausted from almost twenty years of political activism,!went back to graduate school to get a doctorate in Latin American history, focusing on Brazil. I returned to Brazil for a year of intensive research in 1994-1995 and then wrote Beyond Carnival. I realized that no trained historian had written asocial history of homosexuality in modern Brazil, or anywhere else in that in Latin America for that matter. There was not comprehensive history that attempted to transmit to a wider audience the stories of the lives of ordinary gay men over the course of the twentieth century as they coped with a homophobic and hostile society. I had read several excellent works on the history of homosexuality in the United States; and, since I was extremely familiar with Brazilian society and culture, I wanted to write a comparable book about Brazil. My goal was to create a history that an American and a Brazilian audience could read and understand. Brazzi/—Tell me more about your life in Brazil, your relationship with the Brazilian gay movement and with Brazilians in general. Green—In sa-0 Paulo I taught English to Brazilians to pay the rent, and as I mentioned, I worked with apolitical group that was involved with the anti-dictatorship movement. I began a Master's degree at USP [University of Sao Paulo], and in 1978, I also participated in the first political gay group in Brazil: Somos: Grupo de Afirmacdo Homossexual. [We Are: Group of Homosexual Affirmation] Brazzil—Were you one of the founders? Green—The first meeting ofthe group was in May 1978. I was in the United States renewing my visa. I came back in September and joined the group, which at

the time had a different name. I was at the meeting in December 1978 when the group chose the name Somos. We were trying to articulate our sexuality in a political way by challenging the stereotypes and the prejudice ofBrazilian society. Most things written in the press were horribly stereotypical. anti-gay. and homophobic. Many Brazilian intellectuals and others whom one would assume would have been somewhat sympathetic were not that open to the ideas of the gay and lesbian movement. We had to struggle a lot to win a social space. I lived in Sao Paulo and I had a boyfriend at the time. I went out, but I was not intensely involved in the nightlife, going to the discotheques and such. I knew the places where people were hanging out, the cruising places. etc. I did not have contacts with the rich upper-class gay society, which has always been quite privileged and had their own personal parties, living a very sheltered life. My friends were more with middle-class students or people who came from the interior of the state of Sao Paulo to live in Sao Paulo, the city, office-workers, bank workers, public employees, and the like. Brazzll—What was it like for you being gay in Brazil at the time? Green—When I was at the University of Sao Paulo, it was very, very strange for me to be open about being gay. People felt amazingly shocked. I remember when I would tell people I was gay in a very open way it shocked them! I mean, it was a scandal, especially because I don't think that I was a hicha louca [outrageous queen]. So, they didn't understand that. I'll give you an example. I was with a group of friends in an apartment in Santos and some other people, relatives I think, arrived unexpectedly. They started talking about veados [faggots], bichas, and I said in Portuguese: -Excuse-me, I really wish you would stop talking that way; it really offends me because I'm also a veado." The woman who was speaking almost died! I think! shocked her in part because I had directly confronted her, something that I was used to doing in the United States. I later came to understand that this was an impolite way of acting in Brazil. Instead of confronting a person, one is expected to make ajoke about it, be indirect, or ignore such a comment. That is what the movement did in the first period; it was confrontational. People stood up and said: We are faggots, so what?" (Somos bichas e dal?) That was very new in 1978 in Sao Paulo. The Left and the student movement really did not understand what we were about it. They thoughtthat what we were doing was futile, frivolous, and stupid. Brazzil—Theythoughtsimilar things aboutenvironmental issues,didn't they?

Green—And feminism and the black movement. It was a very simplistic discourse of the Left: the only thing was mobilization against dictatorship and the only way to mobilize against dictatorship was to demonstrate with slogans `_`Abaixo a ditatura." (Down with the dictatorship). They did not understand that one could make a much more sophisticated critique of the dictatorship. Oppression is not just political oppression, torture, or and the elimination of rights under presidential decrees, such as Institutional Act No. 5 [AI-5]. Oppression operates in a many more complex ways. Unlike most gay and lesbian activists, I understood that the Brazilian Left, the PT and other groups, were ultimately likely to be allies ofthe gay and lesbian movements. That has generally turned out to be the case. Who defended parceria civil [domestic partner benefits] in the Congress? Marta Supl icy of the Workers' Party. I thought that the Left would be our long-term allies ofthe movement, yet they were uneducated, rather stupid and backward about this question. It was a process of educating them. Many times people thought that we were engracados (funny). Even today, some people think that my work is strange, that an extremely open gay American is writing about Brazilian homosexuality. Some leftists still do not take the gay and lesbian movement seriously because they do not consider it a politicized mass movement. Brazzil—Do you consider the gay and lesbian movement a mass movement here in the U.S.? Green—Yes, I would call it a mass movement here. My definition of a mass movement may be different from yours. For me a mass movement is a movement that has penetrated all levels of society, and you will find it anywhere. For example, in Des Moines, Iowa, there is a group of gays and lesbians in the Episcopal Church who are organizing to have their congregation take a pro-gay position. All over the country, in a given month, there are probably a million people doing some political action around gays and lesbians rights. Whereas in Brazil that is not the case, a much smaller movement is raising these questions. Brazzll—Would you say that in Brazil these movements are more concentrated within the middle classes? Green—I think that many ofthe people who are activists tend to come from the middle classes, especially the lower middle class. They have been able to develop an understanding of what it takes to change a society. This is a complicated question because every single gay man or lesbian, who lives in a society and in some way confronts the oppression of that society, is

engaging in a political act. It is what some academics call "everyday forms of resistance." When you confront a neighbor who calls you viado, you are being political in a certain way. You are challenging the hegemonic ideologies; you are being counter hegemonic, ifyou want to use that term. I think that the same process is going on in Brazil, the number of gay men and lesbians who are actually involved in organized groups is much smaller than in the United States. There are perhaps only one or two thousand over the country, who participate in a systematic way in a group that has a political purpose. That political objective could be simple. It could be a consciousness-raising group, which, I think, is a first step for gay men and lesbians to take in order to feel good about themselves, so they can turn around and do political work. Or it could be a group that is organizing a gay pride parade in Sao Paulo, which last year got twenty thousands people. [Note: In 2002, 500,000 people participated in the parade on Paulista Avenue]. Nevertheless, in spite ofthe small number of activists, the Brazilian movement is one of the most dynamic movements in the world. Brazzll—Don't you think that two thousand people is a modest estimate? Green—It's hard to say, but I think thatthere are probably two thousand people who meet once a month with some kind of social and political purpose, whereas in the United States I'd say that it is probably a million all over the country. Perhaps lam underestimating, but not by very much. On the other hand, I cannot prove the numbers that I suggested for the United States, but there is a massive movement in the United States. I think that this is the qualitative difference between the United States and Brazil. The movement here has penetrated the society in many more ways. Brazzil—W hen you say that the gay and lesbian movement is revolutionary because it is anti-hegemony... Green— ...I wouldn't call it revolutionary. It is changing prejudice, but I do not necessarily think that this means that there is going to be a revolutionary change in the society through eliminating such prejudice. I think that you can change people's stereotypes and their prejudiced attitudes and not change a society's underlying social structures. I do not think that homophobia is so intrinsic to the way a society works that if you were to reduce it, you would necessarily change the entire social structure. Brazzil—IT es, but isn't it part of this chain of oppression? Green—It is to the extent that it is an important part of the hierarchies of patriarchy. The gender norms that dominate our societies oppress gays and lesbians

BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

and push them to conform to certain social roles. Men have to be a certain way; women have to be a certain way. If you don't conform to that, you destroy the normal order. There is a wonderful movie that you might have seen called Boys Don 't Cry. It is about a woman who dresses as a man. This movie is based on a true story. She refuses to conform to the gender roles of her sex (since she is biologically a woman) and this act totally destabilized and upsets the people around her who simply could not take it. They ended up killing her because her behavior was too seditious for what they considered the natural order of society. This points to another difference between the United States and Brazil. The rightwing, conservative forces in this country understood sometime in the late 1970s that politically the best way to attack all the gains ofthe civil rights' and women's movements of the 1960s or 70s was to choose that sector which was politically most vulnerable and less organized—the gay and lesbian movement. The rightwing conservative forces recruited Christian fundamentalists, which until then had not been mobilized politically, to chip away at racial and gender equality by attaching the modest gains of the gay and lesbian movement. They realized that they couldn't confront the civil rights' or women's movement head on, so they chose to attack gays and lesbians as a first step toward pushing back many of the gains of the civil rights and cultural movements of the 1960s and 70s. This is one of the reasons why the gay and lesbian movement has developed such a wide range of activities in the United States. It faced an assault by the rightwing that required a counteroffensive and a more complex political strategy to defeat the Right. For example, in order to prevent gay or lesbian couples from having equal legal rights that come with marriage, the rightwing has presented legislation that is approved by the voters through a referendum that prohibits marriage between two people of the same gender. This referendum was atactic by traditional Christian rightwing to use homosexuality as an organizing tool to build support for the rightwing's overall agenda against women, blacks, laborers and progressive ideas. They mobilized against homosexuality in order to attack broader social issues. Brazzil—So, you are saying that the reaction against homosexuality is stronger here than in Brazil, in a sense, and this promotes stronger organizing. Green—Part of the reason might be that because the movement is much more visible and stronger here that it has

BRAZZIL - FEBRUARY 2003

provoked areaction by the rightwing. Th re are also some cultural differences. In B people adapt to homosexuality on o e level. People say: "Here there is really no discrimination; I have gay friends." Or, "It's not important; it doesn't matter what yoursexual orientation is." But it does really matter! It really makes a difference for people. Children do not come and say, "Hey, mom, I'm gay." And mother says: "Oh, that's wonderful, let me meet your boyfriend!" Insclioolyou can'tsay: "I'm gay, and I want to be a professor." And the teacher responds: "Oh, that's great, you'd be a wonderful professor; you probably can really teach people well." Brazzil—Jimmy,, I want to go ba k to the time when you came out and th went to live in Brazil How did living' Brazil give you a new understanding I f life here, there, in brief, a ne understanding about the world? Green—Brazil was an amazin experience for me on many levels. I ha e a personality, which is very expansive an warm, and I lived in San Francisco withi a counter culture—the hippie moveme t and the anti-war movement—that w warm and supportive. However, in gene I American society is colder, less physic . People can be friendly, but there is difference in physicality. When I went to Brazil, I was amazed t the warmth and openness of people. I fe t in love with that... I really did. It's cultural difference that I think is ye marked. There are, of course, ope Americans and unfriendly Brazilians, b I have always noted a cultural difference i this regard. The other thing that was a shock torn was the different ways Brazilians an Americans think about race. I came, t Brazil thinking about race in the Americ way where everything is black and white In Brazil it was so different! People fel differently about race, and the discours about racial democracy is so embedded i the psyche of Brazilians that they believ it. Even though Brazil is not a racia democracy, people treat other differently and racism manifests itself in much more subtle ways than in the United States. When I teach the history of Brazil, m students whose parents came from Lati Americaunderstand the difference betwee the American and the Brazilian system o thinking about race, whereas the North Americans who have no other cultura experience are at first very confused b

that. It does not make sense to them, and they want to put the Brazilian experience within their American experience. I think that a third experience, which was marvelous for me, was that I had lived during the late 1960s and the early 70s in the United States at a time of tremendous social changes. We almost believed that there was going to be a revolution or at least very profound changes. Those dreams collapsed here in the late 70s. People started going back to traditional jobs, working, and making money. By chance, I had traveled to Brazil, and experienced the late 70s there, which was a time of political and cultural effervescence. Essentially, I got to live through two "sixties." Then, I left Brazil just before the big recession of1982, 1983.1 came back to the United States and lived the Reagan years, but Brazil gave me so much energy that I went through the Reagan years with a lot of optimism about doing political work in this country. I went back to graduate school to a certain extent because I wanted to figure out a way to go back to Brazil. I had been working as a public employee, a social worker for the County of Los Angeles. Although I was very involved in the union and even became a leader, I missed Latin America, so I went to graduate school with the idea of finding a way back to Brazil. When I had to come up with a topic for my doctoral dissertation, the subject that I knew the best was the gay and lesbian movement. Initially, I was going to write about the history of the Brazilian gay and lesbian movement, but I was encouraged by my advisor at UCLA to write about the history of how gay life was before the movement. How gay people lived in the 20s, 30s, and 40s... Brazzil—Their daily lives... Green—Their daily lives, how the state, church and medical profession thought about them, and how they responded to these institutions and organized their lives in a hostile environment. That was what inspired me. When I got to Brazil in 1994, I didn't have an idea of how I was going to do this reseaich because I was the first historian of modern Latin America to write a book about homosexuality in Latin America. Several anthropologists had done some very important work on Nicaragua, Mexico, and Brazil, but no historian had

tackled the early twentieth century. I also knew that I had to do a very professional job in order for it to be published in the United States. The problem with researching thi s topic is that you can't go to the archives of the State of Sao Paulo and ask to look at all the material that they have on homosexuality because it is not there. You have to find it by digging for gold, by casting a large net in the sea and seeing what you get. I spent lots of time worrying that I would not find enough material, and I ended up having more than I had ever expected to find. In fact, if I had had another year, I'd have had five times more documents because now I know where to find them. Brazzll—Tell me more about having to justify your work to other academics. Green—Interestingly enough, many

people in the academic world have the attitude that it is fine to have a colleague who is a gay man or a lesbian as long as they work on another research topic. It's fine to write about the Indians or blacks, but not about gay people. It's not considered an important or serious topic. Ironically, there are probably less than a million people living in Brazil who would self-identify as being indigenous. How many gay people are there? People throw around the statistic often percent of a given population, which is actually an arbitrary number. Even if it were only one percent of the Brazilian population, it's many more people than the number of Brazilian Indians. However, Indians are exotic and safe. They live in remote places, and they are part of the exotic imagination of those who think of Brazil as a tropical paradise. Indeed, people have studied Brazilian Indians as rare and exotic entities for five hundred years. Immediately after Cabral arrived in 1500, Europeans explorers took Indians back to Portugal to the Court to show them off as curiosities, like monkeys and pineapples. Homosexuality threatens many people, mostly men, but women as well, because gay men and lesbian don't seem to conform to the proscribed gendered roles. It really bothers some people, and it seems to make them anxious about their own sense of masculinity or femininity, their own sexuality. So, some academics prefer that this is not a subject of academic research. Brazzi/—You said before that your research on homosexuality had to be more serious than another topic that you might have chosen... Green—... In order to be considered

as good as someone else's work, yes. It was the same phenomenon with women's history. When women started writing women's history 30 years ago, they had to write more complex and sophisticated

history than their peers who were working on another topic in order to be considered good historians. Unfortunately, those doing gay and lesbian history face the Same discrimination in this country. It is true that we have won more social space in the United States than in Brazil, but it does not mean that we have won the battle against homophobia and discrimination. Brazilian academic friends face the same kinds of problem. Those who are now working on research topics regarding homosexuality find an array of reactions. Some people think that it is marvelous; many people think it is strange and not serious. This is especially true in the discipline of history, which is more conservative than anthropology or literature. Brazzi/—Talk about your relationship with other Brazilians studying the same topic... Green—An important person who did

research on this topic was Peter Fry. He's an Anglo-Brazilian who has lived in Brazil so many years that he is essentially Brazilian. Peter Fry is an anthropologist who has worked in several universities, including UNICAMP in Campinas and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. He wrote one of the first modern analyses about homosexuality in Brazil. He was, however, not really the first person to do so. In 1958, Jose Fabio Barbosa da Silva, a sociologist working on two Masters' degrees, one at the Escola de Sociologia e Politica and the other at the Faculdade de Filosofia of the University of Sao Paulo, wrote a thesis on homosexuality entitled, "Homosexuality in Sao Paulo: A Study of a Minority Group." Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Florestan Femandes and Octavio lanni were on his committee. Brazzll—So,they accepted the topic? Green—Because of Florestan

Fernandes, who was a very well respected sociologist, a serious scholar and a powerfu I person among intellectual circles in the early 1960s. He gave his unconditional support to Fabio to do his work, and other scholars had to accept it because Florestan Fernandes was an academic giant. After this pioneering work written in the early 1960s, there was a fifteen year gap, largel I would argue, because of the restrictive intellectual climate produced under the military regime. Peter Fry began writing in the 1970s, and he worked with and trained a generation of students who produced interesting works: Edward MacRae, who wrote a study of the group Somos; Nestor Perlongher, an Argentine exile, who had been a leader of the movement in Buenos Aires, who wrote about male hustlers; Richard Parker, an American

anthropologist, who was influenced by Fry's earlier writings, and many others.

Brazzil—W hat about Luiz Mott, the founder of the Grupo Gay da Bahia? Green—Luiz Mott also got his doctorate in anthropology from Campinas, but I believe that he did not write his dissertation about homosexuality. After he got a job at the Federal University of Bahia, he founded Grupo Gay da Bahia, which is the longest-lasting gay rights group in the country. Luiz has written several very important books about homosexuality in the colonial period, and he has been a leading voice denouncing violence against gays, lesbians, and transvestites. Brazzll—What has been the reaction of your book among Brazilian scholars?

Green—It has gotten very good reviews. I just received an e-mail from a member of the Brazilian Rainbow Group, an organization of Brazilian gay men and lesbians living in New York. He wrote: "Eu Ii seu livro durante as ferias e confesso que adorei, espero que voce escreva a segunda parte sobre os anos 80 e 90. Gostei bastante d a maneira como o assunto foi tratado, corn seriedade e bastante pesquisa. Tanto critico como analitico e inteligente, fruto do trabalho de um verdadeiro conhecedor dos habitos e nuances da cultura e histeria brasileira. Leitura indispensavel para qualquer homossexual brasileiro. Tambem adorei o seu senso de humor cativante. No final do livro eu nao queriaque terminasse." (I read your book during my vacation and I confess that I loved it dearly; I hope you'll write the second part on the '80s and '90s. I enjoyed very much the way the subject was approached, with seriousness and a lot of research. It is at a time critical and analytical and also intelligent, the result of the work of a true expert in the habits and nuances of the Brazilian culture and history. It is a must read for any Brazilian homosexual. I also loved your captivating sense ofhumor. At the final pages I didn't want the book to end.) What better comment than from a Brazilian gay man reading the English version and saying, "It's good. It captures my reality. It is not foreign; it reflects something that I know about." He doesn't necessarily know the history of the 1920s and 30s, but he read the book, understood it, and he felt it was right. That is the most important thing that I care about it. I want my colleagues to like the book and write good reviews, but I care more about what the Brazilians think about my work. Bernadete R. Beserra, the author, is a professor of Anthropology at the Federal University of Ceara. She welcomes comments at brbeserra*hotmail.com

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