Brazzil - Year 9 - Number 140 - August 1997

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AVIUSIC: JOVINg IS BACIe AND IT'S MAGIC

ar 9 — No. 140 — August 1997

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BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

Like Washington, Brasilia, the Brazilian capital can give you a distorted sense of reality. Politicians in Brazil remind us of Nero, the Roman emperor who fiddled while Rome burned. There is no fire in Brazil, but in recent weeks the nation has been faced with a spate of crippling police strikes in 15 of its 26 states, all of them demanding better salaries. In some cases, the cops battled the Army in the streets.

Looting and all kinds of criminal behavior have been on the upswing

with the troops unable to cover for the military police strikers. Truck drivers have also ceased work and used their huge rigs as weapons to disrupt traffic on main roads. And across the country the landless movement has been staging protests against a slow-moving agrarian reform Despite all these signs of disruption, the party continued in Brasilia.

"Everything is calm," was the message from President Fernando Henrique Cardoso to the country. Echoing Cardoso, the president of the Senate, Antonio Carlos Magalhaes, declared using military parlance: "The sky is one of air force general and the sea is one of admiral." Meaning the skies are blue, the seas serene, and Brazil is living in the best of the worlds.

http://www.brazzil.com When the President left his protected dome in Brasilia, however, to visit the real Brazil in Corumba, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, he had to be protected by 500 men in uniform.

While the government celebrates the third anniversary of the Plano Real, which has all but eliminated inflation from Brazilian daily life, there is a growing discontent with the fruits of this economic revolution: wage freeze and increasing unemployment.

R.M.

CONTENTS

13

35

Cover

Brazil

Brazil & USA: an uneasy relationship

Economy, social conditions, and the Indians

14 Cover

40

Brazil & Canada: looking for stronger links

Music

20

Cover by Aylan Mello

Administration

DEPARTMENTS

Ceara—model of managing scarcity

23

6

Rapidinhas

Book Review

18

The Yellow Sofa

by Eca de Queiros

Letters 46

The world is bullish on Brazil

The Cultural Pulse 47 Por ai

28

49

Osman Lins's "Noivado"

44

"

Economy

Short story

Jovino Santos: His star rises with Caboclo

Classifieds 50

U.S.A. Calendar

54 Special

The passion and death of Father Josimo

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Publisher and Editor: Rodney Mello / Entertainment Editors: Sam & Harriet Robbins / Book Review: Bondo Wyszpolski / Music Editor: Bruce Gilman / Representatives: MIAMI : Nosso Guia (305) 374-0096 - Valeria Mendes (Calendar) / BRAZIL: Celso Sawaia (011) 885-9288 E- mail: csawaia@brhomeshopping.com.br BRAZZIL (ISSN 1091-868X) is published monthly by Brazzil - NOT mailing address: 2039 N. Ave. 52, Los Angeles, CA, 90042-1024. Periodicals Postage rate paid at Los Angeles, CA. Single copy sold for $2. One year subscription for 12 issues is $3 (three dollars) in the U.S., $15 in Canada and Mexico, and $18 (surface mail) in all other countries. No back issues sold. Allow 5 to 7 weeks to receive your first issue. You may quote from or reprint any of the contents with proper copyright credit. Editorial submissions are welcome Include a SASE (self addressed and stamped envelope) if you want your material mailed back. Brazzil assumes no responsibility for any claims made by its advertisers.

POST MASTER : Please, send address changes to: BRAZZIL - P.O. Box 42536 - Los Angeles, CA - 90050-0536 BRAZZIL -AUGUST 1997

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pooiniNuor ion

lsI II Ware Vessels Brazilian war vessels seem to have become one of the favorite means for smuggling foreign goods into Brazil. Two cases proving just that have been disclosed on national TV. First there was the Julio de Noronha navy ship that went to London to take part in a NATO war game and came back home filled with computers, TV sets, and home appliances, everything smuggled. Then, a videotape made inside Brazil's only aircraft carrier, the Minas Gerais (built in 1907), showed servicemen on duty actively peddling smuggled wares.

"It didn't happen," said Navy minister, Mauro Cesar Pereira. Confronted with the TV images, he changed his line to, "The Federal Revenue Service will start inspecting the ships."

Giving Up the Bomb With an eye toward securing a U.N. seat together with the nine permanent members of that international body, Brazil has changed an almost 30year-old policy of not adhering to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. President Fernando Henrique Cardoso has sent congress a proposal to change the Brazilian position. Brazil, which for over two decades has developed a secret nuclear program (a nuclear test silo was even built in Serra do Cachimbo in the state of Para), has always argued that accepting the terms of the agreement would hinder the country's efforts to develop atomic energy for peaceful purposes.

Slowing Down IBGE (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica— Brazilian Institute of

6

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Splash To celebrate a new phase at the ten-year-old magazine Trip, the editors invited actress Luana Piovani, 20, to pose in the buff. The publication had a small list of other options when it put itself through the motions of inviting the apparently shy TV celebrity. The odds of getting the nod from her were not encouraging at all.

Other bigger guns like Brazilian Playboy had trekked the same road, coming back empty handed.

In the end, the coveted gorgeous, green-eyed star, who began her TV career as Eduarda in the Quatro por Quatro (Four by Four) novela (soap opera), made it clear that money was no object as her fee—for an undisclosed amount—was donated to an institution that treats children with cancer.

The radiant beauty of Luana adorns the magazine's cover and receives more detailed attention in a 20-page spread, just a small sample of the 1000-plus poses captured by photographer Paulo Rocha in Ilhabela, Sao Paulo's own little island paradise. "This is the prettiest photo essay we have ever done," boasts Paulo Lima, Trip's director.

Luana Elidia Afonso Piovani, who is also known as Luli, Lueli, or simply Lu, was born on August 29, 1976 in Jaboticabal, a little town in the interior of Sao Paulo state.. The siren's fans were a bit shocked recently when they turned on their TV sets to see that their blonde dream had become a breathtaking brunette, which, by the way, is her natural color.

This latest change wasn't Luana's idea. It was a professional consideration, taken so she could play the daughter of Luiza Brunet, another stunning dark-haired beauty on Globo TV's novela Anjo Mau (Naughty Angel).

Trip is confident that Pio-

vani will help the magazine reach its new goals: to transform itself from a bimonthly into a monthly, more than double its circulation from 45,000 to 120,000 copies, and increase the number of pages per issue from 100 to 124.

Luana's exposure is being served up with an article about surfing on an Amazon tributary, an interview with Skank's Samuel Rosa, and a profile on a former Rio Mafia boss.

B RAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

ections

Politicking There is still more than a year left before Brazil's presidential election, but the campaign is in full swing despite the fact there is only one candidate runnin at this time: the present occupant of Brasilia's Palacio da Alvorada, President Fe nando Hen rique Cardoso.

Some signs that Cardoso wants to win at any cost: 1. FHC chose two politicians from the opposition for his cabinet. Eliseu Padilha from Rio Grande do Sul's PMDB (Partido do Movimento Dem cratico Brasileiro—Party of the Brazilian Democratic Movement) is the new Tra sportation minister. iris Resende, from the same party, who has worked against ardoso on the constitutional amendment that guaranteed the President's reelection is now the Justice minister.

2. Willing to ensure that some needed constitutional reforms will be one by year's end, Cardoso from the PSDB (Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira — Brazilian Social Democracy Party) has chosen Bahian representative Luis Eduardo Magalhaes from the PFL (Partido da Frente Liberal—Liberal Front Party) t be the government's leader.

3. The President has launched Brasil em Acao (Brazil in Action), a p ogram comprising 42 big federal projects.

4. In a semi-secret encounter with So Paulo's former mayor (and a pres dential hopeful) Paulo Maluf, the President seems to have received assurances hat the PPB (Partido Progressista Brasileiro—Brazilian Progressive Party) politic an will forfeit his candidacy this time. Instead he will run for governor of So Pa lo with some kind of backing or at least neutrality from Cardoso.

5. During a recent visit to New York for an address to the United Natio s, FHC met former president Itamar Franco, another presidential hopeful. Cardos would not like to run against the man who chose him for Finance minister, the p st that catapulted him to the presidency. He has been encouraging Itamar to seek Minas Gerais's governorship.

All these closed-door meetings and alliances, while paving the way for a continued stay in Brasilia for Cardoso, are also creating disputes and animosity among FHC' s older and closer allies.

In So Paulo, Governor Mario Covas, who belongs to Cardoso's party and would like to be governor again, didn't hide his dissatisfaction with the president's approach to Maluf. In Minas, an Itamar candidacy would be in oppos tion to governor Eduardo Azeredo, who would like to be reelected and is, you guessed it, from the PSDB, the President's own party. And in Rio, another tucano (toocan)— the common term for PSDB politicians—governor Marcello Alencar seeks reelection while Cardoso woos Rio's former mayor Cesar Maia, who also seeks the state's governorship.

To prevent bickering among allies, a cabinet member very close to the presidency has suggested: "There is only one way to solve this dilemma. In state ;where there are opposing candidates who belong to the government coaliti 3n, the president will have his own platform in which you will have all the candidates that support him."

BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

Geography and Statistics) has just released its preliminary census numbers, revealing that there are 156.804,333 Brazilians, much less than the 208 million demographers had forecast in the 50s when Brazilian women had an average of six children and the population was increasing at a rate of 2.99%. The number of children per woman has fallen to two.

Even in the 80s it was expected that Brazil's population would reach up to 192 million people.

During the so-called economic miracle of the 70s, Brazil was growing 2.48% a year. During the 80s, also known as the lost decade, this rate fell to 1.93%. Today it has dropped to 1.3% and in big cities the decline has been even more dramatic.

In Sao Paulo the growth rate is only 0.3% and in Rio it is even lower at 0.2%, comparable to Germany's population growth. The biggest reversal occurred in the Northeast, where 15 years ago women had an average of 5.8 children.

Thanks to a series of government and NGO campaigns, this number has dropped to three. And there's more: Brazilians are not as young as they used to be. The population's average age is now 23 years. In 1980 it was 19.

Rainy clouds on the horizon? The Planning ministry doesn't believe so.

Projections made by their technicians and released in late July talk about an even rosier 2007. By then the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita should be S7,500, double of what it is today, and the GDP should reach $1.3 trillion.

As for unemployment, it will have fallen to 4%.

Exodus Portrait With 600,000 Brazilian immigrants, the United States continues to be the favorite spot for Brazucas,

7

o ice

the name Brazilians in the US give themselves. They represent more than one third of the 1,560.162 Brazilian expatriates, whose numbers increased by 17% over last year's.

The data come from the second Census of Brazilians Overseas, conducted by Brazil's Foreign ministry and using not information sent to Brazil by 29 foreign consulates. In Chicago, for example, there was a 50% increase in one year, with the Brazilian population jumping from 10,000 to 15,000. The Itamaraty (the Foreign ministry) itself recognizes that the apparent explosion might be related to a more accurate way of counting heads. But the increase also points to the fact that Chicago has become a magnet for Brazucas, together with New York with an estimated 200,000 Brazilians, and Boston with 150,000.

Rebellion in Uniform The state of Alagoas exploded. Fifteen thousand people took to the streets in the capital of Macei6 to demand that governor Divaldo Suruagy step down.

The military police confronted the Army in the streets, 13 people were hurt—four of wham were hit by bullets, and Suruagy asked for a sixmonth leave of absence. The only surprise in all of this was that it took so long for the fuse to ignite the powder keg.

After all, the northeastern state of-Alagoas has been in a state of chaos for many years. The government is $1.7 billion in the red. .Public servants-50,000 ofthem—haven't received their salaries in nine months.

Police have been on strike demanding a raise in salaries that have not been paid in six months. Firings in the private sector have been doled out at a clip of 3,000 pink slips a month.

Justice minister Iris Resende and military chief of staff Alberto Cardoso were hurriedly sent to Alagoas by President Cardoso, who had been urged to intervene in the state earlier, but hoped to solve the problem without any drastic federal action. Only after meltdown did Fernando Henrique free emergency funds to help pay back salaries. Talking to an aide, the President commented: "Armed power is not allowed to go on strike. There is-no problem while they are only complaining about their salaries. But what happens when they get organized for a rightist coup?

I am getting extremely worried."

While the Alagoas crisis was the most momentous and threatening, unrest in the civil and military police had already spread to 15 of the 26 Brazilian states by mid July. In Recife, state of Pernambuco, the daily homicide rate tripled, eight banks were robbed, stores were looted, automatic teller machines were broken and youth gangs were running wild through the city after a one-week police strike. Traffic rules were not being obeyed in this city of 2 million.

The 3,000 Army troops sent there couldn't do the job of the 18,000 officers on strike. Hospitals have been flooded with gun-shot wounds and pharmacies have been raided by bandits looking for prescription drugs.

In high-crime neighborhoods, public transportation was halted and some movie theaters temporarily closed their doors.

The police demand is always the same: better salaries. To attain their goals police hold public demonstrations, camp in strategic places and go on strike, in an act of supreme irony, in Rio Grande do Sul the officers protested by chanting Geraldo Vandre's "Pra Nao Dizer Que Nao Falei de Flores" (So No One Will Say I Didn't Talk About Flowers), the song that after being banned by the military regime was adopted by students and workers during parades that were always repressed with bombs, gunshots and dogs by these same police. In one of the most stirring moments, the song says, "Who knows makes the hour, do not wait fceit to happen."

The cops' rebellion started last June in Minas Gerais when the civil police went ott a strike. A clash between troops and police resulted in one death and governor Eduardo Azeredo caved fast, giving the strikers a 48.2% pay increase that Minas could ill afford. Commenting on the general situation, Rio's daily Jornal do Brasil

Healing Ghost Lacking faith in conventional medicine, former President, general JoAo Baptista Figueiredo, 79, had his vertebral column operated on

by Rubens'Faria, 43, an electronic engineer who says that he incorporates the body of doctor Adolph Frederick Yerperssoven, better known as Dr. Fritz. Fritz, born in 1874 in Dantzig, East Prussia, now Gdanski in Poland, has become well-known among Brazilians after being "incorporated" by two other famous late mediums: Jose Pedro de Freitas. the Ze Arig6,..and doctor Edson Cavalcanti de Queiroz.

From 1948 to 1971, when he died in a car accident Arige, a semi-illiterate peasant from Congonhas do Campo, state of Minas Gerais, performed surgeries in the name of Dr. Fritz. Twice he was jailed for charlatanism, once being pardoned by President Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira. Queiroz, a physician from Recife, state of Pernambuco, started his "spiritual operations" in 1982. fle was stripped from his license to practice medicine but continued operating until he was I.

BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

editorialized: "On strike, threatening governors, often with their pistols drawn, the police are creating a climate of instability."

The states have dealt with the authority crisis in different ways. In Sao Paulo, for example, governor Mario Covas offered a 34 percent raise to the military and civil police. While the military seemed happy with the increase, the civil police were holding the line in demanding an 88.68% raise. Thanks to support from the population— camped police have been fed and applauded by civilians—and their weapons, police have been able to obtain what no other workers category has in the past three years: salary hikes.

Analysts see two main inequities in wages earned by police and the armed forces: the huge gap between what commanders and the rank and file make, and the substantial difference in salaries paid for the same job in different states.

While a police officer starting his career makes $1,000 a month in the federal capital of Brasilia—the best salary in Brazil—he gets only $160 in Paraiba—the state that pays the least. And in the state of Piaui, for example, officers earn up to 20 times more than their subordinates, making possible a salary variation from $200 to $4,000.

In the Armed Forces, where the starting salary is $270, officers make 10 times more than the rank and file. The Armed Forces troops are not happy either and many people are wondering if, inspired by their colleague in the police forces, they will not soon be taking to the streets to ask for a pay raise.

BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

11i212 Flying High During the 30 months of his presidency, Fe nando Henrique Cardoso has visited 26 nations and rrade 30 foreign trips, some of them repeat visits to one c untry.

The latest, when he addressed a United Nation's special session on the world environment in June, wa to the U.S., a country he has already visited four times. rgentina has been his favorite destination, compil.ng six trips. Uruguay was his destination three times anki twice he visited Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Portugal nd the United Kingdom. Cardoso has also paid single isits to Angola, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Ge many, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Macao, Malaysia, exico, Peru, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, and Ven zuela.

Taking a cue from the presidency, all three (b anches of government) have spent record time in the air last year. The federal government spent more tha $500 million on plane tickets ($218 million) and trave allowances in 1996. First on the list as the biggest pender was the Lower House, the Chamber of Deputies whose 513 members spent $7.8 million on plane ticket alone.

The popular congressional practice of flying is greatly aided by the fact that every representative and enator gets four free round-trip tickets a month: three for the congressman's hometown and a fourth to Rio, he city that ceased being Brazil's capital in 1960. he 81 senators, meanwhile, ran up a bill of $1.1 mi lion in plane tickets, while the Foreign Ministry cadre cashed in at $3.6 million.

Justice in Check Despite several alibis—including a videot pe and newspaper clippings placing him far from the s ene of the crime in the state of Ceara—Jose Rainha the leader of the MST (Movimento dos Trabal adores Rurais sem Terra—Landless Rural Workers' Movement), was condemned to 26 years in prison by jury of seven people (three of whom voted against th guilty verdict)in the little town of Pedro Candrio in the tate of Espirito Santo. It was there that farmer Jose M chado Neto and military police officer Sergio Nar iso da Silva were slain in June 1989.

The prosecution wasn't able to prove that ainha was present when the crimes were committed, and no witness for the accusation showed up for the tr al. The jury based its verdict on transcripts of police int rviews with witnesses. Apparently, Justice wasn't blin folded in the 22,000-resident town where 360 rural pr perties guarantee the survival of the population. With it policy of occupying unproductive lands, the MST s ems to have made many enemies in the city.

Ironically, the unusually stiff sentence ma be the salvation for Rainha. According to Brazilian la , anyone condemned to more than 20 years is autom tically eligible for a retrial. The sentence has mobili ed the country and the MST leader is awaiting a n w trial scheduled for September 16.

stabbed to death in 1991 by a former employee whom he had fired.

Farm, the latest medium in the chain, has been talking about his own death, which would happen in the year 2000. He even saw the face of the murderer who will kill him with a gun, he says. While he waits for his fate to be fulfilled, he has been seeing and operating on close to 1,000 people every day, from Monday to Wednesday in Rio and Thursdays and Fridays in sao Paulo.

Ailing Figueiredo, who after leaving the presidency uttered the memorable words, "Please, forget me," seemingly had his wish respected. Apparently nobody among the dozens in line waiting to be seen recognized the anonymous man standing amongst them.

The former President, who has undergone treatment stateside in Cleveland, has his reasons to distrust doctors. Two years ago in Rio, after an abdominal aneurysm surgery at Casa de Saude sao Vicente, the general-president was left with his eyes open in the ITU, a act of negligence that caused his t' corneas to dry, leaving him almost blind. Faria didn't use anesthetics, and during the 20minute procedure he made an incision of two inches on Figueiredo's back.

Writing Is Golden Veteran poet Manoel de Barros, 81, received a standing ovation when, after being presented with the Calliope trophy for best Brazilian poet of 1997, he asked the audience for the privilege to simply say othing. This couldn't have been more fitting since the •k for wku' (Book About Nothing). The Calliope statue celebrates the muse of poetry and every year is offered to the winner of the Premio Nestle de Literatura (Nestle Prize of Literature).

Arguably the most important literary prize in Brazil, this year Nestle recognized eterans and novices. Carlos Heitor Cony, 70, another

• • OOOOOOOOOOOOO • • • • • • OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO • • • • • • • • • • • Almost illiterate, blind, and with a halting and trembling voice, repentista • (improviser) Antonio Goncalves da Silva, 88, known as Patativa do • Assare, has become a pop poet legend in the Brazilian Northeast. He has • • just released his latest recording, 85 Anos de Poesia, Patativa do Assare (85 • Years of Poetry). Born in the small town of Assare in the state of Ceara, • Patativa, who now lives in Cariri (also in Ceara), started his artistic career • • at 16 as a viola (guitar-like instrument) player. Fame came in 1962 after • legendary baido singer-composer, Luiz Gonzaga, recorded his "A Triste • • Partida" (The Sad Departure) about the northeastern drought.

• Revelation Baiana (from Bahia state) singer Datide has been the latest • to sing tunes by the popular poet. His work is compiled in eight books and • • he has released several CDs reciting his own work. Like a pop star he has •

Pop Bard

entire radio programs dedicated to his work. Even though he hasn't yet made it in the so-called sul maravilha (marvel South), his following in the northeast has been increasing lately with his name being given to libraries and roads, a homage usually reserved to the deceased.

SAMPLES: From "Biografia de Sansao" (Samson's Biography) in the book Aqui tern Coisa (There Is Something Here)

•

Morre aquela criatura, depois, a pobre coitada, no rumo da sepultura, vai numa rede imbruiada.

Um adjunto de gente, uns atras, otras na frente, num apressado rojao, quando um sorta, o 6tro pega: 4411 é assim que se carrega morte pobre, no sertao.

Excerpt from Cante La que Eu Canto Ca (Sing You There That I Will Sing Here):

Sansao nasceu no Japao por meio de uma fratura, sua nide era Maria Filostomina Ventura, seu pai, Joao Pitolomeu e o seu avo Galileu etc. rapadura.

Corn trinta ano de idade batizou-se na Suissa, premera comunhao fez no quarte da polica, corn istudo incognoto foi ele o maior devoto pregador de ma notica.

10

That creature dies and then the poor devil on his way to the tomb goes wrapped in a hammock, A little throng of people some behind, some in front in a hurry like a skyrocket when someone lets it go someone else holds that's the way you carry poor dead people in the backlands

Samson was born pan

by means of a fracture his mother was Marta Filostomina Ventura At age thirty three he was baptized in Sw

zerland, his first communion he had at the police barracks even though illiterate he was the biggest devotee preacher of bad news

renowned writer, received the trophy for best novel with his 0 Piano e a Orquestra (The Piano and the Orchestra). In the same category of consecrated authors, Edla Van Steen won as best short story writer with Cheiro de Amor (Smell of Love).

Among the newcomers, Luiz Alfredo Garcia Roza won in the novel category with 0 Silêncio da Chuva (The Rain's Silence). The prize for best short story writer went to Antonio Fernando Borges with Que Fim Levou Brodie? (What happened to Brodie?), and shining young talent Antonio Cicero won the Calliope for Guardar— Poemas Escolhidos (To Keep—Selected Poems).

Good News?

The estimated 1.5 millionstrong Brazilian Diaspora will be able to continue contributing to the INSS (Instituto Nacional de Seguridade Social), Brazil's social security service. Brazilians living in Japan will have the first taste of the new system that is being put together by the Foreign and Social Security ministries. The sign up process and premium payments will be made via Internet. Commenting on the development, Ricardo Boechat commented with a sneer in his Swann column in Rio's daily 0 Globo: "They will now be entitled to the marvelous benefits and services rendered by the Institute."

Thirst Quencher The Amazon Mist Iced Guarand has won the title of 1996 Beverage of the Year, meaning it is considered the best soft drink this planet has to offer. The high authority bestowing the award is BevNet, an Internet outfit that swears to have sipped every refreshment known to man. "One of the most refreshing beverages we've ever had," they pontificated. Feeling thirsty yourself for the Amazon little red fruit potion?

BevNet (http:// thebevnet.com/reviews/ amazonmist/) has all the

BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

phone numbers you need to have guaranci delivered to your refrigerator right now.

The Mist Iced is manufactured by Laurel Hill, Inc., Tel.: (310) 395-6630.

Columnist Z6zimo Barroso do Amaral announced in o 0 Globo that beer and soft drink maker Antarctica is planning to launch its guarana. the leading brand in Brazil, on the American market. They are sure they have a winner on their hands after establishing a partnership with the world's greatest soccer legend, Pele.

The just-for-Yankees Amazon concoction will be conveniently called Guarand Pele.

Taste of Adventure While people above the Equator have been talking about their beach-readiness and how to make the hot summer days a little easier to endure. Brazilian youngsters are busy trying to figure out how to warm themselves up during some likely frigid nights ahead.

There is plenty of competition, all in the form of strong liquors. Among the most popular are Midori, cucaracha, Goldschlager, and After Shock.

As important as the strong spirits themselves is the ritual that accompanies their consumption. The cucaracha, for example, made with Mexican Kahlua (a coffee liqueur), tequila, and brandy, is drained from a cup in one big sip with a straw while the potion is ablaze. The After Shock also involves fire and part of the fun is the ceremony in which a group sits around the "bonfire" (the liquor glass in flames): after wetting one finger in the concoction, a distilled liquor made from cinnamon, participants are required to pass around the flame with their finger. Whoever is unable to pass the torch must empty the glass in the center.

Midori is a melon liquor made by Japan's Suntory.

Very sweet, it is the favorite ofpatricinhas (uppermiddle-class young women). It is often swallowed from a test tube.

More sophisticated than the others, the Swiss

BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

or. s

Body Lingo The International Federation of Anatomists' Association is expected to announce on August 28 in Sao Paulo, the new anatomical terminology to be adopted throughout the world.

Terms related to people, like Fallopian Trumps, for example, will be banned, and for the first time the names that were previously presented only in Latin will be offered in two flavors: Latin and English. The different countries will make their own adaptation. The first Nomina Anatomica, published in Leipzig, came out in 1887. Then there were the Leipzig's Nomina in 1953 and the Paris's Nomina in 1955.

The choice of Sao Paulo for the new major revamp is a homage to the work of Liberato Di Dio, 77, a world-renowned anatomist who was a professor in the U.S. for 35 years and is now the general-secretary of the Federative Committee on Anatomical Terminology. With a degree in medicine from the University of Sao Paulo (USP), Di Dio continues to be active as a professor at the University of Santo Amaro, in the Greater Sdo Paulo area.

For lack of funds, however, the Sao Paulo meeting scheduled for August 24-27 was almost transferred to London. Only in mid-June did Banco Real came to the rescue with $270,000 needed for the undertaking, which will include the G-spot polemic as one of the special themes to be discussed.

With the new Sa'o Paulo Anatomical Tetminology, dictionaries as well as medical books and manuals will have to be rewritten. Close to 1,000 words were created or altered. Here is a sample:

Old name

New name

In English

am igdalite barriga da perna cotovelo maga do rosto omoplata porno de Addo reotula se Os tendAo de Aquiles trompa de Eustaquio

tonsil ite panturrilha dibito zigoma escapula proeminencia laringea patela mamas/corpo mamario tendao calcanio tuba auditiva

trompas de FalOpio

tubas uterinas

tonsillitis calf elbow cheeks shoulder blade Adam's apple kneecap breasts Achilles heel Eustachian tube fallopian tubes

Political

nsavvy

Fast, what's the name of Brazil's Presi ent? If you do not know, don't feel too bad. Almost a fifth of Greater Rio's popul tion-19.3% to be exact—do not know that Fernando Henrique Cardoso is thei President. Among this group, normally assumed to have a higher degree of politic I awareness than the rest of the country, 30.3 percent are unaware that Marcello Al near is their governor and another 31.5 percent cannot identify Luiz Paulo Con e as Rio's mayor. Among the wrong names cited as President was Gettllio Var as, who killed himself in the presidency in August 1954.

The findings are part of a just-relea ed report by the CPDOC (Centro de Pesquisa e Documentacdo da Fundac o Getulio Vargas—Gen:Ili° Vargas Foundation's Research and Documentatio Center). As for the people interviewed, 97 percent own a TV set, 71 percent watc the news at least five time's a week, and another 15 percent watches at least twice week. "It is as if people disconnected from politics, showing no interest in th subject," commented historian Dulce Pandolf, one of the scientists involved in the research.

11

Goldschlager is taken through a metal tube that is inserted in an ice bar.

Thanks to this, the strong liquor with golden colored stripes arrives thick and burning cold to the party animal's thirsty lips.

Low Grade In basic sanitation, Brazil loses out even to the Fourth Worldcountry Bangladesh, cording to UNICEF's tUnited Nations International Children's Emergency F oftitNld).1ost-rel eased Progress report 1997.

••While le only 48 percent of 'Bangladesh has access to sanitation, the rate in Brazil is even lower: 44 percent, keeping company with Haiti Cambodia, China, India, Afghanistan, Egypt, Congo and Senegal, alt nations where less than half the population has acceptable sanitation. There is a silver lining in the report: Brazil is ▪praised for adopting the ▪Child and Adolescent Statute, a document consid• erFd w a model for dealing children's and teens' !, human rights. The report can • be viewed on the Internet at pttn9 • ho p:/7/www . .unicef.otgi

No Profit Sharing 4Califonf based Shaman Pharmaceuticals has just patented two more medicationsat use Amazon plants: Vivend for genital herpes, and Provir to fight diarrhea. The news published in Rio's daily 0 Globo indicates that the •American laboratory, which hopes to make $1 billion ' with thera prnbr tdcupocam ti dm s i anunli9t9 iegst alone, cent • Brazil where they found the raw material for their drugs.

Born to Shop Brazilian travelers lose only to the Japanese as the world's biggest shoppers.

While 91% of Japanese traveling overseas say they will spend more than $150 a • day during the summer vacation, 88 percent of Brazilians say the same. This information comes from the

12

Blonde Star Wars It is more than a little odd that in a country of mestizoes like Brazil only the blondes seem to appeal to kids on TV. The latest star of the highly disputed children's TV market is a veteran of show biz with 172 model assignments and 22 TV commercials to her credit, including one for Nestle in which she sings "Como é Grande o Meu Amor por Voce" (How Big Is My Love for You) in a duet with romantic balladeer, King Roberto Carlos.

Blue-eyed blondie Debby just got her own show on TV at Manchete, the same station where Xurra and Angelica, two other famous blondes, started,itheir own kid programs and their ascendance to show business stardom. While Angelica began her career as a precocious 12 year old, Debora Cristina Lagra n ha, is less than half that age:"I like to tell stories," says the little star, trying to explain why she was chomthr by Manchete.

At a mere 5 years old, Debby and her dailymorning show Clube da Crianca (Kid's Club) will be competing head to head with Angelica's alga Talentos (Talents Chaser). She will also battle yet another blonde, Eliana Michaelicheh, 23, who is becoming a force on SBT (Sistema Brasileiro de Televisao— Brazilian System of Television), where she started working at 17.

Using her Eliana e Cia (Eliana and Company) as a springboard, the TV presenter also does commercials and has licensed more than 70 products. A recent recording contract with BMG will guarantee her $18 million in five years. Nothing new there. Eliana started her career as a child singing in the Patotinha band. She is already making around $256,000 a month, $70,000 of which comes from her TV show.

It's not only fun and games in the blonde kingdom, however. Xuxa apparently still hasn't forgiven Globo network for bringing her rival Angelica in May of 1996 to work in the smile station. Jose Bonifaciop. de Oliveira, the Boninho, who is the director of gel Mix and Cava Talentos An elica's ro rams i ited Xuxa to appear on one of the shows to put to rest rumors of war between the beauties.

Xuxa's answer, delivered by her shoot7 fromthe-hip manager Marlene Mattos, was a livid: "How dare you!?"

The encounter never materialized.

second annual American Express Global Shopping Monitor, a survey of more than 1,600 travelers from Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Japan and Mexico.

The survey was conducted

by Audience Selection of London. In the category of those spending more than $1,500 a day, Brazilians come in first with 31% answering this question affirmatively. Coming in a distant second was Hong Kong at 19%, Canada comes in last in this category with only 1 percent saying they will spend more than $1,500 a day in their shopping spree.

Sky-High Bet An American consortium led by -, IttilSouth Corp. has paid a hefty $2.45 billion to have the right to provide its °bile telephone services in Sao Paulo, the most populous South American city with 17 million people. The winning bid was more than four times the minimum price set by the government d almost $1 billion more •akwhat was offered by an AT&T-led group. The concession didn't come cheap. While BellSouth recently paid $49 per ntial customer to operate a cellular service in Columns, Ohio, the sao Paulo bid amounts to $144 per customer.

BellSouth is betting it will be able to attract millions of frustrated Paulistanos, who have to pay hundreds or even thousand of dollars and wait at least two years in line to get a conventional • telephone line. BellSonth's group includes the 0 Estado • de sao Paulo media group; Grupo Sera, a Brazilian banking and industrial group; and Splice, a Brazilian telecommunications equipment manufacturer. The Sao Paulo concession is just the second of ten that Brazil will award before the end of the year to open up the telecommunications state monopoly to competition.

BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

rtain Degree According to former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, being a neighbor of the United States is like sleeping with an elephant. Other countries in the Western Hemisphere — Brazil included — would almost certainly agree that the U.S. has had an overwhelming influence, both negative and positive, on their politics, economy and culture. While Brazilians await the first state visit of a U.S. President in almost 20 years, Brazzil sends this overview of relations between two countries that are so much alike, yet quite different.

KATHERYN GALLANT

President Fernando Cardoso BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

Political scientist and Brazilianist Ronald M. Schneider has commented that Brazil-U.S. relations were usually "conflict-free and even harmonious" until the 1950s. The roots of this relationship began in the 1780s, when Mineiro (from Minas Gerais state) intellectuals who objected to Portuguese colonial rule wrote to Thomas Jefferson for advice on starting a revolution.

The U.S.-Brazil connection became more significant at the beginning of the 20th century. The Ballo do Rio Branco (1845-1912), Brazil's foreign minister, saw that the U.S. influence and interest in Latin America had grown in the wake of the Spanish-American war.

Rio Branco decided that it was preferable to have the Yankees as allies than as rivals. Brazil then became a loyal colleague of the U.S. in Pan-American relations while other Latin American countries (such as Mexico) decried Yankee imperialism.

In the years before World War II, Brazilian President Getitlio Vargas (1883-1954) was' amenable to Italy and Germany as well as to the U.S.. While the U.S. reduced its purchases of Brazilian exports, Germany increased them. According to historian E. Bradford Burns, Germany had become by 1938 the biggest custom for Brazilian cotton, and a plurality of

goods imported to Brazil were German-made.

The U.S., apprehensive about Vargas's political and economic flirtation with fascism, decided to insure that Brazil would remain an ally of the U.S.. The persistence of the State Department and Brazilian Foreign Minister Oswaldo Aranha (a longtime Vargas associate who disapproved of his friend's authoritarian streak) paid off in 1942.

Brazil declared war on Germany and Italy.

Unlike other Latin American nations, Brazil sent army troops to Europe. This expeditionary force of 25,000 men participated in the liberation of Italy.

Perhaps the greatest effect of Brazil's role in the World War II was the friendship that developed between the officers of the expeditionary force and their U.S. counterparts. The Brazilian officers frequently became enthusiastic about the U.S. and Yankee technological advances.

This Americanophilia would contribute to events in Brazil some 20 years later.

After the end of World War II, however, cracks began to develop in the "unwritten alliance" between Brazil and the U.S.. The creation of Petrobras—the state oil monopoly—in 1953 did not please the U.S. government, which distrusted the prospect of a ttationalized oil industry. Furthermore, President Juscelino Kubitschek's 1958 proposal to establish Operation Pan-America (a cooperative attack against underdevelopment, run by and for Latin Americans) was received coldly by the U.S.. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles even ridiculed Kubitschek's pretensions and called Brazil "the world's largest banana republic."

Kubitschek's 1959 decision to break off negotiations with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) was mostly due to domestic political considerations—Kubitschek had been elected president on a pro-development platform, and cutting back on development in order to reduce inflation would hurt Kubitschek's political future—but he apparently resented the condescension that the U.S. government had displayed to Brazil and to its president.

Conditions worsened in the early 1960s, during the presidency ofJodo Goulart (1961-1964). While Brazilian government funds went to left-wing candidates in the 1962 congressional and gubernatorial elections, the U.S. poured money into the coffers of more conservative candidates. After the military coup of 1964, many Brazilians who remembered how the U.S. government had financially supported Goulart's opponents assumed that the U.S. had a direct role in his downfall. It is true that the U.S. government wanted Goulart out and even planned to give the anti-Goulart forces military support ifthe coup did not automatically succeed. However, the coup—whose leaders included former expeditionary force officers such as Marshal Humberto Castello Branco and General Golbery do Couto e Silva—prevailed without direct U.S. support.

SWINGING MOODS During the first dozen years of Brazil's military regime, U.S.-Brazilian relations were good, but not a high policy priority for the U.S. government. By the time that Jimmy Carter became president of the U.S. in 1977 the "special relationship" was dead. Carter and the U.S. 14

In its search for partners in the economic integration of tie 'Nestern Hemisphere, Canada has made Brazil into the linchpin of its economic policy in South America. During a state visit that President Fernando Henrique Caodoso made to Canada last April, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien proposed that Brazil enter into a cummercial agreement separate from the U.S. (altholvlb Canada is a partner in NAFTA, the North ArnerieLn Free frade Agreement). Cardoso then announced ila.t he would ask Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay,. Brazil's partners in Mercosul. to determine.:z whether C:itiadian-made products could receive kw"( tariffs.

Recei;'Lrg 38 percent of Canadian exports to SOtit America, Brazil is currently Canada's largest commercial partner in the region. This is by no means a new enterprise: Canada was Brazil's greatest foreign investor durini, -itost of the 20'h century. More recently, however, t_ anadian investments in Brazil have decreased. :n f996, Canadian businesses in Brazil invested S3.2 Ei]ion. This is insignificant compared to what Canadian businesses spent in Chile during the same year. Altnough Chile's gross national product is ten times smaller than that of Brazil, Canadian businesses invert2cl a grand total of S8 billion in Chile. In the wake of privatization in Brazil (especially of the Vale do Rio Doce, a mining company and in the telecommunications field). Canada hopes to increase its investmems there. Thus Canada plans to strengthen the centurvbond between the economies of the two nations.

Canadian foreign policy currently seeks to dive sify its expors and reduce its extreme dependency on its powerful ne .ghbor just south of the border. To get an impression of that dependency, one need only note the fact that the iS, absorbs 81 percent of all Canadian exports. ,, :cording, to Kathryn McCallion, undersecrem - y for commerce and investments in Canada's Ministry of External Relations, the planned increase el Canadian investments in Brazil is happening just wnen the U.S. is having difficulty in managing the econo:r IC cpening, in the Americas. The main reason is because - he U.S. Congress is resisting President Bill Clinton s 'last track" plan. This proposal would allow the prei•Jent to bypass Congress and sign commercial trntie.s between the U.S. and other countries.

The Yankee tin passe spurred Canada's decision to seek commercial az:cords independent of NAFTA, such as the treaty with Chile. flowevci, occasional disagreements with the U.S. have not trg)sformed Canada into a defender of Brazilian economic j)ositions. "The rate of integration is the most visible difference between Brazil and Canada;'., McCall ion tokl Claudio Cam argo of Brazilian weekly newsmagznre /sto F last A prj-. "We understand thatBrazil opertedAts economy'. first with Mercosul, and now it's being invited to expand this opening to a much larger, mazket that includes the USA. The objection BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

f Brazil's attitude of saying tha ma g everyone has to wait until the country's ready.'

The economic links between Canada and Brazil began in 1896. In that year, Captain F. A. Gualco, a resident of Toronto, and Augusto de Souza, the brother-in-law of the governor of Sao Paulo state, established Sao Paulo's first electric tramway system. Frederick S. Pearson, an American engineer, raised most of the capital needed in Canada, principally from stockholders in the Canadian Pacific• Railway. The Sao Paulo Tramway, Light and Power Company Ltd. was incorporated in the Canadian provinc of Ontario in 1899. Alexander Mackenzie of Toronto then •went to Brazil as the company's first manager. By 1904, all of Sao Paulo's trams were electrically powered, and the company then built a much bigger system in Rio de Janeiro. The company also took control of Brazil's telephone system and gas company.

The Brazilian Traction, Light and Power Co. Ltd., as the overall operation became known, was quite successful •until the Great Depression of the 1930s. After that, it had an increasingly difficult time. During the administration • of President Getalio Vargas, the Brazilian government had officially fixed tramway fares Since Brazil had a high inflation rate, costs for maintenance and replacement equipment cut into the company's profits.

After World War H, Brazilians became increasingly critical of the company's foreign ownership. In response, the company moved its headquarters to Brazil and named a Brazilian as its chief executive officer.. In 1962, the government of President Joao Goulart expropriated the •telephone holdings in Rio. The following year, it took over the last of the tramway systems..

In 1969, the company changed its name to Brascan and began diversifying its holdings. Ten years later, it sold its Light Servicos de Electricidade S.A. to the Brazilian government. Brascan is now a huge holding company with the bulk of its investments in Canada. Nevertheless, Brascan still has extensive holdings in Brazil— including real estate, tin mining and tourism.

BFtAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

Congres criticized the poor state of human rights in Brazil ( ich included censorship, stripping public officials of ti eir positions and civil rights, as well as imprisoning an torturing suspected conspirators against the military egime), .Perh • .s even worse in the eyes of the U.S. government w Brazil's desire for nuclear technology. In 1975, th Brazilian government decided to buy atomic generato s from West Germany. The technology that the West Ge ans would supply included not just the requireme ts to run nuclear power plants, but also the ability t produce enriched uranium. Enriched uranium is necess to maintain a supply of reactor fuel and for produci explosive devices.

Sinc Brazil had not signed the 1970 Nuclear Nonprolifer ion Treaty, the U.S. government feared that Brazil w uld eventually make its own bomb. The Carter adminis ation attempted to persuade the Brazilian and the Wes German governments to repeal the agreement, but Bra lian President General Ernesto Geisel and his govern ent only stiffened their resolve. This defiance was well received in many Brazilian circles. Even though Carter w s fairly conciliatory during his 1978 state visit to Brazil the U.S. was no longer a parent whose requests must be 'beyed at the risk of reprimands or punishment.

Both Brazil and the U.S. are large, multiethnic federal rep blies, and might eventually establish a more eqnal an constructive relationship. As Schneider wrote in his 1 96 book Brazil: Culture and Politics in a New Industri 1 Powerhouse, "the faster Brazil develops and comes t grips with its social problems, the sooner this will be; he less acrimonious the discord until that time, the mor .easily it will come about."

A BRAZILIANIST VIEW Hist rian Thomas Skidmore has been one of the leading Brazilianists in the U.S. over 35 years. His books such as Politics in Brazil, 1930-1964, The Politics f Military Rule in Brazil, 1964-1985, and Race and Na ionality in Brazilian Thought—have become modern classics indispensable for understanding 20" century : razil. In a March 1997 interview with Claudia Trevisa of daily newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, Skidmo e, who teaches at Brown University in Providence, ode Island, was delighted that U.S. interest in Brazil i on the upswing.

"Th re are definitely more people interested in Brazil nowada s than there were in 1961," Skidmore said, referrin to the year he began specializing in Brazil.

"There re at least 30 books published each year in the U.S. th t are exclusively about Brazil."

This popularity has not ris n consistently.

During the 1970s, Brazil' s ap arent "economic miracle' attracted students in erested in developing t e Brazilian ,economy ven more. The number of students taking Po uguese language and B azilian history courses in U.S. colleges and u iversities increased Unfi rtunately for the buddin field of Brazilian stu ies, the next decade estroyed those small a • vances.

"Th oughout the '80s and up to 1995, nobody

looked at Brazil because it was chaotic," Skidmore said.

1987) popularized is a myth. "But they also discover that The Center for Brazilian Studies at Johns Hopkins Unirelations are different than they are in the U.S.," Skidmore versity in Baltimore, Maryland, closed for lack of funds in said. "What happens with my students, several of my 1987. By 1990, only 6,211 students in U.S. universities friends, and even myself is that we spend a lot of time and colleges were enrolled in Portuguese language courses. trying to understand what makes Brazilian culture tick.

Brazil had lost its position as "flavor of the month" in And race relations is just one aspect of that."

Latin American studies to Central America, especially El Attempting to help Americans understand what makes Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.

Brazil tick are new Brazil-focused centers, chairs, and The troubles of Brazilianism in the U.S. were not 'departments in U.S. universities. In 1992, Brown Universolely due to events within Brazil's borders. Many Amerisity created the Pepartment of Portuguese and Brazilian can colleges and universities have had difficulty in Studies, the first autonomous and interdisciplinary instifundraising and the relatively recondite field of Brazilian tution in the U.S.-since Johns Hopkins' Center for Brazilstudies became a low priority. ian studies shut its doors. The University of Texas in PORTUGUESE SPOKEN HERE Austin opened the Brazil Center in 1995, and President Brazil is geographically distant from the U.S., and Fernando Henriqne Cardoso came to Stanford University Brazilian society is also quite complex. Its official lanin March 1996 to establish the Joaquim Nabuco Chair in guage, Portuguese, is not widely spoken elsewhere in the Brazilian Studies. This is the first chair in any U.S. Americas. Professors who are fluent in Spanish, however, university dedicated to just one country in the Southern can easily change their field of specialization within Latin Hemisphere. First Lady Ruth Cardoso likewise opened American studies. This is especially true during Latin the Brazilian program within the Center for Latin AmeriAmerican political crises which attract attention in the can Studies at the University of Pittsburgh in October U.S.. Students and the general public become more inter1996. ested in the country in the The University of headlines. This usually asWisconsin-Milwausures the availability of funds DOING BUSINESS kee, the University of to study the talked-about naCalifornia in Berkeley.

A 1994 survey mentioned in an article from newspaper tion. Also, most Latin Ameriand Los Angeles, the Folha de Selo Paulo reported that Brazilians—and Latin Americanists specialize in societUniversity of Florida cans in general—have different values in the business world ies that are less diverse than in Gainesville, and than North Americans.

Brazil's (therefore easier to Columbia University The survey of 200,000 business executives grom 80 coununderstand and explain). in New York City are tries showed that Latin American executives usually are more These countries are often also prominent in the comfortable with rigid hierarchies and working hi groups than much geographically closer development of Bratheir North Americans counterparts. Latin American executives to the U.S. as well. zilian studies in the are also more anxious when faced with unfamiliar situations, In addition, as Carlos U.S.. Harvard, PrinceEduardo Lins da Silva of tend to view conflict as a threat, and prefer referring to rules. ton, and Yale UniverHowever, Latin American executives are more inclined to Folha de Silo Paulo observed sities are planning to last March, the Brazilianists consider their personal lives more important than professional catch up by raising success. who made their reputations funds for their own As for Brazilians in particular, they are said to be less in the 1960s and '70s—Thochairs in Brazilian individualistic and more tolerant of inequality in the workplace mas Skidmore, Riordan studies. Meanwhile, than even their Argentine neighbors. According to the survey, Roett, Albert Fishlow, John the Woodrow Wilson Brazilian executives believe that lack of access to superiors is to W. F. Dulles and Timothy Center and Inter-Amebe expected.

Brazilians and Argentines both value dedication, Harding, among others—are rican Dialogue in professional ambition and decision-making ability more than either approaching or have Washington, D.C. other Latin American executives, the survey stated.

Brazilians passed retirement age. Durhave invited Riordan are also more disposed than ,other Latin Americans to accept ing the past 20 years, these Roett, the former dicompetition and conflict. scholars have not found many rector of Johns Hopstudents who are willing to kins' Brazilian prorisk specializing in the gram, to help estabpoorly-funded field of Brazilian studies. lish a similar center in the nation's capital.

The growth in size and significance of the SpanishThe creation of the Brazilian Studies Association speaking Latino community in the U.S. has also lessened (Brasa) in 1994 is another sign of the growing interest in interest in Brazil. At the high school level, the interest in things Brazilian. Some 500 Brazilianists throughout the Portuguese, which was never very high, has decreased U.S. are expected to attend Brasa's convention in Washeven more. The descendants of early 20th century Portuington, D.C.. thisthlovember. During the convention— guese immigrants to the U.S. and Canada have largely which hopes to bethe largest in Brasa's brief history—a assimilated into Anglophone North American society, WEB site and a guidebook . describing all the Brazilian while more recent immigrants from Brazil are a drop in studies programs in the U.S. are expected to be introthe oceanic Latino community. duced.

These difficulties have left a curious impression of Despite this growing interest, the Brazilian governBrazil in the minds of the U.S. public, Skidmore asserts. ment has done little to publicize Brazil's image in the "They think the capital is Buenos Aires and that Spanish U.S., "especially in the cultural area," Skidmore noted. is spoken in Brazil. I don't believe that there is much "They are doing a little more now, with Itamaraty (Brazil's knowledge of the country."

Foreign Ministry) promoting the arrival of Brazilian acaBut ignorance does not mean apathy. "One area in demics in America. But in general Brazil is doing very which there is a lot of curiosity but little understanding, is poor work, especially when compared to Mexico or Chile. race relations," Skidmore continued. "After Brazilian Why study Brazil? Skidmore replied, "It's a fascinatmusic, perhaps this is the characteristic that fascinates ing society. Understanding Brazil's culture and history is Americans most." a wonderful window to understand our own culture. (...)

Once Americans begin studying how race and class is I think that Brazil is an important building block, because judged in Brazil, they quickly realize that the "racial it's so similar to the U.S. as to seem recognizable, but democracy" image that sociologist Gilberto Freyre (1900different enough to force students to think."

16

BRAZZIL -AUGUST 1997

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(203) 975-8347 17

EAGER TO GO an you or t e insig t u magazine. am anxious to learn anything I can about Brazil. I am American and I am proud to say that I'm going to Brazil (for the first time) to marry my beautiful Brazilian love! Keep up the g_ood work.

Dr. Frank Sitzmann Greenville, South Carolina

JUST A KIND NOTE

GERMANY BOUND

wou s i e to t an .wit a. my eart the contribution Brazzil is making to help maintaining alive our culture in the U.S..1 know this is hard. Brazil is badly represented in this country, but with your effort and your readers' help we hope that a growing number of Americans and foreigners will know more about our culture.

Maria Arreg_uy Cupertino, California

Sadly I cannot send a check without paying a ridiculous high commission to my bank here in Germany. So I ho_pe that you will accept cash payment and Fm looking forward to my first issue of Brazzil.

Oliver Glier Neu-Isenberg, Germany

A HELPING HAND

.

e o vious y ove Brazi an ave written the guidebook Eat Smart in Brazil.

How can our staff make life easier for you?

We do proofreading and writing as a part of our daily existence.

Joan B. Peterson, President Ginkgo Press, Inc. Madison, Wisconsin

BUREAUCRACY IN ACTION wou • i e to s are wit you an. your readers an experience that gives you an idea of the uncooperative nature of the Brazilian bureaucracy. This is, in part, the letter I sent the Brazilian consulate in Chicago: "My wife is an artist from Rio. Her Brazilian passport expires next January. Born in Spain, lam a naturalized U.S. citizen. We were married in Boulder, Colorado, Dec. 31, 1996. On July 8, 1997 she received her permanent visa status in the USA. Her married name is Morgana Xuna.

She would like her married name to appear on her new Brazilian passport "All required papers for the passport renewal have already been sent to the Brazilian Consulate in Chicago, including a notarized Marriage Certificate. But we were told that she has to go personally to the Consulate. We live in a small town in South Dakota. This trip would be a major inconvenience!

"Being the rules so stringent, I would say that you are pushing your citizens toward abandoning the Brazilian citizenship altogether and opting for American citizenship as soon as they can do that. It's not that unpatriotic!"

Juan Xuna Sioux Falls, South Dakota E-Mail: Juan.Xuna@LodgeNet.com

KEEP SENDING am renewing my su•scription or another year. Please keep the wonderful news about your country and beautiful people coming to my home. God bless!

Anthony Cicchino Newark, New Jersey

THAT WILL BE THE DAY T an s or a great magazine. I am not Brazilian but I have been interested in Brazilian music and culture for years now.

Your magazine keeps me up to date with the music scene in Brazil and keeps me looking forward to the day that I can visit Brazil-I don't want to miss a single issue so I am renewing for another three years Brian Tanaka Fountain Valley, California You are invited to participate in this dialogue.

Write to: Letters to the Publisher

P.O.Box 42536 Los Angeles, CA 90050-0536

KUDOS FROM BRITAIN Brazzil gives an example of the best way to let the Internet work the way it should.

Your magazine is just GREAT! I am very happy to see things on the WEB that are worth seeing. When I find work in Brazil I will certainly subscribe. Thank you again.

Massimo Fabbrini Bath, England

NOTE FROM BRAZIL I recently got to read Bruce Gilman's article about Pixinguinha (Brazzil, July 1996), the ultimate representative of Brazilian chorinho, and would like, above all, to congratulate him on the excellent work. I work at JB Online. JB, which stands for Jornal do Brasil, is opening up a new section on JB Online (http://www.jb.com.br) entirely in English, called Brasility. I would like to ask your permission to include your article' on Pixinguinha in our page.

Daniel Aisenberg Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

CALL FROM ITALY I am a big fan of Brazilian music, in particular bossa nova. I read with a lot of enthusiasm Bruce Gilman's article on Carlinhos Brown (Brazzil, September 1996).

After that, I bought his CD Alfagamabetizado and I thought it was very interesting. Some friends andl are opening a mailing list about Brazilian music here in Italy and we need material for a WEB page. Can you help?

Marina Beccuti Turin, Italy

wonderful project with his music in benefit of all the world. I'm not lying or kidding, it's a real dream. Please help me send directly to Roberto Carlos a special message from a priest who loves his person and music. Thank you for everything and God bless you always, again, again and again.

Father German Orozco Mora Mexicali, Mexico E-mail: catedral@sahuaro.mxl.cetys.mx

SAMBA A LAS VEGAS I am sending you the money for three subscriptions. We hope to open an upscale restaurant/night club in Cleveland in September. It will be a Las Vegas upscale concept replicating all possible Brazilian motif, menus, beverages and personality. I particularly appreciate Brazzil's copy on recipes, linguistics and cultural insights.

Thank you. We plan show entertainment nightly and really could use help finding self-contained Samba-Carnaval-Dance Reviews to perform.

Joe Gadd Aurora, Ohio STUMBLED ON BRAZZIL I would like to subscribe to Brazzil.

Although I find it hard to believe, your subscription price for the U.S. is only $3.

I was introduced to your magazine through your Internet site when doing research for a college paper. The articles I read were informative and enjoyable.

Ron Dine Indiana, Pennsylvania

NOTHING ON THE BISHOP I am currently conducting research into the life of Dom Carlos Duarte Costa, former Bishop of Botucatu and Titular Bishop of Maura for the Roman Catholic Church, and founder of Igreja CatOlica ApostOlica Brasileira. From my research it appears that the important events of Dom Costa's life occurred between 1924 and 1950. Has Brazzi/published anything concerning either Dom Costa .or the Igreja CatOlica ApostOlica Brasileira?

Vaughn A. Treco Olathe, Kansas E-mail: friarvat@swbell.net

APPEAL FROM MEXICO Please, send me information about Roberto Carlos concerts and orientation on how to have a personal interview with him because I'm trying to meet singer Roberto Carlos since 1977. My intention is to make a

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he northeastern Brazil ian state of Ceara is winning fame as one of the best examples of modern social democracy in action. New social democrats such as Great Britain's Tony Blair and Brazil's Fernando Henrique Cardoso are sometimes accused of being no different from the "neoliberals" who want to slash government spending and let the "invisible hand" of the market take care of everything.

The social democrats agree, of course, with the need to cut government waste, and they support a free market economy when it works, but they also believe that government must be reformed to make it stronger and more effective. They want to use modernized, strengthened government programs to solve social problems and guide economic development.

This is an attractive vision, but critics doubt that they can make it work. On a recent visit to Brazil, I asked one of President Cardoso's advisors where I might go to see the social democratic model in action. He suggested a visit to the impoverished northeastern state of Ceara. The social democrats have had ten years in office in Ceara, since 1987 when Tasso Jereissati was elected governor. And they have accomplished so much that Johns Hopkins University Press has just published a book, Good Government in the Tropics, by Judith Tendler, which uses Ceara as a case study of effective government intervention. Brazil, which has so often provided scholars with case studies of waste and corruption, is now being used as proof that reform can work.

Although European social democracy was based on the labor movement, in Ceara it got its start among a group of young businessmen. Tasso Jereissati, who was 36 at the time of his election, was part of a group of young entrepreneurs who organized to challenge the state's traditional leaders. These young businessmen were active in modern industries such as soft drink distribution, television, retail marketing or services, which depend on the buying power of local residents for their sales. The traditional elites in the Brazilian northeast had exported agricultural products to foreign markets, and were

T

20

Labor and Social Action Secretary Jose Rosa

bu male gov al democrats decided, example,to , define the area's onic drought as a social problem, not an agricultural oneefamilies with the greatest need were allocated one minimum wage job per household getting job,s, close by, so the workers could sleep and eat at home TED GOERTZE.4i*:

lext a.N.Ptlatos

more interested in keeping wages down than in expanding buying power. These traditional leaders maintained old-fashioned political machines with patronage jobs.

Ceara's patronage system was in crisis in 1987, as it is today in many Brazilian states, because payrolls had simply grown too large for the state to pay. Salaries were eating up 87% of the state government's revenue. The social democrats promised to trim down government, and they kept their promise with a startling alacrity.

One of the first acts of the Jereissati administration was to cut 40,000 "ghost" workers from the state payroll of 146,000. These were people who never showed up for work, or who had two or more full time state jobs at one time. The administration also slowed down the indexing of state salaries to inflation, cutting real salaries, and put a cap on state salaries. It also insisted that all new hiring be done through competitive exams. As a result of these measures, salaries were down to 41% of state revenues by 1991.

This administrative reform was bitterly resisted by many of the state employees and their supporters in the state legislature, just as Fernando Henrique Cardoso's reform is being resisted by the "maharajas" of the federal civil service, a tiny elite of whom earn as much as $30,000 a month early retirement pensions while working other jobs. Some of the early votes in the Ceara legislature were 90% against the reforms, and for several months party leader Ciro Gomes was booed every time he entered the legislative chamber.

All kinds of legal tactics were used in attempts to sabotage the reforms. Ultimately, however, the governor was successful because the fiscal crisis made emergency measures unavoidable. There simply wasn't money to keep paying everyone.

The most innovative part of the Ceara story, however, is not the budget cuts but the steps which were taken to make government work. A key figure in this effort was the Secretary of Labor and Social Action, sociologist Jose Rosa. Rosa was a native of Ceara who had studied and worked in France, and had moved to Brasilia to teach and work in the federal government. When the social democrats took power, Rosa eaBRAZZIL -AUGUST 1997

staffed by state employees. They were organized and run gerly accepted Jereissati's request that he return to Ceara by voluntar community groups, under contract to the and put his ideas into action. Rosa is an energetic man, state. This c t down on bureaucracy, and gave the resibubbling over with ideas and enthusiasm, who loves dents experi nce in developing and administering their Ceara's frontier spirit. He insists that "the Cearense does own progra s. They learned to prepare budgets, supernot have the soul of a slave." Ceara was settled by vise staff a d be accountable to clients and funding ranchers and cattlemen, including many blacks who had sources. On of the few resources which poor communiescaped from slavery on the plantations of neighboring ties have in uantity is the energy and creativity of their states, and the work required free laborers who could be citizens. Mobilizing this underutilized resource enabled trusted to work on their own.

When Rosa took office, there was no time for leisurely them to put the maximum into services and the minimum into administrative costs. The number of day care centers planning or long-term goals, because Ceara was hit by one in the state mushroomed from 9 under the previous of the periodic droughts, which are the bane of the Braziladministrati n to over 470, and is expected to reach ian northeast. In the past, something of a "drought industry" had developed, as the state and federal governments 1800.

This ne philosophy of helping people to help themchanneled relief money to big construction projects on the selves is bei g promoted throughout the Brazil by first land of wealthy landowners. These projects had large lady Ruth qardoso who directs an organization called overheads, but provided employment for only a small Comunidad4 Solidaria. Comunidade Solidaria does not number of workers. Many farmers and cowhands had to control pro rams, like a traditional bureaucracy. Nor move to the capital city of Fortaleza, or to southern Brazil, does it just ive out help to the needy, like traditional in a desperate search for work. The social democrats charities. In tead, it encourages neighborhood and comdecided to define the drought as a social problem, not an munity org nizations to organize to define and meet agricultural one. Aid was channeled through Jose Rosa's their own pr blems. This philosophy has worked well in Ministry of Social Action instead of thorough the AgriCeara, ofte on a very small scale. A neighborhood cultural Ministry as it had been in the past. group may, for example, lend a woman money to buy a In keeping with the new spirit of democracy, Rosa sewing machine so she can earn a living on her own. She used participatory planning techniques to develop a repays the money, with small interest payments so that drought relief program. Instead of staying in his office she learns a out paying interest. The repaid money can like a traditional bureaucrat, he traveled tirelessly throughthen be loan ed out again. When someone comes with an out the state, by auto and helicopter, meeting with comemergency, such as an illness or a death in the family, munity organizations which had sprouted up as part of the they are as ed what they can do themselves and what democratization movement. The people told him that the help they n ed in doing it. Last year, Ceara was able to most important thing was for each family to have at least loan out ab ut $70,000 of money which had been repaid one income, so they designed projects which were close to from previ s loans. home and labor intensive. The families with the greatest Another program in which Ceara has been remarkneed were allocated one minimum wage job per houseably succes ful is in dealing with the problems of street hold. The jobs had to be nearby, so the workers could children, miny of whom are drawn into prostitution and sleep and eat at home. drug dealin . Social workers from community agencies When there was a man in the house, he usually took the gain the confidence of these children, and make contact job, but there were many households headed by women with their families. They then work on improving the with children. Often the men had left to seek work in other family's sit.iation, helping the parents find a job or get parts of the country. These women couldn't do a full day help with health of heavy physical labor and addiction or also meet their household oils • problems, for exwooer ' and child care responsibili000i eso•• •••••• ample, so that *ewe ties, so they were trained 00 00 0000 0 *0000 0000*, they can help the as home health aides. They 00400 soma Ai children. The 0000 • vit se 000 00 0000# , went from house to house ; **** • ;NW.* 0•10. 000•0 00004 giving advice on nutrition, 001111, 0 000 ••••• • program, which 0000 0000* • me a..

0000 0000• has won funding vaccination and hygiene.

41.111111• /SOSO 4111111111111. from internaThe program was dramatitional agencies, cally successful in lowerhas dramatically ing the infant mortality reduced the numrate, which had increased ber of children during previous droughts. on the streets.

Relief money was also Social deused to fund day care cenmocracy in ters, with local women Ceara has been trained to work in them. At good for busifirst the women were volClass in after-school center ness as well as .mominumm=ww•a.omumwor, unteers, but they found that for social welfew of them could afford fare. In t e years between 1987 and 1994, Ceara's to put in the hours without pay. So they were given half a economy ew at an average annual rate of 4%, which minimum wage, later increased to a full minimum wage. contrasted o 1.3% for Brazil as a whole. This growth was The jobs were temporary, however, in order to give the funded wi h the state's own resources, using money opportunity to as many women as possible, and encourage which had previously gone into salaries. State governthem to find other employment. ment is fu ding a number of economic development The key to the success ofthis program was the fact that projects, i eluding irrigation projects and an improved these day care centers were not government agencies BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

21

port facility which will be next to an oil refinery. They sources of political patronage. are also promoting tourism in the state, which has a long These are issues which will be fought out in the string of tropical beaches. The heavy reliance on state democratic process. If political leaders from other parties investment is not due to an ideological bias in favor of want to compete successfully with the social democrats, the government enterprise. Indeed, the main thrust of however, they will have to offer much more than they did Fernando Henrique Cardoso's federal government has before 1987. The traditional culture of dependence on been on privatizing state industries. In Ceara, however, political bosses has been broken. As the taxi driver told the social democrats have found that private investment me on the drive into town from the airport, the history of is simply not available for many key projects, so they Ceara must now be divided into epochs: before Jereissati have used state money. At the same time, they eagerly and after Jereissati. court domestic and foreign private investment. Small business is also encouraged, with neighborhood centers Ted Goertzel is a Sociology professor at the that help people with the maze of bureaucratic paperRutgers University in Camden, New Jersey. work needed to legalize a business.

He is the author of five books, the latest two being Planning director Claudio Ferreira, like many of the Linus Pauling: A Life in Science and Politics young technocrats leading Ceara's development, was a and Turncoats and True Believers: The Dynamics of leftist activist when Brazil was ruled by a military govPolitical Belief and Disillusionment. ernment. Today, however, his vision for the future of You can contact him through his E-mail: Ceara is not Cuba or any other socialist state, but the state goertzel@crab.rutgers.edu of California. He believes that, with irrigation, the interior of Ceara can bloom like the San Joaquin valley. Claudio Ferreira is applying American ideas about "reinventing government" to the state's planning process. All programs are integrated by teams of working groups which coordinate AIR - IATA 01-1-9279-012 the activities of the state agencies OCEAN - FMC 3853 which formerly functioned independently within bureaucratic limits.

Perhaps the main disadvantage —of the social democratic model is TO ANY AIRPORT IN BRAZIL the number of meetings people must attend. As every social program jumps on the bandwagon of participatory management, citizens find themselves overwhelmed FULL CONTAINER OR LESS with requests to volunteer their TO ANY PORT IN BRAZIL time. It is easy to mobilize energy (EXCELLENT CONTAINER RATES) during a crisis, such as a drought, but it is harder to find volunteers to work on more routine matters.

Government officials sometimes find it hard to get their work done when they spend so much time on SHIPPER'S DOOR PICK-UP AIR/OCEAN FREIGHT m. coordination meetings.

Another problem, as Alfredo CUSTOMS CLEARANCE (INCL. ALL DUTIES) mi4 Lopes Neto, a young planning official and another former leftist DOOR DELIVERY TO BUYER IN BRAZIL activist, explained, is that much of the new participatory infrastructure duplicates the old structure of government. The mayors, city council members and state legis12533 CRENSHAW BLVD - HAWTHORNE, CA 90250 lators sometimes feel that the community organizations are usurping their rights to represent the FAX: (310) 973-7113 people. The officials, after all, have been democratically elected while E-mailti@touchdownco.com the community groups are selfappointed. If funds are distributed VISIT OUR WEB SITE: http://www.touchdownco.com through the community organizations, they may become new

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crease in the r spending habits. fter years of turmoil and misguided plans, Numerou multinational companies already the disposition and determination of the doing busine s in Brazil can attest to the market's razilian government to put aside popotential. In 1996, for instance, Coca-Cola had a litical interests in favor of sound economic mea3% global g owth compared with the 10% regissures seem to be paying off at last. Plano Real, the tered by its Brazilian subsidiary, brainchild of Prewhile automobile manufacturer Fiat sident Fernando recorded an increase in revenues of Henrique Cardonearly 7%. (During that same peso, has not only riod the Fiat group reported a 3% accomplished raise worldwide.) The company's what was considlatest data shows that car sales in ered impossible Brazil rose 18% in the first five by bringing inflamonths of this year, while the tion down to group's unit car sales climbed 8.2%. record lows, but Examples of successful perforit has also manmances by foreign investors aged to put Brazil abound: American Philip Morris, back on the map French Rhodia, Korean Samsug, of foreign invesInvestments into Brazil economy English Glaxo Wellcome, Swedish tors, who have should reach $15 billion this Electrolux...the list goes on and on. been flooding the year, almost as much as the The financial sector has also country with tons amount invested the entire seen an increasing participation of decade of the 1980s. With all this of cash. money going into production, foreign banks. The new arrivals inThe avalanche which has fueTed a frantic rush to clude the English Lloyds, the Spanof investments build, buy or merge with local ish Santander, the German Dresdner into the local ecoenterprises, some Brazilians and Hong Kong Shanghai Bank have ,been asking: "Is Brazil nomy is expected selling its soullo foreign Corporation, just to mention a few. to reach $15 bilcapitalists?"

Several other foreign institutions lion this year— await Banco Central's (Central almost the same MARTA ALVIM Bank) authorization to begin opamount invested erations in the country. throughout the YELLOW LIGHTS entire decade of Neverth Mess, the renewed confidence in the the 1980s. All this money will be going into proBrazilian ec onomy is not without caution. Brazil's duction rather than the financial market, which has budget defi it has yet to be trimmed, and it puts at fueled a frantic rush to build, buy or merge with risk the con trolled inflation, Plano Real's major local enterprises. State-owned companies. Indusachievemer t. The public sector debt has escalated trial plants. Retail businesses. Banks. No sector of to $135 billion the economy has escaped the investment from $89 billion fever that has swept the country. in 1992, yet Approximately 600 projects have been much-publicized filed with and are pending approval by the bills to reform the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourcivil service and ism, each worth at least $10 million of the social security investments. And according to surveys consystem (which ducted by Price Waterhouse, multinational would cut public companies were the buyers in 70% of the spending considtook place in the counacquisition deals that erably) are still try during the first quarter of this year. The appending question that's been asked is: Is the "sleepproval, two years ing giant" finally coming out of its inertia, after being introor is Brazil selling its soul to foreign capiduced to Contalists? gress.

Obviously, ideological rhetoric has no The trade debearing in the investors' decisions; facts ficit, expected to and numbers do: in this case, they translate reach $13 billion into over 160 million avid consumers of the this year, is anworld's 10th largest economy. Adding to other cause for the allure is Plano Real's successful atconcern. So far tempt at economic stability which, in turn. the government brought an increased buying power to the has been le to deal with the problem thanks to low-income population, some 80 million people. the great a ount of foreign capital being invested Without the specter of inflation, these new conin the cou try, but that's a palliative solution, and sumers are expected to pour over $149 billion into it doesn't ouch the core of the problem. the retail sector this year alone, a $10 billion in-

AB

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BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

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In spite of the risks, analysts believe that the Brazilian economy is on firmer ground than in the past, and as long as the government keeps its consistency and commitment to the economic reforms, Brazil will remain a top target for foreign investors. Recent research released by Site Selection, the official 80% since January, juan publication of the stocks plummeted in Ju International Develg analystser w hat t opment Research stock e will bririg.

Council, shows that Recent currency troLlbles in Brazil is the 5th insian markets were blamed for vestment destination plunge in stock prices as recommended by many eared that investc rs would 24% of the world's be pulling their tribney out o 100 largest corpoBrazil to cover losses iri Asnr. rate advisors. It loses The heavy fall of the Bovespa only to the United (.So Paulo Stock Exchange) inStates and China, dex sent shock throughtied in first place and chosen by 47% of the consultants; Mexico, with 30%, and the United Kingdom, with 27%. The Brazilian market is • wever, gove preferred over MaI dismissed any corn laysia, Thailand, JaI Asia and regarded pan, Canada and I Brazilian stocks a Germany.

Action of investors If the investment its after the exuberant gains regprojects of foreign istered during the first six car manufacturers months of the year. in June, spa traded average of I are any indication, illion worth Of shares each I then it is safe to say that investors are daY, That riSe put the S do Paulo Stock Exchange on par with big 11 betting on the good predictions about world markets, such as Canada, Brazil's future. Merand Hong Kong where stock cedes-Benz, Volvo, e an average dai Chrysler, Mitsubi1.07 and $1. shi, BMW and Audi are just some of the According to O ex I small investors, industry giants with plans to set foot in —a speculative th ii-1a'SUC the country soon. the main force u year alone the extraordinary Per056 1 This t automobile sector is the Jaki stocks. expected to produce tion declined, so d•Id, the 2 million units, comon mves pared to the 960,000 thus the rushc°:Ile to the stock 2'?' cars manufactured in the inv stors e wiltitince4 _ ors I pone • the early 90s. By the the market trOm .

Y, ,ilt,tiysrau year 2000, products tones A;, ) tion should reach 2.5 million vehicles, toLi 11E11' 1111111 MIMI INNIS 1111111 INN' Milli IIIIIIII 11111 taling $17 billion in investments.

Which leads to another wave of mergers, acqui24

sitions and joi -ventures between local and foreign component makers'. The trend among car manufacturers to produce vehicles that can be exported to any country in the world demands a supply of standardized parts. However, in order to remain competitive, national auto parts makers need an advanced technology, which they lack.

Partnerships with multinational companies—themselves eager for a slie of such a promising market—would therefore seemko be the right path to take. , CHEAP LABOR Some experts, though, fear that the acquisition process and the substitution of national components for imported ones may be happening too fast. Although not against the injection of foreign capital in the economy, they believe that there should be incentives for the local manufacturing of components, otherwise Brazil may become a mere assembly line of imports, without being able to develop its own new technologies.

On the other hand, Brazilian companies that haven't joined the merger frenzy are trying to find alternatives in order to survive the overwhelming international competition, both at holm and in the export arena. The solution, they say, is cos4reduction, and major Brazilian manufacturers have already moved to greener pastures, where they can get cheap labor, government subsidies or any other type of incentives.

The unexplored interior of Northeastern Brazil has been one of the preferred destinations of many in the textile sector and in the shoe industry, for instance. Lacking jobs and all sorts of infrastructure, cities fight for and welcome the new employers effusively. Some of these areas are so impoverished that companies have to include lessons on how to use the restroom in their training programs since many of the employees don't have such a "luxury" at horde.

The Northeastern employees work long hours, earn half of what their Southern counterparts do and have no benefits. Against such a miserable scenario, they are nevertheless considered the lucky ones, and even the labor unions don't dare to interfere. After all some of these people are making $120 a month, 'a small fortune compared to the monthly salary of $6 paid by the city of Iracema (in the State of Ceara) to its employees.

Will foreigni investments and the migration of local companies to needy areas solve Brazil's inequalities? Not really, according to some observers. Most of the investments, both foreign and national, still go to the wealthier South and Southeast regions, especially after the creation of Mercosul. Others with even a more pessimistic viewpoint argue that, despite the billions of dollars being poured into the country, not much will change if the government doesn't address major issues, such as the politicians corruption, illiteracy, the no-land movement, and other pressing social matters.

In the meantime, the multinational companies keep coming, bringing along lots of money, modern technologies and their sophisticated installations which, in turn, will require an improved infrastructure—from better roads and telecommunications systems to better education for its work force. The cards are on the table, place your bets.

Marta Alvim is a Brazilian journalist, freelance translator and interpreter.

You can reach her at mbralvim@aol.com BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

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27

I look at my portrait on the wall. Time gnaws and destroys peoples faces. To waste my face there was time and this man. Time wrinkled my forehead, he excavated shadows under my eyes; time pulled my teeth, he crooked my mouth; time sharpened my profile, he engraved on me this air of someone who retreats; together both have instilled rust and mould into my hollow depths.

OSMAN [INS 28

18 Ses nesta sala de paredes verdes, um a janela fechada, outra aberta a noite e ao compassado som das ondas, no centro do triangulo torto em cujos vertices ficam o Seminario, a Praca da Abolicdo e o Convento dos Franciscanos. Podemos ver a cidade como se estivessemos de pe sobre o telhado. 0 luar embebe o mar e as ruas, fachadas de azulejos brilham no silencio. Esta sera a altima das muitas e inateis conversas que tivemos. Lateja o farol.

Uno, sereno, e dono, apOs trinta anos de reparticdo, do meu destino, iria agora perder este governo, ligando-me seja a quern for? Desprendime do que me tolhia, em mim ndo ha divisoes, ndo reverei os colegas de trabalho. Conduzirei agora minha vida corn a invencdo de urn maquinista que fizesse avancar sua locomotiva para fora dos trilhos.

Nada de caminhos feitos: improvisar é a regra.

—S6 uma coisa me preocupa. E ndo conseguir esquecer os problemas corn o envidracamento da Secretaria.

8 Dividida entre a esperanca e o medo, enfim me decidi. Duas palavras gastaram minha vida: amanha e depois. Sim, é a Ultima vez que nos falamos, ndo suporto mais suas prorrogagdes.

Quanto ao enxoval, continuard nas malas, nas gavetas, ate que eu morra. Como o lamentarei, se mais infail me foi a juventude?

—Nao sei se já Ihe disse tudo sobre os vidros.

Muitos estavam partidos e a maioria apresentava manchas de umidade. Umas redondas, outras oblongas, ou em forma de estrelas. Algumas bem grandes, corn quase dois palmos. Poucas janelas continuavam em ordem. Entao o Chefe me incumbiu de estudar o assunto e tomar as providencias que fossem necessarias. Urn ardil para segurar-me: eu estava a poucos meses da aposentadoria.

—Que interesse podia ele ter nisso?

—Esta no emprego ha mais de trinta e nove anos e detesta ver alguem aposentar-se no devido tempo. Aguarda a compulsOria. Cada servidor que se deixa ficar é uma aprovacdo ao seu amor pelos autos e o livro de ponto. Ndo Ihe del esse prazer. No exato minuto em que recebi o Diario Oficial, escrevia esta palavra: "sessenta". Por coincidencia é a minha idade.

8 Ouvem-no, urn a sua esquerda, outro a direita, todos no sofa, seus mais comuns seguidores, os que melhor conheco: ele aos trinta e nove e ele aos vinte e oito anos, aquele tolerante, este colerico. Vestemse os treS como era de uso antes da Ultima guerra.

—Faltava ainda a silaba final. Deixei a palavra incompleta, vesti o palet6, del as costas, sal. Nao falei corn ninguem, nunca mais voltarei aquele purgatorio. Custou, mas por fim chegou o dia: sou urn homem livre ate o fim da vida.

I Livre quer dizer: sem compromisso. Ela aceitard nosso rompimento? Se casassemos, levaria para a nova casa todos os retratos que ornamentam a sala, registrando as modificacoes de seu rosto, a duracdo e o firn de suas ansias. Como poderia viver em meio a essa profusdo de olhos, penteados, sorrisos e bijuterias, eu que sou propenso a unidade, fazendo tudo para manter-me integro, dentro do presente, sem extraviar-me no passado e sem admitir que invasores de outro tempo me perturbem a BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

rigorosa inteireza do que desejaria ser ou sou?

—Trinta longos anos de trabalho. Mereci o premio.

—Realmente.

—Trinta anos nao sao trinta dias!

—Bern sei.

(A atividade, entre os insetos, e limitada por mudancas alheias a eles prOprios; o sono, ern tao diverso e numeroso grupo, nao exprime repouso.

Como acrobatas que passassern a noite num trapezio ou num arame estendido a vinte metros do solo, assim dormem, atentos, na atitude que tern quando em vigilia.)

—Que vai fazer agora do descanso? De sua liberdade?

—Muita coisa. 0 problema esta em escolher.

8 E o velho quern responde. Os que o ladeiam olham-no de suas idades remotas. Ouco, no jovem, urn ranger de dobradicas, de rolimas sobre eixo nao lubrificado. No outro, de trinta e nove anos, em algum impreciso recanto de seu corpo, uma roldana é acionada corn insistencia, pesos em forma de cubo vao e vem no escuro. Diz o moco: "0 mar esta rugindo". A roldana interrompe os movimentos: "Continua avancando na Praia dos Milagres".

Interfiro: "Onde, ha urn ano, havia residencias, hoje sO restam alicerces e alguns tijolos soltos!"

Todos concordam: "E mesmo". Volta o silencio e os tres me contemplam, decerto sem ver-me, aflitos corn o estorvo de suas almas de serragem, de colheres dobradas, de facas cegas, comportas e alcapbes. Uma noite foram dez os que vieram; ocuparam o sofa, as seis cadeiras, o banco do piano, todos irados, numa agitada conversa a respeito de grades e portaes. Infelizmente, sao em geral esses os que me visitam. 0 de sessenta anos faz-me lembrar urn zoologico onde todos os bichos estivessem mortos e mesmo assim visitados. Mas uma noite eu o vi aos dezessete anos. Encheu a sala de sons, contou a histOria da primeira mulher que se deitou corn ele, ouviu-me. Ha mais de quatro anos aguardo seu retorno. Desejaria reve-lo, ardoroso e sensivel, talvez um pouco perverso, corn seu rumor de cimbalos e guizos.

—Nem sequer acabei de escrever "sessenta".

Vesti o paleto e sal. Como quern vai tomar urn copo de leite. Cheguei a deixar as gavetas abertas: nao havia, na reparticao, urn so objeto meu. Gostaria de investigar ate ao fim o caso das vidracas. Mas, pelo menos dessa vez, agi corn decisao. Levantei-me, afastei a cadeira, fui embora. Quando atravessei o porta°, eram exatamente nove horas e cinqtienta e dois minutos.

—E triste sair assim de um lugar.

—Nao vejo por que.

8 0 jovem, a sua direita, levanta-se, fecha dentro de si todos os ferrolhos, bate as portas, cerra as fechaduras que estalam, oxidadas.

—Nao consigo esquecer o problema das janelas.

E interessante refletir sobre ele. Veja. 0 envidracamento, todo em caixilhos de aluminio anodizado, deveria ser feito corn laminas de tress milimetros. Entre elas poriam la de vidro, misturada corn uma resina prOpria. Mas as fibras de la nao apresentavam distribuicao uniforme. Entao, BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

preferiu-se u par de laminas chamadas CalorexAtherrnane, s paradas por urn tecido de algodao, impregnado d melanina-formol. E que se fez para colocar as slacs nos caixilhos? A massa de vidraceiro é u produto convencional, pouco eficaz.

Embora o vr ro fosse antitermico, procedeu-se como se as v riacties de temperatura o afetassem: empregaram ma gaxeta elastica de neoprene. Este produto vem dando resultado otimo em edificios grandes, no strangeiro. Pois bem. NA° tardou muito, come aram a surgir, nos dez andares, as manchas de midade. Levantando urn pouco o neoprene via-se, nas canaletas, agua acumulada. A distribuicao spacial das manchas era irregular.

Nao se notav preferencia por uma face qualquer da construcao Quanto aos vidros quebrados, quanto a estes, sim: h via preferencia. Urn ritmo. Que pista seguir para es larecer o problema? Investigar aquilo fascinou-me. Em quase trinta anos, era a primeira tarefa mais o menos viva que me chegava as maos.

Olhava osC lorex-Athermane como se fossem bichos, viti as de alguma epidemia. Gatos ou cavalos de vii ro. Sabe o quanto detestava o Chefe.

Passei a odia- o na medida em que me sentia tentado a nao aposent r-me, ate que descobrisse a verdadeira razao daquel s manchas e das vidracas partidas.

8 Olho m us retratos nas paredes. 0 tempo roi e destroi a fa e das pessoas. Para gastar minha face, houve o tern o e esse homem. 0 tempo enrugoume a fronte, le escavou-me as olheiras; o tempo arrancou-me os dentes, ele entortou-me a boca; o tempo aguco meu perfil, ele gravou-me este ar de quern recua; os dois juntos instilaram em minhas ocas profund zas a ferrugem e o bolor.

—Voce f la, Mendonca, como se tivesse grande amor por gat s ou cavalos. Como se fosse capaz de dar urn pass por qualquer coisa viva.

—Como ao? Certas noites de calor, abro a janela do qu rto e estendo-me na cama. Entram mariposas, a vezes sucede entrar algum besouro.

Nao os mato Gosto de ve-los.

—Porque sao feitos de arame, de mica, de aparas de co re. E tern olhos de vidro. Apos trinta anos de trab lho, voce nao teve em quern dar urn abraco de de pedida.

— E abra os por que? Nao eram meus amigos.

—Algum devia de ser.

—Nenhum era. Nenhum.

8 A sua esquerda, arfa outra vez a obscura roldana e a oz desse Mendonca grisaIho aprova corn firmeza —Fez m ito bem. Era assim que eu imaginava encerrar mi ha carreira, ha vinte e um anos. Fez muito bem. ara que despedir-se daqueles inineis?

(As mos as, em grande numero, aparecem as vezes imobilizadas, como se estivessem mortas, envolvidas ern fina e alvacenta poeira. Pequenos t/t passo que devoram os tecidos dos cogumelos,o insetos, sem iam os seus esporos mortais. 0 minimo golpe de ar etgue-os e transporta-os para as moscas ainda nao-c ntaminadas. Os cogumelos crescem, invadem-na , roem seus tecidos, bebem corn sede o liquido sa gitineo, multiplicam-se, destroem os orgaos todo . As moscas atacadas renunciam a voar. Deixa -se ficar numa parede, num lencol, 29

numa poltrona, em cima de urn arquivo. Em breve, do que foram, resta a casca, a vazia aparencia, invadida por tenues filamentos.)

—Se, pelo menos, houvessemos casado! Ou juntado, como fazem tantos.

—Nao fate assim, Giselda.

— Podiamos ter filhos corn mais de vinte anos.

—Voce nao ignora que o meu ordenado era pequeno. Depois, veio a morte do velho. Ia abandonar minha mat?

—Mao. Desde que todos os seus irmaos haviam casado, voce devia fazer o sacrificio.

Eta precisava tanto de alguem para atormentar!

SO Deus sabe o quanto padeceu aquele pobre homem. Conversou mais de uma vez comigo.

Dizia que como a mulher se chamava Maria Jose, queria ser ao mesmo tempo a Maria e o Jose. Nao deixava de ter razao.

E injusto que dissesse isso. Principalmente a uma estranha.

— Eu nao era uma estranha. Quando me tocou pela primeira vez no assunto, voce era meu noivo ha mais de onze anos. E ganhava bem.

8 Novamente no sofa os tres, sentados juntos. Rangem dentro deles as dobradicas, pesos, roldanas, ferrolhos, rolimas. 0 de trinta e nove .anos leva a mao direita a boca: —Fui eu talvez que tive a culpa de tudo. De toda esta aridez. Nao era tao tarde para mudar.

Tinha economias, nao? Podia haver abandonado o emprego, casado corn voce, organizado a fabrica de grades e portOes. Entretanto, fiz o que?

8 Escande o jovem, de cabeca baixa: —Comecon a riscar os famosos quadros. As obras de arte, os retangulos quadriculados corn oitenta centimetros por quarenta. Tres mil e duzentos quadrados: nes mil e duzentos dias.

Esta foi a sua contribuicao. Ao fim de cada expediente, uma cruz seria desenhada em cima de urn quadrado, tres nas sextas-feiras, duas nas vesperas dos feriados. Para medir os dias que faltavam ate a aposentadoria. A essa epoca, ja restava em voce muito pouco de mim.

—Tinha onze anos de servico. Esta era a diferenca. Num emprego para o qual voce—nao eu—entrou, a custa de pedidos e influencias.

Lembre-se bem disto.

Nao para passar a vida inteira. Nao para passar mais de trinta anos. Cruzes num papel!

Eu quis produzir artefatos de ferro, este era meu sonho. E voce... Tudo isso me da vontade de chorar. Fazer pequenas cruzes nos quadrados.

Depois de algum tempo, aqueles anos pareciam urn cemiterio.

—Voce fala como se alguem pudesse alegrarse em ver morrerem assim os dias. Mas tudo era feito corn cOlera. Eu odiava aquilo tanto quanto voce.

—De que servia essa colera morta? Urn preso mais livre. Ele pensa num modo de escapar,

mede a altura dos muros, a resistencia das grades, procura ver se os guardas sao venais. Nao se limita a contaros dias da sentenca. Voces faziam cruzes nos qtadrados. SO. Imaginavam ser diferentes dog outros. E talvez fossem, porem nao em cols* importantes. Como todos eles, nunca tiverant coragem de ousar fosse o que fosse. Tudo girava em tomb de proventos, gratificacao, adicional, honorarios, extraordinarios, prO-labore, rendimentos, comissao, abono, vencimento, ordenado, remuneracao, salario, recompensa em especie, promocao, intersticio e aposentadoria.

(Certos parasitas invadem os formigueiros, comem todas as larvas e nem os ovos escapam a sua fome. Degradam as colonias invadidas, segregando um mel que nao nutre as form igas e embriaga-as. Estas, alheias a tudo, dedicam-se aos invasores. Outras se tornam escravas de formigas guerreiras. Servem As conquistadoras, alimentam-nas, desdobram-se em cuidados ante, a postura de suas inimigas. Elas proprias, contudo, nao se reproduzern.)

—Sua mae procurava dar a impressao de martin De uma santa. Nunca vi alguem mais preocupado, neste mundo, em ter uma aparencia angelica. Devia, para isto, cheirar melhor. Seus vestidos recendiam sempre a cachorro molhado.

—Nao é verdade.

—Foi seu pai quem me disse. A comparacao é dele. Nunca, sabia nada, a ingenua. Tinha sempre a cabdca meio pendida, como a das imagens barat*, e as mans cruzadas no regaco. , Ignorava os escandalos mais notorios. Para fingir • que nao se ocupava dos assuntos alheios e ouvir mais uma vez, corn novos pormenores, o que ja sabia. Sempre admirando-se.

—Apesar dos pesares, era boa mulher e carinhosa comigo. Quando eu me deitava, ela trazia algodao è me punha nas orelhas, para as formigas nao §ntrarem. Insistia para que eu casasse. Contain° que ficasse na sua companhia.

—Sabia quemulher nenhuma agitentaria isto.

Sua maneira obliqua de atormentar era invencivel. Umiclia eu vi quando seu pai indagou onde podia enotontrar o pO de enxofre; estava corn urn acesso de urticaria. Em vez de dizer onde escondera o remedio, ela sentou-se e passou meia hora falando sobre lepra. Mansamente.

Depois levantou-se, mudou de vestido, calcou os sapatos e fok para a igreja. Sem pentear os cabelos.

—Nao é piekloso falar assim dos mortos.

18 Daqui podemos ver as cumeeiras das casas e as torres das igrejas; o claustro de Sao Francisco, deserto, corn o Orbe Serafico a descer do teto de rnadeira; as pedras lavradas da Igreja do Carmo; a aguia bifronte corn as asas abertas ante O pulpit°, na Santa Casa da Misericordia. A sudoeste, sob o luar, espraia-se o Recife, o casario ocupando as ilhas e a planicie, escalando ' os morros perifericos. As luzes do farol giram corn o rigor de planetas, o mar vai destruindo as casas dos Milagres.

—Quantas vezes, Mendonca, voce tera feito BRAZZIL -AUGUST 1997

essa viagem diaria entre Recife e Olinda? Mao tern tambem uma folha de papel, para marcar as viagens corn uma cruz? Ha tres anos e meio sua mae faleceu. Qual tern sido agora o impedimento? Voce me visita, sem objetivo, ha vinte e oito anos.

—Para falar a verdade, nao me habituei ainda ideia de casar-me. Esses anos todos de convivencia corn ela...

—Por que noivou comigo entao? Gastei minha vida nessa espera?

8 Aparece na sala urn escaravelho, voa sobre meus retratos, I bate no retrato de Giselda aos trinta e poucos anos, cai no chao de pernas para o ar, soergue-se. 18 Os dois emudecemos, olhamos suas asas membranosas, de urn azul quase fosforescente. Outro, e mais outro, vem do corredor, ambos cor de laranja, corn breves manchas negras. 0 primeiro ergue yew novamente, todos se entrecruzam, batem nas cadeiras, na lampada, na parede, no forro do piano, vao-se pela janela. I Corn um estremecimento, Giselda cruza as maos.

—Nao posso evitar: desde crianca tenho pavor desses bichos.

—Imagine se voce visse algum inseto cavernicola, sem olhos, corn as antenas maiores que os corpos.

—Nem quero imaginar.

—Ou as formigas processionarias africanas.

Erram atraves das savanas e florestas, devorando as plantas e os bichos. Ate as arvores fogem espavoridas.

— Peco que nao volte a falar nessas coisas.

— E um assunto que ninguem pode ignorar.

Estamos na epoca dos insetos: setecentos e cinqtienta mil para urn milhao de especies animais. AviOes rebocaram algumas redes, feitas de malhas finas, fizeram uma limpeza entre quatro mil e vinte mil metros. Onde o ar é mais puro e mais deserto. Apanharam trinta e seis milhOes de insetos. Trinta e seis milhOes, Giselda.

Por isto eu havia comecado a formular uma interpretacao para o caso dos vidros fraturados.

Acho que sao eles os provocadores.

—Quem?

Alguma especie de insetos que eu chegaria talvez a identificar. As fraturas cram exclusivamente nas laminas externas , isto é, no vidro Calorex. As laminas internas , as Athermanes, quando apresentavam defeitos, era por causa do que se chama "impacto mecanico acidental".

Ora, nao existe nada, a excecao talvez de urn burocrata, cujas reacOes sejam mais constantes e fatais que um inseto.

—Certamente, Mendonca. E voce é urn exemplo, por mais que pense o contrario. Nos seus primeiros anos de emprego, olhava para os companheiros como se estivessem expostos a uma enfermidade contra a qual voce era imunizado. Como se fosse possivel atravessar sem perigo um campo de empestados. Falava nos portOes que iria fabricar, nas grades para balcOes, nos sustentos para jarros de flores.

Ficavamos sentados a mesajuntos, eu bordando BRAZZIL -AUGUST 1997

Aotso nxoval, voce desenhando os objetos que Pens va fazer. De silbito, eu escutava urn rumor co o o que fazem os relOgios de parede, antes de ar horas. Era voce mesmo gerando-se em seu entre, outro, nao mais urn homem, outro, u ii fibroma de palha e de barbante, corn seu voca ularioreduzido e sagrado: requisicOes, modelos requerimentos, autos, instrucaes, alineas e paragrafos.

—E ossivel que tenha razao. Uma coisa, porem, e consegui: pensar. Fazia tudo que era preciso azer, mas apenas corn as maos. Por dentro, lheio a minha atividade, eu zombava das obri acOes. Ha percevejos-do-mato que vivem at um ano sem cabeca. Todos os meus compan eiros sao assim. Eu, nao. Nao me compare co eles. Odeio e desprezo aqueles pobres de espiri o, que atribuern mais importancia as instrucOes que a si prOprios. Desistiram todos de pensar; 4s regulamentos pensam por eles. Ao sentar-se nas carteiras, sentem que representam a Institui ao, quase no mesmo sentido em que o Papa representa a Igreja. Sao intocaveis e nab erram. A raves deles os c6digos se transformam em acao, qualquer coisa de cego e de concreto.

Uma se tenca. Todo despacho, todo carimbo, todo sel uma sentenca necessaria e inflexivel, urn ato ue se cumpre obrigatoriamente e que ninguem pode violar sem perigo. Por isto eu me prendi a arefa das janelas. As manchas tinham formas sue nao se assemelhavam a selos nem carin-ibo E quem sabe se, atraves desse trabalho, eu nao c egaria tambem a restaurar o que houve de melh r em mim?

(As v spas envenenam os porcos-do-mato e levam-n s para seus ninhos, paralisados. Suas larvas a imentam-se apenas de caca grossa e viva. S depois de haver aberto urn tunel, sepultar s porco, depositar os ovos entre os seus espinho e fechar o encontrar a entrada urn bich s igual ao que acaba de deixar, abrira novame tea galeria, voltando a fecha-la quando vir o por o sepultado e novamente a abri-la ante o porco i sepulto, repetindo este jogo ate cair de fadiga, i capaz de perceber que existe urn animal ente ado e outro sobre a terra.)

—As fraturas nos vidros do predio nab apresen avam orientacao preferencial ou distribui ao regular. Mas havia uma ordem, uma mecanic , urn compasso como o dos insetos: em todos o andares, do primeiro ao decimo, observa a-se maior freqUencia de janelas fraturad s no segmento Leste da face Norte; no segments Norte da face Oeste; e no segmento Oeste d face Sul. A freqiiencia de vidros fr turados diminuia gradativamente e direcao oposta a cada urn desses s gmentos.

8 0 e cabelos grisalhos parece interess do, tern o ar de urn pai que assiste o filho prestar born exame: —E face Este?

—A ace Este nao é provida de janelas. as tudo indica que, se as possuiss , as mais atingidas seriam 31

as do segmento Sul. Pode muito bem haver algum motivo para que a especie de insetos responsavel pelos estragos nos vidros tivesse inclinacao pela aresta esquerda das superficies verticais envidracadas. Em Lima houve urn edificio onde se observou o mesmo fenomeno. E as abelhas nao executam, para indicar a fonte de alimento, uma danca complexa e exata, relacionada corn a posicao do sol? Assim, os insetos e a agua se conjugariam para arruinar o predio. A titulo de experiencia, tentei evitar a entrada de agua pelas gaxetas, vedando as bordas corn mastique. Em algumas janelas, mandei substituir o par de laminas por uma sO lamina de Calorex de seis milimetros de espessura, fixada corn neoprene ou corn massa nao endurecivel Igas, corn bagueta. Veja bem: as janelas substituidas e nao tratadas corn mastique apresentaram urn espectro de umidade na superficie interna das gaxetas; as outras resistiram A penetracao da agua. Mas tanto umas como outras continuaram a apresentar fraturas, naquele mesmo ritmo. Em algumas zonas fraturadas havia restos de materia organica. Isto foi provado em exames de laborateorio. Entao pus-me a ler sobre insetos daninhos. Os que transm item a peste, o colera, o tifo, o tracoma, as disenterias, os sugadores de seiva, destruidores de frutos, roedores de sementes, comedores de folhas, de raizes, os inimigos dos animais domesticos, os que invadem continentes e flagelam regiOes inteiras. Nao encontrei referencia a nenhum que destruisse os vidros.

Mas aprendi uma coisa que me atordoa. Eles resistem a todo e qualquer toxic° e serao, urn dia, os senhores da terra. NA° é sem motivo que voce estremece quando ye urn besouro.

8 Que importa, se nao existirei e se de mim nao havera descendencia? Eu seguia de onibus, quando vi o passaro: voou sobre a relva e alteouse em direcao a igreja. Foi nesse dia que o adolescente apareceu, suas campainhas soando corn alegria no frigido silencio desta sala. Eu e Mendonca tinhamos os dedos enlacados; estavamos assim ha muito tempo, sem falar, e nenhum sentia a mao do outro. Entao ele surgiu, Mendonca aos dezessete anos, como surgiram ha pouco esses besouros. Entrou sorrindo, abriu o piano, correu os dedos pelo teclado, perguntou se iamos casar. Mendonca parecia nao ve-lo, respondi que sim, ofereci-lhe um calice de licor.

—Voces ja estao velhos demais para comecar alguma coisa.

8 Foi nesse momento, numa iluminacao, que percebi minha ruina. Estava noiva ha vinte e quatro anos e de modo algum tencionava ainda casar-me corn este homem. Eu já o decidira. E nao sabia.

—Que tera sido feito de Raquel?

8 Ouvi dentro do homem, cujos olhos feriam corn desprezo e nausea o adolescente, urn rumor de mola que se parte e vibra distendida, abafado ranger de parafusos, de pregos arrancados.

Respondeu em voz quase inaudivel: —Nao sei quem era Raquel.

—Como nao sabe? Lembre-se. Foi naquele ano, logo depois da Guerra, quando reviveram a Festa do Frontispicio, na Igreja do Carmo. A devocao da imagem no nicho da fachada. Todos de joelhos sobre as lajes do adro, a noite, rezando a ladainha.

Como nao se lembra? Ela estava junto de voce.

Voce rezava,dos dentes para fora. Pensou, quando ela sorriu: "E uma rapariga". E ficou tremulo. Nao conhecia mulher.

8 Ao meu lado, o barulho de metais era bem nitido e mais assustador: folhas de zinco dobradas pelo vento.

—Nao conhecia, Giselda. Foi ela quem tomou a mao dele e chamou: "Vamos". Sairam pela Camboa do Carmo como namorados, dobraram a Travessa de Sao Pedro, cruzaram o Patio, entraram por um matagal, ficaram nus. Ela forrou o vestido no capim. Ele pensava nas cobras, mas deitou-se.

Quando explodiu a girandola, Mendonca estava sentado e so entao viu o corpo da mulher, estendido no chao. Debrucou-se, Giselda, e beijou aqueles pes empoeirados. Entao, comecou a chover. Ele deitou-se novamente e disse: "Vamos ficar aqui, Raquel. Vamos nascer sob a chuva, como duas sementes".

—Amaram-se outra vez?

—Isto. Amaram-se outra vez.

8 A narrativa exaltara-me. Mas eu nao sabia se era o acontecimento ou o proprio Mendonca que me comunicava o ardor dos dezessete anos. Seu jObilo aderia a tudo, os mOveis pareciam mais novos, a sala mais clara, o piano ressoava As palavras lancadas corn mais forca. Ate sua perfidia brilhava como urn sol. Naquele instante me lembrei do passaro—houvera-o esquecido—e achei que devia evocar tao raro e simples acontecimento. Vou de 6nibus. Ao passar ante o Colegio da Sagrada Familia, urn passaro desliza sobre a relva e, erguendo voo, orienta-se em direcao a rosacea da capela.

Corn o movimento do onibus, ha urn instante, uma fracao de segundo em que o vitral chameja, refletindo o sol, numa palpitacao breve e cegante.

No centro dessa chama esta o passaro suspenso.

Ofuscada, nao mais o vejo e tenho a impressao de que ele foi consumido por aquela pulsacao, engolido ou reduzido a cinzas pelo vidro em fogo.

—Podemos descobrir defesas contra a agua, Giselda. Mas nth) contra os insetos. Justamente por serem tao pequenos, tern probabilidades enormes de sobreviver. Matam a sede numa gota dagua; num fragmento de palha escapam As inundacOes. SO ha uma esperanca: a extincao de numerosas formas foi precedida de uma tendencia para o gigantismo. Crescer, para eles, é urn inimigo mais fatal que os passaros, os batraquios e os repteis. Nenhuma especie de mimetismo os defende contra crescer muito. E iniimeros insetos estao crescendo. Descobrimos, esmagados contra uma janela, dois odonatos.

Suas asas, cheias de nervuras grossas como veias, eram maiores que as de uma andorinha.

BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

8 Os dois antigos Mendonca, hoje tao silentes, erguem-se, dao-me adeus. E sempre assim: nunca se vao ao mesmo tempo este Mendonca e os outros, nunca chegam juntos e "eles" jamais aparecem sozinhos. Na soleira, o mais jovem se volta para o velho: —Nao sac) os insetos que invadirao a terra. E sim os burocratas, Mendonca. Imagine que mundo.

Depois de trinta anos, voce nem sequer teve de quem se despedir.

I Ela fecha a porta, senta-se a minha frente. Em bandos espessos, verdadeiras nuvens corn a extensao de uma cidade grande, alguns, sem motivo plausivel, cruzam os mares, percorrendo milhares de quilometros, ate se dissolverem. Certas especies nao comem durante a migracao, conduzidas por urn impulso major do que tudo e composto de todos os impulsos que constituem a sua natureza: comer, cruzar, repousar, tudo se transforma em jr.

0 bater de suas asas pardas ouve-se a distancia.

Nao sei mais como e o rosto de Giselda, nem o descobrirei nesses retratos onde ele se desfez, de mecha sobre a testa (a Clara Bow?), corn franja negra, ruiva, de sobrancelhas altas, de olhos espantados, parte do rosto coberta pela cabeleira loura, e os cantos dos labios voltados para baixo, imitando nao sei que celebridade, seu Ultimo idolo, flame final de seu espirito corn urn mundo mais alto, onde aspirou viver mesmo depois de extinta a juventude.

—Voce acha, Giselda, que o tempo traz obrigac'Oes? — Acho que, quando nao se tern substancia, tudo é pretexto para negacOes. Voce foi urn fracasso.

—Devia ter visto o problema dos vidros? Ate deslincla-lo?

—Devia ter-se ligado realmente a alguem. Ou a alguma coisa. Voce tern vivido como urn doido que passasse vinte, trinta anos numa estacao, sem decidir-se a tomar o trem ou a voltar para casa.

— Se é isto o que pensa de mim, acho que devo ir embora.

— Ha quatro anos queria romper este noivado.

Desde o dia em que o vi aos dezessete anos.

Lembra-se?

—Nao. — Contei a historia do passaro que voou ate a altura da rosacea e que desapareceu dentro do brilho de urn vidro. Voce me olhava, corn seus olhos quase de crianca, como se eu nao houvesse concluido. Entao voce levantou-se e esmurrou-o.

Foi como se agitasse uma porcao de campainhas, como se batesse em tubos de prata. Nao se lembra?

Nenhum dos dois gritava nem gemia.

Voce abriu a porta, foi embora corn as suas campainhas, voce disse tres ou quatro palavroes, apanhou o chapeu e saiu sem despedir-se, corn dez polias zumbindo no seu coracao de pó. Nao se lembra?

—Nao. Nao houve nada disso.

—Fiquei sozinha, escutando ainda aquele som de prata, que repercutia pelo corredor, e asseverei a mim mesma que BRAZZIL -AUGUST 1997

nao me casaria corn voce, e que s6 a esperanca de reve-lo aos dezessete anos impediria romper este noivado. Como voce envelheceu, Mendonca! Por que sO °up agora, em sua alma, rangidos de ferragens?

(Os in etos parecem criacao de algum ge io ocioso e imaginativo.

Corpos esf ricos, em forma de gravetos, de semen es, de moedas, a cabeca alongada omo faca, apteros, de asas estendidas ou incrustadas no dorso, armados de pincas, de brocas, de aguilhoes, de mandibulas, olhos fac tados, antenas, as pernas curtas, ou longas, ou incontaveis, negros, coloridos, mudos, vozes da Noite, cantores do Vera°, uteis, predadore , habitantes das Aguas da superficie, das profun ezas, do ar, eles, mais do que nenhuma outra espe ie viva, sondam as possibilidades do mundo.)

—Devem ter sido estes anos todos de ressentimento que mataram o que havia de melhor ern mim.

— Nao existem mais cidades inexpugnaveis.

Mas urn homem, para ser saqueado, tern de abrir os portOes. — Talv z houvesse gasto as minhas energias no esforco que fiz para me defender. Nao queria ligar-me quela gente. Nao era como eles e detestava o que eram. Eu pensava. Pensei ate o Ultimo ins ante, e o Chefe sabia. Sabia que eu desprezava todos os gestos mecanicos. Foi por isto que me confiou o problema dos vidros. Mas compreen i o ardil e fui embora. Pus o paleto, afastei a c deira...

— Ago a, nao precisa per o paleto. Nem afastar o sofa. Taribérn nao é preciso despedir-se.

8 Duas aranhas saem da boca de Mendonca, descem pe o ombro, saltam para o chao, urn grilo pOe-se a antar. Mariposas giram em torno da lampada. ela janela aberta entra zumbindo uma nuvem de mosquitos. Na veneziana fechada aparece u a lagarta, gafanhotos pousam no sofa e na moldur do espelho. Na face exterior da vidraca vejo urn lo va-a-deus olhando-nos. Tres besouros enormes rrompem zumbidores. Formigas vermelhas assam por baixo da porta, seguem em fila cerrad na direcao do meu quarto. Enorme borboleta izul adeja sobre nOs. Sinto na perna esquerda o rastro de uma centopeia.

— Voc" nao voltara a ver-me, Giselda. Em idade nenhuma.

8 Passa por mim, corn seu barulho de correntes arrastadas, de arame farpado rasgando couro de bois, de argola de rede gemendo ao peso de mortos soprados pelo vento. Fecho os olhos e recordo os alegres rumores cuja volta esperei em vao ao longo destes anos, sinetas de colegio, guizos, maracas, s4;g ns de brinquedos de corda, balanco de -crianca ran endo compassadamente em sombreados galhos de mangueira.

"N ivado", the original name of this short story, Vas published in Nove, Novena, Editora Companhia das Letras, So Paulo.

33

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Fernando Collor de Mello.

Building a Better Land

ECONOMY

Since WW II, Brazil has seen tremendous growth and modernization, albeit in fits and starts. Today, Brazil's economy is the 10th largest in the world. It's called a eveloping country. The military dictars had visions of Brazil joining the ranks the advanced, industrialized nations by t e year 2000. No one believes that is pi ssible now, but no one denies that treendous development has occurred.

Brazil is a nation of contrasts. Development is Brazil is a land of fantastic economic incredibly uneven. Production techniques from c ntrasts. Travelling through the countr, colonial times dominate parts of the Northeast , you will witness incredibly uneven d velopment. Production techniques that and Amazonia, while Sao Paulo's massive, highh ye barely changed from the colonial era tech, chemical and steel industries compete on di minate many parts of the Northeast and the world market. Until 1994, the only certainty mazonia, while Sao Paulo's massive, gh-tech automobile, steel, arms and in the economy was its uncertainty. The Plano emical industries successfully compete Real stabilized the currency, ended inflation, o the world market. and provoked a rise in consumption. Out of the Brazil's rulers, at least since President ubitschek invented Brasilia, have had a seven economic plans introduced in the last p nchant for building things big and they eight years, the Real was the first without h ve, of course, been encouraged to do so shocks or broken contracts. b the IMF and the World Bank The vernment borrowed heavily to finance asilia's construction. The country's external debt egan to take off exponentially and a razil slowly returned to democracy in the couple of years later inflation followed.

1980s. In 1988 a new constitution guaranEconomic development is slow, but there always teed freedom of speech, the right to strike seem to be some highly visible megaprojects under and outlawed the use of torture. It also gave 16 year way. Many of these are economically ill-advised and olds and illiterates the right to vote. some never get completed. The funding dries up, is In 1995, Fernando Henrique Cardoso became only pocketed by corrupt bureaucrats, or the politician the second president elected by popular vote in 32 who started it leaves office and the political enemy years to take office. The 1988 constitution allows him who takes over decides to abandon the project. Whatto choose ministers of state, initiate pieces of legislaever the reason, huge amounts of money are wasted. tion and maintain foreign relations. It also names him as commander-in-chief of the armed forces and gives him the power of total veto. These presidential powers are balanced by a bicameral legislature, which consists of a 72-seat senate and a 487-seat chamber of deputies. Presidential elections are slated to be held every five years, with congressional elections every four. State government elections are also held every four years, and municipal elections every three years.

Government elections are colorful affairs, regarded by the democracystarved Brazilians as yet another excuse for a party. Posters cover every available wall space and convoys of cars cruise through the cities creating as much noise as possible in support of their chosen candidate.

Politics itself remains largely the preserve of the wealthy. In the 1994 elections for state governors and senators, several candidates were forced to drop out because of costs. Inducements to voters are common.

Corruption is still rife at all levels, though not so much at the top these days after Col lorpte, which ended up with the impeachment of President

B

BRA7_ZIL - AUGUST 1997

35

The megaprojects which do get finished may produce wealth, but they nized, with greater rank-and-file control. don't create many jobs, at least once they are built. Utilizing the latest Demands were made to democratize the technology, much of Brazil's new development is capital intensive. workplace, with shopfloor union represenFew jobs are created—not nearly enough to employ the millions of tation and factory and safety committees. urban poor who have come from the countryside.

Many improvements were won, many have Brazil now has an estimated 64 million working people and a third since been lost, but the industrial working are women; 17% of people work in agriculture, most as landless class had flexed its muscles and no one has peasants, and 12% work in industry. The majority of the rest cannot forgotten. find decent work and are forced to sell their labor dirt cheap in jobs that Brazilian economists call the '80s the are economically unproductive for Society and a dead end for the Lost Decade. Wild boom-and-bust cycles individual. decimated the economy. Record-breaking Cheap labor and underemployment abound in Brazil. Middle-class industrial growth fuelled by foreign capital families commonly hire two or more live-in maids. This contrasts with was followed by negative growth and exfive-year-old kids, who will never go to school, selling chewing gum plosive hyperinflation. or shining shoes. People are hired just to walk dogs, to watch cars or Until 1994, the only certainty in the to deliver groceries. Large crews of street cleaners work with homeeconomy was its uncertainty. Then came made brooms. Hawkers on the beaches sell everything and earn almost the Plano Real, that stabilized the currency, nothing. Restaurants seem to have more waiters than customers. ended the inflation that had corroded the Unlike Mexico or Turkey, the poor in Brazil have no rich neighbors salaries of the lowest wage earners, and where they can go for jobs. With the exception of some minor agrarian provoked a rise in consumption. Out of the reforms, there is no relief in sight. The fazendeiros (estate owners), seven economic plans introduced in the last with their massive land holdings, are very influential with the governeight years, the Real was the first without ment. Apart from the occasional token gesture they are unlikely to be shocks or broken contracts. The death of interested in parting with the previous their land. monetary unit, Instead of land rethe cruzeiro real, Mercosul form, the government was announced built roads into the Ama52 days before By the year 2000, all products made in Argentina, Brazil, zon, the road between the Plano Real inParaguay and Uruguay—the countries that comprise Mercosul Belem and Brasilia in (Mercado Comum do Sup—will cross the borders with no tariffs. troduced a new 1960 and the Transamacurrency, the By 2006, all imports from other places will be subject to the same zonica and the Cuiaba to real. Backed by tariffs in each of the Mercosul countries. It'll be known as the TEC Porto Velho roads in the the record vol(Tarifa Externa Comum), with tariffs varying between 0% and '70s. The idea was to open ume of interna20%. Initiated in January 1995, it's a cumulative process. Already up the Amazon to mintional reserves 85% of imports that enter the Mercosul countries are subject to a eral and agricultural deTEC. (achieved after a velopment, and also enhealthy 4.2% inMercosul has an even bigger objective: to create a true free courage settlement by the crease in the market, with free circulation of capital and people. With 190 rural poor. million inhabitants and a combined gross product of $700 billion, gross national The mineral-poor product in 1993), Mercosul forms the fourth largest economic block on the planet.

Amazonian soil proved the real began on But there are obstacles. The two principal partners, Brazil and hard for the peasants to Argentina, are still looking to stabilize their economies. Poverty, a one-for-one farm. After cutting down parity with the cultural differences and lack of infrastructure also conspire against forest and opening up the US dollar. Then the union. It's not by accident that the main projects being studied land the peasants were are in the area of infrastructure, like the hidrovia Paraguai-Parand. the unthinkable forced off by the hired Attempts at integration in Latin America have, in the past, happened: the guns of big cattle ranchBrazilian curgenerated more public servants than business opportunities. A new ers. The settlement of the type of public servant has already been created—the `mercocrae. rency became Amazon continues today, worth more than Recruited from other ministries, the mercocrat is bilingual, has particularly along the studied economics, is politically sensitive and knows how to the dollar. strip between Cuiaba, negotiate.

What hapPorto Velho and Rio pened? BrazilCan mercocrats do what Bolivar failed to—unite South America?

Branco, where violent ians went shopboom towns, deforesta- Is J ping. In the first tion and malaria follow three months afin the wake of the settlers. ter the introduction of the plan, economic Over 50% of Brazil's industry is clustered in and around Sao Paulo activity grew by 8%, and industrial sales city. Most important is the car industry. Labor relations with the rose by more than 12%. The gross national workers at Volkswagen, General Motors and Ford were managed by a product for 1994 grew 5.7% in relation to system modeled on fascist Italy: government-approved unions backed 1993. By the summer of 1995, a new optiby the power of the military state. From 1968 to 1978 the workers were mism had swept through Brazil. Was this silent and passive, until the day 100 workers at a bus factory went to the beginning of the long-awaited economic work and sat down in front of their machines. Within two weeks 78,000 miracle that everyone was waiting for? metalworkers were on strike in the Sao Paulo industrial belt.

We'd love to say yes, but as we go to Rapidly, the strikes spread to other industries. There were mass press, it's too hard to predict. The equilibassemblies of workers in soccer stadiums, and the government sponrium is unstable, especially as imports insored unions were replaced. At the invitation of the Catholic Church, crease. Economists predict that without conunion offices were moved to the cathedral of Sao Bernardo. Caught by stitutional changes, the government deficit surprise, the corporations and military gave in to substantial wage will soon blow out. There's no law to preincreases. Both sides prepared for the next time. vent the government from printing reais to In 1980 there was a new wave of strikes. They were better orgapay for large budget deficits. If that hapBRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

pens, the inflation dragon will be back.

The Plano Real has at least shown that the Brazilian economy has great potential.

All the ingredients for progress are there: a large labor force, the means of production, transport systems and markets for the products. The question is whether or not they can be co-ordinated efficiently. The harsh reality is that seven out of 10 Brazilians still live in poverty.

Social Conditions The richest 10% of Brazilians control a whopping 54% of the nation's wealth; the poorest 10% have just 0.6%—and the gap is widening. Sixty million live in squalor without proper sanitation, clean water or decent housing. Over 60% of the people who work make less than twice the minimum wage (about $100). Unemployment and underemployment are rampant.

Wealthy Brazilians live closed, First World existences in luxurious houses behind high walls protected by armed guards and guard dogs. In this developing country of almost 155 million people, 40 million people are malnourished; 25 million live in favelas (shantytowns); 12 million children are abandoned and more than seven million between the ages of seven and 14 don't attend school. Brazil, with its dreams of greatness, has misery that compares with the poorest countries in Africa and Asia.

As always, these ills hit some groups much harder than others. If you are a woman, a black, an Indian or from the North or Northeast the odds against escaping poverty are high. One third ofthe women employed in Brazil work as maids and nannies, and most earn less than the minimum wage,. Of Brazil's 21 million illiterates, 13 million are black. Life expectancy in the Northeast is 56 years, compared to 66 in the rest of the country.

The Indians are fighting for survival; less than 200,000 remain from an estimated five million when the Portuguese arrived.

They still suffer violent attacks from ranchers and gold prospectors laying claim to their land.

The killing of peasant leaders, trade unionists and church workers involved in land disputes and strikes continues.

Even though torture has been outlawed by the constitution, reports of death in custody after its use as a means of obtaining a confession continue, although there are very few eyewitnesses. The killing of criminal suspects by uniformed and off-duty police in "death-squad" operations, especially in Baixada Fluminense, on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, is widely reported.

The federal government is aware of the scale of human-rights violations and the chronic failure to administer justice at state and local levels, but will not accept responsibility for matters it deems beyond its juBRAZZIL -AUGUST 1997

risdiction.

All these facts illu trate the obvious: for the majority, Brazil is, as it has always been, a c untry of poverty and inequality, where reforms are as elusive as the w nd.

OPULATION & PEOPLE Brazil's populatio is almost 155 million, making it the world's sixth most populous c untry. The population has been rising rapidly over the last 45 years, although in the last 10 years it seems to have slowed a little. There were only 14 million Brazilians in 1890, 33 million in 1930, 46 illion in 1945, and 71 million in 1960. The population has more t an doubled in the last 35 years.

Still, Brazil is one of the least densely populated nations in the world, averaging only 5 people per sq. km. The USA, by comparison, averages 25 people per sq. km. The population in Brazil is concentrated along the coastal strip nd in the cities. There are around 10 million in the enormous expanse of the North and less than 10 million in the Central West, while th re are over 65 million in the Southeast and over 42 million in the North ast. Brazil also has a young population: half its people are less than 21 years old, 27% under 10.

There are 12 milli .n abandonados, children without parents or home. Many are hunt 'd by the so-called "death squads" made up of vigilantes who take i upon themselves to torture and murder the children under the pr ence that "they grow up to become criminals anyway, so why not g t rid of them now?" The fate of these children is one of the most pre sing social problems facing Brazil today.

Brazil is now an urban country whereas 40 y ars ago it was still a predominantly rural socie . Due to internal migration, two-thirds of Braz lians now live in nine large urban areas: Sao P ulo city, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Porto legre, Salvador, Recife, Fortaleza, Brasilia and elem. Greater Sao Paulo has over 17 million r sidents, greater Rio over 10 million.

Some 500 years ago Cabral landed in Brazil. hen he departed, only nine days later, he left b hind two convicts who subsequently married n tives. Thus, colonization through miscegenation was how the Portuguese managed to control razil. This strategy was pursued, often consciously and semi-officially, for hundreds of years. First with native Indians, then with the black slaves and finally between Indians and blacks, miscegenation horoughly mixed the three races. Brazilians use literally dozens of ter s to describe people's various racial compositions and skin tones. Most Brazilians have some combination of European, African, A erindian, Asian and Middle Eastern ancestry.

Accurate statistics on racial composition are difficult to obtain in Brazil. Many people w o are counted as white have at least some black or Indian blood, but the 1980 census showed about 55% of the population were techn'cally white, 6% black and 38% mulatto. Anyone who has traveled i Brazil knows these figures are ridiculous. They reflect what people ant to think rather than reality. Whiteness in Brazil, they often say, is as much a reflection of one's social standing as the color of one's s in.

Brazil has had several waves of voluntary immigration. After the end of slavery in 1887, millions of Europeans were recruited to work in the coffee fields. Tie i largest contingent was from Italy, but there were also many Port guese and Spaniards, with smaller groups of Germans and Russians. Japanese immigration began in 1908 and today Sao Paulo has the lar est Japanese community outside of Japan.

Some 50,000 Port guese came to Brazil from Africa in 1974 and 1975 with the liberatibn of Portugal's African colonies. During the '70s many Latin Ame icans fleeing military dictatorships in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay settled in Brazil.

Indians The government ndian agency, Fundacao Nacional do Indio (FUNAI), has docume ted 174 different Indian languages and dialects.

Customs and belief sy tems vary widely.

Growing international concern over the destruction of the Amazon 37

rainforest has also highlighted the plight of the region's Brazilian Indians, who are facing extinction early next century—if not sooner.

At present the number of Indians in Brazil is estimated at less than 200,000. Of the several hundred tribes already identified, most are concentrated in the Amazon region and virtually all Brazilian Indians face a host of problems which threaten to destroy their environment and way of life. An estimated 40 tribes have never been in contact with outsiders.

Indian Policy—During the 20th century, the general thrust of official Brazilian policy towards the Indians and their lands has concentrated on pacification, integration, and dispossession.

In 1910, Marechal Candid° Rondon (1865-1958), who favored a humane and dignified Indian policy, founded the Servico de Protecao ao Indio (SPI) as an attempt to protect the Indians against massacres and land dispossession. Unfortunately, Rondon's good intentions were swept aside and SPI became notorious as a tool for corrupt and greedy officialdom to physically eliminate Indians or force them off their lands. By the late '60s, SPI had become the target of fierce national and international criticism.

In 1967, SPI was replaced by FUNAI which was intended to redress the SPI wrongs. FUNAI was set the ambitious and controversial tasks of protecting Indian reserves, administering the medical and educational needs of the Indians, and contacting and pacifying hitherto unknown tribes.

FUNAI has been criticized for adopting a patronizing attitude toward Indians, and for manipulating against Indian interests in favor of other claims to Indian lands. It's difficult to see how this grossly underfunded and understaffed organization can escape contradictions when it represents the interests of the Indians and simultaneously acts on behalf of the government and military, which have both been expropriating Indian lands for industry and settlement.

Religious organizations, such as Conselho Indigenista Missionario (CIM) and Centro Ecumenico de Documentacao e Informacao (CEDI) have attempted to right the imbalance, but there appears to be little interest in changing patronizing attitudes or giving the Indians a chance to represent their rights as decreed by Brazilian law. The Brazilian constitution recognizes Indian rights to their traditional lands, which cover approximately 17 million hectares (about 10% of Brazil's territory).

FUNAI recently started using a computer network and satellite photographs to secure the borders of large and remote tracts of land from invading lumber workers and prospectors. The system is composed of many reservations and posts plus five major parks: Xingu and Aripuana parks in Mato Grosso, Araguaia Park on Ilha do Banana! in Tocantins, Tumucumaque Park on the Guyanese border of Para and the Yanomami Park in Roraima.

Recent Developments—During the '80s, Indian tribes which had seen their people and lands destroyed by development projects (par.ticularly highway construction) in the '70s were stung into independent action to protect themselves.

In 1980, nearly 1000 Xavante Indians, who had tired of FUNAI inactivity, started marking the boundaries of their reserve in Mato Grosso state. When a fierce conflict arose with encroaching ranchers, 31 Xavante leaders paid a surprise visit to the president of FUNAI in Brasilia and demanded immediate boundary demarcation. Further pressure was exerted on FUNAI when Txucarramae Indians killed 11 agricultural workers whom they had caught trespassing on their Xingu reserve and clearing the forest. In 1982, over 200 Indian leaders assembled in Brasilia to debate land ownership at the First National Assembly of Indigenous Nations.

Subsequent years saw a spate of hostage takings and confiscations by Indians, who were thereby able to force rapid decisions from the government. As an attempt to deflect criticism and placate public opinion, the government hired and fired FUNAI officials in quick succession; a convenient scapegoat technique which continues to be employed in the '90s, changing names and little else. In 1989, the First Meeting of the Indigenous Nations of 38

Xingu included a huge cast of Brazilian Indians, foreign environmentalists, and even the rock star Sting. Two Kayapo chiefs, Raoni and Megaron, then accompanied Sting on a world tour to raise funds for the preservation of the Amazon rainforest.

During the '90s, international attention has focused on the plight of the Yanomami.

Environmentalists and ecologists who attended ECO-92 pressed for practical changes to benefit the Indians and their environment—nobody wants to be fobbed off any more with speeches and papers which are simply public relations exercises to be filed and forgotten.

The Yanomami—The Yanomami are one of the newly discovered Indian peoples of the Amazon. Until some Yanomami were given metal tools by visitors, all their implements were made of stone, ceramic, animal hides and plants. They are literally a Stone Age people rapidly confronting the 20th century.

The plight ofthe Yanomami has aroused considerable foreign interest, since the problems experienced by the Yanomami are considered typical of those encountered by other Indians in Brazil.

In 1973 the Yanomami had their first contact with Westerners: Brazilian Air Force pilots and religious missionaries. In 1974 and 1975 as BR-210 (Perimetral Norte) and BR-174 roads were cut through the Catramani and Ajarani tributaries of the Rio Negro, people from several Yanomami villages mixed with the construction workers and contracted and died from measles, influenza and venereal disease. Over a dozen villages were wiped out. , In 1988, the government instituted an absurd plan to create 19 separate pockets of land for the Yanomami, thereby depriving the Indians of 70% of their territory. Thousands ofgarimpeiros swarmed into the area and ignored all boundaries. Two years later, growing international and national criticism of the genocide being perpetrated on the Yanomami forced the authorities to backtrack and declare only a handful of designated zones open for mining. The garimpeiros continued to prospect at random and resisted all efforts, even force, to dislodge them.

In 1991, the Venezuelan government officially recognized the Yanomami territory on the Venezuelan side of the Brazilian border as a special Indian reserve; a few months later President Collor defied opposition and followed suit on the Brazilian side. The Brazilian military continues to oppose the decision and prefers instead to encourage development and settlement of the border areas as a buffer against possible foreign intrusions.

The Yanomami are a slight people, with Oriental features. Their estimated 18,000 seminomadic tribespeople are scattered over BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

320 villages on either side of the Brazilian Venezuelan border. They speak one of four related languages: Yanomani, Yanam Yanomamo and Sanuma.

The center of each community is the Yano, a large circular structure where each family has its own section facing directly onto an open central area used for communal dance and ceremony. The Yano is built with palm-leaf thatch and timber posts. Each family arranges its own section by slinging hammocks around a fire which burns constantly and forms the center of family life.

Inter-tribal visits are an opportunity to eat well—ifthe hunt has been successful everyone gets to eat monkey, which is a delicacy.

Otherwise tapir, wild pig and a variety of insects make up the protein component of the meal, which is balanced with garden fruits, yams, plantains and manioc. The Yanomami also grow cotton and tobacco.

Once their garden soils and hunting grounds are exhausted, the village moves on to a new site.

The Yanomami hold elaborate ceremonies and rituals and place great emphasis on intertribal alliances. The latter are intended to minimize any feuds or violence which, as has often happened in the past, can escalate into full-scale wars. Inter-tribal hostility is thought to manifest in disease that comes from evil spirits sent by the shamans of enemy tribes. Disease is cured with various herbs, shaman dances; and healing hands.

Sometimes the village shaman will enlist the good spirits to fight the evil spirits by using yakoana, a hallucinogenic herbal powder.

The Yanomami have some curious practices. When a tribal person dies, the body is hung from a tree until dry, then burned to ashes. The ashes are mixed with bananas, which are then eaten .by friends and family of the deceased to incorporate and preserve the spirit. The mourning ritual is elaborate and includes having one member of the tribe assigned to cry for a month (as determined by the phases of the moon, since the Yanomami have no calendar and the only number they have greater than two is `many'). Friends or allies from other communities will travel three to four days to join the mourning tribe.

These days even such remote tribes are exposed to encroaching civilization in the shape of clearance roads for the Perimetral Norte, illegal airstrips built by garimpeiros, and FUNAI posts. Despite the latest positive moves from the Brazilian government, the Yanomami lands are not adequately protected against encroachment and dispossession by brute force.

Information & Further Reading— There are several governmental and religious organizations which publish information about Brazilian Indians. Poratim is BIWZIL-AUGUST1997

a newsletter published y the Conselho Indigenista Missionario (CIM), Tel.: (061) 225-9457, dificio Venancio III, Sala 310, Caixa Postal 11.1159, CEP 70084, rasilia, DF. In the past, FUN I's own publication, Jot-nal da Funai, was produced at the same a dress as CIM, but future publishing plans for it re unclear. Aconteceu is 'a bi-weekly journal ith a strong ecological emphasis) published by th Centro Ecumenic° de DocumentacAo e ormacAo (CEDI), Tel.: (021) 224-6713), Rua nto Amaro, 129, Rio de Janeiro, CEP 22211, .

There are also various individuals ,or small ups working on alternative projects for tribes ch as the Ticuna and Wapichana. In the state of A azonas, there's Alirio Mendes Moraes icuna), Coordenacao das Organizacoes fgenas da Amazonia Brasileira (COIAB), Tel.: 2) 624-2511, Avenida Leopoldo Peres, 373, ixa Postal 3264, Manaus, CEP 69000, AM. In th same state, education is the main emphasis of the OrganizacAo Geral dos Professores Ticuna Bilingtie, Tel.: (092) 415-5494, Avenida Ca telo Branco, 594, Projeto Alto Solimbes, Benjamin Constant, CEP 6 630, AM. In the state of Ror ima, another group has been set up by Clovis Ambrosio (Wapichana , Conselho Indigene de Roraima (CIR), Tel.: (095)224-5761, Aveni a Sebastiao Diniz, 1672W, Bairro SAo Vicente, Boa Vista, CEP 69300 RR. If you contact any f these organizations, groups or individuals, remember that they op ate on minimal budgets, so you should at least pay return postage an material costs in advance. It is also worth pointing out that truth nd facts about the Indians are hard to pinpoint, and official informatio is often presented in a flexible manner to suit the political, financial, or cultural agenda of those involved.

Outside Brazil, one of the most active and reputable organizations providing information n Indian affairs in Brazil is Survival International, which has ca paigned especially hard for the Yanomami Indians and has mem ers and offices worldwide. Survival Internetional members receiv a regular newsletter, Urgent Action Bulletins, campaign documents, nd an annual review.

Visiting a Reserva ion —If you're a physician, anthropologist or sociologist with an a thentic scholarly interest, you can make an application to FUNAI or authorization to visit a reservation.

If you are not a Br 'Han citizen you must first submit a research proposal together with your curriculum vitae, a letter of introduction from your research ins itute, a letter from the Brazilian researcher or research institute takin responsibility for you and your work and who agrees to accompany y u into the field, a declaration that you speak Portuguese and know B azilian law, vaccination certificates for yellow fever, typhoid and feta us and an X-ray to show that you are free from tuberculosis.

All documentation must be in Portuguese and must first be presented to the embassy r•consulate of your home country. They must send it to the Ministry f Foreign Relations in Brasilia, which will in turn forward it to CNP (National Center for Research). CNPQ will take a minimum of 90 ays to consider your proposal.

If they agree to uthorize your project, the file is pass d to the FUNAI Excerpts from Brazil office in Rio at the useu do Indio A Travel Survival Kit (Indian Museum) w ere Professor 3rd edition, Neyland further proce ses it and Dra

by Andrew Draffen, Claudia scribbles the nal signature.

The procedure is in ntionally diffiChris McAsey, cult. It is intended to pr tect the Indians Leonardo Pinheiro, from the inadvertent s cad of diseases and Robyn Jones. to which they have no n tural immunity For more information as well as from overe posure to alien call Lonely Planet: cultural ideals. Nevert eless, many ap(800) 275-8555. plicants make it thro gh all the obCopyright 1992 Lonely stacks, and as many as 0 projects have Planet Publications. been approved in one hree-month peUsed by permission.

Hod. 39

an encoreinterview after touring urope, working in LondonArt Brazil, and recording his firsf C as a group leader, Seattle-based musician Jovino Santos talks about his music, friends and insight As for his new album he says, "For me, this is another o. •ortunity to feel the universal of music and to connect noples and ILMAN

4111111111110ast December, when Brazzil interviewed composer, flautist, and keyboardist Jovino Santos Neto, he spoke about his 15 year tenure as a producer and member of Hermeto Pascoal's 0 Grupo as well as his work with Airto and Flora Purim's group, Fourth World. We discussed his mission to disseminate the music of his mentor (Hermeto Pascoal) by means of cataloging and publishing Pascoal's enormous body of work and about Jovino's role as a college music teacher, symphony orchestra conductor, arranger, solo pianist, and band leader.

Many developments have taken place for this multi-faceted musician over the past nine months, and keeping in contact with him has been a little difficult. Jovino was either in London recording with Airto, touring Europe with Fourth World, working with Hermeto in Rio, creating soundscapes on the North Dakota plains, opening the show for Marisa Monte in San Francisco, or putting the finishing touches on his spellbinding new CD, Caboclo—his first release as a group leader. Jovino was about to retreat for a well-earned two week vacation with his family when I caught him at his home in Seattle, Washington state. There was mu:h to talk about.

In June you were in Brazil working with Hermeto. How is Mestre Hem-Leto? What are his . latest ventures?

Hermeto is doing great. When he turned 60 in June 1996, he had this inspiration to write one tune a day for a whole year, and he did exactly that. He showed me this pile of new music. Each sheet was dated and numbered, and every composition was different from the others. He completed this mission on the day after his performance at Central Park, in New York City, on June 22, 1997. He never skipped a day!

Which members of 0 Grupo did Hermeto bring to New York City for the Sumnserstage concerts?

The players in 0 Grupo who came to New York were Vinicius Dorim (sax/flute), Andre Gomes (piano), ltibere Zwarg (bass), Marcio Bahia (drums), Fabio Pascoal (percussion), and Hermeto on everything else. Pernambuco (percussion) is still in the

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band, only he did not come to the U.S. this time.

Tell me about Hermeto's recent "Som da Aura" project.

I was contacted by Morgan Fisher, a British musician who lives in Japan, about doing a "Som da Aura" segment with Hermeto for a Japanese release called Miniatures for the Millennium. This will be a compilation album to celebrate the new millennium with 60 one-minute tracks by 60 artists. When I asked Hermeto about it, he suggested we use some sounds from the Japanese language. Well, Morgan found these great-sounding recordings of ancient Japanese vendors, and we chose one of a banana salesman. He announces his fruit and then starts bringing the price down to sell it quickly. I did the pre-production, the keyboard programming, and helped Hermeto record the segment. The result, called "Feira de Asakusa," will be released sometime in the near future in the Miniatures compilation.

I'm still surprised that many listeners know of Hermeto's work only from his compositions on the Sergio Mendes projects. Do you know of any effort being made to make Hermeto's recordings more accessible in the United States?

Hermeto's recordings remain "harder to find than legs on a snake" as he likes to say. Even in Brazil, they are rare or impossible to find. I have seen a couple of them for sale at the http://www.cdnow.com site on the Web as well as http:// www.brazilcd.com . The latest CD, Festa dos Deuses, has all but disappeared from the stores, even though it was released

by Polygram in Brazil and in England.

Did you have an opportunity to perform any solo piano concerts while you were in Brazil?

I played solo piano in Sao Paulo, Rio, and Macae, and also performed with Teco Cardoso (flute/saxes), Arismar do Espirito Santo (bass), and Caito Marcondes (percussion) in three different venues in sao Paulo. It was great to be able to show my work in Brazil once again. I had a wonderful time and felt a very good response to the music. I did some interviews and also radio shows. I also had the chance to show my upcoming CD to Hermeto and the guys in his group, and they were quite pleased with what they heard. They said a lot of nice things about Hans, Chuck, and Mark, the Seattle guys in my band. I also did a workshop at the Villa-Lobos Institute in Rio. BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

Is the Villa-Lobos Institute a state foundation?

The Villa-Lobos Institute in Rio is funded by the state of Rio and provides music education at a low cost. For the past couple of years they have had a young director, Marcos Nogueira, who is a fan of contemporary music and had been to a few rehearsals at Hermeto's house. He has been scheduling interesting workshops, featuring Itibere Zwarg and Marcio Bahia from Hermeto's band, and in June I presented a workshop.

What was the focus of your workshop?

The theme of my talk was: How to increase one's repertoire of rhythmic ideas by drawing from the natural wealth of Brazilian and global rhythms. There were students of all ages in attendance. It was a great experience for me.

Which 20th century Brazilian composers besides VillaLobos have affected your music?

Hermeto, Lorenzo Fernandes, Camargo Guarnieri, Radames Gnatalli, and Guerra Peixe. I hope to present more of their extraordinary music here in North America.

Was your trip to Brazil an inspiration for your own work as a composer and arranger?

Of course. Every time I go to Brazil I get very inspired.

Actually, the music I wrote shortly before going back home is very "Brazilian" in character, a reflection of my anticipation of being there after a year's absence. There is a new samba, "Mendanha," and a new waltz, "Rosa Cigana," which is a tribute to Pixinguinha's "A Rosa." Also, being there gave me new ideas for my project ofre-dressing Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, something that I have been working on for a while now.

Do you have plans to record "Mendanha" and "Rosa Cigana" with the Qua rteto on the next CD? At this point, it is too early to think about the repertoire for the next CD. It will probably be a live album. We are playing the new tunes as well as dozens of others that did not make it to the new CD. It is always a problem to choose the themes when we have so many, and when I keep writing more.

Caboclo is your first CD as a band leader. Are you happy with the results?

In general, I am very pleased with this first CD. I am fortunate to have such a great band. These incredible musicians who have embraced the music I wrote with love and dedication made it happen. Most of the basic tracks and solos were done in one take with all the interactions and telepathy happening naturally. Afterwards I added some discrete keyboards to color the textures as well as the organ and the accordion. I am thankful to Liquid City Records for making it possible for me to produce the record with all the ideal technical conditions.

We recorded everything in the analog format with Daniel Protheroe, a fantastic engineer who had made a few records with Airto and Flora in the eighties. Airto was going to record with us here, but we had a heavy snowstorm, and he could not make it. We went on without him, and in February I flew to London with the tapes. Over a period of two days Airto added his special sounds and creativity to all the group tracks.

His choice of sounds and rhythms was amazing and added a lot to our music. After that, we sent the mixed product to Bob Katz for mastering in Florida, and his input helped a lot. He suggested small changes in the sequence of songs that make a big difference.

My understanding is that a Caboclo is an Indian ancestral spirit who returns to earth to aid humanity.

Does this title infer anything about the music on the new disc or about your philosophy of music in general?

There are many ways to interpret Caboclo; that's why I chose the title. One of them is an Indian warrior spirit who makes himself present in some Umbanda rituals. Another is the name given to the common folk in Northern Brazil who are the product of the racial and cultural mixing of European (Portuguese), African, and native Brazilian populations.

While remaining uniquely Brazilian, there is a wide range of cultural traits that these people exhibit. For an in-depth BRAZZIL -AUGUST 1997

anthropological analysis of the formation of the Brazilian people, I refer you to the excellent book by the late Darcy Ribeiro, 0 Povo Brasileiro—Formacdo e Sentido do Brasil.

Anyway, my intention in choosing this title and concept was to draw a parallel between the racial mixture that produced the 13razilian people and the mixture of styles that gave rise to razilian music. Again, here are European, African, and iilidigenous elements combining to create something rich and unique. My point is that this mixing process is not finished. 1hat is why we are playing universal music with roots in the razilian musical landscape, but without the pretense of re creating "authentic" music.

We are not ethnomusicologists; instead we are contemporary musicians creating something new from a rich mother lode of rhythms, harmonies, and melodies. I arrived at this idea when I considered my own ancestry—Portuguese, English, French, American, Arab, Black, and Indian, among others—as well as the universal character of the music that I was exposed o while playing with Hermeto Pascoal.

Did you pay material from Caboclo when the Quarteto opened for arisa Monte in San Francisco?

Yes, the Quarteto did play a lot of tunes from Caboclo at the Maritime ,Hall on June 21, but we also did a special arrangement 'f "Um a Zero" as a special homage to the 100th anniversary o Pixinguinha, which is being celebrated this year.

How did he audience receive your music? Were you pleased with the response?

I think w did very well. Of course, we were only borrowing M risa Monte's audience for a short while. But for us it was a great opportunity to have 1500 pairs of ears to sample our m sical brew. We chose high-energy, fast-paced tunes to catch their attention, and they responded quite well.

Now we are p eparing the CD release concerts, and we will be back in th Bay Area as well as other West Coast locations. We will also be touring Europe in early 1998, and I am trying to take the Quarteto to Brazil sometime soon.

Did Her eto write "Viva o Rio de Janeiro" for the new disc?

It was co posed by Hermeto in 1989, and it quickly became one o the all-time favorites of the Grupo because of its happy sa ba feel and because players can solo nicely over the chan es. We recorded the original arrangement as Hermeto wro e it. Actually, this tune was unnamed for all these years (a is most of Hermeto's music), and he only put a title to it w en I needed one for the CD cover.

Its spirit is very Carioca (from Rio). How did you achieve that articular tuning for the surdo?

The surd sound on the recording was made by Airto using his pan eiro with tape over the jingles and super close miking for th right tone.

What wa your concept for the tune "Caboclo"?

I wanted his song to reflect the rich mixture that goes into the for ation of the Brazilian people as well as in Brazilian music. Then the idea of re-creating afeira, or street market, came to me. I had some feira sounds that I had recorded on the street near Hermeto's house where I used to live in Jabour Rio. And once back here in Seattle, I went to the Pike Place Market where there are a lot of vendors selling fish, fruit, an a lot more and also recorded their sounds.

Then I assem led all that using my sampler, thus creating a "universal fei a" where much is going on —buying, selling, people meeti g, arguing, joking, etc. The theme was written in London la t year using as a guideline some repentes, or improvised p etry, that I found in a book printed in 1936 called Alma ordestina. I used the 5-verse stanzas as a template fort e melody and the rest happened nicely during recording.

That ban a de pifano intro juxtaposed with the street sounds is re arkable. And the soloing, wow! Do you play accordion m ch?

I borrowe an accordion to play the theme. In the intro I play zabumba, Mark is on triangle, and Hans and I play on two funky PVC plastic flutes (fifes) that a friend in Recife gave him last year. The way Hans's sax solo flows into the 41

piano solo was totally unplanned, giving the tune a very loose feel that stills rocks with a solid groove.

"Intro" and "Hoping for the Day" reminded me a lot of the groups Bill Evans lead and especially of the great bass player Scott LaFaro.

This is a jazzy waltz with a really sweet melody that I wrote a couple of years ago, and I love the way Chuck interprets it on the acoustic bass. The piano intro was completely improvised in the studio. It's one of those tunes that people keep humming long after they hear it. Besides, I like the idea that it gives a ray of hope and happiness to whoever listens to it.

Hermeto's influence is unmistakable on "Choreletico."

Did you write this when you were playing with him?

This chorinho was composed back in 1981, and the title comes from Pernambuco who had nicknamed me "Homeletico" or the "Electric Man" for always being so energetic.

Even though rhythmically it is a straight choro, the harmony is quite different, reflecting all the new chords I was learning while playing with Hermeto. I wanted Airto to play the pandeiro, but instead he suggested a pandeiro rhythm and played on a whole variety of small percussion instruments. The end was supposed to be a fade-out, but we all loved the way it developed so naturally that we left it to the "last drop."

It's so rare to hear frevos recorded these days. Is "Boa Viagem Pra Olinda" an older tune?

This frevo is quite recent. The title refers to a day last year when I started a Sunday by going to Boa Viagem beach in Recife, then going up to Olinda to see a maracatu group playing in the square.

What a day! This cut has no improvised solos; instead I wrote an arrangement that attempts to describe the feeling of moving from one place to another and going through different moods. In the middle, I quote (jokingly) from the "Ze Pereira" Carnaval theme.

"Metamorph" is one of the wildest, most angu choros I've heard.

Yes, it is a crazy tune that starts with an ostinato left-hand pattern and changes (hence the name) to a straight ahead choro. I also used to play it with Airto and Fourth World, so he was at home with the hairpin turns in the arrangement.

What prompted your decision to leave Fourth World?

I had a great time during the almost three years I worked with Airto and Flora. I learned a lot from playing with such a master as Airto, and I had the opportunity to show my compositions and arrangements to a wide variety of audiences. Nevertheless, we were playing basically the same material during this period of time because the logistics of getting together and rehearsing made it very hard to present anything new. We felt our paths going separate ways as my own work as a piano soloist and group leader started to evolve.

It was a friendly dissolution though. I am very fond of Flora and Airto, and I'm grateful for having had the opportunity of working together. We had some really special moments on the road. As you know, Airto is featured as a guest artist on Caboclo, and his musical contribution made a big difference to the Quarteto's sound. I would love to work with him more in the future.

With Airto and Flora in Santa Barbara, California, and you in Seattle, Washington, a rehearsal could certainly create problems. Is "Song for a New Home" about your move to the Northwest?

Yes, this was written after our move from Rio to Seattle.

The whole song is based on a simple riff that came to me as I was strolling through the zoo in Bern, Switzerland. I built all these lines around it and wrote a four part horn arrangement that Hans overdubbed. This is one of the tunes in which I play the Hammond or an.

42

That big Hanwnond B3 on "Sete Penas" took me back a few years. How did you arrive at the idea of combining that warm soun4 with the tune's odd meter?

The theme from "Sete Penas" (Seven Feathers) used to belong to another song I wrote, but I extracted it because I was looking for a nice, loose groove in 7/4. The sound of the Hammond B3 organ is something I love, so I could indulge in that fat tone. Chuck plays electric bass here, and Airto is great with his stuff. Since we recorded it, I have revamped it and added more parts. It came out as one of my favorite tunes on the CD, a tip of the hat to the progressive rock I used to listen to as a teenager. For the title I imagined an Indian warrior dancing barefoot with this rainbow headdress, one feather for each color and for each beat of the 7/4 meter.

How did you find working on the Gary Stroutsos Winds of Honor Project?

My work with Gary Stroutsos on Winds of Honor opened the doors for a whole new direction in my music. Since then I have been to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota, where I recorded a new project with Gary, called Native Hear,. I was also featured on Andrew Vasquez's release, Wind River. All these CDs are available through Makoche Records. For me, this was a different side of my playing. Instead of writing music, here I let intuition guide me, creating harmonies and arrangements on the fly, reacting spontaneously to the beautiful melodies of the cedar flute. The result is music that triggers a lot of images in the mind of the listener.

As a result ofthis work, my next plans involve doing some work with Marlui Miranda, the musician who is recording the beautiful music of the Brazilian Indians. I also have plans to collaborate with Mari Boine Petersen, a Norwegian singer of the Lapland people who have some striking parallels with the other naott and South America. For me, this is another opportunity to feel the universal power of music and to connect different places, peoples, and cultures.

"0 Tetra" is Mie of the jazzier tunes on Caboclo. I love the different sections and bow they fit together.

"0 Tetra" was Written the day after Brazil won the 4-time soccer World Cup, in '94. I was staying at a friend's place in New York City, aliny apartment with a grand piano in it. I woke up early, sat fit the Steinway, and the whole theme came out.

One night mx wife and I were having dinner on our patio. "Mais Quei Tudo" was playing in the background, and I remember thinking how perfectly it fit our mood.

The tune has some of the disc's nicest soloing.

This is anotherkind of waltz. It is more of a seresta style, such as one you would play under your girlfriend's window on a moonlit night; I wrote the theme in 1986, but I composed the flute coanterpoint that Hans plays so beautifully only after we had already recorded the basic tracks. Another high point is Chuck's bass solo—very inspired! On my own piano solo I tried to create a very elastic time feeling, playing hideand-seek with the beat.

When did you meet Hans Teuber? What influences does he bring to the Quarteto's music?

I met Hans in the end of '93 right after I moved here. He was born and raised in South Carolina, but one of his best friends there was a guy from Pernambuco who had got him into Brazilian music. Hans has been to Brazil a couple of times, and we have a wonderful musical connection. He quickly feels and interprets all kinds of syncopations. Besides, he has a great harmonic sense, being a very good pianist himself. He is in demand as a jazz player and has been called one of thei strongest saxophonists in this country today. I am very lucky to be in the company of such a fine BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

universal musician. The same applies to the other guys 'n the Quarteto, Chuck Deardorf and Mark Iveste .

Besides "Intro" there are three other short piano nterludes nicely spaced throughout Caboclo.

What was your purpose in including these mini t alistic pieces? r corded these piano vignettes to give the CD a more sontrasting landscape, to provide a change from the in nse ensemble pieces. "Nuvens Claras" is the only o e that was actually written down. I composed it as a present to the great arranger Jim Knapp, who also t aches here at Cornish College in Seattle. It brings to my mind some of the things he does with his fine o hestra. "Luz" is dedicated to my wife Luzia. It was b rn as I recorded it. "No Horizonte do Som," the disc's mat track, is meant to "land" the CD after all the di erent passages. It was completely improvised, and I ope it works as a nice closing statement to

Discography 1997 1997 1997 1996 1996 1996 1995 1995 1993 1992 1992 1990 1990 1989 1987 1985 1984 1984 1982 1980 1979 1978

J.S. Neto Quarteto Andrew Vasquez Gary Stroutsos Gary Stroutsos Mike Marshall Fourth World

Caboclo Liquid City Wind River - Makoche Native Heart Makoche Winds of Honor Makoche Brasil Duets EarthBeat Encounters of the Fourth World (B&W Music) Jovino Santos Neto Stepping on White Sand * Flora Purim Speed of Light (B&W Music) ** Jovino Santos Neto The Curumim's Journey Hermeto e Grupo Festa dos Deuses (Polygram, England) Sergio Mendes Brasileiro (Elektra) Various Artists One World, One Voice (Virgin) Maria Bethania 25 Anos (Polygram) *** Hermeto e Grupo Mundo Verde Esperanca Hermeto e Grupo So Nab Toca Quem Nlio Quer (Som da Gente) Hermeto e Grupo Brasil Universo (Som da Gente) Hermeto e Grupo Lagoa da Canoa, Municipio de Arapiraca (Som da Gente) Nene Ponto dos Miisicos (Paris) Hermeto e Grupo Hermeto Pascoal e Grupo (Som da Gente) Hermeto e Grupo Cirebro Magnifico (WEA Brasil) Hermeto e Grupo Ao Vivo em Montreux (WEA Brasil) Hermeto e Grupo Zabumbi-bum-O (WEA Brasil)

Caboc o.

W 11 people be able to find Caboclo at their neighiporhood Tower Records?

Ca oclo will be distributed by City Hall for the West qoast and Japan and by Twin Brook for the East Coast nd Europe. How that will translate in actual store a ailability, I cannot say right now. This seems to be uch a complicated matter that it makes the composing, performance, and recording of a CD seem very si pie by comparison. We will be working with a radi promoter and a publicist to help more key people have access to the music. We'll see...

*Stepping on White Sand is pending label negotiations. **The Curumim 's Journey started as a soundtrack for a theater play back in Rio in 1993. Jovino plays keyboards, creating all sorts of musical landscapes, from orchestral to very rhythmic grooves with the help of Fabio Pascoal (Hermeto's son) on percussion. ***Mundo Verde Esperanca was supposed to be released in 1989 by Som da Gente. Hermeto got upset with them, however, and walked out of the studio when the project was 80% mixed. It has never been released. Polygram wanted to release it in 1992, but could not get the master from Som da Gente.

Bruce Gilman, music editor for Brazzil, received his Masters degree in music from California Institute of the Arts. e leads the Brazilian jazz ensemble Axe and pl ys cuica for escola de samba MILA. You can reach him through his E-mail: cu ica@interworld.net

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BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997 43

On the t Seat Found in a trunk 24 years after its author's death, The Ye/low Sofa is a delightful little masterpiece. Just released in the U.S., one century after Eca de Queiros's death, it still keeps its freshness.

The Yellow Sofa, by Eca de Queiros, trans. by John Vetch (New Directions, 112 pp., $10.95 paper) BONDO VVYSZPOLSKI

The untitled manuscript which would become known as The Yellow Sofa was found in a trunk in 1924, a quarter of a century after the author's death. In his introduction to the work, Jose Maria d' Eca Queireis says this, "In the end, there are only two points in the confused history of the manuscript which can be asserted with safety and precision: that my father wrote it, and that I have brought it to the light of day."

And for these two points we can be grateful.

Eca. de Queirels is generally regarded as Portugal's greatest 19th century novelist, and the mighty Zola himself is quoted as saying, "He is far greater than my own dear master, Flaubert."

So let's begin. Godofredo Alves comes home early from work one afternoon to surprise his wife and surprise her he does, with his business partner Machado.

Outraged, Alves is resolute about what steps must be taken: his wife, Lulu (Ludovina), is banished to her father's house, and clearly Machado must be challenged to a duel.

Soon the crafty father-in-law arrives, and we meet Lulu's sister Teresa as well as the domineering young maid, Joanna (who may be something more than just the old man's housekeeper).

By this time, The Yellow Sofa has begun to stride jauntily on legs of its own, and despite the seriousness of the subject—adultery, for god's sake—there's a lilting, easy-going rhythm in the prose that seems in stern contrast to the author's contemporaries in the rest of Europe. In truth, without being outright funny, there's an amusing undercurrent to the novella that roughly parallels Brazil's Machado de Assis and prefigures the wry masterworks of Jorge Amado, let alone Portugal's Jose Saramago.

Alves calls on his friends, Car \ alho and Medeiros, and while no one would describe them as happygo-lucky, it transpires that they have had affairs and what of it?

Before long, they conclude that what Alves is so upset over hardly qualifies as more than a flirtation Their strategy is that Alves should save face and eventually forgive and forget.

We must remember that Alves is indignant throughout most of this book; after all, his integrity and good name have been besmirched. It's not that Carvalho and Medeiros don't take him seriously, it's just that they don't live in an uptight country—like the present-day United States.

The best part of The Yellow Sofa is in its turnaround. These pages are to be savored, it's like the sudden arrival of your favorite dessert, and it's only at the very end, when the book surges forward and quickly ties up all of its loose ends, that it seems forced and a bit rushed.

No matter, we have been pleased and entertained, we have had a few laughs and perhaps a few tears, and I shall say only this, The Eca and his wife Yellow Sofa is an engrossing delight.

44

BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

An Excerpt: His only fear was that the trinket would be too expensive. But no, only a fiver, and as he examined it, the jeweler told him that he had just sold another such to the Marchesa de Lima. He hesitated no longer but paid at once and when he had gone a few paces down the street, he stopped at a shady spot, opened the box and gave it another look, so pleased was he with his purchase. And as so often happens to someone giving a present, he was overcome by emotion...like a door opening into a man's egoism and innate greed, and through it a broad tide of latent generosity sweeping in. At that moment, he would have liked to be rich, so as to be able to give her a diamond necklace. For she deserved it. They had been married four years and never had there been a cloud between them.

The moment he had first seen her, one evening in Pedrougas, he had worshipped her; but he could now admit that he had at first been overawed by her. He had thought her proud, exacting, aloof. All because of her lovely figure, her big dark eyes, her erect bearing, her crisp wavy hair...But in that magnificent body of a barbarous queen, he had discovered the heart of a child. She was good, charitable, lighthearted, and her disposition was as placid and gentle as the limpid surface of a summer river.

Some four months ago, for a brief while, she had shown some depression, a little melancholy, a touch of nerves, so that he had wondered whether... But unfortunately, it was not that! It had been nerves.

It had passed and a reaction followed—never had she been more tender, so happy as in the recent past, filling him with such contentment.

And beneath his sunshade in the burning heat, as he climbed up New Street at Carmo, all this was dancing merrily in his heart.

At the top of the street, at Mata's restaurant, he stopped to order a fish pie for six o'clock. He also bought a cold ham and looked around to see what else he could take, eager and happy as a bird that is furnishing its nest. Then he climbed the Chiado. He stopped for a moment to look at a poet and historian, a celebrity, who wore an old silk jacket and straw hat and was at that moment chatting at the entrance of the Bernard, about to blow his nose with his enormous flowered handkerchief. Alves admired his novels and liked his style. He then bought some cigars for his fatherin-law, for after dinner. Finally, he went down the Post Office steps which glittered in the sunlight, dusty and dry.

In spite of the heat, he walked quickly, fingering from time to time the box with the bracelet, which he had put into his jacket pocket.

He had reached Sao Bento Street, a few steps from home, when he saw their servant girl, Margarida, waiting at the confectioner's counter. He at once realized that Lulu had not forgotten the happy date, their anniversary; Margarida had been sent to buy cakes and pastries.

I. BRAZZIL -AUGUST 1997

In a coup e of paces, he entered his own door. It was a building of two stories, painted blue, hemmed in between two tall buildings. He occupied the first floor, and was not on good terms with his neighbors above—noisy, I common peo •le—and did not like their sharing the corn- I fort he had b ought into the entrance hall, when at Lulu's I request he h . • had the staircase carpeted. But he had not I regretted it; t was always a pleasure, on entering the building, to el beneath his feet the carpet covering the stairs, givin him a feeling of solid comfort. All this I helped his se f-esteem.

Upstairs, he maid Margarida had just returned and left I the door aja ; deep silence reigned within the house; I everything s emed to be asleep in the extreme heat of the day. A stron glare came from the skylight, and the bellpull, with its scarlet tassel, hung motionless.

Then he ad an absurd idea, like a playful bridegroom—to g , step by step, into the lounge and surprise I Lulu, who at that hour would normally be dressing for I dinner. And was already smiling at the little cry that she would give, erhaps in her white skirt, her lovely arms bare.. .The fi St room was the dining-room which led, I through two curtained doors, to her boudoir and the draw ing-roo . He went in. On the carpeted floor, his light I. summer shoe made not the slightest sound. Everything I seemed dese ed, in a silence so complete that he could even hear the ound of frying coming from the kitchen and the canary h pping about in its cage on the balcony. He I went towards the boudoir curtain and, smiling a little smile, was going to draw it and surprise her, when there came from behind I he half-drawn curtain of the drawing-room a slight noise, indistinct, something of a : sigh, a throat being cleared. Hearing her I there, he turned, peeped in.. .And what he I saw—good God!—Ieft him petrified, breath- I less. The blood rushed to his head and so I sharp was the pain at his heart that it almost hrew him to the ground. On the yellow : damask sofa, fronting a little table on which I here stood a bottle of port, Lulu in a white egligee, was leaning in abandon on the shoulder of a man whose arm was around I er waist, and smiling as she gazed languorously at him.

The man was Machado!

As the curtain moved, Ludovina had I seen him, and with a cry, instinctively I umped up from the sofa. Alves heard the I ry but was quite unable to move. He found imself slumped, he knew not how, in a chair beside the door and he was trembling, cold all over, I yet shaking as in a fever. Through the tumult of the fever, I which filled is head and left him bereft of thought, he heard the tu oil going on in the drawing-room, heavy I footsteps pac ng the carpet, whispered words anxiously I exchanged... ere was the sound of the latch on the door leading to th staircase, then silence. Then the thought that the two of them had fled restored his strength, anger I possessed hi i , and with a leap he burst headlong into the room. But he Stumbled over a fox skin which adorned the I doorway and went sprawling ridiculously on the carpet. I When he got to his feet, his fists clenched in fury, the curtain at the oor to the staircase was swinging to and fro in the breeze there was no one in the room.

U'

45

Books

Play Rio Alcovas de Cetim (Satin Alcove) Rebeca Fonda, an unrecognized great actress lives in a fantasy world. Written

by Regiana Antonini, who won the Sharp prize as Brazil's 1996 best playwright. Ines Vianna does the monologue. Candido Damm directs.

Bonifticio Bilhoes (Bonifacio Billion) - Comedy by world-renowned playwright Joao Bethencourt who also directs. How winning the lottery changes a man's life. It premiered in 1975. With Francisco Milani, Rogerio Cardoso, and Elizangela.

Bravissimo (Bravissimo) - Written

by Regiana Antonini e Marcelo Saback, who is also the director, with Edwin Luisi, Luisa Thire and Fabio Villa Verde. Fifteen years after leaving the man whom he loves to pursue a successful career, a maestro, now with AIDS, meets again his former lover. Teatro Villa-Lobos.

Cabaret Brazil - From Getulio Vargas (1954) to the military dictatorship's cruellest year (1968), the history of Brazil on a cabaret stage. Musical from Wolf Maya and Cininha de Paula directed by WolfMaya. With Rosa Marya, Serjao Loroza, Claudia Lira, Adriana Garambone, and Danielle Winits.

Sao Paulo

Antonio Mora Recebe Fernando Pessoa (Antonio Mora Receives Fernando Pessoa) Comic monologue from Marco Ant6nio Braz and Mauricio Marques. A medium trying in vain to chanel the great Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa who also used the Ant6nio Mora pen name. Directed by Marco Antonio Braz. With Mauricio Marques.

0 Cord& Umbilical (The Umbilical Cord) - Comedy written by Mario Prata. The '70s' youth through the eyes of a prostitute, an actress and a student.

Directed by Paolino Raffanti with Camila Raffanti.

As Sereias da Zona Sul (The South Side Mermaids) - Written by Miguel Falabella and Vicente Pereira. This is the successful ten-year-old besteirol (nonsense) comedy from Rio with Paulista clothes. Two actresses, Rosi Campos and Zezeh Barbosa, play 10 characters.

Urn Espirito Baixou em Mim (A Spirit Possessed Me) - On the eve of his wedding, super macho man is possessed by a gay spirit who starts to flirt with the bride's brother. Comedy written by Ronaldo Ciambroni. With 'Walter Carvalho and Vitor Branco, who also directed.

46

best-sellers American films just released: Batman & Robin (Batman & Robin), Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (Beavis and Butt-Head Detonam a America), Breakdown (Breakdown-Implaccivel Perseguiceio), Fly Away Home (Voando para Casa), Hercules (Hercules), Lie Down With Dogs (Amor Entre Iguais), Marvin's Room (As Filhas de Marvin), Unhook the Stars (De Bem coin a Vida), Walking and Talking (Amigas Curtindo Adoidado) Baile Perfumado (Fragrant Ball) - Brazil 1996 - Directed by first time directors Paulo Caldas, 33, from Paraiba state and Lido Ferreira, 32, from Pernambuco. The story, of Lebanese Benjamin Abrahao, the only person who in the '30s was able to film bandit Lampiao and his band. With Claudio Mamberti (Benjamin), Luis Carlos Vasconcelos (Lampiao), and Jofre Soares (Padre Cicero).

Ed Mort -- Brazil - 1996 - Private eye Ed Mort (his name plays with the word morte, death in Portuguese) is hired by a suspicious wife to locate her husband -• a master of disguise when he disappears. Based on the comical characters created by writer Luis Fernando Verissimo.

Direct by Alain Fresnot. With Paulo Betti, Claudia Abreu, Irene Ravache and Otavio Augusto.

Je T'aime Moi Non Plus (Paixao Selvagem) - France - 1976 - Directed by Serge Gainsbourg with Jane Birkin and Joe Dalessandro. Homosexual truckdriver falls in love with a yqung waitress.

O Que E Isso, Companheiro? (What's That, Pal?)-Brazil - 1996 -The story ofthe young guerrillas from the ALN (Acao Libertadora Nacional) and MR-8 (Movimento Revolucionario) who on September 4, 1969 kidnapped Charles Elbrick, the American ambassador in Brazil exchanging him for 15 political prisoners.

Loosely based on Fernando Gabeira's book of same name. Directed by Bruno Barreto. With Alan Arkin, Pedro Cardoso, Fernanda Torres, Selton Mello, and Fernanda Montenegro.

0 Sera() das Memorias (Backlands of Memories) - Brazil 1996 - Antero Marques Aratijo e Maria Emilce Pinto, parents of director Jose Araujo, show their social conflict in dealing with the constant drought in Brazi I ' s backlands.

Urn Ceu de Estrelas (Starry Sky) - Brazil - -1996-Directed by Tata Amaral with Alleyona Cavalli and Paulo Garcia. In an effort to reconcile a couple get involved in a tragic kidnapping.

0 Velho: A Histeria de Luiz Carlos Prestes (The Old Man: The Luiz Carlos Prestes's Story) Brazil - 1995 - Documentary based on a 1985 interview given by the founder of PCB (Partido Comunista Brasileiro-Brazilian Communist Party), Luiz Carlos Prestes (1898-1990). By Toni Venturi, narrated by actor Paulo Jose.

Fiction 1. 0 Paciente Inglês Michael Ondaatje

2. 0 Homem que Calculava Malba Tahan

3. Legitima Defesa - Jonathan Kellerman 4. 0 Mundo de Sofia - Jostein Gaarder 5. 0 Diamante de Jerusalem Noah Gordon

6. Hercules-Inesquecivel Romance Walt Disney

7. Crwando o Paraiso - Sam Shepard 8. 0 Ultimo Chefiio - Mario Puzo 9. Nilo Es Tu, Brasil - Marcelo Rubens Paiva

10. Novas Comedias da Vida Privada Luis Fernando Verissimo

Nonfiction 1. Chic - Urn Guia Basic° de Moda e Estilo - GlOria Kalil 2. Ditirio de um Magro - Mario Prata 3. Che Guevara-Uma Vida em Vermelho - Jorge Castaiieda 4. A Galera de Obelix Goscinny & Uderzo

5. Viagem pela HistOria do Brasil Jorge Caldeira

6. Elegiincia-Como o Homem Deve Se Vestir - Fernando de Barros 7. 0 Rio do Meio - Lya Luft 8. Hist6ria da Vida Privada no Brasil Fernando Novais and Laura de Mello e Souza 9. Vinho para Leigos - E. McCarthy 10. 0 Principio Dilbert - Scott Adams

Self-Help/New Age 1. A Profecia Celestina James Redfield

2. A Inteligencia Emocional Daniel Goleman 3.A Inteligencia Emocional e a Arte de

Edu car Nossos Filhos John Gottman and Joan DeClaire

4. As Sete Leis Espirituais do Sucesso Deepak Chopra

5. Violetas na Janela Vera Lucia Marizeck Carvalho

6. Sem Medo de Viver Zibia Gasparetto 7. Meu Anjo - Fausto Oliveira

8. Minutos de Sabedoria

Torres Pastorino

9. Muitas Vidas, Muitos Mestres Brian L. Weiss

10. Manual do Guerreiro da Luz Paulo Coelho According to weekly newsmagazine Veja BRAZZIL -AUGUST 1997

000 roc, THE HOME TEAM An ex-truck driver, a former boxer, an ex-BBC journalist, ' and a soccer coach—all of them Brazilian—are some of the players ESPN, the all-sports-allthe-time channel, has chosen for its Brazilian team ofjournalists, commentators and technicians. Working out of a cramped trailer outside the ESPN building in the small town of Bristol—a 40minute drive from New York City—the group is responsible for feeding the considerable hunger Brazilians have for sports through cable and satellite TV. The team's captain is sports commentator Jose Inacio Werneck, 60, who has worked for public TV in Rio and for the London-based BBC. Soccer coach Flavio Pereira used to play for Juventus, a professional soccer team from Sao Paulo. Now he is one of the editors for the material produced by the Brazilians.

Ex-boxer Roberto Figueroa works part time as a narrator, and Iva Zimmerman, who for a long time traveled throughout the U.S. as a truck driver, is now in charge of broadcasting.

A LITTLE EXPOSURE Nineteen of the most important modern and contemporary Brazilian sculptors are being featured at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) headquarters in Washington, D.C. The exposition, called "Brazilian Sculpture: An Identity Profile," comprises 60 works and represents a rare occasion to exhibit the Brazilian talent in sculpture. It is also believed to be the most complete panel of Brazilian sculptors ever shown in the U.S. Organized by Emanoel Araujo, director of Pinacoteca do Estado de Sao Paulo, the exhibit is divided in four segments and covers works from the 1920s to the present. The first segment presents modern sculpture through the works of Victor Brecheret, Alfredo Ceschiatti, Ernesto de Fiori, Bruno Giorgi, and Maria Martins. The second shows concretistinfluenced sculptures by Sergio Camargo, Amilcar de Castro, Lygia Clark, Hello Oiticica, Mary Vieira, and Franz Weissman.

In a third segment are Li uba, Cacipore Torres, and Nicolas Vlavianos, representing the 60s. Francisco Brennand, Waltercio Caldas, Mestre Didi, Kracberg, Jose Resende, and Rubem Valentim are grouped in the last segment and representing the contemporary sculpting scene in Brazil.

BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

After an extraordinary successf summer European tour with freque sold-out concerts, singer-compos Gilberto Gil is coming to the Unit States with his long-anticipated Quan a tour. Quanta, Gil's latest CD—his fir original material in five years—dra inspiration from science, technolog and modern life, as exemplified by t title song and "Pela Internet" (By t Internet).

"Pela Internet" had its premiere o the Internet before the tune was release

to the stores or played on radio. Another Brazilian musical icon, Caetano Veloso, has said, "Gil is the prophet, I am only his apostle." Gil is bringing along guitarists Arthur Maia and Sergio Chiavazzoli, keyboadist Paulo Calazans, sax player Raul Mascarenhas, drummer Jorge Gomes, and percussionists Leonardo Reiss and Gustavo de Dalva.

The U.S. show will include many of Gil's old favorites. The Bahiano (from Bahia state) singer-composer will perform August .31 in San Francisco at the Masonic Auditorium and September 3 at the Hollywood Bowl.

Learn Another Language on Your Own! Learn to speak a foreign language fluently on your 0 WT1 1110111 11140:44.1 and at your own pace with what are considered the finest in-depth courses available. Many were developed by the Foreign Service Institute of the U.S. Department of State for diplomatic personnel who must learn a language quickly and thoroughly. Emphasis is on learning to speak and to understand the spoken language. A typical course (equivalent to a college semester) includes an album of 10 to 12 audio cassettes (10 to 18 hours), recorded by native-born speakers, plus a 250-page textbook. Some of our Courses: 0 Arabic, Saudi $185 0 German! $185 0 Latin $160 0 Serbo-Croatian $195 0 Egyptian $185 0 German II $155 LI Latvian $185 0 Slovak $185 0 Bulgarian $245 0 Greek $185 0 Lithuanian $135 0 Spanish I $185 0 Cantonese $185 0 Haitian Creole $225 0 Mandarin $185 0 Spanish II $165 0 Catalan $185 0 Hebrew $255 0 Norwegian $125 El Swedish $185 El Czech $125 0 Hungarian $195 0 Persian $185 El Swahili $225 0 Danish $185 0 Italian $185 0 Polish $185 El Tagalog $295 0 Dutch $125 O Japanese $185 0 Portuguese $215 0 Thai $195 0 Estonian $295 O Khmer $225 (Brazilian) 0 Turkish $195 0 French! $185 El Korean $195 O Romanian $115 El Ukrainian $195 0 French!! $215 o Lakota $185 O Russian $225 0 Urdu $185 0 Vietnamese $225 You can order now with a full 3-week money-back guarantee.

ie..Call (203) 453-9794, fax (203) 453-9774, e-mail: 74537.550@compuserve.com l Or clip this ad and send with your name and ddress and a check or money order— or charge to any major credit card, by enclosing card number, exp ration date, and your signature. Ask for our free 56-page Whole World Language Catalog with cour es in 96 languages.

aumairagturri Audio-Forum, Suite P707, THE LANGUAGE SOURCE

96 Broad Street, Guilford, CT 06437 U.S.A.

47

11 LETIS FAC I L PORTUGUESE

NI NM MI In MI

Modern Lan uage Center

. al.

111% 1/11011 WUii I 1,11.1 'WU . .

Registration always open Study Portuguese in Rio, June 20 - July 18, 1997

Portuguese, Spanish, English (ESL), French, Italian Instructioa/Translotion/Integaretotion Small groups and individual tutoring Credentialed instructors

(310) 839-8427

Qualificocao poi(' ernpreslinio de cosa. Seu sonho pode se jk tornar realidode compre‘ aquela cosa quo voce sernpre quiz OU 125% EC JD financiamento no sua casa proplia, credit° ruitn, nenhum credit() ou falencia Nos Telefone (310) 585 - 8911 Finance Plus Mortgage Corp.

LANGUAGE SERVICES (415) 587-4990 CERTIFIED TRANSLATIONS (TRAMP() JURAMENTADA) Le al, Medical, Scientitic, usiness Documents and School Transcripts

Certified by the California Judicial Council and filed with the Brazilian Consulate Since 1981

AXE cMzazilian. azz `Xasernao We bring you infectious

enerilAi, a driving rhythm, and the most innovative Brazilian instrumental music

BARBARA MAGLIO

General Computer

E-mail: bimaglio@compuserve.com

(310) 839-3788

SOYEGH PROMOTION ENTERTOINMENT BRAZILIAN SHOWS LIVE BAND LIVE PERFORMANCES BRAZILIAN SAMBA SHOW GIRLS DJ. WITH ALL THE CURRENT HITS BRAZILIAN FOOD TROPICAL DECORATION AND EVERYTHING YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE YOUR PARTY COMPLETE For more info or o list of our low prices please call:

(562) 923-6659

ATTORNEY AT LAW/ABORAOR/A0VOCAO0 MEMBER, STATE BAR OF CALIFORNIA

(818) 897-3661 IMMIGRATION MATTERS DEPORTATION DEFENSE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY CALIFORNIA

(818) 592-0402

• GREEN CARDS THROUGH MARRIAGE F. FAMILY • EMPLOYMENT VISAS

from Portuguese

En (561) 391-1057 cc Fax: (561) 391-2174

7635 FALLBROOK AVE. WEST HILL, CA 91304

Me lbw, Ammo linaratio WA-vers 4.14.1(6111

to a

17= Em

CENTRO BRASILEIRO PARA,0 TRATAMENTO DE VIOLENCIA DOMESTICA, DROGAS, ALCO_OLISMO, , DEPRESSAO, SAUDE MENTAL EM GERAL

11191111111

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BRAZILIAN FLAG PATCH Embroidered, 2 1/4" by 3 1/2", finest materials, american made, $ 4.00 ea. s/h included Caps and T-shirts available soon AGDEX, Box 262087,Houston,Tx.,77207 E-mail: louis55501ash.net

FREEIHILIALCONSULIAIION MONTHLY PAYMENT PLAN AVAILABLE

I ALSO HANDLING AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENTS I 1.2.1A2'hictittt ..luatsti Tel: (310) 395.2828

WHEREVER YOU ARE IN THIS GALAXY

BRAZIL CO)NTNECTIONS

NEEDS

HUGE INCOME POTENTIAL FOR THOSE WHO KNOW ANYONE IN BRAZIL. LARGE SUCCESSFUL INTERNATIONAL COMPANY OPENING SOON. DEMAND ALREADY BUILDING. GRAB LARGE MARKET SHARE BY ACTING NOW.

WAVITED VOLUNTEERS FOR PROOFREADING WRITING MAINTAINING MAILING LIST & EVERYTHING ELSE

213-255-8062 brazzil@brazzil.com

NO INVESTMENT

(818) 887-7578

Li I WANT MORE INFORMATION ON ADVERTISING IN bfonii PLEASE SEND ME A MEDIA KIT. COVPANY: CONTACT: ADDRESS: CR ST, ZIP: PH01,E. PRODUCT:

FAX: RETURN THIS FORM TO:

BRAZZIL - P.O. BOX 42536 LOS ANGELES, CA 90050 Call (213)255-8062 or E-mail: brazzil@brazzil.com

For Ad, call (213) 255-8062 or E-mail: brazzil@brazzil.com BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

FEIRA LIVRE OPEN MARKET ACTORS/COMMERCIALS

JOB OFFERED

TV Commercials - Secrets of "How You Can Star in Commercials and Make Big $$ Money".

(All ages, all sizes, all ethnic groups.) Valuable report. Send $12 to M. C. Randell, Box 17564, Beverly Hills, CA 90210 [138]

Precisa-se de um padeiro corn muita pratica; principalmente parafabricacao industrial de PAO DE QUEIJO E SALGADOS. Boa oportunidade,. Telefone (213) 266-0899 - Area de Los Angeles. Chamar pela Dra. Cynthia Cho. [135]

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

$5.000 Carta° de Credit° *Aprovacao Garantida * Sem credit° nos E.U.A., nao-residente, ou credit° ruim, aceito! Nao requeremos deposit°. 6.95% APR. Ligue ja. 1 (888)838-0939.

SOUTH AMERICA/EUROPE EXPANSION - Billion $ Corporate expansion looking for individuals with contacts in Brazil and Europe. High income potential. 1(800) 337-0264 [141] CATERING

ATENcA0 BRASILEIROS Cozinhamos na sua residencia para congelar. (562) 438-3415 [140] CLASSES

Precisamos de sambistas pai a shows. (213) 812-7393 [140] Urgente! Wanted PortugueseEnglish speaking communicable people. $$ 2000-4000 p/t, $$ 4000-8000 f/t. Call (818) 8120256 [141] MISCELLANEOUS

Agradecendo Graca Recebida - Orar o Salmo 38 tres vezes ao dia tres dias consecutivos.

Publicar agradecendo graca recebida. B.A.R. [137] Coming to Rio? American living in Rio needs someone to bring guitar equipment from San Francisco. Will compensate. Please, send your E-mail to Peter at leilacosta@ax.ibase.org.br [140]

Aprenda Ingles - $20 cada hora - Individual (310)398-9228 Professor: Christopher Rudolph [137]

Divido conteiner para Sao Paulo. Outubro ou novembro de 1997. Entre em contato corn Karla. (415)334-1559 [140]

Conversational Brasilian Portuguese Method tried several methods to learn BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE, but when I started lessons with NIL SON, 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 Semi-Private.

Phone (310) 379-0738 [141] Looking for a very fast, efficient, and pleasant way to learn Brazilian Portuguese? (415) 9913476 [141]

Pray 9 times 9 days - May the sacred heart of Jesus be adored, glorified, loved, preserved, throughout the world. Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us. St. Jude, worker of miracles, pray for us. St. Jude, helper of the hopeless, pray for us.

COOKING

Delightful Brazilian Cooking

by Eng Tie Ang. two for one sale $14.95. plus $5 shipping and handling. Over 130 authentic, quick and easy recipes. P.O. Box 30818 - Seattle, WA 98103 Phone and Fax (206) 789-3693.

[142] INTERNATIONAL TELEPHONE

Prepaid International Callback Telephone Cards - Low rates between any countries. Brazil to USA for 730 per minute!

(619) 738-7005 or (619) 4329709 [135] BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

MUSIC

Brazilian Music in its totality.

Samba, bossa nova, chorinho, baiAo, axe, and more. Merchant Express (800) 589-5884 Music for all occasions. Live, D.J. or Elvis impersonator. Affordable (213) 469-2204 - Gerry [138] Norma Blase - soft Brazilian jazz, bossa, samba. Vocal/guitar duo to larger ensemble. Oakland (510) 451-3639 [135] NEWSPAPERS & MAGAZINES

Jornais e revistas do Brasil.

Recebemos jornais diarios e todas as principals revistas, incluindo masculinas e femininas. Tel. (800) 589-5884 PERSONAL WOMAN SEEKS MAN

FEIRA LIVRE RATES: 500 a word. Phone is one word.

DISCOUNTS: For 3 times deduct 5%, for 6 times deduct 10%. for 12 times deduct 15%.

POLICY: All ads to be prepaid. Ads are accepted at our discretion. Your canceled check is your receipt. Please, include address and phone number, which will be kept confidential.

DEADLINE: The 25th of the month. Late material will be held for the following month if appropriate.

TO PLACE AD: Send ad with check, money order or your Credit Card number (plus your name and expiration date) to: BRAZZIL P.O. Box 42536 Los Angeles, CA 90050-0536.

Americana corn coracao brasileiro, bem educada, que adora a mnsica, o samba, a cultura, a linguae o povo br sileiros, queria conhecer urn br ileiro solteiro de 40 anos ou mat, em boa forma, morando em Ney York City ou pertinho.Messages to E-mail: sylvia2125@aol.com [130] PERSONAL

PERSONAL FRIENDSHIP AND CHATTING

Male, 30, wants to meet Brazilians to practice Portuguese. I studied for a year but need to practice. (818) 548-5935 [137] PRODUCTS

rao de Queijo —30 por $10 — Angela (310) 398-9228 [137]

MAN SEEKS'WOMAN

American, male,white, 45 years old, would like t meet a Brazilian or Portugues lady. I speak English only. !.e open. Call (415) 757-1946 ( ves) [142] mericano„ entrepreneur seeks Brazilian y 18-36, open mind and attracti e. Send letter/ photo. Chris - 09 Minna St. #338 - San Franci co, CA 941053728 [136] Americano, 36, atraente, romantic° e sin ero. Procura brasileira 18-45. nviar foto para: 2440 - 16th St. # 79, San Francisco, CA 94103 [148]

PSYCHOTHERAPY

Chronic & Life Threatening illnesses,A.D.D. & dyslexia, life transitions, bicultural & relationship issues, sexual identity conflict — Edison de Mello, M.D.; Ph.D./MFCC — Portuguese/ Spanish/ English. (310) 656-6987 [137] Emotional & psychological help- Elizabete Almeida MFCC licensed psychotherapist. English/Portuguese. Reasonable rates. (310) 281-7536. [146] TAX

Americano, 38 anos, olhos azuis, fala portugues, queria conhecer brasileira de 18 a 30 anos. Chamar Wil iam (310) 2047913 [139]

A TTT Services - Tax & Translation & Travel andNotary (909) 627-2171 [146]

English male, 39, Antique dealer, own busin ss, financially secure, attractive sophisticated, has toured Brazil seeks slim attractive Brasileir for long-term relationship and to share life.

Send letters and hotos to Mike, 50, Cranworth d., Worthing, West Sussex, En land BN112JF [141] Sort-of-Americ n, corporate jaguar, very succ sful, 33, needing some serious stress relief... looking for a ye sexy, furry Brazilian kitten t play with. If you are 22-32, in razil or USA, no problem... I'll y you. Letter with photos to G , 342 S. Highland Ave. #14A, ittsburgh, PA, 15206, USA [13

Excursao Las Vegas - Saidatodo sabado: (LA) 8:00 AM - Chegada: (Vegas) 2:00 PM - Saida: (Vegas) 10:00 PM - Chegada: (LA) Domingo/manha 4:00 AM - $69/pessoa Tel . (310) 815-8717

TOURISM

TRANSLATION & INTERP.

English to Portuguese, technical translation. Precise, fast turnaround - Ricardo Paoletti (716) 839-5310. Fax: (716) 839-5410.

E-mail: paolett@ibm.net Translations - Barbara Maglio, to & from Portuguese, General and Computer. Tel.: (561) 3911057, Fax: (561) 391-2174, Em a i 1:bj m ag 1 io@ compuserve.com [134] 49

255-8062. Deadline: the 25t ax our Calenda r info to ( 213) 257-3487, E-ma ilit to brazzil@brazzil.com - ma il to P.O. Box 4 2536 L.A., CA 90050 or ca ll (213)

calendar - aug/sep 97 - u.s.a.

TV & RADIO COAST TO COAST SHORT WAVE RADIO Radio Nacional da Amaz6nia - Daily, especially on evenings and early morning -6,180 & 11,780 Khz Radiobras - All universal time - From 12 noon to 1.20 PM, in English and from 1:30 PM to 2:50 PM, in Spanish 15,445 Khz BOSTON Coragao Brasileiro - Every Monday, 8:00 PM - 10:3 PM with Dennis Miller 88.1 FM - WMBR Brazilian Style of Music Every Friday, 11:00 am 2:00 pm, 91.5 FM, WMFO with Marlon Catao CHICAGO The Sounds of Brazil - Every Saturday, 10.00 pm Midnight, 95.5 FM, WI\IUA with Scott Adams Show Brazil - Every Friday, 8:00 am - 11:00 am, 91.5 FM, WMFO with Edna Moreno DENVER Brazilian Fantasy - Every Sunday, 4:00 pm - 6 00 pm, i 89.3 FM, KUVO LOS ANGELES TV Brazil TV - Buena Vision, Channels 6 or 56 (Mon 8:30 pm); LBCTV-CVI (Long Beach & Signal Hill), C,hannel 57 or 65 (Wed - 6.30 pm); CVI (San Fernando Valley), Channel 27 (Tue. 7:30 pm) RADIO Sounds of Brazil - Every Saturday, 1:00 PM - 3.00 pm, KPFK, 90.7 FM with Sergio Mielniczenko Brazilian Hour - Every Saturday and Sunday, 9.00 am - 10:00 am, KXLU, 88.9 FM with Sergio Mielniczenko MIAMI RADIO Brazilians Love Jazz - Every Sunday, 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm with Gina Martelli -93.9 - Love 94

Ill 11.N•111111111 NEW YORK 9:00, 11:00 PM, & 1 AM - Juliana Aquino Brazilian Samba at S.O.B.'s

LOS ANGELES 10:00 PM - Kleber Jorge & Meia Noite at Mamagaya (310) 659-4999

.1 1111.

1 HOLLYWOOD, FLOR. 9:00 PM - Clauduarte SA at Brazil Samba Café - (954) 920-4426

LOS ANGELES 9:30 PM - Lula & Afro Brasil at Zabumba

10:00 PM - MILA Samba School at Café Danssa

IRVINE, CAL. 7:00 PM - Sonia Santos at Sutton Place - Performing also on the 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29 and 30th (714) 4762001

ANAHEIM, CAL. 7:00 PM - Lois sings Brazil at Ginga Brasil

.111111111111111111W NEW YORK 3:00 & 7:00 PM - Film Terra

LOS ANGELES 9:30 PM - Lula & Afro Brasil at Zabumba 10:00 PM - MILA Samba School at Cafe Danssa

10:00 PM - Katia Moraes at La Ve Lee

(818) 980-8158

ANAHEIM, CAL. 7:00 PM - Sergio 2000 at Ginga Brasil NEW YORK 3:00 & 7:00 PM - Film Pequeno Dicionario Amoroso at Brooklyn Museum of Art

SAN FRANCISCO 10:00 PM - Entre N6s at Bahia Cabana ANAHEIM, CAL. 7:00 PM - Sergio 2000 at Ginga Brazil LOS ANGELES 9:30 PM - ULA Samba Band at Zabumba 10:00 PM - Constellation Band at Cafe

Estrangeira at Brooklyn Museum of Art

immvigivakimum

S.O.B.'s

SANTA MONICA, CAL. 8:00 PM - Samba Academy & Banda Terraquia at 14 Below (310) 641-3502

9:00, 11:00 PM, & 1 AM - Juliana Aquino Brazilian Samba at ANAHEIM, CAL. 7:00 PM - Lois sings Brazil at Ginga Brazil

SAN FRANCISCO 10:00 PM - Entre N6s at Bahia Cabana

Danssa

LOS ANGELES 9:00 PM - Axe plays choro, baiao, and samba at Zabumba

LOS ANGELES 9:30 PM - ULA Samba Band at

111AWAIIIIIM 1.1111111114,14 1101 4, BEVERLY HILLS 9:00 PM - Katia Moraes at Bokaos (310)

10:00 PM - Constellation Band at

659-1200

Zabumba

Café Danssa

immviligavikomi SAN FRANCISCO 3:00 PM - Closing of the 5th World Congress on Orixa Tradition at Civic Auichtorium (415) 563-3585 7:00 PM - Liza Silva & Friends at Odisseia Café

SANTA MONICA, CAL. 8:00 PM - Samba Academy & Banda Terraquia at 14 Below (310) 641-3502

LOS ANGELES 9:30 PM - Lois sings Brazil at

Zabumba

tIl*1 BEM VI= LOS ANGELES

liojimmaira BERKELEY, CAL. 9:00 PM - Carlos Oliveira & Liza Silva at Nino's

LOS ANGELES 10:00 PM - Kleber Jorge & Meia Noite at

Mamagaya (310) 659-4999

NEW YORK 7:00 PM - Brazilian writer Wilson Loria's plays L'Enfant de Theatre and Deadline at El Caney Café, 154W 26th St - Free (718) 937-0574

LOS ANGELES 9:30 PM - Lula & Afro Brasil at Zabumba 10:00 PM - MILA Samba School at Cafe Danssa

9:00 PM - Axe plays choro, baiao, and samba at Zabumba

ANAHEIM, CAL. 7:00 PM - Lois sings Brazil at Ginga Brasil

EWA 4 11 0 I *4 111.1vM BEVERLY HILLS 9:00 PM - Katia Moraes at Bokaos

BERKELEY, CAL. 2:00 PM - Capoeira Batizado with several

(310) 659-1200

i: iii11-1 'YAW C

Capoeira masters at the Hearst Gym - UC Berkeley (510) 643-5151

BERKELEY, CAL.

SAN FRANCISCO 10:00 PM - Liza Silva & Voz do Brasil at

9:00 PM - Carlos Oliveira & Liza Silva at Nino's

SANTA MONICA, so

9:00 PM - Katia Moraes at The Buffalo (310) 450-8600

GAL,

Bahia Cabana

ANAHEIM, CAL. BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

calendar - aug/sep 97 - u.s.a.

7:00 PM - Lois sings Brazil at Ginga Brasil

LOS ANGELES 10:00 PM - Constellation Band at Café

Danssa

(213) 734-1164

1111111Y1Y14 *41711111111111 LOS ANGELES 8:00 PM - Gilberto Gil at Holly-

wood Bowl - TicketMaster

SANTA MONICA, CAL. 8:00 PM - Samba Academy & Banda Terraquia at 14 Below (310) 641-3502

11111r1v1 el I *1971.Vansi LOS ANGELES 8:00 PM - Gilberto Gil at Holly-

wood Bowl - TicketMaster minzalizavium.

BERKELEY, CAL. 9:00 PM - Carlos Oliveira & Liza Silva at

SAN DIEGO, CAL.

LOS ANGELES

5:00 PM TO MIDNIGHT - Ivan Lins & Brazilian Street Carnaval at

Nino's

10:00 PM - Kleber Jorge & Meia Noite at

Mamagaya (310) 659-4999 11111=111161i1 lga

LOS ANGELES Danssa

SAN FRANCISCO 8:00 PM -Djavan at MasonicAuditorium - Opening act: Damien( 15)

392-4400

ANAHEIM, CAL. 7:30 PM - Sergio 2000 at Ginga Brasil

11111

San Diego Street Scene (619) 3503300

111.111:111 III N • LAY LIME

9:30 PM - Lula & Afro Brasil at Zabumba 10:00 PM - MILA Samba School at Café

1allasialEall11.11

NEW YORK 8:00 - Sandra de SA & Emilio Santiago

BrazilFest 97 at the Lincoln Center - Free (212) 997-4070

SAN FRANCISCO 10:00 PM - Entre N6s at Bahia Cabana

ANAHEIM, CAL.

LOS ANGELES 6:00 PM - Flora Purim & Airto Moreira in Brazilian Summer Festival at John Anson Ford Theatre

(818) 566-1111

SAN DIEGO, CAL. 4:00 PM TO MIDNIGHT - Olodum & Brazilian Street Carnaval at

San Diego Street Scene (619) 3503300

umigavirAmi

7:00 PM - Sergio 2000 at Ginga Brazil

LOS ANGELES 10:00 PM - Constellation Band at Café

Danssa

LOS ANGELES 6:00 PM - Flora Purim & Airto Moreira in Brazilian Summer Festival at John Anson Ford Theatre

9:00 PM - Katia Moraes at Luna Park (310)

(818) 566-1111

ummvap.avaimmin NEW YORK

:00AM - Brazilian lndepend nce Day Celebration at Yerba B ena

652-0611

All day - Dia do Brasil at 46th Street with S6 Pra Contrariar and several other attrac-

SAN FRANCISCO Gardens

tions

8:00 PM - Gilberto Gil at Masonic Audito-

rium (415) 392-4400

Afternoon -Olodum at African Market Place

ANAHEIM, CAL.

8:00 PM - Fernanda Abreu and Paralamas do Sucesso part of

MIDEM Latin America and Caribbean Music Market at the Jack Gleason Theater miumplakum.

LOS ANGELES

SAN FRANCISCO 10:00 AM - Festival de Las Americas at 24th Street

(310) 628-9789 La VC Lee - 12514 Ventura Bl. - Studio City - (818) 980-8158 Zabumba -10717 Venice Blvd Culver City -(310) 841-6525

MIAMI

SOB- 200 Varick St. (212)3077171 Supper Club - 240 W. 47 St. (212) 921-1940 Scala Brazil - 35-50 31st St. Astoria (718) 937-0352

LOS ANGELES

Brazil Samba Café - Hollywood (954) 920-4426 Scala Miami -(305) 371-5604

Yoshi's - 6030 Claremont Ave. (510) 652-9200

14 Below - 1348 14th St., Santa Monica - (310) 451-5040 Cafe Danssa - 11533 W. Pico BI. West L.A.- (310) 478-7866 Tony's -701 Long Beach Blvd.

NEW YORK

S. FRANCISCO

Blue Note - 131 West 3rd St. (212) 475-8592 Café Wha - 115 MacDougal St. -(212) 254-3706

Bahia Cabana -(415)861-4202 Chambord - 152 Kearney St. (415) 434-3688 Coconut Grove-(415)776-1616

Ginga Brazil - 821 N. Euclid, (714) 778-0266

BERKELEY Ashkenaz - 1317 San Pablo Ave. (510) 525-5054 Nino's - 1916 Martin L. King Jr. (510) 845-9303

BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

TV BTN (Brazilian TV Network) 11:00 pm - 1:00 am, DCI ch 40, S South ch 51, Adelphia ch. 52, Gold Coast ch. 99 Luqui Corporation - Jornal Bandeirantes - 11.00 pm 1.00 am, Dynamic ch. 20, S. South ch 41, Gold Coast ch 44, DCI ch. 45 NEW YORK RADIO Brasil corn S - Every Saturday, 9:00 PM with Judith King, 88.3 FM - WBGO Canta Brasil - Every Saturdday, 8:00 AM -93.1 FM -WPAT Radio Amaz6nia - Every day, 6:30 PM on short wave - 6.185 MHZ TV Brazil News - Every Wednesday, 8:30 PM - Channel 34 Brazil Update - Every Saturday, 3:30 PM - Channel 69 Brazilians in America-TV Every Sunday, 5:30 PM -Channel 16 Media Flux: Brasil - Every Saturday, 4.00 PM - Ch. 16 S. FRANCISCO

MIAMI

SAN FRANCISCO

TV & RADIO

OAKLAND, CAL.

Brasileirinho - Every Wednesday, 9:30 PM, KZSC, 88.1 FM with Renato Frota Brasil Musical - Every Sunday, 1.00 PM - 5.00 PM, Radio Bilingue, 91.5 FM via satellite, with Ricardo and Amarina Pugh - Fresno Canta, Brasil - Every Sunday, 6:00 PM - 8.00 PM - KKUP, 91.5 FM, with Xuxu, Maria Jose and David Heyman Programa de Domingo - Every Sunday, 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM, KSQQ 96.1 FM with Lino Bugatti A Taste of Brazil - Every Sunday, 11.00 PM - 12:00 AM, KKSF, 103.7 with Dick Conte S6 Da Brasil - Every Friday, 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM, KUSF, 90.3 with Jorge Lima & Simone Odom WASHINGTON, DC Waves of Patropi - Every Saturday, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM, WDCU, 90 FM with Andre Lacerda

51

Boston Area Books

Livraria Plenitude (800) 532-5809 Consulate

Consulado G. do Brasil (617) 617-542-4000 Dentist

Sylvio P. Lessa (617) 924-1882 Food & Products

Aqui Brazil (617) 787-0758 Brasil Brasil (617) 561-6094 Jerry's Cachaca (617) 666-5410

Clothes

Samba Collection (562) 437-1939 Summer Brazil (310) 455-1772 Clubs & Associations

Brazil-Cal. Chbr of Corn.

(310) 665-0166 Centro Cultural Gaucho (213) 256-6548 MILA - Samba School (310) 391-6098 SambaLi -Esc. de Samba (562) 437-1939 Consulate

Brazilian Consulate (213) 651-2664 Dentists

Gilberto Henriques (213) 464-0524 Events Promotion

Instruction

Approach Student Ctr (617) 787-5401 Braz. & Amer. Lg. Inst.

(617) 787-7716 Music

Brazil CDs (617) 666-3747 Publications

The Brazilian Monthly (617) 566-3651 Bossa: Braz. Jazz Guide (617) 262-9997 Restaurants

Café Brazil (617) 789-5980 Ipanema (508) 460-6144 Tropicalia ' • .2:4 (617) 567-4422 Pampas Churrascaria (617) 661-6613

1 ,

Chicago

Brazil 'N You Prom. , (310) 928-1770 Brazilian Nites Prod.

(818) 566-1111 Pegasus - Parties & Ent. (818) 549-0383 Sayegh Promotions (562) 923-6659 Health & Fitness

Herbs from Brazil (213) 851-7016 Westside Acupuncture (310) 914-1624 Import/Export

N & R International (909) 626-3656 Instruction

Brasil Brasil Cult. Ctr (310) 397-3667 Modern Lang. Center (310) 839-8427 Legal Services

Meiojas & Ferraz (310) 360-0901

Consulate

Loans

Consulado G. do Brasil (312) 464-0244

Finance Plus Mort.Corp.

(310) 585-8911

Translations

Portuguese Lang. Ctr. (312) 276-6683

Los Angeles Accountant

Sheila Shanker (310) 836-3436 Airlines

yang (800) GO VARIG.,":: Vasp (310) 364-0160 Arts & Crafts

Bakari Art Studio (213) 938-0523 Folk Creations (310) 693-2844 Culture Planet (310) 441-9808 Zebi Designs (310) 391-6530 Auto Repair

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An excerpt Chapter One A Death Foretold Everyone knew that Padre Josimo was going to die. The whole town had been talking of nothing else for weeks. Even the mayor had been overheard to say, "We'll have to get rid of that priest, come what may." And since the time when an unknown car had overtaken his on a lonely stretch of road at night and an unknown pistoleiro had pumped five bullets into his car door, Josimo had come to believe it too.

Josimo was facing a hideous dilemma. He didn't want to get shot, yet he couldn't quite bring himself to run away. He knew full well how much the local ranchers detested him—all on account of the fact that he had set himself up as the champion of the miserably exploited peasants. When they were evicted from their lands, Josimo supported them and encouraged them to return. He told them about their rights, and helped them set up unions and join the Workers' Party. When the peasants were beaten up, Josimo denounced the ranchers and their strong-men and complained to the police He was tireless in the defense of the defenseless. He was a thorn in the side of the landowners, he was a source of considerable annoyance to the police and the local authorities, and he was behaving in a manner most unsuited to a parish priest. Worst of all, he was a black man. This was the final insult.

Josimo's enemies had been gunning for him for some time, but recently they'd been getting too close for comfort.

Saturday May 10th 1986 dawns hot and clear. "It was a beautiful day, not a day for terrible things to happen," remarked Perpetua later on.

Inside the parish house in Sao Sebastido, Padre Josimo slings his leather bag over his shoulder, grabs a pile of books and adjusts his new straw hat at a becoming angle. Edna, the young catechist, comes up behind him humming a few bars from the popular song "Tall, Dark and Handsome."

"I've never seen you in a hat before," she remarks, "What's going on?“ "It's so the pistoleiros won't recognize me," he grins, and swings out through the kitchen to the yard. Last night a group of his friends had been sitting around the kitchen table eating potato chips and kidding Josimo about living dangerously.

"Don't worry." he told them half seriously, "If they don't get me when I'm thirty three, I'll live to be eighty."

It's nine o'clock when Josimo tosses his bags into the back of the blue Toyota.

"OK, Domingos," he says to his bearded assistant, "See you tomorrow."

"Josimo!" His mother, Dona Olinda is frowning sternly up at him.

"Aren't you going to take Domingos with you? You know I don't like you traveling alone."

"I'll be fine, mother," says Josimo comfortingly. "I've asked Domingos to take a message to the Sisters. Maybe you'd like to go along too." He knows that Dona Olinda likes nothing better than to visit the French nuns in the next village. Olinda brightens, and with a quick "Be back a week tomorrow," Josimo jumps into the car and is off.

It's nothing new for him to spend more time away than at home; he has a large parish to look after and a lot of traveling to do. Today he is heading eighty miles down the dirt road to Imperatriz, the nearest town of any size. It's the place where the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) has its office. Josimo is the local coordinator, and Imperatriz is where they do their shopping, collect their mail and make their telephone calls. A careful driver, Josimo rounds the corner of the square, waving at a bunch of women there, and heads off on the long bumpy road to Imperatriz.

"Domingos, I wish you had gone with him. You know I don't like him to travel alone," grumbles Dona Olinda.

"I'll be seeing him tomorrow in Tocantin6polis," says Domingos, humoring her, "Come on now, hop in," and off they go in a cloud of dust.

One ofthe women who had waved at Josimo watches the two cars leave, and hurries to the public telephone. She puts through a call to the next village, Augustin6polis. "The man has left," she says, and puts down the phone.

Shortly after nine o'clock, gunman Geraldo is downing black coffee and Coca Cola in a bakery in Imperatriz. He is attempting to shift his hangover, and waiting for his orders to come through from Augustinopolis.

He's been offered fifty thousand cruzeiros ($1750) for the job, but they warned him he'd better not mess up this time around In AugustinOpolis, town councilor Nenem is preparing a monster barbecue for the seventy military policemen in town. They have come to

54

Amd to.

Death the ernoon As Josimo approaches Augustinopolis he remembers his friends repeated warnings.

"For God's sake drive through that place without stopping, it's a hornet's nest if ever there was one." Augustinopolis is the seat of the local ranchers' association—sworn enemies to Josimo and the CPT. Josimo and his friends are fully aware of this, and they know too that in this town there are gunmen for hire on every street corner.

BINKA LE BRETON

BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

collect the body of his brother; a muchfeared gunman known as Donda. Donda was notorious for having an-ungovernable temper and when the mood was on him he would shoot anyone who crossed him. He had recently been working as foreman on one of the local farms, and had treated the workers so outrageously that accumulated resentments had finally boiled over. The workers had ambushed Donda and killed him. Not only that, but they had refused to allow the family to collect the body. "Let the dogs eat it," was the message they sent, "That's what Donda used to say when he shot someone."

Nenem's first attempt to retrieve his brother's body was met by a hail of bullets, and he was forced to withdraw. He went to the police station for help, and the police chief sent for reinforcements.

Seventy military policemen were detached for the job, as well as a helicopter.

Nothing like this had ever been seen in AugustinOpolis, and the town was in a ferment of excitement, with rumors flying in all directions. It's all the fault of that communist priest," some people were saying. "This sort of thing never used to happen before he came here. Those church people are nothing but a bunch of agitators, if you ask me."

As Josimo approaches AugustinOpolis he remembers his friends' repeated warnings. "For God's sake drive through that place without stopping, it's a hornet's nest if ever there was one." Augustinopolis is the seat of the local ranchers' association—sworn enemies to Josimo and the CPT. Josimo and his friends are fully aware of this, and they know too that in this town there are gunmen for hire on every street corner. But as luck will have it the only road passes through the center of town, and even amidst all the excitement, Josimo's distinctive blue Toyota does not pass unnoticed. Nenem is chewing on a chicken bone, while his brother Guiomar opens another bottle of beer.

Guiomar gestures toward Josimo's car, and mutters, "There goes a dead man."

Brother-in-law Vilson grins at the other two, tosses his cigarette end onto the ground, and climbs into a yellow car that is waiting in the drive. He slams his foot to the floor and heads for the open road, overtaking Josimo on the edge of town.

Adstonir Resende, head of the ranchers' association, notices the two cars with great satisfaction. He walks in a leisurely fashion to the public telephone and dials a number in Imperatriz. "The man has left," he says. A woman takes the call the other end. She hurries down to the corner bakery and whispers into the ear of Geraldo the gunman. Geraldo downs his soda and heads out.

Josimo drives along the dusty road, glad to be past the spot where he was ambushed not three weeks earlier. Today there is no hurry. His plan is to leave the Toyota in Imperatriz at the workshop.

Later in the day he will take the bus to TocantinOpolis, at the request of the

BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

bishop. He knows just what Dom Alo sio will say. A cautious man, he will ad ise Josimo to leave the area for a time. Th ngs are getting too hot, and it's time to le ve.

The friendly village of Sao Mi uel comes into sight, and Josimo pulls i at the house of one of his staunchest allies.

Dona Raimunda Bezerra is a pillar o the local workers' association, and as u ual she rushes out to greet him. She h s a document for him to study, and her habitual scolding to administer. "How m ny times have I told you, Padre Josimo, hat you shouldn't be traveling alone?" she demands. "I'm always uneasy about ou crossing that ferry, and that's the tru h."

Josimo smiles affectionately at er, and before she can continue he is sa ed by the arrival of a young police rec uit, football boots in hand, heading for the Saturday game at the police station b the ferry. A young woman runs up, as ing for a ride for herself and three s all children, and Josimo packs them all nto the back. Straightening his new st aw hat, he gives Raimunda a friendly w ve, and drives off.

The ferry is always a bottleneck, nd the ferry landing is a good place fo an ambush, with its maze of little woo. en huts and tortuous paths. But today is s ch a beautiful day, hot and sunny. To orrow will be Mother's Day, and Jos mo will meet up with his friends. They're off to a meeting down in the south of the state. He can feel the tension draining out of him at the thought of it. He drives .nto the ferry and parks his car in the s ce behind Vilson's. Vilson sees him in his rear-view mirror but makes no sign. As the ferry draws in, Vilson is first up the ramp, and disappears into the maelst om of people in the narrow street. Jos mo follows him slowly, careful not to sph sh the large crowd of pedestrians, and m • es for the post office. He is just in tim to collect the mail. The post office shutS at midday. Meanwhile Geraldo has sob red himself up, collected his 7.65 mm pi tol and has stuffed it into his belt. Vilson nd he are approaching the CPT office on Avenida Dorgival Pinheiro when t ey see the blue Toyota coming towards th m.

Josimo has dropped off his passen ers and is alone. Vilson stops his car out ide the barbecue stand, and Geraldo cro ses the street and dives into the copy shop, two doors down from Josimo's office.

Josimo parks the car and hurries up the first flight of steps. He is just turning the corner when he hears someone sh ut his name. "Ei! Padre Josimo!" He t ms and looks back. Below him stands a bl nd man with long hair, wrestling with so ething in the waistband of his pants. n a flash, Josimo realizes he is pulling a n„,_ and turns to run. Geraldo fires tw ce, hitting Josimo in the kidney.

Josimo is dead, but he doesn't k ow it.

"Hey!" shouts Pedro.

"Tell us the story of Mata Seca, somebody."

Chapter Two The Long Road to the Amazon It was February 1993, I was on the trail of Padre Josimo, and I was sitting in a lawyer's office in Brasilia learning about the time Josimo had got himself into trouble with the law.

"It was a put up job, of course," said the lawyer, peering at me through her pebble lenses. -They brought a case against him for willful destruction of state property. Never proved a thing, but the case still drags on, believe it or not. Of course Josimo's been dead for years, but some of his colleagues in the CPT were indicted. In fact," she sniffed indignantly, "There's a hearing scheduled for Tuesday. In Itaguatins."

She pointed to the wall map. I could just see Itaguatins written in very small print at the northern end of the state of Tocantins, a thousand miles from where we sat. "Why don't you come along?" said the lawyer comfortably. "I'll be there, and I can introduce you to some of the characters in the story. It's on Tuesday, at 2.30 in the afternoon."

I sailed out of the office in a happy haze. It was Friday afternoon, and it would take me a good twenty-four hours to get to Itaguatins. Probably longer. But with luck I'd be able to make it in time, and I'd certainly meet some of Josimo's friends.

Some of his enemies too, no doubt. Perfect.

A twelve hour bus journey over a bumpy road that had once been paved took me to the town of Gurupi, halfway up the state of Tocantins. I was directed to the small, airless office of the Pastoral Land Commission to talk to one of their lawyers, Adilar.

"Tell me about the CPT," I began.

"What is it that you do that makes you so many enemies?"

Adilar poured us both a cup of strong dark coffee, and leaned back in his chair.

"Well," he smiled, "I guess it's because we get ourselves involved in the land wars. We see our job as supporting the peasants in every way we can. They don't have title to the land, you see. Never knew such a thing existed. It didn't matter until the great land rush was on, and all of a sudden they found themselves served with eviction orders. Well, the law says they can acquire squatters' rights under certain circumstances, and most of them had a far stronger claim to the land than the big ranchers who got their titles by all sorts of dubious means. Of course the ranchers do everything in their power to throw the peasants off the land, and that's where we come in, make as much noise as possible, and see if we can establish their tenure. And that's only a first step. Then we've got to figure out ways they can stay on the land. There's no infrastructure at all; no roads, no credit, no nothing. No technology, no marketing, no access to seeds or fertilizer, no

55

help of any sort from anybody. We do what we can to set up cooperatives and credit schemes, and give a little technical advice. So as you can imagine we make ourselves pretty unpopular among the ranchers. They reckon we're inciting the peasants to revolution, I suppose. That's why we make ourselves so many enemies. Now tell me something; which court hearing did you say you were going to attend?"

"Something to do with the destruction of public property," I ventured.

"The case of the telephone exchange?" he snorted. "Let me tell you about that. It was pure fabrication, from start to finish. You know that Josimo lived in a little place called So Sebastiao? The mayor there was called Ze Carneiro, and if there was one person Ze Carneiro couldn't abide, it was Josimo. I think he thought that Josimo was trying to build a power base, but he couldn't have been more wrong. Anyway there's another little village up there called Buriti, and the people of Buriti finally got some money from the state to put in a public telephone. Nobody had any quarrel with that, except when the mayor started to build the telephone exchange on a piece of land belonging to the church.

"There was no end of a row about it.

Josimo protested to the mayor that it was church land, and asked him to stop construction, but the mayor refused. He even put a guard on the building site. Well, it so happened that Josimo had to be out of town for a couple of weeks, and by the time he came back the work was almost complete. The villagers sent him a message asking him to do something urgently, but Josimo realized the mayor wouldn't listen to him, so he suggested they call in the bishop to arbitrate. But the truth was that the people didn't really trust the bishop. They thought he'd sell them down the river. So one dark night they went in there and knocked the building down. Josimo wasn't actually present, although I'm pretty sure he knew about it.

"The mayor was livid with rage. He called in the police, and they arrested a whole bunch of people and beat the daylights out of them. They managed to line up some witnesses to testify that Josimo and three of the nuns had been in charge of the whOle operation, carrying machine guns if you please! The whole thing was one big lie, from start to finish. Even the witnesses admitted it was hearsay. The French Sisters were at home twenty miles away, and Josimo kept his head down that night and never stirred out of the place he was staying.

"There's one thing you have to realize in connection with all this. That whole area was under the jurisdiction of the National Security Laws at the time. On account of the so-called guerrilla war they'd had there in the early '70s. The military government regarded the Araguaia/Tocantins corridor as a flash

56

point for insurrection, so they put it under military law. The whole business of the telephone exchange was blown up into an attack on National Security, exacerbated by the fact that the Sisters are foreigners. Well, the case continues, although Josimo's out of it, of course. The whole thing's a complete farce. But it'll give you a good insight into Brazilian justice."

That evening I marched across town to the bus station and found a bus heading for Araguaina. "Should get in around 3:00," said the driver. "You can pick up another bus from there." Long experience had taught me how to arrange self, pack, water bottle, sweater and legs to best advantage, and I settled down to doze my way along the bumpy BelemBrasilia highway.

At 3:00 a.m. we arrived at the dark and cheerless bus station at Araguaina.

There was no bus waiting. I stared disbelievingly at a wooden board on which was painted the time of the next bus to Itaguatins. 14:00 hrs. Eleven hours to wait. It was not an encouraging thought.

I sat down to consider my position.

A small child materialized out of the shadows and began tugging insistently at my arm. "There's someone who wants to see you," he whispered. I didn't like the sound of that either.

But the someone proved to be the driver of an ancient and decrepit bus called JAMJOY. "Itaguatins?" he inquired brightly.

"Come with me and I'll drop you at Estreita. There'll be a connecting bus waiting." It sounded unlikely, but a lot better than sitting in Araguaina. I fought my way to the last seat, well to the rear of the bus. It looked as if the bus had been on the road for several days, there was a thick layer of garbage on the floor and it had a homely lived-in smell. Luckily noone had been throwing up lately.

It was still dark when we got to Estreita. There was nothing there at all; just a muddy little intersection, and, predictably, there was no sign of the promised bus. I could see no advantage in staying at Estreita; better, I decided, to throw in my lot with my fellow passengers. At the next town the driver suggested off-loading me and several others.

"You take a canoe across the river and walk up to the bus station," he suggested.

"You can get a bus to Itaguatins from there."

"The bus doesn't run any more," objected one of the passengers.

"There's sure to be a truck," said the driver cheerfully.

But the idea didn't appeal. It seemed altogether better to stick it out until we reached Imperatriz and start over from there. At least it would be daylight. I settled myself as best I could and dozed fitfully as far as Imperatriz.

The bus station was ankle deep in garbage, and there were muddy puddles everywhere. I seized my pack and headed

into the humid heat of the morning. The bus driver pointed to an even older and muddier JAMJOY bus which was just on the point of pulling out. "That's your bus," he said, thumping on the side of it. -Get off in Sitio Novo and you can hitch a ride from there."

I scrambled aboard the bus, picking my way carefully over sacks and bundles which were piled up just inside the door.

The bus rattled its way down to the river bank, and the passengers piled out into the mud. I trudged onto the ferry and staked out a seat next to an overweight Bolivian who told me that he was a bush pilot working in the gold mines of the interior.

"I fly out the gold," he told me confidentially, "And on the return journey," he tapped the side of his nose and looked at me significantly, "I bring in the women."

The ferry pulled in, disgorging several pickups, a couple of horse carts, a host of muddy passengers and the JAMJOY bus. We picked our way across the puddles and settled back in our lumpy seats. I lay back and gazed through the dirty windows at the strip of land known as the Parrot's Beak, the land that Josimo had died for.

It lies between the Araguaia and the Tocantins; two of the large rivers that make up the Amazon River system. Innocent green palm trees cover one of the most violent and bloody regions of a violent continent. The violence and the bloodshed come from the land wars.

In the beginning, no-one bothered to lay claim to the land. Land was a gift from God, something to be used, not to be owned. All that changed in 1960, with the coming of the first road. Before that, the region had been inhabited by small bands of Indians and others of mixed European and African descent, who had drifted in by river, attracted by fertile lands, or the occasional find of gold or diamonds. To the east lie the great drylands of Piaui, Ceara and Maranhao, and these lands have always provided and still provide a steady stream of migrants heading west to the green lands by the great rivers. The early settlers cleared patches of forest and put in their little fields of manioc, rice, beans and corn. They built small settlements and these were named after the first arrivals; Firmino's Center, Ferreiro's Center, Center of the Mulattos. The fields were moved every year or two, and there was land enough for everyone. Babassu palm trees grew in profusion, and the women pressed delicious cooking oil from the nuts, wove baskets from the leaves, and made charcoal from the husks. There were fish in the rivers and game in the forest, and the land provided a good living for those who didn't need to plan very far ahead. Although no-one had title to the land, they were entitled by law to squatters' rights, but they never knew about that until it was too late.

The Parrot's Beak—so named for its shape on the map—lies at the extreme northern end of the state of Tocantins,

BRAZZIL -AUGUST 1997

which split off from Goias in 1988. It is more than a thousand miles north of the federal capital, Brasilia One of the chief ideas behind building Brasilia was to attract development to the hitherto untouched heartland of continent-sized Brazil, and in order to do this it was necessary to build some roads. The very first of these, the Road of the Jaguar, was scheduled to cut across the eastern edge of Amazonia to the mouth of the Amazon River at Belem.

Construction began in 1960, and for the inhabitants of the Parrot's Beak the good times vanished like the morning mist. People came swarming up the new road, looking for land, looking for gold, looking for a new life. Since the peasants had no clear notion about the concept of property, they were easily persuaded to part from their lands in exchange for a rifle, a bicycle, or a piece of paper promising some money.

The new owners started to fence off the land, and forbade access to the babassu palm trees. They moved in, announced that the land was now theirs, and produced documents to prove it. Any families in residence were ordered to leave, and those who protested soon attracted unwelcome attention from hired gunmen. If that didn't frighten them off, they were served with eviction notices.

Entire villages were emptied, houses and crops were burnt, and the people were intimidated, beaten up and sometimes killed. In their bewilderment they found no place to turn.

But help was at hand. In 1979 a lay missionary from Italy arrived in the Parrot's Beak. His name was Nicola. He started walking from community to community, listening to the problems of the peasants, telling them about their legal rights, and helping them organize the first elements of resistance. He was joined soon afterwards by three French nuns, Mada, Bia, and Nicole, and a Brazilian nun called Lurdinha from the far south of the country. In 1983 Padre Josimo came to take over the parish of Sao Sebastiao, a small village right at the end of the Parrot's Beak. For a short time this extraordinarily talented and courageous group was to challenge the power of the establishment, stand up for the dispossessed, and threaten the local power structure. It was to be a long hard battle, and Josimo was to pay for it with his life.

This was the story I had come in search of, and as I looked at the faces of my fellow passengers on the bus, I tried to imagine which of them had known Josimo, and what effect he had had on their lives.

The stony road managed to be both muddy and dusty at the same time. We were traveling through a green landscape; low forest, lots of babassu palms, small clearings of corn, beans, rice, and manioc, and the occasional cattle pastures.

The villages are nothing but higgledy-

BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

piggledy collections of mud huts ith thatch roofs, but Sitio Novo has tur ed itself into a town and boasts a large squ re, a telephone office, and several pa ed roads.

The local office of the Pastoral L nd Commission is just off the main squ re, next to the church. I wander ove to check whether Xavier, the French D om in ican friar who is setting up lineS of credit for the local village association, is home. But the office is all shut up, a d I stick a note under the door and makei y way back to the square in the hope of finding a ride to Itaguatins. Several pic up trucks are parked there, but they are all going the other way. Itaguatins, it seeps, is on the road to nowhere. "Best thing is to go wait at the turnoff," advises on of the villagers. "Most of the traffic going through here is headed for Imperatriz."

I shoulder my pack and head for the turnoff. Fortunately there is a house there, and better still the ancient owner inv tes me into the shade, where there is a ri king chair strung with broken plastic. 11 the traffic, without exception, is goin to Imperatriz. The old man gets bore. of talking to me and goes inside to ta le a siesta. His rhythmic snores fill me ith an overwhelming desire to do the sa e, but the confines of the plastic roc ng chair do not permit.

It is one o'clock, the hearing is sch duled for two thirty, and there seems t be no way I can get there on time. I am beginning to get a bit edgy when a t lephone company truck draws up in a cl ud of dust and agrees to give me a ride. : y a miracle we are in Itaguatins by two. I do not find the bustle I had expected to •ee, with lawyers swarming all over the pl jce.

The town is wrapped in profound sile ce.

I make my way to the Forum and inquire.

"Hearing?" says the girl at the desk as she listlessly pecks at an elderly typewriter.

"Oh no, it's been canceled. The judg is on holiday."

I flounce out and look venomouslV at the small town. It consists of two streets of neatly painted houses. Very small donkeys wander around. The flooded brown river sweeps past. Everyone is asleep. I seek refuge in the priest's house. He is traveling, but I'm welcome to stay the night. There's no bus before the morning. I dump my stuff and while away the rest of the day listening to one of he justice officials telling me about his blameless part in the local land evicti ns.

We both know he is lying. It is almost too hot to matter. But he does mention in passing, that there were a couple of urders out in Mata Seca a short time back.

After a restless and mosquito-rid en night, I am up at dawn to catch the bu to Itaguatins. I hear the sound of a car ngine approaching, and to my immense delight who should round the corner but Xavier the French friar from Sitio Novo, together with a jeepload of people from the Rural Workers' Union. They are head-

ing for Mata Seca to check out the murders.

In response to my urgent request, Xavier decides he can squeeze in one more. This is far better than attending an audience at the forum. Right here are three of the best-known figures of the whole land struggle in the area: Dona Raimunda who once lunched with Danielle Mitterrand in Paris—and didn't think much of the food—Joao Cust6dio, veteran of innumerable standoffs with the police, and Maria Senhora, the articulate black union leader from the Centro dos Mulatos. Together with Xavier, his colleague Pedro, and a couple of other union officials, we are to spend the next forty-eight hours in Mata Seca, hearing the full story of the murders, and helping the squatters draw up a plan of action.

These are the first land-related deaths in this particular area, and the squatters have sent out an urgent plea for help.

"Hey!" shouts Pedro, wrestling with the steering-wheel as the Toyota bucks across the ruts. "Tell us the story of Mata Seca, somebody."

"I'll tell you what I know," says Iran, the union leader from TocantinOpolis.

"It's a complex situation. To start with, Mata Seca is Indian land, although the Indians have never objected to the squatters. There are sixteen squatter families there, and most of them live on their own little plots. Been there for more than fifteen years, most of them, and never had any problems. Recently this guy Gideao shows up and says he has got title to a piece of land in the middle; right next to Ze Barros and Mauro. Well, at first he doesn't bother them, but then he decides he likes the look of their lands and so he hires a pistoleiro to go round scaring them off. First thing that happens is that Ze Barros' house gets burned down.

Luckily there's no-one in it. Then they set fire to his corn crop. Fifteen acres of it. Then this same pistoleiro, Gerinio, son of Rattlesnake, goes over to Mauro' s place and starts shooting at the fence posts.

Intimidation tactics, of course, but pretty effective all the same. So the squatters get together and go talk to the police about it, and eventually seven families sign a good neighbor statement with Gideao.

"But it doesn't end there. Seems that Ze Barros and one of his sons—a young lad of fifteen or so—are out in the field one day and they hear that the pistoleiro Gerinio is around. So they go and hide in the little shelter they have there, and when Gerinio comes along Ze Barros plugs him with his shot-gun. What he doesn't see is that Gideao's son, Gidevan, is right behind, and when Ze stands up to take a look, Gidevan shoots him dead. Ze Barros just has time to shout to his boy, and he takes a shot at Gidevan, but fortunately he misses.

-Rumor has it Gideao has hired a whole lot more gunmen, and he's as mad as a snake because they had a go at his son; half of the squatters are in fear and

57

trembling and the other half are hell-bent on revenge, and, if you ask me, I'd say the thing could blow up any time."

I closed my eyes and wondered what I was getting myself into. I'd known what was going on in the Amazon land wars. I'd actually volunteered to come to the Amazon and investigate them, and one of the things that had triggered my quest had been the figure of twelve million landless peasants, in a land the size of the United States. Twelve million people forced to take to the road in search of a living. It was as if the entire population of Calcutta had packed up its bags and bundles and was off to find a new life. I knew that hundreds of thousands of families had landed up in the cruel cardboard slums of the huge cities, others had drifted into poorly-paid jobs in construction and industry, others had succumbed to gold fever and rushed like lemmings to the subhuman conditions of the gold mines. And countless thousands had swarmed to the agricultural frontier as it swept up into the empty spaces of Amaz6nia, where they had cleared their patches of forest, planted their crops, and watched their dreams die as the soils were exhausted. I had spoken to families who had doggedly moved on; five, ten times; leaving their lands to be snapped up by the wave of speculators that followed them like a pack of hyenas. But I could sense that here in Mata Seca things were different. The people here were making their last stand. They had found fertile lands, they had raised their crops, and they intended to stay put.

They were facing a group of people that was equally determined to move them on. Nine out of ten squatters had never heard of the Greater Carajas Project—the multi-billion dollar scheme to develop one of the richest mineral areas in the world. But they all knew about the gold strike at Serra Pelada; most families had at least one member who had tried his luck there at one time or another. What they didn't know was that, as part of the Greater Carajas Project, government planners had zoned their area for cattle ranching. The idea was to raise beef for export and send it out on the Carajas railroad to the port at Sao Luis. On a still night the inhabitants of Sao Sebastiao could hear the train whistle as it passed by on the other side of the river. But they were completely unaware of the implications of the government's mammoth development plan. Cattle ranching requires capital, and it requires large stretches of land.

Cattle ranching is inimical to small squatters on their subsistence plots, and that is why the government had given its tacit consent to their expulsion. There were only two organizations fighting for the dispossessed; the church and the unions.

Without support from these, the squatters would have been wiped out.

After several wrong turns we arrive at a clearing in the forest, and park the car in front of a small house of wooden stakes with a thatch roof. This is the house of Mazoniel; head of the recently formed squatters association. During the course

58

of the morning several of them drift in, and finally the meeting gets under way.

The men are thin, sharp-faced, watchful as a pack of wolves. Each one props his rifle up against the wall, within easy reach.

We sit on benches made of tree trunks, ranged round the wall. The women huddle in the kitchen. One or two small children and dogs play on the beaten earth floor.

There's a table, a shelf with a water filter, a few posters on the walls. Half partitioned off is the bedroom and next to it the kitchen, with its mud stove and its shelves full of plates and mugs. A stout board outside holds a tin wash-pan and the gourd of washing-up water. Bathing is done in the river. Anything else in the forest.

The squatters reconstruct the story for us. They are jittery, expecting more violence. There is a stir when one-eyed Mauro comes in, he has come out of hiding for the occasion. The tension is cut by the calm voice of Joao Cust6dio, speaking from his long experience. He explains that the trick is for people to stay together. To work together. One man makes an easy target, but a gunman won't take on a group. If people stick together they won't get killed.

The men eye one another uneasily.

Dona Raimunda marches into the center of the room and looking over her glasses she addresses them as if they were a bunch of unruly schoolchildren. She bends over to draw a triangle on the dirt floor. "This," she announces, "is called a pyramid. It shows us how the world works. At the top here, the pointed bit, are the very few people who live at the expense of all the others at the bottom.

And, deep down, we all want to be at the top. But we can only climb up by treading on our companions. And if we do that, we'll be on our own.

"Do you know something? We human beings aren't nearly as smart as the animals. They know they can't be safe if they're alone. They know they need to be together; they do it by instinct. But we keep wanting to do things by ourselves.

That's why people don't Join the union," she looked round fiercely, "because they can't see what's in it for them. I tell you what's in it. If we're all together we can get what we want. If we try on our own we'll never get anywhere."

Maria Senhora isn't the combative type. Soft-spoken but firm. "What we have to remember about the union is this," she begins. "It doesn't matter how few you are so long as you all act together. Let me tell you the story of Ze Antonio. The ranchers came to him and said they wanted his land. They even said they'd indemnify him. Then they looked a little closer and saw that Ze Antonio had a lot of fruit trees, so they'd have to pay a lot more than they'd planned. They sent round apistoleiro to see the lie of the land. Pretended he wanted to buy some chickens. Well, Ze didn't like the look of the pistoleiro so he told him to come back in the morning and the chickens would be ready. Meantime he sent for all his friends.

Next morning they were all waiting when the pistoleiro came and they caught him and made him confess. Well, ifthey hadn't

got together and made a plan someone would have been killed. Anyone can see that."

"I use the picture of the swarm of bees," said Mazoniel, "Mess about with one and the rest will be after you."

"Right!" said Raimunda. "That's why you must move your houses. Build them close together. Put them so close you can smell each other's food cooking. You never know when you're going to need each other. The pistoleiros won t go after you if you're all together, but if you're alone they'll pick you off one by one."

The squatters discuss the matter over lunch, bowls of rice and beans with roasted manioc. Halfway through the meal there is a commotion as three strangers ride up. Mauro slips into the kitchen, and four or five of the men pick up their rifles and go outside. Through the wooden stockade walls we can see the strangers approach. One of them takes out a bottle of the local firewater and passes it round.

There is a short, stilted conversation, and they turn to leave. No sooner are they out of sight than Raimunda lays into the men.

"I don't know what you boys were thinking of!" she harangues them. "Accepting a nip out of the bottle like that! Anybody' d think you were born yesterday. I suppose they asked you your names?" Bashful silence and averted eyes confirm her suspicion. "You never do that again, do you hear me? They're only trying to find out who's here. Looking for Mauro, I don't doubt." Mauro shrinks into his corner.

He's blind in one eye. I feel heart sore for him.

Later that evening I talk to Dona Antonia, Ze Barros' widow. A frail woman, she is still in shock.

"We'd been married thirty years," she whispers. "Ze Barros was as good a man as you'll find. Never harmed a fly.

And there am I with seven children and no food in the house. I haven't had the nerve to set foot in the fields since that day." Her ravaged face bears eloquent testimony to her suffering.

"Never harmed a fly." The thought haunts me as I lie in my hammock that night. We string our hammocks in a row, and I put mine well in the middle, convincing myself that Raimunda is right and there will be no shoot-out tonight because we are all together. Ze Barros never harmed a fly. But he killed the pistoleiro. Had it been just like killing a snake, something done on the spur of the moment? Had he planned it? My thoughts whirl round and round. THOU SHALT NOT KILL. What then shall we do?

A Land to Die For by Binka Le Breton, Clarity Press, 1997.

Published by permission. Price: $12.95 plus $3.95 shipping.

The book can be ordered COD or by credit card by calling (800) 626-4330.

Binka Le Breton is a British journalist living in Brazil. She also wrote Voices from the Amazon and The Rain Forest..

BRAZZIL - AUGUST 1997

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