Brazzil -News from Brazil Archives
1994-1996
As transcribed by Ethnic NewsWatch
for its Library CD-ROM

Author: Mello, Rodney Article Title: recado Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.126 Publication Date: 06-30-96 Page: p. 5

recado.

It's not just a tall story that Brazilians are hot in bed. A new study shows that while Americans take an average of six minutes for a sex encounter, Brazilians are in no rush when it's time for pleasure, dedicating to the sexual act an average of 45 minutes. The same research also reveals that almost 17% of Cariocas (those from Rio) between the ages of 18 and 49 make sex each and every day. Pure bragging? A little maybe.

This love for sex seems to have influenced the way prostitution is seem in the country. Contrary to what most people might think, prostitution is not illegal in Brazil, not for the person prostituting herself or himself anyway. Foreigners have talked about Brazilian sex professionals being as much interested in making a buck as in giving pleasure to themselves and to the client.

We haven't avoided slippery themes in the past. Our article about torture in our latest issue provoked more than one tsk-tsk of disapproval. We have talked about child prostitution before -- there is nothing about this subject in our present cover -- and there was positive reaction including from the UN which contacted some of the organizations dealing with the problem in Brazil.

As our special February Carnaval edition, this issue deals with the light side of life. We know about the seedy, criminal aspect of sex and we will probably come back to it another day. Today we only want to offer a glossy portrait of the sex market.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Author: Espinoza, Rodolfo Article Title: More sex, please. We are Brazilian Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.126 Publication Date: 06-30-96 Page: p. 8

More sex, please. We are Brazilian.

Everything you ever wanted to know about sex in Brazil and never was able to find at your usual sources. What Brazilians think about sex, is it true that there are many more women than men in the country, are Brazilians really the hottest sexual machine on the planet? And what about sex for sale? Is prostitution legal? Where is sex available, how much does it cost, what are the code words for men and women willing to pay to get laid?

This is not an exploitation piece on the serious and criminal problem of underage prostitution in Brazil. It's a guide and a source of statistics for those interested in knowing the adult Brazilian lover and the way he/she lives his/her sexual life.

Despite its image of a latter-day Sodom and the land of debauchery and licentiousness, the country that gave us the string bikini can be downright prudish. It's true that prime-time novelas (soap operas) use to boost up their ratings by showing unveiled genitalia and the annual street Carnaval parade bares breasts and all the rest on the Avenue, but there are no public nude beaches as in Europe and the hard-core video and CD ROM sex industry is far from flourishing as in the US. The real sexual revolution in Brazil is very recent but the natives are catching up fast.

That Brazilians and Cariocas (natives of Rio) are sensual is not just a myth. A new study from Infoglobo has shown that 17% of Cariocas between the ages of 18 and 49 have sex every day. And while the British spend an average of 3 minutes in a sexual encounter, the Italians 8, the French and Americans 6, Rio's residents have a "whooping" average of 45 minutes per sexual session. Only Africans have the same high rate in this department. The Infoglobo study, which listened to 300 men and 300 women, also revealed that 48% of Cariocas have sex from two to three times a week. The profile of the average interviewee: a married person between the ages of 30 and 39 with a monthly salary of $1,200 or less.

In an interview with Rio's daily O Globo, psychoanalyst and sexologist Sheiva Cherman complained that the study hadn't asked for the duration of the relationship among those interviewed.

-- Rio is the most sensual city in the world, she said. And there's a commitment from the population to keep this image. Libido, however, doesn't mean practice of the sexual act. The sexual practice is more frequent when the love relationship is recent.

Another revealing piece of information is that 55% of all women claimed to have attained orgasm every time they tried it, without ever having to fake it. Hard to believe? The American magazine Cosmopolitan interviewed their readers in 29 countries and concluded that lack of orgasm is a common and universal complaint. The world average for orgasmic women every time they go to bed is a mere 26.6%. Only Italians, with a climax rate of 53.2%, come close to their hot Brazilian counterparts.

As for the men, they are a proud, boastful and maybe a tad lying lot. A full 64% of Cariocas guarantee that they have never had a problem with erection during the sexual act. And the assertion was confirmed by 69% of their female partners. The secret there seems to be the fact that 78% of men and 89% of women like to share their sexual fantasies. Machismo, however, is still strong. Only 28% of the women, according to the research, have the initiative to start the love game in bed.

This openness, however, doesn't apply to the disclosure of adultery, which is still very common despite the AIDS fear. Says biologist Catherine Lowndes from the Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública (National School of Public Health) which is part of the Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, "Due to social and biological factors, women are more susceptible to venereal diseases. They ignore several facts dealing with sexuality, have little bargaining power in sexual relations and are victims of sexual violence on a large scale. Besides, there is a social acceptance of male infidelity and the habit of concealing it."

Research conducted among the patients at the Gaffr‚e Guinle Hospital in Rio showed that 70% of the heterosexual men interviewed had had more than one sexual partner the previous year, while 7.9% had participated in group sex. All of this has contributed to the increase of AIDS among women who are getting the disease from their husbands and live-in lovers.

The results from a national Datafolha research project about sexual behavior among different professional categories, however, show a much smaller rate of infidelity. The study that was ordered by the Central Geral dos Trabalhadores (CGT), a national confederation of workers, included 3,644 men and women in seven Brazilian capitals.

As expected, the research revealed that necessity also makes fidelity. Men and women more likely to stray were those with jobs that allowed an alibi for their sexual escapes. So, while 21% of metalworkers admitted to adultery this number increased to 27% among those working in construction.

The study also revealed how faithfulness is seen in different regions of the country. The national average of infidelity is 23%. Cariocas appear to be just a little over this number, with an unfaithfulness rate of 29%, the same as Gaúchos (those from Rio Grande do Sul). In São Paulo 19% of the workers acknowledge extramarital affairs and only 18% of the workers in Belo Horizonte (capital of Minas Gerais) admitted to infidelity, but the practice of sex outside the home is something common for 50% of those interviewed in Bel‚m, capital of Par , a national record in this study.

THE MALE ADVANTAGE

If the battle of the sexes is an unequal one all over the world, women in Brazil have still another handicap: their sheer numbers. Census data show, that among those Brazilians between ages 15 and 49, there are 1.8 million more women than men in the country. That means an average of 95 men for every 100 women. In urban centers like São Paulo and in the Northeast this imbalance goes up to 85 out of 100.

Some experts believe that this will contribute to 10% of Brazilian women never having a chance to marry. According to census data, in Rio de Janeiro for example, the state where this difference is more pronounced in absolute numbers, there are 315,056 more women than men.

To complicate matters, while there are 4.2 million divorced or separated women, the number of men in the same situation is only 1.9 million. This shows what everybody knows: that it is much easier for a separated man to find a new partner than for a woman. The official numbers also reveal that 80.6% of the 37,000 divorced men who decided to remarry in 1994 chose not-previously-married women. As for widows, there are 4.5 millions of them in the country compared to 870,000 widowers.

This female disadvantage is explained by the so-called "solitude pyramid" theory. Interviewed by the daily Folha de São Paulo, Elza Berqu¢, from Unicamp's (University of Campinas, São Paulo) Núcleo de Estudos Populacionais (Center for Population Studies) explained: "Women look at the top of the pyramid where the offer of partners decreases, while men look at the base which is larger. The matrimonial market always favors men."

This state of affairs has in practice encouraged the number of non-official marriages and in some cases even a kind of mild polygamy in which men have more than one partner. The rate of marriages has been decreasing. While there were 7.48 marriages for 1,000 people in 1986, these unions had fallen to 4.96 in '94. There were 763,000 weddings in 1994 compared to 1 million in '86, when the country had a smaller population.

In a 1992 study entitled "The contraction of the matrimonial market and the increase of consensual unions in Brazil" two foreign scholars, American Margaret Greene and Indian Vijayendra Rao suggested that society allowing men to have more than one partner makes it possible for women to be married at least once and helps to alleviate the problem of the deficit of available male partners.

SELLING DREAMS

Match-maker agencies have been sprouting all over Brazil. All of them, however, seem to have the same problem: more female clients than male ones. Paimi (Primeira Agência Internacional de Matrimônios e Informações - First International Agency for Matrimonies and Information), for example, has been in business for 50 years and has offices in São Paulo, Rio and New York. With 3,000 clients, the Cupid helper charges around $1,000 plus a bonus when there is a marriage. They say they have made "4,000 unions" including that of Harry Philippe Mihalescu who is the owner and son of Paimi's founder. Their telephone in São Paulo: (011) 221-9699.

Apego -- (011) 543-2659 -- another match-maker company from São Paulo has been recruiting their male clients aggressively even with ads in men's magazines. But really aggressive is Partner's owner, who is known only as Vicente and who goes personally to singles bars and night clubs to convince men to join his company. Partner -- (051) 336-8036 is an agency from Porto Alegre (Rio Grande do Sul).

Happy End -- (011) 853-7466 -- has dozens of connections in the US and Europe and more than 2,200 clients. To use the services of this company founded in 1992 clients pay around $1,000 and $1,000 more after 3 months of courtship. One of the newest kids on the block is Apego -- (011) 543-2659 -- a service created by Inge Gruber, an Austrian woman who sold her apartment and used the $80,000 she got to start the company last year. The cost here varies from $150 to $800 and the number of clients has already reached 500.

In Recife, the Brasil Exterior agency -- (081) 421-3080 -- is specialized in finding husbands in Germany for its clients. After seven years in business, the service which has a catalogue of more than 1,000 women, has contributed to close to 200 marriages. In an interview with Veja magazine last year, Lindinalva Santana Ferraz, the company's owner declared, "We don't admit sexual tourism or gold-diggers." Every time there's an "I do" Ferraz gets rewarded with $1400.

Contrary to what we may think, most of Lindinalva's clients are not poor girls looking for an easy way out of their misery. By and large they are middle-class women who have a college degree or at least have finished high-school. By the way, completed high-school is one of the requirements to make the list. Many times they are women disillusioned with Brazil and Brazilian men. Their average age is 20.

According to IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), Brazilian women start their sexual life around 19. But this age has been lowering recently mainly in urban centers. Pregnancy among early teens has been also on the increase and this is due not only to a more benevolent view towards sex. Biological factors also play a role: every ten years menarche (the first menstrual period) occurs four months earlier. In the '90s the average age for girls to have their first menstruation is 12.

Pregnancies among girls between 13 and 15 years of age have doubled in the last decade and a half, still based on IBGE's numbers. Close to 8,000 children were born last year to mothers who were 15 or younger. In the late '70s this number was around 3,700 a year. Another 600,000 children are also born to 16 to 19 year old mothers every year. This number, although bigger, has been stable for many years. The situation is similar for poor and well-to-do teens, but for the richer girls, the use of abortion is much more prevalent.

LITTLE WHOREHOUSES ALL OVER

Another side of the situation of inequality between the sexes is the rampant increase of prostitution and related services. To hear some people, every Brazilian woman except the mother, the sister, the wife and the daughter of the person speaking, is willing to go to bed with the first stranger, for the right price.

The dozens of classified ads under headings like Acompanhantes (Escorts), Casas de Massagem (Massage Parlors), Termas (Sauna houses), all code names for prostitution, show that there are plenty of women, and men for that matter, willing to make a buck on the meat market. On a recent Sunday, daily Folha de São Paulo had 101 offers under Escorts, from Abigail ("20, top model from the '80s, brunette, long hair, hotel/motel. $200 Tel.: (011) 607-9001) to Ymaeda ("burning Japanese, your dream girl -- (011) 693-8007).

In Bras¡lia, the Capital of Brazil, there are more than 30 prostitution agencies, all installed in residential areas, which cater to the tastes of the men and also a few women in power. Visitors to the city are showered with cards and ads from night clubs like Queen's, Amore Mio, Flor Amorosa, all fronts for prostitution, as soon as they arrive at the airport. The enticement continues in hotels and places where tourists usually gather.

Prostitution is not illegal in Brazil. What is illegal is pimping. Maintaining a place for sexual encounters is also against the law. To avoid being caught

by a zealous law enforcer, many of the places present themselves as legitimate businesses charging only for beverages and other services, letting the negotiations about bedding be decided between the client and the prostitute.

Prostitutes can be found all over the country. In some towns in the interior they live together in an area generally known as zona. In Cear , the red light district is called curral (corral); in Rio Grande do Sul, viveiro (nursery or aviary); and in Minas Gerais cor‚ia (Corea). Prostitution is also common on national roads and big city streets. In Brazil, motels generally charge by the hour and are utilized more as love nests than places for a family or a business man to spend the night.

"The World Sex Guide", which is available on the Internet, has very little about prostitution in Brazil. But it presents the personal accounts of men who have been to Rio, São Paulo and Recife and who have met prostitutes.

An anonymous French guy, for example, presents himself as having "a good knowledge of brothels in Brazil, due to my frequent journeys there during the past five years". He talks mostly about Recife and divides prostitution there into three categories: garotas de programa (program girls), mulheres de bordel (brothel women), and vira bolsinhas (turn purses -- girls who ply their trade on the streets.

According to the French libertine, the garotas de programa are easy to spot in public places like restaurants and bars. "They try to make eye contact, especially if you are dressed like a gringo. How old you are doesn't mean a thing. They know exactly when to talk about money." A motel will cost from $15 to $50 according to this report.

He also describes in detail what happens when the garota and the john get to the bedroom: "The girl will take off her dress and you go together with her to the shower. She will take you to bed when you seem clean enough. She will touch you, suck you (without a condom if you don't ask to put one on), and you can fuck her as much as you like, in as many positions as you want. She will dress your buddy with a condom before fucking. Take your time, as there is no problem of time with her. She is not a "whore" and what she would like is to stay with you all night and you can come in her mouth if you want."

The French lecher cites go-go bars at Praça da Boa Viagem as good places to pick up women and the Cravo e Canela bar at Rua das Creoulas in downtown. As for brothels, he cites the Twenty Club at Rua Luiz de Farias Barbosa, 20 at Boa Viagem beach. He describes the place: "The girls are the nicest I've ever seen in Brazil. When you enter, Mama-san gives you the prices. It was $180 on May 1995. You will pay her directly when you leave, like you would in a good restaurant. For the money you can pick up any girl you want. The best is to drink something with her and when you are ready just say vamos (let's go). The sex itself takes 1 hour for $150."

For years European tour companies, mainly the German ones, have been exploring the sexual tourism in Recife (Pernambuco), Fortaleza (Cear ), Salvador (Bahia), and more recently Macei¢ (Alagoas). Since assuming the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism in January of 1995, Minister Doroth‚a Werneck has been talking directly to travel agents in Europe to convince them that Brazil has much better attractions than its women, things like beautiful places and good businesses.

SOUTHERN CALL-BELLES

Porto Alegre offers a special service by fax for those clients interested in seeing the merchandise before buying it. The D¢ris agency, whose girls seem all to have just stepped out from a photo session for a men's magazine and whose ages are between 18 and 23, has been using the photofax since last year. The service became a hit and more than 85% of the business is now done through it.

Half of the girls, however, still refuse to be photographed, worried that the picture will fall on the wrong hands like a friend or relative who doesn't know their line of work. The price: $240 for two hours of company and sex. Full service for the whole night costs $600. Zero Hora, a daily from Rio Grande do Sul cites Luciane, one of D¢ris's girls, saying, "I had a hard time reaching orgasm before. But now that I know that I am being paid I come every time."

In Rio, the Vila Mimosa, a zona in the suburbs that housed more than 1,000 prostitutes had been razed at the beginning of the year to make room for a residential complex called Cidade Nova. This didn't prevent the world's oldest profession from continuing to flourish in the so-called Cidade Maravilhosa. These were naturally poor girls.

Sex is being seen as a gold mine for many professionals who are abandoning their more conventional jobs to invest in sex-related endeavors. One of them is William Atella, who abandoned a career in an engineering firm to start anew as a modern gigolo. In 1994 Attela used $30,000 he got from his severance pay to rent and remodel a house in Jacarepagu that became a clube privˆ (another code word for whorehouse) called Paradise House.

Last year, already a rich man, he opened a second Paradise House, this time at Barra da Tijuca. In an interview with weekly magazine Isto �, the engineer turned pimp, explained why AIDS doesn't scare his clients: "Here the girls are always tested for HIV."

As for the upper crust of prostitution in the city, according to a recent article from Rio's main daily O Globo, the Mafia is controlling it. Agencies such as Ipanema Models, Rita Modelos and Roberta Modelos offer services of women, sometimes models and magazine covers, who don't charge less than $500 per program and can cost as much as $5,000. The money paid is normally split half and half between the call girl and the escort agency, which is in charge of preparing books with pictures produced in studios and placing ads in major newspapers and publications for tourists. In this market, 25 is the age limit before compulsory retirement.

Call girls, for whom the standards are much laxer, advertise by the hundreds in O Globo, O Dia, and Jornal do Brasil, Rio's three largest dailies. There are also men announcing their services like Andr‚ Luis, "college degree, loving, tender, 28. Catering to demanding women and couples -- as long as the man is a voyeur. Personal care in every sense of the word. Have safe sex, use camisinha (little shirt -- condom). Visa accepted. Tel.: (021) 295-2053 -- 24 hours."

Camilla and Ronald presented themselves on a recent Sunday in Jornal do Brasil as a married couple. "He: a real sexual lion. She: a glutton and super female. Together or separate. No one will be disappointed. Check it out! (021) 255-5887."

It's symptomatic that the ubiquitous sex-phones -- as those from some weekly tabloids in the US -- appear in O Globo and Jornal do Brasil under "Termas e Servicos de Massagem", the same place where "models", "escorts", "strip dancers" and "masseuses" sell their wares. By the way, to avoid problems with the law, which is very serious about protecting the under age, these erotic talk conversations are generated outside the country. Only Rio has created a system using special cards and passwords for those willing to call them. Caribbean Islands, Hong Kong, San Marino and even the faraway ex-soviet republic Moldavia are used for the telesex services, which can charge $3 for a minute of conversation.

BARS, BOATES, BEACHES, BROTHELS

The action in Rio is also on the beaches. A famous gathering of prostitutes in the afternoon is in front of the Othon Palace Hotel at Copacabana beach and at the tables at the Meia Pataca bar. They charge from $40 to $100 for a quickie, hotel being extra. First class hotels are known to play hard and not allow the entrance of prostitutes. But others like Debret and Caprice seem to derive most of their money from these sexual trysts.

The termas present themselves as massage parlors, but are only a façade for whorehouses. Places like O Para¡so � Aqui (Paradise Is Here) -- Rua Dezenove de Fevereiro, 123, Botafogo -- offer sauna, bar, cable TV and "relax" which is a code word for sex. The prices can vary from around $30 (Ped gios) to $300 (Aeroporto).

Some hotels act as agents for termas. They offer a discreet helping hand. The massage parlor Brasiltand from Botafogo for example, usually sends a car to pick up a client, when a hotel calls. For about $200 the tourist gets transportation, a suite and a girl.

At night, the sex scene gets even hotter in the boates (night clubs) around Rua Princesa Isabel, near Copacabana Beach. Two of the better known places are Mab's and Help, both at Avenida Atlƒntica. The boys sell themselves in places like The Ball (Praça Serzedelo Correia), Maxim's Bar or Incontros (Posto 6). The tab for drinks can go up very fast in these places while strip-tease shows and live sexual acts are presented. Close to this area some very attractive women are really men.

Talking about his experiences in Rio, a contributor to the World Sex Guide wrote: "The best place is Help Discotheque. When I first went there I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Picture a combination of a high school prom and Soul Train where all the girls are selling pussy. Usually during the season there are at least 300 of the most beautiful girls in the world there. All colors. None ugly. None older than 25. The price for a superstar is $100 for all night." And he concludes boastfully, "In Rio, pussy is available 24 hours a day and reasonably priced. I personally did 11 girls in eight days and spent less than $1,000 total in 1995. I carry a piece of paper with me at all times that says, "Brazilian Prostitute". I read it often, each time I fall in love. But remember that you will not get any free pussy in Rio. During Carnaval pussy flows like water. You must see it if you are to be considered a true sex friend."

São PAULO'S MEAT MARKET

The latest temple to hedonism, a true Xanadu of sex, is Bahamas, a club that opened its doors in São Paulo last January. The pleasure castle has Carrara

marble (the same favored by Michelangelo) on its floors, 23 suites, swimming pool and sauna, and cost $2.5 billion to be built. Paulista (from São Paulo) farmer Oscar Maroni Filho, the owner, is very happy with the investment, however.

The cash register starts ringing the moment the client enters the Bahamas door and 250 customers have been visiting the novelty every day. He pays $50 just to get in. A few hors d'oeuvres raise the bill very fast to $150. Add $300 for the girl and $40 for using the suite for one hour and it's easy to understand why Maroni Filho is asking himself why he hasn't left his 1000 plus cows before.

Men without deep pockets can choose from a myriad of other places in São Paulo. An American businessman who went there at the end of last year told The World Sex Guide about his sexual experience there around the São Paulo Hilton Hotel, where he stayed, and gave some pointers:

"From the hotel just walk left to the first street and then make another left about half a block to a street known as Bento Freitas. There, immediately go right and walk a block or two. You'll see a whole bunch of bars with sexy women willing to please you. There'll be no trouble finding them. The women are not only physically beautiful but kind and sweet, and I guarantee you'll be tickled to death."

And he continues: "Drinks are expensive, so my advice is not to stay too long. Just find the girl you like, chat for a while, negotiate a price (about $50 for full service), pay the tab and take her with you. One of the business people I went to see over there told me Brazilian sex workers are among the few in the world who actually enjoy their work. Naturally I thought he was kidding. Well, based on the beautiful girl I had that night, I can only say the man's observation is right on cue!"

Not every one would agree with the American choice, even though Bob Dylan is said to have gone to My Love (Bento Freitas, 344 - Tel: (011) 259-2072) and enjoyed it. The area chosen by the sex-seeking tourist is considered dangerous at night and the whole neighborhood seems to be going downhill. Transvestites are all over and Police are frequently called to calm down those a little too much excited. Things get a little more civilized inside the nightclubs where for around $15 anyone, including couples, can have a drink or two.

Men unaccompanied will be approached immediately upon entering. But the girls for more desperate that they are cannot leave the bar before the client pays for two more drinks. For sex the girl will charge between $30 and $60. These so-called boates are located in the Vila Buarque neighborhood and is known as Boca do Luxo (The Mouth of Luxury) even though this name was given in an earlier and more prosperous time for the whorehouse fronts.

The next step in decadence is the Boca do Lixo (Mouth of Trash) where any possible glamour has disappeared. One example of this is the Itatiaia building at Alameda Barao de Limeira, 134. The ten-floor building has close to 150 women who work every day including Saturdays and Sundays from the time the building opens at 9 am to 9:30 pm when it closes. The Itatiaia has been a temple to prostitution for 47 years. But it has seen much better times.

The crowd frequenting the building used to be mainly white collar workers. Today, however, almost everyone is a blue collar. On pay days the Itatiaia can get busy with more than 2000 men using the 19 apartments which have been

divided up in tiny wood partitions. There the customer takes an old and cranky elevator to the top floor and then starts coming down the stairway.

Women in the corridors and on the steps practically throw themselves at the men and for $15 take them to a cubicle with a single bed -- the last couple bed was disassembled two years ago -- where the sex has to be fast (in 15 minutes the times is up) to make room for another girl who has caught the next victim. The money is split with the tia (aunt), the owner of the little rundown apartments which normally sports a sofa, an old juke box and a little fridge with beer. Each tia works with 6 to ten girls who go back to their homes at the end of their work shift.

Another example of zona vertical is the Renda building at number 69 on Rua dos Andradas which is also a ten-floor edifice. As the Itatiaia, the Renda in decades past was considered one of the classiest whorehouses in town. Madams and workers on both buildings calculate that in the almost half a century of existence both whorehouses have witnessed together around 20 million sexual encounters.

LUXURY TRADE

The classier and costlier action these days has moved to more upscale areas such as Jardins and Morumbi. Many times they are a mansion among other residential mansions. This has not been without problem. Just recently the city of São Paulo was able to close down Caf‚ Photo, the most notorious of the single's bars being used as front for prostitution, which was installed in Itaim. City Hall, answering to complaints from Caf‚ Photo neighbors, invoked a zoning restriction to interdict the place.

Maybe on the same level of notoriety is the Antiqu rio, a place that dubs as an antique shop during the day metamorphosing itself into a bar at night. In both places, the girls are ostensibly presented as free lancers with no connection with the house. The bar is only used as a meeting spot and doesn't offer bed or other place for the carnal consummation. The idea is to escape the label of brothel. Maintaining a whorehouse is a crime that can carry a prison sentence of up to three years.

Recent official pressure against prostitution on the best neighborhoods seems to have only made the contemporary pimps even more brazen. Dinho Rocha, the owner of Antiqu rio, bought the name Caf‚ Photo after the joint was closed and reopened the place in Morumbi -- a neighborhood for the rich -- just to have it closed again soon after.

Rocha, normally, very secretive, exposed himself so much, that a police commissioner recognized that face from old times when he was detained for possession of cocaine and revealed the truth. He was a she. And her name is Vailde Rocha Veloso.

Unrepentant and unashamed, she declared, "I didn't lie. I am a woman. I have a vagina. And I'm in a relationship with another woman for 12 years. I've never hid my real name.".

Dinho or Vailde has created a distinctive style: to deal only by phone and with people whom he knew or who had been indicated by someone he trusted. Soon he possessed one of these precious and secret top-name lists as the ones held by some Beverly Hills madams like Heidi Fleiss. One of his clients, according to Rocha, was a Paraguayan politician for whom he had to send periodically

seven girls including one who had been in the latest cover of a man magazine.

The idea to create the Antiqu rio came to Dinho after a disastrous incursion in the legal side of business in 1992 when he lost $2 million in a furniture factory. But he still had money enough to spend $1.2 million to make the sophisticated antique shop. More than a meat market his place is an entertainment spot offering samba and belly dancers and some racier performers like the girl who circulates between the tables covered only with shaving cream.

Sometimes a company rents the place for a private party, and a common attraction on these occasions is a sushi table where the center decoration is a naked woman. Bachelor parties are also common at the Antiqu rio. And how Dinho recuperates his investment since officially he doesn't get a penny from the girls, the main attraction of the place? Selling liquor, he says. A bottle of whiskey costs $350.

Before having his place shut down, F bio Puglisi, the founder of Caf‚ Photo, used to explain why his house was so successful: "Here we don't have a girl who does programs, that girl that you call for a quickie. The women here are those who really enjoy the night."

There are at least 200 women -- all pretty, all very young, all very expensive -- who live from bar to bar, circulating among similar places like the Caracol Club (Rua Pamplona, 1115 - Tel: (011) 288-5344; La Colina Pizzeria (Rua Heitor Penteado, 474 - Tel: (011) 65-5010; III Whisky (Rua Major Diogo, 51 - Tel: (011) 604-7031 and Farwell (Rua Avanhandava, 16 - Tel: (011) 258-2674).

These girls charge from $150 to $450 for a little action and they have an average income of $6,000 a month. Some can make $20,000 or more. It doesn't happen every day but there are those who end up marrying a customer, getting an expensive jewel as gift, or being surprised even with a new car.

In a career with the shortest of life spans, these girls, who normally dream of becoming top models but give up because of the competition, end up making less ambitious plans like traveling to Europe, buying a house or opening a boutique.

FOR SWINGERS ONLY

Another option for those looking for sex in São Paulo is the saunas mistas (coed saunas) where the women are prostitutes who work for the establishment. Most of these houses are located in a strip of Rua Augusta closer to downtown, the other extremity of the street being flanked by sophisticated boutiques.

Don't look for sophistication in the saunas, however. They offer a little bar and a small room with steam where some naked women wait for the hungry wolf. To get inside these places there is a fee that is typically less than $10. Another $10 will guarantee a little cubicle with a bed. The price of sex is negotiable and is discussed directly with the girl.

They start by asking $50, but will settle for around $30 for a session that might last 45 minutes. Before and after the coitus, the customer is invited to take a shower. The use of condom is mandatory. Women are very pleasing and ready to satisfy almost any desire even those of men who would like to have sex with two girls at the same time.

The sauna places at Rua Augusta have names like Caf‚ Paris (on the 723 - Tel: (011) 259-7871 and Night House (at number 757 - Tel: (011) 258-8414). The girls here are much less sophisticated than their colleagues from the single's bars. They are women like Ana Carolina, who declared in an interview to Ele Ela magazine:

"For the most part the customers here are looking for affection and a little relaxation. All they want is to cool down. I don't see myself as a sexual object. I simply fulfill fantasies and perform dramatic roles."

For couples in search of some excitement, São Paulo offers also several swinger clubs. The Paris Texas club (Avenida Pomp‚ia, 678 - Tel: 65-6785) which is a peep show during the week has room for the Couples Meeting on Saturdays. For $40 (minimum consumption) couples are treated to a series of erotic games and plays. One of the favorite is the Magic Tent in which under total darkness a tent with a naked couple inside is brought to the room. Through special holes opened in the tent's fabric, people are encouraged to touch the naked bodies as they please. In another game, well-hung boys chase after the wives. When one of them says yes, she is taken to the dance floor where she is massaged, kissed and sucked in front of everybody.

At Club Paradise -- Rua Correa Dias, 161 - Tel: (011) 570-4457 -- couples are encouraged to be creative and to expose themselves. There are six suites where the hottest people can continue what they started in public. The meetings on Thursdays and Fridays, which cost $50, offer a climate conducive to seduction, with little light and male strippers' shows.

The encounters start always the same way: bashful people going around in bathrobes, drinking and sitting close or inside the Jacuzzi. But the participants usually warm up very fast when thighs, breasts, pubis and genitalia start to crop up.

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Author: Paoletti, Ricardo Article Title: Tough law Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.126 Publication Date: 06-30-96 Page: p. 20

Tough law.

Would a century be enough for Brazilian congressmen to conclude the debate phase on reforming the constitution and start the voting? Not really, say some analysts, just half jokingly.

Lawmakers have their hands full, in Brazil, these days. The National Congress and the Senate are set to review the country's constitution, not even seven years old and yet subject to substantial, massive technical amendments. At last count, there were close to 500 suggested changes to the "Magna Carta," as is respectably called the federal body of laws that guide Brazilian institutions.

It looks like that anything goes: on the table are suggestions ranging from an odd proposal to include freedom of sexual orientation as a fundamental goal of the Republic, to a change in the way the Republic itself is run, from today's presidentialism to a congress-centric parliamentarism -- an idea already defeated in a general plebiscite five years ago. And all that in an especially turbulent year when municipal elections are set for coming November.

When the current Constitution was approved in October of 1988, it marked the end of a twenty-year period inaugurated by the military coup of 1964, when federal law was something usually associated with the will of the sitting general-president. The collapse of the military regime, caused in large part by human rights abuses and a faltering economy, brought a cry for a complete re-write of the existing laws. So large was the list of social grievances accumulated by the elected constituintes, as were called the congressmen designated to create the new constitution, that from the outset it was clear that this set of bills would be anything but short and generic. And, once finally approved, it included a built-in provision for the complete revision that is now set to take place.

When this process will be completed is a matter open to heated debate. Political analysts calculate that, at its current pace, Congress would need not more and not less than 120 years to debate and vote all the suggested amendments. Not an acceptable prognostic by Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso's measure. He wants the constitution revision done by September, so one of his most cherished amendments, the one permitting his own re-election, could be debated before the heat of the local elections' season.

Politicians loyal to the administration, with their optimism set to the highest possible levels, calculated that they could get the job done in about six months. To help smooth the course of the debate and guarantee a comfortable majority of votes for the administration's proposals, president Cardoso decided to promote a wholesale change of ministries this past April, offering seats in the powerful secretaries of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, and Political Issues to new allies.

But such a move still has to prove to be enough to counterweight blunders like

the one that stopped in its tracks the reform of the Social Securities program, a major set of rules up for discussion. It just so happened that the minister of the Supremo Tribunal Federal, Brazil's high court, wasn't happy with the course of the debates and decided to decree its suspension. "As a citizen, I wish that the 1988 laws could be practiced and experienced a little more", justified the minister Marco Aur‚lio de Mello. Mello's decree was finally reverted, but the delay was enough to make even administration loyalists, the ones in a hurry, admit that the bulk of the reforms wouldn't be set to vote until next year.

Such admission has raised red flags in the real world of economics and labor relations. Labor unions want social reforms quick, and business associations think that the country's new currency, the Real, widely credited with the flattening of the inflation rate from a monthly 40% to close to 0%, isn't strong enough to go undamaged through such a long period of uncertainty.

To make the congressmen feel their urgency, workers and employers are considering the unheard of idea of promoting a general work stoppage by mutual agreement. "Congress can't turn their backs on society. We don't have time to spare. If we're left with no choice, we will stop to promote advancement", says São Paulo's Industries Federation (FIESP) president, Carlos Eduardo Moreira Ferreira, a conservative businessman turned social agitator by circumstance.

He certainly has a point, since history stubbornly won't stop waiting for the new set of reformed laws. Late last April, a massacre of more than 30 rallying peasants in Central Brazil by troops from the State of Par 's Military.

Police brought to the surface the issue of land distribution in the country -- and, once again, resuscitated and offered new blood to the debate on agrarian reform, an issue more than 30 years old that the insurgent military put to rest in 64, along with the existing Constitution.

Now, the Agrarian Reform will compete for a spot in the limelight with suggestions like mandatory public service by all graduates from state universities; or the extinction of a most disrespected law, the 12% limit on annual interest rate charged for bank loans; or the creation of a special seat in the Senate for retired Presidents. Or, yet, the introduction of death penalty -- the very first of all the amendment suggestions, filed when the 1988 Constitution was only one day old.

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Author: Da Fonseca Barreto, Carlos Emmanuel Article Title: Promising land Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.126 Publication Date: 06-30-96 Page: p. 21

Promising land.

Apparently cleaned from its endemic corruption, the Brazilian northeast seems ready to take its place in a modern and developed new Brazil. An American company is building a theme park in the area with Brazilian folklore characters. And even Disney is thinking about installing there its Tropical Disneyland.

For many years, the northeast portion of Brazil has been considered, the black hole of the country. Many past governments invested millions of dollars in infrastructure projects which were never finished because some of the funds were funneled into the pockets of corrupt-politicians, or because inflation increased the final price of the projects so much that there was not enough money to finish the work.

The northeast has also been a region with innumerable political scandals. The impeached ex-President Fernando Collor de Mello comes from there. So does the so-called gang "Anoes do Orçamento" (the dwarves of the government budget) who robbed millions of dollars. More recently, the federal government had to intervene in Bahia's Banco Econ"mico which after many years of financing political campaigns had accumulated a series of bad debts.

The region is home for many political demagogues still very active on the national political arena. People like the ex-congressman, ex-governor, ex-president and presently the leader of the Senate, Jos‚ Sarney and the many times ex-governor, ex-congressman and presently Senator Ant"nio Carlos Magalhaes (ACM). Add to them Calmon de S , Econ"mico's owner, twice Minister of Commerce and Industry, former Banco do Brasil's president.

There are many signs, however, that this Brasil velho (old Brazil) is over. Many of these swindles have been disclosed and the parties involved exposed to public opinion that will judge them on the ballot. That makes for a very promising future for the northeastern Brazil, with high levels of expectation from private entrepreneurs.

Recently the region has been receiving great amounts of private investments and the state governments are doing their jobs to attract such investments to the region. Last March, a seminar promoted by the Exame magazine gathered a group of seven state governors and 500 people between entrepreneurs and politicians. The one day seminar debated over the means to eliminate the obstacles that still exist for developing the Northeast.

One of the main focus of the seminar was to explore what the region has in abundance: natural beauty. According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), in 1995, tourism generated $563 billion worldwide, and among the emerging economies, Brazil's revenue from tourism reached $2.1 billion (ranked 11).

The amount is not great given the 1995's Brazilian gross domestic product (GDP) of $680 billion. Nevertheless, the WTO registered a 5 percent increase

from 1994 revenues.

The president of TAM Airlines, Rolim Amaro, stated that "in 1994, 213 thousand tourists were brought to the northeast from other parts of Brazil." Amaro believes that after the tremendous increase in 1995, the inflow of tourists only from the rich regions of southern Brazil will reach 1 million travelers in 1996.

Furthermore, the two major Brazilian airlines, VARIG and VASP, offer several international flights connecting the northeastern capitals to Europe, the United States and Asia. And many other major world airlines like Air France, Lufthansa and Alitalia flies to the northeast as well.

A long time believer in the region's potential is the ex-formula one pilot, Nikki Lauda, who through his Lauda Air offers weekly flights from Europe to beautiful Porto Seguro (Bahia) since the late 1980s. Besides Porto Seguro, other major tourist destinations are Salvador and Itaparica (Bahia), Macei¢ (Alagoas), Recife and Olinda (Pernambuco), Joao Pessoa (Para¡ba), Natal (Rio Grande do Norte), and Fortaleza (Cear ).

Yet, it is off the coast of Bahia and Pernambuco, Abrolhos and Fernando de Noronha respectively, that paradise rests. The two archipelagos are filled with submarine caves, 1500s wrecked caravels, colorful reefs, and a diversified marine life. It is a diver's dream.

The area needs infra-structure however. The Banco do Nordeste do Brasil (BNB), to boost investments from local entrepreneurs, raised the credit lines available from $900 million in 1994 to $2.9 billion in 1995. Furthermore, the Cardoso government has promised an increase of resources to the local economy through the BNDES (National Bank for State Development).

Meanwhile some businessmen are jumping at the opportunity to catch the wave of increasing profits in the region. Suarez, a contractor company from Bahia for example, has two ongoing projects for new resort hotels with 340 apartments on the capital Salvador and on the Itaparica Island, right off the coast. Furthermore, the Keynoox Company from Miami is building a theme park after Brazilian folklore figures in Fortaleza, and another American, Wet'n Wild, is constructing an aquatic park in Salvador.

The region's vast virgin coastal beaches of white sand and blue water, and the all-year sunny weather creates the perfect environment for the new world's playground. Besides, the charming and pleasant people of the region makes the place a welcome tourist attraction. The Disney Company has been researching the Brazil's northeast for its new Tropical Disneyland Park, a sure success.

The president of Abril Group and editor of magazines Veja and Exame, Roberto Civita, stated during the seminar that "we are going to show the world that the Northeast is not only potential, but a reality." Tourism could become the Northeast's new economic cycle.

In 1995, the region's GDP of $99 billion grew 9.8 percent while the country grew by 5.4 percent. In the past few years, 1,017 new industries set up production plants in the area generating 300 thousand new jobs, and another 100 thousand will surge in the wake of 250 ongoing industrial projects in the region.

The Northeast already hosts some of Brazil's biggest multinationals, like

Aracruz Cellulose and the Odebrech Group. Odebrech is a construction giant present in every continent, and with projects in 21 countries, including the United States (builder of California's north-south aqueduct). Furthermore, some of Brazil's most profitable plants are located in the Northeast (i.e., the Vicunha Group and Grendene Shoes).

However, the scant population is another one of the problems in the region. The per capita income of $2,500 is half of the country's $5,000, illiteracy rate reaches 37 percent while 18 percent in the rest of Brazil, and life expectancy is 64 in the Northeast and 67 overall.

The governor of Cear , Tasso Jereissati, advocated during the seminar that the northeast does not need government subsidies. "The success of the region depends much more on the Real Plan (Brazil's economic stabilization program that cut inflation to 20 percent per year) than on subsidies from the central power," he stated.

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Author: Colombo, Paola Article Title: Fleeing for life Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.126 Publication Date: 06-30-96 Page: p. 22

Fleeing for life.

Three weeks after having received an award from President Fernando Henrique Cardoso for his work with favelados (shanty town dwellers), Caio Ferraz, a sociologist and favelado himself, asked for exile in the US. He couldn't take the death threats of police anymore when they started following his wife and one and a half-year-old daughter. "I wasn't born to be a dead hero," he said.

In Boston, Caio Ferraz, 27, a prominent Brazilian sociologist, now in exile in the US since the beginning of the year, explains his situation as "very strange, very different from 100% of the Brazilians who come over here." Ferraz openly denounced police corruption in the state of Rio de Janeiro after the massacre of 21 people in the favela (shanty town) of Vig rio Geral in 1994. The carnage happened two houses far from his own. Victims were innocent people killed by the military police in revenge for the homicide of four policemen.

"It wasn't time to sit down and ponder about death and injustice," Ferraz said. He decided to create a group within the community to analyze what had happened. "Astonishing as it sounds, there was a positive side to the massacre," he noted. "Vig rio Geral got on the map. That made it easier for us to be heard."

Out of the weekly meetings Ferraz organized the Community Movement of Vig rio Geral (Mocovige). According to the sociologist, the basic idea was to discuss what could be done to the community. "We could have either waited for justice or tried to achieve justice with our own work," he told News from Brazil recently. "We had to show society that the people who live in shanty towns are honest; we exist, we can also be intellectual, we can also produce culture."

The group had the idea of buying the house where the family was killed to make it into the headquarters for Mocovige. "We wanted to transform the house of death into the house of life. A house of war into a house of peace," Ferraz said.

The House of Peace was inaugurated on June 4, 1995 even though initially there was no financial support. With the help of the federal bank of Brazil (Caixa Econ"mica Federal), the group got the money for the house. Support followed as local entities and artists started to donate from construction material to sculptures and pictures that could be auctioned for money.

The project was recognized by the Interamerican Bank of Development that promised to invest $123,000 over a period of two years. Reaching the international community, the House of Peace also got support from the Netherlands that donated eight computers. The European Community developed a health project together with the group Doctors Without Borders that assists 600 people monthly; the mayor of Geneva, Switzerland, donated the funds for a nursery that takes care of over 80 kids, and the clothing chain C&A donated silk-screen equipment that has allowed 120 teenagers to get a job.

The House of Peace also has a project for handicapped people. "We couldn't forget that there are a lot of people mutilated by the violence around that area," commented the activist.

With the community involvement on the project, Ferraz and the members of Mocovige started to teach people about their rights and duties as citizens. The idea was to teach people how to react when the police acted illegally. They were taught to file complaints, to make a basic account of what was going on so that the case could be presented to Rio's security authorities.

Every time the police would get into Vig rio Geral, the group was on the lookout. Soon, the police started to threaten them back. "I was threatened directly, but they couldn't stop my work unless they'd kill me," Ferraz added. He is positive that the threats came from the police. "I am sure about that because I saw who they were; they threatened me personally. I know that criminals don't threaten, criminals kill."

During the same time that Ferraz was suffering these death threats, he received several awards for his work at Vig rio Geral, including one given him by President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the National Human Rights Award on December 1995. The problem is that, according to Ferraz, the federal government gave the award but not the security needed so that he could stay in Brazil.

At the end of December '95 Ferraz's wife and baby daughter were followed by police cars. "I knew that now was the time to leave," he said. Six years ago his brother was killed by Police after they mistook him for a cocaine trafficker. Ferraz contacted Amnesty International, which had started a campaign in favor of his work and for which he has worked as a volunteer for over three years now. Elizabeth Leedes, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, reached the Amnesty International and offered Ferraz a position as visiting scholar at the Center for International studies of the university.

Although Ferraz is far from Brazil, he said he will not allow the distance to interrupt his work. "I am only physically distant," he comments. He is often in contact with the House of Peace through faxes and phone calls. "I am happy to know that things are going really well there."

The House of Peace is now building a three-story building on the site of the bar that was exploded on the day of the massacre. "Now that we have full recognition and acceptance from the society, we have to keep that project working," Ferraz said, promising he won't give up his idea of spreading the project to other shanty towns of the country. "Citizenship is only made available through people who are educated, who have access to the machinery of culture -- through people who can make their own culture important for future generations," he concluded.

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Author: Nelson, William Javier Article Title: The racial cul-de-sac Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.126 Publication Date: 06-30-96 Page: p. 24

The racial cul-de-sac.

Brazilians should be teaching the world and the US in particular the way to an integrated ethnically mixed society. Unfortunately, however, they seem to be adhering to the manicheistic way North Americans see the world: black and white.

Years ago, Brazil was a society which celebrated the mixtures of colors which contributed to its mestiçagem. Hundreds of ways in which Indians, Africans and Portuguese blended together contributed to a myriad of color terms. Brazilians seemed to have been proud of being mixed and proud of being Brazilians first and color second. Nowadays, Brazilian cultural prerogatives appear to dictate a fitting of all of these colors into "black" and "white" and the stage seems to be set for a great "black"-"white" war such as has been engaged in by the North Americans for many years.

North Americans have made a science of distilling multiple physical types into the bi-polar conflict groups, "black" and "white". Perhaps Brazilian present mania for dividing itself into "black" and "white" is part of the imitative process whereby some cultures copy everything North American. A word of warning, though; the North Americans perhaps are moving in another direction: Brazilians might be imitating the wrong trend.

"Race" in the US

"Race" has always been a common topic of discussion for North Americans. Common as it is, most North Americans have never questioned the definitional system which makes possible the discussion in the first place. The "black" and "white" North American conflict groups are so defined based on the "hypodescent" rule (a term invented by two US anthropologists, Marvin Harris and Conrad Phillip Kottak, who made extensive cross cultural studies using Brazil as one of the points of reference).

Quite simply, hypodescent states that, in the case of a sexual union between parents of different "races", the offspring automatically takes on the status of the lower caste parent.

Therefore a sexual union between a "black" and "white" invariably produces a "black" (even though this "black" is now a mulatto). Moreover, if this mulatto also has sexual relations with a person of the "white" group, his offspring will also be labeled as "black". The hypodescent rule does several things: first, it eliminates African ancestry from the "white" population. Second, it establishes two very rigidly defined social groups. Third, it discourages intermarriage. Fourth, it encourages a mind set in which one thinks of immutable "races" in which people are placed for life.

This system has been in effect for many years in the United States. Ironically, both the "black" and "white" groups support the rule. The "blacks" support it because it increases the numbers of persons labeled as "black". The

"whites" embrace it because there are enough "whites" in the US so that partial "whites" are not needed for numerical and cultural dominance.

However, some rumblings have been occurring in the US. Adherence to the hypodescent rule has been facing challenges from new quarters.

The Multiracial Movement

The multiracial movement has grown in the US in recent years. This is partly due to an increase in marriages in the US that have been classed as "interracial":

- Thirteen percent of all African-American men in the Western part of the United States are married to women classed as "white".

- From 1970 to 1991, the number of "mixed-race" married couples increased from 310,000 to 994,000.

- For "black" and "white" parents, births increased from 8,700 in 1968 to 45,000 in 1989.

- Seventy-one percent of teens say that they would go out with someone of a different "race".

- In 1990, there were nearly 2,000,000 children under 18 whom the census classified as "of a different race than one or both of their parents".

Many of the children of "interracial" unions no longer adhere to the "hypodescent" rule. One of the leaders of the multiracial movement, Charles Michael Byrd (editor of Interracial Voice), is of partial African ancestry, but is not willing to ignore the other part of his heritage.

The same thing goes for Ramona Douglass, president of the Association of MultiEthnic Americans. In the past, "racially mixed" persons rebelling against the hypodescent rule have encountered opposition from both "blacks" and "whites".

"Whites", in the past, had reacted to mixed persons with blanket rejection. "Blacks" have heaped scorn on mixed persons by alleging that they have been "deserters" to the "black cause". Years ago, such social mechanisms were effective. Now, however, as the country becomes more diverse with immigrants from Latin American and Asia, and with the "white" population becoming less of a dominant percentage of the population, "racially" mixed persons have found social space to exist in the United States.

Their questioning of the "racial" status quo has, in Byrd's words, "blown the lid off most people's perceptions of race."

Whither Latinos?

Ironically, Brazilians and other Latinos in the United States could have been useful to the success of the multiracial movement (at least in the short term). Most Brazilians are aware that the hypodescent rule is ridiculous. Most are aware that even Brazilians identified as "white" can have African ancestry.

Most are far more flexible in their "racial" consciousness than even the most

liberal North American. However, Brazilians and other Latinos are also practical. [As I am from the Dominican Republic, I can speak from experience]. Latinos are aware that the "whites" control most cultural, economic, educational and political institutions in the United States. They generally alter their "racial" perceptions to fit in with the dominant society.

Straight hair and olive skin allow Latinos to call themselves "white" or at least "not-black" so as to fit in with what's in vogue. They are slow to use their insights to help bridge any gaps between "blacks" and "whites". Nor do they go out of their way to admit to African ancestry, since that, to a North American, constitutes being 100% "black" (regardless of physical appearance). Lastly, they are hesitant to use their "racial" sophistication to introduce to the North American new ways of looking at "race". Rather, they are quick to use his rigid categories to their advantage. I have seen many mulatto Dominicans (who have fooled the North Americans into thinking that their dark skin color is due to "Indian" ancestry) patronize North American "blacks" as though they themselves do not have the dreaded African ancestry.

What makes this so preposterous is that the native "Indians" (Tainos) on the island of Hispaniola (home of the Dominican Republic) were largely eliminated within the first century of the Discovery. Dominicans are African and Spanish (with some Taino). Since we are mixed, we are all. And none of these. Brazilians can say the same thing, except that "Portuguese" can be substituted for "Spanish" and the "Indian" contingent is larger.

What is in the Offing?

In spite of any intransigence by Brazilians or other Latinos, "racial" lines in the United States will become less rigid and more flexible (like the Brazil of old). The reasons for this are all demographic:

1) There has been a vast increase in immigration of "non-white" peoples from Latin America and Asia.

2) "Interracial" marriages will continue to increase as will their rate of increase.

3) Birth rates for persons classed as "black" and "Hispanic" are outstripping the "white" birth rate, further eroding the numerical percentage of persons classed as "white".

4) More and more children of "interracial" unions are using more varied and self-identifying terms when describing themselves.

Such demographics point to a United States which is far more varied than can be contained by the two "racial" combat groups of "black" and "white". Time magazine did a story on this phenomenon in the fall of 1993. A young woman was featured on the cover.

What made this woman so unusual was that she was a computer-generated composite of eight or ten "racial" and ethnic groups. A year or so later, Newsweek ran a cover story outlining the tremendous physical variation of persons labeled as "black" in the United States. In this story, the hypodescent rule was clearly a focus. These cover stories merely reflect the changing demographics of the United States. "White" backlash interests, ranging from "conservative" magazines to anti-immigration initiatives to "white" males joining paramilitary organizations in the countryside, also

reflect this reality (in the form of fear of the coming demographic changes).

Because of an apparent increase in the cultural imperative stressing the desirability of "whiteness" (as opposed to being mixed), Brazil has an excellent chance of squandering its heritage of "mestiçagem" and "racial" mixing and evolving, instead, into a society dichotomized into "white" and "black".

As anybody can guess, stressing "whiteness" leads to exclusion of those not fortunate enough to possess the "racial" requirements.

Stressing nationality over color while at the same time emphasizing that being mixed is not a bad thing could have led us in another, saner direction. Ironically, our imitative focus (the United States) could be moving in that saner direction.

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Author: Welles, Violet Article Title: Inspiring Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.126 Publication Date: 06-30-96 Page: p. 26

Inspiring.

At 16, when disease forced her to go to the city, rubber-tapper Marina Silva was still illiterate. Twenty two years later, now a senator in the Brazilian congress, she comes to the US to receive a prize for her work in preserving the environment.

The press release for the Goldman Environment Prize describes the 1996 winners as "heroes of the earth." The press release does not exaggerate.

This year the six people awarded the top environmental prize on the planet include a young Mexican who refused to stop his "grass roots" activities in the forests of Chihuahua despite three attempts on his life by drug lords and logging companies. Also included among the winners is an Ugandan journalist who used the front pages of his paper to expose dangerous illegal mining and wildlife smuggling rings.

And very, very high among the "heroes of the earth" is Marina Silva. At 38, Silva is the first seringueira ever elected to the Brazilian Federal Senate. In Bras¡lia, and throughout the rest of the country, she is known as a dedicated fighter for the Amazonian rain forest and its traditional people.

In San Francisco recently to collect her share of the Goldman Prize which include a $75,000 check, the dark-eyed, fragile-looking Silva spoke, eloquently about the misconceptions that still persist about her home territory.

"Amaz"nia is not an empty space that needs to be occupied. It has been occupied by traditional people, doing different activities, for thousands of years."

Silva's large, impoverished family which lived in Rio Branco, Acre, were among these people. By 11 she was hunting, fishing and rubber tapping. Unschooled and illiterate, she had formal knowledge in only one area -- she knew just enough arithmetic to keep rubber buyers from cheating her family.

At 16, the still illiterate girl caught hepatitis and went to the city, alone, for treatment. Working as a maid by day, she attended classes by night. In three years she had raced through elementary school, junior high school and high school in record time.

At 20, with a bachelor's degree in history she was deeply involved in the student movement fighting the military dictatorship.

But true commitment came in the early 1980's when she returned to Acre and began working with rubber-tapper leader, Chico Mendes.

Today, there is an almost mythic ring to the struggle of the seringueiros against the cattle ranchers who were destroying the forest, and destabilizing

their communities. In those days it was more immediate, more dangerous.

With everything on their side, including government subsidies, the powerful ranchers demanded more and more pasture land, using any means of persuasion they could. Rural violence escalated. The local economy plunged. Clearly, something had to do to turn the situation around.

The "something" were the empates, huge but peaceful demonstrations by seringueiros which literally stopped ranch hands in their tracks and convinced them to end their destruction of the forest. Even today, the empates are considered a prime example of grass roots' resistance to environmental assault.

But not everyone was persuaded by Mendes' peaceful beliefs. In 1988 he was murdered by rancher Darcy Alves. "When they killed Chico, they thought they would kill the movement," said Silva, who had a price on her head during much of this period. "But the movement is now bigger and stronger than ever."

Proof. One of Mendes' dreams was to create sustainable extractive reserves in the rain forest where useful products such as rubber and nuts could be removed without destroying the forest. Largely through Silva's continuing activities, Acre today has extractive reserves covering two million hectares of forest, managed by the traditional communities that inhabit them.

Another proof of progress. In 1994, Silva -- impoverished rubber tapper, illiterate teen-ager, worker-activist, traditional outsider -- became an insider, the first seringueira ever elected to the Brazilian Federal Senate, a person in a powerful position to represent the rain forest and the rights of the people who live there.

Just as, earlier, the sweep of cattle-owners into the Amazon was an obvious invasion of the territory, more recently a more subtle invasion has also been going on. It is one in which researchers and laboratories take the genetic resources of a region for their own profit no matter what the cost to the community or, for that matter, to the country as a whole.

One of Silva's main pieces of legislation has been a law to limit access to genetic resources and give traditional people a voice in their control. But even with improvements, Silva has mixed feelings about the progress being made towards improving life in Amaz"nia.

"Yes, the Cardoso government has many good people in it, with good experience, concerned about social and agrarian reforms. But mostly the government is concerned about economic stabilization, fighting inflation. Until the government is willing to invest in education, job programs, health care and agrarian reform, until the government is willing to commit real resources, unrest will continue, people will go on dying, like the 20 killed recently in demonstrations in Par ."

But Silva still hopes to see a better world, one in which we will finally learn "not to sacrifice the treasure of millennia for the profits of a decade." Says she, "St. Thomas said to see is to believe. I think we must invert that. To see, first we must believe!"

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Author: Gilman, Bruce Article Title: Viva Carmen! Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.126 Publication Date: 06-30-96 Page: p. 39

Viva Carmen!.

Carmen Miranda not only translated the black samba for a white audience, originated the Brazilian way of singing, and instigated the new standard for Brazilian popular music; she defined the Carioca woman. The rest of the world rediscovered her genius for close to a decade now. Finally Brazil is doing the same, with a vengeance.

In 1948, renowned composer Ary Barroso (he wrote Brazil included in Disney's Saludos Amigos) wanted to make Carmen Miranda a citizen of Rio, but the city council turned down the request saying that she would denigrate the image of the country. Nonetheless, in celebrations of Carmen forty-one years after her death, there has been a jubilant campaign to reissue her recordings and provide the public with documentaries and books that attempt to tell her story with the perspective of forty-one years hindsight. (Helena Solberg's documentary "Carmen Miranda: Bananas Is My Business" is one of the best.)

Finally the platform shoes have taken their revenge. Last February when Carmen would have been 87 years old she was paid homage when the city of Rio posthumously presented her with the lofty Pedro Ernesto decoration and reverently celebrated her with a memorial performance on the beach. In addition, "those in the know" are making the latest fashion statements by wearing this seasons designer clothing, inspired by and reminiscent of Carmen's attire.

With ten years of delay in relation to record companies in other parts of the world (including the former Czech Republic), Brazilian record companies finally discovered that they have been sitting on top of a very rich collection of popular music, are starting to release it in luxurious box sets, and are not complaining about the investment. Artists that seemed to have nothing more to offer have become good slices of profit.

This is true not only for the companies but for collectors and those who simply want more information about an artist who may have died or whose works were previously unavailable or marred by the poor recording quality of another era's technology. Thus, Carmen Miranda's permanent restoration will not depend on the multitude who for decades have imitated her. Carmen's voice has mandated an indisputable space for her immortality.

Carmen's most successful and energetic recordings were made between 1935 and 1940, and it is exactly these recordings that EMI-Odeon Brazil has compiled and reissued in a luxurious 5 CD box set that contains an informative 72 page booklet with vast photographic material in both color and black and white, all the lyrics, informative historical details from the research of Abel Cardoso Junior, some very savory stories, and a biographic summary of the star. There are six hours of music, and every minute of this marathon entertains and instructs with classic Carmen Miranda.

This set of sambas and marchas was recorded in chronological order and

includes among others: "A Preta do Acaraj‚" (Acaraj‚'s Black Woman), "Adeus Batucada" (Farewell, Percussion), "Balancˆ" (Swing), "Cachorro" (Dog), "Camisa Listrada", (Striped Shirt), "Cantoras do R dio" (Radio Singers), "Disseram que Voltei Americanizada" (They Said That I Came Back Americanized), "...E o Mundo Nao Se Acabou" (...And the World Hasn't Ended), Eu Dei (I Gave), Fon-Fon (Beep Beep), Ary Barroso's "Na Baixa do Sapateiro" (On the Shoemaker's Blues), "No Tabuleiro da Baiana" (On the Baiana's Tray), Dorival Caymmi's "O que � que a Baiana Tem?" (What Does the Bahiana Have?), "Tic-Tac do Meu Coraçao" (My Heart's Tic-Tac), "Vira-Lata" (Mongrel), and "Recenseamento" (Census). All these tunes have passed time's acid test and numerous recordings by accomplished artists like Gal Costa, Chico Buarque, and Ney Matogrosso; though, none outshines the original's ‚lan.

EMI-Odeon Brazil, was helped by three collectors who loaned and shipped portions of their 78 rpm record collections to London in special wooden boxes. At the Abbey Road Studios, where the Beatles recorded their best albums, these sixty year old recordings were treated with an electronic bath and went through the re-mastering process in three stages conducted by a sophisticated computer program called Cedar. Surface noises, some distortion, and those scratchy sounds one is accustomed to hearing on older recordings were removed.

Fans who have the disposition to delve into Carmen's career and music at a visceral level are going to adore this project. The set has come to Brazilian stores with a price tag of $110. A similar release in the United States or Europe would cost approximately $80. Although the figure might be a sacrifice for the audiophile, it is worthwhile. The results are impeccable, and the work of the crew that conceived the project should be praised. It is impossible to ignore the good humor conveyed by the singer in each song. Listening to these discs one easily understands the reverence to the myth surrounding Carmen Miranda, how she blew American minds, and why Carmen Miranda was truly The Brazilian Bombshell.

The Pequena Not vel (Notable Little One) was born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha in 1909 in Porto, Portugal. According to the legend, she earned the nickname Carmen in salute to the heroine of Bizet's opera. When she was eight months old her family moved to Brazil where her father opened a barber shop. The family was middle class, and Carmen attended religious schools. Nonetheless, they lived in Lapa, downtown Rio's poorer district. It was here that Carmen became fascinated by the music of neighborhood sambistas whose enthusiastic style she absorbed.

Childhood pictures of Carmen in the book Carmen Miranda by C ssio Emmanuel Barsante, released last year, show that Carmen always had something special, something which could not be defined, a reckless abandon, a mischievous way of enjoying life, an exuberance. The photos also show that before her debut as a singer, Carmen took an obvious pleasure in being photographed making comical poses.

The first indication that Carmen Miranda would become the Brazilian Bombshell of the 1940s and 1950s was formed amidst the four walls of a hat shop where she worked as an adolescent. When Carmen punched her time card at the Femme Chic at 141 Ouvidor Street in Rio, the sharp little noise echoed in Beverly Hills. It was a moment when history changed. A hat, a turban, and hair ribbons became for Carmen Miranda what paint was for Picasso, what a ball is for Pel‚.

Carmen started recording in 1929 for Brunswick and appeared on stage for the first time in 1930 at Praça Tiradentes in Rio (a second-rate area of clubs and

theaters). Her role was that of a foul-mouthed prostitute who wore garish clothing. The second act was once interrupted by a revolver shot to the ceiling from an indignant family man.

Carmen came after the great lyric sopranos of the nineteenth century. There are no recordings by any singer before Carmen that deliver as much humor and temerity. And when we talk about recordings before Carmen, we are talking about those before February 1930, when she exploded with the marcha "Ta¡ -- Eu Fiz Tudo Pra Vocˆ Gostar de Mim" (It is Here - I Did Everything For You To Love Me). With this, her third recording for RCA Victor, the twenty-one year old Miranda was not only a singer and master of vocal antics, she was already a brilliant artist. Selling 36,000 copies of "Ta¡," Carmen beat Brazil's national sales record. By the time she left for New York in 1939, she had already recorded 300 songs. Up until Elis Regina's recording of "Arrastao" (Dragging the Fish Net) in 1965, no female vocalist had sold as much as Carmen Miranda.

Carmen's gestures, facial expressions, outfits, and the way she never remained in the same spot created an extravaganza on stage. Moreover, her unique repertoire was blessed by the incredible musical harvest of the 1930s, a golden decade of Brazilian music which gave birth to the best of Ary Barroso as well as the orchestra of Pixinguinha. She had great stage presence. Winking and raising her eyebrows at male patrons, as well as her conviction to engage the entire audience, established Carmen as the unequivocal originator of the "Brazilian Way" of singing and as the instigator of the new standard of performance practice for Brazilian popular music.

Before 1938, when Carmen entered the stage wearing tons of costume jewelry, platform shoes, a Baiana's lace skirt, and a crazy turban on her head, no singer had dared to appear in such radically extravagant attire. Generations of Brazilian performers followed her lead. Years later we hear Carmen Miranda's sense of humor reverberating of in the recordings of many Brazilian singers: Elis Regina, Gal Costa, Rita Lee, Elba Ramalho, Joao Gilberto, Caetano Veloso, and Ney Matogrosso among many others. Peeled to the core, you discover deep within these artists, that familiar special something that was Carmen Miranda.

There has for a long time been an assumption, albeit a misconception, that Brazilian Popular Music was the product of the Estado Novo of Getúlio Vargas and that this program was disseminated by Carmen Miranda. This is simply not true. The Estado Novo attempted to deploy an appreciation for Brazil and things Brazilian. Carmen had been extolling the wonders of everything Brazilian well before the 1937 dictatorship of Getúlio Vargas and his Estado Novo in songs like "Cor de Guin‚" (Color of Guinea) from 1935, "Terra Morena" (Brown Land) and Minha Terra Tem Palmeiras (My Land Has Palm Trees) both from 1936, the latter title comes from the 19th century poem by Gonçalves Dias.

This exaltation of one's country was not a strictly Brazilian sin. All the popular music of that period, including American and French, praised national glories. People enjoyed these sorts of tunes. If the Brazilian's boasting seemed to be more pronounced, it was possibly because Ary Barroso's "Aquarela do Brasil" is a much better tune than Irving Berlin's "God Bless America." A great part of Carmen's praising referred to Bahia. In the same vein, Ary Barroso, who was from Minas Gerais, composed more about Bahia both for Carmen and in his film soundtracks for Walt Disney Studios than he did about any other area of Brazil. Although she was born in Portugal, no other singer was more Baiana than Carmen.

The Baiana phase of Carmen Miranda did not start with her recording O que � que a Baiana Tem? composed by Dorival Caymmi in 1939. Actually this was the seventh song of this genre that she recorded. Prior to that she had recorded "No Tabuleiro da Baiana" (Ary Barroso, 1936), "Baiana do Tabuleiro" (Andr‚ Filho, 1937), "Quando Eu Penso na Bahia" (When I Think About Bahia) -- Ary e Luiz Peixoto --, 1937), "Nas Cadeiras da Baiana" (On a Baiana's Hips) -- Portelo Juno and L‚o Cardoso, 1938, -- and Na Bahia (In Bahia) -- Herivelto Martins and Humberto Porto, 1938. Almost all the lyrics describe the movement of the Baiana's hips and describe the cuisine on her tray. The novelty of "O que � que a Baiana Tem?" was not solely in the lyrics, which were similar to many of the others, but in the rhythm that only Dorival Caymmi could create. Caymmi's other contribution was teaching Carmen the way to move her arms and hands in accompaniment to the music -- a way of moving that would ultimately enchant the Americans and bring her to Hollywood. Unfortunately these movements became Carmen's caricatured trademark and often all that Americans in the 1940s associated her with.

Carmen was a natural humorist and could make a joke out of anything. She was a funny, not a romantic singer. Only a small fraction of her songs can be thought of as romantic. Although she was a specialist in giving a double meaning to the most innocent words, the listener cannot discern sensuality in her voice. The lyrics do not overtly convey anything hedonistic. Listeners in 1937 would have to have been sexual deviants to be offended by the simple lyrics she sang. The tune by Ary Barroso Eu Dei (I Gave) -- performed often by Gal Costa and Caetano Veloso, both wearing knowing smiles -- reveals at its conclusion that what she gave was a kiss and not her body. In "Fon-Fon" the exquisite samba duet with S¡lvio Caldas written by Joao de Barro and Alberto Ribeiro, Carmen pretends to resist a young man's caress. The lyrics are clearly not offensive, just frivolous.

Carmen Miranda not only translated the black samba for a white audience, originated the Brazilian way of singing, and instigated the new standard of performance practice for Brazilian popular music; she defined the Carioca woman. The Brazilian women who opened the twentieth century were delicate, susceptible, squeamish, always well dressed, and always fleeing from men. Carmen created the seductive image of the Brazilian woman who meet men joyously, legs and cleavage showing. Needless to say she would never have been invited to the feminist congress in China.

At the end of the 1930s the American entrepreneur Lee Shubert watched Carmen perform in Rio's famous night club Cassino da Urca. Shubert was fascinated by her performance and resolved to bring Carmen to New York. His enthusiasm was checked by only two doubts: first, whether a North American audience would appreciate so much passion coming from a brown-skinned, Latina singer; second, whether he should concede to Carmen's demand to bring along her own back-up band, the legendary Bando da Lua (Band of the Moon). At that time there were truly no musicians in the United States capable of rhythmically supporting or harmonizing Brazilian music with any stylistic integrity. Bando da Lua was the bedrock of her performances in the United States.

Carmen arrived in New York in 1939 able to speak a half dozen English words and moved to a stage on Broadhurst and Broadway where she received sixth billing on a poster for the production The Streets of Paris. On stage she wore platform shoes and the craziest hats in history (Napoleon had nothing on Carmen Miranda). She was doing the same act she had done at the Cassino da Urca. At only 5'2" she was gigantic and attractive. Always wishing to be first

among the first, she lacked any sense of female inferiority. Her confident disposition enabled her to chance an international career, despite the obvious risks, and was an early demonstration of her brilliance. The following week her name was moved to the top of the bill. Leading the show biz world by its nose, Carmen modified its visual attitudes. At the end of the year Saks released a line of jewelry inspired by Carmen.

After a year in the United States, Carmen returned to Rio but was punished for her success. Her first performance at the Cassino da Urca initially received the silent treatment and then boss. Brazilians were saying that she had become Americanized, that she was acting like a vain American, that she didn't care any longer about samba or the people from the favelas (shanty towns), and that her imitations made a mockery of her people. Many felt that Carmen created no more than the image of Brazilians as a scatterbrained people.

Her success in the United States, according to Tom Jobim, was a personal offense to the Brazilian people. Despite winning popular acclaim in the United States, her movements and outfits became stereotyped lampoons of the Brazilian people as well as Latin Americans in general and ridiculed their cultures. Vicente Paiva and Luiz Peixoto seized the opportunity and composed "Disseram que Voltei Americanizada (They Said That I Came Back Americanized), a dazzling chorinho which Carmen sang at her second performance at the Cassino da Urca.

Upset with her reception she returned to the United States and put Hollywood on its feet. From this juncture a new Carmen Miranda was concocted, much more celebrated, but fundamentally inferior to the real Carmen Miranda that was abandoned. Fox and the other studios invested solely in her comic talents and in turbans of bananas rather than her vocal and dramatic potential. She stopped recording in Portuguese. The world won a comedian, but Brazil lost her singer. And the tide was not to turn. In 1941 Mickey Rooney lampooned her attire, her arm movements, and her hand gestures in the film Babes on Broadway.

Under the supervision of an American director and placed opposite the blond Alice Faye, who was always very cool-headed and demure, Carmen's outrageous clothes and the way she moved and made her eyes turn sent the message that Brazilians are light-headed people. What country would like to be recognized as the one where people carry bananas in turbans on their heads? Many Americans still don't think of literature, natural resources, or architecture when trying to imagine what Brazil is like. Their image is the sound of "chic-a chic-a boom," inflamed hips, and the crazy hats Carmen introduced. As proof that this inferiority complex has remained intact, author Otto Lara Resende has referred to Brazilian inventor Santos Dumont, the man who flew around the Eiffel Tower in Paris well before the Wright brothers got off the ground, as the exclusive inventor of airplane disasters.

Carmen made fourteen films in the United States. And contrary to popular belief she was not helped by the politics of Franklin D. Roosevelt's Good Neighbor Policy. Carmen had been working in the United States for months before the United States entered the Second World War. After their entry, yes. She participated in some productions to exalt the American war effort and help the allies. Her characters were named Dorita, Chiquita, Rosita, Carmelita and other diminutives. These roles were unpleasant not only for Argentina in Down Argentine Way (prohibited in Buenos Aires because it did not represent the customs of the people), and to Brazilians in That Night in Rio (when she sang for the first time in English). Her role in South American Way, which presented South American women as ignorant and always ready for sex, was a

slap in the face to all of Latin America. We can only wonder what Cubans thought when she made Weekend in Havana. Nonetheless, she taped her exotic and happy image in the gallery of famous faces and is remembered with appreciation in the film This is Hollywood.

In one respect Brazilians had been correct, she was richer. By 1946 she was earning $210,000 a year and had become the artist who paid the most income tax to the federal government. But her whole family had moved to Los Angeles and was living with her. Her house in Beverly Hills became the embassy for Brazilian musicians visiting the United States, and Carmen was known as the Ambassador of Brazilian music. The title was warranted. Her presence and scintillating presentations did more for Brazilian music than did the actual ambassadors at the time who never promoted Brazil's music. If one day somebody makes the film This is Brazil, Carmen Miranda will have to be recognized for bringing marchas and sambas to the United States while the music of Glen Miller and Benny Goodman was invading the beaches of Brazil.

Those who knew Carmen celebrated her for the manner in which she rebuffed the half-naked Darryll Zanuck, cinema tycoon and womanizer, (something seldom achieved by other women contracted to his studio) who pursued her around the sofas and tables in his office demanding her "tropical delicacies." But not all of her battles concluded in victory. Carmen suffered after her marriage to American studio assistant David Sebastian who put her to work without rest. A little bag of medications accompanied her comings and goings and was an obvious symptom of her relationship problems. Half of the medications were stimulants in order to sustain the heavy work load. The others were sedatives to help her sleep when she had the time. Some intellectuals believe that Carmen inadvertently modeled for women the idea that there was strength in appearing and performing buoyantly even after being beaten by an abusive husband.

One can talk about the fairness of fate or wonder how history would have treated the woman whose name was synonymous with her country's music and dance had she married well. She had had a seven year romance with an oarsman from the Flamengo athletic club, and she always regretted not marrying Aloysio de Oliveira, music director of Bando da Lua. We also know that in despair over Carmen, composer Assis Valente, one of the most popular songwriters of the 1930s and 1940s, committed suicide by drinking Guaran soft drink and insecticide. A singer who worked with her at the Copacabana Palace related that Carmen cried all the time. In her last days she was receiving electrical shocks to treat her depression.

The voice of Carmen Miranda carried with it a vivaciousness, that by irony and contradiction to destiny, imprisoned her in successive bouts of depression until on the evening of August 5, 1995 while holding a mirror and putting on her make-up in her Hollywood mansion she suffered a terrible fall. She was found dead the next morning by the maid, stricken by an acute heart attack. She died the same night that five years later would bring down Marilyn Monroe, another symbol of the glamorous, exploited, and ultimately betrayed woman. It was clear that the Hollywood machinery had killed once more. Carmen's body was embalmed and taken back to Brazil where a priest refused to entrust Carmen's spirit to God because of her facial make-up.

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Sheer wonder

Gilberto Gil, the most Baiano of Baianos singer and composer, has again become all the rage these days. He has just joined the WEB revolution, parking its very tasteful homepage at http://www.gilbertogil.com.br and is starting a new tour of the world. People in the US have reason for complaining, however. He is limiting appearances here to San Francisco and Los Angeles. Among his latest projects there is also a book coming out very soon.

Thais Blissen

Gil continues to fascinate all of us, always the cosmic musician from Bahia, the magical pied piper of several generations, the student, the teacher, the provacateur, the gentle ambassador of the music goddess, with the power to incite dance in all who hear his sweetly delivered message and are forever mesmerized by it. The great Brazilian author Jorge Amado calls him the voice of Bahia, his music "feeding the dreams and hopes of the people".

Gilberto Gil's career actually began in business management in São Paulo, after graduating from the University of Bahia's School of Business Administration. In his twenty's however, having spent most of his years to learning and composing music, he decided to make it a way of life -- very fortunate for all of us!

Gil's fascination with Joao Gilberto's bossa nova style convinced him to learn to play guitar. Other musical influences were Dorival Caymmi "his Guru", and later the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Hendrix, and others of the 60's. His music went through a transformation and emerged as part of the Tropicalismo Movement. This in turn played a large cultural role in Brazilian film, theatre and television programs of the time. Beyond musical and aesthetic innovations, this movement assimilated important social issues, having a decisive influence on lifestyles of Brazilian youth, and reflecting the boldness and ideas of its creators like Gil, Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa and Maria Bethania.

During the military regime that ruled Brazil for two decades, Gil's opposition resulted in his exile to London in 1969. His song "Aquele Abraço", recorded before leaving, soared to the top of the charts and remains one of the most successful hits of the music industry. While in England, he also made some recordings and performed in Europe and New York.

Returning to Brazil in 1972, he brought a bag full of recording and new songs. By 1979, he had a list of 10 LP's, and added another 9 during the 80's. He also participated in the production of Doces Barbaros (Sweet Barbarians) which reunited the giants of the Tropicalismo Movement, yielding a live album and film in 1976. His foreign recordings include Gilberto Gil in London (1971), Nightingale (USA -- 1977) and Alive (Tokyo -- 1987). He continues to tour internationally throughout Europe, the U.S., Africa and Japan. Gil and Caetano Veloso resurrected the magic of their early years together in the 1994 international tour of "Tropicalia II".

Since 1987, Gil has also included political and ecological engagements in his schedule. He is a multi-faceted person, with interests in many areas of socio-political issues. In 1990 he was decorated Knight of Arts & Letters by France's Minister of Culture, and the same year in Brazil he was awarded the Shell prize for overall career excellence. Adding to his list of commitments, he is also city councilor of Bahia's capital, Salvador. Gil's concerns regarding Brazil are well-known: he has become a spokesman for many social issues regarding Brazil's emergence from third-world status into a position of credible player among the world's nations.

Born in Salvador, in the state of Bahia in 1942, Gilberto Gil spent his childhood in the countryside, listening to a wide scope of musical genres from Bach and Beethoven to Bob Nelson, and was very influenced by Luiz Gonzaga, "the King" of northeast Baiao rhythym music. When he was 9 years old he asked his mother for an accordion, as he was also a great fan of Sivuca, and still talks of some day going back to his accordion.

Always the student, Gil has recently become fascinated by the computer, and with the help of his wife Flora, even has a Web page. His latest project is a book to be published in August of this year, Gilberto Gil -- All the Words, an anthology of his 32 years in the music profession, along with his own commentary. Most recently Gil appeared on May cover of Vogue Brasil, along with a 30-page article and great photos.

As part of Gil's world tour this summer, he will be appearing at the Maritime Hall in San Francisco on June 22 and at the House of Blues in Los Angeles on June 23.

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Author: Adams, Scott Article Title: Brazilian Notas Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.126 Publication Date: 06-30-96 Page: p. 45

Brazilian Notas.

Brazilian charm with an American style. That's the goal of many musicians, although few are able to create that fluid balance. Welcome to Minas, a Philadelphia based group which has dedicated itself to translating all the grace and beauty of Brazil for US audiences for years. Their new CD Blue Azul is available by mail order and delivers an impressive collection of original vocal and instrumental songs, with some of the highest quality production we've seen. With Blue Azul, the husband and wife team of Orlando Haddad and Patricia King have succeeded where many before them have not: they've combined the roots of Haddad's Brazilian ancestry with the unique impressions of Brazil as seen through King's American eyes to create an album that is right on the target, translating the music of Brazil for American ears.

All of this began quite naturally, in a Brazilian sort of way. Both Haddad and King were busy with their lives as students at North Carolina School of the Arts, going in opposite directions. He with rock music and she with musical comedy and drama. Then they met, and everything turned upside down. "One day I saw Orlando with a guitar on the beach and asked him to play something Brazilian." Orlando picks up the story. "What really hit me hard was that I was so much into American music that I hardly knew any Brazilian tunes. And what is most ironic is that I had to leave Brazil and meet Patricia to discover the beauty of my own native music."

Each of Blue Azul's 13 tracks are clear winners, and you're sure to find your own favorites. There's the opening track "YB More." Its Zen-like lyrics and Brazilian cadence are the perfect setting for Haddad and King's duet vocals. "Strong Black Coffee" is a concert favorite that takes the concept of Brazilian rap and turns it into poetic treasure. The song carries that familiar "I just have to laugh" charm that's so much a part of the Brazilian mystique. Or the beautiful Bossa ballad "Only the Moon and the Stars" which finds King's softly sweet voice recalling memories of Lani Hall's years with S‚rgio Mendes and Brazil 66. Simply magical.

Blue Azul' combines songs in both English and Portuguese and that's a big part of its success. Take the clever "Homenagem ... Mineira," a lively, horn-driven afox‚ rhythm that somehow includes more that 70 cities of the Brazilian state Minas Gerais in it's tribute to the women who live there. Or "They Had to Wait," which, in recognition of the times, might well be retailed "The Abstinence Samba." You just have to smile. Blue Azul's instrumental tracks are just as satisfying. "Caravan Groove" is a samba/reggae tune in four parts, specifically written to carry you away on a seven-minute journey, and "Choro Siciliano," with special guest, harmonica player Hendrick Meurkens, is jazzy and uplifting.

With two previous albums to their credit and literally hundreds of concert appearances throughout the eastern seaboard, Minas is poised for great success, all built around the genuine Brazilian warmth of their musical personalities. Highly recommended, Blue Azul is available only through mail

order by calling toll free 1-888 TO MINAS (866-4627).

When trumpeter Terence Blanchard recently caught the ear of Time magazine, critics wrote: "Few can match his precision and flair in evoking emotion." But even Time's observation could not have predicted the success these elements would achieve when Blanchard invited Brazilian singer/composer Ivan Lins into the studio for his new Columbia jazz release The Heart Speaks.

Blanchard's musical career began as a prodigy of Art Blakey's group the Jazz Messengers, which helped him to formulate his personable style. His effusive phrasing and tonal warmth match brilliantly with Ivan's vocal strengths, making The Heart Speaks the musical surprise of the year. Surprise number 1: The Heart Speaks is an Ivan Lins songbook collection. Each song was carefully selected, and then translated into a masterful framework that brings both the trumpet player and the singer to uncharted musical territory. Surprise number 2: How did a straight ahead jazz trumpet player from New Orleans hook up with a Brazilian pop star half a world away? Terence, who admires innovative talent, supplies the answer:

"Before recording, Ivan and I got a chance to know each other. We talked about our reasons for playing music and our plans for the future, leaving me with the impression that he has an undying love for music" said Blanchard. "I didn't want to make The Heart Speaks a `strictly Brazilian' album. I wanted to take the aspects of Brazilian music that I love and personalize it." Blanchard invited special guests Oscar Castro-Neves and Paulinho da Costa to join his regular band.

The Heart Speaks opens with Blanchard's softly muted solo on "Aparecida," which sets the tone for the remaining 12 tracks. His eloquent introduction creates the perfect setting for Lins' reflective vocals. Other favorites such as "Antes Que Seja Tarde" (Before It's Too Late), "Meu Pa¡s" (My Country) and "Congada Blues" serve to illustrate the range and depth of this creative duo. The latter was actually written by Lins for Miles Davis just before his death, and Blanchard takes the opportunity to honor the trumpet master by including it on the album.

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Author: Mello, Rodney Article Title: recado Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.125 Publication Date: 05-31-96 Page: p. 5

recado.

It's more than a little ironical that files just gleaned from São Paulo's Department for Political and Social Order (DOPS) reveal as agitators president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Minister of Planning Jose Serra and Minister of Communications Sergio Motta. The documents belong to another era, it seems.

The two decades of the military dictatorship only ended 11 years ago. Disappearances, sudden arrests, terrorism from the left and the right, fear of even possessing a book that might be considered subversive, newspapers carrying recipes or epic poems in place of censored articles, all of these facts are still very fresh memories for many who lived through the lead years of the '60s and '70s.

If political persecution and the torture that was an integral part of its had become the subject of history books, the violence used in police quarters is more alive than ever in Brazil.

Rio's Police chief Helio Luz in a recent interview of weekly news-magazine Veja presented a grim picture of the situation: "Since the time of slavery, Brazilian elites sanctioned such methods in a way that our police was never prepared to do investigative work: they always use the brute force shortcut."

We are dedicating roughly 1/3 of our editorial pages to the subject torture and the military dictatorship in hopes of maintaining alive the debate from those who still didn't get a satisfactory answer for their suffering, those who have no voice to protest, and those who believe human rights are for all and not a prerogative of a privileged caste.

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Author: Gallant, Katheryn Article Title: NEVERMORE? Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.125 Publication Date: 05-31-96 Page: p. 8

NEVERMORE?.

Naysaindy de Araujo Barrett does not exist. Her striking name - which means "clear light" in the Guarani Indian language - cannot be found in any Brazilian government archive. She is a ghost-citizen, without an identity, forbidden to legally work or study in Brazil. Why? Her parents were guerrillas who were killed by the military regime that ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985.

Araujo Barrett's father, Jose Maria Ferreira de Araujo, came from the Northeastern state of Paraiba. Being in the Navy didn't stop him from joining the Popular Revolutionary Vanguard (VPR), a guerrilla group led by ex-Army Captain Carlos Lamarca. There Ferriera de Araujo met another young militant, a Paraguayan woman named Soledad Barrett Viedma. The couple fled to Cuba in 1966, after the Navy expelled Ferreira de Araujo for his "subversive" connections.

In 1970, a year after the birth of Naysaindy, Ferreira de Araujo secretly returned to Brazil to help continue the armed struggle against the dictatorship. However, he was arrested later that year and died under torture in the São Paulo headquarters of the Information Operations Department - Center for Internal Defense Operations (DOI-CODI). In 1995, a government report would reveal that FErreira de Araujo had been buried under a false name.

Barrett Viedma decided to leave Cuba in 1973 to rejoin the VPR. Knowing that her daughter's future might in in danger if the Brazilian government knew the identity of Naysaindy's parents, Barrett Viedma had a false birth certificate made that identified the child as Naysaindy Sosa del Sol.

The fate of Barrett Viedma paralleled that of her late husband. When she returned to Brazil, Barrett Viedma had an affair with a commander of the VPR, Cabo Anselmo. In 1964, Anselmo had led a sailors' revolt that helped frighten the higher military into deposing the constitutional government. Nevertheless, by the early '70s, Anselmo was secretly collaborating with Brazil's military regime. Anselmo's reports about VPR activities helped the government to imprison and kill five VPR militants in 1973. Among them was Soledad Barrett Viedma.

In 1980, Naysaindy went to live in São Paulo with her Brazilian foster mother, Damaris Oliveira Lucena. The year before, the Brazilian government had given an amnesty to everyone who had been imprisoned or exiled for political offenses. Before going into exile in Cuba and befriending Barrett Viedma, Lucena had been tortured in Brazil. Lucena's husband had been executed.

Adjusting to life in Brazil was hard on Naysaindy. "I was completely lost," she told Brazilian weekly newsmagazine IstoE in 1995. "Brazil seemed so scary..." Her foster mother was also fearful. "Mother [i.e., Lucena] avoided all contact with the police and that's why my situation wasn't legalized,"

Araujo Barrett said years later. To keep away authorities who might wonder why Naysaindy had a different last name than the woman whom she called mother, Lucena gave her surname to the girl.

After Naysaindy came to Brazil, her father's brother, Paulo Araujo, a biology professor at the University of Campaigns in São Paulo state, became aware that he had an orphaned niece. He tried to help the girl. However, their approach was "slow and careful," as Paulo Araujo would tell IstoE.

When Naysaindy went to school, she was afraid that she would be expelled because she was not using her real name and had no document in her mind, Naysaindy found it hard to concentrate on her studies. Naysaindy dropped out of school in the eighth grade. She was 14 years old.

It was difficult for Araujo Barrett to find jobs where her employers would not demand that she reveal her identity. Her friends, knowing her problem, helped her find various temporary positions. She worked in an umbrella factory and in a candy store, and acted in minor roles in plays. Her delicate features, shapely figure and long brunette hair even got her a job as a fashion model. Araujo Barrett, however, found it impossible to continue modeling without telling who she really was.

Things seemed to take a turn for the better when Araujo Barrett received her real birth certificate from an aunt. Unfortunately, it was a false hope. Not only had the document been registered with the Swiss Embassy in Havana (in 1969, when Naysaindy was born, Brazil had no diplomatic relations with Cuba), but Lucena had not filed with any government authorities when she and her foster daughter came to Brazil. Therefore, Araujo Barrett, although a Brazilian citizen through her father, was an illegal alien in her own country.

Araujo Barrett now lives with her boyfriend and two daughters in Florianapolis, capital of the southern state of Santa Catarina. There she ekes out a living by selling handmade souvenirs to tourists. Her uncle, Paulo Araujo, has petitioned Justice Minister Nelson Jobim that Naysaindy be officially recognized as the daughter of Jose Maria Ferreira de Araujo and Soledad Barrett Viedma. "That would put an end to many years of lies," Naysaindy says.

How could the story of Naysaindy de Araujo Barrett have been allowed to occur as it did? For an answer to that question, it is essential to tell a bit about Brazil's history during the 1960s and '70s. Janio Quadros, an independent-minded former governor of São Paulo state, was elected by a landslide to the Brazilian presidency in 1960. Nobody expected that he would resign after just seven months in office - perhaps least of all his vice-president, Joao Goulart. When Quadros resigned in August 1961, Goulart was on his way home from a state visit to China. Much of Brazil's military and civilian establishment viewed Goulart as a leftist demagogue, and tried to insure that Goulart would not return for his inauguration. For two weeks, Brazil was on the edge of civil war, but Goulart came home and took office. The Goulart years

However, Brazilian society polarized during the next two and a half years. "Peasant Leagues" in Northeastern Brazil demanded that tenant farmers be given the land they worked on. These leagues were anathema to many large landowners, who believed that well-behaved, apolitical peasants were being incited by outsiders with Marxist tendencies. By 1964, a total of 2,181 leagues had been formed in 20 of Brazil's states.

In the cities, unionized workers were also no longer as docile as they had been. Strike became more prevalent, which displeased business executives and shareholders. Prices went up. Inflation, which had been 6% a year in the late '40s and 30% in 1960, rose to 74% in 1963 and 91% in 1964. Nevertheless, workers usually received salary adjustments that kept pace with the rising cost of living.

All of this might have been tolerated by the upper middle class, military officers and the US government if Brazil's executive brand had been both more efficient and more willing to accept the status quo. However, Goulart began to demand for "basic reforms" such as agrarian reform, rewriting the labor codes, granting the vote to illiterates and controlling the expropriation of profits made by foreign companies in Brazil. Many people, both Brazilians and foreigners, feared that these proposals were the prelude to a leftwing dictatorship which would be friendly with the Soviet Union, if not Communist itself.

Enlisted men and noncommissioned officers in Brazil's armed forces began to revolt against their superior officers. In September 1963, six hundred enlisted soldiers rebelled in Brasilia. The President refused to condemn them. In March 1964, 2000 sailors made a mutiny. Goulart granted them an amnesty and accused their superior officers of lack of discipline.

Many high-ranking officers, who had their patience worn thin by what they saw as Goulart's maladroit rabble-rousing, thought that was the last straw. On March 31, 1964, army troops marched from Minas Gerais toward Rio de Janeiro. The forces that were supposed to stop them joined them instead. Almost no one resisted against the revolt, and very little blood was shed. Democracy would not return to Brazil for another 21 years.

The role of the United States government in the events of March 1964 is controversial and still disputed by historians. It has been asserted that Vernon Walters, military attache to the US embassy in Brazil (who would become the US ambassador to the United Nations under the administration of Ronald Reagan) offered arms to generals who were contemplating a coup d'etat. Walters himself denies this.

Certainly, the US government felt relief at the premature transfer of power in Brazil. President Lyndon B. Johnson sent a telegram congratulating the new government even before Goulart went into exile. (Goulart would never return to Brazil alive: he died in Argentina in 1976, at the age of 58.) US Ambassador Lincoln Gordon stated that the "Brazilian Revolution" was "one of the major turning points in history, in the middle of the twentieth century." Brazilians who distrusted North American influence in their nation's affairs joked: "No more middlemen! Lincoln Gordon for President!"

Of course, Lincoln Gordon did not become president of Brazil. He did not even have much clout with the man who actually became President in April 1964, Marshal Humberto Castello Branco. According to an article that Gordon wrote for São Paulo newspaper O Estado de São Paulo in 1994, the ambassador protested to Castello Branco about how politicians were being stripped of their mandates and civil rights "without trials and without proofs." Gordon was so horrified that he seriously thought of resigning. "I only desisted after making an internal assessment in which I decided that it would be better for US-Brazilian relations that I stay," he declared. A cardinal's involvement.

Gordon's successor as ambassador, Charles Burke Elbrick, would be kidnapped by guerrillas from the October 8 Revolutionary Movement (MR-8) in September 1969. After the military government agreed to release 15 political prisoners and fly them to sanctuary in Mexico, the kidnappers released Elbrick physically unharmed (although emotionally scarred by his ordeal).

Torture has a long history in Brazil. During the colonial period, representatives of the Portuguese government tortured pro-independence leaders. After Brazil gained independence in 1822, rebels against the empire that had been established were also subjected to torture. And of course, until the abolition of slavery in 1888, millions of slaves lived constantly under the threat of severe punishment - and even death - if they attempted to revolt against their owners.

After the coup of 1964, however, government representatives used torture more systematically on members of the political opposition. Various groups emerged to combat the regime, but seldom became strong enough - or united enough - to be effective. Nevertheless, their relatively mild terrorism was enough to scare the military hardliners into proclaiming the fifth of a series of Institutional Acts. AI-5, as it was called, gave the President dictatorial powers to defend "the necessary interests of the nation." The decree shut down Congress and the state legislatures, suspended the Constitution, abolished habeas corpus, authorized censorship of the Brazilian media (including non-Brazilian journalists working in Brazil for foreign newspapers, magazines and television networks), and allowed the President to take away the civil rights of anyone with only the vaguest pretexts.

On the morning of January 20, 1971, Rubens Beirodt Paiva was preparing to go to the beach with his family. Just before the Paivas were ready to leave their home in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Leblon, six armed men in civilian clothes invaded and searched the house. They refused to identify themselves. They forced Paiva, accompanied by two of the men, to drive his own car to DOI-CODI headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. Neither Paiva's wife Eunice nor their five teenage children ever saw Paiva again.

Paiva, a congressman who had been stripped of his office after the coup of 1964, had been accused of sending letters to Brazilians in Chile.

In the early '60s, Paulo Stuart Wright, a founder of the progressive student group AP (Popular Action), was a state legislator in Santa Catarina. Soon after the coup, Wright, the Brazilian-born son of Presbyterian missionaries from Arkansas, was stripped of his political office. He began to work in the underground resistance, organizing peasant cooperatives and rural networks.

In September 1973, Wright was abducted and taken to the DOI-CODI headquarters in São Paulo. He was never seen again. His older brother Jaime, a Presbyterian minister who had also chosen to make his life in Brazil, tried to discover what happened to Paulo. Jaime searched for Paulo in military prisons and went to anybody who might have some information about Paulo's whereabouts. Jaime was shocked that other Protestant clergy were not willing to help. On the other hand, Jaime Wright could count on the support of the Catholic Archbishop of São Paulo, Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns, who took an interest in human-rights issues. In the following years, the two clerics' friendship led to a close working relationship. "As far as I know," Jaime Wright would tell Lawrence Weschler of the New Yorker in 1986, "I am the only Protestant minister who works inside the Catholic Church at the invitation of a

cardinal."

The collaboration between the pastor and the cardinal deepened in 1980. In that year, a secret grant from the World Council of Churches allowed them to set up a project in which lawyers would check out files from the archives of the military justice system. There were more than 700 records of trials of political prisoners during the military regime - one million pages in all. It took three years to have the files photocopies, and another two years for journalists working in their spare time to summarize the files' contents. Since there was still a chance that the government would delay the transition to civilian rule, the 30-person team worked in the strictest secrecy.

The result of these labors, Brazil: Nunca Mais (Brazil: Never Again) suddenly appeared in Brazilian bookstores in July 1985, four months after General Joao Baptista Figueiredo stepped down from the presidency. With a preface by Cardinal Arns, the book quickly sold over 200,000 copies and is still in print. (The average press run for a nonfiction book in Brazil is between three to five thousand copies.) An English translation, Torture in Brazil, was published in 1986. Jaime Wright, who had served as research coordinator for the journalists who wrote the book, translated it as well.

Jaime discovered proof of his brother's death among the files, although no information about the whereabouts of Paulo Wright's body could be found. Not every member of the Wright family was convinced. Refusing to accept her uncle's disappearance, Paulo's niece Delora Wright wrote a book about him. At the end, she wrote: "I'd like to leave a post office box number for you to give some news about you. You know, we haven't calmed down, although we've tried." Deadly mistake

It was the evening of January 17, 1976 in Vila Guarani, a neighborhood in the city of São Paulo. A thin man got out of a Dodge Dart and knocked at the door of Teresa Fiel. When she answered, the man gave her a trash bag full of men's clothing and a warning: "I'm from the Hospital das Clinicas. I've come to tell you that your husband killed himself. Here are his clothes. I think it's a good idea that nobody go to the coroner's office. If somebody has to go, it should only be male relatives. No woman should go to the coroner's office - not even the widow. Otherwise, the body goes straight to the cemetery."

The husband's name was Manuel Fiel Filho, a 49-year-old metalworker. He had a wife, two daughters and a small two-story house. He was a suspected of belonging to the Communist Party and was tortured to death in the São Paulo headquarters of DOI-Codi. The official story was that Fiel Filho had hanged himself with his own socks. His imprisonment and death were the result of mistaken identity. DOI-Codi authorities had confused him with a Communist Party militant named Fiore who had once worked at the same factory as Fiel Filho.

"I didn't know that there was torture in Brazil," Teresa Fiel told Brasilia newspaper Correio Braziliense in 1995. "I knew that it was dangerous to say bad things about the government and that the Communists were dangerous people."

The day after Fiel Filho's death, President Ernesto Geisel fired the commander of the Second Army, whose headquarters also housed the São Paulo headquarters of DOI-CODI. It was the beginning of the end for DOI-CODI.

In 1980, Teresa Fiel won a lawsuit against the Brazilian government for its role in her husband's death. For 15 years, the government filed appeals to overturn this decision, but lost in June 1995. It must now pay Teresa Fiel $600 a month and a penalty of $265,000.

Despite the money that it has taken Fiel Filho's widow so long to get, no amount of cash can compensate for his death. Even now, Teresa Fiel has recurring dreams in which she hears the last thing her husband told her before he was taken away by DOI-CODI agents: "Don't cry, darling. I'll be back soon." The new victims

Eleven years after the end of military rule, illegal imprisonment, torture and disappearances continue to take place in Brazil. Most of today's victims are low-income blacks who live in favelas (shantytowns).

In October 1995, Federal Police officers in the Northeastern state of Ceara arrested Jose Ivanildo Sampaio Souza, a 33-year-old candy maker and known gang member. Not only was he armed, but he also was carrying 70 grams of marijuana and hashish, as well as two papelotes of cocaine. The officers took Sampaio Souza to police headquarters in Fortaleza, the state capital. The next day, he was dead.

His autopsy stated that Sampaio Souza had eight broken ribs and a broken sternum. "Death occurred by means of bruising instrument," the report continued, "that caused acute abdominal hemorrhaging with traumatic lesions in the left kidney and liver."

The police tortured Sampaio Souza to death because he refused to tell then the names of other gang members. "We'll go to the bottom of this and punish the culprits," Federal Police Chief Vicente Chelloti told Brazilian weekly newsmagazine Veja about the Sampaio Souza case. That may be an uphill battle.

In police stations throughout Brazil, torture is the method of first choice to clarify crimes. Instead of the time-consuming and expensive path of investigations and proofs, police officers opt for the quick and easy way out. Some politicians say that torture is justifiable since criminals do not have human rights. If cops go too far while interrogating a suspect, that's one less thug to deal with.

If the suspect does not die, police officers can get away with torture. There are three main reasons for this. First, Brazil's overburdened magistrates barely have time to judge homicides, much less arrange time to verify police abuses. For example, the Secretariat of Public Security in the state of Pernambuco made 400 inquiries in 1995 to investigate injuries made by police officers. Of these, one-fifth of the cases went to disciplinary hearings, and only 20 police officers were dismissed from their jobs. This 5% punishment rate means that Brazilian cops accused of torture have 19 chances out of 20 to get off scot-free.

Another factor for the apartment dominance of torture today is because the police torture more criminals than innocent people. And, among criminals, torture victims usually are petty thieves, not drug traffickers. Major players in the illegal narcotics trade could murder cops who would dare to torture another trafficker. The poorer the suspect, the easier it is to abuse him or her.

If a police officer is convicted of torturing a suspect under custody, the

maximum sentence is one year in jail. That is the same penalty given to people who get into barroom brawls. The punishment increases to five years only if the torture causes permanent injury to the victim or induces miscarriage in a pregnant woman. Psychological damage is not even considered as a factor. The Cardoso administration has attempted to make torture a felony punishable with prison terms of eight to 20 years. However, the proposal has been indefinitely shelved.

Finally, torture continues to be prevalent in Brazil because many Brazilians turn a blind eye to it. As Veja expressed it in a 1995 article about torture in democratic Brazil, "torture exists in police stations because society wants it that way."

According to the Defense Council for Human Rights (CDDPH), a division of Brazil's Justice Ministry, there have been over 200 disappearances since Brazil returned to democracy in 1985 - more than the 152 reported disappearances throughout the military regime. The largest number of disappearances has occurred in the state of Rio de Janeiro. When Rio de Janeiro newspaper O Dia made a survey of police archives in 1995, it discovered that 162 people had disappeared under conditions which suggested the involvement of the police.

Lacking police interest in the disappearances, relatives and friends of the disappeared, as well as lawyers and human-rights advocates, have investigated the cases on their own. They often receive death threats. Sometimes those threats come true.

In July 1990, 11 teenagers - eight boys and three girls - from the Rio de Janeiro favela of Acari went to spend a weekend on a farm in Bage, on the periphery of the Rio metropolitan area. The young people never returned. Their mothers got together to discover the circumstances of the disappearances and found evidence that the young people had been kidnapped and murdered by the police.

Inspired by the example of the "Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo" - Argentine women whose children had disappeared between 1976 and 1983, when a military regime ruled that country - the mothers of the disappeared of Acari began to march around the downtown Rio neighborhood of Cinelandia every Monday afternoon. In their hands, they held photos of their children. The women became known as the Maes de Acari (Mothers of Acari).

Although the mothers gained national attention, their attempts to speak with police and government officials were in vain. "Didn't your son have enemies in drug trafficking?" a police officer asked one of the mothers.

In March 1994, two of the mothers were invited to speak in France and Switzerland. When she invited them to lunch, French First Lady Danielle Mitterand was so shocked at what the mothers had to say about how Brazilian police officers could get away with murder that she donated $15,000 for the publication of a book about the mothers' efforts to find the truth. That book, Maes de Acari - uma historia de luta contra a impunidade (Mothers of Acari - A Story of Struggle Against Impunity) by journalist Carlos Nobre, was published in 1994, with a preface by Danielle Mitterand.

Before this success, the mothers had met with another tragedy. In 1993, one of the mothers, Edmeia da Silva Euzebio, was murdered in front of a prison.

A similar case, not connected to the disappearances of the Acari teenagers, happened in October 1995. While investigating the disappearance of a friend, Adilson Cobra Secco, in the Rio favela of Parada de Lucas, Regina Celia Vieira also vanished under suspicious circumstances.

Cases like these are responsible for an average of 140 letters a day sent to Brazilian authorities by people living abroad. All of them ask the government to clarify why the disappearances occurred and to bring those responsible to justice.

In Brasilia, Humberto Spinola, coordinator of the CDDPH, has proclaimed that it is "the government's determination to put an end to this situation." However, neither he nor any other government officials have concrete proposals to deal with the current wave of disappearances.

Lawyer Cristina Leonardo, of the Brazilian Center of the Defense of Children's and Adolescent's Rights, says that the fact that police officers are not arrested and punished for the crimes they are accused of proves that the poor are not given the rights that Brazil's constitution guarantees them.

"How many of these cases of police violence were punished?" she asked São Paulo newspaper Folha de São Paulo in 1995. "None."

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Author: Velloso, Wilson Article Title: The emperor's black bag Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.125 Publication Date: 05-31-96 Page: p. 18

The emperor's black bag.

In a sudden surge of Victorian prudery, the Camara dos Deputados - the Brazilian House of Representatives - came down hard, hot, and hurt on a presidential spokesman for using language "unfit a gentleman and a minister."

It seems that Communications Minister Sergio ("Serjao") Motta joined his countrymen in the enjoyment of a new found democratic freedom: the freedom of being emphatic although mildly vulgar and gross in public. Not that he coined any nasty term. What he uttered was actually an inelegant but perfectly acceptable expression. The august Congressmen's sense of outrage was greeted with cynical laughter by many for its blatant hypocrisy, linguistic and/or sociological musings by the major media, and by audible yawns of "So, what else is new?" by the general public.

The alleged Motta atrocity was referring to President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's quality of being a real mensch - a tough, hard as nails, 100 per cent reliable man of his words - when he said that "o Presidente tem o saco preto" (the President has a black bag). Translated into English of course this does not make much sense, except as an allusion to collecting unlawful bribes or contributions. But that is not the case at all. Motta used the colloquialism to explain why the President had acted against a man allegedly involved in the dealings surrounding a large bank's failure, even if the chum was his own son-in-law.

The reason for the hue and cry was instead the fact that the "bag" in issue is merely a Brazilian familiar way to say scrotum, the skin pouch containing and protecting the testicles. At this point, a sociologist would introduce learned commentary on the apparent concern Brazilians of all classes and colors have had with saco since about the turn of the century. But as my sociology degree is somewhat musty, I shall not attempt to explain the why and wherefores of such a fixation. However, I have some linguistic savvy, with emphasis on the etymology of colloquialisms and dare to spend my two bits on the case.

These are the facts: * All Brazilian boys have been born with purple, almost black, scrota since Brazil was found by the Portuguese almost 500 years ago, in 1500: that is, at least, what some newsmen explain after interviewing scores of ob-gyn doctors and midwives. They add that the dark coloration often changes to pink a few days after birth. and even many who later turn up gays are born with "black bags." * Therefore, mentioning sacos in conversation has been done for generations by male and female citizens. With very little scandal, if any. If the term may be used at home, in front of the whole family, why should there be such a flap when uttered in Congress? Do the illustrious deputados imply that they are placed above the populace, etiquettewise? * Another fact is that Brazilians have an idee fixe with both the front and rear ends of human beings. It is well-known that a well-turned up female bunda (buttocks) is deemed to be "a thing of beauty and of joy forever," much better than any Grecian urn of Keats. As a matter of

fact, a disreputable wag once suggested that the blue globe of the Brazilian flag, which passes for an astronomical map of the Rio sky of the day when the Republic was proclaimed, should be replaced by a lady's butt, chosen in a nationwide beauty contest. It must be said inter alia that bunda is an African word also used in the Caribbean creole. In Portugal, the vernacular and common term is cu just as it is in French. Ironically, this monosyllable is considered too coarse for proper language in Brazil... * Reporters with leanings to political history say that the Congressional blow-up ("hot air bags in arms because of commonplace bags") was merely a psychological throwback as it painfully brought to mind the impeached President Collor, who grossly boasted of the purple color of his private parts. Let Collor and his things rest in Miami, where the ex-Prez spends his days pumping iron, jogging, sailing and, like any overthrown Latin American pol, missing his helicopter and his escort of siren screaming, lights blazing motorcycles. * The rainbow syndrome apart, the male "saco" is by no means the only case of colloquialism. From the Oyapock in the North to the Chui in the South, in the Federative Republic of Brazil that took over from the United States of Brazil, everybody talks about encher to saco and puxar saco. The first, which translates as "bag filling," means to dish out harassment, being a pain in the neck, a bore. The second, "bag pulling," means pandering, brown nosing, to flatter for profit, etc. * Even circumspect high-born ladies of "good families" calmly say nao me encha o saco (don't fill my bag), meaning don't bother me, don't waste my time, don't be a pain. Estar de saco cheio (to have a full bag) means I am fe up, tired of your insinuations, your insistence, etc. Therefore, a person who doesn't heed the entreaties is a bag filler, an enchedor de saco. * Puxa saco, however, is something else again. It should not be included in the same league because it refers to a different saco, the collection bag in a church, researchers of the folklore affirm. Apparently, it comes from the ancient practice of having favorite altar boys take the collection, a plum assignment because the lads could always pick loose change for a flic or candy. The parish priest, being knowledgeable in the ways of the human race, looked the other way, dismissing it as a very venial sin. A mere pecadillo. As the boys vied with each other to be chosen to "pull the collection bag," they plied the padre with adulation, in the hope of being his puxa saco for the day. * A mineiro friend of mine, now living in Virginia, tells met that in Carangola, a city in his native Minas Gerais State in Brazil, there is a curious synonym for "puxa saco" - cheiraco. It brings to mind our Americanism "brown nose" which, according to the Random House dictionary, means "to curry favor, to behave obsequiously." Now you know.

Colloquialisms pop up just like that in most languages. Some enter the lexicon and become legit. Others hang on for a while then fade out. Others never make the grade. Often the changed meanings follow the folk mores, sociologists tell us. But the phenomenon can be reversed, with mores coming after the new use for a term is introduced. A Roman politician running for office would dress in white. Since candidus is the Latin word for "white," the man would become a candidatus (dressed in white). Present day candidates don't bother much with the color they dress in. They use the media to do the job for them.

In the fifties, French movie actress Brigitte Bardot starred in a film called "And God Created Woman." In it, la Bardot said merde at least once: the puritanical English subtitle translated it as "damn," which was OK for the times. It had the desired effect. Now they would use "shit" without batting an eyelash.

For propriety sake, quite a few expletives or blasphemous term used to be

replaced by code words. When the English and the Australians say bloody, they are not referring to the juice of life, but blaspheming, because it means "by our Lady." A similar trick is Americans saying "Golly" instead of "god," "fudge" and "frig" instead of the F-word, which has come out of the closet and gains in popularity all the time. Remember when typists would exclaim "sugar!" when they made a mistake? Brazilians use a similar ruse when they tell somebody vai te fotografar (go get your photograph taken) for the F-word. Or call a guy filho da mae (a mother's son), which of course is a redundancy. Its meaning is approximately that of "son of gun."

In real life, Brazilians morph so many innocent words into cusswords that the late controversial writer Carlos Lacerda used to comment that "Brazil is the only country in the world where even mae (mother) is an obscene word." If you doubt it, dare to shout e a tua mae! (it's your mother) when somebody insults you. Shout it and take cover. A more cautious person would be content with intoning e a tua (it's yours) without specifying what it means. Just like in the U.S. comics a guy asks another "have you lost it?"

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Author: Da Fonseca Barreto, Carlos Emmanuel Article Title: Smaller expectations Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.125 Publication Date: 05-31-96 Page: p. 20

Smaller expectations.

AT & T recently announced the laying off of 40,000 employees in a reorganization plan to decrease costs. The process of globalization that the world is experiencing has pushed companies to trim their work force to become more competitive. Nowadays, this reduction in employment has been associated with countries embracing free market policies and unemployment haunts every economy on the face of the earth, in both developed and developing countries. According to Henry Farber, an economist at Princeton University, employment stability fell from 10% to 20% for workers between the ages of 45 and 54.

Job insecurity is not just for factory floor workers anymore. Executives and all kinds of white collar workers are having to deal with the problem. The vulnerability of these high level workers has echoed to the government machine, and pressured politicians to look at the laws governing business and adjust to the new economic environment in their countries. But how much can an association between globalization and international competition, and low employment be held in balance?

The great majority of economists believe that free market policies shift the labor force from one sector to another and that high levels of unemployment reflect the government's inability to deal with economic changes. Argentina, starting in 1991, opened its economy to the world and last year reached a record unemployment rate of 14%. In 1995, 400 thousand Brazilians lost their jobs, the largest number in five years. However, statistical figures showed that during the same period, the average income rose 20.3%, which means that job loss doesn't mean unemployment but a lack of formal contracts.

Brazil, with similar policies of economic openness as those adopted by Argentina, has not suffered from profound structural unemployment. The cause of this low unemployment rate is the informal economy which generates millions more jobs than the formal sector. A recent study by IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geographic Statistics) has shown that 55% of the Brazilian work force does not have contracts. How can firms support a business laws that do not reach half of the country's work force?

In January, an accord achieved between the Metalworkers Union and eight groups of industries in the FIESP (São Paulo State Industrial Federation) marked the turning point in the dominance of the Brazilian market. The accord promulgates a balance between payroll deductions and workers rights: temporary contracts with lower social assessments. For example, a firm would hire 85 new employees under the new contract while through legal means they could only afford 74 employees. Under current law, the difference in 11 employees' salaries would be consumed in social contribution.

President Fernando Henrique Cardoso says that the accord was very positive because the idea came from workers. Nevertheless, the agreement ended up being suspended due to legislative constraints and because of claims that it would favor firms that withhold taxes. According to Congressman Roberto

Campos, the laws should adapt to the economy and not the other way around.

Brazil has one of the highest costs of production in the world which is constantly emphasized by the expression "Custo Brasil" (Brazil's Cost). Furthermore, the social responsibility burden represents the highest cost to this Custo Brasil and it creates impediments to economic development. To create more jobs, companies need greater amounts of capital to invest in new plants.

The open door policy may cause high levels of unemployment and in order to fight that corollary, the country must adopt strong political commitments to create new jobs. These commitments are incentives to sectors which absorb a greater contingent of the working force (i.e., construction and tourism) and a reform to the labor legislature.

In construction, high interest rates impede financing of residential units because the Real stabilization plan requires high interest rates to control consumer spending. Further, the public deficit undermines new infrastructure projects because to balance the budget the government must privatize state-owned enterprises and cut government spending. Therefore, the creation of new jobs through incentives for construction seems difficult to achieve. Along those lines, incentives for tourism depends on a very important factor: fighting crime. Brazil is one of the few countries in the world that has been losing international tourists due to mounting crime rates.

Labor Minister Paulo Paiva has committed his term in office to the creation of a new law that institutes temporary working contracts. The project being drafted is intended to combat the informal sector as well as unemployment. Mr. Paiva promises that companies will spend less on social assessments including dismissal charges. The temporary contract will allow for periods of up to two years and it will be available to 20% of the firms's total employees. Furthermore, no employee may work more than 120 extra hours per year.

The accidental insurance, the educational salary, and the contributions to SENAC (National Service for Commercial Apprenticeship), SENAI (National Service for Industrial Apprenticeship), and SEBRAE (Brazilian Service to Medium and Small Enterprises) will have a 10% deduction. The FGTS (Guaranteed Retirement Fund for Time of Service) falls from the present 8% to a 2% level. Moreover, in lay-offs, the employer will not have to give severance pay nor pay the usual 40% penalty to the FGTS.

The project is unprecedented in Brazilian history, especially in that it has been consented to by firms and unions. Congressional approval is required to institute the new legislation and lobbies have been pressuring politicians to pass the amendment which is scheduled to go into the plenary assembly in the coming months.

The long-needed labor reform will boost investments from firms that have not pursued it due to the constraint of the present social contributions. This in turn should lead to increasing job offers and a decline in the unemployment rate. It might prove that the so-called liberal economists are after all correct when they say that free market policies require government adjustments to the new economic environment.

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Author: Morton, Iara Article Title: No Way! Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.125 Publication Date: 05-31-96 Page: p. 22

No way!.

It is hard to believe that a namely "international correspondent" based in Los Angeles would be able to come up with such a misinformed piece of non-sense. To begin with, the same ethnocentrism (the belief that ones culture is the ideal, and is superior to others) that the author condemns Americans of, clearly permeates her writings about Brazil and its culture.

One aspect that has long amazed me is the way Brazilians who live in the United States feel bashed by not being recognized and celebrated as they think they should be. Brazilians have this misconception that our cities, celebrities, as well as particularities of our culture should be known by all Americans. And the question is... Why?

One should keep in mind that the knowledge and appreciation for soccer, lambada, Carnaval, along with other details about Brazilian culture are by no means necessary nor sufficient to judge an American's general knowledge or cultural level. We must remember that the Americans mainly Anglo Saxon and Puritan origins tend to polarize with our predominantly Portuguese and African heritage.

Besides, I wonder how many Brazilians know where Madras, Bangalore, Hyderabad or even chihuahua and Torreon are located? These are cities of countries that have a similar socioeconomic profile to Brazil, rather than being 10 times poorer, which equals the comparison of Brazil with the United States in terms of GNP per capita. Moreover, take 5 minutes and think about what you know of the Bosnia situation or think of three new countries which emerged out of the Russian Federation.

I am sure many Brazilians do not know much at all about these and other recent events simply because these issues do not directly affect their lives. In contrast, the United States directly affects the lives of people all over the world through its scientific discoveries, film and music industry, tourism, financial aid, political and military power, and especially with its open boarders to immigrants.

Now, think about the contributions of Brazil to the world, and especially to the United States. Of course we can enumerate some, but certainly not enough to justify the attention and prestige. We claim to deserve. In fact, the only two main issues of importance that I would think an American should know about are the rain forest, and perhaps our huge economic debt to their banks.

In regards to recognizing our celebrities, how many Brazilians know the names of the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, or the pitcher for the New York Yankees? I expect no Brazilians to know their names nor details of these games since football and baseball are not popular nor played in Brazil. In like manner, it makes sense to expect countries which contain and enjoy professional soccer leagues to know of Pele and Romario's exceptional talents.

Still, I can concede why Brazilians would want the world to know about our soccer stars, or even labor leader and presidential candidate Luis Inacio Lula da Silva who, despite his limited education, has gained enormous popularity through his strong will, radical ideas, and vision to better the plight of the average Brazilian.

In contrast, knowing the works of Xuxa and the interviewer Burna Lombardi can only depreciate our image even more. While in the United States many Hollywood actors and directors graduate from Ivy League schools such as Yale, Princeton, and others, our representative Bruna who often interviews several of these major cerlebrities simply epitomizes "the pretty face without a brain", which is the secret that explains the success of many women in Brazil, including Xuxa.

On sex, the statement that she also calls absurd that "in Brazil... everybody has sex whenever they feel like it without fear of Aids" just shows how little she knows about Brazilian sexual behavior. Presently, the city of Recife is one of the most popular prostitution capitals of the world, and Aids victims have been increasing in alarming numbers among the youth of some cities in the south of Brazil.

In addition, Brazil is close to being the leader in violation and abuse of children's rights. When the author makes these comments "In Brazil it's legal to kill little children"... "they kill little children on the streets just because they beg" absurdities, I wonder if she has been following the news about Brazil during these last nine years that she has been living in the United States.

Need I remind my compatriots of the hideous massacres and death-squads that roam the streets and favelas of the big cities annihilating the little ones? To call these actions "legal" may be incorrect, but to admit that they are tolerated and still encouraged is a matter of fact.

As far as racism is concerned, I do see segregation and racial conflicts in the United States. At the same time, I also see many African Americans, Asians, Hispanics and Middle Easterners as prominent Doctors, Lawyers, University Professors, TV reporters, Politicians, Scientists and the like. To narrow the issue to only blacks, one must remember that they comprise only 13% of the population of the United States, and are relatively well-represented in the professional and political arenas especially when compared to their Brazilian counter-parts.

Brazilian blacks and mulattos comprise over 50% of the population and yet, I still find it hard to think of one black person who is not a musician, actor, or soccer star who has achieved a position of status in Brazil. To say that we have found solutions for our problems is ignorance in its most pristine form. The reality is that the mingling most non-black Brazilians have with blacks is when they pay them the miserable wages for work that is slightly better than slave labor.

My view is that Brazilians who live in the United States ought to be more realistic, give up the competitive attitude, and work out the inferiority complex. So many Brazilians feel ashamed when we open our gigantic can of worms. Those who feel so denigrated by our dilemmas should come to realize that it is by hiding our weaknesses that we will never encounter solutions to bring about urgent changes in our beloved country.

By creating a fantasy world where they keep considering the millions of shanty town dwellers, abandoned children, and homeless as aliens, Brazilians take a defensive posture or author books in the style of "America de A a Z", just to make a few people feel good. It is time that some of us face our self-esteem deficiencies and be real. To paint America as a futile land and perpetuate the myth that Americans are a bunch of idiots is by far more ignorant than to recognize what Brazil really is and what we must do to change it.

Instead of attempting to expose the ills of America, one could concentrate on writing valuable insights to help heal the ills of Brazil. In fact, I do know many Americans who know Brazil quite well and often travel in groups, not of tourism and not the hot spots, but rather to the depressed areas of the big cities or to remote places of the country volunteering their time and efforts to help alleviate some of the pain of the people.

The Americans who do know about the Brazilian scenario do not sugarcoat reality as Brazilians often do, but rather, react with sympathy or avoidance. After all, what the author cites as another absurd comment "it's very, very dangerous to go there", is horrificly true. Rio and São Paulo are documented today as having some of the highest crime ratios per capita in the world.

No doubt Bahiana's writings reflect simply the environment she has been living in as well as her own personal experiences. More precisely, her writing simply express the frustrations of a Brazilian who feels out of place, belittled, without an identity, who ends up perpetuating the hasty generalization that all Americans are stupid, tacky, and arrogant. To call that an account of American culture is utterly preposterous.

It must be pointed out that had the author socialized with Americans of post graduate and Ph.D. levels, commonplace especially in California, her A to Z would have contained very different definitions. Besides, some absurdities said by the white trash of America or the ordinary American certainly does not top the absence of any knowledge of the povao of Brazil who, sadly, comprise around 80% of the population, one fourth of which are illiterate. Some Brazilians are proud and love to boast about themselves failing to realize that the 5% of Brazilians who are highly educated and well off are by no means a representative sample of the population of Brazil.

The reality is that Brazilians have much to learn from America and Americans, and perhaps through this learning process we can come to achieve the recognition and appreciation we long for. Before the author publishes "America de A a Z" part 2, let's hope that Ana Maria Bahiana does a more extensive and reliable job of research rather than focus on triviality and nonsense.

As far as myself, it may seem to some that I am spellbound by the American dream and naive to the problems that exist here. On the contrary, my academic endeavors, constant traveling worldwide, and critical sense, simply forces me to confront the truth even when it requires exposing the ills of the land I love the most... my own country Brazil.

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Author: Ravelo, Carlos Article Title: Gold Fever Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.125 Publication Date: 05-31-96 Page: p. 24

Gold fever.

Every day, hundreds of men - and some women - cover the dusty pot-holed streets of this little god-forsaken town some 400 miles south of Belem do Para. Self proclaimed would-be garimpeiros like 49 year old Jose Roberto Parello, who has a Law degree, have come to Serra Pelada to seek riches from the soil, just like thousands had come one decade before for the same reason.

"I have gold in my blood," says Parello. "I need it to survive." No wonder. Expert sources have predicted that just some 1,200 feet beneath the surface lies the second largest gold vein in the world, calculated at about 150 tons. This is more than triple the amount that had been excavated years before at the same site, some 40 tons or so.

The new gold rush has been triggered by a recent announcement by Companhia Vale do Rio Doce - a Rio based enterprise - that a "super-vein" had been discovered some 650 feet below the surface of the older Serra Pelada mine. What followed next was pandemonium and a virtual stampede.

The now impoverished town of Serra Pelada had seen this type of invasion before: in the 80's, an army of over 80,000 people took over 120 foot hill and replaced it with a 300 foot deep hole.

But that is only part of the story. Most of the hundreds of garimpeiros that have arrived so far are free-lancers, fortune seekers out on their own. Most believe that they have a right to stake their claims "a la 1849" California gold rush. They're wrong: Vale de Rio Doce's financial muscle is. And confrontation is already abounds. Just recently over 500 aspiring garimpeiro blocked Serra Pelada's dusty main road for over 24 hours, demanding that the company be kept out; military police officers were called in to quell the outbreak, and a "resistance movement" was immediately formed.

Although probing equipment has been placed, it will be the Brazilian courts which will have the final say in the matter, particularly on whether or not Rio Doce - a state-run enterprise - should be privatized.

Last February, Roberto Carosi, the legal representative for the Sindicato dos Garimpeiros (Mining Prospector's Union) and who himself had previously worked for the Rio Doce consortium, filled court documents challenging Rio Doce's claim to the prospecting enterprise. According to Carosi, these rights had been granted in 1988, under article 174 of the Constitution, to a group called Mista de Garimpeiros de Serra Pelada.

On the other hand, the Coordinating Superintendent for Vale do Rio Doce, Joao Lima Teixeira states that the legal title belongs to the firm: "It was granted by the Ministry of Mines and Energy in 1974," he says. The town is within the municipality of Curionopolis, the name having derived from a congressman named Sebastiao Rodrigues de Moura nicknamed "major Curio" and who governed the region with an iron hand. This latest episode brings the town of Serra Pelada

full circle from where it was just 10 years ago, when the exploitation of the gold mine peaked.

Meanwhile, the legal hassles continue. A judge within the local jurisdiction sided with the Rio Doce consortium, and the Attorney for the garimpeiros has appealed to the Appeals Court in Belem, advancing that it would go to the Supreme Court if need be. In fact, Rio Doce has chosen to take the back door as well, by purchasing all the surrounding land near the mine site - some 7,000 hectares - and closing the access,

"They are trying to kill us by asphyxiation," says Fernando Marcolino, president of the Sindicato dos Garimpeiros. The land purchase was carried out by Companhia de Promocao Agricola, which, according to Marcolino is nothing more than a front company controlled by Rio Doce.

The men who live and have passed through Serra Pelada are rough and tough; but does that make the women any more fragile? Women like Maria dos Santos and Ana Maria de Souza Castro are as tough as any man. Having migrated to Serra Pelada from Piaui during the heyday of the 80's in a truck, she found out that women were forbidden in the camp, and a although her husband had been working in the mines, the Brazilian military had kept a tight lid on access to the site, purportedly for security reasons. She was only able to stay three days then.

Says Ana Marian, "When I was able to get off the truck, I looked around for my husband and could not identify him from amongst all those men covered in mud." It was only in 1985 that Ana was able to move into town. "Entry of the women was permitted, but not for cachaca (sugar came liquor)," she adds.

Part of the opening was due to the steps taken by a woman named Jacinta, who worked clandestinely as a garimpeira. Wanting to "get legal" she approached the military authorities wishing to register. Upon being told that "as a woman" she couldn't, she requested to see the precise orders to that effect. No one had any idea where they were, or even if they truly existed. After that, it was a flood of females.

Even then, women were never annoyed by anyone. "The unwritten law was that everyone there - even women were just like any other guy until second notice", adds Ana Maria.

In spite of all the wealth that ran through the hands of thousands of mine workers and the government, the 40 tons of gold extracted from Serra Pelada did not leave any permanent local wealth. The huge hole, the equivalent size of two Maracana Stadiums (a soccer stadium in Rio with room for 200,000 people) put together, is now a small lagoon. No improvement to the infrastructure was ever carried out either. The town lacks water and light, and most homes are made of simple wood frames.

Serra Pelada, in spite of its brief fame, remains an example of a more primitive Brazil. "No one should try to stampede back over here," says Marcolino. "We lack the infrastructure to receive so many people. But garimpeiros from all over the country continue to arrive.

Says Luis Gonzaga, ex-garimpeiro who now owns a local hotel; "People will kill or die for that gold." Gonzaga is also under fear. Having arrived in 1984 and later remaining there, he lodged most of the government technicians assigned to the site. The garimpeiros have harassed him since.

But common sense is not very common here. Cases like that of Jose Marino dos Santos, who arrived dirt-poor and left a millionaire, have prompted many to have delusions of attaining unfounded wealth. Jose, also known as Indio, was able to exploit almost a ton of gold. He eventually lost it all in a maddening rampage of spending, having on one occasion rented a Boeing jet, just to visit a girlfriend in Rio.

There is another Serra Pelada too. Those are the locals who have more faith in God than in the mines. And that's the reason why the local Assembly of God and the Catholic Church are always full.

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Author: Gilman, Bruce Article Title: Country gold Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.125 Publication Date: 05-31-96 Page: p. 39

Country gold.

People interested in knowing which Brazilian composers receive the greatest royalties for their compositions customarily refer to Roberto Carlos, Tom (Antonio Carlos) Jobim, and Caetano Veloso as the "Tres Grandes" - Three Great Ones. At the Escritorio Central de Arrecadacao de Direitors (ECAD), the entity in charge of distributing payment to artists, these composer/musicians continually rotate the number one position, but they never move out of the top ten. Their compositions are the ones most often heard on Brazilian radio and TV, in bars, and in the live performances of myriad artists. Six years ago, a fourth name was added: Zeze Di Camargo.

Mirosmar Jose de Camargo is a young man from Goias. Brazilians who know Zeze Di Camargo know him from his work as a singer in the duo Zeze Di Camargo & Leandro and Leonardo, his friends since childhood, or that his name is the fourth great of ECAD. Moreover, who would guess that he surpasses his rivals Roberto, Jobim, and Caetano every time he releases a new disc?

This happened in 1993 with the third release by Zeze Di Camargo & Luciano. At that time the composer jumped from ECAD's sixth to the first position due to the success of the tune "Saudade Bandida" (Desperate Longing). Reaching the first position on ECAD's list once or twice in an artist's life is quite an accomplishment. However, even transitory artists like lambada star Beto Barbosa have been in first place a fair number of times. Remaining among the top ten for several years is arduous. For that, it is necessary to have scores of hits at numerous times performed by various artists.

The success of Zeze Di Camargo is impressive in view of its rapidity. Zeze is the youngest of ECAD's Great Ones but gained success quickly for two reasons. First, he started at a time when there was an enormous interest in sertaneja (country music), supplying music for successful singers like Leandro & Leonardo; and next, he invested in pagode, a type of samba made popular in Rio's Zona Norte. Zeze's pagode music has been recorded by Raca Negra, one of the top group of the genre.

Zeze has dividends coming from more than 130 compositions recorded not only by the duo with brother Luciano, but also from a slew of other artists. Among the hits written by Zeze and recorded by other sertaneeja duos are "Foge de Mim" (Escape From Me) by Chitaozinho & Xororo and "Gostoso Sentimento" (Good Feelings) by Leandro & Leonardo. Last year alone he profited over $350,000 net in royalties according to the calculations of Manoel Pinto, general director of Peermusic, the firm that collects the royalties for Zeze.

To achieve his extensive repertoire of both romantic and sentimental songs, Zeze has adopted an intimate ritual. He composes only during the early hours of morning, sitting always at the center of his spacious living room in his spacious living room in his secluded São Paulo condominium, accompanied by his tape recorder, a six-string guitar, and a note pad. His source of inspiration continues to be man's illusion of love, its unfolding treachery, frustration,

and madness. Zeze knows that the public will listen to words they can relate to, and he makes music for people to enjoy.

In addition to Zeze's income as a composer, his sertanejo duo with brother Luciano, Zeze Di Camargo & Luciano, sells more than one million copies every time they release a disc. According to Luiz Andre Calainho, director of marketing for Sony Music, the duo's label, the first four albums sold 5.2 million copies. The recent disc containing the hit "Pao de Mel" sold 1.2 million copies in one month. But the enormous sum of money accumulated by the duo is only partially explained by the astronomical quantity of recordings they sell. They reform almost two hundred shows a year.

In fact, the strongest source of the duo's income is not the collection of royalties from Zeze's compositions, not the sales from recordings (The duo's agreement with Sony gives them 12% of the retail price for each unit sold), but from their performances all over the country. They receive close to $40,000 per show (about $33,000 net). After 150 shows the brothers earn approximately $5 million.

At recent shows in Bauru (São Paulo) and Muriae (Minas Gerais), Zeze & Luciano performed outdoors in a rain that failed to deter an unbelievable crowd. In São Paulo 25,000 people attended, in Minas more than 10,000. All of their performances are attended by battalions of hysterical female fans; everyone sings, raises their arms, screams desperately for one wave or a look from one of the brothers. In little more than a one hour show, female fans have thrown wrist watches, stuffed animals, panties - among other alluring articles, photos, and letters that run the gamut from the naive to the erotic on stage.

One card written by a beautiful girl and left with the receptionist at their hotel in Bauru read, "Luciano, I want your wild love. I am sure that only you can give me pleasure." They receive many such letters; however, both brothers are happily married. And although they are very cordial with the fans, they do not become involved with them. Luciano, in fact, has been married only a short time, and contrary to his brother, is adverse to the social obligations of recording stars. He goes to few parties and is content living in Mooca, a neighborhood of São Paulo, with his Wife Mariana (sister of Leandro & Leonardo).

At a festa junina in the city of Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Zeze & Luciano were scheduled to perform in a soccer field. Rain had converted the field into a muddy bog. Not only did the sky conspire against the sertanejo duo, but there was only one electrical generator available. The generator was unable to power and sustain the 160 thousand watt stage lighting, the spot lights, and the sound system that was brought by the band. At best it was able to provide only very dim lighting. Despite the problems, minutes after midnight the two stepped their show, and were drowned in an applause uncommon for people drenched by the rain. Transforming a situation that in the hands of lesser artists would have been a tragedy, the duo sang their hits for two hours and were applauded unsparingly.

Episodes like Diamantina bring to mind the frustration and disappointment that rocker Rita Lee caused her fans when she refused to perform during a big storm last year and also reveal the duo's determination to follow through - unequivocally - with their objective of becoming the best. With almost 200 performances anticipated this year and 15,000 miles traveled a month, the brothers are committed to promoting their latest self-titled disc which arrived in the stores with pre-sales of one million copies, Roberto Augusto,

president of Sony, the duo's recording company said, "We have bet that Zeze's power to create success will break Xuxa's 3.2 million mark."

Zeze has been very excited about the sold-out shows and actually prefers live shows to being confined in the studio. Plus the brothers realize that continuing in this manner allows them to compete in the market place side by side with the two best selling sertaneja groups - Chitao-zinho & Xororo and Leandro & Leonardo.

The trajectory for Zeze Di Camargo & Luciano was launched five years ago when they came to the fore performing a type of sertaneja "upgraded" by keyboards and technology, very different from the music of Tonico & Tonico or Pena Branca & Xavantinho (see News From Brazil - December '95). Zeze realized that the "upgrade" was going to be a target for criticism, but is cognizant that he is in reality performing MPB (Brazilian Popular Music).

The objective of abandoning a style saturated with characteristics typical of sertaneja and adopting more of a pop-romantic style was to reach a younger and more urban audience. They wanted those who listen to Skank (the reggae band from Minas Gerais) to also be listening to Zeze Di Camargo & Luciano. In the battle to conquer and hold new audiences the brothers concur that they have to maintain their disciplined and sacrificing routine, one that is only surpassed by Elba Ramalho and her always sold out agenda of shows.

Behind the scenes of their perpetual tours are more than 30 people: eight band members, three back-up vocalists, a conductor, the technical crew, a secretary, an agent, the contractor, and a security staff. For tours within 500 miles, the troupe travels in a Marcopolo Geracao 5 bus complete with sleeping facilities. The bus is the most comfortable in the country and they type coveted by stars like Xuxa, and Chitaozinho & Xororo among others. In 1995 the band bus traveled a distance equal to driving four and a half times around the world. For greater distances, travel is by commercial plane.

With all their money, the two don't have an easy life. The road has taken its toll. Besides the obligatory tight pants country performers are expected to wear, their extremely Spartan agenda has cost Zeze an inflamed vocal chord. And stress from being on the road constantly affects his ability to reach the higher notes. The uninterrupted schedule causes Luciano to gain weight and suffer from insomnia.

The sacrifices, however, are not only theirs. People who are directly associated with the shows have said that they find it hard to appreciate the bosses singing when they hear the same songs night after night. Their security guards amuse themselves by trading the duo's tapes for tapes of rock and soul musicians. Zeze and Luciano are reluctant to admit it, but even they have found it challenging to continue rehearsing and performing the same repertoire enthusiastically.

On the road, Zeze watches the news compulsively and reads more than one newspaper and magazine on a plane. He continually comments on the economy, on politics, and on social problems and cannot imagine himself singing heart throbbing country music ten years form now. His political and societal concerns are intensifying, and Zeze has started bringing these concerns into his lyrics. Zeze regards this almost as a duty, a debt to Brazil. Misery and poverty, for example, are the themes of "Bandido com Razao" (Justified Bandit), a dramatic moment in their shows when images of abandoned children and children sniffing glue in the streets of São Paulo are shown on a big

screen. Any time Zeze sees a child in the streets, he gives them whatever money he has in his pockets.

One of Zeze's last political missions was performing at election rallies for the governor of Minas Gerais, 36 presentations in two months side by side with the candidate Eduardo Azeredo. Zeze Di Camargo & Luciano were also used as a weapon by the ex-mayor of Belo Horizonte in an effort to become well known in the interior. The candidate started with a 36% point disadvantage in the surveys but finished the race by winning with more than a 10% advantage. The overturn was attributed in great part in the shows performed at the political rallies by the duo.

Zeze & Luciano attracted almost 70 thousand people to the event. Helio Costa, the Candidate who felt the election slipping away from him, reacted by hiring both Chitaozinho & Xororo and Leandro and Leonardo. The election turned out to be more of a victory for country singers in tight pants than for the politicians. What politicians want from the two is easy to understand; nevertheless, Zeze is happy that he is in a position to aid only the politicians that he supports.

When Zeze is able to relax, he travels to his huge ranch, E o Amor, in the Aruana region of Goias where he raises cattle and thoroughbred horses. The ranch was named after the tune "E o Amor" (It's Love) that propelled their first album and which is still the composition written by Zeze that is most often recorded by other artists including Ray Conniff and the Mexican group La Mafia. It is at E o Amor that Zeze jet skis on the artificial lake he had constructed and playes soccer in the well-equipped mini-soccer stadium named Franciscao after Zeze's father who hates the sport.

Without the responsibilities of a poet, Luciano dedicates his leisure time to activities less introspective or philanthropic. He collects and races remote control cars and drives his own recklessly, creating a constant source of dispute between the brothers. He has always been a rebel. At 23 years old, ten years younger than his brother, Luciano lives in the shadow of Zeze. When Luciano joined Zeze. When Luciano joined Zeze in 1991, he became one of the rare Brazillian artists who surpassed the one million mark for sales with his first recording. Consequently, he has lived a very easy life since the end of his adolescence, but realizes that Zeze had to struggle for over twenty years and has opened the doors for him.

Juggling writing, touring, and recording has made Zeze Di Camargo the newest millionaire in Brazilian music. His residuals after deductions and only as a composer exceed $250,000 annually according to Peermusic of Brazil's Manoel Pinto. That figure corresponds to approximately 1% of all money that is collected for music royalties in Brazil. ECAD does not supply the royalty figures that it collects, but admits that Roberto Carlos, Zeze Di Camargo, and Tom Jobim are more or less on the same level with Caetano Veloso a little lower on the list.

Jobim once stated that he wasn't sure whether or not he was receiving $250,000 a year in residuals. He thought that some composers could be earning that much, but that if they were Chico Buarque and Caetano Veloso would not have to continue performing live shows. Apparently, the composer from the backlands of Goias does not share this opinion.

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Author: Gilman, Bruce Article Title: Gauging the hits Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.125 Publication Date: 05-31-96 Page: p. 42

Gauging the hits.

The system used by ECAD to calculate and confirm what music is played in Brazil is called "public diffusion." It attempts to gauge not only what is listened to on the radio and TV, but also in bars, small clubs, hotels, night clubs, and restaurants. In order to make these tabulations there are several offices with autonomous agents spread throughout Brazil's capitals. The agents spread throughout Brazil's capitals. The agents get a commission for the information they collect. According to the ECAD office in Rio de Janeiro, there are more than 1100 agents working for the system of royalties between the northermost and southernmost points of Brazil. This is not a lot of agents when you consider the number of establishments that have to be checked.

In São Paulo alone, there are 45 top-of-the-line bars and restaurants that are known for presenting live music. The numbers collected by ECAD must be absurdly below the reality. To account for establishments that provide ambient background music for people who are waiting or sitting in a bar would be impossible. Thus, the information that "La Barca" was played 159 times a month cannot be taken as a rigid verification, not even as a close approximation. The figure shows only what ECAD agents accounted for.

ECAD's service could be improved a lot, and musicians do complain periodically about their residuals. However, it is an illusion to imagine that one day it will be possible to document all music being played everywhere in Brazil at all times. A feat like that would necessitate an ECAD representative being permanently on duty from Sunday to Sunday in every bar and club in the country. Nevertheless, the service that ECAD provides is crucial data for the musicians who depend on these services to earn their money.

One play on FM radio pays the composer about 15 cents. For TV there is no fixed price for music, but there are direct agreements between the broadcasting stations and ECAD. Globo, which has a near monopoly of audience, and SBT, the TV station owned by Silvio Santos, are together paying $550,000 monthly to ECAD. With records and CDs and criteria varies. A singer may receive 5% to 15% over the album price. The composer has the right to 8.4% over the album price divided by the other composers who contributed compositions to the recording. To earn more, a majority of composers have preferred to sing their own compositions; Jobim was a case in point. For night clubs, the price paid to ECAD varies according to how many people attend the particular club on a nightly basis. Large clubs pay large sums; a small bar many times is not even called upon to enter their share.

Even though there are so few ECAD agents, wherever they go they inevitably hear the music of Roberto Carlos, Jobim, Caetano Veloso, or Zeze Di Camargo being played. In December 1992, for instance, it was discovered that the music played live most often in bars and restaurants was "La Barca", a classic bolero that came back to the charts with 159 plays a month due to the recording made by Mexican artist Luis Miguel. Next came "Coracao Esta em Pedaxos" (Heart in Pieces) by Zeze Di Camargo. The eighth through tenth

positions were taken by scientist-sambista Paulo Vanzolini's "Ronda", "As Rosas Nao Falam" (Roses Don't Talk) by the great Cartola, and Jobim's "Garota de Ipanema" (The Girl from Ipanema) all standards of Brazilian popular music.

Tom Jobim started his career in the 1950s and still maintains a posthumous position in the race because of his monumental production of great music which includes songs that will never be replaced in any musician's repertoire. It is primarily from this accomplishment that Jobim extracted the largest portion of his royalties.

Roberto Carlos, called the king by his fan, started his career at the beginning of the 1960s. He releases a record every year and always sells over one million copies. His songs are played on the radio more frequently than any other Brazilian artist. Besides, other singers have the habit of recording his hits (see News from Brazil cover story on January '96).

Caetano got started at the end of 1960s. Besides composing his own music, Caetano is the artist whose name stands out most in the discography of singers like Maria Bethania and Gal Costa. The Baiano singer-composer may not be able to beat Jobim or Roberto, but his name occupies a considerable space on the list of composers whose songs are played most often on both the radio and in night clubs. "Sampa" (affectionate name for São Paulo), for example, continues to be an absolute hit in the bars of São Paulo.

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Author: Wyszpolski, Bondo Article Title: The dumbing down of Paulo Coelho Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.125 Publication Date: 05-31-96 Page: p. 44

The dumbing down of Paulo Coelho.

With his earlier books, The Alchemist and The Pilgrimage (formerly Diary of a Magus), Brazilian Paulo Coelho has perhaps become the best known author of his country - which in purely literary terms is unfortunate when one considers such writers as Osman Lins, Moacyr Scliar, Rubem Fonseca, and Jorge Amado. .TX.-Unlike his compatriots, Coelho's fiction straddles those somewhat dubious categories of self-help, new age, and pop psychology. But while the earlier books were successful, or at least satisfactory, The Valkyries lacks the fabulist magic and storytelling charisma of The Alchemist, and by its simplicity even makes us feel that we're being talked down to.

We begin in Rio de Janeiro, where Coelho lives when he isn't globe-trotting to promote his many best-selling novels. In this one, farmed as an autobiographical quest, Coelho is instructed by his Master to find and speak with his guardian angel. In the next breath Paulo and his wife Christina are scurrying around the Mojave Desert.

Husband and wife bounce ideas off of one another, and this is an area where the book carries some substance. Chris, too, needs to broaden her horizons, so if there's subtext here, it's focused on her balancing both her spiritual needs and growth and also the difficult-to-foresee peregrinations of her spouse. When they begin to bicker we're not too surprised, and the confessional tone of The Valkyries earns the author some credit for his frankness. It might have been a more interesting picture if Christina had secretly taken notes and written her own version of their forty days in the desert.

Forty days in the desert? The other side of the coin is that The Valkyries seems too contrived, too derivative. From Borrego Springs to Indio we meet some unusual minor characters (Gene arrives in the nick of time as Paulo and Chris, who've shed their clothes in the hot desert sun, are succumbing to sunstroke and dehydration), but of course the eight Valkyries of the title are the most prominent. Led by the red-haired Valhalla, these leather-clad young women cruise around the desert on motorcycles spewing forth a kind of spiritual talk that no one understands. For Paulo, Valhalla is something of a soulmate, and she helps him dredge up an incident from his past so he can break his `pact with defeat.'

Why should people seek out their personal angels? "Because only the angels know the best path," Paulo tells Chris. "It does no good to seek advice about it from others."

Nothing wrong in that, perhaps, but ultimately the message is too simplistic and the picture too rosy: "The world was in the hands of those who had the courage to dream - and to realize their dreams" is tolerable; what isn't is that `The day will come when the problem of hunger can be solved through the miracle of the multiplication of bread." Ugh, yeah. Paulo, read Hans Magnus Enzensberger's Civil Wars: From L.A. to Bosnia.

One admires Paulo Coelho's wrestling with doubt and wrestling with faith, but The Valkyries is simply treading stale water.

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Author: Adams, Scott Article Title: Brazilian Notas Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.125 Publication Date: 05-31-96 Page: p. 45

Brazilian Notas.

It's small world, no doubt about it. Our "reach out and touch someone" technology has even reduced cultural distances to almost meaningless terms. Especially in music, where styles and forms borrow from one another until the very differences that originally defined them become nearly transparent.

If you've been caught up in the lure of Brazilian music, you're sure to appreciate the new four CD set from Blue Jackel Entertainment, entitled Brasil: A Century of Song. This captivating collecting takes us back to Brazil's musical roots to answer the question: Where did all of this great music come from anyway?

Brasil: A Century of Song isn't an anthology, but each of the four CDs targets a different era and style of Brazilian music. For instance, in 1939, while Glenn Miller was recording "In the Mood," the legendary Brazilian band leader and composer Ary Barroso was similarly redefining the sound of his country's pop music. His "Deixa Esta Mulher Sofrer" (Let This Woman Suffer) from that year is included on the Folk & Traditional CD.

It's a tap on the shoulder to remind us of our cultural differences and how the next few decades would pull our cultures closer together. It's like looking at photos of your wife or husband as an infant: where we were then and where we are now. Brasil: A Century of Song helps us to understand this contrast better.

1939 was also the year that Carmen Miranda was appointed as Brazil's official Cultural Ambassador for the New York World's Fair. Take a quick read through the lyrics of her "Ela Diz que Tem" (She Says She Has It) and you'll begin to appreciate the romantic, exotic appeal of Brazilian music that continues through today: I have the dark skin, the body, a profile inside which is the heart of Brazil...I have in my body the scent of the samba...I am Brazilian.

Many of the 65 tracks included in this box set have never before been released outside of Brazil, and several tracks are debuted here, according to producer Jack O'Neil. "In choosing the music, we listened to thousands of compositions. Some very well-known songs were passed over in favor of tunes we felt where more musically significant, giving a broader outlook on a particular artist."

While the roots of American pop can be traced back though rock and roll to R & B, for Brazil, it's a straight line to samba, and Brasil: A Century of Song excels in making this point. The box set's second volume, Carnaval, celebrates this special world. In virtually every aspect of Brazilian song, some element of samba is present. Its resourceful marriage of African rhythms and European instrumentation has resulted in an extremely adaptive form and this CD represents a superbly balanced collection.

In 1958, Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock" caused both teenagers and critics to

go wild. Down in Brazil, a new song form called Bossa Nova had created the same scenario by finding its voice with an unassuming young singer named Joao Gilberto.

With Brasil: A Century of Song's third volume, the Bossa Nova Era, we're introduced to the moment of Bossa's birth with Gilberto's studio version of "A Felicidade" from the movie Black Orpheus. There are some real gems here: Sylvia Telles with a resurrected version of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Dindi," Quartero em Cy's "Pedro Pedreiro" and Chico Buarque's memorable "Ela Desatinou." Bossa Nova's current state is portrayed by Leny Andrade, Toninho Horta and Leila Pinheiro.

Times of defiant protest against the military and the government defined the late 60s. In cities like São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro, dictatorship pushed Brazilian music past Bossa Nova's age of innocence to a growing social awareness called Music Popular Brasileira or MPB, and with it came new performers. This fourth disc includes offerings from Gal Costa, Milton Nascimento, the late Clara Nunes, Simone, Jorge Ben Jor and Ivan Lins. You'll also find a rare version of Joyce's "Feminina" (Feminine) as just one more example of how MPB has paced its country's social development.

Brasil: A Century Of Song is an unmatched collection, the perfect starting place for someone wanting to learn more about the roots of Brazilian music and an indispensable addition to anyone's Brazilian music library. Although each of the CDs may be purchased separately, we advise you to pick up the box set. It contains a well-written 48-page book that details each song and its importance in the spectrum of Brazilian music, complete with an essay from Oscar Castro Neves and an insightful introduction from Milton Nascimento.

You may preview Blue Jackel Entertainment's new box set, Brazil: A Century Of Song 24 hours a day by calling our Brazilian Music Review Listener Line at (847) 292-4545.

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Author: Mello, Rodney Article Title: recado Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.7; N.122 Publication Date: 02-28-96 Page: p. 5

recado.

We are dedicating a big chunk of this issue to Carnival. Besides being the subject of our cover story, the theme comes back in a tale by our worldwide best-seller writer Jorge Amado and then in an excerpt from the recently released book The Brazilians.

Carnaval, and Rio's Escolas de Samba in particular, have become an integral piece of this puzzle called Brazilian soul. From Friday of Carnaval to Ash Wednesday the whole country stops, takes a deep breath, sheds all inhibition, and dives into revelry.

It's the purest form of catharsis and sublimation. The poorest from the Rio's slums forget their predicament and become kings, queens, politicians, authority, whatever their imagination makes them. The men and the women, who have been anonymous servants throughout the year, dress as a noble and go to the streets to be shown live on prime-time TV.

From pricey seats and bleachers celebrities and the well-to-do from all over the world applaud and envy that show of vitality and make-believe put on by the same people who tomorrow will be back cleaning their homes, sweeping their streets, taking care of their children. At least for those few days the roles are reversed and the mutual signs of mistrust and fear give place to admiration and gratitude.

To understand Carnaval is to get a special invitation inside Brazil's psyche. Welcome to the party!

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Author: Dalevi, Alessandra Article Title: Rio's follies Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.7; N.122 Publication Date: 02-28-96 Page: p. 8

Rio's follies.

"After Carnaval we will talk," "We can't do anything before Carnaval," "Can't you wait just until Carnaval?," "I know you from another Carnaval". In Brazil, these phrases are repeated by leaders, businessmen, students and the people in the streets. Every year is the same thing. The year doesn't seem to start before Carnaval - which happens in the days preceding Lent. In 1996 Ash Wednesday, the day when the revelry stops, is February 21.

Rivaled only by soccer, with every passing year this popular celebration has stretched from just a two-day part to one of several days. By and large, the folia (merry making) now starts on Friday guaranteeing 5.5 days of parties (nobody goes to work before Wednesday noon). In some areas, however, the whole week preceding Shrovetide has been taken by Carnaval festivities.

The government has learned to deal with the phenomenon and the latest economic plans instituted in Brazil have all happened around or just after Carnaval. One of them was even called "Carnaval Plan". Then there was the Summer Plan, the Cruzado Plan, the Collar Plan. The present economic program. the Real Plan, was also implemented in the weeks preceding Carnaval. Critics have said that the purpose is to introduce the changes during a time when people are anesthetized and more interested in which costume they are going to wear than how much money they are going to get.

According to some more productive minds, Brazil can ill afford to stop the country for a whole week every year while the Escolas de samba (samba schools), trios El‚tricos (musical trucks), and blocos (dance groups) take over the streets bringing the traffic to a halt. After all, besides more traditional holidays like Christmas, Labor Day and Independence Day, in Brazil there are also national - states and cities add their own no-work days - holidays: April 21 (Tiradentes - a martyr of independence), Holy Friday, Corpus Christi, October 12 (Nossa Senhora Aparecida, Brazil's patroness), November 2 (Finados - Day of the Dead). Not too long ago, Saint Joseph, Saint John, Saint Peter, all had their national holidays.

There isn't much to complain about, however. Besides boosting the people's moral to unbelievable highs, Carnaval is also a money-making machine. The festivities bring more than half a million tourists from all over the world to Rio, Salvador (Bahia), and Recife and Olinda (Pernambuco) - the main showcases of the pagan feast. At least 50,000 of them are foreigners. During Carnaval the occupation rate of hotels in Rio is around 98%. Carnaval heats up the domestic economy causing a frenetic search for plane tickets, hotel rooms, special clothing, confetti, ballroom rentals, beer and condoms. Booze and promiscuity, however, don't tell the whole story. Rio's Escolas de samba for example guarantee a year-round job to thousands of artists, craftsmen, seamsters. All in preparation of 90 minutes of ecstasy on the avenue.

The so-called barracoes (warehouses) where all these people work have an average of 80 employees. The money to pay them come from Liesa (Liga

Independent das Escolas de Samba - Samba Schools' Independente League), an entity created in 1988. Until then the Escolas depended on handouts from the authorities and bicheiros (rich drug dealers and book-makers) who still have their say-so over the schools management. Today Liesa makes money, which is divided among its members, charging for TV rights, tickets sales for the parade and publicity. Tickets for rehearsals and consumption of beer in the clubs complement to budget. As soon as the Carnaval parade ends and the hangover passes, people start to recycle their old clothes and floats and begin to plan for the next Carnaval show.

The first Carnaval celebrations were brought from Portugal in the shape of entrudo (Lent's entry). It was a very aggressive practice in which people would throw at each other the so-called limoes-de-cheiro (odorous lemons - paraffin or rubber balls filled with perfume, water and sometimes very suspect liquids).

In 1604, the police banned the entrudo. The heavy play often ended up in bruises for the participants and there have been even some cases of death. Until the end to the last century Carnaval balls in Rio were emceed by police officers. They announced the beginning and the end of the party and made sure people wouldn't smoke or scream during the ball.

At the start of this century the illegal entrudo was still being practiced and Rio's mayor Pereira Passos made an appeal to the teachers so they would tell their students about the prohibition. Passos suggested that people were encouraged to use lança-perfume (perfume squirter - a metallic bottle with perfume ether) to play Carnaval. The product, which also was used to get highs, would be banned in the 60s by President Jƒnio Quadros.

Entrudo has finally disappeared from the big centers, but it still can be seen in some small towns such as Cruz Alta in Rio Grande do Sul. The practice of throwing things at each other never stopped, however. Nowadays people almost invariably bring a good stock of gentler confetti and serpentina (colorful paper streamer) to the Carnaval parties. Rio's commerce started to sell Carnaval masks and costumes by the 1830s. Newspaper ads from those times offered "ladies' breasts for men who want to dress like women."

It was only after the Republic's installation in 1889 that the more modern Carnaval practices started to bloom. Carnaval groups such as cordoes, sociedades carnavalescas, blocos, corsos and ranchos were all born at the beginning of the century. O Abre Alas (Open the Rows) composed in 1899 by gifted musician and women's right leader Chiquinha Gonzaga was the first song made to be sung and danced to on Carnaval. That would start a tradition that has much contributed to the development of samba, marcha and other rhythms enjoyed by Carnaval revelers.

All over the country Carnaval owes a lot to blacks. It was natural that they dominated the festivities in Bahia and the Northeast since they are majority in these areas. But the Escolas de samba, born in Rio and copied by almost every other region in Brazil, were also created by black people and only recently have been crashed by socialites and other white artists and personalities.

With slavery abolition in 1988, the city of Rio de Janeiro found itself with two classes of blacks: the ones who had a job and were able to continue living in town, and the unemployed ones who went to adjacent hills looking for a place to pitch their tent or shack and live. The two communities, however,

continued linked by their love of music and dance.

While the town blacks went to the weekend balls given in their communities by the tias baianas (aunts from Bahia), the hills' blacks used to promote dancing parties at the foothills. The police ended up prohibiting these revelries under the pretext that they always ended up in fights.

Determined to show authorities that they could be trusted as much as the tias, the blacks from Est cio, a neighborhood from the São Carlos hill, formed in 1928 the first escola de samba, the Deixa Falar (Let Them Talk) which would become later the Est cio de S . The name school given to the group was just a little prank due to the fact that the Carnaval enthusiasts used to get together in a building across the street from an elementary school.

The second escola, Estacao Primeira da Mangueira (Mangueira's First Station) would appear one year later. Composed by several other blocos from the Mangueira neighborhood the school would become in the years ahead the most traditional and representative of all of Rio's Escolas de samba. Renowned composer Cartola was one of its founders. But the in 1935, after the creation of Portela, another heavyweight of Carnaval, the samba schools started to gain some respectability. It was during dictator Getúlio Vargas's first administration that Rio's - the city was then the federal capital - desfiles (parades) became official.

At that time, the open-air show moved from Praça Onze's narrow confines to the wide downtown avenues. Only in 1984 would Rio create at Marquˆs de Sapucai avenue a definite place for the desfiles with the building of the Passarela do Samba (Samba Walkway) which is better known as Samb¢dromo. Designed by Brasilia's architect Oscar Niemeyer, the site is a half-a-mile pathway with a square at the end called Praça da Apoteose and concrete stands on both sides able to hold close to 100,000 spectators.

Nowadays the Escolas de samba parade, which happens on the Sunday and Monday preceding Ash Wednesday, can be called the "greatest show on earth" and it won't be any hype as the one used by American circuses. There are 18 major samba schools who belong to the so-called Group A and parade on Monday. The richest ones like Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel and Imperatriz Leopoldinense can spend $1 million to stage their yearly show. Smaller ones like Imp‚rio Serrano spend a minimum of $250,000.

Together they put more than 60,000 dancing and sweating bodies on the streets - some Escolas have more than 5,000 members - during a spectacle that lasts 12 hours and is seen by 100,000 people at the Sambodrono, hundreds of thousands on the streets and by millions more on live TV. They are judged by a panel of experts who give points to several items including costumes, originality and rhythm. Every year the two schools with the lowest points are demoted to group B while the nest from that group have a chance to compete in the special group the ensuing year.

Escolas de samba are divided in alas (groups) for the presentation before the jury. A big school can have as much as 70 alas with an average of 80 participants in each one of them. That means more than 5,000 people. The comisSão de frente (front commission) is an ala always present. It has the most important members of the school and frequently it also has some pretty model or actress. This group opens the parade. The mestre sala (master of ceremonies) and the portaestabdarte (lag bearer) follow them. They are a couple who won this position of the parade for their extreme ability in

sambaing the Carnaval. The floats (carros aleg¢ricos) come in between the alas and bring the so-called destaques, men and women wearing luxurious clothes and features, but often times covered by little more than a cache-sex and body paint.

Before an escola de samba ever venture on the Avenue it has to choose a theme, it's the samba enredo (samba plot) which must deal with a national matter or even international if it is a popular subject. By October each escola has already chosen their favorite among several songs composed to be the plot. Well before Carnaval, all the sambas enredo from group A are reunited into an album which sell more than a million copies every year.

The carnavalesco - every schools has its own - a kind of art director, is the one who chooses the enredo and takes care of all the details so that the final product is true to its conception. He has been accused of commercializing and eliminating the popular roots of the Escolas. Others, however, think that thanks to him the Escolas have professionalized and were able to survive and prosper.

Even those who have had a chance to look frequently and up-close at the Escolas de samba desfiles will be waiting with anticipation for the next parade. Despite all the public rehearsals, every escola keeps always something in secret until it's revealed during the show in the streets. It can be sound effect, a special choreography or even a whole float. Portela, for example, introduces every year new special effect for its symbol, the eagle. Beija-flor is becoming famous for holding out on its always mysterious candelabra.

Using the enredo Ratos e Urubus, larguem minha fantasia, (Rats and Buzzards, leave my costume (or fantasy) alone) controversial carnavalesco Joaozinho Trinta planned a surprise showing of Christ as a beggar in 1989. The news leaked and Rio's archbishop went to the Justice "to prevent the sacrilege." The Christ has never shown his face but was nonetheless the sensation of that year. Joaozinho Trinta's Jesus, came to the streets covered with a black plastic bag and the sign: "Even banned, look for us."

Naked bodies and the exposure of women's breasts have become a tradition during the desfiles, even though the show is seen by children in the streets and at home on TV. But in 1989 incensed by model Enoly Lara's no-parts covered apparition, which was taken as a provocation, the Liga Independente das Escolas de Samba decided to ban "disrobed genitalia." That same year Joaozinho Trinta used his enredo Todo Mundo Nasceu Nu (Everybody Was Born Naked) to show dancer Jorge Lafond stark-naked on a flat's top. For some, keeping clothes on during the parade seems something impossible. Gorgeous model Luma de Oliveira, for example, threw her elaborated bra on the streets during her 1987 appearance alleging discomfort. The public loved it and months later she was starring on TV Globo's prime-time novela (soap opera).

Despite some cleaning-up in the last few years, Rio's drug lords (bicheiros) continue to be the main benefactors of the Escolas de samba. That they haven't lost the grip on their "schools" was very patent recently when Luizinho Drumond, a well-known bicheiro gave the order that the escola de samba Imperatriz Leopoldina shouldn't spare any money to try and win the Carnaval parade for the third consecutive year. How much they are going to be spending, however, is a state secret.

Bicheiro Drumond, who has been a Maecenas for Imperatriz, is in prison serving

a six-year sentence, but he continues to do all this business from jail. Several other bicheiros also behind bars are doing the same. It's even expected that Luisinho will get a special authorization February 19 to watch the parade from the Samb¢dromo's bleachers.

For the first time, Imperatriz Leopoldinense will be paying homage to princess Carolina Josefa Leopoldina, daughter of all-powerful Autria's emperor Francis I, and the woman after whom the escola was named. To be truthful to history, carnavalesco Rosa Magalhaes traveled to Vienna to complement her research on Carolina's life. The enredo Leopoldina, Imperatriz do Brasil (Leopoldina, Empress of Brazil) will show Leopoldina's life from her childhood in Austria to her wedding with Brazil's emperor Dom Pedro I. There will be nine carros aleg¢ricos (floats) to tell the whole story. The most luxurious one will probably be float number 7 in which the princess, then 19, is received by the Brazilian court upon her arrival in Rio.

Rio's Escolas de samba parade has become the main showcase for TV artists and models interested in getting a jump start on their careers. Anything goes in this effort to be noticed: flirts, little or no clothing, and physical fight when everything else fails. It was during last Carnaval that model and call girl Lilian Ramos became famous after pictures of her with then President Itamar Franco were published worldwide showing her most intimate secrets. Ramos scandalized the nation wearing nothing more than a T-shirt, which revealed her pantyless anatomy every time she raised her arms to dance. She was the first one to defy the genitalia ban from 89.

Carioca Val‚ria Valenssa has become a top-model after being spotted by Globo TV in 1992 rehearsing for the parade on her Caprichosos de Pilares escola de samba. Three years ago models Andr‚a Guerra and Denise Lima slapped each other to guarantee a place on the main float of Acadˆmicos do Grande Rio, a smaller school which has been calling attention because its main female dancers usually show up topless. Says Babi Fontoura, an agency Ford mode: "To get a contract during Carnaval you don't have to talk to anybody. All you have to do is to be seen and to cause a good impression.

Rio's official parade has also a special place for the blocos, groups less organized than the Escolas which have between 200 and 500 people. They can be blocos de enredo (theme groups) or blocos de empolgaçao (excitement groups). Three of the blocos de empolgaçao became legendary and are considered hors-concours. They are Bafo da Onca (Jaguar's Breath), Boemios do Iraj (Iraj 's Bohemians) and Cacique de Ramos (Ramos Chief). Among the best known blocos de enredo there are the Bafo de Bode (Goat's Breath) and Quem Fala de N¢s Nao Sabe o que Diz (Whoever Talks About Us Doesn't Know What He Says).

Carnaval has also been a fertile soil for popular songs. Tunes from the 30s, 40s and 50s are still among the most popular during the Carnaval season. They are almost invariably very easy to remember; vibrant, short and repetitive. Often they are also very irreverent and it seems there is no taboo they can't break. The news and history have given much inspiration to gifted composers like Lamartine Babo, whose Hist¢ria do Brasil from 1934 is still very popular. The lyrics, which talk about Indians, feijoada (Brazil's typical dish), and Rio, start with: "Quem foi que inventou o Brasil? / Foiseu Cabral / Foiseu Cabral / No dia 21 de abril / Dois meses depois do Carnaval." (Who was the one who invented Brazil? / It was Mr. Cabral / It was Mr. Cabral / On April 21 / Two months after Carnaval). Lamartine was also the one who celebrated the arrival of the hot-dog mania in Brazil in his 1928 marcha Cachorro Quente: Comer cachorro quente l no bar / por certo a moda vai pegar / por nao ser

vulgar (To eat hot-dog in the bar / for sure the fashion is going to catch on / since it's not vulgar).

As in the last few years, the favorite songs for this Carnaval are coming from Bahia, a northeastern state. All over the country everybody seems to be singing these days Asa de Aguias's X", Satan s (Beat It, Satan) and Gera Samba's Segura o Tchan (Hold the Charm). The first ditto, which talks about exorcism and religion, couldn't be more in tune with the zeitgeist. The Catholic Church and the establishment have been in a tug of war with the prosperous and street-smart evangelical sect Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus. Quasi-monopoly Globo TV has been incessantly pounding Universal which has a competing TV network. Segura o Tchan, the other song, has risque lyrics filled with sexual innuendos. Nothing new. Decades ago, Chiquita Bacana, who had nothing but a banana peel to cover herself became a big hit and continues to be played year after year.

In Bahia there are no Escolas de samba, even though there are blocos, generally with African names like Muzenza and Ara-Kˆtu. Carnaval there is less a show and more a participatory spectacle in which everyone is invited to sing and improvise steps on the streets following the trio El‚trico (a huge truck with a light and sound system), while players and percussionists guarantee the ceaseless syncopated rhythm of frevo, axe, samba, and new musical stules that bloom anew each Carnaval season. The first trio El‚trico happened in 1950, when composer Dodo, all dressed up as a rainbow, connected the guitar to his car's battery. Nowadays, a trio El‚trico is so powerful that the energy it consumes would be enough to power a 30.000-people town.

That's why Baiano composer Caetano Velloso wrote for a past Carnaval a frevo song that says: "Atras do trio El‚trico so nao vai quem ja morreu." ("Only the dead will not follow the trio El‚trico). Bahia and Rio have been in constant rivalry in the last few years to see who dishes out the best Carnaval. Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians and foreigners have joined in Bahia's celebrations and many consider theirs the fairest of all. But there are still millions of die-hard Rio Carnaval fans. Those who want to be closer to the trio El‚trico must buy a colorful costume called mortalha (shroud), which helps finance the moving bands. A mortalha can cost from $100 to $250. If you don't have a mortalha, you still will be able to pular (jump) Carnaval, but you will be called pipoca (popcorn).

During a typical Salvador (capital of Bahia) Carnaval, which officially lasts for six days, close to 500 shows are presented, 2 million people go to the streets and ballrooms to dance and look. And around 200 blocos, cordoes and afoxes (groups who sing in African dialects) plus 100 trios El‚tricos help to enliven the celebrations. To guarantee the order 10,000 police officers are on duty during these days.

Timbalada and Olodum, both fairly recent phenomena, are the two most respected Carnaval groups in Salvador. Created by percussionist Carlinhos Brown, Timbalada is a band with ten singers and 250 musicians who play timbales (kettle-drums) and other percussion instruments such as agog" (cowbell which is hit by a wooden stick) and surdo (drum). Olodum, which means "supreme divinity" in Yoruban was founded in 1979 under the leadership of Mestre Neguinho do Samba and it has become an industry with memorabilia, international shows and periodical record releases. Paul Simon used the group as background on his album The Rhythm of the Saints. Olodum is also a bloco and it has more than 3,000 members.

Outside of Rio and Bahia, Pernambuco is the state with the best Carnaval in Brazil. In Recife, the state's capital, and Olinda, people go to the streets to dance to the sounds of maracatu, the regions typical rhythm. But it's the frevo that everybody mentions when talking about Pernambuco's Carnaval. São Paulo, which represents 60% of the Brazilian economy, has never been famous for Carnaval. Cariocas (native from Rio) have always derided what they see as the awkwardness of Paulistas when sambaing.

Proud Carioca, diplomat, composer, poet, bohemian Vinicius de Moraes has called São Paulo samba's grave. The city, however, has been emulating the Cariocas and even built a Samb¢dromo similar to the one in Rio de Janeiro.

Its Escolas are far from the splendor of its Carioco counterpart, but have been improving and even some passistas (samba dancers) have been daring enough to show up stark naked on the avenue, dancing on the floats.

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Author: Welles, Violet Article Title: Yankee Samba Dandy Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.7; N.122 Publication Date: 02-28-96 Page: p. 16

Yankee Samba Dandy.

In 1969, the same year that North Americans stepped on the moon, a group of San Francisco's Bay Area Brazilians took a small but historic step of their own. Opening the doors of a tiny hall in South San Francisco, they invited the world in. There were no costumes. The music was taped. By Rio or Bahia standards, the celebrants, mostly American, were sedate. But it was the first Brazilian Carnaval Ball on the West Coast.

Twenty seven years later, the event has become one of party-minded San Francisco's favorite entertainments and the longest running Brazilian Carnaval Ball in the United States. It is now called the Bay Area Brasilian Club/Friends of Brazil Carnaval Ball to reflect a progressive shift of leadership a few years ago.

By any name, this one nightful of fun is what finances the Club's activities year round. Many of these concentrate on serious community needs: seminars on immigration, work, drugs, emergency family funding. Others concentrate on culture: concerts by Brazilian musical artists like Joao Bosco and Beth Carvalho, a film exhibition and San Francisco's First Children's Day. But on Carnaval night, revelers concentrate only on samba, frevo, marcha, samba reggae and ax‚.

Since 1984, the San Francisco Carnaval has been held in the Galleria, a soaring, multi-tiered building, which adapts naturally to festivity. Each year at Carnaval., it is embellished with banners, streamers, serpentines. Last year, twin cardboard cutouts of a two-story high Carmen Miranda smiled down on the crowd.

This year - "The Night of the Masquerade" decorations will be topped by a 24 by 24 foot carnaval Mask winking seductively at the two to three thousand people who are expected to attend. Include among them is an upscale group from the Domaine Chandon Club, most of whom, it is likely will be attending their first authentic Carnaval Ball.

And authentic is the key word. Through the years traditional Carnaval idols like Elsa Soares and Emilinha Borba have come up from Rio to join local Brazilian performers. Carnaval regulars through the years have included Lisa Silva. Aquarela, directed by Maria Souza; Carlos Aceituno's Fogo na Roupa; and Oxumar‚, guided by Gilda Maria. On-stage also, for the past 11 years has been The Brazilian All Star Big Band, under the direction of Celia Malheiros.

Although most of the Band's members are professional performers, there are some whose every day lives are very different. Among the bespangled entertainers are Marilu, who details foreign cars; Marisa, a travel agent; and Roberto, one of the top Portuguese court interpreters in California.

The evening will also include a tribute to Neuza Brown, a native of Rio, who took a rhythmic stop of her own in the history of Bay Area Carnaval Balls. She

was the first sambista, the first person to bring the fantastic costumes and the fiery spirit of the Escolas de sambas to the Bay Area dance floor.

Carnaval `96's theme, A Noite dos Mascarados (The Night of the Masquerades) is one that has been popular among revelers at Carnaval Balls for hundreds of years, in Italy, France and Portugal. Both the elegant Carnaval Ball and the raffish, downright dirty pre-Lenten entrudos of the Portuguese poor were exported to Brazil and, like so much else in that country, it was the mixing which made Carnaval different than any other celebration on earth.

Despite the theme, the masks are optional One member of the Club, touched lightly by poetic inspiration, explains:

"Wear a mask or don't wear one

To the Brazilian night of fun!"

While San Francisco celebrants wrestle with that one, Brazilians and non-Brazilians all over the US are following their own traditions and preparing their own Carnaval Balls.

New York actually held the first Carnaval Ball in the country at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel but there have been some years when the event was skipped. This year, however, there will once again be a Carnaval Ball at the Waldorf.

Los Angeles will hold the 15th Carnaval Ball sponsored by Samba e Saudade, at the Hollywood Palladium. Florida Brasileiros will samba at the Seville Beach Hotel in Miami Beach, their ninth such celebration. Made-by-Brazilian Carnaval Balls have also appeared, from time to time, in Chicago, San Diego and even Arizona.

More and more the spirit of celebration, the excitement of the upcoming change of seasons and just the desire to have one rare old time makes the Brazilian Carnaval Ball more popular each year.

Someday, perhaps, it may even challenge the New Orleans Mardi Gras in popularity as an "all American entertainment institution."

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Author: Manhaes Marins, Marcos Article Title: And if we shared those millions? Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.7; N.122 Publication Date: 02-28-96 Page: p. 17

And if we shared those millions?.

Brazil will spend, in a single movie, public money enough to produce 10 goods Brazilian films! Brazilian cinema is not an industry, a business like in Hollywood, but when actor Guilherme Fontes's overbudgeted project which will deal with TV and newspaper mogul Assis Chateaubriand received official approval, it reminded me of director Michael Cimino's disastrous superproduction Heaven's Gate and I asked myself: "What are we getting for so much money? Where are the bad judgment or the irregularities in this case?" Irregularity number 1

In 1994, as published on the Di rio Oficial da Uniao, Parliament approved for the year 1995, a total value dedicated to Brazilian Cultural Projects enough to produce 80 moving pictures with an average duration of 1:30h and average cost of $1,200. In Brazil, actors and technicians don't demand Hollywoodian wages. It happens that the Culture Ministry has given one eighth of the national yearly cake to one single film project. This when there are nearly 100 movie projects waiting for this chance. Irregularity number 2

That project was approved "ad referendum", which means it has not been judged by the Film and Video Committee (CNIC-IBAC) as other film projects have to be.

Irregularity number 3

Authorized on December 1, the Chateaubriand project gave only 20 days - And this during the Christmas season - for the people involved to raise the budget money from sponsors. It's known that even experienced producers as Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands's Lu¡s Carlos Barreto usually take more than one year to raise funds for a middle-budgeted film. Irregularity number 4

That privileged project had no budget until the beginning of December 95, while there is a pioneer project called Cabeça de Para¡ba with exactly the same objectives - producing a movie with mini-series version, telling the life of Assis Chateaubriand, the father of Brazilian TV - being developed together with the Culture Ministry since 1992. And this mini-series screenplay has been published and registered since May 11, 1994, before the release on August 4, 1994 of journalist Fernando de Moraes bestseller Chat", o Rei do Brasil.

Brazil was producing 100 films a year in the `70s, but his number had fallen to zero 1992 when President Fernando Collor de Mello closed Embrafilme. Recently, the national movie industry has shown signs of life. An important mark of the renaissance of the Brazilian Cinema was the film Carlota Joaquina by Carla Camurati. It cost about $600,000 and it was a big hit in Brazil, selling more than $4 million in tickets.

Walter Salles's Terra Estrangeira (Foreign Land), another successful quality film cost even less and was invited to compete in the US Sundance Film Festival.

The most expensive movie finished in 1995 was O Quatrilho, produced by Lu¡s Carlos Barreto, who previously produced Dona Flor and Her Two Husband's". Barreto spend $1.6 million in O Quatrilho and was able to sell 60% of its shares at the Stock Exchange. Mr. Barreto produced a first class film which has received applause from the audience and has even been considered for an Oscar nomination. The average budget to produce a Brazilian film is about than $1.2 million. That's not the little. After all, this is close to the budget of many successful Woody Allen's films. Quentim Tarantino's Sex, Lies and Video-tape cost less than this, got a prize in Cannes and pleased the public.

That creative way of producing is appropriate for a country like Brazil. Moreover, the most successful Brazilian film of all times, Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands made a mere $11 million. And this during a period that spanned more than 10 years. A Dama do Lotaçao with superstar S"nia Braga sold $7 million in tickets. Lucio Fl vio, $ 6 million.

Now a minister authorizes $12 million for a single movie. Big money is no warranty for success. We have many expensive flops in Hollywood to prove that. In Brazil, I remember for instance a project called Chico Rei, film and mini-series directed by Walter Lima Jr., an experienced film maker who failed. And he had plenty of money thanks to a co-production with some European countries in Europe. The costs soared and the disaster was so big that the negative film rolls are still in the lab waiting to be paid.

And even if the Chateaubriand project becomes a huge hit, I believe that Brazil would benefit much more if it had ten new movies made instead of only one. That would also mean jobs for 1,000 film professionals instead of the 100 who will be benefited. Besides that, with this kind of money ten Brazilian filmmakers, experienced or not, could have an opportunity to exercise their talent. This way, we would have ten options and we would multiply by ten the possibilities of producing works of art as well as money making hits.

We have to start producing again 50 or 100 films a year. (The United States produces more than 300). Then, in a large market, yes, one or other movie may cost a fortune and put at risk its company as it happened in Hollywood with Orion, Carolco and Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer/UA. What will happen if we put in jeopardy our embryonic market which has released only five films in 1995?

The first time actor Guilherme Fontes announced in December 1994 his intention to produce a film on Chateaubriand life, he declared he would need no more than $5 million dollars to make the film. At that time he said to be in negotiations so Al Pacino would play Chateaubriand. According to Fontes himself, $3 million would go for film production and $2 million for publicity. With $12 million, what is he going to do with the other $7 million?

Several documents about this questions can be viewed in the Internet at http://www.ibase,br/~cinemabrazil/ forum.html).

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Author: Barreto, Carlos E.F. Article Title: Banks in hock Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.7; N.122 Publication Date: 02-28-96 Page: p. 19

Banks in hock.

The end of 1995 was marked by political and economic tension in the Brazilian Parliament. Political scandals as the "Pink Folder" affair or the SIVAM (Amazon surveillance project) telephone taping case, and the financial crisis were shaking hard the Real Plan named for the new Brazilian currency. The plan which made a monster 50% a month inflation into a tame yearly 16% is forcing banks to change to a new market structure. In a normal economy, the banking system functions as a link between investors and savers. Under an inflationary economy, it becomes a mere inflation tax collector due to the loss of value in money deposited in banking accounts.

The Real economic stabilization plan of July 1994 has generated chaos in the financial system. This in turn is pressuring the government to create new set of rules to stimulate restructuring the therefore strengthening the banking institutions. Brazil has 246 banks - more than Canada and France - and according to the economy minister Pedro Malan this is not a good sign. There are too many banks for too little money, he argues. Malan believes that the new economic environment in Brazil will cut this number in half by the end of the century.

In 1988, Brazil had 100 domestic banks and the new constitution - loosening the requirements to open up such institutions - paved the road to a boom in the financial system. Inflation fueled an easy way to make profits and banking became a good business. For example, banks would act as government agents collecting water and energy bills from the population but those funds would only be passed to the government these days later.

At the time, Brazil was running an average 80% monthly inflation rate and three days represented an 8% easy gain. In 1993, the 40 biggest banks earned $9.1 billion from this floating money - 26% of the banks' total receipt - added to the $2.1 billion in profits. But in the first six months of 1995, this number had declined to $203 million - accounting for less than 1% of their total receipts and followed a $1.4 billion drop in profits. The inflation was profitable for the banks but left them weak administratively and laggard in adapting to a new stable economy.

The Central Bank's president, Gustavo Loyola, defends the idea that banking mergers are essential to strengthen Brazil's financial system. Usually, these banks for sale are in bad shape and the government needs to create a mechanism to stimulate other financial institutions to take over these white elephants.

The PROER, Program of Stimulus to Restructure and Strengthen the National Financial System, was put together by the Cardoso government to help banks merge and acquire one another. Loyola believes that "the program is not to benefit a single system but the whole economy." He sees banks as a heart in the economy pumping investments into all sectors. The PROER has the full support of two former economic ministers, M rio Henrique Simonsen and Ernane Galvˆas, who see an urgent need to adjust the country's financial system to a

new era.

The restructuring of financial systems is not a Brazilian phenomenon, but a global occurrence. It's continually happening in the US. In Japan, the Bank of Tokyo merged with the Mitsubishi Bank, and in Hong Kong, the Bank of East Asia merged with the United Chinese Bank. The Dutch ING Bank acquiring the bankrupted British Barings reinforces the phenomenon. The globalization increases competition which forces banks to increase receipts and decrease costs.

This justifies the changes in many international banks. The Credit Commercial de France merged with the Bank of Montreal, the Itamarati Bank acquired the Crefisul, the Itaú Bank bought the Banco Francˆs-Brasileiro, and the Hong Kong Shangai Bank associated with the Bamerindus Bank which in turn sold 6% to the Midland Bank.

Since July 1994, the Brazilian Central Bank liquidated 15 banks and intervened in another six. The Banerj (Bank of the State of Rio de Janeiro) and the Banespa (Bank of the State of São Paulo) are two large state-owned banks under intervention due to bad administration and politics. In this interventionist process, the Bank Bozano, Simonsen won a bid to administer and then privatize the Banerj, under the Central Bank since the end of 1994.

The Bozano, Simonsen has been an aggressive player in the process of privatization of state owned enterprises and thus has a vast experience in cleaning bankrupt businesses turning them into profitable ones.

This innovative process of intervention and privatization used by the Central Bank opens up avenues to a new way of dealing with problematic institutions, delegating the cleaning-up job to the private sector. Even though the Banerj is to be privatized, the São Paulo state government has been reluctant to do the same with Banespa. Moreover, a larger bomb dropped in the country's financial market was the Banco Econ"mico. Econ"mico, an old private Brazilian bank, was put under the Central Bank intervention after a $3.5 billion shortfall.

The Econ"mico had to be split into two: the profitable side of it was sold to the much smaller Excell Bank and the other is under the government intervention for eventual liquidation. The Excell has been required to inject $309 million to increase the capital of the new bank. Despite the financial crisis, the Banco Excell bid to buy the Econ"mico had the Swiss Bank support a sign of confidence in the Brazilian banking system.

Banco Nacional, created in 1944 in the state of Minas Gerais, was the latest financial institution to go belly up. It was Brazil's seventh largest bank. The Nacional was acquired by another bank from Minas, the Unibanco, the sixth largest Brazilian bank, which was founded in 1924. These two institutions represent traditional Brazilian families running business as small shops.

The deal generated the third largest Brazilian bank. Citibank and the Bank of Boston bought the left-over agencies from the Nacional. The merger represents a $500 million reduction in expenses for the two banks involved. This figure represents more than the two institutions were expecting to profit in one year.

According to a Lloyds Private Bank's consultant, the Brazilian economy can handle no more than 150 banks, a little over half of the existing number.

Mergers and acquisitions will continue. The merging of institutions result in huge gains from economies of scale and reduction in costs.

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Author: Velloso, Wilson Article Title: Doing the right thing Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.7; N.122 Publication Date: 02-28-96 Page: p. 21

Doing the right thing.

An expert businessman undertakes an overall assessment of Brazil, its people, its economy. There has never been a better time or better reasons to be optimistic about the future, he concludes.

This is a review of a paper written by Saïd Farhat for several customers of SEMPREL, his lobbying company. Farhat prepared it in English for the benefit of his clients who couldn't speak Portuguese but have huge interests in Brazil. A long-time Federal civil servant, Farhat began his career with the Brazilian Geographical and Statistical Institute (IBGE), in the country's remote Northwestern territory of Acre, now a full-fledged State (IBGE is Brazil's census bureau).

When he was done with the IBGE, he joined a major Brazilian advertising company where he designed and directed public opinion surveys and later managed agency offices in London and elsewhere. After a stint as an executive of the Vision Publishing Group, he acquired its ViSão magazine whose publisher and editor he became; several of his editorials earned him the animosity of the Army brass at a difficult time of the military dictatorship (that ruled Brazil form 1964 to 1983).

With the sale of ViSão, Farhat felt free to offer his remarkable social and political talents to a presidential candidate, General Joao Batista Figueiredo as a PR adviser. He managed to change radically Figueiredo's image, carving for him a civilian niche and placing him much closer to the Brazilian electorate. When Figueiredo was elected, the last Army general to serve as president, Farhat was appointed Minister of Communications and did a commendable job, but again got on the wrong side of the armed force which forced his resignation. After a brief political and unsuccessful fling as a candidate to the Senate from Acre State, Farhat established SEMPREL.

Brazil has the fourth or fifth largest land area [3.3 million square miles] in the world, depending on how you compute and place the territories of the former USSR. Its population is over 160 million. According to estimates of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), Brazil produced 75 million tons of grains in 1994. It has 129 million acres under cultivation, 431 million acres in grazing lands, and 348 million acres in usable land.

In 1994, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Brazil was 450 billion dollars, of which $249 billion (55.3%) was generated by trade and services, $156 billion (34.6%) by manufactures, and $45 billion (10%) by agriculture.

However, as Farhat points out, the overall GDP per capita - $4.630 - is practically meaningless because of the catastrophic difference between North and South, or more specifically SE Brazil, and NE Brazil. In a comparison between the States of São Paulo and Pernambuco (which is fairly prosperous in NE terms) São Paulo takes the lion's share with a $4,630 GDP per capita, while Pernambuco's is $1500. São Paulo has 5.6 million cars and Pernambuco 601,000.

The average monthly wage of a Paulista worker is just over $1000, while his/her Pernambucano counterpart makes $175. The countrywide average salary is $650 per month.

Brazil, Farhat points out, is "not one, but several countries." He goes on to focus on this point by lining up data from a UNICEF state-by-state study based on the 1991 census and referring to children's conditions of survival and the percentages of the children in those conditions over the total child population between the ages from 0 to 6.

Extreme cases of (1) children in worst survival conditions are: Maranhao 73% São Paulo 0.9%; (2) children in midpoint conditions: maranhao 10.8%, São Paulo 6.3%; and (3) children in better conditions: Maranhao, 13.9%, São Paulo 92.8%.

Thus, the author argues, it is easy to see why most businessmen, both domestic and foreign, tend to pick up the Southeast and the South, the Brazilian ares with the highest incomes, markets, buying power, and "well-to-do" consumer habits. The resulting concentration of job opportunities "further aggravates the immense gap between the two Brazils."

In a country where the richest 10 percent of the population own 48 percent of the GDP, as against only 12 percent of the GDP in the hands of 50 percent of the population, it is easy to estimate that 14 percent of the Gross Domestic Product is held by the richest 1 percent of the population.

Farhat does not mention it but, like in the US, politicians in Brazil show little political will to change the picture, balance the scales of compassion, really solve the country's many and extremely serious problems. Besides their concern with their own economic interests and their anxiety over re-election, their approach is Marie Antoinette's: "They have no bread? Let them it cake!"

In the absence of a desire to weld the country together, a task that the author believes would take two generations, the 10 million Brazilians now living "well below the poverty line" can only expect to put up with "poverty, poor health, a shorter life span, and fewer opportunities to improve the quality of their lives."

Then comes the clincher: "This [situation is] further aggravated by the fact that the rich pay low or virtually no taxes whilst the poor carry the heaviest tax burden, principally disguised as `indirect' taxes on consumption, taxes on salaries, and other forms of work compensation. Let's hope Republican Congress-people in Washington don't hear of this."

As a result, the essay goes on, "the rich local and regional markets... will become richer and richer while the rest of Brazil...may get poorer and poorer." The rich local and regional markets are defined as São Paulo City and State, the States of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Paran , Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, with the possible addition...of Mato Grosso do Sul." But not everything is bad

On the positive side, Farhat points out, there has been a sizable downswing of 15.15 percent in population growth, from 38.87 in 1980 to 12.72 percent in 1990. This may have happened because of a decrease in the rate of fertility: from 4 children per 100 women over 15 in 1980, to 3,7 in 1985 to 2.7 in 1990. Simultaneously, infant mortality rates also declined form 65.8 per thousand live births in 1980 to 51.6 per thousand in 1990. In addition, life

expectancy at birth grew from 41 years in 1940 to 62 years in 1980 to 65 years in 1990, raising the age of Brazilians in general. Seniors over 60 years, who were 1.7 million (4.1%) in 1940 now are 10.9 million or 7.4 percent of a much larger population. On the other hand, food production increased significantly from 56.1 million tons of grains in 1990 to 75.2 million tons in 1994, 34.% in five years. Highlights:

In 1940, feeding each city dweller required the joint effort of 2.5 farmers; nowadays, each farmer feeds 3.6 city dwellers.

From 1982 to 1992, the total cultivated area fell by 30 percent but production of certain grains, in tons per acre, increased by 14.9 percent.

In 12 months of stability and inflation (after the "inflation industry taps" were practically turned off by the present administration) the minimum monthly wage, considered a "basic reference" for work compensation, jumped from $ 68.93 in July 1994 to $108.46 in June 1995, for a 67.4% gain. Inflation fell from an average of 43% a month in the first half of 1994 (about 5/7,000% inflation per year) to 25/30% in 95, and is still decreasing.

The basic food basket (enough to feed a family of four for a month) costs the same as one year ago, or a little less.

Because the family wage as a unit has gone up, and keeps going up, "those who were not eating now can think of eating," said a North-eastern worker. And the work force has kept relatively peaceful, although unemployment rose from 3.8% in January 1988 to 4.5% in May 1995.

Government-owned companies formerly operating in the red have been sold. Many are now making money and paying taxes.

After the quake that followed the Mexico financial crisis, Brazilian reserves are recouping and now reach over $40 billion in ready cash.

Positive foreign, investments added up to $2.4 billion in the twelve-month period ending May 1995 (Central Bank data).

The per capita GDP in constant value currency grew by 10.9 percent between the first quarter of 1990 and the second quarter of 1995.

Actual GDPs, which were $35.5 billion in 1970, $444.2 billion in 1993, and $456 billion in 1994, are projected to reach $500 billion in 1995.

Manufacture of motor vehicles increased from 966.7 K in 1985 to 1.58 million in 1994 - a 63,4 percent difference, turning Brazil into the 9th largest automotive manufacturer in the world, following the UK with 1.6 million but ahead of Italy with 1.53 million.

Energy consumption by industry has been risen from 50.2 K TEP (equivalent to tons of oil) in 1983 to 71.5 K TEP in 1993 - an increase of 29.8%.

In 10 years, the foreign trade of Brazil accounted for $521.8 billion, with a surplus of $129.3 billion. If recent trends persist, Brazilian foreign trade will reach $150 billion a year by 2000/01, with $75 billion a year in export and basically the same amount in imports.

Economists forecast that if the performance of the last 10 years holds as an

acceptable yardstick, and new opportunities are added at the present pace, the historical growth level of Brazil GDP should be approximately 7 or 8 percent a year, as it was in the 70's.

The present projection is for some $25 billion to be invested in new money over the coming years. Likely attractive fields include automotive, that has caught the eye of Peugeot and Renault from France, Honda and Toyota from Japan, ASIA, Hyundai, and KIA from Korea, Scania from Sweden, Ford and GM from the US. Retail and fast food are being considered by Carrefour from France, as well as Arby's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald's, and Wal-Mart from the US.

Food and beverages beckoning to Brazilian corporations such as Antarctica and Brahma, Unilever from the UK, Coca-Cola, Gatorade, Pepsi, Procter & Gamble from the US. Computer hard and software are being considered by Samsung and Goldstar from Korea, Apple, Compaq, IBM, and Microsoft from the US. In the heavy industry and equipment sector there is interest from Boshc/Siemens from Germany, Philips from the Netherlands, ABB-Asea/Brown-Bovery from Sweden/Switzerland, Alcoa and GE lighting from the US Several hundred other smaller companies and conglomerates are also willing to invest in Brazil.

Among other fields now wide open to native and foreign investment in infrastructure are communications (telephones, nationwide and local networks, electronic hardware, satellite services), mail (messenger, courier, and other services), mining, natural gas, petroleum and derivatives, rail (equipment and service).

The rise of double-salary families is expected to bust open the Brazilian markets for home appliances (automatic refrigerators, time-controlled gas ovens, microwave ovens, dishwashers, washing machines and dryers, small kitchen and personal appliances, cars, computers, peripherals, and software, utility vehicles, RV's, motor cycles and scooters, camping equipment, boats, holiday travel, tour packages, hotel and catering, tour buses, cable TV, interactive TV and radio, etc.

The increasing modernization of households in big cities is already putting a premium on good skilled domestic servants. Middle-class couples are learning fast to pick up the slack although begrudgingly, and missing the hard-working, diligent Marias of yester-year. Commercial laundries, Laundromats, and dry-cleaning establishments will make many Chinese rich.

Many of the reforms in the pipeline, says Farhat, including several requiring amendments to the Constitution, are expected to (a) end discrimination favoring companies established under Brazilian law, no matter the national source of their capital.

The new legislation is expected to: abolish government monopoly in communications and allow private competition with the existing state-owned systems; open the mining sector to private capitals, both native and foreign: allow foreign ships in Brazil to provide coastal passenger and freight services; abolish the States monopoly in the distribution of natural gas for residential and industrial uses; open oil prospecting, exploiting, hauling, processing, to private interests both Brazilian and foreign and grant them licenses to import and export crude, subproducts and derivatives; change the domestic banking laws and regulations to permit foreign capital banking corporations to operate commercial banks and render a full range of financial services; change the tax laws to permit "access to individual banking records" in specific cases and circumstances.

Already in consideration by the Brazilian Congress are bills aiming to: reform social security and allow participation of private companies and schemes; levy a "health tax" on each bank deposit or withdrawal; allow foreign corporations to operate hospitals, offer health insurance and kindred services; prune the vast Federal bureaucracy and give sizable rewards for improved efficiency in the State and county management.

The net result of all the proposed changes is to allow "regular taxpayers" to pay lower personal taxes; rein in into the system all the now virtually "exempt" rich people, thus broadening the country's tax base; raise and income tax for those on the higher brackets and simultaneously cut corporate taxes, including payroll taxes; emphasize direct taxation, shifting the tax burden to consumers, with relief for producers. Many of these measures, Farhat warns, will be fiercely opposed in Congress.

He ends his monograph saying that the coming years will be exciting ones for those companies who know Brazil from experience and realize that the country "is an excellent base to manufacture, perform services, buy and sell world-wide," provided they have the "intelligence to see, the managerial skills to plan and perform," as well as the valor to risk, the confidence to experiment, the know-how to find the right solutions, and the staying power to reap the fruit of their investment and labors.

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Author: Nelson, William Javier Article Title: The black question Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.7; N.122 Publication Date: 02-28-96 Page: p. 35

The black question.

When one looks at the populations of Mexico and Brazil, some differences stand out. For one thing, the percentage of persons described as "Negro" or "mulatto" are higher in Brazil than in Mexico. On the other hand, when compared to the United States, Brazil and Mexico share some of the same features: ambiguity and flexibility in racial labeling, multiplicity of categories, the tendency of being selectively inaccurate in listing one's "race", more acceptance of intermediate racial categories between "white" and "black".

Yet, as indicated in Brazil by the celebrations of the death of Zumbi and recent agitation for "black" rights, problems of persons of African descent have assumed a more center stage than in Mexico. Certainly, that focus is nowhere near that of the US, where "black/white" conflict is a daily fact of life; however one gets the impression of very little African/non-African conflict in Mexico.

Both Brazil and Mexico have a legacy of slavery, but there has long been a popular impression that Mexicans are descendants of Spaniards and Indians - only. Even college texts on race relations illustrate this kind of thinking. In fact, barring a specific agenda to focus on the African Diaspora, attention placed on Africans in Mexico is minimal across the board. I used a certain library software package which listed 188 percent articles written on Mexico and found no articles which had Africans as a theme.

Differences in Brazil and Mexico are more demographic and economic rather than philosophic. First, although intermediate racial categories and miscegenation were accepted both in Mexico and in Brazil, there were more Africans brought to Brazil than to Mexico (therefore a greater number to be absorbed into the population). Second, the Indian population of Mexico was more numerous, centrally located and culturally dominant than in Brazil.

Thus, instead of the Brazilian case of African/ Portuguese mixtures with an admixture of Indian, the Mexican example was one of both Spaniards and Africans being absorbed into a vast Indian population. Third, slavery in Brazil was both longer and more economically important in Brazil than in Mexico, creating more and deeper emotions of master/slave, exploiter/exploited in Brazil. Fourth, although Mexican culture has elements of racism, the concept of mestizaje (the idea of the goodness of being classed as recially mixed) is more deeply rooted in Mexico than in Brazil, where the population is increasingly collectively desirous of the "white" label (a term which is both exclusionary and by nature pointed toward an ideal of being light rather than brown).

The apparent focus away from the African presence in Mexico starts with the reality of actual racial and ethnic percentages in Mexico's population. Figures from the 1990s indicate that only 0.10% of Mexico's population is Black or Negro. In 1950, only 0.4% of Mexico's population was classified as

Afro-mestizo. A loot at this data would lead one to the supposition that "Africans in Mexico" was and is a novelty at most, especially when compared to the overwhelming Indian and (Spanish/Indian) Mestizo catas mestizo populations grew rapidly. Since the Spanish seldom made an absolutely clear, analytical distinction between race and culture and never prohibited interracial marriage, miscegenation never encountered the obstacles it did in the North American colonies.

Fluidity, Flexibility and Ambiguity

Miscegenation is of little consequence, however, unless the society has provisions which allow for its social significance. By way of comparison, the North American colonies (as well as the United States) were the scene for miscegenation among Africans, Indians and Europeans. Because of the "hypodescent" rule, however, miscegenation between Africans and other groups has had little social consequence because, among North Americans, any African ancestry constitutes membership in the "Negro" or "Black" group.

By distilling combinations which include African ancestry into one socially relevant (Negro, later black, later African-American), North Americans have nullified any social effect of miscegenation including Africans. Those North Americans who claim that the US is a melting pot are essentially correct - except the pot is not meant to include persons of African origin.

On the other land, the Ibero-American racial classification experience has been, for the past 500 years, an exercise in ambiguity, subjectivity, flexibility and, in many cases, outright lying. The incredible number of racial and color designations in Ibero-America boggle the mind. Starting with Hernan Cortes and his mestizo offspring, the Spanish seemed to have accepted the idea of intermediate racial groups - something foreign to the North American mind. This preoccupation with intermediate racial terms was soon reflected in New Spain's population - and, unlike the case of Anglo-America, intermediate racial terms included persons of African origin. Eventually, by 1570, demographic calculations became more complex. An anonymous colonial painting entitled Las Castas reflects this plethora of racial terms. Of the 16 different racial categories depicted in the painting, 13 portray persons with African ancestry.

The use of intermediate racial terms had several effects. One was that there became no solid enemy color group against which African (or anyone else) could fight. Individuals with dark skin were occasionally able to advance due to some (usually military) heroics.

There were always lighter-skinned never-do-wells around and the really rich people were removed from almost everyone (of any color) anyway. The second effect was an acceleration of the tendency of Africans to take on the culture of those with whom they came into contact.

For those Africans who mated with Indians and produced zamboes, this sometimes meant that they remained in their Indian communities. For those who identified with Spaniards or who were in the towns, they soon took on Iberian characteristics and absorbed much of the Indian/Spanish cultural mix which (due to the large numbers of Indians) was a fact of life.

A third result of the complexity of racial nomenclatures was an ambiguity and unwieldiness which militated against being able to instantly react to one uniformly on the basis of race. It is relatively easy for a person to develop

a social etiquette for dealing with two, three or even four racial categories, but it is ludicrous to expect him, during his day-to-day existence, to create appropriate patterns of action for each of 16 or 32 different categories.

Moreover, as anyone familiar with families supposedly of the same race knows, different siblings can have different complexions and hair textures. In the multi-layered classifications eventually created in New Spain, genetic reliability by appearance became a suspect proposition at best. Subjectivity in Racial Labeling

In addition to racial classification becoming complex, it also became elastic and subjective. For example, Aguirre Beltran noted that, by 1570, the Spanish authorities developed the practice of calling legitimate sons of calling legitimate unions Spanish and calling illegitimate sons of Indian/ Spanish unions mestizo, Given the fact that, of all the castas in New Spain, the African, or slave casta was the lowest, people began the habit of shading racial evaluations so as to minimize African ancestry. This is why, given that laxity in identifying with Africa, it is astonishing that, in both 1570 and 1810 population, estimates by Aguirre Beltran, the Afro-mestizo population was nearly as great as the Indo-mestizo population.

Leslie Rout is graphic in his assessment of the racism present in New Spain, but ironically this very racism served to skew racial classifications away from those including African ancestry and into those which highlighted Indian ancestry. African ancestry became gradually absorbed into a broad group of brown-skinned and olive-skinned persons. In Brazil, the contradictions

Presently, Brazil and the US surpass Mexico in terms of economic prowess and overall potential. However - ironically - Mexico has provided an example of a country with importation of African slaves, but little problem between persons of African descent and others. The Mexicans did this not with the US-style social mechanisms of "civil rights" movements and legislation designed to force people to behave equitably but rather with miscegenation, multiplicity of racial categories and an ability to absorb Africans into the population with comparatively little difficulty. In other words, the Mexicans "out-Brazilianized" the Brazilians. Presently, it is an open questions as to whether Brazil will move more toward the model of Mexico, toward the US model - or remain the way it is today: a bundle of contradictions.

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Author: Gilman, Bruce Article Title: Choro, Chorinho, Chorao Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.7; N.122 Publication Date: 02-28-96 Page: p. 40

Choro, chorinho, chorao.

Great master of music have always affirmed that it is impossible to create a modern work, original or revolutionary, without a deep knowledge of the traditions and musical legacies of our ancestors. But for all rules there are exceptions, and with choro things were different.

The birth of popular music at the turn of the century occurred in several countries and started with different proportions of the same elements: European dances (mainly polka), the specific accent of the colonizer, and the rhythmic influence brought by the African slaves. The process that generated danz¢n in Cuba, beguine in Martinique, and ragtime in the United States forged choro in Brazil.

Between 1860 and 1870 the pioneers of choro were playing more a repertoire of European polkas, mazurkas, waltzes, and tangos with Afro-Brazilian syncopation than a unique genre. A few musicians were manipulating the elements, changing rhythms, tempos, melodic lines, and instruments. The seeds had been planted.

Virtuoso flautist and leader of the group Choro Carioca, Joaquim Ant"nio da Silva Calado (1848-1873), was experimenting with a new style that incorporated improvisation and developed a dialogue between soloist and accompanists. Polka bands were initially comprised of woodwinds and horns. The clarinet was the soloist's instrument. The trumpet was in charge of the counterpoint. Calado introduced the cavaquinho and violao.

In Rio de Janeiro during the second half of the nineteenth century the flute, violao de sete cordas (seven string guitar), and cavaquinho were becoming the instruments of choice for these vanguard choro ensembles. Flute was the soloist's instrument, violao supplied the bass, and cavaquinho the rhythm. The music sounded spontaneous, almost as if the violao, de sete cordas was improvising the bass line, and the cavaquinho taking liberties with the rhythm, but only one instrument - unlike North American jazz - soloed in choro.

Assimilating the strong influence of these virtuoso musicians who were its fundamental material, choro was officially born through the works of Chiquinha Gonzaga (1847-1935) and Ernesto Nazar‚ (1863-1934). These two composers gave choro its musical individuality by utilizing rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic elements in combinations and proportions that were original and distinct from everything that had come before and that sounded totally different from all other styles of Brazilian music.

Chiquinha Gonzaga was educated as a classical musician and wrote not only choro but many popular styles including tangos, polkas, and waltzes She emphasized the rhythmic aspects in her work. Her harmonies were simple, her melodies easily assimilated. With this mixture Gonzaga obtained noted success not only with choro but with her songs for the theater (at that time the main vehicle for spreading new trends in music).

Ernesto Nazar‚, also classically trained, wrote with definitive harmonic and melodic sophistication. He nationalized the forms that came from abroad - waltz, polka, schottische, mazurka, habanera, and tango - by arranging this instrumental band music into piano reductions and also by composing his own choros for the piano. His waltzes are considered by many to be similar to Chopin's.

It is evident from his choros that Nazar‚ was also influenced by his musician colleagues. With Apanhei-Te Cavaquinho (I Got You Cavaquinho) the soloist improvises unpredictable riffs until he can no longer be followed by the accompanying instruments, and in Ameno Resed the piano imitates the cavaquinho's rhythmic accompaniment.

Choro's classical from comes from the Chopin waltz and has been closely associated with Brazilian music since the early compositions by Nazar‚. This ABACA form presents a leading or main theme, then a second, repeats the first, presents a third, then makes a final repetition of the first. The fusion of choro's rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic elements with the waltz from pleased public tastes and characterized the "involved" and "connected" nature of choro.

The people who were playing and listening to this music came to be called "músicos de choro." Interestingly, on early recordings all references to this variety of music are to polkas, not choros. Nevertheless, choro had developed into an independent genre after the turn of the century, and composers were unequivocally calling their works choros. The newborn genre, distinctively Brazilian and with particularly Carioca (from Rio) patterns of phrasing and rhythmic counterpoint, developed and passed its first decades of existence open to a tremendous variety of external influences.

But what is choro? Mauricio Carrilho has said that all the best popular Brazilian music is choro, Chega de Saudade by Tom Jobim, the tune that marked the inauguration of bossa nova, is a choro, albeit a choro disguised as bossa nova. It may be played in the style of bossa nova, but it is structurally a choro.

There is much debate about the origin of the name. Some feel that the name comes from the Portuguese verb chorar - to cry - and stems from choro's lilting melodic lines that sound like they are weeping. On Jac¢ do Bandolim's LP `Na Roda do Choro' a musicologist who wrote the liner notes contends that the term originated from x"lo, a word used by Afro-Brazilians for vocal or dance concerts. Today the term can mean a group o instruments (flute, violao, cavaquinho, bandolim/mandolin, clarinet, pandeiro), the act of getting together to pay choro, or a melody in 2/4 characterized by sentimental phrases and unexpected modulations.

Choro is not only the Brazilian music which is closest to European classical, it is the essentially Brazilian genre. Developing from European forms, African rhythms, and a classical spectrum of harmony that had been modified by the early masters; choro eventually acquired its own identity. Among all the styles that come from Brazil, it is the genre that speaks most of the Brazilian personality.

Choro is Brazil. Brazilians have always known this intuitively. Europeans, Japanese, and Americans have played samba, bossa nova, even baiao after Hermeto Pascoal and Egberto Gismonti started to spread baiao outside Brazil.

But they don't play choro. Choro for them is an unknown language. Only the best instrumentalists are able to execute choro's very specific structure, extreme melodic leaps, unexpected modulations, breakneck tempos, and improvisational language - a language heard nowhere else in the world. It is the music of the outstanding Brazilian instrumentalist.

Wagner Tiso, pianist and arranger for Milton Nascimento, feels that only Brazilians can play choro. Tiso said that it is not enough just be a good technician, that much of the music being recorded today is diluted in the studio by musicians who can technically execute it but lack the depth and heart to make the performance authentic. Tiso also noted that choro is the best example of where this doesn't happen. The choro musician must have something more. This something more is what Villa-Lobos called the integral translation of the Brazilian soul in the form of music.

Choro reached maturity with Pixinguinha. He gave choro its form and orientation. The perfection of his modulations and the virtuosity of his counterpoint caused music analysts to assert that Pixinguinha was the Bach of choro. A curious comparison but one with substance. According to Radam‚s Gnattali, Pixinguinha was the greatest flautist of all time. At rodas de (choro jam sessions), he was able to improvise for hours without stopping.

Among the several groups that Pixinguinha organized was Os Oito Batutas (The Eight Masters). They spent six months in Paris during the early 1920s playing choro and maxixe (a dance ancestor of the samba). What Pixinguinha saw and heard on that trip is an example of external influences placed decisively on the head of the genre's master. When Pixinguinha and Os Oito Batutas returned to Brazil they added saxophone and trumpet to their instrumentation and ragtime to their repertoire.

Os Oito Batutas was comprised of illustrious choro figures such as Joao Pernambuco, the violonista and first great composer of choros for violao solo, and Donga (1891-1976) co-author of the first samba ever recorded, Pelo Telefone. This points clearly to a relationship between samba and choro that is seldom mentioned in studies about Brazilian popular music. Today recordings of Pelo Telefone are always made by choro musicians. The close relationship between the two genres is evident through music composed and played by the same musicians. Donga, Pixinguinha, Nelson Cavaquinho, and Paulinho da Viola are obvious models of the choro-samba affinity.

A similar yet more diverse connection is found in the career of Benedito Lacerda, nicknamed Regional do Canhoto. Lacerda led a back-up studio trio that accompanied recording artists in all genres of Brazilian music for over fifty years. The trio had to play rancheiras, gaúchas, cocos, emboladas, baioes (Luiz Gonzaga, the king of Baiao used to play and compose choros), carnaval marches, sambas, and frevos. Chico Buarque, Clementina de Jesus, Jackson do Pandeiro, and Elizete Cardoso were among several generations of singers and composers who were accompanied by Lacerda's trio.

Paralleling this sphere of activity was Lacerda's own work composing and performing choro. Benedito Lacerda, Jac¢ do Bandolim, Altamiro Carrilho, Abel Ferreira, and Valdir Azevedo were principal players in the choro renaissance of the 1940s which produced the lion's share of the repertoire heard today.

In classical concert music choro has always been present. Villa-Lobos played clarinet and sipped cachaca (sugar cane liquor) with friends at rodas de choro in Rio's suburbs. Ernesto Nazar‚ was one of his musical mentors. Almost all

of Villa-Lobos' woodwind music was inspired by choro, and his choros are extraordinary. In his orchestral work Bachianas Brasilerias No. 5, the choro influence is heard in the cello playing a pizzicato figure imitative of the violao's part in choro.

Much of the same can be said in relation to Radam‚s Gnattali. Choro's influences is extensive in his Brasilianas, in his concertos, and in several works of chamber music. Gnattali's daily work took him even closer to choro than did Villa-Lobos'. He played with several generations of choro musicians and composed the most refined choros of all time.

The harmonic elaboration and polyphony of Gnattali's Su¡te Retratos pays homage in four movements to Pixinguinha, Anacleto de Medeiros, Ernesto Nazar‚, and Chiquinha Gonzaga, Gnattali maintained that these musician-composers were the four masters and innovators of Brazilian music. Each of the four movements celebrates one of these masters in the expressive musical language that is stylistically exact for that particular composer and in a manner that only the genius of Radam‚s could have created.

From the trio format of Camerata Carioca (also called Trio Carioca), with whom Radam‚s Gnattail worked for the last seven years of his life, through his stints with the National Radio Orchestra and with his own quintet and sextet, this leading composer of Brazilian music had in choro the fundamental material that he would employ again and again in the composition of his original works.

Trio Carioca - Gnattali, Luciano Perrone (drums), and Luis Americano (clarinet) - was created in 1936 by the artistic director at RCA Victor with the declared intention of translating into "choristic" language the music of Benny Goodman. At that time, the dominance of the big bands permeated the composition of choro and the performances of the top woodwind players. This points again to the conclusion that choro's development was a dynamic process open to outside influences, that in evolved quickly, diversified, and recycled information. Gnattali and Villa-Lobos proved through their work that no genre of popular Brazilian music has ever come closer to concert music than choro.

Ary Barroso, the great, composer of Aquarela do Brasil who came to the United States with Carmen Miranda in the 1940s, used to scold up-and-coming singers on his Brazilian radio program when they announced that they were going to sing a sambinha. He would tell them that it was derogatory and prejudiced to use the diminutive inha since they didn't say jazzinho, or beguinizinho, or fox trotezinho. His crying out and shaming the performer (one of Ary's trademarks) would cause the live audience to burst into laughter.

Ary Barroso felt that this term diminished the value of samba. After all, a jornalzinho was a newspaper that wasn't' really important nor taken seriously. For similar reasons choro musicians did not like nor accept the word chorinho. Many felt that the diminutive was used as a shield; some choro musicians were ashamed of themselves for the music they loved to play. Eventually the term became accepted as an affectionate way of referring to the genre. Maurico Carrilho, the brilliant musician devoted to the study of popular Brazilian music, defends this thesis.

The whole process of choro development underwent a very sensitive deceleration in the mid-1950s, and by the beginning of the 1960s choro was almost completely forgotten by the public and the media. What had happened? How was it transformed from popular music to the music of a restricted and elite group?

Many answers would fit here. The fact is that musicians like Jac¢ do Bandolim, Abel Ferreira, and Waldir Azevedo, did not have the means to codify and pass on their knowledge, and consequently much information was withheld. The instructional methods endorsed by some of these artists were solely concocted (without the musician's collaboration) to make money for the editors and publishers. Another fundamental points is that these top "amateur" choro musicians looked at playing and writing choro as a hobby, a personal entertainment that eventually might bring in some small profit. They didn't see professional possibilities in choro.

By the early sixties (time of bossa nova), choro had almost disappeared. It was the victim of disinterest and prejudice. Bossa nova had taken off. It had become an international movement. People in Los Angeles and Paris were singing The Girl From Ipanema. At the Brazilian consulate in Los Angeles, Vinicius de Moraes (a connoisseur of music known as the pope of bossa nova) had the interest, knowledge, and connections to disseminate the movement on the west coast.

The bossa nova was modern. It came to university stages through the hands of students in tune with the current pop culture who defended and directed students' interests. While choro was something that the old, the retired, or the lower class enjoyed; bossa nova was pushed to the fore by educated people in the universities. Besides, at that time, lyrics were as important as the music itself. Although a vocal form with lyrics written to existing choro titles developed later, it was not common. Choro became alienated.

The great musicians of choro lived in their own exclusive world. They would meet at private all-night jam sessions (saraus) - almost spiritual gatherings - that were restricted to those in the choro brotherhood. Inevitably one of the musicians would bring a friend who wanted to "jam." If the new player could "cut-it," he would be accepted and would eventually bring in somebody be knew that wanted to play or an acquaintance just to listen. The saraus were almost a form of resistance to the encroaching bossa nova.

Ernesto dos Santos Donga, in a conversation taped in 1962, said that choro had a type of social organization, that a great respect of the genre was cultivated among the choroes (choro musicians), a respect that was extended also to those who were listening. He went on to say that people without talent were not admitted, and that a newcomer would have to be able to solo and to accompany other choroes or they would demolish the intruder.

Eighty percent of everything played in saraus was choro. It was a delicious opportunity to meet other choro musicians and listen to their improvisations. The sarau differed from the performance practices in other Brazilian styles. It was closer to the after-hour jams and "cutting sessions" of the American jazz tradition. There are other similarities between choro and American jazz, and it is common for people to say that choro is Brazilian jazz. Interestingly, choro's development in Brazil narrowly predated the rise of jazz in North America.

The complex anatomy of the choro is one of its strongest and most important characteristics. Choro, like jazz, has a specific nomenclature, an anatomy made of archetypes. Choro musicians are required to be not only proficient on their instruments but also to have an extended perception of "codes" and "passwords" which enable the players to combine their vision and technique to construct torrential improvisations.

The harmonic palettes of both choro and jazz were modified from the classical European tradition. Choro, however, has little use for blue notes (the lowered third and seventh degree of the major scale characteristic in American blues and jazz). Waldir Azevedo used blue notes, but he was from the Northeast and his use was intuitive. The flat seventh is referred to by some as the setima nordestina (northeastern seventh) and is usually attributed to African influences, as are flattened thirds, fifths and sevenths in American jazz.

In both styles the soloist improvises on the theme and form of the composition. The best improvisers in both styles are those who make the best note choices, develop ideas relevant to the tune, use extensive rhythmic vocabularies, say what they have to say in the time necessary to say it, then step back. At saraus, players manipulate cunning and subtle themes to cut down and demolish any fledgling participant whose ego gets too out of hand. These codes and cutting sessions are eye-opening lessons for the players. They are similar to those lessons taken by the best jazz musicians and should not be interpreted as a negative characteristic.

At the beginning to the 70's Paulinho da Viola recorded Mem¢rias: Chorando. He felt that the escolas de samba had become overly commercialized and bureaucratized and turned from the sambas that made him an idol to playing chorinhos. It was the beginning of choro's rebirth for the public at large. At about this same time, music critic S‚rgio Cabral produced the show Sarau that brought Paulinho da Viola together with the band Ipoca de Ouro and united the different generations of choro musicians and admirers. The choros of Paulinho brought new harmonies and projected a modern perspective that prejudicial people did not suspect were possible.

A new generation of choro admirers formed the escola Camerata Carioca under the leadership of composer Radam‚s Gnattali. The music was sophisticated, erudite, almost classical in nature, and played by musicians who were no longer ashamed of the choro. After all, those who know how to play, play choro. Maurico Carrilho and Raphael Rabello were just two virtuosi of the genre who were drawn to this group.

The 1970s revival was further stimulated by musicians like Paulo Moura and Hermeto Pascoal who included choros on their recordings. The revival was also sparked by the availability of the authoritative instructional methods written by Afonso Machado for bandolim and Luiz Otavio Braga and Henrique Cazes for violao. These methods were important to choro's developmental process and may have nourished a passion for choro in Brazil's next generation of musicians.

Choro's survival today depends on its ability to conquer a space in the domestic and import CD market, the development, production, and promotion of artists, and the distribution of their work. Fortunately, some smaller companies with profound and invigorating visions of Brazilian history (Brazil CDs, World Network, Acoustic Disc) are working to secure the visibility of the genre's prominent artists. With a lot of work and minimum support from the recording giants, choro could occupy a conspicuous place in world music circles.

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Author: Adams, Scott Article Title: Brazilian Notas Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.7; N.122 Publication Date: 02-28-96 Page: p. 45

Brazilian Notas.

It's been said that there's a world of music in Brazil and the best parts of its inclusive nature are to be found in Canto D'alma and the Brazilian/German group Xiame (pronounced "cee AHM mee") from Traumton Records. Just as with Bossa Nova, and then later with MPB, Canto D'alma is in many ways, an evolution of the Brazilian musical mind-set: part pop, part new age, part contemporary jazz fusion, the album builds on the groundbreaking style of other Brazilian International artists including Full Circle and even Cama de Gato, or guitarist Victor Biglione. There are elements mindful of classical chamber works... Heitor Villa-Lobos come to mind. All of which is to say that Xiame's music is not easily classified, just easily enjoyed.

The amalgamation of musical styles from the group members, bassist and vocalist Jorge Degas, guitarist Michael Rodach and percussionist Andreas Weiser, allows for tight ensemble play and tonal texturing that can carry a peaceful, dreamlike equality. Both the title track and "Sabi ," which opens the 11 song album, create a relaxed palette, compelling the listener to become more involved with the music and less attached to the pulls and tugs of daily life.

"The Wedding Day" which features Danish Singh Naja Storebjerg begins with a nod toward Pat Metheny and exhibits yet another facet of Xiame's unique approach to a Brazilian-based "world music." The scope of their music can be minimalist or expansive, or even both at the same time, which goes far to explain the uncommon strengths of ambient music as found in "Heart Beats As Long As...," the vocally spiced "Stena" and the Bossa-like "Name Upon The Sand." "Dancing Elephants" is anything but ponderous, providing a sassy jazz groove for Rodach's guitar play. And Degas, whose credits include time with Al DiMeola shines on the appropriately titled "Wild Impatience."

Also available from Traumton Records is Xiame's self-titled debut CD, which includes a stunning version of Thelonious Monk's "Round Midnight." This album, with its strong rhythmic pulse and innovative blend of jazz, Brazilian and dance music will leave you with little choice but to redefine your ideas concerning world music. My favorites? "Rio de Janeiro" and "Gone But Still Here."

Flora Purim. For Brazilian music fans in the 70's, there were no other two words that quickened the pulse, that created more anticipation than those. Purim's emotional "Mother Earth" voice played itself as some ethereal musical instrument, evoking rain forest images and the call of the wild. Her uninhibited spirit and six octave range helped her to garner two Grammy nominations and the prestigious Downbeat award for "Best Jazz Vocalist" no less than four times Two new releases form B&W Music showcase Flora Purim's revitalized career with her husband, percussionist Airto. And for those of you who had wondered whatever happened to Flora Purim, wonder no more, for even in the face of change, some things remain the same.

Flora's Speed of Light is her first solo recording in over four years, and she picks up right where she left off; on the cutting edge. Incorporating a lifetime of musical experience, she channels Brazilian Samba and jazz fusion into new directions, including, London's new soul, dance and acid jazz scenes. Songs such as "Wings" showcase Purim's acrobatic vocal range and expressive vocal scatting, riding along Arito's explosive percussion. And "Light As My Flo" carries today's bass driven club music to new heights with guests Chil Factor. Others, such as "Rhythm Runner" blend seamlessly between the Flora we remember and the Flora she's become. Through it all, Airto has been the platform for her success as an artist and survival as a person.

Together, they created the group Fourth World with guitarist Jos‚ Neto, Bassist Gary Brown and keyboard/flute player Jovino Santos to explore the world influence of rhythmic fusion in jazz. Fourth World's new album, Encounters of the Fourth World is a live portrait of this talented ensemble's work on tour throughout Europe earlier this year. Onstage, Flora and Airto are Ying and Yang, dancing on the edge of an electric pandeiro, swayed by the twang of the berimbau, the ring of the agog". The rhythm of life, driven by the pulse of their music. "Do you know me?" Flora asked a crowd recently as she walked on stage. "You don't know us until you've heard our music." So here's a piece of advice. Get to know Flora and Airto soon.

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Author: Page, Joseph A. Article Title: In the Land of Carnival Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.7; N.122 Publication Date: 02-28-96 Page: p. 54

In the Land of Carnival.

In the surface it is a spectacle that beggars the imagination a feast for the eyes and ears, a plunge into the realm of ecstasy for participants and onlookers alike. This unique blend of music, dance, and pageantry proudly (and without apologies to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus) lays claim to being the "Greatest Show on Earth," and as such Carnival takes its place as one more jewel in Brazil's crown of superlatives. Indeed the festival and Brazil are so closely intertwined that Brazil has been referred to as "Carnival Country" (a phrase used by Jorge Amado for the title of his first novel.)

The parade is the ne plus pre-Lenten, the orgiastic, end-of-summer, pre-Lenten, nonstop festivities that suffuse Rio de Janeiro with an irresistible delirium and have become multitextured metaphors for many aspects of Brazilianness.

The annual procession unfolds within the narrow confines of a facility designed by Oscar Niemeyer and inaugurated in 1984. Brazil's premier architect converted a mile-long stretch of paved roadway next to a nondescript brewery in downtown Rio into a corridor capable of channeling the energies of a flood tide of marchers numbering in the thousands. Criticized by some for its ultrasterility, what has come to be known as the Sambadrome explodes into life during Carnival week, when it welcomes an enthusiastic audience of ninety thousand who occupy steeply banked concrete bleachers, luxury boxes, and ground-level seating, and some fifty thousands marchers representing neighborhood association called samba schools. The parade route ends in an open area aptly named the Plaza of the Apotheosis, with a huge arch, also designed by Niemeyer, spanning the far end of the area.

To accommodate the number of schools constituting what is now called the group especial (special group), the parade unfolds on two consecutive nights. The first marchers enter the Sambadrome before the sun sets: the last do not cross the finish line until well into the next morning. The heat may be stifling and torrential rains may drench participants and spectators to the bone, yet the show has always gone on, even during the darkest years of World War II and the uncertain days just before the 1964 military coup.

The foreign tourists who flock to the Sambadrome in ever-increasing numbers delight in the audiovisual aspects of the parade. The gut-pounding aspects of drums accompanies relentless waves of humans awash in dazzling color who swirl and bob in synchronized movement. Many of the costumes are astonishing, many of the floats breathtaking. And then there is the surfeit of bare flesh, glistening with sweat and the generous application of glitter - gorgeous young men cavorting in the skimpiest of raiment's, gorgeous young women exposing their breasts.

Virtually every Brazilian in the crowd is familiar with each school's theme song because it has been available on tapes and records for several months and

is repeated over and over again during that school's performance. Many in the audience add their voices to those of the marchers. The samba beat of the percussionists makes the earth reverberate, and soon most of the spectators are on their feet, arms swaying, hips twirling, in communion with the procession passing before them.

For Brazilians the parade has layers of meaning. Indeed, and incredible as it may seem, there is much more to this sumptuous spectacle than what meets the eye. It has provoked all manner of passionate debate. The scores given to the presentation of each samba school by an official jury mean of for the winners a year of special glory (including lucrative engagements for some members of the school); while the losers are relegated to the "minor league" and do not get to participate in the next year's parade of the group especial. Naturally there are always sharp disagreements about the judging.

Arguments often touch on subjects beyond the competitive aspects of the show. Attempts to censor nudity and supposedly sacrilegious floats have produced spirited polemics. Moreover, there has most recently been a great deal of discussion of the fundamental issue of whether the parade has been transformed from an authentic vehicle of self-expression by Rio's poor (and mostly black) neighborhoods to a highly commercialized enterprise aimed primarily at foreign tourists and unduly influenced by the underworld characters who bankroll many of the samba schools.

Brazilians may also take not of the elements of drama often involved in the staging of each group's procession. A Brazilian professor who has worked to produce samba-school presentation puts it this way: "There are all kinds of things that can go wrong in the staging area. A float might collapse, people might not show up or might show up drunk, the leaders might get into arguments with one another. Nothing happens exactly the way you expect. The tension is tremendous."

During the march itself crises may occur that may become apparent to those who know where to look for them. For example, a costumed starlet perched high above a float may suddenly become faint and appear to be about to fall, and there may be no way to reach her expect with the use of cranes on trucks stationed in the Plaza of the Apotheosis.

The themes elaborated by the floats and costumes interpret and reinterpret the nation's past, culture mood, and sense of identity, often in a very critical way. (Recent topics have included the abolition of slavery, the exploitation of Amazonia, and the evils of consumerism.) Each samba school has a tradition and a complex personality of its own that attracts the partisan support of spectators as well as television viewers. Celebrities from the sports, arts, and entertainment worlds appear as "start" on the floats or mingle with rank-and-file marchers.

The parade brings to a fitting end the annual Carnival of Rio de Janeiro, which in the eyes of many is one of the defining elements of Brazil. The festival opens on the Friday before Ash Wednesday, when "King Momo" (for many years a jolly, obese young man nicknamed Bola) is proclaimed temporary mayor, in a ceremony in which he orders all his subjects to enjoy themselves to the fullest. Thereafter, for five nights and four days, a marathon of merrymaking convulses the city, as delirious celebrants shed all their inhibitions (along with most of their outer garments) and respond to the ubiquitous, nonstop pulsing of drums conveying the infectious beat of the samba.

Anthroplogist Richard G. Parker has defined the ethnic of the Brazilian Carnival as "the conviction that in spite of all the evidence to the contrary, the still exists a time and place where complete freedom is possible. As the tropical summer draws to a close, society suspends its rules, hierarchies reverse themselves, and the struggles of daily life, give way to the uninhibited pursuit of fun and pleasure.

In the "anything goes" atmosphere of Carnival, neighborhood groups called blocos adopt imaginative or outrageous names: for instance, Simpatia e Quase Amor, or "Sympathy Is Almost Love," an Ipanema bloco; and Sovaco de Cristo, or "Christ's Armpit," the designation adopted by people who live beneath the outstretched arms of the statue of the Redeemer atop Corcovado Mountain. In costumes or bloco. T-shirts, they take to the streets and cause monumental traffic jams, which the authorities as well as trapped motorists tolerate with surprising equanimity in the spirit of the season.

Exhibitionism, a natural outgrowth of the cariocas ' flaxation on physical appearance, bubbles irrepressibly to the surface, most noticeably at gala balls in social clubs and nightspots, where the city's "beautiful people mix with local as well as international celebrities and display their bodies with or without the help of dazzling costumes.

At all levels of society cross-dressing has long seen a popular practice during Carnival. Heterosexual men do not hesitate to parade about in feminine attire that has in many instances been made for them by their wives. Even young boys customarily disguise themselves as girls. For avowed transvestites, Carnival is a time when society permits them to have free rein, and they cavort about with wild and often hilarious abandon, blocking or directing the flow of vehicles on the main arteries of Copacabana and Ipanema.

Hugh Gibson, in his 1937 book Rio, notes that although many writers have sought to capture the Carnival of Rio de Janeiro, the event eludes description. "The strange things is that none of [them] seem to realize that Carnival is not nearly so much what they saw as what they felt; a feeling which enables two million people to be turned loose in the streets for four days and nights with little or no restraint."

The masked faces of Carnival revelers in a sense represent the real countenanace of Brazil. Indeed, to make use of an insight offered by the Argentine writer Luisa Valenzuela, in a certain sense Brazilians go about in costumes during the rest of the year and regard what they wear selves. Carnival as indicative of their real selves.

To be a genuine Brazilian, it is said, one must be able to succumb willingly and wholeheartedly to the enchantment, the delirium, and the splendor of what has become a national allegory. Although this claim is perhaps an exaggeration, the inversion of reality that defines the event - whereby males dress as females, virtuous women as prostitutes, good Christians as devils, the living as the dead, the old as the young, and the poor as nobility from Brazil's past - matches the surreal quality that lies near the essence of all things Brazilian. People from every walk of life transform themselves into whatever they want to be. The Brazilian mania for spontaneity and disorder, sparkle and noise, and pleasure and pathos assumes is ultimate expression.

Yet the Rio Carnival has its critics: those who say that it has deteriorated from a genuine manifestation of popular culture to a media extravaganza concocted by professionals, exploited by publicly seekers, totally

commercialized, and increasingly staged for the entertainment of foreign tourists. The samba schools, they aver, are no longer associations serving the needs and aspirations of the slum (and predominantly black) neighborhoods from which they sprang, but rather unwieldy conglomerations struggling to meet the pressures of putting together an elaborate spectacle that calls for expenditures far beyond their means. Thus it has become fashionable in some quarters to belittle the Rio event and point to the street celebrations in Salvador and Olinda in the Northeast as much closer to the true tradition of Carnival.

The exact origins of Carnival are unknown. Some point to the prehistoric practice of painting the body and wearing masks and feathers during rites intended to exorcise demons. Others trace it back to Egyptian, Greek, and Roman festivals during which a pleasure-seeking celebrants behaved in crazed manner and set out to disrupt the established order. Momus, the name given to today's "King of Carnival," was the god of mockery in ancient Greek mythology.

Despite its pagan roots, Carnival eventually gained acceptance, with some modification, in the Roman Catholic world of the Middle Ages, where it became a pre occasion to feast and bid good-bye to the indulgence of the flesh before the season of fasting and penance began. Singing, dancing, and the wearing of disguises enlivened the festivities. Masked balls gained great popularity in Italy and France, especially among the upper classes and intellectuals, who brought to the celebration displays of wealth and refined taste. But by the end of the nineteenth century, Carnival had become virtually extinct in Europe.

In the New World, however, Carnival flourished. Its evolution in Brazil reflected the peculiar nature of the festival brought across the Atlantic by Portuguese colonists. The pre-Lenten affair in Lisbon had a distinctively unruly character. The Carnival, or entrudo, as it was called, was dirty, boisterous, and at times involved criminal activities. People fought on the street with eggs and eggshells filled with flour, gypsum, and even mud. From windows pranksters emptied bags of sand on top of onlookers and hurled rolls, cakes, and oranges filled with water and perfume. For the rich and powerful, it was merely another excuse to eat well and indulge other appetites.

It was this vulgar and violent entrudo that the Portuguese transplanted to their New World colony. In the street bettles that regard in Rio de Janeiro, the weapons of choice were the limoes-de-cheiro, or wax balls filled with water or urine, and large bottles from which revelers squirted red or black ink on passers-by. Gentler pranks involved people pouring talcum powder or whitewash from the balconies of their town houses. When the royal court relocated to Rio de Janeiro in the first decade of the nineteenth century, the festivities were so disorderly and in such bad taste that foreign visitors to Brazil assumed that the observations had indigenous rather than portuguese origins.

From time to time, the authorities attempted to suppress Carnival, but without success. Indeed, King Joao's son, who later became Pedro I, and the latter's bookish son. Pedro II, enjoyed the entrudo enormously and immersed themselves in the spirit of the occasion by soaking other members of the royal family with water and perfume.

Throughout the years the gadgets used to inflict Carnival mischief became increasingly sophisticated. Wax limoes-decheiro gave way to balls made of rubber, celluloid, and when plastic. In 1892 the French invented the

serpentina, a coil of thin paper that would unwind as a streamer, and the Brazilians immediately put them to use during Carnival. At about the same time they also adopted paper confetti, a Spanish fabrication. Watches and guns that could project water made their appearances at the beginning of the twentieth century. Perfume squirters in all sizes came from France. What made them particularly popular was the fact that their contents might include ether, which produced the same intoxicating effect as cachaca, the national drink the government banned during Carnival.

In imitation of the extravaganzas that had become exceedingly fashionable in Europe, an Italian resident of Rio organized the first masked ball in 1840. The affair, staged at the Hotel de Italia, became an annual Carnival event and was so successful that theaters began to sponsor their own Carnival galas. By the end of the century the balls were competing with one another to produce the best decorations, orchestras, and special guests. The hosts also used gimmicks; for instance one highly popular 1879 masked ball was staged at a roller rink, with participants dancing on skates. There were scandals, such as that of the 1890 ball where the French cancan was first performed in Brazil. Initially polkas were played at the galas, but later other musical numbers were included - waltzes, tangos, cakewalks, and even Charlestons.

Most of the ideas for costumes at the Carnival balls originated in France. The most popular disguises assumed by ladies were Gypsies, Orientals, Indians, and Moors; while men dressed as Satan, Dominoes, royalty, hustlers, smugglers, and clowns. Boys donned jockey outfits.

The institution of the Carnival ball continued to evolve in the modern era. Galas proliferated in 1932, when the government sanctioned the celebration of Carnival. Their venues spread from hotels and theaters to social clubs and nightclubs, and they were traditionally scheduled during the five nights before Ash Wednesday. Today the Carnival balls draw abundant media coverage. Glossy magazines devote page after page to photos of the famous faces, scantily clad bodies, and extravagant costumes on display at affairs such as the "Sugar Loaf Ball" on Urca Hill and the "Champagne Ball" at the Scala nightclub.

The Carnival ball provides yet another example of how Brazilians from the upper, middle and intellectual classes aped European fashions. As an institution it coexisted with the entrudo as a means of celebrating the arrival of Lent. At the same time other traditions with a more distinctively Brazilian flavor with a to evolve.

In 1855 a Rio newspaper announced that the members of a new aristocratic organization that had recently been created planned to parade in costume along the streets on the Sunday of Carnival week. The emperor and his daughters were among those in attendance when the eighty members of the group staged what was the first Carnival parade in the history of Brazil. A martial band of "Cossacks from the Ukraine" opened the march. They were followed by lavish floats bearing such notables as "Don Quixote" and "King Ferdinand the Catholic," along with Chinese mandarins, assorted dancers, and other figures. A group of mounted horsemen brought up the rear.

The enthusiastic applause of spectators at the march was evidence that a trend had been set. Similar groups, which came to be known as grandes sociedades (great societies), began to formed from the ranks of students, intellectuals, journalists, high government functionaries, and other who could afford the expense of membership. Before long the Carnival parade of the grandes

sociedades became an institution. The presentation began to reflect the political views of the group members. During the imperial period, some societies advocated the adoption of a democratic form of government. Many urged the abolition of slavery. One way of communicating this message was to buy certificates of freedom for a group of slaves and then let them ride on one of the allegorical floats.

The grandes sociedades swiftly grew very competitive, often trying to outdo one another in sophistication and learning. They fought their battles through the newspapers, and the weapon of choice was poetry. This spirit of contentiousness occasionally turned inward, producing squabbles that caused members to leave and form their own new societies (a tendency that would later be repeated at the samba schools).

Elegance and sophistication bordering on preciosity graced virtually everything connected with the grandes sociedades. Yet the care with which the presentations were staged did not prevent complaints from both elements of the public and police when the allegorical floats carried women in stages of undress that offended contemporary sensibilities.

In addition to the balls and the parades of the grandes sociedades Rio's elite had another outlet for celebrating Carnival. The corso, which originated in 1907, was a procession of open motor vehicles carrying gaily costumed cariocas who tossed confetti, serpentinas, perfume, and bons mots as onlookers as they passed along some of Rio's broad avenues. They corso enjoyed a high degree of popularity, until the proliferation of automobiles and resulting traffic congestion brought an end to the practice in the 1930s.

The parades of the grandes sociedades and the corsos served as occasions when people from the wealthy and intellectual classes performed for the amusement of spectators of humbler origins. Eventually the roles of performer and onlooker would be reversed. For in the late nineteenth century, other groups began to march during Carnival week, and one day they would replace the sociedades and the corsos as the principal attractions of Carnival.

The first organized effort on the part of Afro-Brazilians to participate in Carnival appears to have occurred in 1885, when a groups of blacks of Congolese origin took to the streets to criticize Brazil's imperial regime. Disguising themselves as figures such as old men, devils, clowns, kings, queens, and the dead, they carried their banners through Rio's downtown at Carnival time to give vent to frustrations of the common people. A mestre, or "master," blowing a whistle acted as leader; percussionists supplied the rhythm; the old men performed certain steps; and the clowns sang a refrain. Called cordoes, these groups multiplied in succeeding years. They came to represent share satire cloaked in anonymity.

Another distinct type of Carnival group was the rancho. Some say that blacks from the Sudan created the first ranchos. They began as rather closed societies that maintained totemic traditions in their names and colors, and evolved into associations drawing members from the working and lower-middle classes. More refined than the cordoes, the ranchos permitted women to participate, and they accompanied their presentations with string instruments, clarinets, and flutes as well as drums. Instead of one mestre, the ranchos had three; one for the orchestra, one for the chorus, and the mestre de sala, who was in charge of choreography. The themes they adopted were generally mythological (involving gods of the forest, satyrs, nymphs, and goddess), and the music they played was original.

The most modest of the Carnival groups were the blocos (also known as blocos de sujos, or "blocks of dirty ones"), formed by friends living on the same blocks in lower-class neighborhoods. In 1889 the police for the first time authorized the participation of some twenty blocos in the festivities. These groups improvised everything, from their costumes to their parade steps. Their spirited and boisterous behaviour, which more than occasionally led to street fights, kept alive the tradition of the entrudo. The newspapers sponsored contests to crown the yearly champion of the blocos, as well as of the cordoes and ranchos.

Out of these various strands emerged the organizations that today dominate the Carnival scene. The exact origins of what came to be known as "samba schools" remain shrouded in doubt. Several claim the distinction of being the first. Police repression of the blocos and the "respectable" cariocas, disdain for the samba music that had evolved on the morros (hills) in and around Rio inspired the formation of new associations rooted in lower-class communities, modeled after the ranchos but incorporating the spirit (and some of the personnel) of the blocos. These new groups were called samba schools.

Some day that inspiration for the name came form the presence of a nearby teacher-training school. Others insist that the founders of the schools saw their institutions as vehicles for teaching and passing from generation to generation the forms of music and dance indigenous to Rio's poor (predominantly back and mulatto) neighborhoods. Moreover, referring to the new organizations as schools would lend them prestige.

The samba schools succeeded in transforming the pre-Lenten festivities in Rio de Janeiro. They made samba the music of Carnival, used mass culture as a vehicle for protest for both the lower and middle classes, served as showcases of "racial democracy" in Brazil, and eventually became an indispensable source of revenue for the city.

During the 1920s the samba schools came down from the morros to the Praca Onze (Eleventh of July Plaza), located less than a mile from Rio's downtown, on the Sunday and Tuesday of Carnival week. Female members dressed like Bahian women, with long, wide skirts, turbans, necklaces, and bracelets; the men generally preferred either stripped, pajamalike outfits or the shirts and hats worn by the city's malandros, or hustlers. Crowds gathered to watch them dance and sing sambas that dealt with contemporary national or local themes.

At a time when modern technology, in the forms of the radio set, the phonograph, and phonograph record, was rescuing the samba from disrepute and was converting it into a national craze, the regime of President Getulio Vargas decided to promote the samba schools from their position on the fringes of Carnival and to make them bona fide participants in the annual affair - a measure consistent with the myth of racial democracy that the government was promoting. In 1932 the first official samba-school competition was one of the events of the Carnival celebration. This was the beginning of a tradition that continues to the present day.

The price the schools paid for recognition was the necessity of submitting to government control and the condition of dependency that went with it. The authorities set the criteria for judging the annual contest and placed limitations on the themes that costumes, songs, and floats could convey. One of the early, regulations limited presentations to events of personalities drawn from Brazilian history. In 1939 a school that had selected "Snow White

and the Seven Dwarfs" for its theme suffered the indignity of disqualification.

The community organizers and samba composers who held positions of leaderships within the schools prized acceptance and recognition by society above the creative independence they had enjoyed during the 1920s. Therefore they did not resist the imposition of ground rules that put restraints on articulations of discontent they might otherwise have incorporated into their Carnival presentations.

In the six decades between the first official authorization of the samba-school parade and the present day, the route along which the schools march has undergone several changes that have taken the procession from the Praca Onze to Rio Branco Avenue in the heart of the downtown district, then to the broad Avenida Getulio Vargas nearby, and finally to Niemeyer's colossal Sambadrome. Each new site permitted a larger number of spectators than before to witness the event.

Throughout the yeas the Rio Carnival has gained an ever-increasing measure of worldwide renown. The film Black Orpheus might have done more than anything else to bring the event to the attention of people everywhere and to assure its immortality. In his film French director Marcel Camus demonstrates with powerful sensitivity how the illusion of Carnival takes over the lives of samba-school members. Although the score by Luiz Bonfa and Tom Jobim uses more bossa nova than samba, the lyrics that poet Vinicius de Moraes wrote for one of the songs captures the essence of Carnival in a way that has never been matched. "Sadness has no end, the song proclaims, "but happiness does."

The actual scenes of the Carnival parade in Black Orpheus have mesmerized moviegoers for years. Other films, such as the James Bond epic Moonraker, and books such as like Gregory McDonald's Carioca Fletch, have used the parade as an exotic backdrop for plots that have little to do with Brazil, and this publicizing of the event has contributed to the building up of Carnival as an international tourist attraction. But Black Orpheus makes viewers yearn not to attend the festivities themselves but also to understand more about the context that the movie vividly portrays.

Participants in the Carnival parade must follow a stylized format that at the same time leaves room for enormous creativity. Each school selects an enredo, or "plot," for its annual march. The compulsory components of the group's presentation permit the enredo to unfold.

Thus the school's marchers must include a comisSão de frente (front commission), or welcoming committee, which leads the procession and introduces the school's enredo; a dance master (male) and a flag bearer (female) who perform an exquisite pass de deux, the latter carrying the colors of the school and spinning about with such remarkable grace and economy of motion that her feet seem never to touch the pavement; the bateria, or percussion section, providing the samba beat to which the school marches, the allegoric floats, decorated to illustrate the enredo and carrying the school's destaques, or dazzlingly costumed "stars"; and the alas, or "wing," discrete groups of dancers, each with its own outfits and colors. The alas must include baianas, a group of older women dressed in versions of the traditional hoopskirts worn by black women in the city of Salvador. The baianas dance in a whirling motion that produces one of the most spectacular visual effects of the parade. All marchers sing their school's theme song, the samba enredo, which conveys the story they have come to tell.

Samba schools have customarily served as strong community organizations that absorb the energies of their members throughout the entire year. Shortly after one Carnival, preparation for the next one begins. The enredo is developed, composers compete fiercely to have their song selected as the annual samba enredo, costumes are sewn, and floats are constructed. Beginning in November, weekly meetings bring participants together to rehearse the music and dances they will present in their march. The need to scrimp on meager salaries in order to pay for their costumes does not dampen in the least the enthusiasm of the favela-dwellers for whom appearing in Carnival is an all-consuming pursuit.

Over the years the samba schools and their performances have undergone a dramatic transition. In the 1960s an increasing number of people from Rio's upper and middle classes "discovered" the schools, whose rehearsal halls they began to frequent and in whose alas they began to enlist. As a result the samba schools underwent a degree of bleaching, although they remain predominantly black.

In addition, there was a change in the process by which the school's put together their shows. Traditionally, this had been the province of people from the neighborhoods that produced the schools. But by the 1960s the march of the samba schools was turning into a complex tableau emphasizing the visual and requiring the help of outside professional. Indeed, a school's presentation became increasingly dependent on the genius and leadership of one person, the carnavalesco, or "Carnival master," who coordinates the efforts of costume designers, artisans, composers, and performers. These directors have become the luminaries of the Rio Carnival, and for a number of years the brightest and most controversial star in the galaxy was a short, round-faced, curley-haired, self-educated, wildly imaginative virtuoso whom everyone calls Joaozinho Trinta (a name that translates into English as Johnny Thirty).

Born in 1933 in São Luis, the capital of the northern state of Maranhao, Joao Clemente Jorge Trinta lost his father at the age of two and grew up in very modest circumstances. As a teenager he migrated to Rio de Janeiro, and in 1956 he joined the corps de ballet of the Municipal Theater, where he performed on the same boards with Dame Margot Fontaine and Alicia Alonso. His first love was spectacle, and he learned as much as he could about the staging of ballets and operas from set designers, wardrobe people, and other specialists at the Municipal Theater. The transition from the legitimate stage to the Carnival parade route was a natural and inevitable step for him.

"Carnival spectaculars are the Brazilian equivalent of opera," he has explained. "The samba enredo is the libretto, the bateria the orchestra, the sambistas [samba dancers] the ballet corps, the destaques the prima donnas, and the allegoric floats the sets."

Serving as carnavalesco first for Salgueiro, one of the well established Rio samba schools, and then for Beija-Flor, a newer school from Nilopolis in the impoverished Baixada Fluminese Joaozinho complied an enviable winning record in the Carnival, competitions of the 1970s and 1980s. From his first enredo with Salgueiro - portraying the conquest of Maranhao by the French, as seen through the eyes of the eight-year-old French King Louis XIII - his sumptuous presentations went far beyond anything that had previously been attempted in the parade. He did not shrink from daring themes, such as the supposed presence of the ancient Phoenicians on the Amazon River (and their transport of precious gems back to the court of King Solomon), and developed them with

costumes and stately floats that raised lavishness to new levels. He has been innovative on many fronts. Indeed, the first woman to bare her breasts during the parade, and the first male nude marched with Beija-Flor.

Critics accused Joaozinho of deforming the true spirit and tradition of the Carnival parade. They claimed, among other things that he was ignoring the wretchedness of everyday life in Brazil and was imposing unwarranted financial burdens on the poor people who made up the bulk of the membership of the samba schools.

Joaozinho's response was characteristically vigorous. "If I made an enredo out of poverty," he said in a 1987 interview, "no one would march. These people are poor all year long. Why would they want to parade as wretches?" The classic, oft-quoted rejoinder the aimed at his detractors was "The poor like luxuriousness. It is the intellectuals who like misery."

Yet Joaozinho could not resist fashioning another, quite different reply to his critics. In 1989, staging one of the most astonishing and revolutionary pageants in the history of Carnival, he concocted an enredo whose title translates as "Rats and Vultures - Let Go of My Fantasia" (a play on a word that in Portuguese means both "Carnival costume" and "fantasy"). It succeeded brilliantly in converting lixo (garbage) into luxo (luxuriousness). The comisSão de frente and one of the alas (wings) dressed as beggars in tattered, multicolored rags. Another of the alas represented a group of lunatics and performed as though they were straight out of the theater of the he absurd. Dancers disguised as prostitutes and young street thieves cavorted wildly. There was a float piled high with surrealistic "garbage" and labeled Beggars' Banquet. The directors of Beija Flor, including Joaozinho himself, paraded as uniformed garbage collectors. It was a stunningly original tribute by the poor to the poor, the likes of which had never been seen on the streets of Rio. The panel of jurors found it excessively avant-grade and awarded Beija-Flor only second place, but many impartial observers disagreed.

Staging elaborate presentations in the Carnival parade did not, of course, originate with Joaozinho Trinta. He merely turned out to be consistently better at pulling it off than any other carnavalesco. Moreover Beija-Flor's former guiding light has insisted that the costumes and floats his school uses look much more expensive than they actually are. We are very creative in the use of cheap materials, yet we have gotten the reputation of being extravagant."

Criticism of Joaozinho have related to matters beyond his alleged extravagance. Purists have faulted him for deviating from hallowed traditions that date back to the very first parades of the samba schools. They have argued that by orienting his presentation to please foreign tourists and by imposing his own peculiar views and tastes, he has lost contact with the real meaning of the Carnival parade, which has always been a form of self-expression for Rio's slum communities.

There is another way to view the negative reactions Joaozinho has stirred. He was an outsider from the north, rather than a product of Rio's Carnival culture. He was a poor boy who made good on his own rather than a Rio intellectual. In addition, His Beija Flor samba school was located in Nilopolis, an impoverished suburb populated by migrant northeasterners who are not part of the local Carnival tradition.

Joaozinho insists that Beija-Flor brings tremendous benefits to the community.

"Nilopolis is a poor suburb, but we are showing people what they can accomplish on their own, with the right kind of leadership. Young people work with our carpenters, sculptors, and seamstresses, and learn trades. Our school has created a any care center for 300 children. From October to March, membership of the school perform three nights a week in Rio for tourists. We have traveled and paraded in Paris, Nice, Morocco, Jordan, and Zaire.

"Some say that Carnival is an opiate, a way of deceiving the poor; but it's exactly the opposite; a way to open people's eyes and show then that life has other qualities, other emotions, other possibilities.

A number of forces have shaped the current figuration of the Rio Carnival. The completion of the Sambadrome in 1984 increased the scale of things and reinforced an already existing trend toward more and more elaborate costumes and allegoric floats. With the economic decline of Rio de Janeiro, tourism became its most important "industry," making inevitable the transformation of Carnival into a major attraction for foreign visitors (which in turn necessitated a large-scale facility to accommodate spectators).

Moreover, the tremendous power of the mass media in Brazil has influenced the Carnival parade, which has become a major television event. The television cameras have tended to focus on the participating celebrities (and on displays of nudity, before they were banned from prime time) rather than on the traditional and collective aspects of each school's presentation. The networks have also insisted on a degree of scheduling control over the parade, so that they can maximize their exposure to the nationwide viewing audience.

The samba schools have felt the effects of these changes. The expenses of stating a Carnival march have skyrocketed far beyond the financial capacities of the lower-class neighborhoods that continue to server as the hearts and souls of the schools. The government, though maintaining control over Carnival, contributes but a modest percentage of what the parade costs each school. Therefore, the schools have had to search for other sources of income. Rehearsals for the parade have become weekly fund-raising events, through the charging of admissions fees and the sale of refreshments and souvenirs - practices that have been the diluting presence of tourists and people from Rio's middle class. Indeed, because of the dire financial straits in which many of the schools have found themselves, anyone with the proper connections has been able to buy his or her way into participating in the march down the Marques de Sapucai Avenue.

This has made the schools vulnerable to the importunings of "civic-minded" bicheiros. The jogo do bicho, or "animal game," is so intimate a part of the fabric of Brazilian culture that its link to other staples of Brazilianness, such as Carnival, should not be surprising. It was logical that the bicheiros, in search of respectability and goodwill in the communities that patronize their business, would become backers of many of the samba schools.

The first of the bicheiros to identify with a school was an Afro-Brazilian named Natalino Jos‚ de Oliveira. Beginning in the 1950s until his death in 1975, this charismatic "sugar daddy" not only channeled some of his earnings from the jogo do bicho into neighborhood social projects; he also became the patron of the local samba school, Portela. This earned for him the sobriquet Natal da Portela and an aura of legend that continues to the present day. The school paid tribute to him in its 1987 Carnival presentation, and a motion picture released two years later presented a glorified version of his life.

A number of other bicheiros have followed in his footsteps. They have arranged to have themselves named presidents or honorary presidents of samba schools, upon which they have then bestowed substantial sums of money. They have also combined forces to form the Independent League of Samba Schools, an entity that has successfully pressured the government of the city of Rio de Janeiro for a larger share of the tourist and television revenues generated by Carnival.

Those who decry the current state of the parade of the samba schools seem to forget that this hallowed institution has been in a constant state of evolution since its birth. In a sense, the "crisis" of today results from the success of the samba schools in producing a sight-and-sound extravaganza that has deeply touched and excited Brazilians and people from all over the globe. The universal appeal of the parade has taken it far beyond the precincts of folklore, and turning the clock back to a more innocent, less complicated era hardly seems feasible.

Nor is it at all clear that most of the poor people who annually electrify the Sambadrome would want to deprive themselves of the experience. A United States consular official who paraded with one of the schools for several years described it in terms that Americans might understand: "There are 90,000 spectators cheering you on, millions are watching on TV, and you are just ordinary folks. It's like playing in the Superbowl, or the World Series, all compressed into an hour and a half."

Heated debate over the Carnival parade erupted after the 1991 event, when Mocidade Independente spent nearly $800,000 on its winning presentation; Mangueira, a popular school that had refused to take money from any bicheiro, did so badly that it nearly lost the right to march with the group especial. At the same time, the bicheiros threatened to withdraw their schools from the official parade and stage their own Carnival show, an act of defiance that for better or for worse would completely privatize the parade.

The samba schools' subservience to the bicheiros has been an unavoidable sequel to their submission to control by the government, and this symbiotic relationship mirrors the dependency of other enterprises on privileges and subsidies provided by the state. Unfortunately, the bicheiros, as well as government officials, have their own agendas, which probably do not feature the promotion of the self-expression of the lower classes that has traditionally been the defining element of the samba-school performances.

It would indeed be tragic if the Carnival parade became totally commercialized. Several years ago entrepreneurs were concocting a scheme for constructing luxury hotels along Rio's southwest beaches, farm from the center of town, where a new "sambadrome" would be installed and weekly samba-school marches would be staged for the benefit of tourists. Although this scenario remains on the drawing boards, a version of it comes to life in O Samba dos Vagalumes (The Samba of the Fireflies), a novel by Rodolfo Motta Rezende, whose imagination conjures up a nightmarish, nonstop parade in the existing Sambadrome, attracting hordes of enthusiastic foreign visitors, some of whom watch from their windows in a now hotel overlooking the Marques de Sapucai Avenue.

Although truly unique in its impact on the emotions of spectators and participants alike, the Rio de Janeiro Carnival parade is perhaps most remarkable for the evidence it officers, year after year, that lower-class Brazilians are adept at conceiving, organizing, and successfully executing a

highly artistic pageant that compares favorably with entertainment offered anywhere in the world. The samba schools have somehow managed to overcome the various crises associated with the event and the staggering difficulties in staging it.

The parade is a legitimate source of national pride, and it should be taken to heart by all those who would doubt the capabilities of Brazil's common folk. At least in expressing their Brazilianness year after year in the defining event of the Rio Carnival, they demonstrate to anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear their ability to plan, work together, and produce. The challenge facing the country is to harness this dedication, diligence, imagination and enthusiasm and apply them to other areas of endeavor, in ways that will do the most good for the ordinary people of Brazil.

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Author: Mello, Rodney Article Title: recado Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.7; N.123 Publication Date: 03-31-96 Page: p. 5

recado.

The numbers of the Brazilian Diaspora are imprecise, but at least 1.5 million maybe 2 million Brazilians have left Brazil since the early '80s to try their luck in Europe, Japan, South Africa, the US, and almost any place imaginable on earth. To guarantee their stay - sometimes only very temporary - some have even concocted far-fetched stories about present political persecution

The political and economic situations have been improving at home. A 50% a month inflation has fallen to a mere 0.5% this past February and the new currency, the real, continues to show signs of strength. The strong currency buys nothing, some argue, however, and the exodus continues unabated. Disenchanted with an economic plan after another that went haywire, many Brazilians are still skeptical and refuse to accept that the instability is just something from yesterday's papers and the story books.

In contrast with other transitional migrations, the Brazilian Diaspora is made almost exclusively of people with at least a high-school diploma and frequently with a college degree. A great number of them left Brazil as tourists and now are living in clandestinity in their new countries. Why would they take menial jobs in New York, Japan and all over Europe?

We try to answer this and other questions and hope our cover story will help close the gap between those Brazilians who left the country and those who stayed, those far from home and separated by the seas in different continents, and those disparaged by their own countrymen, who having come first accuse the undocumented newcomers of cheating their way into the First - and painful - World.

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Author: Gallant, Katheryn Article Title: THE BRAZILIANS ARE COMING Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.7; N.123 Publication Date: 03-31-96 Page: p. 8

THE BRAZILIANS ARE COMING.

From Hong Kong to Japan, from England to South Africa and throughout the United States, Brazilians are on the move. They are tourists, students, business executives, housekeepers and prisoners. Some of them hope to return home once they have saved enough money to insure a comfortable lifestyle. Others are willing to tell fantasies of political or police persecution to obtain asylum - and free social services in First World nations.

Before the 1960s, Brazil was a country that people immigrated to. From the early 19th century to the mid-20th century, Germans, Swiss Italians, Spaniards, Poles, Czechs, Russians, Japanese and others joined Portuguese in searching for new opportunities in Brazil. After the coup d'‚tat of 1964, thousands of opponents of the military regime went into exile. Although most of these exiles returned to Brazil after the amnesty of 1979, the number of economic emigrants grew in the `80s. Since 1987, when about 300,000 Brazilians lived outside the country, emigration has increased at a rate of 20% per year.

Since April 1991, there have been no official statistics about Brazilian emigrants. The only number available is that of passports issued by the Federal Police. That came to a total of 436,177 in 1993, the most recent year for which statistics are available. However, this does not necessarily mean that everyone who got a Brazilian passport went abroad and never came back.

Nevertheless, Roberto Fabene, a representative of the International Trade Service of the Brazilian Federal Police, believes that the emigration rate has increased since 1991. "Everything indicates that it has grown progressively all these years," he said.

According to Brazilian demographer Jos‚ Alberto Magno de Carvalho, director of the Center of Development and Regional Planning at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Cedeplar - UFMG), there were between one million and 2.5 million Brazilians living outside Brazil in 1995. The Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute (IBGE) adds that the statistical "absence" of 1,379,928 Brazilians between the ages of 20 to 44 from the 1991 census (which IBGE researchers discovered while making demographical exercises with the census results) has only one explanation: emigration.

Where are these Brazilians living abroad? Perhaps half of them live in the United States. The largest Brazilian settlements are on the East Coast. New York, with its "Little Brazil" district on 46th Street, has an estimated 80,000 to 150,000 Brazilian emigrants. Another 150,000 are estimated to live in Boston, and 65,000 in Florida (mostly in the Miami area). About 20,000 Brazilians live in California, divided approximately equally between the San Francisco and Los Angeles metropolitan areas. The cities of Houston, Texas and Washington, DC also have about 10,000 Brazilians each. .TX.-More than half the Brazilians who immigrate to the US, according to the Center for Immigration Studies in New York, already have friends or relatives in the US

with whom they stay after they arrive in the country. In 25% of the cases, the immigrants do not plan on returning to Brazil.

"Despite what many people think, most Brazilian immigrants arrive with money and contracts to stay in the US some time before getting a job," Gino Agostinelli, of the Center for Immigration Studies, has told the São Paulo newspaper Folhade São Paulo. "They aren't desperate fugitives, but people with money who are looking for another way of life."

About 65% of Brazilian immigrants to the US find a job within three weeks of their arrival. At first, most immigrants seek jobs in the same field in which they worked in Brazil - principally because this is one of the easiest ways of getting a green card, the permanent resident visa for aliens living in the US. However, almost 70% of Brazilians living in the US are illegal immigrants.

This fact means that the vast majority of Brazilian immigrants end up working in menial jobs with salaries between $1000 and $2000 a month. Only about 4% of Brazilian immigrants who came to New York to stay earn more than $3000 a month. Generally, these are legal immigrants who work in occupations related to the jobs they had in Brazil.

While 59% of Brazilian female immigrants in New York have gone to college, 56% of them work as maids, housekeepers, cooks or nannies. Among the men, while only 4% have no more than an elementary school education, almost all of them are working as laborers, construction workers or bus boys in restaurants. However, the two occupations in which Brazilian immigrants have an almost total monopoly in the New York metropolitan area - shoe shining among the men, go-go dancing among the women - are also considered the most shameful.

Since the 1930s, West 46th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues has been the commercial Mecca of Brazilians living or visiting New York. It took New York City Hall some 65 years to note that fact. Finally, on September 7, 1995 - Brazilian Independence Day - New York City officially gave the title of "Little Brazil Street" to what Brazilians call Rua 46. Like Italians, Chinese, Puerto Ricans and other immigrants to New York, Brazilians now have an official claim to their chunk of the Big Apple.

Most Brazilians who live in New York do not make their homes on 46th Street, or even in Manhattan. Instead, they usually reside in Astoria, a neighborhood of the borough of Queens.

Unfortunately, not all Brazilian immigrants to the US find what they are looking for in the land of Uncle Sam. "It's not worth it to live in illegality. We are really humiliated," R‚gis Ferreira, a 27-year-old student, told the Brasilia newspaper Correio Braziliense. Ferreira was an illegal alien in the US from 1989 to 1993. He washed dished, delivered pizza, painted houses and mowed lawns. After two years of menial jobs, Ferreira gave $5000 to a lawyer who offered him a chance to get a green card. However, the lawyer disappeared with Ferreira's savings. Thwarted in his hopes to become a legal resident of the United States, Ferreira returned to Brazil.

Going East - Every other day, Varig Flight 838 departs from Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo to Nagoya Airport in Kobe, Japan. Each 27-hour flight brings to Japan a new contingent of dekasseguis - Brazilians of Japanese descent who seek better economic opportunities in the land that their parents or grandparents left. For the past three years, the number of dekasseguis has increased. Although no official statistics are available, it is estimated that

there are about 170,000 dekasseguis working in Japan. Only the US has more Brazilian migrants.

Nisei (children of people born in Japan) are allowed to work for three years in Japan, while sansei (grandchildren of native-born Japanese) can only stay in Japan for a maximum of one year. Dekasseguis are often found in jobs (such as manual labor and factory work) that native-born Japanese seldom do themselves, and for which the dekasseguis - almost invariably middle-class, and frequently college graduates - are overqualified. However, the salaries of $2000 to $3000 a month are the great attraction to working in Japan. Even taking the higher cost of living in Japan into account, many dekasseguis can save much more than they could back home.

Marcos Ino is a 28-year-old Paulista (from São Paulo state) of Japanese descent. Although he is the son of Brazilian-born parents, their dual citizenship technically makes him a nisei. Ino has been living in the city of Gifo, near Nagoya, for three years. Before coming to Japan, he worked as a technician in an elevator factory in Villares for $1000 a month. Now he has a lower-ranking position in a paper factory, but earns three times more than he did in Brazil. With his wife, Elaine, who works in a firm making cellular telephones, the family salary is $5000 a month. They are saving money to buy a home after they return home. "This would be impossible in Brazil because the money that's left over at the end of the month would only be enough for weekend entertainment," Ino said.

About one-third of the dekasseguis do not speak their ancestral tongue. According to Paulo Matsubara, a 48-year-old mechanical engineer working in a factory that makes automobile headlights, this is a source of amazement to Japanese. "They don't understand how somebody with a Japanese face doesn't speak their language," Matsubara said.

Lina Nistzu graduated from college with a degree in public relations. She left a banking job in São Paulo to work 14-hour days in a ceramics factory near Nagoya. According to her sister Lucy, Lina does not mind the near-feudal conditions: the wages are better. "Salaries in Brazil are very bad," Lucy Nistzu explained. "It's shocking that somebody with a degree in public relations prefers to do factory work in Japan. But that's Brazilian reality."

London's call - Great Britain has the third-largest number of Brazilian residents. The Brazilian Arts & Community Centre (BA&CC), a London-based organization that offers aid and support to Brazilians in England, has estimated that about 80,000 Brazilians live in the United Kingdom. The vast majority live in England, mostly in the London metropolitan area. In fact, the neighborhood of Bayswater, near the famous Hyde Park, has so many Brazilian residents that is has acquired the nickname "Brazil-water."

Since 1985, when more than two decades of military rule ended in Brazil, 535 Brazilians have requested political asylum in Great Britain - 450, or 84%, since 1993. Statistics from the Home Office (a department in the British government that controls the entry and permanence of foreigners in the country) state that 190 Brazilians requested political asylum in Britain in 1993. In 1994, there were 145 requests from Brazilians. In the first six months of 1995, 115 Brazilians sought political asylum in Great Britain. On the other hand, in all of 1994, only 26 Cubans asked the British government for political asylum.

This does not mean that people are fleeing any actual political persecution in

Brazil. Almost all of the asylum seekers entered Britain as tourists and only then asked for political asylum. The wave of requests for political asylum conceals a desire to stay legally in Britain - with all expenses paid by British taxpayers. While the request for political asylum is being processed, applicants receive $60 a week, complete health insurance, low cost housing and authorization to work legally in the country.

The Home Office has refused to grant refugee status to all 130 Brazilians since 1985 whose cases have been closed. Although penalties for people who file false requests for political asylum in Britain are harsh (a $3000 fine a ban on traveling to any nation in the European Community and the possibility of having to repay the British government for all the Social Security benefits which the false refugee received), this does not faze Brazilian asylum seekers. "For Brazilian, the climate is favorable to the false refugee," said Mary de F tima Lee, president of the BA&CC.

"Samanta" (not her real name) is a 21-year-old Brazilian who has lived in London for three years. In an interview with Sylvio Costa of the Bras¡lia newspaper Correio Braziliense, Samanta confessed that she lied to apply for political asylum. "It was when all that mess was going on, and PC [Farias, the man behind the scandal that forced President Fernando Collor de Mello out of office] was in hiding here in London," she said.

"My son had just been born. I went to the Home Office with the baby and I told them I had helped Collor, and that I couldn't go back home because I'd be risking my life," Samanta said.

"It was so ludicrous a story that, before the year-long time limit that they had given me to stay here as a political refugee had passed, they sent me a letter telling me that I had 28 days to leave the country," Samanta continued.

Instead of leaving, Samanta decided to marry an Englishman. As the wife of a British subject, Samanta receives the same Security benefits that she had as an asylum seeker. These include the "housing benefit," which pays all of Samanta's rent (about $800 a month).

Samanta is content with her London life. She speaks fluent English and is studying fashion design in college. "Here, I can bring up my son, study and go for my degree, which is worth a lot in Brazil. Over there, I couldn't do any of that," she said.

Affluent migrants and tourists - Emigration can be found at the highest levels of multinational corporations as well. Brazilian business executives are currently in Uzbekistan, Cuba, England, Argentina, Spain, Hong Kong and the US working in such areas as finances, marketing and human resources. Ant"nio Carlos Guimaraes, director of human resources at Xerox, told Brazilian weekly newsmagazine Is to that Brazilians' experiences with hyperinflation make them especially well-suited to confront the challenges of new markets in emerging countries. "And in this, Brazilians are PhDs," added Lywall Salles, the director of Chase Manhattan Bank in Hong Kong.

It is not cheap to send a Brazilian executive abroad. Each worker at Xerox do Brasil who is transferred abroad costs an average of $300,000 a year. "Expatriates are expensive, but they're worth it," Guimaraes joked. Also, each executive in a management position receives an extra $1000 to $1500 a month for working outside Brazil.

Carioca (from Rio de Janeiro) Franklin Pereira, who has headed the commerce and industry department of Unisys in Boca Raton, Florida and is currently the sales and marketing director of Epson in Los Angeles, compared Brazilians and Americans in the business world. "Adapting to the US isn't as easy as it seems. Despite our similar cultures, we lack dynamism. The American executive is practical. In Brazil, executives confront a lot of bureaucracy and things get delayed in functioning. It's not the professionals' fault, however. Brazilians are very versatile. The business firms themselves are what make Brazilians seem stupid."

Not all Brazilians who are going abroad plan to emigrate. In 1970, only 179,000 Brazilians - two out of a thousand - could enjoy a foreign trip. Now, there are more Brazilian tourists than ever before. In 1995, 3.1 million Brazilians traveled outside the country, according to a survey by the Brazilian Travel Agents' Association (Abav). Two percent of all Brazilians have gone on business trips or vacations beyond their nation's frontiers.

The popularity of foreign travel is due to three factors, according to the Brazilian weekly newsmagazine Veja, which published a cover story on the topic last January. First, the Brazilian middle class has never found it so affordable. A week-long package tour to New York (plane tickets, hotel room and excursions included) costs as little as $900 a person. That is cheaper than spending the same amount of time in a first-class hotel in a capital of one of Brazil's northeastern states. Another reason is that foreign travel has become much easier to arrange.

Not too many years ago, Brazilians who wanted to indulge in overseas travel had to make a compulsory deposit, buy dollars on the black market and declare how much money they planned to bring. Buying merchandise abroad was out of the question. Now, Brazilian tourists can leave the country whenever they want, bring as much money as they can and even use credit cards issued by non-Brazilian banks. Finally, the economy khas stabilized. The strength of the real - which is worth more than the US dollar - makes it tempting for Brazilian tourists to shop for bargains in countries where prices are lower, and the variety is greater, than at home.

The result has been an explosion of Brazilian tourists. Brazilians occupy third place in foreign tourists to Disney World in Florida, behind only the Canadians and British. Travelers from the largest country in South America also are the second-most likely overseas visitors to the ski resort of Aspen, Colorado, with only the Germans being more prevalent. According to a US government study, Brazilian tourists are arriving in the US at a faster rate than tourists from any other country.

Brazilians are also going to countries that were previously unknown territory to them. For example, 30,000 Brazilians went to South Africa in 1995, twice as many as went to that country three years previously. Eight thousand of those Brazilians in South Africa went to celebrate New Year's Eve 1995 at the Palace Hotel in Johannesburg, the only six-star hotel in the world.

What do Brazilians like to do while traveling? One type of voyage is reminiscent of the 1969 film If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium. As you may recall, that was the story of American tourists trying to visit seven European countries in 18 days. Like those hapless Yankees, many first-time Brazilian tourists attempt to see and do everything in two or three weeks. They return home totally exhausted and need another vacation to recuperate!

The second prevalent type of vacation is the shopping spree. According to Janet Unger, director of marketing at the renowned New York department store Bloomingdale's, "Brazilians now occupy fourth place among our biggest buyers." As of last summer, Bloomingdale's began to hire Portuguese-speaking sales clerks to assist the wave of Brazilians shoppers.

Just in 1995, tourists from Brazil spent $2.2 billion on purchases, food, hotel rooms and transportation in the US. The number of Brazilian tourists, which was just 398,000 in 1990, almost doubled in five years. It is estimated that there will be a million tourists in the US by 1998, and a whopping 2.2 million by the year 2005.

For the French historian Frederic Mauro, of the National Foundation of Political Science in Paris, the stampede of Brazilians to the First World is comparable to another exodus within Brazil's own borders: that of Northeasterners who arrive at the bus depots in Rio or São Paulo in search of opportunity. "The Northeastern migration is a smaller-scale portrait of what is happening throughout the world," Mauro told Brazilian newsmagazine Veja in 1991. "The poorest people, when they are in trouble, always find space in big cities."

This analogy, like most comparison, is far from exact. One difference is that the dream of the wonderful South no longer excites Northeasterners as much as the American or European dream inspires the natives of southern Brazil's urban centers.

By 1990, only 10,000 migrants came to São Paulo, much less than the 200,000 who arrived each year during the 1960s. The sertanejos (backlanders) of Brazil's Northeast now prefer the gold mines of Amazonia or the more prosperous cities in the interior of São Paulo state. Largely for financial reasons, they have not yet thought of taking Manhattan.

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Author: Velloso, Wilson Article Title: Bye, bye, US Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.7; N.123 Publication Date: 03-31-96 Page: p. 16

Bye, bye, US.

"The true direction of Brazilianhood is to march toward West," preached the cowboy strongman Getúlio Vargas, who ruled the country - legally or illegally, by hook or by crook - from 1930 to 1945 (with an elected recall in 1951-54). In our day and age, Vargas would perhaps wave the same flag. But for reasons of opportunity, very different from his nationalistic demagoguery, "corporativist" and fascistic leanings, and the policies of "profiteurism" he introduced into the country's institutions..

Westward, Ho! indeed, since advancing to the West you end up at the Pacific Rim. The immense Pacific Ocean and its whole new economic constellation that has supplanted the traditional Oriental order.

Warbroken, devastated, and militarily demoralized a few years ago, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia now comprise a vibrant industrial-financial complex that competes with yesterday's military victor. How did they get there? Through a new kind of democracy-with-discipline, with patient observation and imaginative research. And the expectation of a fairly long wait from idea to achievement to success.

Many years ago, an American inventor, Weltmark, had his color TV rejected by the U.S. authorities for not being black-and-white compatible. NHTS was the winning American standard, pushed by RCA. A small and obscure Japanese company bought the Weltmark patents, researched and experimented tirelessly with them. At long last, it became SONY, the brightest color TV this side of the German PAL standard. Today, Sony is a worldwide power. In America it controls film and record companies, movie chains, and has a wide variety of performers under contract.

Who had heard of Toyota outside Japan? It was an ancient and respected domestic carmaker. After the are it invaded the U.S., where it is now a partial partner of General Motors and manufactures in California and GEO line: Storm, Prizm, Metro.

For Brazilians the conclusion is obvious: we should look around for another star to hitch our economic chariot on. A slavish, broadside imitation of all things American may bring us ruin in a world that is increasingly "One Market." As articles appearing in News from Brazil have pointed out, let's judiciously follow, introduce, imitate, copy only such theories, tactics, procedures, things that can be thoroughly Brazilianized, or which have been already universalized elsewhere.

For too long have our economic policies been closely tied to the U.S. ones. The present might be the moment to break away and shop around. With the full understanding, of course, that the "Asian Way" must be thoroughly investigated. And rejected in those parts that may be abhorrent to the Brazilian Way.

As a citizen of Brazil, a country of immigrants, I see that we already do many things better than the Americans. For instance, when we quietly reject the hyphenation of our nationality. We are not a bunch of Native Brazilians (meaning Indians), of African Brazilians (meaning Blacks), Luso-Brazilians, Italo-Brazilians, Nipo-Brazilians.

We are simply Brazilians, without handles, and our different nationalities bring together our many talents and our own jeitinhos, the same way we may lunch on kibe or teriyaki, and dine on pizza, paprikashtchirke, or rod¡zio de churrasco, enjoying on Saturdays a heavy load of feijoada, or bacalhoada, or callos ala madrile¤a. All of the above helped down the hatch by a caipirinha caprichada, or a kaipirovshka estupidamente gelada. Or, in a more petty bourgeois manner, with a hamburguesa, a Skol or a modest guaran espumante.

All of which shouldn't stop us from learning, getting information, researching, and discussing, from Monday through Friday, the relative merits of the different systems. Then we may get to know, for instance, about the dark side of the American Way which engendered, among other sensational news stories, the Men‚ndez Brothers, rich guys who killed their mother and father accusing them of abusing sexually their kids; the sordid "sporting" exploit of Tonya Harding, the uncontrollable urge to win at any cost, even breaking the legs of a team mate; or the horror story of the druggie who cut open his wife's abdomen to "save" a foetus from her demonic influence; or Milliken who stole millions in criminal stock manipulations, or Aramony who embezzled millions from the premier American charitable organization, the United Way; and the anti-Semitic, anti-Black armed Militias.

Above all, now that the world is in a state of flux, Brazilians should be extra-cautious about once again "taking the wrong streetcar." It would help, though, if they remembered that Kung Fu-Tsu, whom we call Confucius, "discovered gunpowder" during the 5th century B.C. Chou dynasty, at a time when the Chinese wallowed in corruption, greet, immorality, dishonesty, hypocrisy and other shortcomings we all have seen at close quarters. He preached a rededication to the fundamental virtues of ALL citizens - hard work, obedience to the law, honoring the parents and the whole family, avoid waste, and save.

Which were, more or less, the same great virtues Brazilian citizens practiced under the rule of Peter II and for about half a century under the Republic. Let's resurrect as heroes - in today's parlance - men like Prudente de Morais, Campos Salles, Rodrigues Alves, Affonso Penna, who were not after the fast buck, the permanent search of reelection, and did not buy popularity by giving sinecures away.

And if Asians, Europeans, Americans, Africans, and Oceanians can teach us, counsel us, and help us, let's say welcome and thank you, and keep alert against the shameless scoundrels and nincompoops in our midst. No need to execute them: just display them on a public pillory for several days at a stretch. A São Paulo building company could easily design a 21st century pelourinho.

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Author: Barreto, Carlos E.F. Article Title: Coming of age Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.7; N.123 Publication Date: 03-31-96 Page: p. 17

Coming of age.

Signed in 1991, the Mercosul Common Trade agreement, grouping Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, reached an important turning point in 1995. Early in December, the Presidents of the four countries signed in Madrid, the first accord with another trade bloc. The pact signed with the EU (European Union) marked the acceptance of the Mercosul in the international economic arena as well as the European confidence on its political success.

Later that same month, the Mercosul bloc signed a free-trade agreement with Bolivia, an effort to advance even more South America's economic integration. Furthermore, talks with Chile towards a free-trade agreement with that country are making substantial progress. These events manifest the level of faith in the bloc and its future major role in the economic development of Latin America.

From the European point of view, the accord with the Mercosul has political and economic resonance. Politically, it permits the EU to maintain closer participation in a region where they have a great historical, cultural, and societal affinity. Economically, the accord secure European companies stability, juridical guaranty and access to a market comprehending 200 million consumers and $800 billion GDP (Gross Domestic Product). The accord sets for a free-trade area by 2005. According to Pedro Malan, the Brazilian Finance Minister, presently the Mercosul has 22 investment projects under analysis which total $16 billion. Malan foresees a flood of investments coming in from overseas and specially from Europe and other Latin American nations.

The European Union concentrates 38% of the world trade flow which implies a financial and commercial dominance. Forty percent of all banks installed in the Mercosul are European, and European companies constitute the main source of foreign investment in the four countries. For example, after a wave of privatization, Spain's Telefonica de Espa¤a and Italy's Societa Finanziaria Telefonica per Azioni SpA control most of all big telephone companies south of the Panama Canal.

According to report from Price Water-house, the region will experience in 1996 a year a intense activity in mergers, acquisitions and joint-ventures. In 1995, such business activity grew 60% compared to the previous year and foreign investment then accounted for 38%. Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay are responsible for one third of Latin America's total trade and 70% of Latin America's total GDP. The EU is their main partner, reaching in 1995 a record high in volume of trade - 27% of Mercosul's total exports was to the EU while 17% went to NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), and 26% of the total imports came from the EU against 23% from NAFTA.

Another important achievement to the market economy of the Mercosul was reached with Bolivia. The so-called 4-plus-1 agreement, serves as a free-trade bridge connecting the Mercosul to the Andean Pact - a bloc constituted by Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. The reason

for this type of agreement lies on a Mercosul regulation which forbids member countries to individually join other blocs. However, the Andean Pact countries can.

A major infra-structure project necessary to integrate both blocs is under way. A 3,440 km (2,137 miles) of navigable rivers will constitute the Paraguay-Parana and the Tiete-Parana waterways. These waterway systems will lower transportation cost of all products traded within the region. Furthermore, talks to sign a 4-plus-1 agreement with Chile have already started. And Chile has signed a free-trade agreement with Mexico and is currently working to sign another one with Canada. Even Guyana, once a strong nationalistic country, is talking to open its borders to Brazil.

In a recent article published in the Wall Street Journal titled, "Latin Nations, unsure of US motives, make their own trade pacts," shows Mercosul's alternatives to expand its borders. The article states that Chile's acceptance of NAFTA has encountered strong opposition from the US Congress which lead to Chilean officials to bypass American bureaucracy towards freer trade. The simultaneous resignation of six US government officials responsible for Latin American foreign policies and the delay in replacing them shown the lack of US concern with the region. According to US Trade Representative, Mickey Kantor, "the greatest victims of tariff and nontrade barriers are small and medium-size companies."

For example, a Massachusetts textile company, Quaker Fabric Corp., is a having a hard time selling in Argentina. That country benefits from duty-free textiles from Brazil and competition form US goods, after a 25% tariff, is minor. US textile in the Mercosul has also strong competition from fabrics coming from England, France, Italy and Belgium which by 2005 will benefit from a tariff-free market. US executives are disappointed with Washington which is promising too much but doing too little to integrate the economy with neighboring countries. Caterpillar, a US manufacturer of heavy agriculture machinery, said that after Chile joins Mercosul, sales from US factories will be shifted to Brazilian factories. At the end, US workers will be the losers. As Latin America develops, the business environment will become more difficult for US companies.

In the past few months, many trade agreements between the Mercosul and other countries have been signed. Stated leaders have gone back and forth while other nations are just watching Mercosul's development. In 1995, trade among Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay doubled to $16 billion. As Ford's President, Alex Trotman, stated in January at Switzerland's World Economic Forum, "Mercosul is just starting its future."

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Author: Velloso, Wilson Article Title: Are we ever going to learn? Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.7; N.123 Publication Date: 03-31-96 Page: p. 19

Are we ever going to learn?.

In mid-January the Apple Company announced a loss of $69 million in its latest three-month business period. What has that got to do with Brazil? Plenty.

Plenty because at the root of this dismal result is Apple's long standing decision to go it alone. Going it alone means more gross profit; and, even if the tax bite is bigger, the net profit is higher than is the case with the non-Apple computer companies, a community of several hundred.

Brazil has an ancient and sorry story of "going it alone". For many years, from the last century, Brazil had been the only producer of rubber in the world. It set the prices and the terms. The money rolled in. Part of it was mixed into the mortar used into the Teatro Amazonas in the jungle-capital of Manaus. British steamers sailing to Par (Bel‚m) did not bother going to Rio or Santos. Or anywhere else in Brazil. It was Manaus or bust.

The poor rubbertappers, who owed their souls to the company store, and were paid by the kilo, began adding rocks and other heavy debris to the rubber as the latex coagulated in big balls, in the smoke of open fires. It was their way of getting even and a bit more of money from the big rubber barons (some of whom imported Italian opera companies to sing "Aida" for them in the Teatro Amazonas). in the end, the workers' sneaky revenge did bankrupt their bloodsucking exploiters. At the same time, they torpedoed the Brazilian monopoly of rubber.

Brazilian books tell how the British "stole" 11,000 or 33,000 young plants - who was counting? - and smuggled them to the Far East, where they gave birth, in the Federated Malay States and other Somerset Maugham-tale areas under British control, to all Far East rubber plantations. The books never mentioned how rocks in the raw rubber balls had broken and damaged plant machinery and enraged European industrialists.

In a book written more than 60 years ago, a German, "investigative reporter" called Anton Zischka, told the full story. His work, Wissenschaft bricht Monopole [Science Breaks Monopoly], relates how those uncounted thousands of tender seedlings of Hevea brasiliensis travelled to England under Equatorial sun, shaded by tarpaulins, watered several times a day, and how most wilted and died. Only a dozen and half survived. They were taken to the famous Kew Gardens, near London, where dedicated botanists babied and nurtured them, strengthened them, and finally helped them become trees. It was the much more mature and hardier Kew Garden trees that spawned the millions of rubber trees of today in Malaysia and the neighboring rubbed countries.

In 1951 I wrote in Rio a melancholy article "The End of a Dream: Brazil Imports Rubber from the Orient." It was a lesson that should be taught in all classes of "Brazilian Problems" and, in depth, in courses of Economics. Is anybody listening? Has anybody learned anything?

Back to Apple: In spite of its tremendous success, its 4-year lead over IBM, its many spectacular inventions, Apple has had ups and downs in the last few years. And while it gripped jealously its monopoly, in the firm belief it had a better product and that the market would recognize it, it lost ground, the economic analysts say, because of: greed and self-centeredness.

While Apple kept everything for itself (mostly the profit), IBM got into a community of computer gear manufacturers, licensed its patents to competitors who introduced their own improvement. IBM used Intel microprocessors in large scale and worked with Microsoft (which produced its first "Disk Operating System" (DOS), and other software, then "Windows" - a fabulous panoply of programs. Today Microsoft has eclipsed most US companies and, following IBM's example, has licensed scores of other makers to make DOS for many computer-makers, and much more in the wide area of software.

In spite of the debacle of its Rubber Empire, Brazil still keeps to the misguided notion that monopoly is more profitable. Yes, it is, in the short run, but Brazil is not in business for 5, 10 or 20 years. However, monopoly has been a government-blessed policy in Brazil: * The teletypewriter, invented before First World War I, and widely used worldwide, was reserved exclusively in Brazil for the armed services. It was only after the end of World War II that teletypewriting (both Telex and Teletype are registered trade marks) became generally available in the country, provided by a single operator, the Post Office. When I arrived in Washington in 1955 news from Brazil arrived at the Embassy by the dash-and-dot Morse code... * Silkscreen printing, an art of ancient Chinese origin, was introduced in Brazil under the name Planograf by a company that managed to monopolize its [public domain] technique for many years, and made a mint. * By opening the country to several automakers simultaneously, President Juscelino Kubitschek tripped a business-military cabal whose intention was to exploit the automotive industry as a monopoly. * As soon as the first small personal computers (as against the large mainframe computers sold by IBM and other US makers) arrived, their manufacture in Brazil became "reserved to National industry" - actually a monopoly or a cartel - under the flimsy excuse of protecting the [then nonexistent] Brazilian PC industry. The result was the manufacture of a new clunkers that were already obsolete when marketed. They were put together with parts mostly smuggled into the country. There was no genuine computer industry, only pirated copies of hardware and software.

Wrote a "cyber wag": "In the end, Brazil managed the marvel of getting 30 years behind the times in 15 years of PC marketing." Since contraband has been a flourishing national industry for many years over the porous Brazilian borders, the "market reservation" umbrella just protected the smugglers at many levels. Many people got rich through this gimmick. * Knowledgeable people who had legitimate reasons to travel frequently between the US and Brazil were approached by "Market Reservation" agents and enticed to haul to Brazil all sorts of entire computing units (CPU, keyboard, monitor, printer, cables, software). In exchange for the courtesy, the "carrier pigeons" were given tickets, per diem, expenses, and honoraria, paid in cash when the mules contacted trusted Custom officers at Galeao, Guarulhos and other Brazilian airports. When the "informal" computer market got saturated, plain-paper fax machines became the main item of trade. * The EBCT, the Brazilian Post Office facade-corporation, tried to horn into the use of fax in Brazil, taking it away from another Brazilian government provider, Telebr s. But the "Brazilian ATT" held firm and the EBCT had to retreat. * Right now, Brazilians interested in getting onto the Internet have only one gate to deal with: Embratel, the satellite company. Without any competition, setting its

own rules and rates, Embratel has no interest in setting regional "hubs" to save users the real time on long distance telephone lines, some of which are hardly reliable. Embratel may charge whatever it pleases and, in theory, may refuse connections in the case of "undesirables". * Or, as they say in Brazil "Os caes ladrame a caravana passa" [The dogs bark and the caravan goes on].

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Author: Barbic, Sheryl Article Title: Lie of the land Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.7; N.123 Publication Date: 03-31-96 Page: p. 20

Lie of the land.

During the last constitutional revision in 1988, the Brazilian Congress incorporated Article 231 to recognize the inalienable right of indigenous people to their ancestral lands and natural resources, guaranteeing their right to exist as distinct cultures. 1991's Decree 22 strengthened the language of the Constitution by further delineating the primacy of indigenous rights over competing interests, thereby enforcing the demarcation of indigenous reserves based on aboriginal habitation. The Government stated that all 554 indigenous territories should be demarcated by October 5, 1993. To date, only 210 indigenous land titled have been granted.

A new decree signed by President Fernando Henrique Cardoso on January 8, 1996, however, signals a major step backwards for indigenous rights in Brazil, according to Brazilian and international indigenous rights groups. Decree 1775, these groups contend, impedes indigenous peoples' rights as guaranteed by the 1988 Constitution, compromising the already slow process of establishing indigenous reserves by permitting commercial interests to challenge the demarcation of indigenous lands.

Beto Borges, Amazon Campaign Coordinator for the Rainforest Action Network, a San Francisco based organization, states, "Decree 1775 delays the demarcation of new indigenous reserves, and challenges the legitimacy of existing ones."

Decree 22 enforced the demarcation of indigenous lands without allowing conflicting interests to appeal, but provided compensation to parties who already possessed legal title to these indigenous lands. Decree 1775 reverses the tenets of Decree 22 by allowing commercial interests to challenge the process of demarcation of indigenous lands. The new decree effectively permits invaders, such as ranchers, loggers, and miners the opportunity to contest the demarcation process in a given area. Economic interest may now legally take the natural resources out of the control of indigenous groups, thereby undermining the rights of indigenous people to their traditional lands as recognized in Article 231 of the Brazilian Constitution.

The new decree states that previously demarcated areas which are not yet fully registered are open to revision, including Yanomami territories. Yanomami peoples are preoccupied that political and economic interests are working to annul indigenous land rights. The Yanomami fear continued invasions of their lands by miners who destroy and pollute their rivers. Since 1987, the Yanomami population has been reduced by 25%. With the signing of Decree 1775, the international community fears the Yanomami population will decline even further.

Struggles by indigenous groups to retain their natural resources and the land itself are expected to arise. CIMI (Indigenist Missionary Council) cites that eight indigenous areas have already been invaded in the few weeks since the new decree became law.

Due to political and economic pressures, Minister of Justice, Nelson Jobim has been trying to revoke Decree 22 since 1991. Jobim argues that Decree 22 does not provide direito do contradit¢rio, or "the right to contest," on behalf on private economic interests. Decree 22 was ruled unconstitutional because it does not incorporate the adversarial process. The new decree, which effectively annuls Decree 22 may be used to benefit economic interests who have expressed their desire to capitalize upon Amazonian resources.

The only indigenous areas immune from possible review are the 210 fully demarcated and registered lands. The remaining 344 territories, which have been demarcated but not fully registered, are open to review, and will most probably be reduced. Such a revision in policy threatens to stall the future demarcation of indigenous territories in Brazil for years to come. The government states the demarcation process will continue, yet the Brazilian state has effectively paralyzed the demarcation process.

The first appeal has already been registered by Agropecu ria Sattin, S.A., located in the state of Mato Grosso, who are contesting the Guarani-Kaiowa territory of Sete Cerros. It is feared that escalating violence in this region will bring about an increase in the number of suicides by the Guarani peoples.

The National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) is responsible for registering land titles of demarcated areas. FUNAI is the administrative office scheduled to handle the appeals process, yet this office is not sufficiently equipped to deal with the gigantic demand that will be placed upon them from all of the new appeals. Within the G7 (Group of Seven) Pilot Project to Conserve the Brazilian Rainforests, $9.7 million have been earmarked by the G7 to be directed toward the demarcation of indigenous lands in Brazil. The international community fears G7 moneys will be misdirected toward the revision process, clearly not what the G7 funds were allocated for. Indigenous groups are asking the German government, the principal financial donor to the G7, to temporarily halt disbursements so these funds are not misdirected.

The international community fears Decree 1775 will facilitate the new model of privatization currently underway in the Brazilian Amazon. In rewriting Brazilian law, the government is making it legally possible for firms to invade indigenous lands for the purpose of cattle ranching, oil, mineral, and mahogany extraction. These types of unsustainable forest practices historically facilitate infrastructure development, thereby opening up remote and often pristine areas of forest which have long been considered the sacred lands of numerous indigenous peoples.

The consensus from Brazilian indigenous, and organizations supporting indigenous rights, argue that the FHC government should be held accountable for their actions. The international community is calling upon FHC to revoke Decree 1775 and reinstate indigenous rights to land title. The cultural survival of hundreds of indigenous groups throughout Brazil are in danger of extinction, they argue. Alarmed by the seriousness of human rights violations in Brazil, the Organization of American States (OAS) is in the process of writing an official report to the Government of Brazil encouraging the state to respect the international human rights to which Brazil is a signatory.

The Amazon Coalition, a group of US-based non-governmental and human rights issues in the Amazon, recently met in San Francisco to discuss the serious implications of Decree 1775. The Amazon Coalition has jointly sent a letter

to President Fernando Henrique Cardoso urging him to revoke Decree 1775.

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Author: Sampler, Daniel Article Title: Sambaing on-line Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.7; N.123 Publication Date: 03-31-96 Page: p. 22

Sambaing on-line.

Once upon a time in cyberspace... That would be a perfect beginning for this story. Because it talks about two sambistas from two samba schools in the opposite sides of the earth. What makes their story unique, isn't only the fact that their samba schools aren't in Brazil, or that they speak different languages, nor the fact that one is in a semi-desert region of the world while the other is near the Arctic Circle. The uniqueness about these schools is that they became sister samba schools via the Internet.

The Internet was created around 25 years ago by physicists in Switzerland to allow for easier exchange of information and data between scientists. In 1993, the same people created a multimedia standard for the Internet that allowed text, graphics, audio, and even video to be easily created and exchanged around the world. The World-Wide Web, (or Web as it is commonly called) has exploded from a few hundred sites in 1993, to tens of millions in less than two years and its growth has been steadily increasing ever since.

A few samba lovers (or sambistas as they are called in Brazil) began seeing the potential of putting samba information on the Web, began preparing their own sites in cyberspace not knowing how it would change their lives in only a few short months.

Let's face it: playing, dancing, and singing samba is not the most common activity, unless of course you are in Brazil. What is more common than coffee in Brazil, is more rare than diamonds abroad. Finding a samba group outside Brazil is more difficult than it was finding one Web page out of the millions in the Internet before there were search engines (search engines are web sites dedicated to helping find anything about anything on the Web). But the web created cybercommunities with no political, geographic, or cultural barriers. All of a sudden, the world was one community - and that included of course the sambistas.

The first samba group on the web was a fairly new samba school in Long Beach, California. Other groups followed. The Edinburgh Samba in the United Kingdom, a Swedish samba group, and also the Finns. Pretty soon there was a small group of people on the Web all with the same interest: samba. A sambistas mailing list was organized and soon, a World-Wide Samba Home Page was launched. (A "home page" is like the index of a book from which one can easily connect to other pages of information related to that site, whether it be local or from the other side of the world). Together, the World-Wide Samba Home Page and the electronic mailing list did what no other technology had done before: brought the international samba community together for the first time.

Other sambistas from around the world joined in. From Japan, Israel, and even Brazil people started coming on-line. The World-Wide Samba Home Page was voted as one of the top 5% sites in the entirety of the Web which contains an estimated 15 million pages..

The beginning - Harri Engstrand, president of Imp‚rio do Papagaio, a samba school in Helsinki, Finland, was preparing a Web page for his samba school when SambaL launched its own home page. Engstrand was a little disappointed that David de Hilster, the president of SambaL , had beaten him out. But he would get very soon over it, mainly due to the satisfaction to suddenly discover to many people around the world who shared his passion for samba.

Both schools were preparing for their annual Carnaval parades. Samba-L would have their first in Long Beach in June. For Imp‚rio do Papagaio, also in June, it was their sixth year. Carnaval passed and both David and Harri, like others, kept tabs on what was happening in other samba groups around the world.

David posted information about SambaL 's first anniversary party.

Harri saw the announcement on the Web and felt moved to see a new samba school surviving its first year. Knowing the joy and pain of starting such an organization outside of Brazil, he did something that would link even more the schools: he sent SambaLa carnival posters, a T-shirt, a birthday card and a small audio cassette containing a samba enredo (a samba school's annual theme song) in Finnish. Everything sounded Brazilian except for the fact that it was in Finnish.

David decided to take the challenge and learn the song even though he didn't know a word of Finnish. David, who has a master's in Linguistics, lived almost three years in Rio. Although he speaks Portuguese fluently, learning a samba in Finnish wouldn't be easy. SambaL 's president knows that the best way to learn a song in another language is to practice the melody first, ignoring the words. That's the way he has been learning new samba songs from Brazil.

Many people knew that David was learning a samba in Finnish and it didn't surprise them. "David is crazy!" is a phrase that the computer expert and artist hears a lot. After all, he did start a samba school without knowing what a samba school really was. The Finns also called him a "crazy" American for trying to sing Finnish without knowing Finnish. Finnish is supposedly one of the hardest languages in the world to learn. But that made the challenge even more interesting for him.

David decided to wait until the first Sunday of the month to officially "launch" the song. He wanted to video-tape the event for the Finns. He chose the first Sunday in November (the 5th, 1995) for the big event. He suggested to Harri that the two samba schools become sister samba schools. To his knowledge, they would be the first samba schools outside of Brazil to do such a thing. In Brazil it is very common for the larger samba schools to have affiliates or sister samba schools in other cities and even states. The larger schools usually help smaller schools by sending costumes and other things. This relationship would be one of friendship. Sort of samba school "pen pals".

It seems unimaginable that cyberspace could generate such passion and feelings over such a great distance. Many people say that cyberspace is a cold and impersonal place - a place that strips you of your natural senses and replaces them with artificial sensors. Yet such as attitude overlooks a revolutions that is taking place on the Internet that is making the impossible possible: the forming of a community that could not exist in the physical world.

And among the first settlements in cyberspace, one now hears the vibration of samba. And within that cyber community, two samba schools met, exchanged culture, and have become lifelong friends.

The cyberspace sambistas continue to grow and thrive. The non-Brazilian sambistas are now starting talk of organizing an international league of samba schools and an "Encontro 2000" (Encounter 2000) in Rio de Janeiro where all international samba schools would get together and form one large international samba school! All via the Internet.

But nothing said it better than the words of the Finnish song that made its way halfway around the world to California all thanks to this new technology: "Once upon a time... That much you can always believe if you just want to."

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Author: Shukla, Divya Article Title: Mogul in the making Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.7; N.123 Publication Date: 03-31-96 Page: p. 24

Mogul in the making.

Sunday afternoon Brazilian television entertainer Gugu Liberato has achieved success as a TV host, financial rewards as a savvy businessman and stardom as a master at publicity. The youngest child of Portuguese immigrants, Ant"nio Augusto Liberato (a.k.a. Gugu), contributed to his family's income by working at a real estate agency in São Paulo as an office-boy when he was 13 years old. Now at the age of 37, his net worth is calculated to be around $18 million.

Gugu Liberato is the host of a four hour television show called Domingo Legal telecast by the SBT network owned by the king of television entertainment S¡lvio Santos. The variety show concentrates mainly on humorous pieces similar to the American television show Candid Camera. Domingo Legal originally aired on July of 1994 and has captivated the Brazilian audience ever since.

In response to the show's popularity, the competitor network O Globo retaliated by assigning popular shows in the same time slot as Domingo Legal. Gugu fought back with a new idea - a weekly surprise visit to any one of the 500 thousand fan letters that he has received, so far. These weekly visits are not only a complete surprise, but also a complete invasion of privacy. In previous episodes, Gugu has walked through each and every room of the chosen home, with no regard given to what the homeowner might be doing, which often times has included taking a shower.

Domingo Legal's most popular skit is the piece called O Taxi Do Gugu (Gugu's Cab), during which the host dressed in one of his many disguises (he can be an old and grumpy guy or a young metal rocker will pick-up unsuspecting participants in a cab equipped with two hidden cameras. During one of these taxi rides, Gugu drove a passenger on a wild ride through the streets of São Paulo while pretending to be blind. And nothing stopped the host from actually driving on sidewalks, not even the screams of the passenger.

The Taxi Do Gugu show has offended passengers during at least two occasions. Once when a foul-smelling gas was released inside the cab, all in the name of humor, and passengers felt ill. Another time when the show contracted a young boy to throw paint on a passenger ruining her dress in the process. Afterwards, Domingo Legal's producer. Afterwards, Domingo Legal's producer. Homero Salles, opted to pay for all of the damages incurred and also chose to enact a few informal rules, which include excluding pregnant and elderly passengers from the cab episodes claiming that they might not be healthy enough to survive the scares provided by the gags.

Cruel humor? The Brazilian audiences seem to be eating it up! The Ibope (Brazilian system of ratings) has been registering record high ratings. The ratings have been so good that they have surpassed those received by Xuxa, the television personality best known for hosting a variety show aimed at children.

The rear doors of the taxi, used during the filming of O Taxi Do Gugu, are now kept locked following an incident with a passenger that threatened to jump out when Gugu, in disguise, said that the cab was being followed by a jealous husband. The fact that he was able to convince this passenger, along with others, is proof of his satisfactory acting abilities. For Gugu, the cab driver, it is hard not to be recognized as Gugu, the celebrity. He has even had to change automobiles twice. Gugu's taxi-cab-show inspiration is an aristocratic cab driver that he met during a vacation trip from Nice to Cannes, in France.

A master at publicity, Gugu is often romantically linked to several of the young dancers that appear regularly on the show, although, he admits to being a hopeless bachelor who is too busy to date. He often prefers the company of a good whisky.

Gugu says that his preferred hobby is gardening but rumor has it that the actual gardener is his driver Ant"nio, who takes care of the beautiful garden in front of his house.

The TV host's monthly salary of $70 thousand, in addition, to business smarts (in 1994 his companies made $24 million), has enabled him to be an avid investor. Gugu Liberato has owned several export companies, such as Banatropi which exported banana drinks to Europe. Banatropi, along with other food and beverage companies were sold by him when profit levels became scarce. Gugu currently owns Promoart and Gugu Promoçoes e Merchandising. Promoart promotes artists such as Banana Split, the duo Jean e Marcos and the popular singer Marcelo Augusto.

Along with a partner, he is investing in Parque do Gugu (Gugu's Park), to be built in a São Paulo shopping center. Parque do Gugu will be an entertainment center filled with video games, virtual reality games and space for shows.

Gugu's humble beginnings are a contrast to his current life style. He lives in the height of luxury in a house furnished with Persian rugs, two swimming pools and an art collection. The $1.5 million house is located in an isolated mountainous region of São Paulo called Aldeia da Serra, a barely populated area that is occupied by 800 families. This luxurious mansion is merely one of the five homes owned by this television host. Gugu also owns an apartment building.

When one mentions Gugu, it is hard not to draw comparisons between him and S¡lvio Santos. S¡lvio Santos, his mentor and employer, also had similar humble origins being the son of immigrants. S¡lvio didn't work as an office-boy, but he was a street vendor. S¡lvio and Gugu even dress alike - a formal suit and tie attire. When questioned about the similarities, Gugu's response has always been that there will never be an equal to S¡lvio Santos.

Gugu met S¡lvio Santos while studying journalism at the C sper Libero College in São Paulo. The latter employed him as a reporter for his Semana do President (The President's Week). Gugu was responsible for following and interviewing then President general Joao Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo (1979-1985). Gugu's television host career actually started in 1982 when he starred in the show Viva a Noite. Prior to this he had been a radio personality for 10 years.

In an apparent contrast to his materialistic exterior and his chubby figure is

Gugu's spirituality. He keeps in his office a small chapel dedicated to St. Jude, known in Brazil as the saint for the impossible causes. Gugu, who was an altar boy, belongs to a deeply religious family. Gugu's mother, Maria do C‚u, told Isto � magazine of a miracle (prayers to St. Anthony of Padua) that made her youngest son recover from pneumonia as an infant, and to this day she is devoted and grateful to that saint.

Gugu Liberato's immediate goal is to own a television network similar to his mentor S¡lvio Santos. He even has a name for the venture: Sistema Liberato de Comunicaçao. Until then, Gugu will surround himself with art, fans, success and whisky, of course.

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Author: Gilman, Bruce Article Title: The Attack of the Killer B.....s! Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.7; N.123 Publication Date: 03-31-96 Page: p. 39

The Attack of the Killer B.....S!.

Unanticipated and coming from São Paulo, they're startling Brazilian children between the ages of 8 and 13. They're surprising teenagers with a mixture of off color words, good humor, and a total disregard of cultural mores. They're creating a fervor. There is no antidote for the young who crave a heavy-metal sting. Radios in Rio and São Paulo were assaulted by their unexpected concoction. Children's TV programs have been superseded by every Brazilian adolescents' favorite diversion today, a musical virus that answers to the irresistible name Mamonas Assassinas. Killer Breasts!

Surprise was the first reaction for those who heard the name of this band from Guarulhos, São Paulo, that launched its first recording in July. Nonetheless, the phenomenon of Mamonas Assassinas is the present condition of Brazilian pop music. The thinking is that the deficit of good ideas in MPB (Brazilian Popular Music) has created "alternative" groups that migrated from the secondary school playgrounds to recording studios and became the dominant sound on the radio.

Kids in Brazil have always adored changing the lyrics of well-known songs to objectionable ones and making a parody of the tune's original meaning. They have always loved suggestive jokes. As a result, people in Rio today can always tell which homes have children as they will inevitably hear a discharge of Mamonas Assassinas blaring out into the street. Analogous to Beavis and Butt-head in the United States, anything that amuses young people (the more idiotic the better) is fair game for the media.

To the despair of many Brazilian parents, their kids are consuming the newly released CD with voracious appetites. Attempting to please their capricious kids, some uninformed and "out of touch" parents have innocently agreed to buy the disc. Still upon first hearing, have forbidden their kids to waste their time with "such garbage: and have threatened to return the recording. As with most threats, however, the parents have had to bite the bullet. In the case of Mamonas, the bullet is rather large and goes straight to the head.

In the last few months, Mamonas Assassinas has been performing five shows per week, sometimes three in one day, charging an average fee of 20,000 reais (more than $20,000) for each time they take the stage, giving them an income of over 400,000 reais (around $440,000). Their first recording sold over 350,000 copies in the first two months after release, more than the last CDs by renowned singer-composers Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque, and Milton Nascimento combined.

The attack-by-debauchery marathon seems to be beneficial. Their highly abusive lyrics plus a mixture of bizarre rhythms, has inserted Mamonas Assassinas as the most played group on Brazilian radio. In fact, Mamonas is currently getting more radio air-play in Rio and São Paulo than any other artist. Despite the fact that the recording is a comparatively new release, the band played recently at Arpoador beach to an enthusiastic crowd of over

three thousand that had their song lyrics memorized. Afterwards, with questionable sincerity, Dinho, the band's singer, stipulated in cynical terms that the band's music is a divine inspiration.

With or without the intention of offending, the group uses a heavy-metal guitar sound and ruthless lyrics to ridicule the continental Portuguese, the Caipiras (hillbillies), and principally the people from the sertao (backland people from the Northeast) who immigrate to São Paulo and Rio looking for work during the horrendous Northeastern droughts. These are people who dress and speak differently, who are often illiterate and who will do anything, any type of work, to survive in the big city. They are also a quick-thinking group of people who eventually become acculturated, but who are terribly exploited when they first arrive.

In the thousands of interviews the group has given, one question inevitably rears its head: Why Mamonas Assassinas? The relationship between the name and music is even more bizarre after eyeballing the group's trademark, an enormous pair of firm female breasts that tower over the band members who are carousing below them. The band's 22 year old bass player, Samuel, explained that he dreamt of a name that would bring them success. Even without the fantasies, the band hides behind a cover of natural irreverence.

Until a short time ago, the five Mamonas all had day jobs and would practice in their free time what they exchange today for enormous sums of money. The five live in Guarulhos, close to the international airport on the outskirts of São Paulo where watching planes take off and land is the principal entertainment for the poor. The only attraction in the city is the noisy. Cumbica airport. There is no night life in Guarulhos.

On Saturday nights, young people who have enough change in their pockets catch rides to the neighboring cities of Mairipora or Vinhedo where there is a little more happening. Because the five Mamonas, friends for more than six years, had eternally empty pockets, their only form of entertainment had been bringing together the rest of kids and guiding them through long sessions of brainlessness that helped to minimize their hard lives. They became specialists in inventing off-color escapades.

Samuel was an office boy for four years, and after that a clerk. His 26 year old brother S‚rgio, the group's drummer, worked as a production controller for Olivetti typewriters. Bento Hinoto, the guitar player, was the co-owner of a firm that used to install ceilings and office partitions. Júlio, the keyboard player and only member of the band who had a car, used to work as a technician in a diesel motor factory. Dinho, a Baiano, had a situation that his peers from Bahia would joke about but would also have preferred. He lived off of his parents allowance.

At 24, and with the mind of a 13 year old. Dinho is the soul of the group. He was born in Irecˆ in Bahia but moved to Guarulhos before he was a year old. His parents were going to chance living in the great city of São Paulo. His father is a real estate broker, his mother a housewife and evangelist. Needless to say, Dinho does not follow the word of the Gospel. But this does explain why religion is the sole area that has not been touched by the iconoclastic band's humor, that has in fact been avoided so far.

Until the fifth grade Dinho studied in public school. Later, he tried a vocational school, but in the end he was expelled because of his eccentricity. From the time he was a boy Dinho enjoyed making imitations and is very

convincing, especially with distinctive types of people like those from the north and from the interior of São Paulo with their characteristic accents and quaint expressions. He is a clown by nature and was early to discover his avocation for pantomiming celebrities. When he was only 15 years old, he went to a friend's wedding dressed as Michael Jackson wearing a silver jockstrap over his outfit and, of course, the sequined glove trademark. Even the priest laughed.

Dinho never studied singing but practiced by listening to recordings and repeating each nuance and every section until his interpretation sounded exactly like the original. In this way, his voice developed its variety of registers. Coincidentally, this is also the way that notable TV and radio mimics have developed their voices. Dinho never missed an opportunity to dress like a clod, go out into the streets, and interview people while imitating radio and political personalities. Today he continues these same antics on stage between songs.

The first contact Dinho had performing on a stage was thanks to his buffoonery. It happened outdoors at an apartment project for the poor close to where Dinho lived. It was a festa junina, a traditional June party where the backland people, the Brazilian hillbillies, are imitated. A rock band playing at the party was giving up because they didn't know how to sing an enormous hit of the time: Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns and Roses. The band announced that they would have to play an instrumental version of the tune unless someone at the party knew the lyrics and would be willing to come up on stage and sing. Dinho, the outrageous clown who spent his time showing-off even more so than his tasteless friends, went straight ahead.

He didn't know the lyrics but simulated the poses and mannerisms of a top model and pantomimed the singer Axl Rose. He pranced and swaggered around the stage making so much racket that he became a local idol. The public was ecstatic, and the band decided to adopt Dinho as their singer. They went directly from the show to a karaoke bar where Dinho made his friends explode with laughter.

The tremendous response to the band's new line-up prompted Dinho and his friends to start making some money. They began promoting themselves by performing at rallies for political candidates at the city hall in Guarulhos. Dinho, composer of most of the groups' songs, said that it was probably his fault that the candidates for whom he was working lost the elections.

Before becoming a success, Mamonas had been a band called Utopia that played funk and heavy-metal. Dinho brought his imitations into this arena with performances of tunes by Cazuza and Herbert Vianna of Paralamas do Sucesso. Utopia's music lampooned people and parodied the way they live. In fact, many of the tunes on Mamonas's current release were composed during this phase of the band's evolution, when its orientation was doing cover versions of other heavy-metal bands' material.

Utopia also did cover versions of tunes in many other styles: pagode, sertaneja, forr¢ and in this way developed a certain proficiency in those styles. Dinho had already learned to play violao (guitar) by playing backland music with his father. It is the band's familiarity, their competence with these diverse styles, which demonstrates that their versions truly bear no malice.

Guitar player, Bento Hinoto, a Japanese-Brazilian with dreadlocks, stated that

the guys in the band like all kinds of music, especially progressive rock, but that they decided to concentrate on a particular sound, a sound similar to engenheiros do Hawaii, (the trio from Porto Alegre that writes philosophical lyrics and uses heavy instrumentation) because Engenheiros were successful. Keyboard player and singer of "Vira-Vira", Julio Rasec, joked that Utopia once recorded a disc for an independent label that sold over 50 copies.

Through the experience of Utopia, the band's explicit humor and repertoire gradually developed. They took their music seriously at first but were not seasoned musicians and initially experienced monumental confusion on stage. Little by little they were finding that while performing one tune they were delivering an alternate message to their public. The Utopia phase of the group's history lasted for five years before the group decided to assume their current style and start writing the types of parodies that infect all of their shows today. The next step was changing the group's name and expanding the new repertoire. The change was apropos.

Impressed by the strong reception they were getting for their parodies, the band went to a low-budget studio in the very simple Trememb‚ neighborhood with the intention of recording only four of their funniest tunes. The owner of the studio was impressed and sent a copy to one of his contacts in Rio. The tape turned up in the hands of Joao Augusto, director at EMI, who asked if the band had more music. Although the band had very little material at the time, Dinho said that they had about 20 tunes and could record at any time.

The songs on the current disc, aside from the four that were recorded, in Trememb‚, were wholly composed in only three weeks. Each track plays like an episode of the Three Stooges and runs the emotional gamut from A to C. Even the technicians at the recording date were bursting out laughing at the band's absurdities. During the recording of "Robocop Gay," for example, the singer in underwear would imitate a girl doing a strip tease. Nonetheless, with these compositions and a poor quality tape the band landed a contract with EMI that allowed them to complete the final mix in the United States.

Besides plane fare and hotel costs each musician received an advance of $500.00 from Joao to shop for clothes. When they returned to Cumbica airport in Guarulhos, they arrived as the pride of their city and were dressed like idols. Today the group's performance attire is ad diverse as the styles of music that they parody.

The strength of Mamonas Assassinas, their humor and uncanny ability to parody other groups, stems from the long established tradition with São Paulo pop bands that delight in plagiarizing other bands and pop music in general and then lampooning the music. Premˆ, for example, recorded a loose satire on the tune "New York, New York" titled "São Paulo, São Paulo" that was humorously cynical and chided rather than praised the city's traffic, adolescent pickpockets, and pollution. The lyrics spoke with irony about the city's Italian immigrants and scorned its political leadership.

Despite the fact that Mamonas Assassinas follows a similar off-color style as the band Raimundos, they have an advantage over their peers from Brasilia. The Mamonas fusion of sound is more pop and less noisy, the ideas behind the band's foolishness fluctuate from tune to tune, a greater diversity of themes is present in the lyrics, and Mamonas Assassinas puts forth exceptional cultural insights.

Mamonas hasn't stopped at simple platitudes. They belittle the spoken dialect

of São Paulo where the plural form of nouns is not employed. Dinho sings without the pluralizing "s." But the parody doesn't stop with just the lyrics and grammar. Mamonas takes music like Henry Mancini's "Baby Elephant Walk" or "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by punk band The Clash and creates musical anecdotes with a scorching sarcastic tone. The singer Belchior, a success in the 70's with his philosophical lyrics, is imitated in the band's "Uma Arlinda Mulher": Vocˆ foi agora a coisa Mais importante Que ja me aconteceu Neste momento em Toda minha vida Um paradoxo do Pret‚rito imperfeito, Complexo com a Teoria da relatividade Num momento crucial, um s bio soube saber Que o sabia sabia assobiar E quem amafagafar os mafagafinhos Bom amafagafigador ser You are now The most important this That has happened to me In this moment In my entire life A paradoxical of the Past imperfect, Complicated with the Theory of relativity, In a crucial moment, a wise man knew how to know That the song-thrush knew how to sing And whoever amafagafar the mafagafinhos Good amafagafigador will be

The song just puts words together that don't mean a thing but can sound conclusive when taken all together.

Belchior is, as are many targets of these parodies, a fan of Mamonas. He stated that although the diction used in some of the group's music may have some reference to his way of singing, he doesn't feel that it is offensive. He is aware that it is not flattering but feels that the intention is not so much to criticize as to have fun.

All of the tracks from the current release have the potential of being played frequently on the radio. "Vira-Vira," an impeccable mockery of the continental Portuguese, is the third most often played song on the radio in São Paulo. The vira is a dance and a style of singing in Portugal. Despite their use of politically incorrect expressions, the band has made an incontestable bull's eye with the public.

"Vira-Vira" is unquestionably the most high-handed track out of the 14 no less irreverent ones. With the tune the Portuguese folk dance and song is raped by noisy heavy-metal guitars and a disturbing lyric content. The narrative speaks of the duress of a Portuguese baker who starts an adventure of group sex with a woman.

Besides this Portuguese couple, the band describes other amusing situations like, husbands who are worried about their wives' addiction to the television shopping channel, construction workers who are enamored with Jean-Claude Van Damme, homosexual body-builders and their ensuing activities. In the musical mockeries it is possible to identify parodies not only of singers like Belchior, but also of Zez‚ Di Camargo & Luciano, Cauby Peixoto, and Max Cavalera, singer for Sepultura.

The satire assumes levels of conceptual ideas because the ideas are prejudiced. Dinho, however, defends himself by saying that he doesn't speak badly about anybody, that he only shows daily life. He goes on to say that the music is not created by chance, that it is always inspired by some character around them.

Sometimes the inspiration comes from other compositions, as did the samba full of heavy-metal guitar "La Vem to Alemao" that had as its model "L Vem o Negao" by the São Paulo group Cravo e Canela. Mamonas batters samba pagode with "La Vem to Alemao." Although the tune is an explicit satire of the

pagode scene today, musicians from the pagode groups Art Popular and Negritude Junior participated in recording the track. Other pagode musicians, like Alexandre Pires from the group S¢ Pra Contrariar, applaud the validity of the groove and perceive the comical tune as it should be - a facetious joke.

"L Vem a Alemao" speaks about a man whose girlfriend dumps him for a blonde guy, the owner of a Ford Escort. Dinho interprets the pain of the betrayed with a voice identical to the singer of the pagode group Raça Negra, Luiz Carlos. But this is not making a mockery of samba. The groove is authentic pagode. Dinho said that the band made a real effort to catch what is important in the pagode sound mix.

Titas is a band that plays music from punk to reggae to brega (gooey romantic songs whose basic meaning has been changed for the worse). On their celebrated third album, Cabeça Dinossauro, which was chosen as the best Brazilian album of the 1980s by Jornal do Brasil, the rock band scrutinized modern societal institutions and assaulted all who uphold its hypocrisy. The album is satirized by Mamonas with "Cabeça de Bagree II." Bagre is common name for fish, but cabeca de bagre is also slang for moron. Hinoto's pulverizing slash-guitar style on the track demands hearing!

Marcelo Frommer, guitar player for Titas, has a 12 year old daughter that is a Mamonas fan and doesn't see any problem with the irony of Mamonas. He stated that Mamonas does everything on the basis of stereotype, imitating brega, imitating pagode. In the beginning he felt that Mamonas was in bad taste then started to view it as a healthy form of bad taste.

The heavy-metal dementia on the disc includes the tracks "Pelados em Santos" ("Naked in Santos," a São Paulo beach), Chopis Centis, and Robocop Gay. Chopis Centis targets people from the Northeast who become dazzled and seduced with the splendor of the big cities' shopping centers. In Rio the tune is among the 10 most often played songs on the radio.

A very good explanation for the public's receptivity of a group that mixes the most aggressive form of heavy-metal, with quick-witted arrangements that utilize a variety of rhythmic grooves - fado, pagode, rock, forr¢, sertaneja, and brega, (depending on who and what they are mocking) is that you listen and your laugh is instantaneous.

Another explanation for the band's success is that their lyrics capture and give more emphasis to the language and dialect used by Brazilian kids among their peers than any other song lyrics have up until now. These lyrics oscillate between mockery, bad taste, the grotesque, and the absurd.

Can they come up with material as strong for their next release? Dinho said that he wrote the lyrics to "Vira-Vira" in 15 minutes inside Julio's VW bug. He says that he is not afraid of being without ideas because he is not pretending, that nobody imagined it would be possible to put together the Portuguese vira dance with heavy-metal guitar.

In the same way Mamonas Assassinas is promising to catch everyone by surprise with their next release. It remains to be seen whether Mamonas Assassinas will be around for a while or if they are going to be only an exceptional craze that looses its breath when the joke is repeated. Until then the jokes just keep going by.

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Author: Adams, Scott Article Title: Brazilian Notas Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.7; N.123 Publication Date: 03-31-96 Page: p. 45

Brazilian Notas.

Take a look at a picture of Ricardo Silveira, and you'll have a portrait of international musicianship. For the better part of the last decade now, the Brazilian guitarist has consistently and creatively redefined his role in contemporary jazz by successfully balancing the cultures of two countries. On one hand, it's his Brazilian roots. On the other it's his nearly adopted home town of Los Angeles, which has been his address for most of his stateside years. the west coast has provided the essential bridge for Silveira in building a common link between his Brazilian heritage and his always anticipated future. This connection has evolved through his past recording projects for Verve, including Long Distance, Sky Light, Amazon Secrets and Small World. But now, hot on the heels of his latest release Storyteller from Kokopelli, Ricardo Silveira has found himself in a strange position. Back In Brazil. Recently, I caught up with him poolside at Copacabana's famous Rio Atlƒntica Hotel.

"I wanted to spend some time back here in Rio," he said. "It's been a long time since I've stayed around here and it was time for a change. I'll probably do some touring here and then begin writing again. Coming up with new ideas has never been a problem for me, but it takes time and a relaxed frame of mind and rio seemed like the right inspiration for now." Writing is just one of Silveira's strong suits. Storyteller's top charting sales and radio success is due in part to his ability to transcend cultural boundaries with a distinct musical style that appeals to a wide range of listeners. Many of the songs contained on the album are three of even four years old, the result of some creative soul searching and an expert knack for arrangement and tight ensemble play. This formula has been a constant in Silveira's work from the very beginning.

"My first Verve album, Long Distance was really a shot in the dark. Going in, I didn't have a strong sense of direction for the project, so I had to rely on my intuition and Liminha's perspective. Of course, I had some really great musicians to work with including Pat Metheny, Leo Gandelman, and David Sanborn. Leila Pinheiro made her US debut with that recording. Everything just seemed to fall into place. After that, we had something to build on." And build he did, with the next three albums reaching #1 on jazz radio playlists nationwide. Traditions began to form. Silveira stayed the course, augmenting his world class talent with top notch guest musicians from both the US and Brazil. And his intuition remains right on track.

"I don't think at all about what will sell or become a hit. I concentrate on what the song is telling me, what feels right. For instance, "Francesa" went through several changes before it got to the point where I felt comfortable with it. Everyone knows that there's a wide range in the quality of music for contemporary jazz, and it's amazing to me to see what groups like fourplay can accomplish for themselves. But sometimes, I'll hear something on the radio and think what is that?" Silveira's at his musical best when he incorporates soft flowing guitar melodies with improvisation that showcases his technical

mastery. He is widely regarded in Brazil as the best ever to come along in this regard. His years at the Berklee College of Music and then later with Herbie Mann provided the baseline for his accumulation of musical influence.

"I play from a Brazilian point of view, but not traditional Brazilian music," Silveira said. "There are elements of funk and jazz, but I don't like to say that I play fusion. There's a lot more to my music than just that." Ricardo Silveira's musical world began in Rio de Janeiro in October of 1956. Born into a creative family, his own interest in the guitar lay dormant until age 16. His cultural interplay with the US began about that same time, due to friendships kindled with students at an American school in Rio. Records were traded. Jobim for John Mayall. Joao Gilberto for Eric Claption. Bossa for Rock & Roll.

The mid 70's saw him in Boston studying music by day and playing at night with the aforementioned flute player, and Sonny Fortune. The venues soon changed to New York, and Silveira's career was underway. Studio work was then added to the mix and armed with his experience and expectations, he returned to Brazil. Three years with Milton Nascimento helped to launch his international reputation. He recorded and worked with the best Brazilian singers and musicians: Gal Costa, Ivan Lins, Gilberto Gil, Elis Regina to list but a few. His own debut album as a solo artist came in 1984, with Bom de Tocar (Good To Play).

Ricardo would be the first to say that looking back is only good for seeing where you were, so it's fair to ask where he's headed next: "This time in Brazil is important for me right now. My son Pedro and I are enjoying the time together and I'm starting to hum a few new melodies from time to time. But for me, the music takes time to develop on its own. I'm not in a hurry and I've got plenty of ideas to work with. I'm planning to tour the US this year with Los Gatos, a special Latin American group we've put together, and I'm really looking forward to playing with Abraham Laboriel and the rest of the members. It should be a great time. I'm just a musician that likes a lot of different kinds of music, and I feel it's great to have those musical worlds to explore."

You may sample these albums 24 hours a day by calling The Brazilian Music Review Listener Line at (708) 292-4545.

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Author: Wyszpolski, Bondo Article Title: Osman Lins redux Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.7; N.123 Publication Date: 03-31-96 Page: p. 54

Osman Lins redux.

For over 15 years, one of the most prized volumes in my personal library has been Avalovara, by Osman Lins, which was published in translation by Alfred A. Knopf in 1980. In September of 1990, when I reviewed the University of Texas Press paperback for News from Brazil, I wrote: "Re-reading it 10 years later, it seems to me an oversight of the highest order that Avalovara has been the only one of (Lins' prose works) to reach North America. Osman Lins was a true master. Where are his other books?"

The enforced patience has at last been rewarded. Sun & Moon Press has now given us Nine, Novena (1966), the inter-related short stories, or narratives, that marked Lins' break with traditional fiction and served as a testing ground for Avalovara, which followed in 1973. Almost simultaneously, Dalkey Archive Press has published The Queen of the Prisons of Greece (1976), the last novel Lins completed before his death in 1978 at age fifty-four. Both works are smoothly and intelligently translated by Adria Frizzi.

To round-out this double gift and surprise, The Review of Contemporary Fiction has devoted nearly 70 pages of its Fall 1995 issue to Lins, filling it with essays about him and his work, as well as the author's own musings on the art of the novel and the place of the writer in society.

In the January, 1994 issue of News from Brazil, Gregory Rabassa, the translator into English of Avalovara (not to mention such classics as Hopscotch and One Hundred Years of Solitude), said that "Osman Lins Certainly needs more attention; Avalovara is a masterpiece, an exemplar of the present form of the new novel." He also voiced the hope that it would become one of the enduring works of the century, for Latin America in particular and for the world in general. My own review asserted that "the author releases such a downpour of imagery that one may stop and pronounce him the Brazilian Blake or van Gogh." But since Avalovara has been available in Dr. Rabassa's fine translation for many years, we'll bypass it for now and instead look at the works that are newly available and therefore less familiar to an English-speaking audience.

The Queen of the Prisons of Greece is a worthy successor to Avalovara, but clearly the latter novel is Lins' masterpiece and the author has not outdone it here, only gone off in another inventive direction. Nriefly, the narrator's lover - Júlia Marquezim Enone - has been hit by a truck(!) and killed at age 33, leaving behind an unpublished novel she's entitled The Queen of the Prisons of Greece (the reason for the odd title emerges towards the final pages). The unnamed narrator, a high school science teacher, toys with an idea: "I dream of discoursing about my dead friend's book, visited so many times and still so full of secrets." He begins cautiously, deciding to keep a journal of his thoughts and explorations of her book. He knows he will not be able to suppress his personal feelings, and he writes, "only my restraint... if I don't overcome it, and a certain tact, will limit the frankness of the work - an analysis or, who knows, just a memoir - from which an elegiac note

will certainly not be missing."

Júlia Marquezim Enone, we learn, "structured The Queen of The Prisons of Greece around an uninterrupted chain of events centering of Maria de França, a moneyless mulatto heroine lost in the stairways, corridors and halls of the social welfare bureaucracy, where she struggles to obtain a certain benefit."

Simple enough, and we sit alongside the narrator as he begins his at first hesitant, tentative study of a book we, the reader, have never seen and never will see. Ane because Lins' book has the same title as Júlia Enone's, obviously one has subsumed the other, an inversion has occurred, and the study is now the novel, and the novel is now the study. Already, the ground is going soft under our feet in this sort of Borges-meets-deconstructionism which pulls us in deeper and deeper as, again, perched beside the narrator, we marvel as Lins explores the possibilities of the modern novel.

Our journalist, as in journal-writer, tells us that The Queen has crafty constructions, and examines the novel "as double, built in layers and purporting to be its own analysis. For example, as if there were no Júlia Marquezim Enone or The Queen of the Prisons of Greece, as if the present piece of writing were actually the novel by that name and I myself were a fiction."

It seems that the subject of this book is the book as subject: "Could questions be the only means of knowledge really granted to us?" Also, "Every work of art fashions its own theory." And the narrator asks whether "the concept of literary work simply evolves, refines itself..."

The Queen of the Prisons of Greece, "conceived as an absurd radio monologue" disrupted by "sequences of madness" more and more resembles "walking through a festive neighborhood in which strains of music come at us from the shops and the side streets: the book resonates."

By the time the narrator completes the first one hundred pages of his journal we're already finding ourselves "in the tenuous frontier where reason, fascinated, surrenders to the absurd." In her novel, which certainly does a Kafka-like joust with the Brazilian social services system, Júlia Enone blurs the historical Olinda and the modern Recife (cities in the Northeast, on the bulge that projects into the Atlantic), juxtaposing landmarks where in reality they aren't to be found. We're given accounts of the Dutch invasion of this area in 1630, and of course we not only wonder how we got here, but wonder if the narrator is beginning to see patterns and pull things out of the text that may or may not have deliberately been put there.

Accurately, he assesses Júlia Enone's book as a "novel of permutations, where everything invades everything," where both text and meaning are malleable; and he realizes "that I'm weaving the web and weaving myself simultaneously."

It takes a great deal of faith on Lins' behalf to assume that we'll stick with him. "I know and you knew," his narrator thinks, addressing Júlia, "that works of art are as unlimited as our grasp is limited."

True works of art are larger than we are, and, like a black hole absorbing both matter and light, in we go, awash in a maelstrom of possibility. Slowly, our narrator, our guide, all but disintegrates into pure text, his words and ideas scattering and dispersing the way a sand castle returns to the fabric of the beach it has momentarily risen above and defied. And we speculate, perhaps, if it is purely a self-destruction or some kind of astonishing

embracing and integration with Júlia Marquezim Enone's text? Has the narrator somehow rejoined his lost beloved by all but literally sinking beneath the waves of her prose?

Osman Lins leaves us with plenty of food for thought, and to help in our digesting of it we turn to The Review of contemporary Fiction. In his essay, "The World Without Quotation Marks: A Gloss of the Gloss," Jos‚ Paulo Paes says of The Queen of the Prisons of Greece that it is "an illustration and a defense of the art of the novel, as well as a satire on certain pretensions of criticism or literary hermeneutics." And he goes on to call it "a deceptive play of contiguous mirrors: it is not an essay telling a novel but a novel that tells itself in the form of an essay..."

Raúl Antelo's "The Prison-House of Language according to Osman Lins" is a more theoretical and analytic essay than the one by Paes, which is quite lucid and far easier to grasp.

Actually, the pages (155-222) devoted to Lins commence with Adria Frizzi's sharply etched overview of the author and his context in the Latin American `boom' of the 1960s. She briefly assesses the last two completed novels and the narratives, Nine, Novena (for which she wrote a penetrating introduction that appears in the Sun & Moon edition).

This is followed by Edla Van Steen's stitched-together interview, responses compiled from many sources since Lins himself was too ill to complete it for her. It's a must-read which, together with Lins' own essay, "Of Idealism and Glory," coming on the heels of the interview, gives us a thoughtful look at Lins reflecting upon his life and his craft.

There is a sizeable fragment extant of a novel `forever tentatively' entitled The Head Carried in Triumph, which Lins did not live to complete. His widow, the writer and university professor Julieta de Godoy Ladeira, has selected a couple of passages for us, which Ms. Frizzi has translated. One is intrigued, of course, but there is simply not enough of it to know how the novel would have evolved.

Julieta de Godoy Ladeira then recounts how she and Osman Lins looked for foreign publishers and, perhaps more important, able translators. Lins' work has appeared in most of the major languages (even Polish and Hungarian), and most of the author-translator partnerships, his widow recalls, were productive.

It's nice to see Moacyr Scliar back in print. He pays a brief, apt tribute to Lins, whom he'd met in Porto Alegre in 1977. Scliar - whom I interviewed for News from Brazil in New York's Time Square in 1991 - has had several of his own novels and short story collections translated into English, including The Centaur in the Garden.

Next, there's "Narration in Many Voices," an obtuse and academic look at Nine, Novena by Benedito Nunes. Somewhat more enjoyable is "Nine, Novena's Novelty," in which Ana Lu¡za Andrade writes that "Nine, Novena's novelty consists in its being boldly playful and carefully systematic at the same time." Also, she says, "Nine, Novena, as with most of Lins' works, ultimately questions the role of the artist in a consumer society." It's a consideration that brings to mind The Other Voice, by Octavio Paz.

As for Avalovara, The Review of Contemporary Fiction reprints the review/paean

that critic and novelist Paul West wrote when the work first appeared in English. One can find it in Sheer Fiction, published by McPherson & Company, a superb collection of essays and reviews about some of the worldwide and world class writers of our time.

Last but not least, of course, is Nine, Novena itself, which leads off with an introduction by the translator, Adria Frizzi, itself a solid and sorely-needed orientation to Lins' unusual poetics.

It was Lins' intent, Frizzi says, "to return us to the mythic through the discourses of culture and the human arts." Also, she adds, "The art of stained glass windows - direct, synthetic and conscious of its limitations in the face of an overwhelming commitment to spirituality - is for Osman Lins the paradigm of what he aims at in his writing."

Frizzi compares these nine tales to retables, "frames often used as altar pieces enclosing a series of painted panels." Because some of the stories are a bit mystifying, it is more than a courtesy extended from publisher to reader that Frizzi's introduction gets us started down the right path.

There is, for example, "Hahn's Pentagon," in which several points of view seem to hover around an elephant that has come to town with the circus (one may be reminded of the parable of the blind men touching the various parts of an elephant, with each one likening it to something completely different). Like the cast of a Fellini film, the rotating characters - each represented by a symbol (or hieroglyph) - are a bit on the quirky side. Hahn, of course, is more emblem (and epicenter) than elephant, and is vested with a great deal of symbolic meaning and more than a geometric touch.

"Retable of Saint Joana Carolina" has the kind of prose that glides over the page, and it reminds this writer of the fluid, rhythmic styles found in The Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel Garc¡a M rquez, or The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by Jos‚ Saramago.

"Baroque Tale or Tripartite Unity" resembles a game with different paths to choose from, in which the reader is more than simply an observer. The various possible combinations recall the mechanics behind Julio Cort zar's Hopscotch.

"Lost and Found" contains the surge and ebb of many viewpoints, in which a child is lost at the beach and feared drowned. The narrative is interleaved with matter-of-fact accounts of prehistoric sea life (instilling the whole with a kind of literary cubism), to which is added other voices, about other searches, and on one level the story may be about those things we know, have known, but have now seen slip away to the point where they cannot be recovered.

The stories in Nine, Novena, as mentioned earlier, have the feel of a testing ground for Avalovara, but while the reader's response to the individual pieces may vary widely, from puzzlement to fascination, there seems to be a focused and deliberate approach that unifies the collection. As adria Frizzi writes in her introduction, "Nine, Novena represents a turning point in Lins' work, the relinquishment of a traditional approach to literature in favor of experimentation, and one of the most inventive moments in modern Brazilian literature."

Nine, Novena is published by Sun & Moon Press ($12.95 paperback, 276 pp.) at 6026 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036. Phone: (213) 857-1115; fax (213)

857-1115.

The Queen of the Prisons of Greece is published by Dalkey Archive Press ($12.95 paperback, 187 pp.) at Illinois State University, Campus Box 4241, Normal, IL 61790-4241. Phone (309) 438-7555; fax (309) 438-7422.

Avalovara is published by the University of Texas Press ($14.95 paperback, approx. 330 pp.) at PO Box 7819, Austin, TX 78713-7819. Phone (800) 252-3206.

The Review of Contemporary Fiction, Fall 1995 ($8 paperback, 269 pp.) can be acquired at the same address, phone and fax numbers as Dalkey Archive Press.

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Author: Mello, Rodney Article Title: recado Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.124 Publication Date: 04-30-96 Page: p. 5

recado.

Proportionally, Brazil has as many doctors as England with close to 1.5 professionals for 1,000 people. But the country is having a hard time dealing with Third World diseases at the same that it has to face First World ailments. A deficient healthcare system has to fight yellow fever, malaria and schistosomiases while at same time treating patients with arteriosclerosis and cancer.

Brazil devotes a mere 4.2% of fits Gross National Product to healthcare. Tiny Paraguay is even worse (2.8%), but Brazil loses even to poorer countries like India (6%) and El Salvador (5.9%). And lack of money is just part of the problem. The injustice of the system coupled with greed and corruption guarantees that 30% of the little money spent in healthcare ends up being looted.

All of this happens during an Administration that chose healthcare as one of its two priorities - the other one is education - and appointed a renowned and above-any-suspicion doctor to head the Health Ministry. The fact that minister Adib Jatene isn't being also to make any serious inroad in order to solve the healthcare crisis, is an indication according to some of the need for much deeper reforms than the ones tried until now.

If Brazil really wants to be admitted into the very private club of industrialized nations, it will need to cure more than its financial endemic troubles and it will need to pay more than just lip service to the health of its people.

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Author: Nascimento, Elma Lia Article Title: Sick and tired Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.124 Publication Date: 04-30-96 Page: p. 8

Sick and tired.

In 1995 the Brazilian Health Ministry received $15.8 billion to pay its bills. Thanks to this, the Sistema Unico de Saúde (Unified Health System) (SUS) was able to conduct one million doctor cnsultations a day, perform 4,120 heart surgeries, maintain 508.7 thousand hospital beds, and hospitalize 11,350 cancer patients. In 1989 Brazil became the first Latin America country to eradicate polio, and measles has been nearly eliminated with only around 1,500 new cases in 1995. And, Instituto Butanta, a leading research institution, has just announced that in a few months it will start producing a vaccine for hepatits B, helping the country rid itself of this preventable disease. From the early 50s to today life expectancy has increased from 46 to 65 years. Brazil has 6,500 hospitals and proportionally, as many doctors as England (1.46 professionals for 1,000 people). Quite impressive, huh?

All of this puts Brazil just a cut above Paraguay in resources devoted to healthcare and behind countries like India and EI Salvador. From the almost $16 billion spent in 95, $2.7 billion were used to pay staff, and another $2.9 billion went to cover old loans. While the US allocates 12.7% of its GNP to health, Brazil reserves only 4.2% for this purpose. Compare this with France (8.9%), India (6%), EI Salvador (5.9%) and Paraguay (2.8%). This means that less than $80 per capita was allocated to healthcare in BRazil last year whereas in neighboring Argentina this number was $300 and in the US, $2,300. That's what was being spent in the sector in 1987. The situation hit bottom in 1992 when a mere $45.7 per capita from federal funds was used for healthcare. While in 1950 the number of hospital beds offered by the state was roughly the same as her private sector, the participation of the public sector has decreased to 29% of all beds available.

An analysis of the SIAFI's (sistema Integrado de Administraçao Financeira do Tesouro National - National Treasure's Integrated System of Financial Administration) 1995 report shows that President Cardoso gave more money to healthcare when he was Finance Minister in 1994. The government invested 28.29% less in healthcare than in the previous year. This means a shortfall of $172 million, enough to triple the Pronaica, the largest health program of the federal government which assits children. It's not even a case of cuts across the board. The total amount of federal investments from `94 to `95 fell only 1.33%.

Lack of money made 1995 a particularly hard year for the Health Ministry. Preventive medicine had several cuts when compared to the previous year. Sanitary work received less than 1/4 of what had been promised. The National Health Foundation had a cut of 50% in their vaccination program. From 1986 to 1993, the percentage of the Gross Domestic Product applied in the social has grown from 8.7% to 12.6%. That means an increase from $43,986 million to $54,938 million. The health sector, which had received $12,736 million in 1989 had this amount reduced to $9,347 million in 1993.

Women have a toughter time. Mortality for mothers in Brazil is 150 every

100,000 births. In Japan, for example, this number if 50 times smaller, with 3 deaths for every 100,000 births. Around 5,000 women die every year due to pregnancy or postpartum complications. Experts say that 98% of these deaths could be avoided if some basic precautions were taken. Unicef (United Nations Children's Fund) estimates that between 9,000 and 15,000 children annually become orphans due to these deaths. High blood pressure is the main killer, followed by hemorrhages, infections and abortions, but cesareans also contribute to these deaths. And Brazil is the world champion of cesarean deliveries, accounting for 1/3 of all deliveries in the country. There is no recent data about infant mortality, but it is estimated that there are 5,000 deaths for every 100,000 live births. (In the US there are 828.8 deaths for 100,000). The Health Department has an one of its goals to reduce this number by half, by 1998.

Every 24 minutes there is a new case of breast cancer. Since there is very little preventive medicine, 60% of the women discover the disease when it is already advanced. Tests like the Pap smear used for detecting cervical cancer that could save many lives are reduced to five weekly exams in some public clinics due to the bureaucracy involved in the proceeding.

Before taking office, President Fernando Henrique Cardoso had presented his vision for the healthcare in his platform book Maos ... Obra, Brasil (Set to Work, Brazil). He wrote: "The crisis in the health sector is undeniable. Its visible face - scrapped hospitals, professionals on strike, patients thrown on cots in the corridors, lack of material and medicine - hides the failure of a model mainly interested in the cure and treatment of diseases."

Soon after being inaugurated, Cardoso established as priority goals for the health sector to reduce child mortality and to vigorously fight dengue and malaria. The President will be satisifed if he can cut in half the mortality rate that is now 45.3 deaths for every 1,000 born children. Symptomatically enough twice in the past Brazil had announced the elimination of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that transmits yellow fever and dengue. Close to 1,000 municipalities in 20 states now have Aedes aegypti. Dengue had disappeared at the beginning of the century, but in 1994 the number of dengue cases was 56,200, and it jumped to 96,100 cases just in the first eight months of 1995. As for malaria, spread by the Anopheles mosquito, Brazil hasn't been able to lower the incidence of the disease from an average of 540,000 cases a year in the last decade.

Other Third World diseases such as barber bug fever and schistosomiases spread by contaminated water are rampant. At least 1,069 municipalities have schistosomiases. While 90% of the population get water and sewage service in urban areas, this number falls to a mere 17% in the rural regions. Brazil is also having to deal with cholera which entered the country from Peru in 1991. In 1994 the disease attacked 51,344 people and killed 542. The year before, the number of cases was 60,340 and there were 670 deaths. As the older population increases, Brazil must also increasingly deal with First World ailments like heart disease and cancer.

Tuberculosis is another disease which is making a comeback. The disease was being fought successfully with a 2% decrease in cases annually. This trend, however, has switched direction again with the increases of AIDS cases. AIDS victims who also have tuberculosis offer a higher resistance to medication and facilitate the transmission of this infectious disease. In 1992, there were 74,000 new tuberculosis cases in the country, in 1993 it went up to 91,000 but it is believed that this number has now exceeded 100,000. Even old biblical

scourges like leprosy are on the increase. While in the early `80s there were 12 cases of leprosy for every 100,000 people, in the `90s this number has jumped to 20 cases.

Brazil is going through a period that experts call epidemiological transition. The country has to deal simultaneously with underdeveloped country diseases, and ailments such as cancer and arteriosclerosis more prevalent in industrialized nations. Sophisticated treatments in São Paulo, including heart surgeries, hemodialists and organs transplants, consume 40% of all the resources destined to health while benefiting only 3% of the popupation. For lack of money ($3 billion would be necessary) 1,750 new hospitals were started but were never finished.

Brazil has 160,000 dentists and every year 8,000 new ones enter the market from 90 odontological schools. But it doesn't help that the Brazilian dentist is considered one of the best - only American and Sweden dentists have more prestige - among its peers around the world. It is estimated that Brazil has 1.5 billion cavities. In a country where the loss of teeth seems to be considered as natural as the loss of hair more than 70% of the over-50 population have lost all its teeth. That means a nation with 25 million toothless mouths. The best Brazilian dentists are visited by clients from Europe and the US, but only 5% of the Brazilian population has access to private clinics in which this first-class treatment is available. The fluoridation of water has existed for 30 years in Brazil, however, only 30% of the population has benefited from it.

Despite being the eighth largest economy in the world, Brazil is number 74 in expenses in healthcare. The government is also infamous for late and underpayments. Since 1987, 150 million Brazilians, through the Sistema Unico de Saúde, are entitled to have their health problems taken care of by the state, even though there are still 10 million others left without assistance. Before `87, only those workers paying the extinct INPS (National Institute of Social Welfare) had the right to healthcare. At that time, close to 50 million Brazilians depended on charity when they got sick. Since then, the number of people who spend at least a night in the hospital during a year has increased from 10 million to 15 million. This explains why some health centers don't have enough beds and sometimes not even material for bandaging a wound.

For sanitarian Eduardo Levcovitz, who works as an aide for the Health Ministry, the new situation means that "health has improved 100% for 40 million people who were excluded from the system and has worsened a lot for the millions who were getting assistance." The situation is naturally better for those 32 million Brazilians who can afford a private health plan. The government indirectly subsidizes these prviate plans by allowing the taxpayer to deduct 100% of its medical expenses. That means $2 billion a year that the federal government doesn't collect. Private hospitals also get a tax exemption for importing sophisticated medical equipment. That can mean up to $20 billion a year. Since these machines are never used for the SUS clients, the government is studying a way to make them utilized at least 20% of the time to care for the poor population. For the rest of the population things should get better as soon as some measures, like transferring to the municipalities the responsibility of managing all health resources, are fully implemented. The idea is to do away with the state health departments or at least make them just a normative office.

The example of Natal, capital of Rio Grande do Norte, has shown that the new

system, being experimented with in 53 cities, can work. Since Natal became responsible for managing the money the federal, monthly bill to pay for hospitals has fallen from $1.7 million to $1 million. The economy allowed Natal to increase by 50% its outpatient assistance. Visits to doctors and dentists also grew by 23% and 28% respectively. Recife, capital of Pernambuco, also has a success story to tell. Their newly equipped and staffed ambulance crews are able to answer a call in ten minutes or less, thereby helping to relieve hospitals for more complex procedures. Recife's favelados (shanty town dwellers) now don't need to take a bus and go downtown for their lab tests. Every morning a minivan visits the six health districts and takes all the material for tests.

Many private hospitals, even some with non-profit status, are refusing to take SUS patients. The situtation is so chaotic and often so unbelievable that it borders on the absurd. Despite a 190% average increase in the fees the government pays for healthcare in 1995, a doctor receives $2 for a consultation roughly the price of a shoeshine - and the hospital receives not more than $130 for each normal childbrith. The Associaçao M‚dica Brasileira's (Brazilian Medical Association) own price list determines that the consultation should cost $20. Doctors get paid an average of $400 a month by the federal government. But this amount can be $100 in some Northeastern states.

When Health Minister Adib Jatene himself operated on his fellow minister Paulo Renato of Education the procedure cost the Union $2,145. A little more than 20% ($463.61) went to the team led by Jatene. That meant that when the money was distributed, the country's most prestigious heart surgeon was left with $92.70, for five hours of work.

The situation is more than an invitation to fraud, and in recent years Brazilians have been finding how widespread deception is. According to an audit by the Health Ministry last June, 30% of all the money allocated to healthcare by the federal government ends up financing items as varied as sophisticated imported medical devices which are never used, parties, pleasure trips and reinforcing the domestic budget of all kinds of people. Fraud is a $2-billion business, representing 30% of all money used in the health sector.

Computerization of all hospitals didn't work to stop fraud. Some even believe that the new system contributes to it. Proliferation of specialized agencies to input hospitals' information coincided with an increase in the average cost of hospitalization. In some cases these bureaus' owners are former managers at the Health Ministry who know very well the department's mechanics and frailties.

The average cost of hospitalization had fallen from $179 to $156 between 1991 and 1992. In `93 it grew to $165 and then jumped to $213 in `94, coinciding with the time the consulting firms started to help. In some cases the inspectors and auditors chosen to verify the bill presented the government are themselves on the audited institution's payroll.

Despite the problems there are many who defend Heath Minister Adib Jatene' idea of instituting the

CMF (Contribuiçao sobre Movimentaçao Financeira), a .25% tax levied over every check written in the country, which would be siphoned into his department. Jatene believes that such a fee - $5.6 billion a year - would almost double his budget, giving him close do $20 billion to spend on health. "That would

allow us to spend $200 a year with every Brazilian," he says, adding: "Even then our situation would continue precarious." The minister says he would use the money for a 40% increase in the fees paid to doctors and hospitals, for preventive medicine and campaigns to decrease child mortality.

One who agrees with the minister is Crescencio Antunes from São Paulo's Hospital dos Servidores. "This is a socially fair tax," he says. "The poor don't pay it because they don't use checks. It's time to end this cruel pact in which the government pretends to pay and the doctor pretends to work." Naturally, there is also a group in the House of representatives who think like Jatene. They are the so-called bancada da Saúde, a group of 70 legislators very much interested in health matters and their own pockets. They are hospital owners and doctors.

After months of avoiding to tackle the issue, the legislators don't seem enthusiastic about approving such a tax. One thing many legislators are asking of Jatene is a plan to fight fraud. "If you don't change the managerial model for admissions and consultation," said former Rio's Health Secretary and current representative S‚rgio Arouca, "the CMF can triplicate the health sector's resources and the money still won't be enough."

Michel Temer, the leader of PMDB (Party of the Brazilian Democratic Movement) in the House, has offered an alternative to the tax proposed by Jatene. Temer wants to see part of the Lottery and Bingo money going to help the health sector. Even the leaders of the parties friendly to the government don't think the Minister is doing a good enough cleaning-up job.

A 1995 report by the Tribunal de Contas da Uniao (Federal Audit Office) - TUC - revealed that there was excessive admissions of outpatients. The money spent ($1.177 billion) on people who didn't need hospitalization, corresponded according to the report, to the whole Brazilian population being assisted seven times in the period from December `93 to December `94. There was fraud which was very easy to detect, like women having phimosis operations and men giving birth. There was health money being used to promote festive parties or to help political parties. The audit resulted in the recall of close of 1.5 million hospitalization payments countrywide, after being discovered that 24.12% of the diagnoses for hospitalization were fake.

Among the disclosures: Piau¡'s state Health Secretary had embezzled $500,000 using $65,000 to buy beer and mineral water, and $9,600 to get clothes and shoes for his workers. In the state of Maranhao, around 20% of the health resources ended up in private bank accounts.

Since taking charge of the Health Ministry, Jatene has adopted measures to control fraud. The municipality of Campo Grande do Sul in the state of Parana, for example, was able to hospitalize in one year 60% of its population establishing a record in the country. One such move was to limit hospitalization to 9% of the population of a city. Since noboy has complained about being left without a hospital bed when needed it's assumed that many of the hospitalizations were fake or unnecessary. Such a reduction in just São Paulo, where hospitalizations fell from 281,000 a month to 240,000 represented an economy of $112 million in a six-month period. Jatene has also been able to reduce to 25 days the time between a bill is presented and it's paid by the federal government.

Private institutions now get the lion's share of the SUS's finances. In the state of Paran , for example, the private sector owns 91% of the hospital

beds. Throughout the country only 30% of hospital capacity belongs to the state, although the Brazilian constitution states that the private health institution should be only "complementary" to the public health network. Jatene doesn't intend to change this situation. Says he, "It doesn't matter of us who owns the hospital, but now the patients are cared for." As for medical consultation the public institutions are already talking care of 61% of the demand.

Patients haven't being as accepting of medical errors as in the past. In São Paulo, for example, the number of malpractice cases being analyzed by the Conselho Regional de Medicina (Regional Board of Medicine) has jumped from 200 to 1200. Every month there are 200 new cases presented to CRM. In Rio, there are 1,000 lawsuits being reviewed and close to 100 new complaints being made every month.

In Brasilla, their is at least complaints a day. Part of the problem has to do with doctors being ill prepared in a country where 8,000 new physicians graduate every year from 80 medical schools. Around 65% of these new doctors don't have a chance to train in a residence program and go directly from school to hospitals. Condemnations against doctors are rare and malpractice suits can drag for four years or more. Since 1948 São Paulo's CRM has prohibited only 14 doctor from practicing medicine.

There are some bright spots in all this chaos. One such shining example is the agentes comunit rios (community agents). Created in 1991, this program tries to deal with the lack of doctors in the poorest areas. The program started with 20,000 agents, but it has increased now to more than 50,000 helpers in close to 600 cities. They receive a minimum salary a month ($100) to visit the poorest families in their community bringing sanitary and health advice as well as some over-the-counter medication.

The work has been a success mainly due to the missionary spirit of the agents whose main reward has been saving lives. The program that costs 16 million could be easily doubled if there were more money.

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Author: O'Toole, Kathleen Article Title: The professor is back Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.124 Publication Date: 04-30-96 Page: p. 16

The professor is back.

During a recent brief stop in San Francisco on his way to a visit to Japan, Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso announced the endowment of a chair in Brazilian studies. The announcement was made to a standing room only audience at Stanford's Dinkelspiel Auditorium on March 11.

The chair, which will allow Stanford to bring a distinguished scholar of Brazil to campus each year, is funded by a $1 million gift from the New York branch of Safra National Bank of Brazil. It has been in the planning stages since Brazilian officials came here in the summer of 1994 to watch the Brazilian soccer team play in World Cup competition. Stanford's connections to Brazil go back to its second president, John Casper Branner, and include the most extensive US research library collection on Brazil.

Cardoso, 64, who was a visiting professor of political science at Standard in 1977 when Brazil was run by a military dictatorship, used his brief visit to the campus to "praise the art of politics" and defend elected politicians at a time when, he said, the public seems to hold them in low regard. The lecture fund provides the Institute for International Studies with support for an annual public address by a prominent scholar or practicing professional in the field of international relations.

Today's politicians face a greater demand for accountability than their predecessors because of the breakdown of integrated political parties or lasting coalitions, Cardoso said during his lecture. Voters, he said, no longer can be neatly defined as holding views on the right or the left, and so demand more accountability from politicians than they did when political ideology was a more unifying force.

Successful politicians also must work harder today to build a consensus and to "create space" for grassroots groups that are not formally represented by political parties, said the veteran senator who was elected president last year. Saying he was "proud to be a politician," the man who has forged two political parties in the past spoke of modern political leadership as approximating Octavio Paz's definition of history - a daily invention, a continual creation; a hypothesis, a risky game, a wager against the unforeseeable. Not a science, but rather knowledge, not a technical skill, but rather an art."

Restoration of democracy in Brazil, Cardoso said, has been "nothing but a first step, one that is necessary, but in and of itself insufficient if we are to correct the serious social imbalances of our society." The problems, he said, are not confined to Brazil. "Representative democracy has shown a need for renewal in every country where it has been adopted," he said. "Democratic system face problems such as the citizenry's growing lack of interest in politics, low voter turnout during elections and, even more seriously, a growing degree of hostility on the part of voters with regard to politicians."

National legislatures, he said, "are the natural locus for the continual consensus-building which is the requirement if we are to move forward while simultaneously safeguarding the values most dear to our sense of nationality, the values without which no nation can recognize itself."

Cardoso must negotiate with 18 political parties in an effort to broaden consensus in Brazil. "Furthermore, it is essential that the public realm be enlarged so as to increasingly encompass those who are voiceless today," he said. While the church and other institutions have played this role in the past, he said, it is no longer enough. An effective leader "has to symbolize somethings beyond what is being debated at the time by normal political organizations."

The pace of government action, he said, is unfairly characterized as "gridlock and inefficiency, whereas the truth is that the congress's schedule is overloaded with highly complex issues." Politicians are struggling with the reality that countries have become more diverse economically and politically, he said, and can no longer divide their constituents into two main classes - the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.

"Individuals and groups are no longer defined by the roles they play in social relations of production, but primarily by their regional, racial, cultural or religious identities," he said. As a result, politicians are held accountable to more groups with more narrow social demands.

"In sum, we are experiencing the fragmentation of society into groups or ghettos. This has led to a simplification in a way, since only the market or mass culture is left to unite citizens in forging a national identity. Both the values that formed the glue that held national societies together and the values that guided the relations within them are fading away."

Cardoso said improving the political system requires attention to the role of the media, but that "representative democracy depends on solid and strong institutions, whose pace is of necessity slower than the flow of information."

"I acknowledge the important role played by the press in fighting authoritarianism in Latin America," he said, "but the press needs to move beyond an `adversarial' attitude to play a constructive role as well."

As Cardoso left Dinkelspiel Auditorium, a protester with a bullhorn criticized his support for building highways in the Amazon rainforest.

The Stanford connection - In his introduction of Cardoso, President Gerhard Casper said that Stanford's connection with Brazil began before the university was founded in 1891. John Casper Branner, who became Stanford's first professor of geology and its second president, was a Cornell University student in 1874 when he met Emperor Dom Pedro II in Brazil. Together they founded the Geological Commission of the Brazilian Empire. Branner stayed in Brazil until 1880 and returned five times.

During the Spanish-American War, Branner briefly was detained on suspicion of being a spy for the US government. Later, apologetic Brazilian authorities decreed to him the right to stop any train any time he wished to investigate plants or geology. (When Casper teasingly suggested that Cardoso grant him the same privilege, Cardoso reminded him that he was a president, not an emperor.)

Branner established the basis for Stanford's library collection on Brazil, Casper said, Major research libraries in the United States hold a combined 32,600 volumes on Brazil, and Stanford's collection is 60 percent of the total.

Cardoso and his wife, Ruth, were jointly awarded the Tinker Visiting Professorship in Latin American Studies in 1992, but they were unable to accept when he was named foreign minister of Brazil.

The new chair in Brazilian studies will be connected to the Center for Latin American Studies, within the Institute for International Studies. Under the direction of political science Professor Terry Karl, the center recently expanded its teaching and research on Brazil to include a faculty/graduate student working group that was launched by Jos‚ Serra, Brazil's minister of planning and budget, during a visit in 1995. A Brazilian Writer in Residence Program also has been established, along with new courses, and the Graduate Schools of Business recently added to study trip to Brazil.

The new chair will be named for Joaquim Nabuco, an 18th-century Brazilian crusader against slavery who became the Brazilian republic's first ambassador to the United States, where he was a staunch supporter of Pan-Americanism.

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Author: Barreto, Carlos E.F. Article Title: The ides of March Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.124 Publication Date: 04-30-96 Page: p. 19

The ides of March.

The government of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (FHC) experienced serious setbacks in March. After 14 months of victories, he couldn't have approved in Congress a proposal to amend the Constitution which would reform the social welfare system. This was a long needed piece of legislation that among other things, would substitute the period of work for the period of contribution in the country's unjust retiremetn plan: 30 years for males and 25 years for females. It would have great impact on teachers and other special retirees. A congressman, for example, now can retire after two terms - eight years - and get a full salary for the rest of his/her life.

The regulation of such an intolerable benefit is crucial to trim excessive government bills. Furthermore, a Parliamentary Commission Inquiry (CPI) has been formed to investigate the recent spate to bank bankrupticies affilicting the country. These two factors could work against the efforts put forth by the FHC government to keep Congress focused on important reforms. The constitutional reforms are vital tot he survival of the 20-month economic stabilization Real Plan.

Decreasing government expenditure is critical to balance the budget. A country's budget has two important factors: the tax revenue and the government expenditure. The tax burden on the Brazilian population is already high enough even though few pay their contributions. Thus, tax is not a wise tool play with when trying to balance the Brazilian budget. Moreover, previous governments have turned blind eyes on government spending and corrected the deficit through tax increases which proved to be ineffective, recessionary and inflationary.

Cutting government spending is the right way to go to consolidate the Real Plan. This means restructuring tech welfare system, privatizating state-owned enterprises, creating a celling on government salaries, and trimming government payroll. Cardoso stated that "without the constitutional reforms, inflation could reach levesl of 40 % rather than the current monthly rate of 0.4%."

Cardoso's statement referred back to the mid 1980s when Brazil returned to democracy under Jos‚ Sarney and inflation was 40% per month. In 1986, Brazil had its worst economic situation with the public deficit at 44.9% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). In 1995, on the other hand, inflation had a 22% annual rate and the deficit was 28.3% of total GDP.

Today, Sarney heads the Senate and he is the key figure behind congressional voting on reform bills. The senate leader's congressional him the ability to control which pieces of legislation may pass and which may not. Some political analysts believe that Sarney is playing a political game hoping that FHC fails, in this way increasing his own chances to once again become president in the 1998 elections.

Eduardo Azeredo, the governor of Minas Gerais and an important political ally to FHC, stated that "it is impossible to believe that people still exist who only make decisions based on thinking about votes". This is very sad! Brazil is changing and the population is becoming more aware of politicians that ar too nice but not concerned about the future of the country."

Moreover, Azeredo completed: "It is not possible that such an important reform has been voted on under the inspiration of self interest. We are talking about subjects that concern the future of Brazil and it should be viewed like that." The welfare amendment needed 318 votes to pass out only received 294. It is interesting to see that by 1998. 18 congressmen will benefit from their special retirement plan which otherwise would have been extinct.

The legislators celebrated the victory against the agreement reached between the federal government and the CUT (workers' union). The Social Welfare Minister, Reinhold Stephanes, in an interview with Reuters said that "unfortunately, the people had a lot to gain from the bill, but the elite defeated the people once again." FHC plans to try the original welfare bill in Congress but it is a more austere bill with little chance of passing. President Cardoso refuses to give up decisive constitutional reforms.

Another major defeat for the FHC government was the commission set up to conduct a wide-ranging probe into the nation's banking sector, a move that could further slow passages of other constitutional reforms. The CPI requires 29 senators' signatures to install it, but not surprisingly, 11 senators were from Sarney's personal coalition.

The banking system in Brazil is going through a restructing process to end a logn period of cover-up losses. Since Gustavo Loyola was appointed to preside over the Brazilian Central Bank, four major institutions have suffered federal intervention after charges of missmanagement of its funds.

The latest scandal was a $4.75 billion coverup by failed Banco National which dated back to 1985. It is strange that the blame falls on the government that brings these corruption scandals up to the surface and not on the ones that contributed to cover these up. The CPI should not be limited to federal interventions in 1995. It would be proper to trace the connections of failed banks back to their state or federal governments to the very beginning - i.e.; Banco Econ"mico and the governor of Bahia, Antonio Carlos Magalhaes; Banerj and the governor of Rio de Janeiro, Leonel Brizola; Banespa and São Paulo's government under Orestes Qu‚rcia and Antonio Fleury; and Banco National when Sarney was the Brazilian President and had intimate relationships with Minas Gerais governor and Nacional's owner Magalhaes Pinto.

President Cardoso is still holding out hopes that he could block installation of the commission by persuading the parties not to nominate members to the 13-member panel. He could expose several politicians if connections were uncovered, but the FHC government has a 92% popular support rating and such a CPI would only hurt the population. This six month investigative panel would only divert attention from the reforms.

The two setbacks contributed to bad performances of both Brazilian stockmarkets: São Paulo fell 4.41% and Rio de Janeiro 5.25%. Furthermore, the interest rate in the futures market went up for April contracts from 2.14% to 2.17% and May contracts from 2.10% to 2.13%. These are clear indications of market disapproval for the congressional carnaval created around important reforms. Politicians in Brazil should start to look at reforms as being

crucial to their own survival because the electorate is looking carefully. Society does not want Congress to throw away what has been accomplished in the past 20 months.

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Author: Manhaes Marins, Marcos Article Title: Reborn on the Web Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.124 Publication Date: 04-30-96 Page: p. 20

Reborn on the Web.

This year Brazil is celebrating the centenary of their love for cinema at first sight. Brazilians' romance with motion pictures had its debut in July 1896. In Rua do ouvidor, a traditional street in Rio de Janeiro, where the first screenings were shown. Just a few months earlier the Lumiere brothers had made their first presentation at the Grand Cafede paris in December 1895. And Brazil is also celebrating another even dealing with motion pictures. It will be toasting the first anniversary of Brazilian cinema's getting on the Interest's World Wide Web, a place so chockfull of fast changes that a month seems more like years, and a year more like decades.

Anybody who has access to a WEB browser (software which locates WEB pages according to an electronic address (URL) or some keywords) may find, from anywhere in the world, many sites related to the cinema of Brazil. Using search tools like Altavista and Yahoo, you have just to enter "brazil" and "cinema" to get a list of sites dealing with the subject.

The most complete and busiest site on the lists is Cinemabrazil whose internet address is http:// www.ibase.org.br/~cinemabrazil. From this homepage, as these sites are frequently called, you can access a plethora of other sites which are spreading Brazilian culture abroad. Cinemabrazil has been on line at the Ibase/Alternex server since September `95 and it pitched its homepage on the WEB on October 18, 1995.

Just a few months after the international cinema community had made its presentation at the WEB Cafe, Brazilian Cinema caught up with the movement. The pioneer in this movement was the non-profit Internet Movie Data BAse from Cardiff, UK - http://www.em.cf.ac.uk/movies. The first commercial WEB site was Hollywood On Lime - http://www.hollywood.com - which existed in test-only since 1993, but didn't debut on the World Wide Web until early 1995.

Does all of this matter? It seems it does. When USA Today online started a poll for Internet users to vote on their choices of Oscar 96 nominees, many Brazilian sites included a link to the vote page, and the result was that Brazilian O Qu4trilho, nominated for best foreign picture received 7,470 votes, much more than the favorite for Best Picture Apollo 13 which got 4,638 nods. Almost as many votes as the favorite best actors Anthony Hopkins (4,523) and Susan Sarandon (4,642) together! It was like a fever after the campaign was started by an E-mail message from Sergio Charlab, a sort of guru for many Brazilian net users.

It was just an innocent poll but a national USA newspaper survey always moves public opinion, which, in turn, might move Oscar voters' opinion, and perhaps, awards destiny. It was worth a try. Independently of any result it was very gratifying to find out the strength of Brazilians united on line.

In September 1995, Internet World (IW) magazine, in its premiere edition, published an A to Z guide with about 200 Brazilian homepages. By then, Brazil

was just starting to discover the WEB. In February `96, the same guide had already grown to 1,500 Brazilian sites. Since the number increases around 20% a month, and some homepage owners don't submit their URL to be listed, one had better estimate another thousand homepages not listed yet, which will produce a figure of 2,500 Brazilian homepages in April 1996.

At just the Ibase/Alternex server (the first WEB server in Brazil) there are 150 sites. And this is just one among 100 webservers, a number which also increases each month. Today Brazil has a potential Internet market of 14 million peole who have telephone lines. There are already 4 million computers installed. Too few for a population of 160 million people, but more than enough not to be ignored. In the broadcast market, with just 30 million TV sets, more than 90% of the population is covered.

The Internet turns out to be the right place for recovering the BRazilian movie industry, which in the `80s was producting about 100 films a year. The thousands of today will become million tomorrow, all looking at photos and clips of Brazilian motion pictures, getting to know its needs, its projects, its promising future.

Take the Cinemabrazil site, for example. It was creted to announce a documentary on Brazilian media mogul Assis Chateaubriand, a cultural movie project, and at some time to bring together all the cultural movie projects that were also raising funds by publicly selling shares at the Stock Exchange. From that humble beginning that site became the most complete database for Brazilian movies, now listing 400 titles selected from the 3,000 quality long films that the Brazilian industry has created so far.

Brazilian movies are barely known abroad. The Internet Movie Data Base, for example, the most complete one, with 50,000 titles, in February `96 had around 100 Brazilian titles registered, including shorts and TV programs. And the listings are full of smaller and bigger mistakes. CineMania 95, the CD-ROM, listed only 15 Brazilian movies and had just 7 filmmakers' biographies.

Vagner Ferreira de Almeida, one of the partners at Fibra Cien Video, the company behind Cinemabrazil, says: "We are giving absolute priority to get the most on these 400 available long movies. Then, as a second step, the catalog will include the short movies and TV programs, but always within the criteria of selecting the ones that were highlights, either for high ticket revenue or for rave reviews by critics. We hear now and then that Brazilian movies are too erotic, but this is not the whole story. There are true master-pieces in our Cinematheques, hundreds of movies which received prizes in International Film Festivals or were a box office hit. For the time being, we are strictly concerned about listing our best cultural products. A virtual distributor is also part of our plans, but we will need sponsors in order to guarantee free service to visitors." A very interesting page in the Cinemabrazil site is the Comprehensive Summary of Laws for Filming in Brazil. Two other places deserving a visit are the First Catalog of Brazilian Movies and the Catalog of Films still raising funds, in which you can get all the basic information in case you with to invest in a Brazilian movie. Photos, clips and a virtual tour can be found there. That site was presented to the Ministry of Culture in January `96 to receive authorization to offer income tax discounts to investors who keep any business in Brazil, such as Hollywood's film distributors and multinational companies.

Leilany Fernandes, filmmaker and president of the Brazilian Movie Industry Workers' Union (STIC), is entirely in favor of such an intiativies: "I believe

we don't have to wait to see either the Ministry of Culture or RioFilme, for example, getting their own site in the Internet. It's time to realize that private intiatives like Cinemabrazil are much more efficient and authentic than a bigger and official scheme. Government has to give support to this spontaneous movement. This is the State's role."

Carol Peiffer, an American who visited Brazil about ten years ago, wrote to Cinema-brazil: "I love cows, I write about them in a quarterly newsletter Cinema for me is just entertainment, but I love Brazilian writer Jorge Amado and I would like you to find videotapes with Brazilian movies based on his novels. The Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands tape has already got here." The site provided some cluses on how to get the tapes for Jubiab , Capitaes de Areia, Tenda dos Milagres, Gabriela, all movies based on Amado's novels and informed her that Tieta (with actress S"nia Braga) is just being finished. Peiffer decided to invest in the movie specially presented by the site and then ended u being investor number one on the Individual Sponsor's Page.

Cinemabrazil is presently working hard to include in its WEB pages more clips from successful Brazilian movies and form interviews with renowned Brazilian filmmakers, such as N‚lson Pereira dos Santos, Carlos Diegues. Arnaldo Jabor, among many alive, and those from archives (Gl uber Rocha - Cannes Golden Palm 1968, Alberto Cavalcanti, Humberto Mauro, among many). It also wants to add more clips with actors and actresses easily recognized aboard as S"nia Braga for Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands and The Kiss of the Spider Woman, not to mention Milagro by Robert Redford and Fernanda Torres (Cannes' Golden Palm-1988), among others.

In 1996 the Cinema of Brazil will change the Brazil of the Cinema. Since 1962 Brazil had not been nominated for an Oscar award. At that time, the movie O Pagador de Promessas (The Given Word) directed by Anselmo Duarte, did not get the Academy statuette, but it took home the Golden Pam from Cannes.

This year, out of the 100 cultural movie projects waiting for investors, at least 10 or 20 will succeed in raising funds, and the world will get to know that Brazil is not just a couple of beautiful beaches surrounded by violence. Brazil will show its traditions, its great personalities, those who have built this country. It will show its popular culture, its art and its goods, so that cultural and commercial interchange can be increased for all countries and all of them can benefit from it.

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Author: Shukla, Divya Article Title: Bookworm's Eden Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.124 Publication Date: 04-30-96 Page: p. 22

Bookworm's Eden.

Brazil and the world are getting ready for the 14th Bienal Internacional do Livro de São Paulo (São Paulo's Internacional Book Fair), in which publishers introduce their readers and distributors to new editions. The book festival, the largest of Latin America, usually is held at Parque Ibirapuera's Bienal Pavilion, but this time it will take place in the Expo Center Norte from August 13 to 25.

The move was prompted by the need to accommodate larger audiences and provide them with better facilities and parking accommodations, this according to Altair Brasil, president of CBL, the company that will promote the event. The book festival's purpose remains unchanged, to serve as meeting grounds between publishers and the public. The focus has never been on actual book sales but on the promotion of books, very similar to fashion shows.

The book industry continues to be lucrative in Brazil. Altair Brazil, president of Cƒmara Brasileira do Livro (Brazilian Chamber of Books) projected a 35% increase in profit in 1995 over 1994. The projected profit surpasses the increase in the number of actual publications. There was an increase of 24% in publications in '95 over '94 compared with 4.3% over the previous year.

Nevertheless, Paulo Rocco (of Rocco publishers) doesn't believe in the projections, he says that this increase in only in the number of editions and it is not a proportional increase in the demand.

Brazilian publishers expect 1996 to be a good year for book sales. This optimism is mainly due to the economic stability provided by President Cardoso's Plano Real which helped control runaway inflation to manageable one digit figures in '95.

Publisher Atica will focus on travel guides in competition with Folha de São Paulo's division called Publifolha. Atica, in partnership with British publishers Dorling Kindersley, published two travel guides (New York and Paris) in the past, and this year they will release travel guides for those planing to visit Roma and London.

Publifolha's director, Ricardo Gandour, says that his company's travel guides are popular because they also contain beautiful images. The same applies to Atica's children's book division, which represents 10% of total revenues for that company. Atica will also be investing in "instant books" as it did in 1995 with titles like A NOva Guerra do Vietna (The New Vietnam War) by Jayme Spitzcovsky and Racismo Cordial (Cordial Racism). Both were originally special news stories for Folha.

Very popular with Brazilian readers are the reference-type books. Many of these works will be available in CD-ROM and videos this year. During Frankfurt's Book Fair, which took place October of 1995, there was an overwhelming demand for dictionaries, illustrated works, manuals and guides.

Will CD-ROM eventually make books extinct in Brazil? No, says Atica's editor Jos‚ Bantim Duarte. He believes that works available in the electronic media format modifies the content of written material similar to translation into a different language.

Therefore, it is not a replacement but merely an expansion to the variety of material available to the reader.

Even though publishers are branching out and releasing a variety of topics and formats, publishers believe that the Brazilian book buyer will continue to purchase best sellers, books on mysticism and biographies. Therefore publishing houses will continue to devote the majority of their resources to books belonging to these subjects.

But there are exception to this like publisher Record which is aiming to please its alternative readers with its Contraluz (Against the Light) series which publishes books focusing on homosexuality. The company, however, doesn't intend to abandon the publication of best-sellers, its biggest source of revenue.

Brazilian readers' preferences have historically leaned towards biographies and reference books, but this year there is an overwhelming volume of translations from classic and philosophical works. Some essays have been waiting for translation for decades.

Brazilians will finally be able to read in Portuguese Elzbieta Ettinger's biography on German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889-1976, who is well-known for his initial adherence to the Nazi movement). Ettinger caused a scandal when her book was released in the '95 Frankfurt Book Fair because of its intimate intellectual and sexual content, which discusses the relationship between Ettinger and the Jewish philosopher Hannah Arendt.

Jean-Paul Sartre's (1905-1980) Being and Nothingness will also be translated. Another classic to be available is Monsieur Teste from French poet Paul Val‚ry (1871-1945) in which the author composes an autobiography under an assumed identity.

Brazilian author, S‚rgio Buarque de Holanda, whose books have been out of circulation for a while, will release several new editions this year. And post-modernism will have a chance of gaining popularity though releases from authors Fredric Jameson, Paul Virilio and Peter Sloterduk. Sloterduk, in his book, theorizes about the long term effects of the European Unification and its effects on the politics of the continent.

American author Gore Vidal tells of his friendship with Jacie and John Kennedy in Palimpsest. Another American, author Norman Mailer, details Lee Oswald's life prior to JOhn Kennedy's assassination in A Hist¢ria de Lee Oswald.

Many illustrated works will also be released. Peter Kindersley, chairman of DK Publishers, in interview to newspaper Folha de São Paulo said that the concept of illustration isn't new in Brazil, but that the demand for such works is. Words and pictures are complementary and very much recognized especially after the invasion of multimedia in Brazil. In fact, there are those who believe that because of Internet and electronic mail, printed-on-paper material will have to put a tough fight to survive in the country.

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Author: Moy, William Article Title: I survived Brazil Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.124 Publication Date: 04-30-96 Page: p. 24

I survived Brazil.

Scam artists....a chipped tooth....a dead body....a near riot....a shattered window. Scenes from a soap opera? Headlines from a sensational newscast? No, just a few of the unusual, unsettling incidents that occurred on my recent trip to Brazil. The trip was not all bad news, but this was definitely the strangest vacation I have ever had.

My college buddy and I were both making our maiden voyage to South America. The idea of temporarily trading the Chicago coolness for the tropical spring of Brazil sounded good to us. Our first destination was Rio de Janeiro, a city with a two-sided reputation: glamorous and exciting, yet dangerous and intimidating. The air-conditioned bus ride from the airport served as a nice preview of Rio, as it passed through Centro (downtown) - deserted on a Saturday morning - Gl¢ria, Flamengo, Botafogo, Copacabana.

Our route, most of which was alongside Guanabara Bay, was lined with majestic palm trees. Unfortunately, the bus zoomed several blocks past our intended dropoff. We did not know how to ask the bus driver to stop in Portuguese, though it seemed obvious to everyone else on the bus that we wanted to disebark. We soon noticed that all the red octagonal signs stated "PARE", so we advise other novices like ourselves to say that if you want to capture the attention of your local Brazilian driver.

Our home base in Rio was the Hotel Martinique, whose main amenity is its proximity to the famed Copacabana beach. The first night was a bit of a drag, for we were stuck with two separate single bedrooms instead of getting one room with two beds. This would not have been so bad except for the fact that the single rooms were minuscule, with the bathroom occupying half the floor space. (When I say the shower is in the room, I mean the shower is in the room!). The 6-foot-by-8-foot living space featured a radio with two stations and an air conditioner, which I turned on at night in order to drown out the rowdy teenagers next door. After that and a little complaint we got lucky and the management moved us into a bigger, better, quieter two bedroom for the rest of our stay there.

Our first day was literally a washout, with periodic tropical downpours limiting our activities. My initial encounter with the criminal element of Rio occurred about two blocks from the hotel. A teenage boy made a futile swipe for my wallet. Either he was a lousy pickpocket or just an annoying prankster aiming to scare a visitor. This incident forced me to be even more careful with my valuables (cash, passport, camera) and to be extremely conscious of my immediate surroundings.

The next morning was sunny, so we boarded a ferry to Niter¢i in order to view the scenic coastline of Rio. The buildings in the foreground contrasted with the lumpy green and brown hills in the background, the most famous ones being Sugar Loaf and Corcovado. My friend noticed that we were probably the only two "tourists" on the entire ferry, which serves as a means of transportation

for the Cariocas (a nickname for the locals of Rio) across Guanabara Bay. The Cariocas were all dressed casually, and most of the males sported soccer jersey replicas. The public buildings in Niteroi were festival painted with an assortment of pastel colors, passionate pinks and lime greens and cool blues.

Our pure enjoyment of Rio took an abrupt turn on a quiet street in Ipanema, away from the beach immortalized by that "Girl from Ipanema" song. A young woman, playing the role of goodwill ambassador, came up to us and declared that our clothing has just been soiled. Then she pointed upwards at a palm tree, implying that a bird had relieved itself upon us. She was so friendly, whipping out a napkin to help clean our mess.

Our cheerful hostess was soon joined by four of five of her male colleagues, all eager to undo the damage of the airborne creature. Now two's company, three's a crowd, four or five means scam! Our clothes were squirted with some mysterious substance by one of these schemers. They were attempting to swipe our valuables by utilizing this shifty tactic, which was prominently mentioned in several guide-books I had read before the trip. We backed away from these vultures, and I am proud to say that nothing was lost. I did have to wash my garments in the sink that evening, but the sweet-smelling (bird poop? no way!) stains rinsed out with minimal effort.

We dodged one bullet, but my friend was nailed point-blank later that same day. I joked with him about this teenage girl, with a cast on one arm, who was performing a new scam by asking us to unwrap a piece of gum for her. The levity of this moment soon dissipated once we boarded a city bus. First, I must describe the configuration of the typical local bus in Rio, which is not to be confused with the air-conditioned airport bus. The passenger must board at the back door, where a "cashier" accepts fares and doles out change when necessary. The passenger then proceeds past a waist-high turnstile to reach the seating area, and exits at the front door adjacent to the driver.

After boarding behind me, my friend flashed a five-real note, the equivalent of a five-dollar bill. While I grabbed two seats, the cashier gave him insufficient change. At least five minutes elapsed before my friend was properly reimbursed. When we were about to exit at our stop, my friend noticed that his cancas bag seemed rather light. He could not believe it' his expensive camera and zoom lens were missing! This was a stunning development, for both of us ae seasoned world travelers who have never lost any valuables before.

My friend theorized that while he was haggling with the cashier about the change, someone brushed past him at the turnstile and lifted the goods. He even suggested that the cashier worked in tandem with the thief by acting as a diversion to my friend, and I am actually inclined to believe this scenario. He went to the nearby "tourist police station" to report the crime, but it was a foregone conclusion that he had seen the last of his camera equipment.

Too depressed to do any sightseeing without his camera, my friend decided to hang out at the beach the next day. I ventured out towards Sugar Loaf mountain, but it was now my turn to take a fall. I was walking uphill on a sidewalk when I stepped on a manhole cover. Instead of staying in place like a proper manhole cover, it suddenly tipped, sending me crashing face first onto the pavement. My collision with concrete resulted in a chipped tooth and an assortment of scrapes and bruises, though nothing more serious. I was dazed, cursing at the defective infrastructure.

At this point, I realized that this was my personal nadir of this (or any previous) vacation, that there was nowhere to go but up. I staggered uphill towards the first doorway I could find, which happened to be a dental clinic just a block from my accident. Little English was spoken here, with the exception being this orthodontist who had recently trained in Chicago for a few months. She explained that it was not necessary to extract my damaged tooth, but it did have to undergo a bonding process.

I spent two hours having my tooth bonded by the lovely and talented Paula, a young dentist who wore earrings that said "STOP" (why not "PARE"?). I felt like the new arrival at the zoo, as the other dentists scrutinized Paula's skillful treatment of her hapless patient. The folks at the dental clinic were so nice to me that I was almost able to forget about my miserable predicament.

The next day, I was actually successful in reaching Sugar Loaf mountain (Pao de Açúcar) without injuring anyself or getting robbed. A handful of rugged souls are known to climb up the sides of Sugar Loaf, but most people reach its peak by riding a set of two smooth-running cable cars. The views from the peak are truly spectacular, and it was fun to spot various buildings and landmarks in the distance. The lofty Christ the Redeemer statue stands atop Corcovado mountain, with arms outstretched to embrace all of Rio, for richer or for poorer. The favelas, giant hodgepodges of shacks jammed into the hillsides, form part of the colorful and complex mosaic that is Rio. As I observed the grand panorama around me, comfortably basking in the morning sun, I finally felt relaxed for the first time in Rio.

Our merry romp through Rio continued in Centro, now bustling with Cariocas on a typical weekday. My friend was interested in taking a few photos of this classical building. The sculptures atop the building were all curiously wrapped with light-colored fabric, vaguely reminiscent of Christo's Reichstag project which my friend had intently observed in Berlin. The massive building itself was not wrapped, reveling its Corinthian columns.

We were intrigued by a political rally taking place in front of the building. Facing the heavily guarded edifice, the main speaker lectured forcefully to a crowd of supporters. The atmosphere within the plaza seemed a bit tense. While watching a newscast that night, we saw shocking footage of the rally which degenerated into a near-riot. There were bloodied officers, smashed vehicles, screaming protesters being hauled away by the authorities. Rats, we were this close to witnessing mayhem and violence that was unrelated to a soccer match!

We departed Rio with bittersweet feelings, my friend's being mostly bitter. We hopped on a bus for a four-hour ride to Parati. A small colonial town along the Atlantic coastline, Parati was a good place to relax between Rio and São Paulo. Parati's six-block historical area features cobblestone streets and quaint eighteenth-century buildings. I am not quite sure why we spent two days here, howere. One would have sufficed. After our intense stay in Rio, I suppose both of us wanted to lay low for awhile.

Our place of residence featured a pleasant courtyard and an agile gecko (the house pet?). At first I mistook it for a toy on the wall, but then it started to move about in search of food. This creature must have been the Michael Jordan of geckos, as we cheered each time it sucked down a pesky mosquito and gasped after the rare misses. This spectator sport was nearly as entertaining

as watching a televised soccer game between two top Brazilian clubs in the "family room" of the inn. The spirited reaction of the proprietors and their friends after a fabulous goal captured the essence of Brazil's passion for futebol.

After our mellow stay in Parati, it was time for a scenic six-hour bus ride to São Paulo. A sprawling gray metropolis with over ten percent of Brazil's population, São Paulo is the most populated city in South America and is the third most populated metropolitan area in the world (behind only Tokyo and New York). Interestingly enough, the population density in São Paulo is less than that in Rio. We stayed in Liberdade, which is the home of the largest Japanese population outside of Japan at nearly one million. Quite a number, but it is a mere fraction of São Paulo's 16.4 million inhabitants. When we dined in a local Japanese restaurant, I was unsure of which "thank you" to utter: obrigado (Portuguese) or arigato (Japanese).

We happened upon a pulsating rock concert in a plaza near the Teatro Municipal. I actually recognized one of the band's songs (must be a smash hit in Brazil), through I did not know the name of the group. The acoustics of this outdoor concert were surprisingly good, thought not good enough to prevent one druggie from bouncing about the inside of a police wagon. The officers were certainly focused on the druggie, for another fellow relieved himself next to the wagon (how nice!). Our evening was capped off by a dead body across the way from the main cathedral. From our vantage point there were no obvious signs of bodily harm; how did he die? The lonely corpse attracted quite a curious crowd: police officers, local passersby, plainly attired prostitutes....and two visitors from Chicago. Gee, was this a new scam, the "corpse on the sidewalk" trick? My friend and I left the scene, but the deceased was still waiting to be carried away.

On our last day in São Paulo (and in Brazil), we visited the Memorial da Am‚Rica Latina, a captivating campus of curvilinear concrete buildings designed by Oscar Niemeyer, Brazil's most notable architect. The centerpiece of the Memorial is a large "bleeding" concrete hand, with a red image of South America superimposed in its palm to reflect the concept of Latin American unity. In my own mind, the bleeding hand symbolized my freak fall in Rio. We then ventured to Ibirapuera Park, considered to be São Paulo's equivalent to New York's Central Park. An older grouping of Niemeyer's structures from the 1950's dominates the park, which was quite popular with the rollerblading crowd. The park also features a Japanese pavilion, museums, sculptures and a planetarium. While in the park, a wasp jabbed its stinger into my neck. Just my rotten luck, my first wasp sting ever. At least I did not seem to suffer an allergic reaction, though the back of my neck was rather sore for about an hour.

Our last meal in Brazil was the feijoada, a stew which is the meal of choice for Brazilians on Saturdays. Just about everyone in this particular diner was enjoying this rich concoction of fatty meats and black beans, accompanied by rice and greens/. We drowned our daily sorrows with refreshing sucos, beverages made from Brazil's cornucopia of fruits. How about Iaranja (orange), morango (strawberry), abacaxi (pineapple) or acerola (vaguely cherry flavored)?

The escape from Brazil started on the jam-packed metro. We were informed that our metro ticket was not usable for the airport bus, though we were led to believe otherwise. Oh well, the additional fare was not much, not a big deal.

Unlike in Rio, the passenger boards the typical São Paulo bus at the front. One then pays a cashier sitting near the driver, passes through the omnipresent turnstile and exits at the rear door. The bus ride was uneventful....until we drove through one of the favelas, and a marble-sized stone crashed through a bus window. Luckily, no one was injured, though I mentally questioned the judgment of the driver for stopping the bus in the middle of this shantytown in order to view the damage from the exterior. What was he thinking?

After the unscheduled curbside inspection, we proceeded towards the airport as if nothing had ever happened. Soon, my friend and I both spotted a sign which appeared to indicate the terminal for our flight, so we hurriedly followed a man off the bus at this junction. We were puzzled to see the man walking off into the distance; were we to follow him? Dumbstruck, we then realized that this was not the terminal at all, but merely a minor stop along the highway for specialized airport employees.

The sign which lured us off the bus was actually an advertisement for a certain fast food restaurant, which proudly proclaimed its location at that particular terminal! We were marooned at this kiosk for only a few minutes, as another bus saved the day for us. Naturally, the cashier refused to accept either of our previous ticket stubs, so we paid a third fare in order to reach the airport. As an appropriate epilogue, the announced movie on our flight home ("Apollo 13") was canceled due to technical difficulties.

We will definitely be laughing about this surrealistic journey for years to come. Our slic of Brazil had its charms: spectacular natural landscapes, tropical weather, miles of beaches, delicious food and drink, beautiful women, exciting modern architecture. However, the level of crime and poverty in the big cities cannot be ignored. I have never encountered so many distractions, scams, incidents, all concentrated in an eight-day span. I became rather tentative on this trip, cautious, reacting instead of acting.

The vacation metamorphosed into a Brazilian obstacle course, and neither of us survived unscathed. Despite the mind-boggling series of events, I would welcome a return trip to Brazil someday. Not soon, but someday. Now, I must send a thank-you note to Paula.

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Author: Gilman, Bruce Article Title: Biting head Publication Name: News from Brazil News from Brazil Volume & Number: V.8; N.124 Publication Date: 04-30-96 Page: p. 39

Biting head.

After clobbering brainless blondes, idly-rich playboy heirs, and even the president, Gabriel O Pensador is back in the ring pounding at the portals of our perception with his second recording Ainda � S¢ o Começo (Still It Is Only the Beginning). Tall and slim, with the beard of an adolescent and long curly hair that frames his angled features, O Pensador (The Thinker) appears older than his twenty-one years.

But there is something even more puzzling about Gabriel. Maybe it is the contradiction between his inoffensive, straightforward appearance and the tremendous thunder of the lyrics he composes. Maybe it is a combination of the naivete of his appearance with the blitz of success that has come to him so early. Whatever it is, there is nothing perplexing about his message. I've just finished listening again to Gabriel's new disc and to three tracks in particular that have dramatically etched themselves into my memory: Estudo Errado (False Study), Mentiras do Brasil (Lies From Brazil), and Filho Da P tria Iludido (Deceived Son of the Homeland) - the poetic connotation being filho da puta (son-of-a bitch). Rap is the label for this rhythm and this poetry that is scorching my nerve endings and making me restless, and it's great!

In general, rappers do not play instruments but are expert manipulators of pre-recorded material. They create sound collages in what many consider a "supposed-art." Since its origin, rap has been connected to a type of indignant language discourse. Singing has always been an insignificant component of rap. What is important, are the words themselves, the lyrics, the message. Sometimes the words are too strong. Gangsta rap, for instance, talks about weapons, bitches (women), and the murder of oppressors. The lyrics in most Gangsta rap have, for many, reached their tired perimeter.

Like it or not, rap today is universal. It is well known in North America, all over Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. In the United States rapping over the same monochord tune has too often limited itself to addressing only a narrow sector of social problems, and is only now moving incrementally into new territory.

Even in Brazil's fledging rap scene, the group from Rio Ryo Radikal Repz sings "foda-se a pol¡cia" (the police fuck themselves) in a tune that exploded like a homemade bomb on the TV program Por Acaso (By Chance). On the other hand, some less obvious mixes by groups like Chico Science & Nacao Zumbi that have mixed the diction of rap with the style of the Northeastern repente, are remarkably innovative. In the Northeast of Brazil, poetic song duels called desafios, are occasions where two repentistas (singers in the desafio) improvise insulting or funny verses (repentes) in a strict form, attempting to break the other singer's conncentration.

In Rio funk is more common than rap. But what is called funk in Rio is really a form of rap that came from Miami. It's perfect for dancing and has lyrics

that usually contain a humorous double meaning but really not much of a message. This Rio funk is common at parties where people tend to drink a little too much and get into fights.

of funk. In fact, O Pensador has participated in public declarations against violence and writes lyrics that often contain criticism of the practice, lyricas that strive to lessen the violence at Brazilian dances. Def Yuri, one of O Pensador's rapping collaborators on Ainda � S¢ o Começo, explained also that although they don't write gangsta rap, they do believe in a guerrilla army but in a way that is very different from those encountered in the 60s and 70s.

As people involved in Brazilian rap know, the genre still is very much off to the side, not a musical forerunner. It was fortunate for the artist who got to the top first and at the right time. After Gabriel broke ground, those who followed (mainly in São Paulo) received the recognition they warranted. Gabriel definitely helped to expand the market.

O Pensador dfeels that some rap music is opportunist and address only fleeting concerns and temporary distractions that will not be discussed tomorrow, yet some concepts like racial and social prejudice persist and always have. O Pensador is a natural within the rap medium, a trail blazer who has had the wherewithal to make Ainda � S¢ o Começo, excel by diversifying textures and ideas within the strict meter of rap.

When the Carioca rapper blew up in the music parades all over Brazil with his condemnation of conservative middle class conventions, people thought that when the summer was over the whirlwind around the man who declared death to the president would have calmed down. But with the surprising sales of 320 thousand copies of his first recording, Gabriel O Pensador proved the opposite. Two years later he launched his latest recording, Ainda � S¢ o Começo, which will further provoke those who did not believe in his artistic longvity. For Gabriel it is too soon to rest. He still has lots more to say.

Even without the bombshell T" Feliz - Matei o Presidente (I'm Happy - I killed the President), Gabriel's first release has made the strongest impact on Brazilian rap in the 90s thus far. L"raburra (Domb Blond), Retrato de um Playboy (Portrait of a Playboy), 175 Nada Especial (175 Nothing Special) were greeted as the best mainfestations of intelligence from the almost invisible Brazilian rap scene. In T" Feliz - Matei o PResidente, Gabriel assassinates Fernando Collor, the president for whom his mother, Belisa Ribeiro, worked as a journalist.

The situation was explosive. While mother was working for the president, son was screaming out his hatred for Collor's regime. When Matei o Presidente was released, manyh journalists envied Gabriel's mother and tried to explore her position on the subject, as myriad rumors were spreading about her.

Gabriel is not ashmed that his mother worked for Collor. He doesn't feel that there was any crime in that. In fact, a short time before Matei o Presidente started being aired on the radio his mother fought publicly with Collor. She later left Brazil to live in the United States but has since returned to Brazil and is now living with Gabriel. Today the son of the famous journalist is more famous than his mother.

Gabriel has been writing since he was 16 years old. He started rapping when he was 17 or 18, at the time he recorded the music T" Feliz, Matei o

Presidente with a drum machine in eight channels. He took the finished tape to the RPC FM station in Rio. They liked it and asked to have exclusive access to the tape. The station played it for five days before it was censored. Gabriel started being interviewed and was offered contracts with two independent labels which he refused.

T" Feliz was his biggest step in coming out from the unknown. He was very much an amateur at that time and had performed his first shows without contracts but signed him. In September Sony launched his first disc. Gabriel had no idea what was going to happen, but luckily the worst part was by then already over.

Gabriel's themes speak about violence, the church, and men who beat they wives and children. His work criticizes behavioural concepts that have become accepted patterns of adult behaviour. For example, the playboy sons of upper middle-class Brazilian families who depend on their parents' money, probe for sex, and make no attempt to achieve anything on their own; and the "dumb blondes" - attractive men or women who get through life simply by banking their appearance but who refuse to think critically about their behaviour. Much of his work expresses ideas that people with integrity accept the axioms. Those who don't, many times are subconsciously attached to following these very patterns.

Most of the criticism O Pensador receives has little foundation. Even when it is couched in the objective of being constructive, it strives only to create controversy. Gabriel has a consciousness about his work; this stance has not changed. His work is internationally aggressive and intend to trigger criticism, since that will make people become involved with the ideas. He cannot believe, for example, that the Catholic church is still condemning condoms. He is totally in favor of them and feels that condoms should be distributed for free to poor young people in Brazil who don't often use condoms because they don't have the money to buy them. And sex is one diversion the poor layers of society can enjoy chiefly because it its usually free.

While corruption exists and is easily identifiable, there will be no lack of subject matter for this torrential composer. In his previous work Gabriel opened fire criticizing racism, obligatory military service, and didn't stop to spare the impossible life-style of Brazil's homeless kids and the young girls who become prostitutes. This time the corrosive lyrics have transformed themselves into a detonating philosophical bomb.

His new targets are the Americanized youngsters of Brazil, Evangelical ministers, and the government's institutional system of education. Ainda � S¢ Começo powerfully criticizes, the police, politicians, abusive husbands, and religious fanatics. In Filho da P tria Iludido he challenges a Brazilian who is so mentally crippled that he goes out on the streets of Rio wearing a shirt that looks like the flag of the United States. O Pensador knows that every story has more than one side, but with Ainda � S¢ o Começo he has chosen only the side that hits the hardest. Rhythm and poetry are again Gabriel's demolishing weapons in scrutinizing the truth.

The new recording employs samples (textures and pharases extracted from other songs) from the music of Bob Marley, Rita Lee, Gilberto Gil, Legiao Urbana, Soundgarden, Azymuth, and Tom Tom Club to enrich the non-stop thrashing of the disc's themes. In Mentiras do Brasil (Lies from Brazil) Gabriel makes an insightful use of music from the opera O Guarani by Carlos Gomes integrated

with the dazzling pandeiro work of Marcos Suzano. In keeping with the same voracious creativity that distinguished Gabriel's first project, Ainda � S¢ o Começo, harbors the same incisive style of writing.

Some of the raps were created through improvisation. FDP, for example, was born one afternoon when Yuri was at Gabriel's house. They were just improvising with a few ideas and started singing the refrain "Filho da puta/Filho da puta/ Filho da puta" (Son of a Bitch/Son of a Bitch/Son of a Bitch) over a bass line. Other lyrics were created while Gabriel was driving his car or taking a shower. Notwithstanding, Ainda � S¢ o Começo is a prodigious work, especially when compared to the generation of rappers whose vocabulary is limited to anything that rhymes. The development of characters and unusual situations is one of the disc's strongest merits. The teacher calling roll in Estudo Errado transports the listener with an archetypal childhood memory.

With this second release, Sony has projected sales in the area of 500 thousand units. Production of the new disc was painstakingly through. It is a work of superior quality. An affinity between the technology and quality of material, that listeners find missing at times with other rap projects, forcefully comes through. However, Ainda � S¢ o Começo, did face some extra difficulties before entering the market. There were some serious problems with a few of the samples Gabriel wanted to use. Producer F bio Fonseca assumed that everything was ready when they were prevented from using samples of Money by Pink Floyd, Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana, and the theme song from the cartoon show The Jetsons. As a result, the arrangements that were using parts of this music were modified at the last minute. And unfortunately, the video Sony wanted to include with the first prssing didn't materialize due to time restraints.

Gabriel is comfortable and says that he is happy and secure about his work, that he only wants people to become more aware, more conscious. He is congnizant that young people are not informed, that they seldom read the papers,, and in many cases are completely alienated. The lyrics in rap music many times are their only way of knowing about politics. But Gabriel is not only concerned with politics. What he wants is for people to think with their own heads, to pay attention to the concepts that were implanted early on in their behaviour, and trust their intuition.

What captured Gabriel's attention and opened his eyes were the children who know and love his lyrics. When he realized that kids listen to his music, pay attention, and understand what they can, he was challenged, started weighing everything that was happening, and sensed that his work could be something very positive or these young people. This insight is reflected on the disc's cover photo which shows a happy baby wearing headphones - presumably listening to what's inside.

O Pensador makes many criticisms of the police but lives and works around several types of policeman and pays attention to the differences that exist. He feels that everyone has to be careful and avoid making judgments, know how to express criticism, and have the perception to not exaggerate. These are concerns that Gabriel analyzes closely. For O Pensador, it is not a question of thinking lightly about criticism - to criticize lightly is pointless - but to think twice before condemning. After all, empty headed people may also be victims. He wants people to wake up to reality. Although his work is aggressive, he is cognizant that his criticisms are necessary and that his work will stimulate ideas.

Sculptor Auguste Rodin's private vision of the trials and torments of human existence, The Gates of Hell, is a panoramic statement of his own belief that hell is suffered not only by the dead, but by the living; that it is a bleak realm of false goals, lost dreams and unrealized passions. Man with his pride and hopes, strives for fulfillment only to meet his certain fate - disillusionment and ultimate destruction. Brooding over the Gates is Rodin's famous paradox, The Thinker. Representing man's ability to reaosn and to create, The Thinker sits as if in judgment of