RAPIDINHAS

Loss
The Queen of Smut 

Her mother heard her appeal and never read a line of the books the daughter wrote. In 1974, the generals who took over the power in Brazil from 1964 to 1985 agreed with the mother and prohibited 43 of Cassandra Rios's 46 books from being sold in libraries. The reason? They were "unfit for Brazilian families". Rios, who died March 8 in São Paulo, never had the sophistication or the cosmopolitanism of an Anaïs Nin (1903 in Paris - 1977 in Los Angeles), but she used to sell 300,000 books a year, in the late 60s, more than any other Brazilian writer at that time.

Cassandra was born Odete Rios, in São Paulo, in 1932, daughter of Spaniards and borrowed her penname from Greek heroine and prophetess Cassandra. She was only 13 when her first work was published: four short stories in the extinct newspaper O Tempo. Her mother gave her the money to publish her first book (A Volúpia do Pecado—Sin's Sensual Delight) when she was 16. That was the first time Odete asked her mother Damiana Rios not to open the book she wrote. When Damiana died in 1998 she hadn't read a word of her daughter's spicy work.

That first novel was a harbinger of stories to come: all filled with steamy bed scenes seasoned with adultery, homosexuality, voyeurism, frigidity, and nymphomania. More than 50 others would follow in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Cassandra and another woman writer by the name of Adelaide Carraro (1925-1992) would become famous for their immorality and brushes with the military government censorship. Rios was careful to separate her public life from the private one, always refusing to talk about her own intimate life and sexual experiences.

Among her books there were Nicoleta Ninfeta (Nymphette Nicoleta), Carne em Delírio (Flesh in Delirium), Tara (Sexual Perversion), Tessa, a Gata (Tessa, the Pussycat) and A Paranóica (The Paranoid Woman), which was made into the movie Ariella directed by John Herbert. Ariella is a girl who finds out that the man who she thinks is her father is really an uncle interested in her fortune. Upon this discovery she decides to become a prostitute, smearing in the process the name of the family.

Despite the highly erotic content of her books, the author considered herself a moralist. Curiously, her 400-page autobiography MezzAmaro does not talk about sex. Cassandra was labeled by her critics, who were legion, as "pornographer author", "cursed writer", and "flag bearer for homosexuality". In the early 80s, with the end of the official censorship, all her books became available, but by then she had become in fact a moralist and only wrote religious novels. She also started to paint and launched her unsuccessful candidacy to the state assembly of São Paulo. Publishers haven't republished her books, but most of the old titles can easily be found in sebos (used books bookstore).

Cassandra used to complain that people were not able to distinguish between the writer and the characters she wrote about. In a long interview with TPM - Trip Para Mulher magazine in June 2001 she talked about being a woman writer: "I was massacred for writing what I wrote being a woman. Since the dawn of civilization women fight for the right to talk and to think. If a man writes he is wise, experienced. If a woman writes, she is a nymphomaniac, a perverted. I always wrote with the naïveté of someone who is born a writer."

She also confessed having made a chastity vow when her mother was admitted to the ITU. Cassandra says that she has trouble reading what she wrote: "Sometimes I tell myself, "God, did I write this?" When I see one of my books in which the characters are on fire, I skip the page. But art is spontaneous. Sometimes I try to write a light book and, suddenly, things start to happen." The author contends that people who read her books attentively will notice that she is conservative and moralist.

"I'm living very well and very happy by myself," she told TPM. "I believe that people who are always trying to find someone don't like themselves. I live in a home by myself, I love to be by myself, and I never felt loneliness. It is easier to be unhappy when you are with someone else than when you are alone. You don't need to be all snuggled up. Snuggling is for people who are lacking sex and affection."

As American Henry Miller who preferred to be called obscene instead of pornographic, Cassandra likes the sound of obscene: "It's a beautiful, sensual word. Pornographic is something else. My books are not pornographic, they are love books. They talk about the attraction one person has over another."

The author became furious, however, when the interviewer asked her about the book Literatura da Cultura de Massa (Mass Culture Literature) by Waldenyr Caldas in which her work is classified as paraliterature: "Paraliterature is his mother. Motherfucker. Look, I just said a four-letter word. He knows nothing about literature and doesn't know how to write. I haven't read and will not read this book. Anyone can write a book, I want to see who can sell. This kind of stuff pisses me off."
 

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Books
Time for Prizes

Brazil's most prestigious literary award is up for grabs now that the CBL (Câmara Brasileira do Livro—Brazilian Book Chamber) has announced the nominees for the 44^th edition of the Prêmio Jabuti. The prize is more symbolic than anything—a mere 1000 reais ($427)—but the hundreds of authors vying for it like the distinction the prize confers. For novice writers the award might mean the difference between having to beg for a publisher and having a publisher knocking on their door for a change.

Winners of Book of the Year in fiction and non-fiction will also get 15,000 reais ($6400) besides respect, admiration, and possible.

This should happen on April 25 during the São Paulo Bienal do Livro (Book Biennial). There are ten nominees running for the year's best novel and they include the best and sometimes the most promising Brazilian writers, among them: Barco a seco, by Rubens Figueiredo; A utopia burocrática de Máximo Modesto, by Dionísio Jacob; Cine Odeon, by Lívia Garcia-Roza, Uma janela para Copacabana, by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza; and Eles eram muitos cavalos, by Luiz Ruffato. Brazzil published Ruffato's short story "O Ataque" in its December 2001 issue (www.brazzil.com/shodec01.htm).

In poetry, new releases by old and dead poets (Manuel Bandeira and Cecília Meirelles) will be competing against contemporary names like Cláudia Roquette-Pinto with Corola and Valéria Villela with O peso do Buquê. See the complete list of nominees at Brazzil online: www.brazzil.com/rpdmar02.htm

The nominees:

Romance

Title	Author	Publisher
A utopia burocrática de Máximo Modesto	Dionisio Jacob	Cia das Letras
Adágio para o Silêncio	Luís Giffoni	Pulsar
Barco a seco	Rubens Figueiredo	Cia das Letras
Cine Odeon	Livia Garcia-Roza	Record
Eles eram muitos cavalos	Luiz Ruffato	Boitempo
Fantasma	José Castello	Record
Frutos Amargos da Terra	Antônio Araújo	Armazém de Idéias
Niemeyer - Um romance	Teixeira Coelho	Iluminuras
Uma Janela em Copacabana	Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza	Cia das Letras
Viagem ao pavio da vela	Renato Modernell	Record

Short Stories
 

Title	Author	Publisher
As Horas Velozes	Milton Coutinho	7 Letras
Brava Gente Brasileira	Marcio Moreira Alves	Nova Fronteira
Códigos de Família	Zélia Gattai	Record
Faroestes	Marçal Aquino	Ciência do Acidente
Jornalísticamente Incorreto	Marilene Felinto	Record
Lado B	Sérgio Augusto	Record
Livro Aberto	Fernando Sabino	Record
Minha mãe morrendo e o menino mentindo	Valêncio Xavier	Cia das Letras
Penélope manda lembranças	Marina Colosanti	Ática
Secreções, excreções e desatinos	Rubem Fonseca	Cia das Letras

Poetry
 

Title	Author	Publisher
A Caça Virtual e outros poemas	Ivo Barroso	Record
A Serpente na Grama	Armindo Trevisan	Mercado Aberto
Antologia Poética	Manuel Bandeira	Nova Fronteira
Berço Esplêndido	Olga Savary	Palavra e Imagem
Corola	Claudia Roquette-Pinto	Ateliê Editorial
O Peso do Buquê	Valéria Villela	7 Letras
Poemas Preferidos	Thiago de Mello	Bertrand
Poemas Reunidos	Marcos Lucchesi	Record
Poesia Completa	Cecília Meirelles	Nova Fronteira
Socráticas	José Paulo Paes	Cia das Letras

For Children and Teens
 

Title

Author

Publisher

A Menina da Varanda	Leo Cunha	Record
Declaração universal do moleque invocado	Fernando Bonassi	Cosac&Naify
Mania de Explicação	Adriana Falcão	Salamandra
Meninos do Mangue	Roger Mello	Cia das Letrinhas
O Fazedor de Amanhecer	Manoel de Barros	Salamandra
O gato que falava Siamês	Marco Túlio Costa	Record
O Mário que não é de Andrade	Luciana Sandroni	Cia das Letrinhas
O menino e o arco-íris	Ferreira Gullar	Ática
O Tamanho da Felicidade	Angélica Bevilacqua	Mercuryo Jovem
Os principes do destino - Histórias da mitologia afro-brasileira	Reginaldo Prandi	Cosac&Naify
Perto dos olhos; perto do coração	Fátima Miguez	DCL
Seu Vento Soprador de Histórias	Fátima Miguez	Manati

Literary and Linguistic Theory
 

Title	Author	Publisher
A Demanda do Santo Graal Das origens ao códice português	Heitor Megale	Ateliê / FAPESP
A Poética do Hipocentauro	Jacyntho Lins Brandão	UFMG
Da fala para a escrita	Luiz Antônio Marcuschi	Cortez
Elementos de Filologia Românica	Bruno Fregni Bassetto	Edusp
Máquina de Gêneros	Alcir Pécora	Edusp
Matrizes da Linguagem e Pensamento	Lúcia Santaella	Iluminuras / FAPESP
O Futebol em Nelson Rodrigues	José Carlos Marques	EDUC / FAPESP
O Léxico de Guimarães Rosa	Nilce Sant'Anna Martins	Edusp / FAPESP
Paulo e Virgínia	Joel Rufino dos Santos	Rocco
Personae	Lourenço Dantas Mota and Benjamin Abdala Jr	. Senac
Tumulto de amor e outros tumultos	Ruy Espinheira Filho	Record

Economy, Administration, and Law
 

Title	Author	Publisher
A crise completa	Lauro Campos	Boitempo
A década dos Mitos	Marcio Pochmann	Contexto
A grande esperança em Celso Furtado	Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira and José Marcio Rego	Editora 34
Como vão o desenvolvimento e a democracia no Brasil?	João Paulo dos Reis Velloso	José Olympio
Débito Fiscal	Édison Freitas de Siqueira	Sulina
Design de Embalagem	Fabio Mestriner	Makron Books
Economia Colonial no Brasil nos séculos XVI e XVII	Celso Furtado	Hucitec
Economia Social no Brasil	Ladislau Dowbor and Samuel Kilsztajn	Senac
Formação da Diplomacia econômica no Brasil	Paulo Roberto de Almeida	Senac / FUNAG
Investimentos	Mauro Halfeld	Fundamento
O Valor das Empresas	Graciano Sá	Expressão e Cultura
Polarização mundial e crescimento	José Luís Fiori and Carlos Medeiros	Vozes

Natural and Health Sciences
 

Title	Author	Publisher
Adolescência - Prevenção e Risco	Mª Ignez Saito and Luiz Eduardo Vargas da Silva	Atheneu
Dependência de Drogas	Sergio Seibel et al	Atheneu
Doenças do fígado e vias biliares	Luiz Carlos da Costa Gayotto and Venâncio Avancini Ferreira Alves	Atheneu
Envelhecer. Histórias, encontros, transformações	Pedro Paulo Monteiro	Autêntica
Febre Amarela: A doença e a vacina, uma história inacabada	Jaime Larry Benchimol	(org) Fiocruz
Flora Fanerogâmica do Estado de São Paulo	Mª das Graças Lapa Wanderley, George John Shepherd and Ana Mª Giulietti	Hucitec / Fapesp
Florestas do Rio Negro	Alexandre Adalardo de Oliveira and Douglas C. Daly	Cia das Letras
Hematologia - Fundamentos e Práticas	Marco Antonio Zago, Roberto Passeto Falcão andRicardo Pasquini	Atheneu
Semiologia Clínica	Isabela Benseñor, José Antonio Atta and Mílton de Arruda Martins	Sarvier
UTI - Muito além da técnica...	José Maria C. Orlando	Atheneu

Sciences, Technology, and Computer
 

Title	Author	Publisher
Análise Matemática para Licenciatura	Geraldo Ávila	Edgard Blucher
Decifrando a Terra	Wilson Teixeira / Mª Cristina Motta de Toledo / Thomas Rich Fairchild / Fabio Taioli	Oficina de Texto
Dinâmica Estocástica e Irreversibilidade	Tânia Tomé / Mário José de Oliveira	Edusp
Física	Alaor Chaves	Reichmann & Affonso
Fundamentos de Sistemas Hidráulicos	Irlan Linsingen	UFSC
Minérios e ambiente	Bernardino Ribeiro Figueiredo	Unicamp
O fim da Terra e do Céu	Marcelo Gleiser	Cia das Letras
O livro de Ouro do Universo	Ronaldo Rogério de Freitas Mourão	Ediouro
Políticas Públicas para Eficiência Energética e Energia Renovável no Novo Contexto de Mercado	Gilberto de Martino	Jannuzzi Editora Autores associados
Um Curso de Álgebra Linear	Flávio U. Coelho / Mary Lourenço	Edusp

Human Sciences
 

Title	Author	Publisher
Aids no Feminino	Carmem Dora Guimarães	UFRJ
Antropologia, História e Educação	Aracy Lopes da Silva e Mariana Kawall Leal Ferreira	Global
Desafios Éticos da Globalização	Manfredo Araújo de Oliveira	Paulinas
Espaço-tempo na metrópole	Ana Fani Alessandri Carlos	Contexto
Festa	István Jancso and Iris Kantor	EDUSP / FAPESP / Imprensa Oficial / Hucitec
Mitologia dos Orixás	Reginaldo Prandi	Cia das Letras
O Brasil: Território e sociedade no início do século XXI	Milton Santos and Maria Laura Silveira.	Record
O homem insuficiente	Luiz Felipe Pondé	Edusp
O Mundo Inacabado	Marco Antonio Gonçalves	UFRJ
Reforma Agrária O impossível diálogo	José de Souza Martins	Edusp

Pedagogy and Psychology
 

Title	Author	Publisher
A Institucionalização Invisível	Mª Aparecida Affonso Moysés	Mercado de Letras
Adolescência na Escola	Margarete Parreira Miranda	Formato Editorial
Armazém de Imagens	Lucia Reily	Papirus
Como usar a música na sala de aula	Martins Ferreira	Contexto
Dicionário Enciclopédico Ilustrado Trilíngüe da Língua de Sinais Brasileira	Fernando César Capovilla and Walkíria Duarte Raphael	Edusp / Imprensa Oficial
Educação não-formal	Olga Rodrigues de Moraes von Simson, Margareth Brandini Park and Renata Sieiro Fernandes (orgs.)	Unicamp
Gramáticas do erotismo	Joel Birman	Civilização Brasileira
O primado da Afetividade	Carlos Plastino	Relume Dumará
Os meninos e a rua	Tânia Ferreira	Autêntica
Pronta para voar	Diana Dadoorian	Rocco
Reino dos Bichos e dos Animais é o meu nome	Stela do Patrocínio Azougue	Editorial

Media Reporting and Biography
 

Title	Author	Publisher
1961 - Que as armas não falem	Paulo Markun and Duda Hamilton	Senac
Cobras Criadas	Luiz Maklouf Carvalho	Senac
Correio Braziliense ou Armazém Literário	Hipólito José da Costa	Imprensa Oficial / Correio Braziliense
Dorival Caymmi - O mar e o tempo	Stella Caymmi	Editora 34
Enrico Caruso na América do Sul	György Miklós Böhm	Cultura Editores Associados
Hartt: Expedições pelo Brasil Imperial	Marcus Vinicius de Freitas	Metalivros
Histórias do Poder	Alberto Dines, Florestan Fernandes Jr. and Nelma Salomão	Editora 34
JK - o Artista do Impossível	Claudio Bojunga	Objetiva
Memórias das Trevas	José Carlos Teixeira Gomes	Geração
Meu Casaco de General	Luiz Eduardo Soares	Cia das Letras
No Caminho da Expedição Langsdorff	Adriana Florence	Melhoramentos

School Books
 

Title	Author	Publisher
Atlas Geográfico Escolar de Juiz de Fora	Valéria Trevizani Burla de Aguiar	UFJF
Biologia	Armenio Uzunian and Ernesto Birner	Habra
Escrever e Criar... uma nova proposta	Ruth Rocha and Anna Flora	Quinteto Editorial
Flor de maravilha	Flávio Paiva	Plural de Cultura
Geografia Crítica	José William Vesentini and Vânia Vlach	Ática
História Concisa do Brasil	Boris Fausto	Imprensa Oficial / Edusp
História no dia-a-dia	Cláudia Sapag Ricci; Lorene dos Santos and Célio Augusto da Cunha Horta	Formato
New Happy Book	Tânia Moraes Gaspar	Scipione
Nossa Gente Brasileira	Jurandir Malerba and Mauro Bertoni	Papirus
Pensar e Construir - Português	Mª Amália Forte Banzato; Mª Cristina Portugal Godinho and Rosana Correa Pereira El-Kadri	Scipione

Translation
 

Title	Translator	Publisher
A Montanha da Alma	Marcos de Castro	Objetiva
Alice Edição Comentada	Mª Luiza X. de A. Borges	Jorge Zahar Editor
Baudolino	Marcos Lucchesi	Record
Crime e Castigo	Paulo Bezerra	Editora 34
Diálogo sobre os Dois Máximos Sistemas do Mundo Ptolomaico e Copernicano	Pablo Rubén	Mariconda Discurso Editorial / FAPESP
Diário Póstumo	Ivo Barroso	Record
Ilíada de Homero	Haroldo de Campos	Mandarim
O Iceberg Imaginário	Paulo Henriques Britto	Cia das Letras
Poemas, um tostão cada	Alípio Correia de Franca Neto	Iluminuras
Sempre seu, Oscar	Marcelo Rollemberg	Iluminuras

Cover
 

Title	Cover Author	Publisher
A utopia burocrática de Máximo Modesto	Raul Loureiro	Cia das Letras
Abraçado ao meu rancor	Raul Loureiro	Cosac&Naify
As Sereias do Espaço	Cesar Lobo	Record
Coleção Guimarães Rosa	Victor Burton	Nova Fronteira
Faroestes	Joca Reiners Terron and Luiz Roberto Guedes	Ciência do Acidente
Flor do Deserto	Raul Loureiro	Hedra
Lado B	19 Design	Record
Louco no oco sem beiras	Ricardo Assis	Ateliê Editorial
Ô Copacabana	Raul Loureiro and Rodrigo Lacerda	Cosac&Naify
O Filósofo e o Comediante	Marcelo Belico	UFMG
Um Século de Luz	Homem de Melo & Troia Design	Scipione

Editorial Production
 

Title	Producer	Publisher
Brasilessência	Vera Artaxo	Nova Cultural / Best Seller
Brasiliana da Biblioteca Nacional	Nova Fronteira	Nova Fronteira
Cityscapes	Adriana Amback	DBA
Coleção Pockets	Wagner Carelli	Globo
Fausto Zero	Raul Loureiro	Cosac&Naify
Histórias do Poder	Pedro Franciosi	Editora 34
Iconografia do Rio de Janeiro	Marcia Saad Silveira	Casa Jorge Editorial
Imagens de Vilas e Cidades do Brasil Colonial	Nestor Goulart Reis	Imprensa Oficial / Edusp
No Caminho da Expedição Langsdorff	Ana Célia Goda	Melhoramentos
O Brasil	Cristiana Portela	Bom Texto
Waltercio Caldas	Waltercio Caldas and Leonardo Fanzeres	Cosac&Naify

Child Book Illustration
 

Title	Illustrator	Publisher
A Lenda do Dia e da Noite	Rui de Oliveira	FTD
Agbalá um lugar-continente	Marilda Castanha	Formato
Clave de Lua	Eliardo França	Paulinas
De bem com a vida	Mariana Massarani	Manati
Estrela Cor de Rosa	Suppa	Globo
História em Quadrões	Maurício de Sousa	Globo
Jardins	Roger Mello	Manati
Mania de Explicação	Mariana Massarani	Salamandra
Meninos do Mangue	Roger Mello	Cia das Letrinhas
O Sapo Voador	Fabiana Arruda	Hedra

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Indians 
Shortchanged 

The news was subtly announced by the Brazilian media on February 19th. The National Health Foundation (Funasa), the agency in charge of implementing the national indigenous health policy, was officially closed down. The Indigenous Health System and the Federal Agency for Disease Prevention and Control (APEC) were created to replace it. According to Provisional Measure 33, published in the Official Gazette, the Indigenous Health System will be directly linked to the Ministry of Health and inspected by the APEC.

Closing down Funasa is part of the policy adopted by the Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration, which has been replacing governmental structures with control agencies. The way the foundation was closed down, however, gave rise to an odd feeling, because the decision was not based on comprehensive discussions around the Special Indigenous Sanitary Districts (DSEIs). Health professionals have no idea of what will happen to the districts, to the training programs for Indigenous Health Agents, to the so-called Homes for Indigenous People (Casas do Índio, which provide emergency care to indigenous people), and to the hospitals that provide health care to indigenous people exclusively.

The indigenous health care system has been dismantled for the second time. Under the administration of ex-President Fernando Collor de Mello (1990-1992), the indigenous health care system was decentralized. Public policies for health and education, which used to be centralized at Funai, were placed under the responsibility of the ministries of Health and Education. The Ministry of Health delegated health care actions to Funasa, an independent governmental agency operating within the ministerial framework. Funai remained in charge of a health sector and as a result jurisdiction conflicts began to emerge. In the regions, technicians and indigenous people have been trying to contact the two agencies for assistance, causing a lot of confusion.

For some time CIMI (Conselho Indianista Missionário—Native Missionary Council), has been warning that outsourcing indigenous health care services is dangerous. Responding to requests of indigenous communities, the government created the DSEIs, but other segments can provide health care services to indigenous populations, such as NGOs and city halls. The policy for agreements between the agencies and the Ministry of Health has been defined.

Complaints and problems are piling up. Indigenous peoples began to report cases of corruption, misappropriation of equipment, neglect, professional incompetence, and prejudicial treatment. The last report reached CIMI last week. The Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR) reported that the budget earmarked for health care agreements was sharply reduced as a result of the standardization of salaries—which may lead to the dismissal of part of the staff.

The fact that Funasa was closed down raised doubts in relation to the future of the indigenous health care system and gave rise to apprehension in indigenous villages. In February, about 250 indigenous people representing 42 peoples of states of the Northeast, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo held a meeting in Caruaru, state of Pernambuco, to evaluate the indigenous health care system, define strategies to deal with the new national policy adopted by the federal administration for the sector, and debate the consequences of closing down Funasa.
 

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Energy 
A New Model

Conrad Johnson

With rainfall only three percent above normal Brazil's reservoirs and hydro generation capacity are recovering fast. The present supply crisis is over, at least in the absence of an immediate and unexpected drought. According to Mauro Arce who heads the São Paulo Department of Energy and is also a member of the national electric energy crisis committee (GCE—Câmara de Gestão da Crise de Energia) "if present levels of rainfall continue, we will need neither natural gas generation nor emergency diesel and still have yet 10 percent capacity in our reservoirs at the end of the year".

Attention of the GCE has therefore turned to long-term sector considerations. Although means and ends are yet in the discussion phases, the federal executive branch has given clear signs that the model for the electric sector is changing. The government seems committed to governing an electric sector that avoids both future rationing and politically unpopular price increases to consumers.

With recently failed state privatizations in Paraná (COPEL), Goiás (CEG) and São Paulo (CESP-Paraná), the federal government is, for the foreseeable future, retaining permanent control of all federal generation companies while restricting their role in creating new capacity. Given the difficulties these federal companies have created (Furnas in delivery of contracted electricity to the wholesale market, and Eletrobrás defying regulatory rulings concerning new Itaipu generation capacity, e.g.) for advancing self-governance and free market pricing, the federal energy ministry (Ministério das Minas e Energia) and the independent federal regulatory agency (Aneel—Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica) will now control the prices of federal generators through a new pricing institution (MBE—Mercado Brasileiro de Energia) which will as well replace the MEC , the present wholesale market institution. There is even a strong indication that the non-privatized remaining generation of individual state-owned electric firms will, as well, be price-controlled by these federal institutions.

The clear GCE purpose is to divide the generation market in such a way that there is incentive to create "new" generation capacity that will be left sensitive to market prices, while "old" energy (that produced by already fully depreciated facilities) is priced so as to mitigate consumer rates thereby diminishing overall inflationary effects while still maintaining hydraulic reserves in the event of future drought. The previous plan called for a staged liberation of all prices beginning in 2003, and that has definitely changed. The GCE feared spiraling prices that would have untoward political consequences because of consumer dissatisfaction and effects on the Treasury Ministry's overall (IMF agreed) inflation targets.

"New" market prices are hoped to be high enough to encourage private investment and relieve the government of reason to be an investor in the electric sector beyond maintaining existing facilities. The old state companies will be sold to private individual shareholders after they are separated into separate generation and transmission firms—though, since they are not competing in the "new" market, it is hard to imagine much investor interest for them. If the firms owned by individual states were part of "new" market generation, the division would be something like 47 percent "old" and 53 percent "new". If individual state firm generation is to be controlled by federal regulators, the division will be something like 80 percent to 20 percent.

The GCE is taking note of interested sector criticism. (No doubt optimistic: the Secretary of Energy in the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Afonso Henrique Moreira Santos, responsible for reformulating sector policy unexpectedly resigned over a new proposed subsidy for transporting Bolivian gas, but noted, "I have no support, no resources and no staff".) The most obvious structural criticisms, in the interim, are from free market proponents like Adriano Piers who heads the Institute of Infrastructure Studies at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. "What the sector was waiting for was a remedy based more on the laws of the market and less on government intervention," was his response.

Pires points out that under any scenario, the government will own and control a large proportion of total supply of electric energy. How much of federally controlled energy sells, and for what price, will be ever dependent on winning political approval from political interests the governing groups care to please, as well as on how much water should be providently retained in dam reservoirs.

"What changed was the philosophy," he says. "Before we had a self-regulating market, now the market will be regulated by the State. It is not a re-monopolization by the state, wherein it is buying firms previously privatized. The government is proposing a hybrid model in which a large part of generation continues in State hands and distribution is privatized. Federal generation will no longer be privatized. It was a change of the rules in the middle of the game," Pires opined.

Private generation may receive a boost, though skeptics are easy to find. AES, with $US 6 billion already invested in Brazil has announced they are continuing with plans to invest another US$ 1.2 billions in generation, mostly thermo. Several months ago they had suspended further energy investments in Brazil because of "regulatory impasse".

Conrad Johnson, the author, is an American attorney, permanently residing in Brazil. He writes for various publications on development and legal issues in Latin America. You can reach him at conrad@alternativa.com.br

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