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Despite all the international good press it's been getting, Lula's apple-of-his-eye program Zero Hunger is very short of its lofty goals: three meals a day for every single Brazilian ("If every Brazilian can have three meals a day when my mandate expires, I will have carried out the mandate of my life.") In his passage through New York, where he came for the opening speech at U.N.'s 58th General Assembly, the Brazilian President not only proposed a global-sized Zero Hunger, he put his money where his mouth is and wrote a US$ 55,000 check to a U.N. fund to combat hunger. At home, though, the whole assistance program is in need of an urgent overhauling. The Lula team seems to have discovered that the multiplication of departments and agencies to fight misery is bringing little relief and too much bureaucracy and extra expenses do the program. The order is to cut. Ministries might be folded, minister not keeping pace with the urgency of the changes will be sent home. Zero Hunger will have a second change to live to its expectations. Stay tuned for Zero Hunger, the sequel. RM
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47 Cultural Pulse 49 Classifieds 51 That's Brazilian
Bush Ki led Brazing Ambassador One corresponcent for the Ponta 4e S. Paulo daily, playing the role of Grand Inquisitor by asking and answering his own questions, had this to say: "No one is asking the most important question—why did this tragedy happen? The answer is simple— because the Iraq War should not have taken place." JOHN FITZPATRICK
Who killed Sergio Vieira de Mello, Well, Gecrge Bush of course, according to any aggrieved Brazilians. The logic behind this idea is that if the U.S., with its British lackeys, had not inVaded Iraq and ousted Saddam Hussein, Brazil's best-known diplomatic troubleshooter, Vieira de Memo, would not have gone to Baghdad and been killed. The terrorists whc actually bombed the U.N. ' headquarters, killing more than 20 people and maiming scores of others. were not really to blame. They were just a symptom and Bush was the real murderer. The anti-American bias, which appeared within moments of the blast on Tuesday was, sadly, predictable For example, while the events were being aired dve on TV, a man speaking on behalf of the Vieira de Mello family in Rio de Janeiro told a Brazilian TV station that Vieira de Mello had died because Bush had "sent" him to Baghdad. This attitude is as absurd as that of the terrorists who attacked the U.N. as though it were an arm of the United States, instead of the representative body of the world community. Vieira de Mello was not "sent" by Bush, but asked to take over following his successful track record in East Timor and other places. He could have turned down the offer had he wished. Reuters news agency quoted Paulo Delgado, the Workers' Party foreign affairs spokesman, as praising Vieira de Mello for "standing up" to the U. S. "He took a firm position with the United States, demanding that they reestablish water and electricity in Iraq. He said deploying tanks in Iraq was ',lice rolling tanks into Cvacabana," was Delgado's barbed comment. _ Here are a couple of excerpts from 0 Estado de S. Paulo-newspaper on the day following the attack: "While we were looking after out own affairs... Sergio Vieira de Mello was in the midst of the inferno which Baghdad has been transformed into since this disastrous investment b],,, Mr. Bush and his hawks..", "The (U.N.) employees, by being in the ong place at the wrong time.. are the innocent victims of the megalomaniac madness of George W Bush." One correspondent for the Folha de S. Paw° daily, playing the role of Grand Inquisitor by asking and answering his own questions, had this to say: "No one is asking the most important question—why dielthis tragedy happen? The answer is simple—because the Iraq War should not have -..aken place." Oh really? The anti-Americanism was also apparent in FoUta's news coverage. On Thursday it carried a front-page teaser and inside page lead story headlined: "Annan critbizes coalition for lack of security". Accordirig to the Fu/ha reporter in New York, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan had made a "hard hitting and unusuar aiticism of the U.S and U.K. over the attacks. The headline and introduction were based on this quote: "We had hoped that by now, the coalition forces would have secured the environment for us to be able to carry on... economic reconstruction and institution building. That has not happened," The remarks, which Annan made in Stockholm, were not nearly as bard hitting a per made them, b he time the story was founded on such a weak base that by the third çeragraph, the paper re o New York, he had toned down his comments.. OüId remein Most other agencies used as their news angle Ann= s announcement in Stockholm th. ' " Iraq despite the bombing. It was also apparent from other comments he made that the U.N. Secretary-General himself had no idea of the security situation on the ground. I contacted Forna to try and find out why they had used this particular angle but, at the time of writing, have had no rreply. Lula Puts His Faith in the U.N. According to this same newspaper, President Luiz lack) Lula da Silva will pay a tribite to Vieira September 21 at the opening of the U.N. Genera, Assembly in New York, in which he will tandem the war us hope Lula sticks to a tribute and keeps his thoughts on Iraq to himself. However, this is Unlikely sinGeheWaS as telling foreign correspondents in Brasilia that the U.S. troops should be pulled out and replaced b though that would change anything
APNEAS
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BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
France has been accused of using Brazilian territory to help free a Inspector Clouseau Bungles in Brazil former Colombian presi. dential candidate held by Colombian rebels. And it was in Paris that Sao Paulo former governor Paulo Maluf was picked up by French regulators and questioned for several hours, under suspicion of money laundering. JOHN FITZPATRICK Ooh-la-la Lovers Tiff Brazil's love affair with France took a knocking this week when it turned out that those naughty Frogs had been secretly using Brazilian territory to help free a former Colombian presidential candidate held by Colombian rebels. Details are still not clear but apparently a French plane, which landed in Manaus in July, was part of a mission to help release Ingrid Betancourt who has joint Colombian-French nationality. The French Foreign Minister, Dominique de V illepin, was accused by the Brazilians of giving false information about the purpose of the mission. Villepin is alleged to have told Brazilian Foreign Minister, Celso Amorim, that the plane was carrying a medical team to help a member of Betancourt' s family. When the Brazilians learned that the team was involved in efforts to secure the hostage's release they expelled the plane and called in the French ambassador for a dressing down. The whole affair is a bit strange since the FARC guerrillas, who kidnapped Betancourt about 18 months ago, have denied that they were planning to release her. Whether they are telling the truth or not, it looks as though Inspector Clouseau is still alive and kicking in Paris. Ooh-la-la Lovers Tiff 2 Another Brazilian Francophile, Paulo Maluf, the ex-governor of Sao Paulo state and former city mayor, is also a bit miffed with the French these days. Maluf, who regularly stays in the swanky US$ 700-a-night Plaza Athenee Palace hotel in Paris, was picked up by French regulators recently and questioned for seven or nine hours, depending on which report is true, over a deposit of around US$ 1.5 million he had made in a French bank. l'he investigators wanted to know the origin of the money which, according to Monsieur Maluf, was completely legitimate and arose from the sale of property in Sao Paulo. Since a man is innocent until proven guilty we must accept his word and recall that, despite the many accusations of corruption flung at him over the years, Maluf has never been " convicted. However, the French have not been impressed by tin s spotless reputation and have decided to freeze the bank accoun and open an investigation into possible money laundering. Maluf is free to come and go for the moment but even the he might face a little problem. Apparently, this most undiplomatic of men has been traveling on a diplomatic passport to which he is not entitled to. On his return to his hotel after being questioned, Maluf was his usual blunt self. Not only did he deny that he had been interrogated, but said he had volunteered to give information. He also called on the head of Credit Agricole bank to fire the manager of the branch where his account was held. Well-oiled Wheels of Justice While the government was trying to sort out the threat of a strike by Brazil's greedy judges and prosecutors, who want the rest of us to provide them with an iron rice bowl for life in the form of generous pensions, it was interesting to learn this week that ajudge in one of Brazil's poorest states, Maranhao, has just picked up a monthly paycheck which came to 220 times the minimum wage. Now let us be fair to this public servant. The paycheck for R$ 52,651.50 (US$ 17,752) did include a 50 percent advance on the 13th salary of R$ 14,110 (US$ 4,757) and holiday pay of R$ 9,411 (US$ 3,173). To remain fair it should be pointed out that she paid income tax of R$ 10,007 (US$ 3,373) and other social contributions, which left her with only R$ 38,926.80 (US$ 13,124) 1 cash in hand. The judge refused to comment on this payment and left it to a spokesman for the local bar association to say that since this judge is the head of the state court, her work was "very important for the Judiciary and Maranhao society". For those who do not know, Maranhao is a fief of the Sarney clan, whose patriarch, former President Jose Sarney, is currently head of the Senate. His daughter, Maranhao state governor Roseana Sarney, pulled out of the presidential race last year after cash amounting to R$ 1.3 million (US$ 438,000) was found in the safe of a company she owned. Despite ongoing investigations we still do not know where this 1 money, which was to be used in election expenses, came from. Gun Law: MST Leader Sentenced to Jail; Bent Judge Set Free The MST landless peasant movement rarely gets a good press. Its tactics of well-publicized land occupations and aggressive comments by its leaders have made it extremely unpopular. During last year's election campaign it kept a low profile so as not to endanger the chances of the PT's candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. If Lula thought his victory
wrong. The moveould mollify the MST mein has turned up the heat of late and hardly a day goes by without some new occupation or incident. In one of the latest occupations a photographer was shot dead in front of a crowd by a criminal who tried to steal his camera ge quoted The MST leader, Joao P as describing the movement's activists as "our army" and calling for it to "get rid or (acabar was e Portuguese word allegedly used) the 27,000 landowners facing the 23 million people involved he "countryside fight" (luta camponesa). Fiery words indeed and Stedile should be condemned for his inflammatory language, if indeed he did use However, it is interesting to note that ee her main leader, Jose Rainha, has just emned to a prison sentence of two years or allegedly illegally carrying a c urrently in custody on other arges and e judge ruled that he should stay 'nd cannot condone the carrying of legal weapons, if anyone needs personal security, in Brazil it is certainly someone like Rainha whose foes from the UDR landowners' association are heaVily armed and have killed many MST memhers over the years. Rainha and Stedile have been emonized by the Brazilian press. No wonder even moderate PT representatives like Senator Eduardo Suplicy and congressman Luiz Eduardo Greenhaigh ave voiced concern at Rainha's detention. The political dimension is simply too strong in this case to believe that justice has been done. Compare Rainha's treatment with that of the disgraced former judge, Nicolau dos Santos, conicted of embezzling about US 60 million of taxyers' money destined for a courthouse project in Sao Paulo. He was sentenced to eight years in rison in June last year and ordered to surrender all is goods. LaIau, as he is known here, has just been released from custody and allowed to go back to is luxury home, presumably bought from the larofits of his criminal deeds, to serve out the rest of e reason was the ex-judge's poor
of 0 homicides-in Brazil are committed Nine handguns and contrary to what many people think, a majoritythese crimes in the city of Sao Paulo are e without criminal records. Almost 60 COflUflIIWW ictirns die for futile motives such as rcent s4 ar9umeflts on buses and disputes in bars. nlian Senate approved a project a atprohibi members of the armed forces, civil, military icipat guards of cities with a population o abitants,eitd fbr prison and security guards in
p
an own firearms if they are acquired from and onal System of Arms (SINAR.M)ofthe Justice owners fidfill-specific requirements related lo health The minitapacity and psychological . to 25 (npreviously was 21 years of raided stance may the firearm leave the residence o :4wnersnutre-registerwithSNARM
wrmln9tiaays. eserestrictionsom e sale and license ofhandguns will be voted upon by the peptilMiOn at a referendum to be held in October 2005 The project stipularesthat the - fabrication of firearms and ammunition will he permitted only for export or to supply official security a business inititutions; An amendment to the project indicates that static. interstate bus companies must use metal in their vehicles. es for non-compliance that include: The pro ec*iaclud 1. One to threec Iel prison and a fine for owning or maintaining on without legal authorization, for permitti n un or a-minor under IS years of age to handle a gun, to make or c that can be confused with a firearm, or to not report a robbe authorized firearm. 2. Two to fork years in prison arida fine for carrying, fabricating. buying, selling. renting. and borrowing a firearm in an illegal manner. 3.Three to six years in prison and a fine for owning, fabricating, buying, selling, and transporting firearms or ammunition The same one who modifies fire,arrns o penalty applies to amtr.atmy, carries explosive or s prison - 4. Four !toe i ally nto or taking them out of the co or:bringing fireamis AccordingtoDen M izne_, director ofan NGO. Sou da Paz 10 homicides in Brazil are committed by for'Team)out _ guns, and cOntr to what many people think, a majority ofthese crines in the thy of SĂ o Paulo art committed by people withou t 60 'percent of the victims die for fiut inal monk. A motives such murnetrts on buses and disputes in bars. On the international Day of Disann ament (July 9)a thousand p of shoes with victims names were displayed in homage to homic Paulo. A silent procession in the cent a Paz mobilized the population. Ed' M anuel was that others nt is the primary any times, in crimina ity because BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
Close to half a million federal workers are in strike in Brazil. They contend that the government did no consult them about a constitutional amendment that the L la administration wants to pass in Congress. They also believe that only a small elite with capital and the banks will gain from such a reform. SEJUP Since July 8, approximately 464,000 federal public workers (58 percent) are paralyzed in a protest against the proposed government reforms in the Social Security System. State judges and Central Bank workers are also threatening to strike. The groups on strike are part of the National Coordination of Entities of Federal Workers (CNESF) and include employees in education, statistical and geographical research, social security, public federal' ctionaries, social welfare, and fiscal, judicial and health authorities. The leaders of the strike are mounting an encampment in Brasilia of federal workers across the country for the first week of August--one week before the date of the Congressional vote on the Social Security reforms. The workers allege that the government did not consult nor negotiate with* them regarding the PEC #40 (Projeto de Emenda Constitucional- Proposal for Constitutional Amendment) hat contains the reforms. a Federal Deputy Ivan Valente (Workers' Party, Sao Paulo believes that the proposed amendment only meets the needs of international financial capital. The controversial points of the reform include the creation of funds for a pension. Federal public worker leaders and a number of members o the PT (Partido dos Trabalhadores—Workers' Party) believe that changes in the Social Security system will not bring benefits to the majority of Brazilians but will stimulate the growth of private pension funds. The proposal maintains a contribution of retirees with a ceiling benefit of $333. For future retirees the ceiling will be $827. This proposal of the government is contrary to CUT's (Central Union of Workers) ceiling of $1,655. According to Jose Domingues, vice-president of the National Union of Docents in Secondary Instruction, "Therein lies the true objective of the Social Security reforms to open up space for private pension funds. Those who wish a higher pension will invest in a private fund. If the government wanted to reduce high salaries, it only needs to implement the Constitution, which establishes that every federal worker, whether in the executive, legislative or -jiad icial branch should have the same salary ceiling. The government does not want to argue with the judges". For Dom ingues, there are not social advances in these reforms. No benefits are given to the 40 million Brazilians ho work in the private or informal sector or who are unemployed. The small elite with capital and the banks will gain. They already have 66 percent of the goods and riches produced in Brazil, while the majority of society divide un the other 34 percent. Deputy Valente believes that the government committed a political error with the reform of social security. He states that "the government resolved to confront the public sector. You cannot assume a posture that pits poor people against those who are well-off'. The leaders of the Unified Center of the Strike of Federal Public Workers (CNUG) agree with Valente. They indicate that -the state that privileges financial capital, sprulators, loan-sharks and large estate owners is thinking only of the market". In accordance with the new proposal, public workers will need to meet four criteria before they qualify fo retirement: 35 years of contributions to the system, 20 years of work in the public sector, more than 60 years of age, and 10 years in current job position. Valente believes that these criteria are draconian. According to him, more people will have to work much longer if they need to meet these four conditions. Caio Teixeira, general coordinator for the National Federation of the Federal Judiciary and Public Minister of the Union is against the proposed reforms. According to Teixeira. "These reforms were elaborated in the interests of banks and are being created to reduce 'Brazil's risk factor'. Reforms in the tax system are being created to lower 'Brazil's costs". Nory Ferreria, vice-president of the National Union of Fiscal Auditors, in an ironic tone, stated that "the next step will be to eliminate Brazil". Nory and Teixeira believe that PEC #40 is not necessary. They affirm that Social Security is not deficit and that a good part of their resources are used to pay the external debt of the country. The striking workers agree that there are distortions in the social security system but that a constitutional amendment is not necessary. "The problem that workers' salaries do not correspond to Brazilian reality".
How fast do we forget. One of Brazil's largest newspapers opened its columns to allow statements by a h]storian—the name of which we will not quote so as to avoid embarrassment (his own)—who said that not even during the times of the military dictatorship we had ever witnessed an armed invasion of Congress in Brazil. CARLOS CHAGAS It's not only congressmen who need to make an effort to saidy Brazilian history a little better. Journalists need to brush up on it too, and so do certain individual "historians". Faced with the shock battalion of the Federal District Military Police entering the chambers of Congress last Wednesday while the Welfare Reform report was being voted on, tens of legislators popped up their protests—all very fair, by the way. It so happens, however, that plenty of Suas Exeetencias yelled about the scandal as being the first time that uniformed military agents occupied the chamber of the Legislative Branch. Even worse, one of the largest newspapers in the country opened its columns to allow statements by a historian— the name of which we will not quote so as to avoid embarrassment (his own)—who said that not even during the times of the military dictatorship we had ever witnessed an armed invasion of Congress in Brazil. Civilians, Out Everyone is suffering from memory loss. In October of 1966, then President Castelo Branco revoked the mandate of more than five congressmen. The Speaker of the House, Adaucto Lucio Cardoso, reacted by refusing to accept the cancellations, stating that those pointe d out as culprits should move to the House's infirmary and c antinue to do their job. The military government felt its authority scratched and one early morning, Congress saw an invasion by hundreds of soldiers from the Army, Navy, Air Force and the Brasilia Military Police. Commanding the forces was Colore I Me ira Mattos. Shouting "civilians, out!", the troops walked up the ramps and by fits and starts occupied corridors, rooms and halls, shoving congressmen, employees and journalists aside along their way. Theyhad everyone form a long line an J leave their IDs behind, before they could leave the Seat of the Legislative Branch. There was even the celebrated dialogue between Adaucto Lucie Cardoso and Meira Mattos, in the foyer: "I am the civilian power; and who are you, Sir?" "I am the military power!" It won't kill certain historians, journalists and congressmen to lay their eyes on a few books of contemporary histo-y in their free time... Upside down There would have been an arrest ai the presidential inauguration, last January I if any attendee could have been deranged enough to foresee Lula being booed in union assemblies and public squares; union leaders threatening to bum the PT flag; PT militants making statements to the press about their regret in having voted for the party's candidate: 20 thousand public servants parading in Tr& "oderes Square to voice their protest against the government; Minister Antonio Palocci, head of the economic team, being booed in the city where he was mayor, having to get in and out through the back door of the City Council building of Ribeirao Preto; the president of PT, Jose Genoino, facing the corredor polon& (the gantlet) in the Congress and being called the "dedoduro (squealer) of Araguaia"; the Speaker of the House, Joao ?aulo Cunha, summoning the shock troops of the Brasilia Military Police to silence the demonstrators intent on protesting against the Welfare Reform; the PFL turning itself into the party in defense of threatened social rights It should actually be expected. Who told the government to apply the exact same neo-liberat economic model of IMF and the Fernando fienrique administration? The Pinocchio Award Many people have been fighting to win the championship oflies, but the pole position remains with former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Not a week goes by without some speech by the sociologist either maliciously praising Lula for applying his own economic formulas, "although exaggerating", or throwing barbed darts resembling spears on his successor. He has accepted the role of polarizer of the opposition forces and likes to show his willingness to lead the PSDB in its attempt to gain more political space. He reviews Lula s trips abroad in his depreciatory wary and weaves comparisons between past and present. Whenever asked, however, he repeats that he is not a candidate to return to Planalto and emphasizes his disposition to never again run for any election. Is he or isn't he a candidate for the Pinocchio Award? Carlos Chagas writes for the Rio's daily Tribuna da Imprensa and is a representative of the Brazilian Press Association, in Brasilia. He welcomes your comments at carloschagashotmail.com This article appeared originally in Tribuna da Imprensa hIp://www.tribuna.inf. br Tereza Braga is a freelance Portuguese t-anslator and nterpreter based in Dallas. She is an accredited member of the American Translators Association. Contact: terezab@sbcglobalmet 10
BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
Dissecting Zero Hunger In Brazil, a country of abundance, the existence of mass hunger is a fact to which few of Brazil's urban middle classes have assented. Brazil is the fourth largest food exporter in the world. Yet as Minister of Food Safety, Jose Graziano da Silva states "Nearly a third of the Brazilian population is in a situation of food insecurity." NORMAN MADARASZ
BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
There may be but one name as connected as the President's to the federal government's flagship FomeZero—ZeroHunger program, that of Carlos Alberto Libanio Christo. Universally known as Frei Betto, the liberation theologist and President's senior advisor came to prominence as one of Brazil's leading intellectuals during the later years of the military dictatorship (1964-1988). Since January 1, he is coordinator, alongside Oded Grajew, of the Zero Hunger Program's 'Social Mobilization' task force. Few intellectuals are up to the moral task of this program. As with most of Lula' s policies it struggles to exit the parameters of political promise. Given that the former union leader turned president matched wits with the country's premier spin guru, Duda Mendonca, setbacks to this effort can hardly be surprising. Then again, that was campaigning. The time now is to govern. Endowed with one of the clearest and most erudite expository styles in Lula' s intellectually rich government, Frei Betto speaks a language of results. The problem he poses reignites the old theory vs. praxis dilemma. Yet for all his analytical brilliance and morally persuasive power, the question remains whether the Dominican friar is able to translate ought into is, Philosophically, the program would 11
be of the highest experimental interest were millions of lives not at stake. This factor only raises the science of thought to the most committed tier of social responsibility, for the land of abundance known as Brazil is plagued not only by endemic poverty, but by under- and malnourishment. In Betto's view, the road to tackling poverty is fraught with the milestones of hunger. Results On July 30, Frei Betto was in Sao Paulo, Brazil's financial and industrial capital. The attendance awaited an update on Guaribas, Piaui state, a town of5000 and among the country's most impoverished. One of the first localities to receive resources linked to Zero Hunger, Guaribas is a test case. Betto's news was encouraging: "The index of child mortality last January was 59.9 per thousand births. Since April not one child has died." The message also brought a special focus to successful administration. Criticism raised by skeptics of the Workers Party (PT) has continued to bear down on the lack of administrative know-how among party bureaucrats. As opposed to the countless moral arguments he has penned for most ofthe country's newspapers, the Friar was there to speak facts. "The city's first market is being built, and families of Guaribas that used to live in the Piratiningafavela, in Osasco (Sao Paulo state), are returning to Piaui." Those who had taken the risk out of desperation to resettle in the teeming slums of the world's second largest city were now choosing to return to a rural community. Like so many others of its kind, the town had been left to wither and waste. As localized and minute an accomplishment as it is, the news projected its weight in scale. The prospect and size of the change to be carried out in Brazil is daunting. As a first step, the Guaribas pilot project bears out the reason for Betto's optimistic conference. The town resembles others to which Lula brought his entire cabinet for a brusque baptism on the heels of last January's inauguration was standing again. Guaribas had not become affluent overnight from government handouts. Nor did it prove a singular exception compared with the country's currently dire productivity rates, some ofthe lowest in South America 12
below even Colombia's. It did something far more important in Betto's eyes: from unfound energy its residents were brought to strength. The next step was theirs to make— under guidance from state social workers. The aim of the program is to have the needy begin using credit card-style food cards in nearly 200 areas in the impoverished North and drought-stricken Northeast states. Each family is to receive a month ly 50 reais (US$ 18) credit. If bureaucrats and social workers prove to be effective administrators, Zero Hunger should be on course to reach up to 1.5 million people by October. The policy's managerial approach shares little with Northern center-left social management techniques. Those usually involve wholesale transferring of public resources to an often deregulated private sector. Frei Betto's lectures are the nearest form of philosophical lobbying in existence. Through them, he has sought to compel major companies to give resources directly to the program. This is the so-called Anti-Hunger Mutirao, the community-based collective campaign. And the term is anything but surprising. Wherever change is to be structurally brought about for the greater egalitarian good, it is done so by means of "collective campaigns". The blessed 'individual', his freedom and her property, is worth little in this task. On the administrative side, Minister Jose Graziano da Silva oversees the financial coherence of the program at the Special Ministry of Food Security and the Hunger Combat. He is seconded by Brazil's largest supermarket chain in helping with distribution. In addition, Ford Brazil has pledged 200 tons of food. Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, Latin America's largest mining firm, is matching every ton of nonperishable goods donated by its employees with another ton, and has released funds for direct investment. This is a bare minimum to be expected from a company priv ileged with total tax exemption. As for the merchant banks, one's hard pressed to spot a single one on the list.
If the whole purpose of Zero Hunger is to transform charity into policy, even the notion ofparty contributions has taken a spin. Funding the political Party should now be done by supporting its social programs directly. Zero Hunger leaves the realm of charity precisely at the point where related various tasks converge into a hub. The big questions, namely endemic poverty and rampant inequality, are being bypassed as if ruffling shirt collars were to take second place to running surer concessions. Case in point: the town of Guaribas collated 160 tons ofthose famed Brazilian beans. Instead of individual farmers searching out middlemen whose ultimate end is to smash prices by trickster practices on ill-prepared peasants, the community organized as a collective. Local decisions were made by a supervisory committee composed of nine representatives of society—and this democratic supplement is to become the standard throughout the program. By then holding auctions, Betto reported on how a sac of beans usually selling at R$ 22 rose to between R$ 50 and R$ 70. If the policy is not immediately focusing on poverty per se, whom does it deem to be the neediest? Camps of landless families, indigenous communities, members of Afro-Brazilian quilombo communities, and eventually moving toward urban conglomerations: favelas. Despite complaints from the opposition, the government fully intends to use the network of charity organizations already active in municipalities. Above all, the program's objectives are to diminish the very need to distribute food. Betto: "Most important is to promote income, jobs, and hoist up self-esteem and the citizenry." This is why the conjunction of tasks also opens onto a policy crossroads. Slashing away at illiteracy is the project's crowning part and parcel. Betto recounts how "in Acaua, Piaui, another pilot town, a 73-year-old woman, who learned to read in three months, told the food welfare agent: 'I want to go to the rural union to change my pensioner's ID.' He didn't understand why. She explained: 'The one I have uses my fingerprint. I want it to have my signature." Policy Knotted to Bureaucracy In this country of abundance, the existence of mass hunger is a fact to which few of Brazil's urban middle classes have assented. Brazil is the fourth largest food exporter in the world. Yet as Minister Graziano states in the opening pages of the government's official Zero Hunger BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
brochure, "Today, nearly a third of the Brazilian population is in a situation of 'food insecurity', meaning that they do not eat well or well enough, with regularity or dignity." Charity has beetta feature of successive governments, while in some parts of the backlands conditions of servitude hark back to previous centurieg. Born into dire poverty in Pernambuco state, Lula's devotion to the program is practiced with poignancy. On inauguration day he introduced Zero Hunger twice, first after being handed the presidential sash, and then upon accepting the presidency at the National Congress. Both occasions led him in a tearful, moving commitment to bolster his ambition to eradicate hunger in this country. "If by the end of my mandate, all Brazilians are able to have a daily breakfast, lunch and dinner, I will have accomplished my life's mission." The message was repeated in Porto Alegre and Davos a few weeks later, and on an international scale at the 07 summit in Athens. Few moments compel mankind less to stand witness to destiny than the act of watching his next ,of kin suffer into death from hunger. Denial of one's moral responsibility toward the starving runs deep enough to make universal concern for hunger lie beyond debate. Not even a Wall Street speculator or preacher would dare in his deepest cynicism dismiss hunger as a godly affliction. Were they to accept hunger as a socially permitted ordering of n ature, perhaps, just perhaps, would the faceless arrogance depicted by Brent Eastwood Ellis in American Psycho endow literature with flesh again. Still, hunger has remained worthy of our society's greatest concerns not due to some profound sense of human solidarity. Hunger is but the negative terms by which financial success and domination prove triumphant over the elements. All humans potentially succumb to them, but no victory is greater in its epic selfrepresentation than the one recognizing human beings as having to be conquered as well—just so the few may survive and prosper. As they watch the world's richest nation spend US$ I billion a week on an imperial war, economic sharp-shooters can go on crying wolf about the misunderstood intentions of globalization. BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
Hunger as government policy? Why tha 's nothing but handouts, social assistan ' programs, socialism. Hunger cannot e solved. No virus, HIV or SA RS, no ba terial disease, malaria or pneumonia, ki Is more year after year, despite technolo cal expansion, than hunger and malnu tion. Yet patents on filling stomachs e not going to be debated at the WT Cancun meeting on'TRIPS'. It's just a given that the economic philosophy in which capitalism is built produces co centratecl riches from scarcity, fosteri gourmets at the expense the undernourished. Deep structural chan e might alter the stakes fir Brazil's government, maki g it far less glorious in the ey s of the IMF. This is main why the government is trying to postpone what will b stirred up irregardless of is long term vision. Frei Bett has kept reminding Brazi ians that "first of all, we wo an election. We did not wag a revolution. This must b made clear." In so doing, he offers th population a measure of th task lying ahead, and the op tions to be chosen. F'ailin administrative competenc how else, then, is it possibl to think or talk of eradicatin hunger if not in the words o revolution? For despite th alliteration, charity has never rhyme with Che. Turning Ahead The 20th century saw the emergenc of charity organizations striving, at best to alleviate the discrepancies betwee society's rare privileged few, and th countless poor. The social democrati turn of republican capitalism propelle poverty into the abode of power politics It became a force to compel leaders, onc the age of the senseless butchery of peas ant revolts had seemingly passed. The United Nations Organizatio grew increasingly into a mission to help displaced and disenfranchised masses endure the pain of warfare. Meanwhile, a handful of national leaders were now starting to emerge from social tiers that had long been deprived of the natural right to govern. Their acts sought to impede elites from merely reproducing at the citizen's expense, and they often paid for the toil with their lives. In the background lies France's 19th century of class warfare revolutions, and Russia's brighter days of October 1917.
The revolt of the exploited would soon be spreading to independence wars, in the lands of fragmented empires from the guts of vvhich nation states were carved, by overthrowing the brutal colonial occupation and exploitation imposed unto them by European powers. Eradicating poverty, to say nothing of hunger, may not have been the main goal of Marxist-inspired revolutions. Their focus lay more on decreasing the abusive conditions of industrial labor— shorteningthe work week, increasing salaries, allowing trade union representation, imposing a minimum age to curb child labor, securing health care and job security policies and, finally, allowing women to enter the work force and remain there. Are these features oflabor any different from those we still struggle to keep in the English-speaking world, despite the threat to which executives, boards and managers are inclined to put them? The very possibility of carrying on with such ideas is a privilege that has been conquered through struggle. How quickly has it drifted into the present's oblivion that the slavery of African Americans, servitude of Eastern Europeans, and damnation of India's untouchables and the econom ies they respectively afforded had barely been challenged prior to the 1848 year of revolutions. Marxist concerns and Fordist lowend egalitarianism were models adopted in the age ofjobs aplenty. Something like full employment in the Soviet Union and its satellite countries was enabled, at least in principle, by the vacuum left from the slaughtered millions in Europe's internaland intercontinental imperial wars. By then, state Marxism had already seen its day. By asking history for some time to teach, we may realize soon enough that the shift from coordinated charity to a hub-constituted national policy of eradicating hunger, expressed in terms of national security, has never been attempted outside ofrevohitionary rhetoric. Brazil's Zero Hunger—one part political marketing to three parts of the deepest national commitment—has used all of the resources of social democratic patter to raise itself. In a knot intertwining Marxism with Christendom, Frei Betto's liberation theology. recalls Thomas Aquinas's principle: "One cannot expect the practice of virtue from a hungry man." An aftertaste remains as we keep wondering whether eradicating hunger is the most important springboard to repairing social illness, especially at a time when Brazil's economy is all but thriving. 13
Behind the Good Intentions Lies Anger
Frei Betto's strategy has aimed at having every step of the program be assimilative. Preserved from a structural make over, the word poverty has not prompted the moneyed tiers to stop cooperating. Corporations, investment banks, and latifzindio owners are the collective objects of Betto's priming. As President Lula repeated in a speech given at the headquarters of Petrobras, the stateowned oil company, on September 2, "an idea has been created in Brazil that the State is capable of everything. We want to prove that the State is able to do far less than people imagine, but that its power to induce is so great that if the policy of involving society is done correctly, I have absolutely no doubt we'll succeed in making a miracle of finishing up with hunger in this country." Brazilians voted for political reform on a vast scale. Although the former governmentwas also reformist, Fernando Henrique Cardoso attempted to reform Brazil by implementing the neoliberal economic policies of privatizing public assets and deregulating markets. When his social reforms failed to achieve a consensus in his fragile coalition government, he turned his charm to provisional decrees. Until now, Lula' s government has pitted his leadership on avoiding this measure of last resort. Cardoso also focused on opening money markets to capital flow in an attempt to undermine the dominance of Brazil's land-owning oligarchy. The latter had most benefited from the decades of military dictatorship. Though at first his policies brought prosperity back to what has been Latin American's largest middle class, they did so at the expense of dramatically increasing the public external debt, now at 54 percent of GDP (after having been cut by the present government from 60 percent). The cost of victoriously curbing spiraling inflation had depleted the national reserves and pro-
14
duced an economy ground down into stagnation. In this year's budget alone, Brazil will be paying for 52 Fome Zero programs in servicing its public debt alone. Simply put, Cardoso's dollar-pegged, reformed currency worked on a tradeoff. It sold away the national wealth in exchange for the promise of a surplus in foreign direct investment. But when the same promise was being given worldwide—the principle of globalization— not all financial exposure could be assumed in a global economic system where value is acquired from scarcity. When the time came for refunding creditors, ever higher interest rates could not keep their money within country. The cycle closed in another turn of the spiral. But the main reason that the government had to borrow from the IMF in the first place was to cover the amount of capital flight exported by the country's own oligarchy. Brazilians have had to pay a high price for their PT government. Since the election campaign thrust into full swing in August 2002, the average wealth of Brazilians has tumbled by 16 percent. The Central Bank administers one of the highest prime interest rates worldwide, notwithstanding its recent reduction from 26.5 percent to 22 percent. And unemployment is the highest in 20 years. For all but the country's biggest companies, 2002 was a year to forget. The ghost of the 1980s, dubbed by economists as Latin America's "forgotten decade", is bursting from a whimper. As a hub, Zero Hunger aims to parlay several social programs into a pulsating web of interaction. One ofthe key sectors being solicited in this campaign is energy. The Financial Times recently profiled Brazil's dynamic Energy Minister, Di !ma Rousseff, a formerguerilla fighter, against the dictatorship. She now seeks partnership between the state and private sectors to bring power to an estimated 13 million homes in the country's poorest regions. She is joined by the head of Brazil's federal power company, Dr. Pinguelli-Rosa, who refers to this campaign as 'Zero Outage', inserting it clearly into the government's overall plan. Yet critics point out that the government's input to the energy sector has done little thus far to change from previous policies. The most important program, Luz no Campo (Light in the Countryside), has aimed for years to fulfill what Ms Rousseff spoke of as her most heartfelt vision. On the other hand, the current staff has halted the privatization plan of the energy genera-
ti on sector in a bid to transform the basis on which foreign energy firms may invest in Brazil—and the criteria by which they can borrow money from Brazil's government to do so. The Strangest of Crusaders Urubu Camelo, a recently produced 13-minute independent video (by Gerheim, Oliveira, Abujamra and Sant'Anna), traces the life of a superhero doll street vendor into the infernal hell of homelessness and hunger. In a last resort to keep from starving, Camelo seeks out one of the city's gigantic garbage dumps. There he is joined by the wretched of the earth, who stand even below pigs and buzzards in nature's hierarchy. For these animals are allowed by the dump keepers to their picking of food scrubs and waste prior to the humans themselves. As he eats the food until suffocating, the singular Camele) turns into the superhero Buzzard-Vendor. It's a moment when the most wasteful destiny of human kind is transfigured—but so deep is the horror that only the absurd can do it justice. The Zero Hunger program looks down into the scandalous gulf afflicting all societies labored by concentration of wealth aided and abetted by deregulated 'free' markets. For the 1.5 billion poor living below the international measure of US$ 1 a day, no good intentions can reverse a long legacy of attacking the peasantry. By hoisting the program to policy status, a new cycle ofstruggle may be emerging. It is said that Brazilians are gifted with the highest degree of tolerance. For all the talk of solidarity, for all the cooperation and goodwill, it must continually be recalled that Zero Hunger is built not on the desperation linked to hunger, but on acts of anger fired toward what has permitted these circumstances to take flight in the first place. Norman Madarasz, Ph.D. in philosophy from the Uniyersite de Paris, is a frequent contributor to Brazzil. He writes from Rio de Janeiro, and welcomes comments at nninhdiol2Ayahoo.ca. BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
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elites in Brazil when I try to tell people that Brazil has a free and fair society. How can I do that when you don't even have freedom of speech and you have starving people living on the side of castles. You have forgotten the violence in Brazil. You would have slaughtered so many more if not for the USA preventing you. The USA does not kill entire male population of another nation. We do not send special police into neighborhoods to kill innocent children in the name of crime prevention. The USA does not have poor blacks begging in the streets and television that does not show black people. Brazil has committed genocide at least twice in Paraguay and Rio de Janeiro, and the USA has prevented it several times to include German). Kosovo, and Iraq. Brazil would be in far ss orse shape if it ss asn't for the USA protecting her. You need to stand up for what is right and not he a puppet for Brazil.
Robert Mark Richeson Amazon Imports STOP THE PROPAGANDA
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
LLANDELESS'S LESSONS It was with great sadness that I read Mr. Richard Hayes's article titled "Landless are Restless" in Brazzil www.brazzi I. com/2003 Ihtml/news/artic I es/ jun03/p143jun03.htm. I always enjoyed this magazine and I found most of the articles very well-written and argumented. Unfortunately, Mr. Hayes does not meet any criteria of objectivity or fairness in his writing. His argumentation and language is insulting, highly biased and discriminatory. One sad example of Mr. Hayes poorly written article states that the MST is "Cuban tutored" movement inciting "poor ignorant people to disobey law and order and create ill feeling among the social classes." I have studied and researched Brazil's rural problems for almost 20 years and I always appreciated the richness, friendliness, hospitality and warm of Brazil's rural countryside. I have also lived for over 5 years in Brazil. Brazil's rural poor is highly resourceful, creative, and resilient to the extreme hardships of a rural society structured unfairly over 500 years. Certainly, most of them are not very well educated as Mr. Hayes, but I can assure you most of them are well articulated and can speak for themselves without the need of "tutoring." In fact, Mr. Hayes is the one who needs some tutoring here to improve his consulting skills. Maybe Chase Manhattan Bank, Mr. Hayes employer, can send him to one of MST's training camps to learn to appreciate the hopes, dreams, challenges ofthe rural people o f Brazi I.
Wilder Robles, PhD The University of Winnipeg Manitoba Canada. TELL THE TRUTH Perhaps you should stop arresting criminals in Brazil and stop murdering children before you criticize the USA. You're not against violence, it is purely political. If you were, then you would remove your police off the streets of Rio. You are asking us to not defend the USA only because you despise her and not that you care for anyone. You would rather see those poor people in Iraq continue to be tortured by a madman so that perhaps the USA could be attacked by the terrorist. People like you make me ashamed to admit that the media is so controlled by the fem, 16
Stop publishing the foolish press releases from Agencia Brasil. People read this and mistakenly believe this is real journalism. All we are receiving is the ropaganda from the Brazilian government. This is the same government that protects its industries with tariiis but complains about agricultural subsidies by the EU and US. The same government that allows the police to murder and doesn't take action. The same country with a murder rate in SP and RJ similar to that of a war zone. The same country that is claiming the world (translate this as countries other than Brazil) should spend more money on the poor while its own people go hungry. Lula is great for trying to spend other people's money. This is the same country that demands to manufacture cheap drugs and often violates patents claiming patent licensing fees amount to predatory pricing. One resounding theme is apparent from reading about Brazil Brazil wants to blame all its problems on countries like the US and refuses to correct its own social maladies—poverty, huge educational deficiencies, de facto slavery, etc. Brazil has an extreme inferiority complex and the US and other countries are their scapegoat. I'm disgusted reading these slanted views published on your website. Start publishing some journalistic views that aren't biased by government propaganda. Moralistic Brazil is going to complain about the death penalty in Cuba, while thousands are murdered by the police eyer sear in Brazil. I et 'ssee llow
many government officials have been prosecuted for crimes during the last dictatorship? None? Nevertheless, Brazil wants to complain about other countries. Brazil's actions are beyond pathetic—they're disgusting.
Doctor Dja Via Internet THE REAL STUFF I used to enjoy read i ng the articles in Brazzil (articles by John Fitzgerald, for example). Recently, though, I have found it unfortunate that your magazine has predominately been printing articles,written by Agencia Brasil. It is lack of contributors? Why would any independent media (other than Fox News) publish a government's viewpoint on a regular basis? I lope that Brazzil will regain its independence and publish real articles and opinions, as you have done in the past.
Michael Battersby Via Internet SO WHAT? In John Fitzpatrick's article, may 2003— www.brazzil.com/2003/html/news/articles/ may03/p129may03.htm—he writes: "Recent research has shown that most ofthe participants in the bandeiras(bandeirantes expedition) were bona-fide Brazilians, generally ofmixed Indian and European blood, rather than European pioneers.' Could he be more specific and say which research he is referring to, and does it mention the genealogic tree or a DNA of these "bonafide Brazilians"?!would also like to know if he shares Hitler's ideas of pure race. He is right; most Brazilians are incapable of pronouncing an English word which ends in a consonant, they also are incapable of pronouncing long e's and so on, and most Americans are incapable of pronouncing a Portuguese word with do, or that ends on r, and soon. So what? Angelica
Via Internet GREAT AND HELPFUL Dear Mr. Hayes. Congratulations, I read your article about Brazil No Reason to Be Bullish on Brazil" (www.bra77i1.corn/2003/ html/news/articles/juno3/pI 26jun03.htm). One of the best short analyses from my country I ever read. Enjoyed your comment on the high interest paid for speculative capital (10 percent over TB). I am a tiles dealer and your comments are very useful to my business.
Aldo Sauda Sao Paulo, Brazil
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Why Is the Speaker Crying? Joao Paulo, the Speaker of the House, cried because he is irretrievably immersed in one of the most dramatic episodes in the history of Brazil's redemocratization. We are faced with a new totalitarian temptation, the devilish "sledge hammer" kind of politics that pushed us into the well of bitterness and from which, 39 years later, we begin to emerge.
Joao Paulo cried because he is irr - of tumult. Joao Paulo cried because, in spite of trievably immersed in one of the mo dramatic episodes in the history of e being a plant worker and not a degreeredemocratization'of Brazil. What we • holder, he knows what it would mean for the country to have a national strike of its faced with now is a new totalitarian tern judges. Even in the form of a threat, it tation, the devilish "sledge hammer" ki represents an unthinkable intimidation, an of politics that pushed us into the well irreparable blemish in a process based on bitterness and from which only now, balance, harmony and respect among powyears later, we begin to emerge. In 196 ers and institutions. Joao Paulo Cunha was only six years ol This ultimatum cloaked in justices' ALBERTO DINES but during his years of political activism robes is no different from the demands also paid the price of the irresponsibility cloaked in the military uniforms of a not those who put their bets on confrontati Men are also allowed to cry. So are very distant past. Before, the generals and the tactics of "everything goes'. members of the House of Representatives, frowned and ordered the tanks to rev up Joao Paulo cried because the admini their engines -at Vila Militar. Now, the including the Speaker of the House. The tration is confused between its marketin magistrates pout and say they will withtears shed by Joao Paulo Cunha on Thursattempts and its need for good strategic draw the scales ofJustice. In the end, it's all day, however, are something else altogether. while he is left alone to disarm a crisis -t the same; it's the tacape (*) again, this time Not only will they be part of his biography speed and size of which he cannot c,ontro in its real and virtual version. but they may also become the symbol of a The right always grabbed on to law an Joao Paulo cried because he undervery serious political crisis. 'order to deceive the rule of law, but the le stands the extension of the chaos, the huge Worse than the permission given to the has the historical commitment to brin no-man's-land where crime lives alongMilitary Police shock battalion to enter the change and preserve democracy. Fascis side exclusion and a thief who stole 62 enclosed chambers of the Legislative of the left is as dangerous as fascism fro reais from a gas station knows that he can Branch, and more serious than the accusathe right—both promise miracles they take refuge in a campground ofthe landless tion that the press was distorting reality, is never able to bring about. Hunger an movement, murder the first person that the realization that the country is preparing poverty cannot serve as pretexts for su confronts him and escape unpunished. If to break the pacto social, as well as the prise attacks. Disorder only feeds injustic the victim were not a photographic reporter pacto politico and, for that matter, the rule Putsch sounds like the name of a soup, b • t from an important magazine, all we would of law. it only fills the stomachs of those organi - be left with is a B.O. (police report) to fill The paulista congressman is not only up statistics. We journalists cry for La ing it. the president of the People's House—the Costa, who was assigned to do a portrait of Joao Paulo cried because he was th most authentic and representative chamber the crisis in Brazil, but ended up as a protagonist of a tragic predicament: h of the Legislative Branch. He is also the portrait of Brazil. choices were to either attempt against d second in the order of presidential succesThe PSDB (Partido da Social mocracy by allowing angry conflict to sion. The Vice-Presidency is not a position, place in the very chamber where congres • Democracia Brasileira—Brazilian Social but a mere hypothesis of vacancy. To preDemocracy Party) should have cried with men and women were voting on the reform side at the House, however, even in the Joao Paulo. A party that resulted from an da Previdencia (welfare reform), or t presidentialist system, is to hold a legiti- compromise the inviolability of the Legi _ ethical rupture and stayed in power for mate power, one that sustains the Republic. eight years cannot surrenderto ostentatious lative Branch by allowing the military p The tears of !ts president have both political • opportunism, exciting all soreheads and lice to come in. weight and institutional ballast. adding wood to a fire that it has, like This is exactly what tragedy means What is at stake here is not the person of everyone else, the obligation to stifle. The situation with no way out, and no altern the young legislator—a man of honor, idereal truth is that Joao Paulo Cunha should tives—past mending. The catharsis too alism, courage, competency and, on top of not be crying alone. place on the following day, when his te (*) Translator's Note: tacape ---- native everything, an occasional poet—or the held up his voice and clouded his reaso Brazilian attack weapon public demonstration of sensitivity and sin- To blame the press is part of the general cerity. which can only boost his merit in a ized disturbances. It's easier to hunt f Translated by Tereza Braga. scenario where rudeness, aggressiveness witches than to put a stop to the escalatio and cynicism reign supreme. BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
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First a Newspaperman Globo founder Roberto Marinho was above everything else a journalist, and a great journalist. Entrepreneur or empire builder are additional qualifications. In the newspaper he forged his professionalism and his creative talent. In the newsroom he developed his moral fiber. ALBERTO DINES ROBERTO MA RINHO (1904-2003) A review of the series of necrologies written on media mogul Roberto Marinho and published in our press between August Th and August 11thconfirm the impression of the precariousness of Brazilian (or Luso-Brazilian) biographism. Except for special editions and a few brilliant testimonies, all the biographical profiles left much to be desired. While obituaries deal with the deceased and biographies with lives, the two genres are in fact superimposed: both have human tracks as their object, including the essential data about the subject's character, crucial passages in his existence and, above all, his distinguishing traits. In the diligence to lay or remove polish, scrutinize attributes or stains, writers leave behind the scintilla, the spark that lights up a human being—large or small, it doesn't matter---and makes his or her path thrilling. "Doutor Roberto" was above everything else a journalist, and a great journalist. Entrepreneur or empire builder are additional qualifications: his natural way ofexisting and working was that of a journalist. There are activities that transform themselves into a second nature—journalism is one ofthem. In the newspaper he forged his professionalism and his creative talent. In the newsroom he developed his moral fiber; in the conviviality with colleagues, his nobility and generosity. And because he was a journalist, he wanted to participate, influence, intervene and even be a protagonist. Today we are discovering that these temptations can flow into omnipotence, but it's difficult to find in his generation and even in the generations immediately closer to him any journalist who was able to resist the fascination that power brings. Assis Chateaubriand built an empire, but he destroyed it with the same eagerness, while he was still alive. He was not brave enough to keep it alive, and he ruined it. In spite of having presided at newspapers and written daily articles all around the country, he didn't appreciate journalists----except those who agreed to join his entourage and collect the crumbs from his shady deals. One of these necrologies about Roberto Marinho attempted to bring back from forgetfulness the character of Adolfo Bloch, the entrepreneur who entered the history of journal ism because he was essentially a graphic designer. Many talented journalists started in the "shops" (when part of the newspaper was made "downstairs"—Irineu Marinho, Roberto's father, started as a copy -desk writer and copy-desk writers worked next to the composition machinery). But Adolfo Bloch was a graphic designer who had no respect for words, for the intellect, or for the moral sense that should accompany every human act. His despise for journalists is not comparable to that of Silvio Santos because he needed journalists and writers to fill up the pages of his magazines and, later, the time slots of his TV stations. Some of the, stories about the political role of Roberto Marinho were written with spite and a strong dose of amnesia. Its authors don't like to remember that Correio da Manhdled the movement ofthe press to support the military conspiracy of 1964, that the "Folhas" (Folha de S. Paulo and the deceased Folha dct Tarde) worked for awhile as extensions ofpubl ic safety departments and that the nonsense of the "Brazilian miracle" was invented at the Manchete magazine and financed by the Finance Minister Delfim Neto courtiers who were preparing the candidacy of colonel Mario Andreazza for President. They don't want to acknowledge that, in 1979, a daily newspaper with leftist pretensions called/or-Fulda Repfiblica was launched in Sao Paulo with monies from Paulo Maluf, via Vasp (when the airline was owned by the State government). , Such missteps committed by the sacred cows of progressive journalism do not justify the political mistakes committed by Roberto Marinho, but they should not pass by unnoticed in media studies claiming to be above good and evil. It's unforgivable to overlook that the only business defeat endured by Roberto Marinho was imposed on him by the arch-mafioso Silvio 'Berlusconi, who tried by all means to stop the consolidation of Telemontecarlo in Italy. In the current scenario of globalized communications, this is a piece of information that cannot be disregarded. Now that the man has been mourned and just homage and well-deserved tributes have been paid, the important thing is to look to the future: , * How to create other great journalistic corporations in this country at a time when the current ones are not only on the verge of bankruptcy but also under the helm of administrators, financiers, engineers, businesspeople and farmers? * Where are the journalists who will create and lead communications companies in the next 10 years? * Who will compete with OrganizacOes Globo for the hegemony of the Brazilian media? * Which Brazilian journalistic conglomerate will be able to get a slice of the foreign market? * In other words, are we going to remain on the outside of the globalization of information? Alberto Dines, the author, is a journalist, founder and researcher at EABJOR—Laboratorio de Estudos Avancados em Jornalismo (Laboratory for Advanced Studies in Journalism) at UNICAMP (University of Campinas) and editor of the Observatorio da Itnprensa. He also writes a column on cultural issues for the Rio daily Jornal do Brasil. You can reach him by email at obsimpAig.com.br This article was originally published in Observatorio du Impreasu — wwvv.observatoriodaimprensa.com.br Translated by Tereza Braga. Braga is a freelance Portuguese translator and interpreter based in Dallas. She is an accredited member of the American Translators Association. Contact: tbragaling(&,cs.com 18
BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
The man has said that he is against reelection. We heard the administration w 11 turn out to be a failure, or at least turn out worse speech about putting people above programs and patties. He even than the calamit • us FHC administration, are very slim. criticized his predecessor, Fernando Henrique, who "could have ... And Ferna do Henrique Cardoso, too In the high c mmand of the PT, this process is approached in left office as a 'god' at the end ofthe first term". He never explained his particular view on how the former President actually left office a professional anner. The anxiously expected staging of the at the end of his second term, but his tone suggested something in show called 'de elopment' is scheduled for late 2003 or early the direction of the devil's neighboorhood... 2004, in time to nfluence voters for next year's municipal elecOne thing is for sure: Lula is a candidate... tions. A merely easonable performance in securing mayors for What matters in Lula's statements is that he has positioned major capital ci 'es would lay down a solid threshold for the himself against reelection, this elections two years later. Same thing with maintaining or even expandmonstrosity stuffed down the ing the government's political-concountry's throat in opposition to gressional base. our whole republican tradition. PT did what it could at the time. There are, of course, other pretensions, starting with PMDB, now The party was very vocal in its reinforced with the arrival of the protest in a national campaign Garotinho couple. There is a possiand resisted to exhaustion. Unbility for the party to remain within fortunately, the winners were the base of support for the administhe hardly orthodox methods still tration by lending its support to practiced in Brasilia to get the reelection, but a solo flight is also desired votes in Congress. being contemplated, with Garotinho Even live cash went in and or Roberto Requi5o, who already the result were eight and not a fit with the arrival of the four years ofneo liberal suffocaLula says he is against reelection. He has had former fluminense governor in the tion, the alienation of Brazilian positioned himself against this monstrosity PMDB ranks. What could be the public assets and the suppression ofsocial rights. Not to menstuffed down the country's throat in opposition reason for that?... On the other hand, there's no tion the multiplication of unemto our whole republican tradition. The Workers' denying that the 'almost-god' perployment figures and the prevaParty (PT) did what it could at the time. The son intends to return to paradise. lence ofthe financial sector over Fernando Henrique is a candidate the productive sector. But the party was very vocal in its protest. Now we and has already said that age does past should stay in the past. More not constitute a problem: in 2006 he important is to concentrate on know: Lula is a candidate. will be as old as Tancredo Neves the words of the present in order was when he faced the Electoral to decifer the future. CARLOS CHAGAS College. Other alternatives have Logic would indicate two sprung up, too, at the PSDB: goverconsequences arising from the nors Geraldo Alkmin and Aecio President's opposition to reelection. First, the PT would insert into the promised political reform Neves, the loser J se Serra, Tasso Jereissati. PFL would Ii e to shed his image of crutches for tucanos by coming up (nobody knows when) a bill barring mayors, governors and presidents from running for a second term immediately bringing in their o candidate. Two times the liberals have been close to Palacio d • Planalto. Once, before the premature death of following the first. Second, regardless of the outcome of such a bill, Luiz Inacio Luis Eduardo Ma •alhaes and again when Roseana Sarney led the da Silva would not be a candidate anyway. Right? Well, maybe polls and then wit drew due to maneuvers of questionable ethics. not. In politics, logic is somewhat different. Words often serve the Do we have any • e else? Possibly. Why not Ciro Gomes, if he purpose of hiding true intentions. In Congress not a: single House continues to dese e praise as one of our best ministers? How Member or Senator seems to have any doubt that Lula will run for about bishop Mac do? It would be someone from the very extreme left, able to fill th vacuum left so far by the current president on reelection. There ispne case in which Lula would probably not run—ifh is his concerted run owards the center and even towards.... (let me government fails in such away that los ing turns out to be inevitable. stop right here...). It's all politic working within its own logic. In his stance Otherwise, various arguments would prevail, such as the "respect against reelection Lula reaffirms his plans for a second term and for the law", or "if Fernando Henrique could, why not Lula?' It doesn't cost much to be fooled. The 2006 succession race has inevitably stirs up is opponents. We can't avoid the lessons of an already begun, confirming that old Arab proverb that says that the Andrada, who w known as Zezinho just out of meaness: "In first one to the well is the one who drinks clean water. This current politics, you can n ver be against new facts or consumated facts"... President is a candidate. He can't avoid it, even against his will; no Translated byTereza Braga. one in the PT would forgive him. Moreover, the chances that his
Successiol Has Started
BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003.
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Dear Mr. President, here we go again. I'm so glad your bursitis gave you a break. Even better was the knee contusion gone, allowing you to go right back in the field for the "peladas" in Torto (*). Your administration is not doing badly, either. Or, I should say, it's not doing as badly as it was. After all, last week you were able to announce the first investments in national infrastructure. Better be careful with this business of detouring the Sao Francisco River, which could fire up the Northeastern states, but if it can create a few thousands of jobs, it will be worth it. Your administration is slowly trying to take its first steps to get back in tune with the voters. It will take a while, but some instruments in this orchestra are starting to play in tune. I'm not talking about the violins of your economic team, of course, because those strings keep hurting our ears. One recent address in particular was noteworthy. It was last Friday, at the delivery of the proposals for the Pluriannual Development Plan. At the opening, you lavished praise on one of your predecessors, senator Jose Sarney. The man deserves it. He has been the true leader of the government in the Senate, more than Amir Lando, in front of whom, by the way, sir, you slipped. His name is Amir Lando and not Almir Lander. But it would be good to take a step back in dealing with Sarney. He will never row against the tide of the PMDB and that party, sir, between you and me, is ready to start asking for more. If the promised new cabinet is not announced soon, the peemedebistas can torpedo welfare reform. There was a lapse on your part, Mr. President: you mentioned all the ministers who were there and forgot Jose Dirceu. The Lord Protector was there, and it's true that he has an office inside the palace itself. He's like family. But the general is, too, and so are Luiz Dulci and Tarso Genro, all of whom you mentioned affectionately and by name. You scored when you stated your willingness to resume works interrupted 'for 15, 18 and 21 years'. The message fit like a glove with Figueiredo, Sarney, Collor, Itamar and FHC, all guilty of failing to resume initiatives of their predecessors. Since the sociologist never started any works, this helps the image of the PT government. Also noteworthy was your vision concerning the Pluriannual Plan, a previous 'piece of fiction' which will now gain true popular support from the people. Let's hope that minister Palocci doesn't forget this and that he doesn't remember the fact that D. Marisa, every Friday, leaves her children frustrated because they didn't get whatthey wanted. You don't believe in the First Lady the same way you believe in the Minister of Finance, because billions ofdollars leave 20
Dear President, Can You Spare a Job? Mr. President, how about a popular vote to find out from Brazilians themselves what is our biggest aspiration? It will not be the detouring of the Sao Francisco or the atomic bomb of minister Roberto Amaral. Whoever guesses ten million jobs will not err by much, and that's a less visible project than refineries. CARLOS CHAGAS
Brazil to go overseas every year to pay interest on the debt. If D. Marisa renegotiates with her children a minor offering of some cocoa beans for the weekend, why couldn't Brazil renegotiate with its creditors the reduction of part of the fruit of our labor sent abroad? Who could be this mayor who said that the people are not prepared to participate in large public works, but only in small? Probably the one who ended up detained in Paris while trying to withdraw over a million dollars from his account, it seems. For you, sir, the people need, yes, to give their input in defining great works: how about a popular vote to find out from Brazilians themselves what is our biggest aspiration? It will not be the detouring of the Sao Francisco or the atomic bomb ofminister Roberto Amaral. Whoever guesses ten million jobs will not err by much, and that's a much less visible project than the refineries promised to governors. You were sharp, Mr. President. Not only you were in Curitiba, attending a celebration at a huge multinational which is food producer, but you still recommended to Roberto Requiao to keep his speech under three minutes. The governor took it hard. To ask a politician to limit his talking is like asking the fox not to look towards the chicken coop. Barbs were returned. Requiao acquiesced, but used his time to criticize smokers. He knew that you had your traditional cigarrilha in the pocket of your jacket... We heard the statement that the worst is behind us and everything will be all right. We don't doubt that everything will be all right. As to the worst being behind us, I'm in the middle here. We have not heard anyone deny yet that a strange labor reform will follow the anxiety of the welfare reform. Government employees had their pensions decreased and their retirement checks reduced. Citizens are being warned about an increase in the tax load. After that, if the government goes on to attack the decimo-terceiro saldrio (**) and vacation money, it will be for sure that the worst is not behind us; it's actually coming closer... Greetings, good health and success to you, sir. Translator's notes: (*)"peladas" in Torto—friendly soccer matches at Granja do Torto, the presidential weekend retreat, near Brasilia. (**) decimo-terceiro salcirio — thirteenth monthly installment in workers' wages given out every year according to Brazilian labor laws. Translated by Tereza Braga. Braga is a freelance Portuguese translator and interpreter based in Dallas. She is an accredited member of the American Translators Association. Contact: terezab(&,sbcglobal.net BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
After being thought and spoken hypotheses cannot either be forgotten by the brain that thought it out or silenced by the voice that pronounced it. They don't belong to their creators anymore and they become a patrimony of society, little mattering if for better or for worse. What have they thought and told the press, the Science and Technology Minister, Roberto Amaral and Brigadier Tiago da Silva Ribeiro, general coordinator for the launching ofthe Brazilian rocket that exploded in A lcantara, state ofMaranhao, killing 21 space technicians? That they don't dismiss the hypothesis of sabotage in the incident? The world sabotage was also used three years ago when the first rocket also exploded the same way as this one, sidetracked apparently by radio signals sent nobody knows by whom or from where. The Brazilian Air Force intelligence service had been investigating fortwo weeks new and unknown radio signals, which prompted the postponement ofthe launching. As dangerous and explosive this reasoning might be, we need to go ahead and investigate the,hypotheses raised by the Minister and the Brigadier. If they don't dismiss the idea of sabotage it's because they admit its possibility. Who would be interested in sabotaging the Brazilian rocket euphemistically called "satellite launcher", but in reality a missile with a reasonable range? All you need is to add two and two. This would interest the powers that deJain the most sophisticated missile technologios and that watch over time how more and more nations enter this little club they would love closed for ever. There's spec i al mention to the hegemonic power, which has become alone and absolute in its domination of the planet, imposing its interest by all means it can lineup. The more other counties are able to have missiles, the more vulnerable they and their allies will be. Russia, Ukraine, China, India, Pakistan, Iran and North Korea forced the door of the club where France, England and others had, under the US presidency, titles of athlete members. Why not present Brazil, the country where placidity was imposed by force? In the early 1990s they forced then President Fernando Collor de Mello to renounce any nuclear tests, signing nonproliferation treaties that they will never sign themselves. The humiliaticin was even worse. Collor had to go to Serra do Cachimbo, with an ample and embarrassed retinue of attendants, to symbolically seal with cement a chimney that could be used for underground exploBRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
Who Nage
sions. They knew the Navy was working in the field and they compelled the government to abandon every thing. Who did it? Ironically and in writing, it was then President George Bush, father of the present White House tenant. The Government Should Investigate In the missiles case, the situation is more complicated. How can you coerce in the open a country so that they won't launch their own artificial satellites, an absolute must for the century that just began? This way, sabotage, turns up as a solution if the rocket, with small alterations can be transformed into a defense or attack missile. It will be as hard to prove sabotage in Alcantara as it is to believe that the recent attack to the UN compound in Baghdad was the work of the unknown and histrionic group "Mohammad's Soldiers." Saddam Hussein's followers may be faBrazilian authorities say th natic, but stupid they aren't. Why would they attack the UN headquarters preare not dismissing the possibill that the accident that killed 1 cisely under the high commissioner's window, knowing that he was in favor of Brazilian space technicians in t the withdrawal of the invading coalition Alcantara Space Base was an a troops and their replacement by other of sabotage. Who would bene it nations' soldiers? We need to ask the question asked in from this crime? The US and the its allies. No one has the right to detective stories: who would benefit from this crime? Who wins and who loses with think Brazil is a country of inept the inevitable delay in our space program technicians. after the explosion of the second rocket? No one has the right to think Brazil is a CARLOS CHAG S country of inept, amateurish and irresponsible technicians. Ouite the contrary, if we show capacity in a number of other sectors, from agriculture to industry, it would be ludicrous to imagine that we are stupid in the aerospace sector, despite the natural economic-financial difre2.1.sa ficulties that put the First World in the Alcantara pode ter vanguard. To the powerful the backyard mu,st sofrido sabotagem continue backyard. A mere region to 41 port raw material, destined to receive the crumbs of obsolete technologies. In decades past we became one of the largest producers of weapons, selling tanks to Libya, the Middle East and Far East countries. Where did our rising war industry end up if not strangled by the big Impost° Robin Hood powers? We are faced with conjectures vai taxar especulagao that cannot be silenced. If our authorities Haddad deixa Inca: admit sabotage in Alcantara, the least we ."Fui apunhaiado" can do is try and investigate it.
Brazilian rocket?
TRIBUNA
Aacio considara Genolno crItica amiaa a relot govetnaciaies
Carlos Chagas writes for the Rio's daily Tribuna da Imprensa and is a representative of the Brazilian Press Association, in Brasilia. He welcomes your comments at carloschagasQhotmail.com
Lula Wins Round One Unfortunately for Lula, the pension vote alone is not a magic wand, and much more needs to be done. The next battle— reforming the inefficient taxation system—could be just as hard fought, since the federal government will need cooperation from state governors. They, in turn, will be expecting a payback. JOHN FITZPATRICK
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PT members voted against and eight abstained, and four Communist Party members voted against. This mini rebellion means that victory would not have come about had 62 deputies from opposition parties, like the PSDB and PFL, not voted with the government. But this is not necessarily bad. The breadth of Lula's coalition is such, ranging from the evangelical PL to the Communist Party, that there were bound to be differences over such a complex issue. It's interesting to note that 49 percent of the PSDB deputies (29 out of 59) and 47 percent of the PFL deputies (33 out of 69) voted with the government. Ironically, those opposition members who voted for the reform showed a political When President Luiz Inacio Lula da maturity that the PT seldom displayed Silva took office on January I" , the when it was the main opposition to the streets of Brasilia were packed with hunadministrations of former President dreds of thousands of supporters celFernando Henrique Cardoso. ebrating the arrival of this former metalThe process has not stopped, and we worker in the Planalto Palace. Many of will have a further vote this week in the these supporters were back in Brasilia in Lower House before the bill goes to the the past week, protesting at the impendSenate. The government aims to have the ing vote in Congress to begin reforming procedure finished by September. There Brazil's costly pension system. Some are still plenty of details to be worked carried placards calling for Lula to reout, and further amendments to be consign, and accusing him of being a traitor sidered, but since Lula virtually caved of public service workers. into the judiciary and made substantial One group climbed onto the Senate concessions to civil servants in other building and waved the red flag of the areas, these should not put the process in Workers Party (PT), which Lula founded doubt. over 20 years ago. Most dramatically, What's the Fuss? some idiots started smashing windows of Foreign readers may wonder why a the Congress building. Ifthese protestors subject as dull as pension reform should thought they would hold back the reform cause such a fuss. This is because public by intimidating, insulting or attacking service workers in Brazil enjoy benefits the Executive and Legislative branches that are well above those in the private of government, they were wrong. sector, and out of proportion to the conI have made no mention of the Juditributions they make, particularly in terms cial branch of government, since most of of years of service. Due to legal loopits members were on the side of the holes, it is common for people to retire in protestors in their obdurate hostility to their early 50s, continue to receive a the reforms. By behaving as they did, the pension that is equivalent to their last demonstrators not only shamed themsalary, and have the amount regularly selves but strengthened the will of the upgraded in line with salary increases government and Congress. The result obtained by servants still on the job. was a victory for the electorate, which There are even cases of people retiring in wants an end to privilege for pampered their 40s. civil service workers, many of whom Under the new proposals—which, it would not last a day in a real job in the must be stressed, will affect future civil private sector. servants and not those currently emThe first vote in the House of Repreployed—the maxim umpension fora civil sentatives was a decisive victory. There servant will be the same as for a private were 358 votes in favor with 126 against, sector worker: R$ 2,400 per month (about 9 abstentions and 19 deputies did not US$ 800). A cap of R$ 17,200 a month vote at all. The government easily won (about US$ 5,700) will be put on penthe 308 votes required to amend the Consions for federal judges, and R$ 15,600 stitution, i.e. a majority of three-fifths of (about US$ 5,100) for appeal court the 513-member House. However, around judges. Under the current system there is 80 deputies from the parties within the no limit, and some judges receive monthly governing alliance voted against the repensions of up to R$ 50,000 per month forms or abstained. For example, three BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
(about US$ 16,500). Remember, this is happening in a country where the minimum- monthly wage is a mere R$ 240 (about US$ 78). Under the proposal that passed in the first-round vote, the retirement age will stay the same at 55 for women and 69 for men, but with tax incentives to encourage people to remain working longer. The existing generous system places an enormous financial burden on individuals and corporations, which pay around 35 percent of their income in tax. Even then, the government's finances are in the red to the tune of around US$ 300 billion, of which a respectable chunk has to do with sustaining the existing pension system. In a report published in 2001, the World Bank said the fiscal situation in Brazil's 26 state governments was under "inordinate strain" because of the country's enormous pension obligations. These, according to the report, were a "large and growing component" of each state's debt, and consumed 30 to 50 percent of revenues In some cases. The pension scheme is expected to show a deficit of US$ 26 billion this year alone. To meet these payments, the government has to borrow at extremely high interest rates at home and abroad. Accordingto the government' s figures, these reforms will bring savings of around US$ 17 billion between 2004 and 2010. Unfortunately for Lula, the pension vote alone is not a magic wand, and much more needs to be done. The next battle— reforming the inefficient taxation system—could be just as hard fought, since the federal government will need cooperation from state governors. Lula depended on these governors to get his pension proposals through, and they will be expecting a payback in the form of tax benefits and special privileges for their states, just as the civil servants and judges demanded for their pensions.
BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
Past Haunts Lula's Government It has been revealed that i the 70s Jose Genoino, th Workers' Party president, and former guerrilla, supplie information about his comrades This information could have le the military to capture hi colleagues. The timing of thi affair is suspicious, Why ar these matters being aired now? JOHN F1TZPATRIC • At this time last year, when it w becoming apparent that Luiz Inacio Lu da Silva of the leftist Workers' P (PT) was going to be elected president If Brazil, there was a lot of apprehensio abroad that he would start irnplementin a socialist revolution. A widely publ cized article, written by Constantine Menges, a Portuguese-born America academic, even made the prepostero s claim that Lula would set up an "axis If terror" with Cuba's Fidel Castro an Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. Of course, nothing of the sort ha pened. As soon as he reached povve President Lula swapped revolution rhetoric for realistic dialogue and neg dation with the other parties in his wid ranging governing alliance, and eve reached out to the opposition. His Vic President, Jose Alencar, is a millionair businessman 'from 'the mainly evangelical Liberal Party (PL), and Lula has s t down to do business with traditional ide logical enemies like former Preside Jose Sarney of the PMDB, and Senato Antonio Carlos Magalhaes of the cente right PFL. Lula even attended the recent wak for Roberto Marinho, the -founder an head of the Globo media empire, a ina
often seen as more powerful than governments in Brazil. Over the years, Marinho not only supported the military dictatorship that ran Brazil between 1964 and 1985, but went out of his way to ensure that his television network's coverage of Lula's presidential election bid in 1989 was hostile and unfair. Lula ended up defeated by Fernando Collor de Mello, who was eventually removed from power because of corruption. , President Lula has just managed to get the Lower House of Congrento pass a bill reforming the country's pension system, with support from the main opposition parties. For his pains, the socialist president found himself being castigated by many of his traditional supporters. Photos of Lula were burned during protests by public servants, and he, of all people, was called a traitor of the workers' cause. 1970s Guerrilla Warfare Reignites... Against this background, it is interesting to note that all of a sudden, a chapter from the past has been re-opened, which involves one of Lula's closest companions and the current national president of the PT party, former Congressman Jose Genoino. OnAugust 12, the Brasilia daily newspaper Correio Braziliense published what were said to be details of the testimony given by guerrillas captured by the army in the Araguaia region in the 1970s. The Araguaia, situated on the tri-state border of Tocantins, Para and Maranhao, was one of the few places in Brazil where Communist guerrillas fought a campaign against the military. According to the Chair of the Lower House Committee investigating the events, PT Congressman Luiz Eduardo Greenhalgh, at least 60 people held by the army "disappeared" between April 1972 and January 1975. Only three of all the prisoners held by the military are believed to have survived. One of them was Genoino, who was captured in April of 1972 in one of the first guerrilla actions in the Araguaia, and talcen to Brasilia where he was tortured. In a weekly op-ed column he writes for the daily 0 Estado de S. Paulo newspaper, Genoino admitted on August 16 that he gave in under physical and mental torture and supplied information about his comrades. However, he attacked those who made "insinuations" and "accusations" that this information could have led the military to capture the guerrillas. Genoino said he had mixed fact with fantasy', and given the military misleading and irrelevant information. Reading this, one has the feeling that Genaino is protesting his "innocence" too much, and one cannot help wonder why, since no one would blame anyone for caving in under torture. While he does not identify those whom he attacks, he divides them into those who were "on , 23
the other side of the trenches... enemies of the left-wing resistance", and more recently, "pseudo leftists" defending opposing interests. "Furious at having their privileges cut by a government which is implementing social justice, they have no other argument other than slander and defamation," he raged. In this particular passage, Genoino is clearly referring to various groups—the judiciary and public servants most notably—who protested strongly against the already mentioned approval in Congress of the government proposal to reform the pension system. But who exactly is Genoino attacking here? The armed forces are against publishing the testimony of the Araguaia guerrillas, so are they to blame? Did they leak the story of Genoino testimony to the media? Or is Genoino saying that opponents of pension reform program have joined forces with reactionary elements to embarrass him? Does he know who they are? If he does, why not prosecute them for slander or libel? After all, Genoino says he wants the truth to be known so the relatives of those who disappeared can learn what happened to them. Or could it be that Genoino did in fact provide more information than, he admits, and there is some truth to the allegations? Is someone threatening or blackmailing him?
Funny Timing... The timing of this affair is also suspicious. Why are these matters being aired now? Is it to show the Left that, when it comes to fighting literally for its principles, Lula's team has nothing to be ashamed of? Or, on the heels of highpowered Roberto Marinho's death, could it be a reminder to the middle classes, already nervous over the highly publicized activities ofthe MST landless peasant movement, that a former guerrilla is one of the three most powerful men in Brazil? At the time of writing, it has just been revealed that a memorial stone honouring the murdered leader of the Brazilian CommunistParty, Carlos Marighella, has disappeared from a street in So Paulo. In 1969, Marighella, a former army officer, was allegedly tortured to death and shot to give the impression that he had been killed during a shootout. When this stone was installed in 1999, in the wellheeled Jardins district where Marighella's body was found, a number of local residents protested. The surprise is the stone has not been vandalized or tampered with since then. Maybe it is just a coincidence that it disappeared this week... Another interesting point is that one of those who will advise the AttorneyGeneral's office on whether to allow full publication of the government documents
detailing the Araguaia events, is Lula's Chief of Staff, Jose Dirceu. He is also a former guerrilla, and one of a group freed by the military regime in the 1960s in exchange for a kidnapped U.S. ambassador to Brazil. Dirceu spent years in exile in Cuba before returning to Brazil to live underground until an amnesty law brought back a flood of political exiles in 1979. Without trying to make too much of this series of events, it is certainly part of the shadowy world of Brazilian politics, in which as much is concealed as is revealed. For more examples of this, see my recent article on conspiracy theories and strange coincidences that have marked Brazil's recent history*. *http://www.brazzil.com/2003/html/ news/articles/jul03/p109jul03.htm 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 © John Fitzpatrick 2003
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BRAZZIL .SEPTEMBER 2003
Too Tense for Comfort Several moderate politicians and the press have criticized the overly lenient attitude of Brazilian President Lula toward violence, vandalism, invasions and general lawlessness on the part of protesters of the various political movements. Things have not gotten out of hand, but this could change soon. RICHARD HAYES
BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
The Friday before last and over the weekend of August 2nd and 3rd, tension reigned in Brasilia, in the financial markets, in certain rural areas and in Sao Bernardo do Campo where 7,000 families were camped out on land owned by Volkswagen. Due to worries over the destiny of the pension reform bill before the Lower House of Congress, Lula postponed a visit to five African countries. He correctly felt that his presence in Brasilia was more important. Contributing to gloom and doom sentiment was the less than enthusiastic reception by financial markets of an attempt by Banco Central to swap certain hard currency denominated bonds forthose of longer tenor. The timing was bad as higher yields on US bonlis helped to steer investors away from more risky paper such s Brazil has to offer. Also the see ingly deteriorating situation in Brazil did nothing to whet t e appetite of bond holders to go for higher yields on longer t rm bonds. The operation was not a complete failure as US$ 1. billion of the US$ 2 billion the authorities had offered for e change was taken up. But it could be a sign of more difficult t mes ahead as the country attempts to borrow another US$ 25- 30 billion until the end of the year to keep current on maturi g obligations. Rumors that inance Minister Palocci was on his way out did nothing to calm markets. It is no secret that his market pleasing policies qf sound monetary and fiscal measures are not that popular with many other cabinet members, principally Lula's right hand man Jose Dirceu. Demands to ease up and stimulate the eco omy are growing. Palocci and others have emphatically deni d that there are rifts, which of course merely confirms that they exist. His departure or dismissal would be an ominous event. To placate the auto industry that employs several thousand workers and has t reatened huge layoffs, Palocci announced a reduction of the I I or Excise Tax on certain models. The car manufacturers in t rn have agreed to lower prices of their cars proportionately a d not fire any workers through November when this tempor ry pact will, in principle, expire. Market tensio eased somewhat midweek as an altered version of the Pe sion Reform was passed by a comfortable margin in the Cha ber of Deputies. By caving into the judges, who are keeping early all of their perks, Lula's government has lessened the p ssibility of future judicial battles over the constitutionality o these measures. Far from ideal, the changes are a major step in the right direction and will help to reduce the deficit of the INSS or Social Security ac ounts that contribute sign ificantly to Brazil's mounting indebte ness. Also the bill diminishes some the inequities that ben fit government workers, responsible for 76 percent ofthe soci I security deficit, to the detriment ofretirees from the private s ctor. The numerical consequences of these changes will only e known after the Senate votes them twice. This bill has sassed the first round four months after its presentation to Co gress. After amendments, on August 20, the 25
Lower House must again vote upon the measures before the bill goes to the Senate, where less resistance is expected. Passage of the first round would not have been possible were it not for the votes of over 70 deputies from the opposition PFL and PSDB, in a rare demonstration of civic responsibility. These parties, who until January 1St, 2003 were of the ruling coalition, have pledged to render support for measures that are in Brazil's benefit, in contrast to the behavior of the P (Workers' Party) when in opposition threw up obstacles to pension reform. PT Rebels Arm twisting by President Lula and his aides did not convince many members of his own PT and other parties of the ruling coalition to support the government sponsored proposals. The PT so far has not handed out many jobs to those other than their own members. That makes other parties feel left out and resentful. This responsible stance of the PSDB and PFL may endure until the pension and tax .reforms have been voted. But with municipal elections coming up in 2004,, it will not last long. The PT may feel that it needs support from the center and center right if it is to accomplish anything legislatively. Burning of PT flags, the symbolic burial of Lula and the breaking of over fifty windows in the Chamber of Deputies by angry government workers and other protesters over pension reforms indicate that Lula is loosing support from some of those who elected him. The recently formed CMS or Coordenacao dos Movimentos Socias (Social Movements Coordination) is an attempt to unite the various segments of society with grievances to express. The purpose of these groups, including students, women. teachers, lawyers, judges, blacks, gays, small formers, the landless, and the homeless is to force Lula's government to give priority to the social agenda. They feel that by uniting several social movements, demonstrations, several of which are planned, will be better orchestrated. Their plans include a national campaign against unemployment, defense ofthe activities of the MST to accelerate agrarian reform, intensification of occupation of buildings in major cities, impeding the independence of Banco Central, help for small farmers, prohibition of the use of genetically modified seeds, anti globalization measures including opposition to the proposed Free Trade Association of the America and measures of the World Trade Organization, a reform of the federal university system including marches and debates and possibly a suspension of payments of the foreign debt. CMS feels that these funds could be better spent on social programs. All of this sounds like the platform of the PT before
they toned down their rhetoric in order to gather votes for Lula from less radical elements. Unless the economy picks up soon, noise from these and other quarters can be expected. The government has talked about several measures that they plan to announce in order to stimulate the moribund economy, create jobs and reduce pressure for land reform. The IPI reduction for autos is the first to actually happen. Friday Banco Central reduced banks' compulsory deposits on checking accounts from 60 percent to 45 percent. It is hoped that this reduction in funds tied up bearing no interest may encourage banks to charge less for loans and make more of them. Copom ((Com ite de Politica Monetaria— Monetary Policy Committee) will probably further lower the SELIC or basic interest rate from its current 24.5 percent when it meets later in August. Lula's various spokesmen have stated that public lands owned by the federal and state governments may be used to settle families since there is little money available to expropriate land from rightful private owners. They talk about low cost housing and public infrastructure works. It remains to be seen if any of this actually happens without increasing government deficits and reviving inflation, the control of which is one of the major accomplishments of Lula's government thus far. Spirits lightened before the weekend as the illegal occupants of the land owned by Volkswagen peacefully left the area when confronted by a police force of more than 500 men, some of them on horseback. The decisive action on the part of Sao Paulo governor Geraldo A lckm in was responsible for accomplishing this as Lula and his people did nothing to remedy this situation nor did they condemn it. Several moderate politicians and the press have criticized the overly lenient attitude of Lula's government toward violence, vandalism, invasions and general lawlessness on the part of protesters of the various political movements. So far things have not gotten too much out of hand. But if the conflicts escalate, which could happen, Lula must make some difficult decisions and take action if he expects to help PT candidates win more mayoral contests next year and be reelected himself in 2006, should he finish his present term. Sao Paulo, August 12, 2003 Richard Edward Hayes first came to Brazil in 1964 as an employee of Chase Manhattan Bank. Since then, Hayes has w orked 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 192IouvreAuol.com.br
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A recent supplement called Joven published by the Brazilian weekly mag zine Veja (August 2003, Veja 1813), th week features a highly slanted view Brazilian youth. The supplement striv to convey the contemporary portrait Brazilian young culture, with aspec ranging from music, drugs, educati and sex, however, the tone is paint with rosy colors. It is alleged that hundreds of youn sters from "all over of Brazil", from 15 22 years of age, were interviewed to re resent the 28 millions of Brazilian "teens interestingly called, in this supplemen by the English term: "teens" and not the Portuguese term adolescentes. Th Veja supplement reveals more about t subversive Brazilian ethnic and soci 1 subconscious, lamentably slanted, and a virtual photocopy of the North America model, than it did about any actual Br zilian youth culture. A reader might think that this Vej supplement, "Jovens," is mistakenly po Brazilian leading magazine traying typical middle-class suburb North American youth culture. It is hardl Veja tells in a special report that believable that this selected group they took a portrait of Brazilian youngsters, which the editor claims t "typify a generation", represents the va teens. The supplement, however, complexities of the rest of the 28 millio illustrates the publication's 15 to 22 year-olds in Brazil. In a nation where homicide rates r brainwashed editorial staff and semble war statistics (approximatel their selection of what they really 45,000 homicides per year, according t Amnesty International figures), the po wished Brazil was like. It is not a trayal of a group that looks like it ju from a dress-rehearsal for one realistic portrayal of Brazilian came MTV's reality TV shows, hardly repr sents the reality that is not so photogem youth. or digestible to the largely white, urba ALAN P. MARCUS and middle-class Veja magazine reader The editor claims the selection ofth teens photographed, was the result forty interviews. The photos, accordin to the editor, represent the "ethnic an visual style diversity" of their own ge eration. These interviewees came fro
Veja's Yankee Brazilian Teens
BRAZZIL -SEPTEMBER 2003
both private and public schools in So Paulo, however; they too represented the pathological denial and that diverts Brazilians facing more serious and threatehing social and "racial" issues, which these groups pale in comparison. From body piercing and tattoos, to ACDC and Avril Lavigne, the supplement illustrates more about the brainwashed editorial staff and their selection of a US model of Brazilian bourgeoisie mentality, or what they really wished Brazil was like, than about the realistic portrayal of a larger Brazilian youth. Take, for example, the photo selection of teens, on page 12. The photos attempt to show the "ethnic and visual style diversity" the editor wished to encompass in the supplement. They feature two blacks, two blondes, and two brunettes. It is interesting and remarkable to note that by this "ethnic and visual style diversity", the editor actually accomplishes the cliched portrayal from pop media in the US, and the diversity range that comes straight out from the North American paradigm, and certainly not from a Brazilian paradigm of ethnicity and race (which is too complex and extensive to examine here). Within the US "race" model there is a distinct racial divide (i.e.; black and white), but, to determine who is black and who is white in Brazil is hard, if not impossible, since Brazil is a nation of its own "racial" paradigms, perceived with cor (color) and spans across a variety of "colors". This means that Brazilian ethnic varieties are far more complex than mere "black" and "white" portrayals shown in the supplement, furthermore, the social issues are just as complex. For example, on page 45, the feature was about the food that Brazilian "teens" like to eat. The photo selected, was a photo of a boy holding a hamburger. The boy resembled more a portrait of a young Swedish boy in Oslo, than a boy from 27
Capdo Redondo (a resident from the South end of SA() Paulo). Perhaps this Veja supplement is what the editor, Daniel Hessel Teich, would wish Brazilian youth looked like, however, it exists only in his middle-class paradigm. Mr. Teich and his sub-editors perhaps wished that Brazil too, would be more like a clear-cut and middle-class USA, but it is not. Many of the 28 million Brazilian youths, are a far stretch from the nonthreatening, suburban, and "palatable" portrayal, most middle-class readers would like to see. The supplement does not show the more "un-picturesque" portrait of Brazilian youngsters that does not even exist within the North American cultural or "ethnic and racial" paradigm. By featuring the "other" Brazilian youth, that does not fit into the US paradigm of middle-class suburban youth, and that was not shown in this supplement, the editor, perhaps, also risked alienating a readership that is severely permeated with,. cliched US popular imagery, as seen on TV, films, photos, and magazines. Going back to page 54 in the supplement, the five featured "famous" Brazilians talk about their most embarrassing moments as "teens". All the successful women featured are blondes: Ana Hickman, Didi Wagner, and Wanessa Camargo. The Anglo-Germanic notion and model of beauty is overwhelmingly present in Brazilian pop-culture as seen here in the supplement, as with other Brazilian "success" stories, such as Xuxa, Angelica, and Giselle Btindchen. The majority of Brazilians are non-blue-eyednon-blondes, and the fact that those rare women who achieve professional success are blue-eyed-blondes, reveals the magnitude and the deeply embedded notions of gender, "race" and ethnicity in Brazilian popular culture. The desire of the Veja supplement editor, Daniel Hessel Teich, to maintain the Anglo-Germanic notion ofUS beauty, of cultural, and of "racial" cliches, is a classic example of Brazil's subconscious "racial" and cultural self-doubt that inundates Brazilian popular culture. The imagery painted is an example why Brazil has an "ostrich-complex" by sticking its head in the sand and averting facing a problem, denying the larger issue of Brazilian youth, that is not similar to middleclass USA, but perhaps Mr. Teich wished it were. 28
We've Got Our Geniuses Too There have been many a "genius" from other continents and countries other than from Northern Europe or Northern America, however, they seem to disappear or not fit into the carefully constructed paradigms that serve the self-interests and self-fulfilling prophecies of the Anglo-Germanic paradigm. ALAN P. MARCUS
Brazil does not belong to the Anglo-Germanic world, and therefore Brazilian "geniuses" have been excluded from an exclusive and selfimportant team of geniusmaking-nations from Northern Europe and North America. It is interesting that one may ascertain thereby proxy, that those populations that assert values of a superior nature with their "geniuses", will most likely also possess, incorporate, and enjoy those same values; and; superimpose those values on the rest of the world ascribed with inferior values. Take for example, the word genius. I invite the readers to think of the very first names that come tomind when they think of a genius. Brazilians might have thought of different examples than those readers from North America, Europe, or the British Commonwealth countries (i.e.; Australia, New Zealand). The overall list might look something like this, for example for classical Musicians: Beethoven, Brahms, Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn; for scientists: Einstein, Freud, Marx, Darwin; and finally, for writers and poets: Shakespeare, Nietzsche, Goethe, Byron, Shelly, Dickens. Ifthe reader will also take one moment to think about what happened to thinkers, scientists, musicians, inventors, writers, poets and sportsmen from Brazil (or from Portugal). Are they not deemed to be a part ofthe so-called Western world? Naturally, the Anglo-Germanic world does not seem to think so. (Today the term Western essentially means: white, Anglo-Germanic, or Northern European and North American models of thought). But, what ever happened to inventor Alberto Santos-Dumont; indianist brothers Villas-Boas; anthropologist Gilberto Freyre; writers Luis de Cameies, Guimardes Rosa, Machado de Assis, Jorge Amado, Euclides da Cunha and Monteiro Lobato; architect OscarNiemeyer; painter Candid° Portinari; composers Villa-Lobos, Martinho da Vila, Luiz Gonzaga, Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso, Tom Jobim, Vinicius de Morais, Paulinho da Viola; actor Grande Othelo, historian Sergio Buarque de Hollanda, and soccer players Pele, Tostdo and Garrincha? They too deserve the genius aphorism. In the so-called Western world, the term genius, almost always, conveys the notion ofa scientist, a writer, a philosopher, or a c lassical musician. Therefore, geniuses in other fields do not seem to belong to the model of measuring intelligence (i.e.. exclusively mathematical or musical). When psychologists and social scientists emerge with new theories of intelligence or genius, a North American and Northern European model is used for testing this intelligence. These models were also used in the pseudoscientific and racist treatise written by Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray, BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
4:Akiii1.4:3: 1994 called: The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Lffe, on the innate intellectual "inferiority" of US Blacks. A Legacy from Germany and Britain One may notice that, traditionally, figures of note who are deemed "genius", are almost always overwhelmingly either German or British nationals (see the list of scientists, musicians and poets from above). Note that even if Marx, Freud, Einstein, and Mendelssohn were Jews, they were, first and foremost, ascribed as Germans, and henceforth, conveniently appropriated as Northern Europeans. The "genius" examples are the centerpiece of the dominating culture of selfimportance, inherited from the long-lost era ofVictorian-British pomposity and from German nationalistic Volkgeist narcissism. The pageantry and arrogance ofthose dominating cultures are today perpetuated by the semantics used in popular and pseudoscientific cultures, thus also influencing national consciousness in countries such as Brazil. This influence may be illustrated in Brazilian popular culture by observing the insulting articles written by Brazilian columnist Diogo Mainardi, in the weekly Brazilian magazine Veja, as he constantly belittles and ridicules Brazilian national figures, and praising foreign ones, particularly Anglo-Germanic. , There have been many a"genius" from other continents and countries other than from Northern Europe or Northern America, however, they seem to disappear or not fit into the carefully constructed paradigms that serve the self-interests and self-fulfilling prophecies Ofthe Anglo-German it paradigm. A long process of sernantic deconstruttion is in order. What is a genius? Is it an individual achievement in mathematics, physics or classical music? What is classical music? What one calls classical music is interesting and revealing, because classical denotes established, orthodox, or traditional, and furthermore dominating, albeit it is regarded as a time-period in music terms. But there is such a thing as contemporary classical music, and it has become a musical genre. Other countries in the world have cultural ly absorbed classical music, notthrough smooth osmosis, but through cultural domination and acculturation. These countries find the need to resonate with the mainstream semantics, the orthodoxy of classical, and also assimilate what is noted in North America and Northern Europe as superior, good-taste and quality, genius or intelligence, of course, through the gospels of intellectual prophets belonging to these dominating Cultures. Alberto Santos-Dumont The debate over who was the "father of aviation" is controversial, and a perfect example of this contemporary disregard and abandonment ofnon-Anglo-Germanic scientists, inventors, writers, and poets. In Brazil every schoolboy and girl is taught that the Brazilian inventor, Alberto Santos-Dumont, is pai da aviactio ("father BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
of aviation"). In the rest of the so-call d Western world, it is widely held that t e North Americans, the Wright brothers, c that title. There is much documentation a d information available about Dumont's se fpropel led flight around the Eiffel Tower Paris in 1906, with photographs and o c ial awards. The Wright brothers had already ma e a flight in 1903, but with dubious testim nials, nevertheless the title of "the first" o fly, was unanimously given to them, a d unfortunately, Santos-Dumont was forg • ten, and and merely known in the Weste world annals as an "eccentric Hispani inventor. The debate over technicalities about who was the very first person to fly might unproductive because of all the impossib and detailed particulars in doing so, ho ever, it is significant to note that Santo Dumont unquestionably deserves the s e stature, status and recognition in the hist° of aviation as the Wright brothers. Ho ever, Santos-Dumont has yet to be respecte recognized and acknowledged worldwid as a Brazilian inventor, not Hispanic, d if he was not &first to fly, then at least, e was indeed one of the"greaf,pioneers f modern aviation". Mane Garrinelvi: A Brazilian Genlis "Intelligence" per se, is non-existe t, as recently proposed by several psychol gists and social scientists (Gardner, 198 , Montagu, 1994) it has an amorphous fo it tests "what the tester wants to test" (i,:.; whatever a dominating culture "wants prove"). Intelligence may be a manifestation f a human capability that exists in sever; forms:but not only visible through achiev ment in mathematics and music, but also other visual arts, sports, or visual and sp tial thinking. In this manner, one may i mediately recognize :such valuable "g niuses" from Brazil, such as writerillacha i s de Assis, or the unrivaled soccer play r Mane Garrincha„ but who are virtual', unheard ofand non-existent in the annals if mainstream Western world. Only an unenlightened and retrogt elite with highly racist and "half-bake scientific" politics would assert that "inte ligence" is measured by the individual 4r Cultural achievement in mathematics an music alone, or worst still, by the "IQ" tes . This concept of genius is linked to a interesting and forbidden discourse in th so-called Western world, that is, the d gerously prejudiced association betwee heredity and physical appearance with cu tural achievement and intelligence, even f easily refuted. Giselle Bilndehen in the Land of Non-blondes In a nation ofnon-blondes, blonde fas ion models like the blue-eyed Gisell Btindchen seem to receive more nation .l adoration than Santos-Dumont, Machad de Ass is or Villa-Lobos ever received. Thi seems to be indicative of Brazil's ethni self-doubt and of the Anglo-Germanic cu tural influence and dominance over Brazi ian national consciousness. Giselle is fro •
the south of Brazil, a region which has received significant German immigration. And as such, she also bears physical characteristics that seem to resemble traditional Germanic standards of beauty. However, it is remarkable and regret•table, that in a nation of non-blondes, she receives more admiration than the rest of a nation of equally beautiful non-blue-eyednon-blondes, so traditionally Brazilian. Henceforth, the notion of blondeness, particularly in Brazil, is disturbingly linked to the notion of feminine beauty, thus, attesting to the overwhelming outside influence of the Anglo-Germanic model of beauty and of thinking. Nevertheless, Brazilian "geniuses" are yet to receive their long overdue respect, recognition and appreciation in the socalled Western world, and also in their own nation of non-blue-eyed-non-blondes. Bibliography: Gardner, H.. 1983. Frames of Mind. Basic Books Inc., New York, NY. Herrnstein Richard J. and Charles Murray. 1994. The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life. The Free Press, New York, NY. Montagu, Ashley. 1997. Man's Most Dangerous Myth: The F allacy of Race. Altamira Press, Walnut Creek, CA. Other articles written by this author on Brazilian ethnicity in Brazzil Magazine: "Brazil: Northeasterners Get No Respect": httri://www,brazzil.com/ p105 un03.htm "Out of Africa: Race in Brazil and in the USA": http://www.brazzil.com/2003/html/ news/articles/j une03/0 123 i un03.htm "Brazil? Which Brazil?": httn://www.brazzil.com/2003/html/ news/articles/iu103/p151iu103.htm Alan P. Marcus (Master's of Science in Geography, in progress) is a Brazilian living in the USA. He has also written other articles on Brazilian identity, "race" and ethnicity for Brazzil magazine. E-mail contact: amarcusAaeo.umass.edu 29
I've become much less Americio an much more Brazilian. Take my antI,U. . imperialist sentiments, which have grown enormously since coming to Brazil. It' easier to feel America's omnipotence— be it cultural, economic, political or. military—when you're living in a country ,. that is suffocated by it.
Most Brazilians, upon hearing that I, an American, have been living in their country for nearly two decades, most of that time married to a Brazilian, say "Well, you've already become a Brazilian." And I always disappoint them when I define myself as an American-Brasileiro, a hybrid of two distinct cultures. Given the length of time I've spent outside my country and my not being"an insider" within this one, I can hardly claim to be a connoisseur of either culture. But this "outsider's" seat has made me a critic of both of them. My cultural aims in 1983 when I moved from Berkeley, California to Rio de Janeiro, a place I'd never been, were far less ambitious. This voluntary exile was not an attempt to reinvent myself. My main objective was to distance myself from everything that was American. Then 33 years old, I had, for some time, been at odds with a my success-obsessed, time-ismoney culture, when the "Me" Decade" dawned in the 1970s. e sense ordthoplacency and superiority with which Americans regarded the rest of the world was still in full swing in the early 1980s when Ronald Reagan vowed to extend U.S. impeialism to, as yet, untested extremes. So why Brazil? What beckoned me here were siren songs of Tom Jobim, the Carnaval scenes of Orfeu Negro, and the Bahia of Jorge Amado. These entreaties promised me a new home with more ginga, generosity and joie de vivre than the Puritan eould 'Magi*, And why Rio de Janeiro? I escaped to this de Maravilhosa simply because that's where the fugitives Ilywood movies inevitably end up. it didn't take my long to join into the d adopt its easily assimilated customs— g late to all oda' encounters, driving with a death wish ' dog lost the Argentine soccer team, no matter whom st. "d nxious to shed some of my American individutte a I begaltiliOoking for a turma into which I could dissolve. went the beach, I didn't head for the far end of Leme bk; but became the gregarious gringo intent upon up14,some—any—Posto Nove social circle. despite having made carioca friends, I never became arty turma because, down deep. I was never much of a In fact, the last organization I joined (and left soon after) Soy *outs. ,e ptiviatt me also had a more difficult time in becoming the Brazilian Individualist: the one who leaves his car triple parked in front of restaurants and -in" clubs, the one who uses the streets and sidewalks as depositories for garbage and dog poop, the one wh turns his home into a noise machine, even \ though neighbors how their annoyance. ' Nor could I be -ome the homem cordial, (cordial man) the azilian who gets around awkward social encounters with " -Ser (could be), vamos ver (let's see), or se der (if BRAZZIL-SEPTEMBER2003
30
possible). I was also unable to become a member of that hybrid species—half malandro (con man), half diplomat—who could be called the morde-e-assopra brasiliensis. (bite and sooth) This species communicates via phrases like eu fico divendo, (to avoid honoring a debt) andfica para a proxima (to avoid honoring a promise). To this day, what still makes me most American is my ability to confront a person or an issue directly and to, when forced to, use the word "no." When I do so, Brazilians call me objetivo, though this is simply how an homern cordial euphemistic avoids telling me that I am being curto e grosso. (short and gross). And there was some Puritan part of me I didn't want to expunge. Shortly after I married a Brazilian with two teenage kids, I told her that it was important to instill the value of the "Protestant work ethic" in her kids by having them help me wash the dishes. In a culture where kids are incredibly spoiled not just by the parents, but by the "live-in maid," both she and her children vetoed my suggestion. But in other ways, I've become much less American and much more Brazilian. Take my anti-U.S. imperialist sentiments, which have grown enormously since coming to Brazil. It's easier to feel America's omnipotence—be it cultural, economic, political or military—when you're living in a country that is suffocated by it. So, when the terrorist attacks occurred in New York and Washington, I understood what drove some here to say Bern Feito, (you deserve this) even though I found such a reaction unfair and unfortunate. Neither I, nor most Brazilians I know, believe that U.S. imperialism is a valid justification for the mass murder of American civilians. Those attacks also left me in tears because, despite my misgivings about America, it was my homeland that was being attacked. And that's when I realized what a strong emotional bond still existed between me and America. That bond comes not from simply having grown up there, but from what I love about America, everything from the pragmatism and creative energies of its people to the freedom of expression and other civil liberties that flourish there. That bond is strengthened by America's being a place whose front door will swing open whenever I knock on it. Is there a better definition for "home?" Still, Brazil is where I feel most at home because of those
here who have o ened their arms'to ine and showed me other equally-admirab e virtues. The part of me that is Brazilian has soaked up some ifthis people's tolerant and generous nature. Just get a flat tir on any Brazilian back road and watch how many people will rush to your aid, refusing any financial reward for doing so. This may be because Brazilians, especially the poor and workin -class ones, can more easily give what those in a time-is-mo ey culture can not—their time and sense of collectivity. I believe tha being married to a woman Who came from a modest family i the state of Piaui, a woman for whom giving comes as natura ly as breathing, has forced me to be a bit more giving. Not hav'ng made this change would have made our marriage lack r ciprocity. Her kids also accepted me with remarkably ope arms, something every stepfather prays for. This made the gi ing that went along with helping to raise them simply part oft e process of growing to love them. To this exte t, I'm happy with the hybrid I've become. And even if I decid d to try to more completely me abrasileirar, (Brazilianize) I couldn't do more than add a few superficial touches. I coul try to soften my accent or learn to pull on my earlobe to prai e a tasty dish. But wouldn't this be mimicry, rather than assi ilation? I think that truly becoming more Brazilian would mean having to adopt attitudes and actions that don't necessarily suit me. The econo ic and cultural forces that created the homem cordial are not hose that molded me. Any doomed attempt to become such a an, would mean sacrificing much of what I like about myself, s meone largely shaped by America. Being Braz lian, like being American, is a state of mind. And because l' e soaked up so much from both places, I carry both states of ind around with me all the time. This hasn't made me schiz phrenic. But it has forced me to walk a tightrope between y homeland and my adopted land, one on which cultural winds rom both countries help me keep my balance. Michael epp is an American journalist who has lived in Brazil Fo the last 20 years and who has written for Time, Newsweek an many other U.S. publications. Editora Record will, in late A gust/early September publish a collection of his cronicas Sonh ndo corn solaque—coufissoes e desabafos de urn gringo brasil iro. 244 pages, R$ 25. For more information on the author a d book consult www.michaelkepp.com.br. The author w !comes your comments at mkeppterra.com.br
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Brazil has become so closely identified with coffee that many people believe the plant originated there. What happened in Brazil exemplifies the benefits and hazards of relying heavily on one product. Coffee made modern Brazil, but at an enormous uman and environmental cost. MARK PENDERGRAST
You believe perhaps, gentlemen, that the production of coffee and sugar is the natural destiny of the West Indies. Awirenturies ago, nature, which does not trouble herself about commerce, had planted +ither sugarcane nor coffee trees there. — Karl Marx, 1848 iBy the time Marx uttere4 these words, coffee cultivation in the West Indies was already declining. However, over the next halfcentury—before 1900—non-native coffee would conquer Brazil, Venezuela, and most of Central America (as well as a good portion of India, Ceylon, Java, and Colombia). In the process, the bean would help shape laws and governments, delay the abolition of slavery, exacerbate social inequities, affect the 32 BRA7_ZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
natural environment, and provide the engine for growth, especially in Brazil, which became the dominant force in the coffee world during this period. "Brazil did not simply respond to world demand," observes coffee history Steven Topik, "but helped create it by producing enough coffee cheaply enough to make it affordable for members ofNorth America's and Europe's working classes." Yet coffee did not make much of an impression in Brazil or Central America until the colonies broke away from Spanish and Portuguese rule, in 1821 and 1822. In November 1807, when Napoleon's forces captured Lisbon, they literally drove the Portuguese royal family into the sea. On British ships, the royal family found its way to Rio de Janeiro, where King John VI took up residence. He declared Brazil to be a kingdom and promoted agriculture with new varieties of coffee, grown experimentally at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Rio and distributed as seedlings to planters. When a revolution in Portugal forced John Vito return to Europe in 1820, he left behind his son, Dom Pedro, as regent. Most Latin American countries, sick of the colonial yoke, soon broke away, led by Venezuela, Colombia, and Mexico, followed by Central America, and finally, in 1822, by Dom Pedro in Brazil, who had himself crowned Emperor Pedro I. In 1831, under pressure from populists, Pedro I abdicated in favor of his son Pedro, who was only five. Nine years later, after a period of rebellion, chaos, and control by regents, Pedro II took over by popular demand at the age of fourteen. Under his long rule, coffee would become king in Brazil. Brazil's Fazendas Brazil has become so closely identified with coffee that many people believe the plant originated there. What happened in Brazil exemplifies the benefits and hazards ofrelying heavily on one product. Coffee made modern Brazil, but at an enormous human and environmental cost. At over three million square miles, Brazil is the world's fifth largest country. Beginning just south of the equator, it occupies almost half of South America, knocking against 4,600 miles of the Atlantic on the east and the upthrusting Andes to the west, stretching north to the Guiana Highland and the Plata Basin in the south. The Portuguese, who discovered, exploited, and subjugated Brazil, were initially enchanted with the country. In 1560, a Jesuit priest wrote, "If there is paradise here on earth, I would say it is in Brazil." Unfortunately, the Portuguese proceeded to destroy much of that paradise. The sugar plantations of the 17th and 18th centuries had established the pattern of huge fazendas (plantations) owned by the elite, where slaves worked in unimaginably awful conditions. It was cheaper to import new slaves than to maintain the health of existing laborers, and as a result, slaves died after an average of seven years. Growing cane eventually turned much of the Northeast into an arid savanna. As sugar prices weakened in the 1820s, capital and labor migrated to the southeast in response to the coffee expansion in the region's Paraiba Valley. While Francisco de Melo Palheta had brought seeds to Para in the northern tropics, coffee grew much better in the more moderate weather of the mountains near Rio de Janeiro, where it had been introduced by a Belgian monk in 1774. The virgin soil, the famed terra roxa (red clay), had not been farmed because of a gold and diamond mining boom of the 18th century. Now that the precious minerals were depleted, the mules that had once carted gold could transport beans down already-developed tracks to the sea, while the surviving mining slaves could switch to coffee harvesting. As coffee cultivation grew, so did slave imports to Rio, rising from 26,254 in 1825 to 43,555 in 1828. By this time, well over a
million slaves I bored in Brazil, comprising nearly a third of the country's p pulation. In order to pl cate the British, who by then had outlawed the slave trade, th Brazilians made the importation of slaves illegal in 1831 ut failed to enforce the law. Slavery's days were clearly nunibered, however, and so the slavers, attempting to take advantage of the time left to them, increased the number of slaves imported annually from 20,000 in 1845 to 50,000 the following year, and 60,000 by 1848. When Britt h warships began to capture slave boats, the Brazilian legisl ture was forced to pass the Queiroz Law of 1850, truly ban ing slave importation. Still, some two million already in the c untry remained in bondage. A system of huge plantations, kn wn as latifundia, promoted a way of life reminiscent of the sl ye plantations of the Old South in the United States, and cof e growers became some of the wealthiest men in Brazil. In 1857, A erican clergyman J. C. Fletcher wrote of his visit to the 64 quare mile coffee fazenda of Commendador Silva Pinto in Iinas Gerais. "He lives in true baronial style," Fletcher comm nted appreciatively. In the huge dining room, three servants ame, bearing "a massive silver bowl a foot and a half in diamet r." Later, he listened to fifteen slave musicians playing an overture to an opera, after which the black choir sang a Latin mass. A few years eclater, a traveler in the Paraiba Valley described a typical slave s hedule. Though not the same plantation visited by Fletcher, th conditions under which the slaves labored were probably similar: The negro s are kept under a rigid surveillance, and the work is regul ted as by machinery. At four o'clock in the morning all ha ds are called out to sing prayers, after which they file off to their work.... At seven [p.m.] files move wearily back to the house.... After that all are dispersed to household and mill-work rtil nine o'clock; then the men and women are locked up in se arate quarters, and left to sleep seven hours, to prepare for thd seventeen hours of almost uninterrupted labor on the succeeding day. Although ome plantation owners treated their slaves decently, others frced them into private sadistic orgies. Beatings and murders ere not subject to public scrutiny, and slaves were buried on plantations without death certificates. Slave children were frequently sold away from their parents. Constantly on gu d against slave retaliation—a scorpion in the boot or groun s glass in the corn meal—owners always went armed. "On th s plantation," one owner proclaimed, "I am the pope." Slaves were regarded as subhuman, "forming a link in the chain of an mated beings between ourselves and the various species of bru e animals," as one slaveholder explained to his son. Brazil mai tamed slavery longer than any other country in the Western h misphere. In 1871, Pedro II, who had freed his own slaves o er thirty years before, declared the "law of the free womb," pecifying that all new-born offspring of slaves from then on would be free. He thus guaranteed a gradual extinction of lavery. Even so, growers and politicians fought against abolit on. "Brazil is coffee," one Brazilian member of parliament de lared in 1880, "and coffee is the negro." War Aga nst the Land In his boo , With Broadax and Firebrand: The Destruction of the Brazili n Atlantic Forest, ecological historian Warren Dean docum nted the devastating effect that coffee had upon Brazil's envi snment. During the winter months of May, June, and July, gam. s of workers would begin at the base of a hill, chopping thr I ugh the tree trunks just enough to leave them 33
BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
standing. "Then it was the foreman's task to decide which was the master tree, the giant that would be cut all the way through, bringing down all the others with it," Dean wrote. "If he succeeded, the entire hillside collapsed with a tremendous explosion, raising a cloud of debris, swarms of parrots, toucans, [and] songbirds." After drying for a few weeks, the felled giants were set afire. As a result, a permanent yellow pall hung in the air at the end of the dry season, obscuring the sun. "The terrain," Dean observed, "resembled some modern battlefield, blackened, smoldering, and desolate." At the end ofth is conflagration, a temporary fertilizer of ash on top of the virgin soil gave a jump-start for year-old coffee seedlings, grown in shaded nurseries from hand-pulped seeds before being transplanted. The coffee, grown in full sun rather than shade, sucked nutrition out of the depleting humus layer relatively quickly. Cultivation practices—rows planted up and down hills that encouraged erosion, with little fertilizer input— guaranteed wildly fluctuating harvests. Coffee trees always need a "rest" the year after a heavy bearing season, but Brazilian conditions exacerbated the phenomenon. When the land was "tired," as the Brazilian farmer put it, it was simply abandoned and new swaths of forest were then cleared. Unlike the northern arboreal forests, these tropical rain forests, once destroyed, would take centuries to regenerate. How to Grow and Harvest Brazilian Coffee The Brazilians quickly learned the rudiments of coffee-growing and harvesting, much of it universal to the plant wherever it grows. Their agricultural methods required the least possible effort and generally emphasized quantity over quality. The general way Brazilians grow coffee remains largely unchanged over a hundred years later.' Coffee thrives best in disintegrated volcanic rock mixed with decayed vegetation, which describes the red clay, the terra roxa, of Brazil. Once planted, it takes three or four years for a tree to bear a decent crop. In Brazil, each tree produces delicate white flowers three and sometimes four times a year (in other areas of the world, there can be only one or two flowerings). It is common in many parts of the world to see blossoms, green berries, and ripe cherries all on the same tree. The white explosion, which takes place just after a heavy rain, is breath-taking, aromatic, and brief. Most coffee trees are self-pollinating, allowing the monoculture to thrive without other nearby plants to attract honeybees. The moment of flowering, followed by the first growth of the tiny berry, is crucial for coffee-growers. A heavy wind or hail can destroy an entire crop. Arabica coffee (the only type known until the end of the 19th century) grows best between 3,000 and 6,000 feet in areas with a mean annual temperature around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, never straying below freezing, never going much above 80 degrees. The high-grown coffee bean, developing slowly, is generally more dense and flavorful than lower growths. Unfortunately for Brazil's coffee, 95 percent of the country rests below 3,000 feet, so that Brazilian beans have always tended to lack acidity and body. Worse, Brazil suffers from periodic frosts and droughts, which have increased in intensity and frequency as the protective forest cover has been destroyed. Coffee cannot stand a hard frost, and it needs plenty of rain (70 inches a year) as well. The Brazilian harvest begins soon after the end ofthe rains, usually in May, and continues for six months. Because Brazilian coffee is cultivated without
shade, it grows even more quickly, depleting the soil unless artificially fertilized. Coffee trees are usually pruned on a regular basis. Still, most trees in the early Brazilian fazendas required ladders for the harvest. Trees will produce well for fifteen years or so, though some have been known to bear productively for as long as 20 or even 30 years. When trees no longer bear well, they can be "stumped" near the ground, then pruned so that only the strongest shoots survive. On average—depending on the tree variety and growing conditions—one tree will yield five pounds of fruit, translating eventually to one pound of dried beans. Coffee is ripe when the green berry turns a rich wine red (or, in odd varieties, yellow). It looks a bit like a cranberry or cherry (which is why it is in fact called a "coffee cherry") though it is more oval-shaped. Growers test a cherry by squeezing it between thumb and forefinger. If the seed squirts out easily, it is ripe. What is left in the hand—the red skin, along with a bit of flesh—is called the "pulp." What squishes out is a gummy mucilage sticking to the parchment. Inside are the two seeds, covered by the diaphanous silverskin. The traditional method of removing the bean from nature's multiple wrappings, known as the "dry method," is still the favored method of processing most Brazilian coffee. The ripe (and unripe) cherries, along with buds and leaves, are stripped from the branches onto big tarps spread under the trees. They are then spread to dry on huge patios. They must be turned several times a day, then gathered up and covered against the dew at night, then spread to dry again. If the berries are not spread thinly enough, they may ferment inside the skin, developing unpleasant or "off' tastes. When the skins are shriveled, hard, and nearly black, the husks are removed by pounding on them. In the early days, the coffee was often left in its parchment covering for export, though by the late 19th century, machines took off the husks and parchment, sized the beans, and even polished them. The dry method often yielded poor results, particularly in the Rio area. Since ripe and unripe cherries were stripped together, the coffee's taste was compromised from the outset. The beans might also lay on the ground for so long that they would develop mold or absorb other unpleasant earthy tastes that came to be known as a "Rioy" flavor (strong, iodine-like, malodorous, rank).* Some Rio coffee, however, was handpicked, carefully segregated, and gently depulped. Called "Golden Rio," it was much in demand. From Slaves to Colonos By the late 19th century, the Rio coffee lands were dying. The Rio region was "quickly ruined by a plant whose destructive form of cultivation left forests razed, natural reserves exhausted, and general decadence in its wake," wrote Eduardo Galeano in Open Veins of Latin America. "Previously virgin lands were pitilessly eroded as the plunder-march of coffee advanced." As a result, the main coffee planting region moved south and west to the plateaus of Sao Paulo, which would become the productive engine for Brazilian coffee and industry. With prices continually rising throughout the 1860s and 1870s, coffee monoculture seemed a sure way to riches. — The new coffee men, the Paulistas of Sao Paulo, considered themselves progressive, modern businessmen compared to the oldfashioned baronial lords ofRio coffee. In 1867, the first Santos railway to a coffee-growing region was completed. In the 1870s, the Paulistas pushed for more technological change and BFtAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
innovation—primarily to advance the sale of coffee. In 1874, Pedro II dictated the first message to Europe on a new submarine cable, facilitating communication with a major market. By the following year, 29 percent of the boats entering Brazilian harbors were powered by steam rather than sail. Railroads quickly replaced the mule as the preferred method of transporting beans from the interior to the sea. In 1874, there were only 800 miles of track; by 1889, there were 6,000 miles. The lines typically ran directly from coffee growing regions to the ports of Santos or Rio. They did not serve to bind regions of the country together. Rather, they deepened dependency on foreign trade. After 1850, with the banning of slave importation, coffee growers experimented with alternative labor schemes. At first, the planters paid for the transportation of European immigrants, giving them a house and assigning a specific number of coffee trees to tend, harvest, and process, along with a piece of land so that they could grow their own food. The catch was that the sharecroppers had to pay off the debt they incurred for the transportation costs, along with other advances. Since it was illegal for the immigrants to move off the plantation until all debts were repaid—which typically took years—this amounted to debt peonage, another form of slavery. Thus it was no surprise when Swiss and German workers revolted in 1856. The Paulista farmers finally gained enough political clout, in 1884, to persuade the Brazilian government to pay for immigrants' transportation costs, so that the new laborers did not arrive with a pre-existing debt burden. These colonos, mostly poor Italians, flooded sao Paulo plantations. Between 1884 and 1914, more than a million immigrants arrived to work on the coffee farms. Some eventually managed to secure their own land. Others earned just enough to return to their homelands, embittered and discouraged. Because of the poor working and living conditions, most plantations maintained a band of capangas, armed guards who carried out the planter's will. One much-hated owner, Francisco Augusto Almeida Prado, was hacked to pieces by his colonos when he strolled through his fields unprotected. The Brazilian Coffee Legacy The Brazilian coffee farmers did not think of themselves as oppressors, however; on the contrary, they considered themselves enlightened and progressive, wishing to enter the modern world and to industrialize with the profits from coffee. After concluding that the colono system produced coffee much more cheaply than slavery, the Brazilian coffee farmers led the charge for abolition, which occurred when the aging Dom Pedro II was out of the country. His daughter, Princess-Regent Isabel, signed the "Golden Law" on May 13, 1888, liberating the remaining three-quarters of a million slaves. A year later, the planters helped oust Pedro in favor of a republic that would, for years, be run by the coffee planters of So Paulo and the neighboring province of Minas Gerais. Unfortunately, the liberation of the slaves did nothing to improve the lot of black workers. "Everything in this world changes," a popular verse went, "Only the life of the Negro remains the same: / He works to die of hunger, / The 13th of May fooled him!" The planters favored European immigrants because they considered them genetically superior to those of African descent, who increasingly found themselves even more marginalized. In the coming years, under the colono system, coffee production would explode, from 5.5 million bags in the 1890 to 16.3 million in 1901. Coffee planting doubled in the decade following abolition, and,by the turn of the century, over 500 million coffee trees grew in the state of Sao Paulo. Brazil
flooded the world with coffee. This over-reliance on one crop had a direct effect on the well-being of most Brazilians. A contemporary writer observed that "many articles of ordinary food required fr the consumption of the [Brazilian] people, and which cou d easily be grown on the spot, continue to be largely importe , notably flour.... Brazil is suffering severely for having overione coffee cultivation and neglected the raising of food pro ucts needed by her people." Endnotes • Most Brazilian coffee is still stripped rather than selectively harvested, then "dry" processed. Much has changed, however. Mechanical harvesting is now possible on flat Brazilian farms. Different types of trees now grow there. Finally, many huge fazendas have given way to smaller lots. • Some consumers got used to the Rioy flavor, however, and came to pr1ze it. Indeed, rancisco Schmidt, a German immigrant in the 1880s, eventu lly came to own twenty huge fazendas with sixteen millio coffee trees, a private railway and phone system, and th usands of colonos. The forego ng is an excerpt from Uncommon Grounds: The History of Cof e and How It Transformed Our World, by Mark Pender rast (Basic Books, 1999). It can be ordered from Amazon.coin. The author, who is an investigative journalist and scholar, would like to have the book translated into Portuguese, since it contains a great deal about Brazil and its coffee and history. If anyone has an idea for such a publisher, please contact Mark Pendergrast at markpnasw.org.
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BRA7_ZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
When I Hug My Shadow I grew old. Alone I learned about the ravages brought up by the years and I didn't complain. It was death that I was expecting to come duel with me, the chess board always ready, as in the Bergman's movie. The hair has rarefied and the guns expelled the teeth as they were intruders in the smile's harmony. "e nossas sombras pelas paredes moviam-se, aconchegadas como nos e gesticulavam, sem voz." (Cecilia Meireles)
WHISNER FRAGA
Se a aflicao supera o meu desejo de saber, encolho-me no meu silencio, busca sem motivo no interior das coisas que me sustem. 0 frio soprou seu gel ido bath em mim (como foi?) e percebi urn certo tremor em meus mascu los e ate urn fragmento daquilo que hoje chamo de dor, mas que antes nao saberia nomear. Impus-me entao o mormaco de outro corpo? Que nesse abraco severo dividiria a aflicao? A revolta das celulas e o conspirar dos orgaos. Quem me exigiu a crenca naquilo que meu espirito considera corn urn ardor soberano algo falso e inutil? Quando a ausencia me rebaixou ao sope da soliddo e do remorso. Brand° assim o meu desvelo para corn o que penso a meu respeito. Deve ter sido crescente o aprendizado. Prirneiro engatinhei, depois senti a firmeza dos meus ossos e a coragem insurgindo contra a debilidade que herdei e, resoluto, ergui-me, sustentado por duas pernas vagarosas. Os passos para alcancar o cob o de minha mae: os joelhos ardendo em viva came. 0 chao ao qual estava acostumado surgiu distante e mais alto e poderoso estive frente as formigas e outros insetos que me acompanharam durante os meses de reconhecimento. Entao urn fremito me sacudiu e por pouco nao pisoteei meus antigos companheiros. 0 poder que seduz as criaturas inferiores. Tateando corn a limitrofe dificuldade os objetos que me circundavam, alvejando a mulher que na do meu esforco, agrupando toda a intensidade de meus desejos para alcanca-la, sobrepujando o meu proprio vigor, o seu rosto a cintilacao que me guiava, divisei bem perk) a maldicao de bracos corn a esperanca. Percebi tambem que jamais alguem sofreria por mim, que o fustigo na minha pele nao acarretaria qualquer sofrimento na epiderme de outrem. Enfim alcancei os peitos de mamae, macios e suculentos, jorrando urn liquido branco e quente que preencheu o meu estomago, embora dali tenha 36
BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
brotado apenas o necessario para amenizar a avidez da fome, pois eles nal° queriam que acreditasse em recompensas por urn esforco que dependia antes da minha sorte do que de algum talento especial. Ndo sei quando me vieram as frases, primeiramente desconexas e ininteligiveis, mais tarde apenas laconicas. E a invasdo, a pilhagem? Detalhes que se amalgamaram sorrateiramente ao meu carater e hoje o lamento pela desatencdo. Ndo haja culpa a no ser daqueles que se aproveitaram da veleidade de uma criatura incompleta. As roupas chegaram e já controlava meu corpo e a sabia a hora certa de ir ao banheiro para deixar no vaso o que meus orgdos ndo quiseram aproveitar. Cerrava a porta do quarto para me trocar e educadamente dizia "muito obrigado", "por favor". Quern se arriscaria a dizer que me calaria em tantos idiomas? Como recompensa pelos sapatos lustrados e pelas camisas limpas e bem passadas, levaram-me a escola. Bendito dia. Corn alvoroco eu tentava adivinhar o significado dos simbolos e depois a atracdo por Lucilene, pressenti que seria para sempre um desgracado. A necessidade mOrbida de substituir as mamas, de afagar corn indolencia as suas coxas brancas e frivolas... E que frialdade na sua condescendencia comprada! Como conciliar o amor corn a came? E corn a moeda. An-emessada imprudentemente contra meu peito esperancoso, a magoa assolou um a urn os sentimentos felizes que jurava possuir. Facamos assim: que eu pense ter isolado o que de melhor ha em voce, que nao arrebanhei o conjunto inteiro no lei Id° dos homens, que casta, sensivel, inteligente, e apenas isso, e para complicar, mas tambem para aperfeicoala, voce vera apenas o naco born das pessoas, mantendo entdo urn sorriso constante e mais ainda: sera esse sorrir a sua verdade. Mesmo que se aproveitem dessa inocencia e, acredite, ndo tardara a acontecer. Envelheci. Conheci sozinho os estragos dos anos e ndo me queixei. Era a morte que eu esperava viesse duelar comigo, o tabuleiro de xadrez sempre pronto, como no filme de Bergman. Os cabelos ralearam e a gengiva expulsou os dentes, como fossem intrusos na harmonia do riso. Nem assim soube da maturidade ou do conhecimento total sobre a minima coisa. Corn que arbitrariedade eu vi os fatos se desenvolverem, no curso interminavel do acaso. Soube que as coisas que aprendi foram artimanhas do meu instinto e que so me BRA7_ZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
serviam a sobrevivencia. Sempre uma restia, o suficiente p ra deixar nas paredes ou ainda no chd o meu contorno deformado (que hoje pe so ser mais exato do que o meu corpo). la, dia ou noite, infalivelmente a i e acompanhar. Nos amamos. Porque nao havia o ra esperanca de humanidade que ndo eta, sutil e espectral. Ndo tivesse opcdo de refrear a magoa que se acumulara, f ito manancial de ruindades inesgotaveis Envergonho-me ao dizer que o a Or se apresente tao disforme e talvez ate m tanto fragil. Mas nos amamos. Ainda assim. Convulsiva e desesperadamente. Numa dessas conversas que os tomavam noites completas e durant as quais se consumiam dezenas de ve as, lembro-me de falannos da composi äo da sombra. Dela. 0 que seria? Mate la, onda? Invocamos os meandros da fi ica quantica, tentamos uma explica do atraves dos quasares, dos quarks, ate que, exaustos e sem chegarmos a lu ar que nos permitisse qualquer conclu do, nos abracamos, decididos a continu r a perquiricdo num outro dia. De repente a vela se consumiu or inteira e a luz se extinguiu. A soli do apresentou-se arrogante e apressei me em acender uma outra. ApOs, pouq issimas vezes faltou luz em nosso quato, tao dependente de mim era a sua v da, que a sua morte so podia ser culpa ml ha. De dia, janelas escancaradas, eu co ia para perto do sol, e nas noites n ca faltaram artificios para produzir urn po co de claridade. Liamos livros, os seus gestos: mim cas dos meus, em tudo estavam dizimad s as pegadas da solitude. Mas ainda nos atormentava a sua origem. Tantas teorias para explic r a minha propria, que nao podia os abandonar o assunto sem indagac es. Paradoxal o nosso relacionamento se dissessemos basta: sejamos felizes as im, sem o conhecimento, estariamos fad dos ao desgosto, pois a busca sempre nos moveu. Ela nao poderia, portanto, ser evitada. A (mica saida para nos dois ra a resposta. 0 vinho nunca bastava para as n sites de discussOes calorosas. Bebiamo da mesma tap, falavamos pela mesma oz, mas percebia argumentos tao dispa es! Ate que voce se ergueu arrog nte, ficamos frente a frente quando fui pu ado pelo colarinho, um terrivel e gar dominava a sua face escura, exig ndo ardentemente uma explicacdo para t do. Aflito, tentei abraca-la, como se hou esse nesse gesto a unica resposta cabivel sara
aquela indagacdo e apatica, voce se aquietou e foi ai que senti a lamina afiada da sua incompreensdo. Sorrateiro, me desprendi do enlace e corn um sopro apaguei a chama para nunca mais reacende-la. SO assim prosseguir ern vasta escuridao.
One i became a very fearful man. i already knew that, last time we met you told me that the whole time we knew each other you felt afraid, and this fear bothers me more than your other fears, for sure. people scare me. i don't care about how afraid you are of people, i care about how afraid you are of me. WHISNER FRAGA segunda-feira. mesmo antes nada podia ser feito? orar. nao adianta falar corn mais ninguem, ndo ha quem me conheca. nem eu a conheco. ainda assim sabe mais que os outros. se voce diz. é o que penso. fico preocupado corn voce. e o que posso dizer?, que me alivia sua preocupacdo?, nao seria verdade. nem é minha intencdo qualquer especie de alivio, preocupar me basta. certo. é urn vinculo nosso, na-o? foi ai que tudo comecou, nao foi? sim, e depois outras coisas se juntaram. sim, outras coisas sempre se amalgamam. sempre? creio nisso. entendo, e como desfazer essa unido? impossivel nos reduzirmos a tanto, ao menos para nOs. é nisso que acredita? ndo, é o que vejo. e o que voce sente, corresponde ao que ve? o que sinto ndo importa. em mim e essa necessidade de reclusdo, ndo consigo mais lidar corn a ideia de ter de me comunicar corn as pessoas, convivo, converso, mas ndo ha empatia, flan ha o que me prenda a elas. eu sempre fui assim, talvez voc'e me entenda, afinal. talvez, masminhas formas de lidar corn as coisas sdo diferentes das suas, eu ja the disse ern uma das nossas conversas recentes que acredito que voc'e tenha razdo ao pensar como pensa, ndo 6? acho que rid°, voce jamais me deu razdo na mais pifia coisa. ou talvez sua memOria o esteja traindo, e voce a mim. trai-se de tantas formas, é o que comentam. o que acontece corn voce? como assim, o que acontece comigo? 37
como voce estd? desintegrando. como assim? rompendo corn algo, ainda nao sei bem o que 6, dizer que seja o mundo é muito por enquanto, mas desintegrando, rompendo, me entregando. ndo me surpreende. o que nao deixa de ser doido. se sente dor, ainda algo, ndo 6? sempre se sente algo. quando digo que nao me surpreende nao é porque seja voce, mas porque vejo que tern acontecido corn alguns personagens de minha vida algo semelhante, muito metodicamente semelhante, as drvores secas que lembram suas folhas, creionao haver mais nada do que a entrega de que voce fala. penso que assim seja, a entrega. sinto-a como uma especie de fim. é somente isso. nao sei se é o que posso ter, gostariade ter um fim menos tangivel que a morte. as vezes nem a morte é o fim. nunca tivemos realmente urn ao outro, Tido 6? e o que seria esse ter urn ao outro? boa pergunta. pois é. quern sabe tenha sido essa morte, mesmo nao sendo uma pessoa querida. quem sabe. perder alguem é triste. sim. voce consegue entender como sou? sim, entendo porque sou como voce, eu acho, mas sinto sua falta, como voce tambem ja sentiu a minha antes, quando os papeis estavam invertidos, voce esperava o meu contato e eu nao o procurava, lembra-se? sim. talvez como me sinto seja da mesma forma que voce se sentiu. a diferenca é que me lembro de voce ter me cobrado e se chateado comigo, eu nao me chateio corn voce, sO penso que ambos perdemos algo corn isso, algo importante. eu sei. na skunk) inversa, eu podia fazer algo, agora, ndo sei de nada que possa fazer que ja nao tenha feito para the mostrar que voce era importante, mesmo antes de saber do bebe e de todas as mudancas que vem acontecendo comigo, recordome de ter the pedido inclusive para que nos encontrassemos. sim, mas o mais importante é que tenho medo, tornei-me um homem muito medroso. eu já sabia disso, da Ultima vez em que nos vimos voce me disse que em todo o tempo em que nos conhecemos voce sentiu medo, e esse medo me importa mais do que seus outros medos, é claro. as pessoas me assustam. nao me import() corn seu medo das pessoas, me importo corn seu medo de mim. ainda assim voce é importante pra mim. sim, mas isso nao me peie na sua vida, quer dizer, posso ter sido importante e ser uma lembranca dessa importancia, de algum momento, voce ndo pode dizer que eu fact) parte da sua vida porque voce pensa em mim. nao é isso, é mais. eu gostaria de entender, mas acho que essas coisas sao diferentes para mim e para voce. sim, sae) sim, eu 38
ate tento me importar corn as pessoas, mas nao dá. nao estou falando das pessoas. tampouco eu. entdo voce tenta se importar corn igo, mas nao dd. ride), estava falando de mim, me import° corn voce mais do que gostaria e muito menos do que voce gosta. voce nao sabe o quanto eu gostaria, menos uma questao de quanto que uma questa() de como, por que diz que se importa comigo mais do que gostaria?, se ndo se importasse tanto, talvez estivesse mais perto... e importaria muito mais se estivesse perto. se se importasse menos, ndo teria medo. sim, mas me importo, que fazer? ndo sei mesmo, nao é meu medo, eu tive medo quando percebi o seu, so conheco como é o meu, o que me pertence. nao pense voce que faz muito, ambos fizemos pouco a respeito de nos. sim, eu ndo sei quanto a voce, mas no meu caso foi uma escolha, de certa forma, rid° fazer tanto quanto poderia ou queria. e por que? acho que para nao me sentir sozinha corn voce. e se sente assim comigo? ndo, mas me sentiria hoje em dia se tivesse feito mais por nos dois. disso nadapode afirmar. sinto muito, sinto porque agora nao vejo o que posso fazer e nenhum de nos fez algo quando poderia ter feito. o mais ireinico que quando estou corn voce, nao sinto medo. ainda assim sente medo de estar comigo. enquanto estou nao, mas depois tenho medo de voltar a estar corn voce. por que? nao sei, mas pensarei a respeito. quando voce me diz que ira pensar em algo e depois me dirk a sensacao que tenho é a de que nunca saberei. talvez, mas isso nao quer dizer que ndo pensei. e que voce foi o tempo todo desleixado conosco. mas fui autentico. antes fiat) tivesse sido, entao. aonde nos levard este entendimento tardio?, as uvasjá apodreceram demais. hd tempo para tudo, diz a sua biblia, chegard ode sabermos o quanto avancamos. sinto muito pelo seu pai. tido é a morte que me importa e sim a ausencia. uma é consequencia da outra e contra as duas nab hd armas eficientes. e me fazem querer voce por perto. tenho vontade de conhecer a sua filha. gostaria que voce a conhecesse, seria uma experiencia para nos dois. e é sempre grave viver desses ensaios, parecemos personagens do murilo rubido. grave? sim, voce ndo ve gravidade nisso tudo?, nab enxerga dois doutos discutindo as. trivialidades de urn relacionamento? e nao crescemos nada? e o que é crescer?, de minha parte penso que tido, ainda estou vivendo corn a mesada do meu pai, trinta e seis anos e desempregado, duro, voce acha que posso ser chamado de homem? se 6 justamente o menino que eu anseio em voce... e agora, o que sera desse medo, tdo truffautiano, decisivo, ingenuo? sera o
que tiver de ser, como nOs. como nada. é, talvez. talvez.
the man who reminisced the woman is tamed to suffice her man and obviously to serve him, I suspected that his satisfaction found shelter in the finding and knowing these male tricks recognized that if violets corrupt, roses, the white ones mostly, betray, and this way she knew to treat one and of couse, the other. WHISNER FRAGA
A Lucilene ", sAo eles, todos, os vorazes culpados de tantas memOrias destruidas," (Jose Saramago, em Todos os Nomes) "como uma arvore seca preserva ainda a mem6ria de suas folhas." (Tatiana Lea() em seu blog Fim da Mente) ndo é o peso que deposita seu jugo nos ombros ou mesmo a sua cautelosa presenca, mas a inexistencia de uma certeza consciente e é por isso que ha tanto a recordar?, eta entretanto já se dirigia a urn outro quarto e Ia inumeraveis arquivos, porque aos numeros impuseram somente tarefas de exaticido e jamais aquelas que dizem respeito a memOrias, sendo assim o motivo pelo qual frequentemente dizemos urn certo dia em vez de em vinte e quatro de mai o de mil novecentos e oitenta e dois beirando as tres da tarde, as recordaceies se impeiem as contas, os fatos ao desassossego dos algarismos, ja supunha um amontoado de caixas e gavetas incomodamente espalhadas, mas a minha imaginacao humilde ndo prey ia tamanha organizacao, como se tivesse completado, nesses quinze anos em que ficamos distantes, variados cursos de catalogacao, e em poucos minutos estendia-me um bilhete e eu ri achando impossivel urn encontro defasado de tanto tempo e embora tenha BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
aprendido a assimilar da incoerencia do mundo tanto a insensatez quanto a surpresa, surpreendi-me ao encontra-las emaranhadas em tambem inesperados tempo e lugar, reconheci a caligrafia cinzelada e precisa do futuro engenheiro, ela compreendendo devolveu o papel a sua origem, fosse desaparecer ou mesmo o esquecimento, e antes que lhe cedesse o triunfo, demandei a coerencia daqueles arquivos e indicando-me os mOveis, explicou que as gavetas continham as fotos e estavam apartadas nao por qualquer definicao de epoca, indicando as etiquetas, expunhaque distavam umas das outras por questOes de prazer, no organizacional, mas o outro, que nos impedem de propalar a estranhos e as vezes ate aos mais chegados, onde foi escrito que ha amigos mais prOximos do que irmaos?, estas proximidades nao carecem julgamentos, era que falava, portanto, do prazer carnal. e embotavase o perene em sua face, dando vez a um sorriso congestionado embora radiante, notando a minha incompreensao adiantou-se: dos outros, e exibindo uma foto cujo colorido se mantinha intacto, como se a c6pia houvesse sido feita ha pouco, e apontando a imagem inquiriu sobre sua beleza e como no a conhecera em semelhantes perfeicOes, invejei o fotOgrafo, que partilhou nao apenas o corpo exuberante, mas tambem toda aquela plenitude, e o que deveria concluir dessa exposicao?, ela outra vez, previsse a dirvida e que da mesma forma necessitava encadear as pecas de modo correto, arriscando, caso contrario, que tirasse minhas conclusOes, nem sempre lineares, como bem se lembrou, prosseguiu: era dele, jamais satisfiz outro homem naquela intensidade. desejando, como por extensao e definicao o fazem os demais seres, ate-la a ruina da minha vida, por meio desta lembranca e por simples competicao, quis ocupar o lugar daquele e fosse o desespero, procurei seu rosto e nao restava que decepcao, apontei as caixas e au i as flores, e divididas nao em especies, mas em aromas e maciez, embora possuisse o olfato como o tato treinados para distinguir entre essencias de canela e olmos a que melhor a sensibilizasse, bem como a brandura do contato de suas mars, nao era por suas habilidades que desunira begonias e geranios, mas pelos outros, e antes que concluisse pelo altruismo, ou desconfiasse de educacties mineiras, em que a mulher é domesticada para bastar a seu homem e obviamente servi-lo, pressenti que a sua satisfacao encontrava guarida na descoberta e conhecedora das artimanhas masculinas, que erigem couracas mais portentosas do que pelos no peito ou mesmo barba por fazer, ou silencios recalcando ignorancias em vez de
reflexOes, antes de averiguar perguntal a pergunta, mesmo que desviasse os olh6s amendoados se a encarassem, escur6s como tempestade vindoura, reconhecia que se as violetas corrompem, as rosas, sobretudo brancas, traem, e assirn entendia como tratar a um e claro, a outro. e portanto correspondia a acautel r sobre a natureza de seus sexos, precave do-se para no sentir alem do q e planejara, pois se aos homens atribue frialdades, as mulheres, cautela e planejamento. e as fotos, corn identi a classificacao, nao as encontrando a esbarrar corn urn lirio ou ainda um bilhe e, fato rarissimo, ao que pude conclu r, dada a intensidade que sobraria a e te agrado, desconhecendo se seria, a exemplo de maiakovski, toda coracao e em caso afirmativo, carregasse em s u corpo-amago tamanha resistencia p ra enfrentar demonios ou, como dorm ssemos, um ruido inesperado rasgand a quietude de nossos sonos, um elefante e porcelana a tombar e apOs, ficar sem u a orelha, zombei de seu susto, proferin o se tratar de seus fantasmas, que todos n s os carregamos, mesmo ern tardes de ver o ou em dias de namorados, e dessa raridas e posso supor que seja tamanha, que seq er tenha acontecido, isto 6, fotografia, fib e bilhete ladeados, e como cobicei aqu la posicao, somente para imprimir a hierarquia de seus valores, em cume mis elevado, meu nome. que poder nos do em batismos, e que responsabilidad honrar nao o verbo, que este paranOs n o representa muito, visto que alhe o, pertencendo desde a biblia a uma criat ra superior, mas o substantivo, e a tar fa que temos de completar antes que o m o exclua corn todas as letras, é suplan lo, salva-lo A nossa destruicao. ten so recolhido, em escalas menores ou m is importantes, a impressao que me sugeriram as materias, e portanto me doutrinado corn a facilidade do transitOrio, velando apenas por urn passado que nao me tenha incitado alegrias irrestritas ou infelicidades excessivas, vertido m doses controlaveis, como um resto de cachorro que nao nos valeu como mel or amizade ou que prestava somente p ra coisas praticas, por exemplo, busca o jornal ferozmente lancadopelo jornale ro A soleira da porta, quando ja fatiava o ao ou enchia o copo corn suco de laranj , e ainda assim nao logro deste cao a coleira ou uma pata devidamente conservada m formol e transformada em berloq e, sequer urn retrato, talvez uma namor da que nao tenha excedido as raias do se o, tambem dela nao guardaria a camisi ha da ultimanoite, ou a calcinha do prime ro orgasmo, ignorando, portanto, as raz es para se ocupar corn tantas provas de s ue o tempo ocorreu como dizem os pap6is ou as flores, perdendo, neste caso o
encanto da invencao, porque se expusesse que havia sentido uma decisiva paixao por ela, imediatamente retrucaria, de posse de urn bilhete de dezesseis anos, retorquindo que a amava, conforme pode ser lido na linha dois do referido documento, e o meu respeito cartesiano pela lOgica se encontraria coagido a aceitar como amor o que a experiencia dos anos me fez inferir como tesao, intuindo sabia a minha avo, que ainda hoje sentencia que recordar é sofrer duas vezes, sO assim o e, porque do intangivel brota a frustracao, e a parte todas as coisas, que devesse estar ali pela quitacao de uma promessa antiga, ja que em seu cerebro era vazio onde me detive, encostado na mureta, de papo corn o professor de histOria, a mirar o sorriso tanto de derrota quanto de galhofa, ou em outra ocasiao, ja de cabelos compridos (e voce um dia esteve assim?) antevendo a paciencia e tambem que minha cabeca contivesse afinal urn sistemamais preciso de arquivos, dotado de tecnologi as organicas que permitiam o acesso a eles de modo mais rapid° ou aleatorio, embora desse habit°, o de acessar as pastas, me utilizasse apenas nos dois casos citados, o do cachorro imprestavel e o da namorada substituida, e posso saber o que prometi?, ela avancou. voce. e trata de mim esse seu resgate? tao-somente. pronto, me tem. nab, e que daqui a dois, dez anos o que possuirei de verdade é este agora que tanto a atormenta, havendo, portanto, uma Anica maneira de me diferenciar dos demais. sim, sei do que fala, é de voce, nao guardard retrato ou for ou carta, mas nao se esquecera, e daria tudo para que mudasse de ideia. e porque tanto assim? porque me machucara. e se importa tanto corn ferimentos? os dessa especie sim. e de que especie sao? daquela do rancor. que pelo menos eu seja um caso que nab pertenca aos dois que voce exp8s. disso eu nao posso saber agora. entao so me resta uma atitude: que nos duremos o infimo, nao se guarda tao pouco. ou o maxim°, que nos amalgamamos ate nos desprezarmos. ou. e que pode ser, na sua aritmetica, estabagatela, urn dia, dois, cinco? e essa abundancia, cinco, onze anos? teremos de descobrir. e arriscar. sim, e arriscar. These short stories were called in the original "Quando abraco minha sombra," "Urn," and "o homem que lembrava,". Whisner Fraga is a writer a nd the author of two short-story books (Coreografia dos Danados e A cidade devolvida) as well as the poetry work As Iris infancias ou o livro dos verbos, still unpublished. He can be reached at
whisner(&,sc.usp.br , 39
BFtAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
Here's some humor for y'all from 365 Motivos para Odiar o Brasil (365 Reasons to Hate Brazil). This book, published in 1995 by Circo Editoras in SP is wicked funny. Unfortunately, Circo went "poof' in 1996, so you might have a hard time scaring up a copy. Its author is the supposedly "Visconde da Casa Verde", but I suspect that Toninho Mendes, Furio Lonza and my old pal Glauco Mattoso had something to do with it. Most of the work had originally been published years before in Angeli's Chiclete corn Banana magazine. (It's worth pointing out here that the book is purely an exercise in spleen and not to be taken seriously, especially as my opinion about Brazil!) Here're some highlights (my translation). I'm reproducing them here to give you folks a taste of Glauco's sense of humor. He's one of the best Brazilian writers of ourgeneration, but sadly unlcnown outside of Sao Paulo. Glauco went blind several years ago to glaucoma (como ele mesmo diz:"Quem tern glaucoma é Glauco Mattoso..."). I don't intend that my translation be a challenge to his copyright—this is merely an attempt to brmg his biting sense of humor to a larger audience. Glauco's current work can occasionally be seen in the pages of Caros Amig,os magazine. So without further ado... #22: Train Surfers. Not content with our 1717 beaches, some Brazilians still find it necessary to surf on top of commuter trains. The advantage this modality has seems to lie in its innate degree of extreme , peril. At sea, the most that can happen is that a shark will run offwith one's leg. Atop a train, one's chances of being completely turned into lunchmeat are much, much higher. #66: The Butanta Snake Institute. Only in a country of confirmed gossips would a poison treatment center be considered a matter of national scientific pride. ; Brazil is missing out on a rare #53: Baby trafficking. Brazil is missing. out on a rare chance to write offour national chance to write off our national debt through the legalization of baby trafficking. e Churchhas done its part by debt through the legalization of prohibiting the pill, rubbers and abortion. abo The poor continue to screw like animals, baby trafficking, The Church has Nowa!' we need is a practical and objective government to turn what is currently one of done its part by prohibiting the our greatest problems (abandoned children) into a golden parachute. Not only pill, rubbers and abortion. The would this provide Brazil with the capital poor continue to screw like to develop, but it would also be the perfect way to give back to the Europeans the animals. All we need is for the heritage they gave us. #68 God, because he's Brazilian. government to turn abandoned #75: Avenida Paulista. From afar, they say it looks just like Fifth Avenue. Up children into a golden parachute. close, however, it looks more like a fifthclass avenue. THADDEUS BLANCHETTE #78: USP, the only free university in
385 Reasons to Hate
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Sao Paulo, which is almost exclusively ' attended by the children of millionaires. And whenever someone poor manages to get in, there's no bus to take him there. #85: Coffee. The only black that's free to come into all Brazilian houses through the front door. #93: Christ the Redeemer. We understand why he's turned his back on the city of Rio de Janeiro, but did he have to turn his back on the rest of us as well? #98: Provisionary Taxes. One of the few things that last forever in Brazil. #102: The Portuguese, for pure incompetence. They had the country in the palm of their hand for more than 500 years and the only thing significant that they built in all that time were bakeries. #113: Roberto Carlos. First, for having . started out his career by cursing everything and everybody to hell. Then, for having repented, advising Jesus Christ that he's . still here. Now the only true hell that's left to us is being forced to listen to his songs.' #115: Acaraje. Nothing is as fake-o as this. In Bahia it's filled with vinaigrette ' dressing and in the rest of the country it's the Bahiana who's fake. #117: The metro, because it's frequently described as "The only thing which really works in this country," meaning that nothing else does. Not a good sign... #124: Pre-dated checks. The definitive proof, if any were needed, that Brazil is truly the country of the future. #143: Dengue. The disease is older t than samba and, as far as we can tell, won't be eradicated any time soon. Neither will samba, unfortunately... #151: Jo Soares. What good is it to be the biggest (and we mean that literally) comedian in a country made up of confirmed clowns? #155: Computer graphics and website design, for convincing every unemployed Brazilian slacker that he's really an existential graphic artist. #162: Regina Case. Brazil thought that * one Dercy Gocalves wasn't enough so now we have two. t #163: Hebe Camargo. Even though Brazil's only had TV for 50 years, she's been on the tube for something like 75. I #165: Xuxa. For having preformed the 1'miracle" of transforming 95 percent of 4 Brazilian children—who have dark skin— into the biggest contingent of frustrated infants on the face of the Earth. Since this Barbie Doll's rise to stardom (which only occurred due to a black man's aid), all the children of Brazil" want to be blond. #I66: Pele. For not knocking Xuxa up when he had the chance. #170: The Amazon. We're tired of hearing "The Amazon is Brazilian!" That is precisely why the rest of the world is so BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
worried about it. #187: The hammock. Where multitudes lay eternally, waiting for someone to change the words of the national anthem. #188: Globo Network. Tune in your TV to Rede Globo and you'll not only hate Brazil, but also your parents. After all, they could've watched TV instead of screwing and bringing you into the world to be tortured by Roberto Marinho. #189: Telenovelas. Lies, all lies. The rich are all rich and evil. The poor, poor and noble. Throughout the wholeperformance, everyone runs around seeking their true father and/or mother and the cruelest doubt is whether or not the children are legitimate. As if this were a problem which ever seriously bothered the bastardized Brazilian family! The rest is just pompous bullshit by Lima Duarte... #193: The peixeira. Now there's an appropriate name for you! A knife that was made to open the bellies of fish which has now become nationally known as the ideal device for opening up the bellies ofNortheasterners in bar fights. #195: Bossa Nova. Here, things move so slowly that we're still calling a fiftyyear-old music style "new". #204: The Beach. Rusty beer cans, dog shit, crying children, crabs biting your feet, sun oil that burns you, "natural" sand-filled sandwiches, hit-and-run robberies, a bloody hot sun beating down on your head and people scampering all about selling peanuts, binoculars, shrimp, beer, caipirinhas and their mother. Have fun! #218: The Atlantic Rainforest. The grin-
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gos get pissed because it's almost co pletely devastated, yet this is just furth proof of our national incompetence. If e had our act together, we'd have chopp d the entire damned thing down by now a d nobody would be crying about the little that's left. #269: Corruption. They say we're t e world's biggest racial democracy. So wha ? I mean, what's that done for us? It see s that the only thing we've gotten out of it s our national tendency to lay to get aw y with murder. After all a people which mix s the exploitative greed of the Portugues the cheapness of the Spanish, the 'tali n "cosa nostra", the usury of the Jews a d other Arabs, the indolence of the Africa and the complete incapacity of the Ame can aborigines could only result in th's cauldron of corruption which we call a nation. But so what, right? After all, there s corruption in other nations, too. Yes, b t we Brazilians just had to add our creati e touch with the concept of impunity. #311: Ronald Biggs. While our thiev s find refuge overseas (or at least send t e money they steal there) this English croik decided to shelter here. Who's smarter? #325: Identity. The only thing Braz 1ians have in spades. You need a wo k permit to hold a job. You're obliged to ha e an electoral certificate, even if you do 't know whom you're voting for. You al o need a CIC, which we all use to fraud t e Income Tax Service. And still, after all t is identificatory paraphernalia, the Brazili does not feel himself to be duly and su 1ciently identified, needing an ID card s
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well. But even this is not enough: he also needs an authenticated photocopy of this, together with proof of residence and an authenticated signature duly stamped as "recognized" by a notary public who's never seen him before in his life. #331: The Northeastern Drought. Which, ever since it was discovered, has paid off in profits worthy of note in the Guinness Book of Records. This is truly our biggest and best-administered public enterprise. #339: The Zona. Back in the good old days, young hicks came here to pay to have their virginity removed. Today, the only real brothel worthy ofthe name is operating in the halls of the national congress. #343: Football fans. What a bunch of faggots! You really have to be in love with men in order to sit sweating for hours on end in the middle of 75,000 of them, holding on to your flag, scratching your nuts, belching, farting and every once in a great while screaming "G000000000l!" Really. Poofters, every one of 'em. Plus, they do that "la ola" thing which is just so cute! #364: The authors, Furio Lonza, Glauco Mattoso and Toninho Mendes, who promise they'll soon write up 365 reasons to love Brazil. #365: The 365 churches of Salvador. Thaddeus Blanchette is a 35 year old immigrant to Brazil who has been living in and studying the country most of his adult life. He can be reached at poboxthadAvahoo.com.br
Wazzi NEEDS A COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR He/she will be in charge of advertising and marketing reporting directly to the publisher. Send your résumé to: Brazzil
PO Box 50536 Los Angeles, CA 90050 E-mail to: brazzil@brazzitcom Or call: 323-255-8062
L A .... HAT WO:cal 41
Johnny Alf: He Brought Cannibalism to Brazilian Music Johnny Alf's elaborate, jazzy harmonies attracted musicians and the public alike. One critic, however, remarked that "Johnny Alf makes a kind of music nobody understands." Hidden in this critique, however, is the acknowledgement that Alf allows different styles to influence his own creations. KIRSTEN WEINOLDT
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"At first I studied classical music with Geni Borges—that was already my musical taste at age 9—and it had little influence later. I think that in the first years of studying the piano, we followed the rhythm of traditional pieces—more Chopin than Debussy." The 16th of May, 2003, at Bar do Torn, Plataforma, in the Leblon section of Rio de Janeiro, saw an appearance of Alfredo Jose da Silva, known for most of his life as Johnny Alf—now in the twilight of a career that stretches well over 50 years—a career that might never had happened, had it not been for circumstances and people with the foresight to educate the talented young son of their domestic employee. The write-up in leadingweekly magazine Veja Rio mentioned how Maestro Tom Jobim just called him `Genialf,' and that Alf s famous song "Rapaz de Bern" inspired Jobim to compose "Desafinado." On this occasion, Johnny Alf shared the stage with Idriss Boudrioua on saxophone, Romulo Gomes on bass, and Erivelton on drums. His parents were Antonio Jose da Silva and Ines Marina daConceicao from the colorful neighborhood of Vila Isabel, where little Alfredo was born on Rua Bardo de So Francisco on May 19, 1929. Vila Isabel, of course, was hometo famed composer, Noel Rosa, who died in 1937
and to whom Johnny Alf later paid homage. Alfredo was only a toddler when his father, a military man, passed away, leaving his mother to raise him, taking employment as a maid. The family, for whom she worked, educated the young boy along with their own children. The entire family was one ofeager musical amateurs. At 9, he started studying classical piano with a family friend, Geni Borges, but soon demonstrated an interest in composers of the American cinema, such as George Gershwin and Cole Porter. It was not long before he was making up songs of his own. Says Alf about himself: "The impact of the American composers gave me another type of music. It was the American musical films with music by George Gershwin and Cole Porter, and all those people. This is what lit a fire in me to create something. Then, when I was studying, when I'd return from the movies, I'd go to the piano, invent a melody, and like that.... "I never worried about classifying the music I make, if it is samba-jazz, jazz, samba, or bossa nova. During an interview someone always says: this music has a name. Music doesn't have a name, my dear. Music is sound. That's where I always start out... I don't know how to classify it. But there is one thing I make a point of saying: I like jazz, and in my BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
music the jazzy side is very strong, principally with respect to the musicians. I give them time to show what they can do with the instrument. That makes my music 'cook.' "I don't have rules for composing. Sometimes I come up with the lyrics first, then with the music. It's a spiritual thing. I can be here and suddenly get an inspiration in my head, I put it away, and at home I take it to the piano. One time I was sleeping and suddenly awakened and managed to put what I had heard in my dream on paper. These are the famous stages of the soul. As I live alone and dedicate myself quite a bit to my work, I have the facility for putting those moments down on paper. "My deduction is that the emissaries of art are the intermediaries of messages coming from the Cosmos. Handel and Stravinsky had visions before composing the Hallelujah chorus and Le Sacre du Printemps. Without putting myself on their level, I affirm that at the instant of inspiration I dive into a complete detachment from everything in my proximity. But for every song I sing, I remember how and when I composed it. They are autographical." At age 14, he gathered his first musical group with friends from Vila Isabel. They would play on weekends at Praca Sete, in Andarai. "One of the families had a boy who played pandeiro and a girl who sang. Another, too, had a pandeirista and a kid who played piano. And there was the group on a weekly trip from Vila Isabel to Praca Sete. One time, a girl came to sing with us, also an amateur, with a soft voice. Her name was Adelina. She was Doris Monteiro, who was also rehearsing for the beginning of a career. Even though I was thinking of the freedom of my sounds, I wasn't yet planning for a musical career." Soon after, he started to take part in the artistic activities promoted by lnstituto Cultural Brasil-Estados Unidos, IBEU, which was close to the school he attended, the traditional Pedro II high school. There, at the suggestion of an American friend, he changed his name to Johnny Alf before appearing on Paulo Santos' jazz program on Radio M.E.0 "It was while I studied at Pedro II, I became friends with the people at Instituto Brasil-Estados Unidos English course, which was also at the center of the city. I already knew some of the language and a lot about American music, and therefore they invited me to participate in the artisBRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
tic group of the institute. One of t e teachers, with that mania they (Ame 1cans) have for simplifying everythi g, called me Alf, instead of Alfredo. And in a performance at Radio Ministerio a Educacao, in Paula Santos' jazz p ogram, an American girl suggested th I use the name Johnny to complete If because "it was a very popular name in her country." He worked in the accounting office f the Leopoldina Railroad, where is 'adopted family' at most expected him to be a well behaved and competent fu ctionary but where young Johnny Alfre 1ized that he wanted much more. Mix d with papers at work was sheet music f 11 of notes and dreams written during wo king hours. When his "family" realized t e double life he was leading, they told h m to find his own place to live. To is dismay, his mother sided with the fami y. "From time to time I used the offi e for scribbling things that only had vat e for me. The dreams and first notes w re an expression of liberty." With the group ofthe lnstituto Bras 1Estados Unidos he founded a club or promotion and exchange of Brazilian a d North American music, located on R a Almirante Goncalves Pereira, 53, whi h held weekly sessions to analyze orch stations, solos, etc., as well as showi g films, shows, and jazz concerts, amo g other activities. When singer Farnesio Dutra, kno n as Dick Farney, already a professio and recently arrived from the U.S., ecame a member of the group in 1949,t e club gained a certain image and beg being called the Sinatra-Farney Fan Cl b featuring a brochure illustrated wit a photo of the patron and the found r. Among the members were Tom Jobim, Nora Ney, and Luis Bonfa, to name a few. During that time, Alf played at the club at night and looked after his job as corporal in the military in the daytime. In his book Historinha do Desafinado, Little History of Desafinado (famous bossa nova song), producer Ramalho Netto says the following: "The fan clubs ofthattime were different from the fan clubs that followed. At meetings, the members listened to records, analyzed orchestrations, and dissected solos. At the
home of the club, modestly located in a basement, given up by the mother of one of the members, with an old piano and patched drums. Johnny Alfoften sat down at the piano and surprised us. His compositions were different from we'd heard before. Those chords and harmonizations—his music came from anew style." It was not a simple product but the result and sum ofthe way he felt about the first people he admired. In addition to musicals, Alf appreciated jazz: the trio of then pianist Nat "King" Cole (19171965), the piano of Lennie Tristano (1927), and the sax of Lee Konitz (1919): intimate sounds, ofthe cool generation— which followed elaborate, erudite influences within jazz. And his own erudite music since the first attempts as a composer: "I even wrote music. I studied theory for about four months, without piano, in the beginning. My teacher, feeling that I had the inclination, taught me piano in a very rigorous manner, with musical dictation. When I resolved to become a professional, what I learned was sufficient for the formation of a trio, to write arrangements...." Until he became a professional, meanwhile, the surprising Johnny Alf would spend some more time accommodating the dreams and explosion of a reality a lot less resonant. At the time of Sinatra-Farney, Johnny began attracting major attention among his listeners. After all, Dick Farney was no beginner (he had recorded "Copacabana" by Joao Barro and Alberto Ribeiro, in 1946) and associates Nora Nei, Tom Jobim, and Luis Bonfa, who had started careers, were getting more in demand. Conceited to a certain degree by his nascent public, Alfredo Jose—who at that
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time was a corporal in the army—began little by little to exchange night for day, or rather, exchange sleep for the dream, spending long nights at the piano. He began spending nights without sleeping. He would arrive from the barracks of the Escola de Sargentos das Armas de Realengo, at 9 in the evening, change his clothes and go to the club. From there he left, happy, at four in the morning, brought by actor Cy11, brother of Dick Farney, for a new change of clothes and environment: he returned to the barracks. Through Dick Farney and Nora Ney, he was contracted in 1952 as pianist in the recently inaugurated Cantina do Cesar, owned by radio personality and presenter Cesar de A lencar giving start to his professional career. It was at this time that actress Mary GoncaIves, who had been the queen of radio in 1952 and was launching her singing career, chose three of his songs, "Estamos Sos," We are alone; "0 que é Amar," What is it to love, and "Escuta," Listen, to include on her LP, Convite ao Romance, Invitation to Romance. After that, he was invited to be a pianist in the group, which guitarist Fah Lemos formed to play in the nightclub Monte Carlo. During this time, at the invitation of Ramalho Neto, he recorded—at Sinter—his first record, a 78 with jazz influenced instrumental music (piano, bass and guitar), with "Falsete," Falsetto—his composition—and "De Cigarro em Cigarro," From Cigarette to Cigarette, by Luis Bonfa. Later, alternating with pianist Newton Mendonca, he played in the nightclub Mandarim, and from there moving on to Clube da Chave, Drink, and Plaza. Also, he performed frequently in the Beco das Garrafas, Bottle Alley, thus named because people used to throw bottles at the noisy musicians playing and disturbing the quiet of the carioca night. Of his repertoire, two compositions began standing out, "Cdu e Mar," Heaven and Sea, and "Rapaz de Bern," Nice Fellow, this written about 1953 and considered, in melodic and harmonic terms, as a revolutionary song and a precursor of the bossa nova. In 1955, he went to Sdo Paulo where he played at the Baitica and at Bar Michel, in the latter with the founders, Paulinho Nogueira, Saba, and Luis Chaves. On a trip to Rio de Janeiro, the same year, he recorded the first important 78 of his career, in Copacabana, with "Rapaz de Bern" and "0 Tempo e o Vento," The time and the wind, also his composition. Six years later he recorded, with RCA, his first LP, Rapaz de Bern, which in44
cluded "Husk, a Toa," Simple Illusion, which also became a great success. Still in 1961, he received an invitation from composer Chico Feitosa to play at Carnegie Hall in New York, but he stayed in Sao Paulo and did not go. The following year he returned to Rio de Janeiro, playing at Bottle's Bar, at which time he contributed to the group Tamba Trio with Sergio Mendes, Luis Carlos Vinhas, and Silv ia Telles. He also formed a group with bass player Tiao Neto and drummer Edison Machado, appearing in the interior of Sao Paulo. He was also a professor of music at the Meireles Conservatory, in Sao Paulo. In 1967 he participated in the Third Festival da Mnsica Popular Brasileira, on
TV Record, in Sao Paulo with the song "Eu e a Brisa," I and the Breeze, interpreted by singer Marcia. The composition was eliminated in the initial rounds, and a month later, it became one of the great successes of his career. Following this song were "Decisao," Decision and "Garota da minha Cidade," Girl from my City, which represent the more externalized and uninhibited style of his work. His composition "Rapaz de Bern" was recorded abroad by Lab o Schifrin. He recorded two LP's under his own name, Ele E Johnny Alf; He is Johnny Alf and N6s, We, on Odeon in 1974. The former included "Decisao" and "Garota da Minha Cidade" in addition to "Eh, 0 Mundo bom'tai" and "Anabela" both of his own authorship. The latter included his compositions "0 que é Amar," "NOs," "Plenilanio." Full Moon, and the samba
by Egberto Gismonti and Paulo Cesar Pinheiro, "Saudaciies," Greetings. The elaborate, jazzy harmonies attracted people at all levels, musicians and the public alike. Not all, however, were enthusiastic in the early years. One critic acidly remarked that "Johnny Alf makes a kind of music nobody understands." Hidden in this critique, however, is the acknowledgement that Alf open-mindedly listened and listens to all kinds of music and allows the different styles to influence his own creations, and this long before Tropicana's adoption of antropofagia, cannibalism, as a way of gathering inspiration from other styles of music and culture. How is it that he managed to achieve that sound? All were astonished. Among them was critic Sylvio litho Cardoso, whowrote under the pseudonym Sergio LObo. After speaking of the "spectacular variations of melody," "division of always unforeseen phrasing," and "technique of shading in determined words of verse," Sylvio blurted out: "Monkeys whip us if this LP is not among the five most important of Brazilian music in '64!" It did become one of the most important, but not among the most sold. Johnny Alf says of his sometimes trying early years in music: "Between one gig and another at a nightclub I had many highs and lows, I even slept in the sand at times—the term is this—disoriented. In those moments, principally the worst, I began to probe my dreams, and invited by friends I began frequenting spiritualistic sessions. At the beginning, I was not a believer. Later, a spiritual guide advised me to read about spiritualism, and another practically revealed the key to everything when he asked me the first question: "Where is your mother?" "It was a problem that I'd carried with me since the beginning ofmy career, and he went straight to the subject, without asking more. He discovered, among other things, that she had, by mistake, given me a "left baptism," that is, she had taken me to a Macumba ceremony where bad spirits reigned, and that I was still under their influence. If it wasn't exactly my liberation (he said I still needed more work to free myself), it was the first time I saw hope, and a new phase: "Come from Aruanda come, and bring/your protection which I want for peace/and on the day that Zumbi calls, suffering comes to an end,/ for evil in the world is too much for me" (Kai!) Xango); "It was at a ceremony/ whew! sang for Xango/Calunga bowed and spoke: You did not sing for me!" (promise to Cal unga); "go out the front,/ let me burn BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
the tuia (tree)/ to end demand (Song of demand)." The advice and ceremonies must have worked. Johnny Alf has had a long and rich career as artist of record and guest artist with others—performances in Brazil and abroad, where he is loved. The large room at Plataforma in May was sold out at both shows with lots of young people in attendance. A carioca at heart (carioca da gema)—some things never change— Johnny Alf has lived in Sao Paulo for the past 40 years since he, looking for work, left the marvelous city behind and missed the bossa nova wave. One can only imagine the contribution he could have made to one of the most successful directions of music. Instead, he made his own contribution and stands alone, unique and unlike anyone else in Brazilian music. He is still touring Brazil and Europe—in fact, this fall he will start a European tour opening in Switzerland. He has also been busy in the studio, recording a CD in the United States with some of the big successes of his career, and a CD of previously unrecorded songs has been recorded for the Japanese market. He can still excite a room with his jazzy harmonies, his melodic songs, and his original lyrics, and one can only hope he will for a long time to come.
BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
Contraponto 1971—EleeJohnnyAlf, He is Johnny Alf 1972—Johnny Alf- Compacto Dup o 1974—N6s 1978—Desbunde Total 1986—Johnny Alf—Eu e a Brisa 1990-0/hos Negros 1997—Letra e Mitsica—Noel Ros 1998—Cult Alf—Johnny Alf 1999—As Sete Palavras de Cristo n
Cruz corn Dom Pedro Casaldaliga, 1999—Johnny Alf—Eu e a Bossa 4 Anos de Bossa Nova In addition, Johnny Alf has contri uted to countless other artists' albums a well as the Song Books produced by th late Almir Chediak. Senhor Johnny Alf has graciousl agreed to contribute to the following fo
Discography:
Mutt° dentro de iriim r queeu oz do oxac5o clue catita mutt, assiut: te um din. longedos c do amoi e o rntritdo inwiro fez-se tao lriStonho. agora eu te terilta perto, eu acho graca do men penman() du& o ncisso amor discret% airior discreto Ira iiina so pessoa mill de leve sabes citie eu te titian essa ilustio ãtoa
the benefit of Brazzil's readers: I952—Johnny Alf, first recording with the songs "De cigan-o em cigarro, From cigarette to cigarette (Luis Bon 6.) and "Falsete." 1952—Convite ao Romance, Invi ation to Romance—with Mary Goncalv s. 1954—Johnny Alf I955—Johnny Alf,, the first LP tirely with his own songs. 1958—Johnny Alf 1961—Rapaz de Bern 1964—Diagonal 1965—Johnny Alfwith arrangements by Jose Briamonte 1968—Johnny Alf e Sexte o
"E urn prazer muito grande poder estar me comunicando corn os leitores dessa revista. Sei que a musica segue sempre por varios caminhos, muito mais rapid° do que o artista pode acompanhar, mas fico muito feliz de saber que em varios cantos do mundo, muitos lugares aonde eu nunca me apresentei, tem alguem ouvindo urn CD meu, conhecendo o meu trabalho. E muito gratificante para urn artista, saber que as pessoas est5n gostando de ouvir aquilo que voce produz." "It is a very great pleasure to be able to communicate with the readers of your magazine. I know the music always carries on along many roads, much more quickly than an artist can follow along, but I'm very happy to know that in various corners of the world, many places in which I have never performed, there is someone I isten ingto a CD of m me, knowing my work. It is very gratifying to an artist knowing that people are enjoying what he produced." Kirsten Weinoldt was born in Denmark and came to the U.S. in 1969. She fell in love with Brazil after seeing Black Orpheus many years ago and has lived immersed in Brazilian culture ever since. E-mail: kwracin2(&erols.com
nis
forawhile and it is the sings like this, ffice this: only a day frometr es far from brought the longing of love so and the whole world became so sad. But, although now !have you close I find it fimny in my thou. conducting our iscreettlove; Yes, discreet for just one person for not even vaguely do you know that! want you and that simple illusion pleases me.
Tu, que respondes
alone! que eu You, who respond to what I meate had an mind u tofecdmyair,my Le environment pleto a and accepted me completely ' us
0 que é Amar olhar, depois sorrir, depois gostar voca sorriu—me fez gostar! quis controlar meu coracao as foi tab grande a emocao; sua boca ouvi dizer: quero vocel
Rapaz de Bern Nice Fellow Voce bem sabe, eu sou um rapaz de Bern e a minha onda é do vai-e-vem pois co'as pessoas que eu bem tratar en qualquer dia posso arrumar ye moral No meu preparo inelectual o trabalho a pior moral; o meu dinheiro, sO de arrumacao! Eu tenho case, tenho corn Ida nao passo fome, gracas a Deus e no esporte eu sou de morte! Tendo isso tudo, eu nao preciso De mais nada, é claro! Sea luz do sot vem me trazer amor, tudo de grace a natureza dá: pra que que eu quero trabalhar?
You know well that I am a nice fellow and my wave is to go and come , 'cause people I treat well I can get rid of any day get it! In my intellectual preparati the work is at its worst ethi my money, only for cleaning out I have a house, I have food I'm not hungry, thank God and in sports I'm impossible! Having all that, I don't need' anything else, that's clear! If the sunlight brings ,me, all free and natural why do I want tow
Eu e a Brisa I and the Breeze Ah, se a juventude que essa brisa canta ficasse aqui comigo mais urn pouco, eu poderia esquecer a dor de ser tao so pra ser urn sonho e ai entao quem sabe alguem chegasse buscando um sonho em fonna de desejo felicidade entao pra nos serial
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Ah, if the youth that breez sings stayed here with me a little while longer, I'd be able to forget of being so alone to be a dream and then who knows would arrive looking for a dream int of desire happiness would th
E depois que a tarde nos trouxesse a lua, se o amor chegasse eu nao resistiria e a madrugada acalentaria a nossa paz!
And afterward when afternoon brought us the moon, if love arrived, I wouldn't resist and the dawn would cherish our peace
Fica, oh brisa, fica pois talvez quem sabe o inesperado faca tuna surpresa e traga alguem que queira te escutar e junto a mim queira near, hem junto a mim queira ficar...
Stay, oh breeze, stay for perhaps who kno the unexpected tiri surprise and brings someone who wanted to hear you and wanted to stay next tO me wanted to stay quite close tome.
What is it to love It is only to look, then to s then to like you looked, you smile made me like you! I wanted to control my h but the emotion was so from your mouth I heard: want you.
nder, guts the I wanted to respon abracar to embrace you tudo falhou. everything failed me segurou e me however, you assured me and beijou. kissed me g()ra eu posso argumentar now I can argue perguntarem o que é amar: if they ask what love is; depois sorrir, It is just to look, then to smile depois gostar! then to like. Dols Co racoes A diferenca que existe entre nos é coisa que o tempo arrumou; eu já sabia da vide quando voce chegou! je em dia o que faz a emocao coracOes idade de torn or nos legou! Lao de repente sem diseutir anteeedentes me aceita c diz pra mim: sercmos nos ate o fim Toda essa escolha que parte de nos responde ao desejo e dispensa sendes; deixemos tudo ao criteria dois coracoes! hopin, Desculpe Chopin, nao vá ficar zangado e ressentido pela divertida uniao que fiz de sua inspiracao tres tempos de urn chorinho meu Setr Chopin. nao va pensar 'qu'estou me aproveitando sou nome e sua projecao, mas sua cooperacao valiriza este chorinho merit Dizem que o preprio Liszt seu valor ndo se renegou, ate a George Sand os pontos entregou SO eu quero tuna vez mais dizer que nao 6 pldgio essa divertida uniao que fiz de sua inspiracao ompa.sso dois por quatro, Ieve e sincopado deste chorMho-cancao.
Two Hearts The difference that exists between us is the thing that time cleared up; I already knew of life when you arrived! But today on this day, the emotion unite those two hearts is the affinity in the tone that love left us! Everything arose so suddenly without discussing the preceding, yott accept me and say to me: we will be us until then end All that choice that comes from us responds to the desire and dispenses flaws; we'll leave everything to criterion of our two hearts! r: Chopin, e Mr. Chopin, you won't angry and resentful for the entertaining union Which I made with your inev* my chorinho in three .movements , Mr. Chopin, don't think that I'm taking advantage of your name and your prominence, but your cooperation validates this, my charm They say that Liszt himse to his merit did not renounce George Sand and gave up Therefore I want, one more tit to say this entertaining union which I made at your inspiration is not plagiarism in two-four time, light and syncopated, in this chorinhosorig.
BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
Bispo (Bishop)—The tortured life of schizo-paranoid popular artist Arthur Bi po do Rosario (1911-1989) who created niost of his art using trash and old material from the Rio psychiatric hospital where he lived. Written by Joao Miguel and Edgi rd Navarro, directed by Edgard Navarro, ith Joao Miguel.
Batalha de Arroz num Ringue para Dois (Rice Battle in a Rink for Two) Written by Mauro Rasi Directed by Miguel Falabella, with Miguel Falabella and Claudia Jimenez. Playwright Rasi, who died in April, wrote the play for Falabella and Jimenez in 1985, but this was the first time they staged it. The story of marriage of Nel io and Angela, which brings lots of laughs to the public. Capitanias Heredildrias (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 and directed by Miguel Falabella, co-written by Maria Carmem Barbosa, with Jose Wilker, Ney Latorraca and Natalia do Valle. Sem Vergonhas (No Shames)—Based on Anthony McCarten and Stephen Sinclair's play Ladies' Night. The New Zealand story about down on their luck men who decide to put a strip-tease show was moved with success to the Lapa neighborhood. Written by Daniel Botti, translated by Liane Lazoski and Gabriela Morales, with Jandir Ferrari, Leandro Hassum, Jayme Del Cueto, Marcelo Mello, Pedro Neschling, and Marcelo Escorel.
SAI PAM Quarta-Feira, Sem Falta, La Em Casa (Don't Miss It This Wednesday at My House)—Comedy. Two friends, both widows—one a hypocjite, the other foul mouthed—meet every Wednesday to exchange gossips and their own past extraconjugal sexual adventures. Written by Mauro Brasini, directed by Alexandre Reinecke, with Beatriz Segall and Myrian Pires. Novas Diretrizes em Tempos de Paz (Peace Time New Guidelines)—The 1945 dramacharged real story about Polish Clausewitz, who needs a permit to stay in Brazil and the man who can give him this document. Written by Bosco Brasil, directed by Ariela Goldmann, with Tony Ramos e Dan Stulbach. BRAZZi - SEPTEMBER 2003
Just-released or re-released foreign-language movies: + Velozes + Furiosos (2 Fast 2 Furious. A Casa Caiu (Bringing Down The House) A Estranha Familia De Igby (Igby Goes Do n), A Experiencia (Das Experiment), A Ingles E O Duque (L 'An laise Et Le Duc), A Lga Extraordinaria e League OfExtraordina ), A Viagem De Chihiro (Spirited Away), Acon ce Nas Melhores Familias (It Runs In The F mily), Agora Ou Nunca (All Or Nothing), item Me er...Mal Me Quer (A La Folie... Pas Iu Tout), Camped° (Swimming Upstream), Co to De Inverno (Conte D 'Hiver), Conto De Out no (Conte D 'Automne), Desejo Humano (Hu an Desire), Dirigindo No Escuro (Hollyw • od Ending), Dois Destinos (Cronaca Familia e), Driblando 0 Destino (Bend It Like Beckha ), Eu Fui Secretaria De Hitler am Toten Win I - Hitlers Sekretarin), Identidade (Identi ), Kamchatka (Kamchatka), Lara Croft To b Rider: A Origem Da Vida (Lara Croft Tomb Rider: The Cradle Of Life), Longe Do Paraiso (Far From Heaven), Monique - Sempre Fe iz! (Monique), 0 Dono Da Festa (Van Wil r: Party Liaison), 0 Exterminador Do Futur 3: A Rebelido Das Maquinas (Terminator 3: R.se Of The Machines), 0 Filho Da Noiva (El o De La Novia), 0 Show Nab Pode Parar e Kid Stay In The Picture), 0 Vingador (A Man Apart), l'iratas Do Caribe - A Maldicdo Do Perola Negra (Pirates Of The Caribbean - The Curse Of The Black Pearl), Primavera Pdra Hitler he Producers), Procurando Ne o (Finding Nemo), Regras Da Atractio (Rulles Sf Attraction), Salo - 120 Dias De Sodoma (S lo -0120 Giornale Di Sodoma), Secretaria (S cretary), Sinbad - A Lenda Dos Sete Ma es (Sinbad - Legend Of The Seven Seas), To, o Poderoso (Bruce Almighty), Tratamento le Choque (Anger Management) Amarelo Maw (Mango Yellow)—Br. il/ 2002—A mosaic of the Brazilian underbel y. The characters live parallel lives that so etimes intersect. The action is set in the no eastern city of Recife. Directed by Clau io Assis, with Leona Cavalli, Mathe s Nachtergaele, Chico Diaz, Jonas Bloch, D' a Paes. Historias do Olhar (Glimpse's Stories)—B zi1/2001—The whole story happens in one d in Rio. Four episodes: "Jealousy" with a matu woman, -Resentment" with a woman psych analyst, "Love" with a lyrical singer and "Fe with a teenager girl harassed by her stcpfath: r. Directed by Isa Albuquerque, with MairaLO•4 Dahl, Eliane Giardini, Walmor Chagas, Jon Bloch, Juan Alba. Lisbela e o Prisioneiro (Lisbela and the Pri oner) Brazi1/2003—Romantic comedy basS d on Osman Lins's play of same name. T e adventures of a kind swindler who gets i volved with the wife ofa killer for rent and then runs away to another city where he again fin s the wrong girl. Directed by Guel Arraes, wi h Selton Mello, Debora Falabella, Virgin a Cavendish, Bruno Garcia, Tadeu Mello, Mario Nanini. 0 Homem do Ano (The Man of the Year Brazil/2002—Fed up with bullies a young g y kills a bandit in cold blood and becomes a her His problem now is to get rid of all the peop e who want him to do a 'little service" for the too. Based on Patricia Melo's 0 Matador (T e Killer), with script by Rubem Braga. Directi by Jose Henriquef'onseca, with Murilo Benicio,
C laudia Abreu, Jorge Deoria, Natal ia Lage, Carlo Mossy, Wagner Moura, LAzaro Ramos, Jose Wilkey. 0 Homem Que Copiava (The Man Who Made Copies)—Brazil/2003---A worker at a photocopy shop spends the day dreaming and making plans for becoming rich while readingthe pages he copies for the clients. Directed by Jorge Furtado, with Lazar° Ramos, Leandra Leal, Pedro Cardoso, I ona Piovanni.
tmst seliers IICHON I. Onze Minutos, Paulo t. Coelho 2. Perdas e Ganhos, Lya Luft .11* 3. Budapeste, Chico Buarque 4. Banquete corn os Deuses, Luis Fernando Verissimo 5. As Mentiras Que os Homens Contain, Luis Fernando Verissimo 6. 0 Diario de Tati, Heloisa Perisse 7. Angus: 0 Primeiro Guerreiro, Orlando Paes Filho 8. Tres Destinos, Nora Roberts 9. Buick 8, Stephen King 10. Melancia, Marian Keyes
1. Viver para Contar, Gabriel Garcia Marquez 2. As Vidas de Chico Xavier, Marcel Souto Major 3. Abusado: 0 Dono do Morro Dona Marta, Caco Barcellos 4. Stupid White Men: Uma NacAo de Idiotas, Michael Moore 5. Vivendo a Histeria, Hillary Clinton 6. Estacao Carandiru, Drauzio Varella 7. A Era do Esciindalo, Mario Rosa 8. Fora de Controle: Como o Acaso e a Estupidez Muclaram a Histeria do Mundo, Eric Durschmied 9. Vinho e Guerra, Petie Kladstrup & Don Kladstrup 10. Mulheres ‘Iteradas - 1, Maitena
SELF SEEP Lai WIMPS 1. Criando Meninos, Steve Biddulph 2. Quem Ama, Educa!, Icami Tiba 3. Quem Mexeu no Meu Queijo?, Spencer N. Johnson 4. Por Que os Homens Fazem Sexo e as Mulheres Fazem Amor?, Alan E Barbara Pease 5. Mentes Inquietas, Ana Beatriz B. Silva 6. A Semente da Vitoria, Nuno Cobra 7. Tudo Tern Seu Prep, Zibia M. Gasparetto 8. NAo Leve a Vida TAo a Seri°, Hugh Prather 9. Os 100 Segredos dos Bons Relacionamentos, David Niven 10. Criando Meninas, Gisela Preuschoff According to Veja magazine -
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BRA7_ZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
MIA LIVIIII Marriage Agency for Brazilians and Foreigners in business since 1989. www.firepassion.com Email: fogo@firepassion.com -Tel: 310-450-4586 [196] Bassi WorldMovers Brazil - Mudangas, encomendas, caixas para o Brazil. Contato: 718472-5843 - USA -- Contato: 55-11-4473-3137 Brazil -- Email: cida0bassiworldmovers.com [201] BRAZILIAN CDs / DVDs / Books: MPB, bos a nova, Jazz, regional, concerts. Shipped worldwide direct from Brazil. ALSO - HAVAIANAS sandals! www.amazon.com/shops/musicabra.il [207]
brazzil-ADS (323) 2554082 ;oo S WorldTech announces two new pocket guides: (1) Rio de Janeiro, (2) Salvador Bahia. For information maleksan@starpowernet [196]
asses Portuguese Classes - Brazilian teacher. Translation/Interpretation. 10 years experience. (949) 240-8178 [205] www.portugueselanguage.pro.br- Portuguese classes / translations/ proven success - RIO [21125409891 [204] Conversational Brazilian Portuguese Method - "I tried several methods to learn BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE, but when I started lessons with NILSON, I knew immediately that I'd found the best one. And in just a few months, I was able to communicate on a one-on-one basis. " Individual, Total Immersion, Corporate Group and SemiPrivate. Phone (310) 379-0738 www.brazilianportugueselessons.com [205]
1I Ong Bilingual Assistant English-Portuguese seeking administrative and/or customer service position in San Francisco/Bay Area. Legal US resident. French also spoken. Resume/Ref. Available. Pls call Gisele (510) 814.7381 or e-mail: qisele villigerQhotmail.com Secretaria Bilingiie Ingles-Portugues procura colocagao em area administrativa/atendimento a cliente na regiao de San Francisco/Bay Area. Residente legal dos EUA. Tambem fluente em frances. CV/Ref. disponiveis. Contatar Gisele 814.7381 (510) ou e-mail: qisele villiqer@hotmail.com
ega I Servicos Legais, consultas sem limite, cartas, chamadas e outros beneficios incluidos, para individuos somente $26 por mes. Tambem oferece protegao para familias ou neg6cios pequenos. (909) 392-5766 oujdasilva@lycosmail.com [196]
Brazilian Music in its totality. Samba, bos a nova, chonnho, baiao, axe, and more. Merch Express (954) 785-2131
ewspapers agannes Jornais e revistas do Brasil. Recebemos jorna s diarios e todas as principais revistas, incluin.o masculinas e femininas. Tel. (954) 785-2131
voila 0Mall See s man Attractive, romantic, well mannered, few ext pounds, single, black Brazilian lady, 35, (Englis Portuguese speaker) seeks romantic, educate white or black guy for commitment. Write: 535 Via de Palma Or, Las Vegas, NV, 89146 meuamor34(yahoo.com - Picture requeste • [206] Are you gentleman, nice, honest, sincere, faithful cultured, no smoking, no drugs, 35-50. Send m letter with photos to PO Box 57916, Sherma Oaks, CA 91413 [205] Brazilian woman in Fortaleza, Brasil, funny, pretty 31, seeks honest, loving man. No drugs. 27-55 Lausi172@hotmail.com [202]
ersnna an ee s "man Handsome European, SWM, seeking attractive female 20+ Y.O. (818) 980-9573 N. Hollywood [208] AMERICANO, 37, branco, vivendo em Miami, procuro Brasileira 20-40. Adoro mUsica, cultura, e povos do Brasil. Estou aprendendo Portugues. Eu visitarei voce. Amizade e talvez mais Golio222@hotmail.com [202] AMERICANOSIEUROPEUS ao reclor do mundo querem encontrar Brasileiras para amizade, romance, casamento. Servigo gratuito. I ntegridade e sinceridade. bramer2003@hotmail.com [202]
firm "man ee s Homan
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Fire and Passion Agenda de Casamento para Brasileiros e Estrangeiros, no ramo desde 1989.
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BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
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en a GO TO BRAZIL! Rent my newly furnished house, few blocks to beautiful beaches. Praia da Costa Espirito Santo-. $50/day $600/month. Details/ photos email: terezavieira@aol.com [204] Room for Rent in Rio Cheap - Room available in a two-bdm apt with Calif. female, age 24. Praia de Botafogo, Botafogo, same block as shopping mall, in front of Botafogo Beach and Sugar Loaf. Fur- • nished, Telephone, Parking Space Optl, Short or Long Term, Cheap Rent, AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY, Call 55-21-2553-0825,55-21-9349-5523, or email cyracie@yahoo.com [213]
IFTVIIT177711717FPFJOIM Language Professional with Language and Literature degree: translation, interpretation, proofreading, editing - Portuguese and English. Portuguese course for Foreigners in Brazilian Universities. Laerte J. Silva, Phone: 55-31-9992-8118, Email: laertejs@terra.com.br [202] J. Henry Phillips, immigration court interpreter www.portugueseinterpretercom ATA accredited Portuguese translator: Fax: (512) 834-0070. www.braziliantranslated.com [204] Technical, Business and Academic Translations by Tereza d'Avila Braga, professional Translator and Interpreter accredited by the American Translators Association. Brazilian Portuguese. Call today. Free estimates. (972) 690-7730 terezab@sbcglobatnet [215]
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Curitiba has enjoyed an international reputation as Brazil's point city for the twenty-first century. Its bus system is celebrated, its ecological awareness much-publicized, and a number of its progressive social policies have been widely imitated. The city has now parks honoring immigrant groups such as the Japanese or the Poles
May 28. We hear on the radio in our room at the downtown Hotel Eduardo VII an announcer chortle at a story of how a seventy year-old man in the U.S. was sued for divorce by his wife because he had an affair after taking Viagra. -The United States is such a source of fascination and ridicule to Brazilians!" exclaims Eva. We proceed to gloss the announcer's story as it fits into a Brazilian imaginary: in the U.S. men are old, and they can't satisfy their wives, who have only the recourse of law. However. by God, the U.S. does deliver the Latest Thing, i.e. Viagra, which apparently has just come on , the market here, possibly to be greeted with more anxiety by Brazilian men than American ones. Later, we stroll down Curitiba's famed "Street of Flowers," which has effectively become a pedestrian mall. At one point we pass a T-shirt shop. Eva translates for me the slogans of the shirts featuring versions of an American flag or Uncle Sam. • 'Brasil. This is not your fate," reads one. Another has one word. "Brasil." and another. "USA," below it; the caption in between reads, "who uses you doesn't love you.- Seeing such T-shirts, I applaud the spirit behind them now. Strange to ,realize that I feared the same spirit when I first came to teach • in Brazil eleven years ago. Later still this first day in Curitiba, Eva buys a sandwich for a little girl who is hanging around begging at the door of the bakery where we stop. When kk e leave, a man suddenly comes up to me and asks for money. I decline. He mutters something as he moves away. Eva chuckles. -He said pe de porco. It means, pig's feet—or cloven hoofs. In other words, he called you a devil. I've never heard this one before." "Would it have been worse,"! laugh. "if he had known I'm a gringo?There's the most vulgar -looking man in the hotel lobby, ostentatiously talking on a cell phone, while a woman slobbers
over him. You might see this sort of thing in an American hotel lobby. But it wouldn't signify in the same way. I miss the significance. Eva doesn't. What the lobby signifies, she emphasizes, is powerful and clear: male privilege. Women who hang around in a hotel lobby are whores. Eva hurries through the lobby once the elevator stops as if the men's glances are going literally to cling to her. No gaze exists in the lobby but the male gaze. More's the shock to us both, I think, not so much because we haven't stayed much in hotels in Brazil as because we love hotel lobbies. The more posh, the better. At your basic 4-star just about anywhere in the world, the lobby is a fine place to relax, in the middle of a tourist day: you just have to look, and, more important, act as ifyOu belong. In Brazil, though, as in all countries where the family is the defining center of social life, women don't belong in hotels, unless they're wives. Perhaps the fact that Eva left the Bandeirantes early eaeh Maringa day guaranteed to the staff her spousal 'status. Apart from the big 4stars at tourist cities, there's normally no reason for a wife to be in a hotel. Consequently, a woman in a hotel lobby is coded as a whore, even if she's with a man; slobbering, in a sense, just activates the operation ofthe code, which is ready to go with the appearance of any woman. If such mechanics sound crude to Americans, it's because our hotels are organized to accommodate our mobility as a society, and our women are included within the script to be mobile. Brazilian women. on the other hand, are handed a narrower, more remorseless cultural script, and it doesn't encompass hotels. Their lobbies cut to the very heart of why Eva is pleased not to live in Brazil, where, every time we return, she feels as if relieved not , to be a whore, as a function of being amazed that in Brazil she had ever-been content to be a woman. We are here in Curitiba for two reasons: 1. the children, and 2. a two day "special ization- course that Eva has arranged
to give at one of the private universi ies, Tuiuti, on popular culture. So it m kes perfect sense this day that I go to se a ballet with Virgilia. The occasion s a performance of"pre-professionals"f om the Escola de Dancas Classicas do Te tro Guaira, a project which was appare tly willed into existence some fifteen y ars ago and now has links with others involving young studepts all over So th America as well as Brazil. The per rmance is free. In other words, culture or the people, if not popular culture. The people turn out to be a w hundred middle school students—v ry excited. They throv bits of paper, t ey run up and down the aisles, they h ot when the lights go out. "Hey, we can ee you guys behind the curtain," shouts o e kid behind us, before the curtain g es up. Have any of these kids ever s n ballet before? I doubt it. Back at e university, Eva is building her cou se around the great Brazilian comedia director, Mazzaropi, whose films h r grad students will think is beneath the . Here, the pre-professionals are about o perform before an audience who w II think their art is above them. In Braz I, culture is always either too high or t o low. The performance isn't bad at all; o or two of the featured ballerinas a wobbly at times, but everyone else fairly accomplished in a series of danc that are pretty meat-and-potato— rather rice-and-beans—stuff. Even mo surprisingly, the audience is not at badly behaved. The only real exceptio is any time the lone male in the troup appears. Males in the audience immed ately send out choruses of ''queer" an
-faggot." The first few times the male appears, you can hardly hear the recorded music. What courage this young man must have to be pursuing ballet in a country such as Brazil! I want to stand up and beg someone to ring the curtain down. There's no getting round the fact, no matter how you locate, stage, teach or gender it: ultimately, culture is a curtain. You travel in time as well as space. To step off the bus into each city is for us to step into the past. For Eva, the past is more raw: Brazil is her country, where she lived for thirty-two years. So she is wordlessly moved when we walk down Rua das Flores to Praca OsOrio and chance upon a demonstration by some students from the federal university, which is on strike. As part of a plan to privatize Brazil's federal universities, which are free to students who pass enormously difficult state examinations, the government wants to charge tuition. This night, however, the students are demonstrating against official violence; pictures of students murdered by the police are held up in the crowd as people sing onstage. How could Eva not recall the years of repression from 1964-84, when such a demonstration would have been inconceivable? Then there were no pictures of students taken and tortured or killed. Eva begins to cry. For me, the past is—well, more past, at least in this immediate sense. So more's the shock to see at 8:30 a.m. on the hotel's "Multi-Show" cable station an episode ofMonte Python! I'm entranced. It's one of the best episodes. I laugh out loud at the sketches of Sir Philip Sidney saving England from an invasion by ' Spanish pornographers, or the soccer match between a group of gynecologists and a group of Long 'John Silver impersonators. My God, was it nearly twenty• five years ago that I saw my first episode at a motel on the way to Hartford. Connecticut and immediately fell in love? It was. Just as much is the shock to discover that Monte Python re4. mains better—more inventive, more searchingly intelligent and wondrously non-
sensical—than any comedy Eve ever seen since. So many contrasts between these two events! Eva is presented with tragedy, while I see comedy. She has an intimation of her youth. while! have an intimation of my age. As usual, there is a national text: Eva's past has to do with politics, while mine has to do with entertainment. There's something else. though, that's not usual: the past of each of us is finally not communicable to the other. I never saw one of my best friends in high school taken away by the police. Eva has never heard of Long John Silver. The experience of time that travel makes possible is remorseless. The past not only erupts to make us feel alienated from ourselves: it isolates us in our experience, and makes us feel like countries. which arc what they are because they have each been excluded from the others. It's Sunday in Curitiba. This means it's time for the Feirinha do Largo da Ordem. a large street fair, which branches out in a number of directions from a downtown church plaza. There are books laid out on the ground, there are booths displaying everything from fine embroidery to commonplace clothes. I buy a children's book made out of cloth: each flap develops a story about a duck. It's painful to have to resist buying a wooden bird too large to lit into our burgeoning suitcases. Only crafts engage me. There's just enough Japanese paper cuttings or pine cones from Parana on display. The only booth at which Sara and Luci stop
54
is one featuring some glittery baubles for their hair. Today is some sort of Italian Day. In an adjoining theatre, the stage is full of Curitibanas dressed up in folk costumes—the women in white dresses and flouncy blouses, each festooned with stitched designs, the men in tight white pants and straw hats with red ribbons. They all look to me like Greeks. In two trips to Italy. I've never seen Italians dressed like this. But of course that's not .• the point. A people takes its culture where if finds it, or else just invents the memory, of one, and celebrates it anyway. I take ai picture, so we can show it to our Italian friend back home, who doesn't speak Italian and who will believe these people are preparing for Carnaval if I say so. Sara and Luci are completely uninterested. At one point we stroll past a portion of the plaza where an old man is playing an electric fiddle. He's dressed up like a gaucho. The man just walks around the encircling crowd, mugging up the music with wide facial expressions and outsized gestures. The music is wonderfully syrupy caipira stuff, the sort of thing Eva was too ashamed to admit she liked when she lived in Brazil and then delighted to sing out loud when she began to live in the United States. Just as Sara and Luci begin to tug on my arm so we can move on, the gaucho suddenly breaks into a spirited rendition of the theme from Titanic. The twins stop tugging. The crowd begins to applaud I can't
resist smiling myself. Curitibahas enjoyed an international reputation for some years now as Brazil's point city for the twenty-first century. Its bus system is celebrated, its ecological awareness much-publicized, and a number of its progressive social policies have been widely imitated. One ofthese policies is the establishment of a civic culture. If any Brazilian cities have one, not many display it like Curitiba. which very recently, for example, constructed a series of parks honoring immigrant groups such as the Japanese or the Poles. The park for the Germans is near where the children live„ On our last afternoon together. Daniel, Sara. and Luci take Eva and me for a walk there. The park is lovely! We enter from the top. There's a circular wooden memorial-auditorium cum-chapel-shrine dedicated to Bach. (Closed, alas.) Wooden stairs take the visitor down, down, past terraced waterfall, to the bottom of a forest. There begins a series of markers slightly receded from the path—each representing with picture and text episodes from Hansel and Gretel. At the end there's a big gingerbread house, where inside this day a woman dressed up as a witch is telling a group of preschoolers the story of Hansel and Gretel. "Do you really' eat children?" we hear one girl ask. "Of course I do- the witch replies. "But only the bad ones." Then it's on to the front entrance (some sort of generic "European- concrete facade cum porch cum gate) and then back up the hill. past some of the most fortress-like, the first being that of the former governorof Parana, who must have been pleased to have a dirty swamp transformed into a lovely' forest, right in his backyard. One could be cynical about this: a monument to civic culture is of immediate benefit to one of the richest men in the state. But it's not a time for cynicism. It's a time for good-bye. Strangely, the children don't appear to be sad. Whatever our visit has meant to them, perhaps even they don't know yet. Just so. not everything, public or private. comes complete with its consequences. Especially in this instance, where the best model for our visit might be that of a fairy tale, in which children are lost and found all by themselves according to laws beyond those of human design.
BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
Mato Grosso: Work of a Weary God and dirty. We're still mad for coffee. Brazilians drink a thick express savannah is not nearly as famous called cafezinho in demitasse cups, whil pouring in loads of sugar. I've bee as the Amazon, so not nearly as ordering either pingado or media, whic visually available in countless is served in larger cups or glasses, call for plenty of milk. and can be drunk wit nature films. Remoteness excites no sugar, sem aciicar—if you insist. me. This land excites me. The You have to insist. It's simply incon ceivable to drink coffee without sugar to horizon is so limitless, that Mato Brazilians. So nothing has represented Grosso ("thick forest") becomes our effort at American solidarity more than ordering coffee sem aclicar. Will one of those areas of earth that such a thing be possible to command in Campo Grande? presents itself less as a sight Yes, it turns out, just round the corner from the hotel, in a little bar, run by than as a vision. two kids, each twelve or so. One makes the media very carefully—and then pours TERRY CAESAR in so much milk (media is mostly drunk for breakfast) that we howl, prompting Campo Grande/Rio Verde him to come up with a second glass, and June 1. It's a fifteen-hour bus trip then add more coffee to each. At last we from Curitiba to Campo Grande, the sip contentedly, and relax into how much capital of the state of Mato Grosso do warmer Campo Grande is after Curitiba. Sul. We arrive exhausted. I haven't been Suddenly an old man staggers in off the able to have a coffee, and there's no time sidewalk. A beggar? His clothes are in to try before Eva's brother, Elton, picks shreds, and he's draped in a filthy blanus up and takes us to the hotel he has ket. "I'm so cold I can't stand it," he booked, the wonderfully-named Hotel exclaims, to no one in particular. CirAdvanced. It's clean. But it's only "ad- cumstances are always too local. There is more to Campo Grande bevanced- in terms ofwhat we can glimpse of the city. which is not as dust-ridden as sides its squalid surface, which turns out Eva has led me to expect but just as poor to be largely confined to the old section.
Mato Grosso! Brazil's vast
BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
For example, this city of 600,000 has a brand-new complex of government buildings and theatres. Elton drives us around. An accountant, he handles thousands for some sort of consortium of meat-packing companies. He's the only one of Eva's family who has any money. So it's appropriate that later in the evening we gain access through Elton to our trip's highest ascent in class, in the person of Bruno, the Lebanese owner of the city's finest Italian restaurant. Here this night Elton fetes both us and his daughter, Fabiana, seventeen today. The place is festooned with pictures of happy patrons: principally lawyers, judges (Bruno's wife is a judge) and owners offazendas. I'd love to see one ofthese fabled baronial estates, which, it seems, really do dominate the local economy. My image is of something as fabulous as the spread (complete with zoo and satellite dish) of the Columbia drug lord in the movie, "Godfather II." Bruno gestures at a picture he proclaims to be of the richest fazendeiros and his wife. "The house alone cost ten million dollars." "Too bad," Bruno confides, "the man is a homosexual." Eva has another brother in Campo Grande, Edson. But only Edson's daughters and son—all in their 20s—are at the dinner; Edson himself is, as usual, on the road, selling sandals. His son, Hueber,
55
works as an architectural designer while studying to take the feared state exam, the vestibular, so he can attend college. His parents never even made it to the fifth grade. At one point Eva jokes with Hueber (whose name Brazilians pronounce "way-bet') about studying in the United States. "You realize," Eva smiles, "that if Americans ever see how your name is spelled. they'll call you 'Whober. — -That's what you get, tia," he laughs," when you have illiterate parents." Mato Grosso! Brazil's vast savannah is not nearly as famous as the Amazon, so not nearly as visually available in countless nature films. I've never seen Mato Grosso. As Elton drives to Rio Verde, two hundred kilometers north, where a final one of Eva's brother's works, I stare out another car window in awe. My God, Mato Grosso really looks just as Updike writes in Brazil: "The sky became enormous, as ifGod had breathed a sigh of relief and given up the intense labor of Creation, contenting Himself with a few mangles of low thorns, mixtures of caucas and brush, and tall grass, and an occasionally unimpressive forest." Now I wish we had taken another week or two, and more buses, and made it to the state of RondOnia. far north, on the edge of the Amazon, where the most wayward of Eva's nephews lives. I wish—what? Remoteness excites me. This land excites me. It's so flat, and the horizon is so limitless, that Mato Grosso (the name means, -thick forest") becomes one of those areas of earth that presents itself less as a sight than as a vision. Though halfway to Rio Verde herds of cattle become visible, and then signs for fazendas, little disturbs the vision. It's as if, unlike even the vulnerable Amazon now, Mato Grosso is invulnerable to human predation. The land is complete in itself. In this respect, it's comparable to the Dakotas or Montana at the turn of the century. Perhaps I only make this comparison because on the bus here I've finished Bad Land, Jonathan Raban's sad story of futile human settlement in the West. Mato Grosso, by contrast, isn't sad. It's dry, monotonous, severe. But not sad. The land permits the growth of wheat, sorghum, and corn, and it even contains wonders. And suddenly there is one, right over there, with a kind of scrawny dignity, below a small rise, so you can almost make out the wind blowing its feathers, the most splendid thing we've seen in Brazil: a wild emu. If ever a town is in the middle of nowhere, it's Rio Verde. So it's a perfect
56
place to live for Eva's youngest brother, Ermes, who left Maringa bankrupt and in disgrace. Elton set him up as an accountant for the town's lone industry, a meat-processing plant. The plant is outside' of town. The town, which houses' some 12,000 people, seems to have been created by bureaucratic fiat: the wide' streets form a single rectangular grid. There are plenty of shady trees. All the houses have the same light brown shade,' as if at one remove from the earth. How to describe how woebegotten Rio Verde seems to the foreign eye? Dogs wander all over the streets. People put chairs on sidewalks and sit drinking terere, the local tea, from cuias, containers made from the bull's horn. The brick houses all have iron gates in front; boxlike trees appear like sentries near the curb. I can't imagine how punishing and brutal the sun must feel most of the year, when it's over 100. Even now, when it's only in the 80s. there's little to do but sit, and watch the time go by. And yet, the people seem happy. Somnolent, but happy. I don't understand why. It's taken too much time for us to get here. The scruffy little shops are full of cheap cassettes and clothes from Paraguay and Bolivia, each fairly close. Eva and I are a minor sensation when we go shopping. Not only is our dress not local; consider only our manners—the clerk at one place whispers to her friend in amazement when Eva. i.e. the wife, pays for something. Eva tells another shop girl when she asks that we're from the United States, but the girl doesn't seem to believe her. I remember a time in China when our largely American party stopped at a tiny village and the villagers thought we were Japanese, because Japan was the only othercountry they knew. Maybe Rio Verdians appear so content because nowhere acts to absorb all differences, all details. Ermes tells us that everything from the cattle is used in his plant, even the nose hair. Ermes has' three sons. The one I like best is Marcelo. Nineteen now, he's still as sweet as he was five years ago in Maringa, when we hung around together, went to a few movies, and kicked a soccer ball around. Now, after checking with his mother, he takes us to a supermarket, and asks us to pick out a cuia, which he wants to give us as a gift. No money changes hands. The clerk just writes his name in a notebook. Marcelo himself is into cars. Later, with a friend of his who stops by, the three of us sit on the porch flipping through a car magazine that the friend has bought. I feel like a teenager 1 never was. We exclaim over all the shiny new
models—Si lverado. Fiat, Mercedes. The boys have never actually seen any of these cars. But they can dream. A '65 Chevrolet chugs by on the street in front with more dents than a used tin can. We look up and laugh. Then back to the pages of the magazine as if such cars were not somehow largely the limit of what there is to see. Have the boys simply substituted one set of cars for another? Funny. I believe I can imagine what it's like to grow up in Sao Paulo, Maringa, FlorianOpol is, Curitiba, and maybe even—with lots of media—Campo Grande. But Rio Verde is something else again. To find a corresponding town in the United States, you'd have to return to Rabin's pages. And that's the problem. Rio Verde is too wholly literal, too infernally real for me. Faced with it like Marcelo, though I must concede the town (not to say my life) its materiality, I'd rather live in pages that speak of somewhere else. Rio Verde is proud of its river. What else does it have to be proud of? We've already seen the falls a few miles out of town, where people go in summer to stand under or swim beneath. On our last morning before the only bus of the day leaves for Campo Grande, Eva and I stroll down to the river. It's just a few minutes away from Ermes's house. But we should have gone sooner. First, there are some women beating their laundry against the flat rocks near the water's bank. Eva is shocked. "I never thought I'd see this in Brazil." Is she thinking of India? Then there are a group of people under a clump of trees on the far side. They have strung sheets or blankets between their wagons and the trees. Eva first thinks they're squatters. "No! They're gypsies." Neither of us has ever seen gypsies in Brazil. Eva tells me they don't have the stigma gypsies do in Europe, perhaps because there are so many other kinds of homeless people in Brazil. A wooden bridge spans the river— hardly more than a stream at this point— and we cross over into a very different town. Rio Verde turns out to be large enough to have its poor. All round there are wooden shacks rather than brick houses. A thin man with an emaciated child in hand comes up to ask for money. Another man with legs terribly bent and curved comes hobbling near when he sees us. head craned, as if he thinks we're from another country. We think we're suddenly in the rainless, droughtplagued Northeast, where everything looks like this and there's no river.
BRAZZIL - SEPTEMBER 2003
Pittsburgh on the day of a Steelers Super Bowl can't compare. Nothing in the U.S. can compare, either to the totality of the response to soccer all over the country or its intensity, even on the part of people who purport not to care. For the World Cup, Brazilians are reborn as a people, and then they recreate themselves as a nation.
June 6. To be back in.do Paulo is to see or hear more stories than I can focus upon. For xample, Walter points out a car wash on the other side of a road ay. It became fashionable. The owner built a small restaurant n xt door. The poor, seeing this, proceeded to build a series of ood stands on the median grass strip of the roadway. The spot b came popular. Lately, it seems, drug dealers have been moving i . What will happen next? The city has &life of its own. And what about the wo an who bought one of those harness straps for walking your chili' when she was on a visit to the United States? The first time she ent out walking in public there was such a scandal that the wo an was eventually arrested for some sort of child abuse! Cultut , it seems, also has a life of its own, quite apart from other cultu es, thank you. I'm tired after another fteen-hour bus trip. Plus, too many people, too many good-bye too many emotions. Just as much, though, too many stories. It s not that'I can't make something of them. I can make too much. nd where there's nothing to see, I'll just make up something, as I did last night on the bus, musing about the guy in the back j st playing his mournful harmonica. Yet finally how not to feel yself dispersed, if not just silenced? It's been wonderful to live other life. But now I want just one again, even if it has to be th same one. How could Noel be so s upid? This Saturday night he takes his future mother-in-law al ng with me, Eva, and Valeria, his future wife, to the local "stre Tt of the transvestites, " a dingy side street in Santo Andre, which adjoins Vila Industrial. We all just think the visit will be a lark .ome "girls" strutting their stuff, ha, ha. But anything about sex is erious business in Brazil, no matter how lightly characterized or xplicitly presented. In fact. many of the boys t rn out to be girls. A few of them are almost completely naked. ost are eager to prove it, whether silicone or no. As we cruise , several girls leer at us obscenely and shake their breasts. Othe bump and grind, without so much as a g-string. Noel tries to laugh. I try to join in. Like the speechless women in the bac • though, I'm shocked. Noel might
as well have taken us to a whore house! I think Noel could be so stupid because he's demonstrating—however superfluously or vainly—his masculinity. A Brazilian man should "know these things." Part of knowing them is showing them to women—respectable women, that is, who can thereby be assured that he himself is, well, not exactly above whores (for this might compromise his virility) but removed from them (lest they compromise his fitness as a husband). I'm not going to check with Noel about this explanation. It makes a good story. Elson comes along when his son, Elsinho, kindly offers to take us to the Museu Paulista on our last Sunday. Elson has never been to a museum in his life. This one features a history of the city. The structure surprises, every inch an edifice in the European mold, a handsome chalky gold affair of arches and columns, with stone steps climbing to the central entrance and wings fanning out from either side. You don't see such buildings often in Brazil. This one, though, has something you can't' see anywhere else: the original painting of the Portuguese emperor-to-be, Dom Pedro I, uttering his famous 1822 cry to the Portuguese, at the Ipiranga River. Every Brazilian schoolchild knows the words: "Independence or death!" They were uttered on September 7, which is Brazilian Independence Day. Historically, the Portuguese had come to arrest Dom Pedro and to force him back to Portugal (where his father had returned, after fleeing from Napoleon to Portugal's largest colony). Aesthetically, the soldiers, although their swords are brandished, appear to be sinking back into the river on their horses, while Pedro & consort sit erect in their saddles and on high ground. But this is not the most interesting thing. The artist, Pedro Americo, has included to one side a yeoman farmer heading down to the river, his oxen trailing behind him. The farmer has momentarily stopped, and is looking over his shoulder at the whole spectacle of all these men. Of course he doesn't understand the significance of the spectacle. Who understands history at the moment of its making? More than this, though. I'd like to think that the farmer is not even comprehended within this particular history. Granted, the man may represent what the struggle between the South American
nation-to-be and the Luropean nation is all about. Yet he's not at this moment part of anynation. So how to locate him? As someone beneath nation? This day I prefer to locate him in the person of Elson. Eva and I stand rapt before the picture Elson just shrugs, turns away. and goes off in search of more urban bric-a-brac under glass. "I'm no patriot," he says. At the top right of Pedro Americo famous painting, "Independence or Death," is a small house, which has come to be known in Brazil as the Casa do Grito, "house of the scream," because Dom Pedro seems to be directing his words toward it. But the house is not just in the painting. It exists! Or at least it has been felt to exist, ever since the painting, which some believewas painted right on the very spot. In fact, we're close to this spot. Elsinho wants to take us there, down past the fountain, the sculpted bushes, and the dirt paths—just like Lisbon or Paris. By God, there really is a house that looks just like the house of the painting. No furniture. Just the abode and brick structure withlots of information about the various attempts at reconstruction, including one that followed a protest 'that, ironically, the house looked too much like the house of the painting! Nobody iS able to explain to me what all the fuss is in the first place about the house, not to mention trying to get ittso historically faithful. It strikes me as futile as trying to reconstruct the boat in which Washington crossed the Delaware. But this just means I'm not , Brazilian. To me, the house prompts the question: does art serve history, or vice versa? But this is too abstract. To Brazilians, I believe, for the past century and a half the house has simply been "good to think''—about art and history, as weh as about any number, of things, rangjng from national origin to the best materials to build houses. It's not that they wa to resolve any ofthese questions. The q4estions can't really be resolved, or so etimes even focused. They can onl be built, and rebuilt, which is, after all, ne definition of a nation, if not its history. It happens all by itself. Some of Elson 's neighbors begin to string green and ,yellow stands of ribbon and paper across rope, hung over the street from telephone wires. A fevv more people begin painting slogans on the street with
chalk and drawing cartoons of players. The street is blocked offwith somebody's car. At one point police come by and threaten to arrest everybody. "Arrest the crooks, not Us," the people chorus. The police retire. More ribbon, more chalk, more elaborate drawings. Day after tomorrow, the World Cup will begin. Brazil is favored to win its fifth championship. From the outside, perhaps this outpouring seems manipulated by business and the media. Certainly, to an American, the tearful, careful news conference of Romario, the star of the last Cup (which Brazil won) is familiar stuff, although the nerve injury to his leg is real enough. Yet even the corniest TV spotsmy favorite is the one where truck drivers are urged to speculate on the score and the scorers in Brazil's first game vs. Scotland, and then one of the named players delivers a salute to truck drivers—seem to me to be driven by deep popular emotion. At this level, no matter how fake, you can't fake it. Pittsburgh on the day of a Steelers Super Bowl can't compare. Nothing in the U.S. can compare, either to the totality of the response to soccer all over the country or its intensity, even on the part of people who purport not to Care. The very word for "fan" in Portuguese, torcedor, expresses something more hot and passionate than the cool, spectatorial English word. For the World Cup, Brazilians are reborn as a people, and then ,these people recreate themselves as a nation, as they decorate their neighborhoods, watch television reports, and buy T-shirts. The celebrations after each victory will be better—more spontaneous, more ecstatic—than Carnaval. We have to go, but I wish I could stay. This text is the final part of a twopart essay called South 'ofthe Border,
South of Brazil: Reflections on Another Life. Terry Caesar is the author of, most recently, a collection of essays on academic life, Traveling Through the Boondocks. He has been traveling to Brazil for some eighteen years, ever since he first arrived in Rio de Janeiro on a Fulbright. He welcomes your comments at caesarcktrion.edu
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