POR AÍ

CBS Talks
Portuguese

Via Net and Multicanal, two Brazilian cable services, CBS has become a 24-hour presence in Brazil. The new channel, called CBS Telenotícias, is starting with a daily diet of 14 hours of news in Portuguese. Three man-and-woman teams will be used throughout the day as anchors. The most famous of them, Leila Cordeiro and Eliakim Araújo, who had their own news show in Brazil, moved recently to Miami for their new assignment.

The new channel is being coordinated by Marcos Wilson, former journalism director of SBT (Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão—Brazilian System of Television). The Brazilian TV network will also be participating in the venture with news from Brazil. Programs like CBS Evening News With Dan Rather, 60 Minutes and 48 Hours will be presented in English with captions in Portuguese. Finances, sports, and entertainment will also be covered by CBS Brazil.

According to Ricardo Brown, the CBS TeleNotícias journalism director, the channel will be covering international news that interests Brazil. "Brazil was the arm that our company was missing. And we can guarantee that the Brazilian culture will not be shown as folklore only."

Independence
Day

Once again this year, hundreds of thousands of Brazilians and those interested in Brazil crowded 46th Street in Manhattan to celebrate Brazil's Independence Day. While the date is September 7, the celebration was moved up to August 31, a Sunday. Among the attractions this year, there was Só Pra Contrariar, a very successful band from Minas Gerais. TV humorist, Chico Anísio, who recently moved to Manhattan bitter with his Brazilian critics, received a trophy. One of the most enthusiastic participants of the festivities, however, was not a Brazilian, but New York's mayor Rudolph Giuliani. He apparently thought an appearance at the highly-attended (he inflated the crowd in his speech, talking about 1 million people) party too good of an occasion for someone campaigning for reelection to pass up. It didn't matter that 80 percent or more of those present were illegal immigrants unable to vote. The TV evening news viewer doesn't know that.

Macho
Turn

Art director Ênnio Torrezan, a Carioca (from Rio) has worked at Steven Spielberg's Amblimation studio in England and for Hanna-Barbera in Hollywood. After two years at HBO, he is finally getting the break of his life with the launching on cable TV of El Macho, the stocky, big-nosed and seriously jealous character that he created while still in Brazil. Passing through Rio recently, he contacted some companies in order to satisfy another one of his dreams: start an animation nucleus in Brazil.

Packaging
Health

The New York Hospital—Cornell Medical Center (NYH—CMC) has created a Latin American Department, which has Brazilian psychiatrist Roberto de Paula as its director. The number of Brazilians looking for medical treatment in the U.S. has been on the increase. Many upper-class moms, for example, have been flying to Miami to have their babies there.

The NYH—CMC treat an average of five Brazilians every month, but the hospital expects this number to grow as more Brazilians become aware of it. Doctor de Paula believes that treatment given in the U.S. is much better than that in Brazil and even the prices can be competitive, according to him. A package for a cardiovascular surgery for example costs about $40.000. Included in the cost are the initial consultation by mail, medical procedures and even hotel accommodation for the family.