RAPIDINHAS

Crime
State of Siege 

Carolina Berard

According to a recent poll by Datafolha, the polling arm of daily newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, 60 percent of Brazilian voters consider security one of the most important factors in determining their vote for the presidency. Given the increasing rates of violence in all of the major cities in the country and the perception of the failure of current policies, this is hardly surprising.

The importance of efficient measures towards violence was made evident by an event in Rio: Luis Fernando da Costa, 35, Brazil's most notorious drug lord, stirred up a rebellion in Bangu I (ironically called a maximum security penitentiary), which lasted about 23 hours. Later that day, Costa, best known as Fernandinho Beira Mar, sneered at police after his prowess in leading the mutiny and killing his worst rival with cruelty in jail.

National and international authorities have been after Fernandinho Beira Mar (also known as Freddy Seashore) for years. His name appears on the black list of drug traffickers published by the U.S. State Department and the White House. This is due to his relationship with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). According to Veja, Brazil's most widely read magazine, the FARC trades with drug traffickers in order to get money to buy arms and support their activities against the Colombian state. Their business provided Costa with free access to Colombia's big drugs cartels.

The rebellion, which coincidentally took place on September 11, led to discussions about whether part of the police was involved in Costa's strategy and to the conclusion that the State has become so weak to the point of not being able to prevent such mutiny. So, the war should be not only against drug dealers, but also against corrupt policemen who cooperate with bandits and against measures that have not proven efficient.

Corrupt policemen and authorities cooperating with drug dealers is a fact. So much so that nowadays most Brazilians know that many of these drug lords continue their activities uninterrupted from their jail cells, using cell phones (!) and firearms. Their activities receive the "authorization of the State" because the drug lords allocate about 25 percent of each US$ 1 million they make to corrupt authorities, according to data from the Ministry of Justice.

According to political scientist Arthur Maranhão Costa, the ineffective performance of the police and the aggravation of problems related to drug trafficking are due to several factors. First, the Brazilian police force has not been designed to control the situations that take place nowadays in shantytowns, especially the biggest ones. "Their role," he argues, "has always been that of guarding the feeble border between two social worlds: the favelas and the elites."

Second, because of Brazil's model of social control, which is based on spatial segregation (the poor usually live in suburbs), social exclusion and police violence. According to Maranhão Costa, this model has always been regarded as satisfactory by the elites, but ceased to be "efficient" in the 1980s, with the expansion of cheaper drugs. This combination of social control and easier access to drugs created bocas de fumo (specific places in the mega favelas where drugs are traded on a large scale), a place almost unreachable by outsiders and almost impossible to be destroyed by the police.

The police are not only incapable of coping with this problem, but also discredited by a great part of the population. According to a 1997 study cited by Maranhão Costa, 82 percent of victims of robbery in Rio did not go to the police to register the crime, simply because they did not believe policemen would either solve their problem or protect them.

The lack of confidence is extremely high in society in general, but it is even higher in the slums. After all, the gangs usually play the role of a government in the favelas, ruling them and sometimes even providing the population with "everything the legitimate government cannot," such as better transportation and security, according to a recent article published by the Washington Post.

Once a local battle, the lack of effective measures against drug trafficking gained the proportions of a national war, especially after the press became more involved. This involvement, however, came at a high cost: the killing of journalist Tim Lopes, who had been reporting funk music parties—events held mostly in shanty towns where drug dealers can most easily sell drugs. His assassination was a clear response of the drug lords to the presence of journalists, and outsiders in general, in their `territory .' Targeting Tim Lopes, who worked for Globo, the all-mighty Brazilian TV channel and media conglomerate, was a particularly powerful statement.

Needless to say, especially in the aftermath of this event, Globo became more involved and their coverage of traffickers and their activities has been incessant. The Brazilian press covered with a great sense of pride the September 19 capture of the principal suspect for the murder of Lopes—known as Elias Maluco, or Crazy Elias, because of his cruelty.

Amidst so much bad news, the arrest of Maluco was regarded as a success. And it indeed was. The news announced it as the result of a joint action by society, good policemen and the press. The operation involved helicopters, dozens of vehicles, intelligence services, anonymous tips from the population, and more than 250 policemen per shift. The police did not shoot anybody. It was undoubtedly a model to be followed in the future.

However, authorities and experts remain realistic. "Operations like this one are unlikely to be the norm in Rio," opined Veja. Maranhão Costa agrees: "Unfortunately this was an exception. I do not believe the same would have happened if bandits had killed a journalist of a small newspaper or any other anonymous person."

In order for this success to be the norm, the police should be entirely reformed. Also, Maranhão Costa continues, "there should be more participation of the State, more social inclusion and less police violence, so that the population regain their trust in this institution. The way it is now, the police is not the solution. It is part of the problem."

Rio's drug lords are still way too far from being definitely beaten. Because of its complexity—drugs, poverty, corruption—violence is unlikely to be reduced until a long term and broad-based reform is made, not only in Rio, but in all big cities—which, by the way, can have the same problem in the future if measures are not taken in time. This is undoubtedly one of the major challenges for the next government, since successful actions are still isolated cases. Sadly, the arrest of Elias Maluco does not guarantee his retirement from crime. After all, after Costa's successful rebellion in a maximum-security penitentiary, who can guarantee Maluco will stay quiet in jail?

IN THE MEANTIME …

… so far 1.2 million spectators packed movie theaters throughout Brazil to watch City of God, directed by Fernando Meirelles, one of the best recent Brazilian motion pictures. Based on the book written by Paulo Lins, who used to live in the shantytown City of God, in Rio, the movie is an epic of drug trafficking and violence in slums.

This is also why the events including Fernandinho Beira Mar and Elias Maluco have had so many repercussions. City of God has opened society's eyes to the problem of drugs and violence through its mesmerizing scenes and attention-grabbing plot, and it has encouraged discussions among students, actors, and the media in general. "Everything in the movie is real. The difference is that things are now on the screen. I live this reality, although I am not part of it," says Jonathan Haagensen, 19, one of the inhabitants of the Vidigal slum, who acted in the movie.

This is due to many factors, but especially because people see the movie as realistic, even though the story takes place in the 1970s and early 1980s. One glaring similarity between reality and fiction is police corruption. Buscapé, the narrator of the story and one of the inhabitants who manages to escape from a criminal fate, becomes a photographer at the end of the movie. He witnesses some policemen receiving money from Zé Pequeno, the most dangerous drug trafficker of the shanty town. He then takes many pictures of the scene, but gives up on publishing them as he thinks this would put his life at risk.

Another similarity is the use of firearms among children and teenagers. In the film, little children were "hired" by Zé Pequeno and other traffickers to help them in their businesses. They all had their own guns, and they grew up so used to them and so familiar with shots that, in the end, they have no problem in killing their boss. Matheus Nachtergaele, who played the role of another powerful drug lord, said that "the hardest thing in this movie, for me, was the presence of guns. We recorded with fake guns, but, still, I got very disturbed by them. The children were all excited, and I became like a baby sitter for them, telling them to be careful," he said in an interview with TV Cultura.

The film has violent scenes and in many ways it is reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, for the conflicts, drugs issue, humor, and shocking scenes. In City of God, the most disturbing scene is when Zé Pequeno shoots two little children and forces a ten-year-old to kill another one, even younger than him. Meirelles admits that this was one of the most difficult scenes to record, both for actors and the crew.

City of God is very timely. "All presidential candidates should watch the film before elaborating their government plan. It is a civic duty," said Zuenir Ventura, a columnist for Rio's daily O Globo. PT presidential candidate, Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, did his homework, as did president Cardoso. Mr da Silva was impressed: "everyone should watch the movie in order to understand Brazil," he commented with approval. Cardoso, according to Época weekly magazine, was so impressed that he wanted the limit age of the audience to be reduced to 14 (it is 16 now), so that more young people could watch it.

Ironically enough, the film was so successful among people in favelas that it also helped the police arrest one of the leaders of one gang in the Cidade Alta shanty town. He was arrested when he was in line to buy the tickets at a pre-screening of the movie.

Carolina Berard is a translator in Brazil. She worked as a translator and journalist for the portal MultARTE Brazilian Culture www.multarte.com.br and has translated texts on various subjects ranging from economic integration to popular culture in Brazil. She is currently doing freelance translations and articles for several publications. Her email: carolinaberard@hotmail.com or kerolmb@ig.com.br  
 

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Tribute 
Portuguese Was Her Life

James H. Kennedy

Foreign language teachers throughout the U. S. join the Brazilian community of Washington, D. C., in mourning the loss of Prof. Haydée Simões Magro. A noted pioneer in Portuguese language instruction in the U.S.A., Prof. Magro's extensive teaching career came to an untimely end when, after a brief illness, she died in Washington on April 27, 2002.

Prof. Magro came to the United States after completing her studies at the Caetano de Campos Teachers College in São Paulo. She continued her studies here at Columbia University and Georgetown University. Subsequently, as a recipient of fellowships from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, during the summers 1966-1970 Prof. Magro carried out further studies at the Faculdade de Letras of the University of Lisbon, where she was awarded a diploma in philology with a concentration in Portuguese literature and civilization.

Prof. Magro taught courses in Portuguese language and Brazilian literature for almost forty years in Washington, D. C. She was an instructor at the Vox Language Institute and the Berlitz School of Languages before joining the Brazilian-American Cultural Institute (BACI), under the auspices of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1964. During her thirty-eight years at BACI, Prof. Magro taught thousands of people from all walks of life. Among her students were government employees, college students, retired persons as well as scores of diplomats of various ranks including a number of ambassadors.

Early in her teaching career, Prof. Magro became a key figure in the promotion of Portuguese language instruction and Brazilian Culture in the United States. Realizing the dearth of adequate instructional materials available at that time in this country, she co-authored with Prof. Paulo DePaula the texts Português: Conversação e Gramática (Portuguese: Conversation and Grammar) for beginning students and Leituras Brasileiras Contemporâneas (Contemporary Brazilian Readings) for students at the intermediate stage of learning.

Português: Conversação e Gramática, because it focused not only on the development of linguistic skills but cultural knowledge as well, was considered innovative at the time of its first publication. The book's concise language lessons are complemented by brief readings on Brazilian theater, arts, education, and literature and a number of the country's traditional folk songs.

The intermediate text, Leituras Brasileiras Contemporâneas, presents contemporary and colloquial usage of Brazilian Portuguese through short stories by such well-known writers as Manuel Bandeira, Cecília Meireles, and Carlos Drummond de Andrade. These two textbooks, both published by BACI, were subsequently adopted for the teaching of Portuguese language and Brazilian literature at numerous colleges and universities in the United States as well as in such countries as England, Suriname, Finland, Kenya, Japan, Guyana, Libya, Nigeria, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Prof. Magro's unfortunate passing leaves behind her unfinished work on a Portuguese-English dictionary of Brazilian idiomatic expressions. In addition to her activities at the Brazilian-American Cultural Institute, in the 1970s Prof. Magro was a lecturer in Portuguese at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Service. Her expertise in Portuguese language instruction reached an international level when, on invitation by Nagano University and Tokyo University, she traveled to Japan to undertake the restructuring of the teaching of Portuguese in those institutions.

During her remarkable teaching career, Prof. Magro played a very active role in professional organizations on both local and national levels. She participated in meetings to promote the teaching of Portuguese in the United States not only at the college level but in high schools as well. She was a member of the Modern Foreign Language Association (MFLA), the Greater Washington Association of Teachers of Foreign Languages (GWATFL), and the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP). She furthermore served as President of the Washington, D. C. Chapter of AATSP for seven consecutive years. In recognition of Prof. Magro's work for the advancement of Portuguese studies in the United States, she was inducted into the National Portuguese Honor Society, Phi Lambda Beta.

Students, friends, and coworkers will miss Prof. Magro's dedication to teaching, her polished demeanor, and her keen sense of humor. In the words of Prof. Paulo DePaula, who worked with Prof. Magro at BACI during the 1960s, "Haydée's finesse, knowledge, and work attitude turned our daily labor into real pleasure with valuable results…"

In addition to their textbooks, the collaboration of Magro and DePaula firmly established BACI as a leading center for the study of Portuguese language and Brazilian literature in the Washington, D. C. metropolitan area. As for Prof. Magro's sense of humor, Prof. DePaula relates, "Haydée had a great sense of humor and, once in a while, we'd have a laugh at one of her stories, such as when she inquired about a `banheiro'(Brazilian Portuguese for restroom) at the beach in Faro, Portugal, and had a poor soul run around screaming frantically: `Banheiro! Banheiro!' In Portugal," he adds, "banheiro is the word used to call for a lifeguard!"

A memorial mass celebrated by Monsignor Raymond G. East was held on June 15 at the Church of the Nativity in Washington, D. C. Following the mass, friends, relatives, coworkers, and former students gathered at the Brazilian-American Cultural Institute for a memorial program and reception organized by Dr. Eloise Spicer, past president of the Washington, D.C. Chapter of AATSP.

Prof. Magro was born on December 12, 1920, in Recife, Pernambuco. She is survived by her sisters, Hebe de Carvalho of Salvador; Niobe Nardon, Diana Simões Magro, and Cybele Simões Magro, all of São Paulo, as well a host of nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, grand-nephews, and cousins.

In spite of the birth date provided by her family, it seems that Prof. Magro considered a different date as her birthday. According to Prof. DePaula, "Most memorable to me was what Haydée considered her greatest disappointment in life. The seventh of September is Brazil's Independence Day, and the daylong ceremonies include parades, bands and fireworks. Her disappointment came when, at the age of five, she discovered that the festivities were not intended for her. The seventh was her birthday, and she thought the honors were due her. This is something I remember with a smile and at the same time with pride. The child who was born on the seventh of September went on to become a bulwark of Brazil abroad—a pioneer messenger, anchored in Washington, D.C., who spread her love for her country, language, and culture with the most graceful dedication."

James H. Kennedy, a former student of Prof. Magro, is with the Office of Bilingual Education of the District of Columbia Public Schools. He can be reached at esl202@hotmail.com

Books mentioned here are available at the Brazilian-American Cultural Institute: phone 202-362-8334 and Luso-Brazilian Books: phone 800-727-5876; www.lusobraz.com
 

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Opinion 
Globalized Misery 

Dom Pedro Casaldáliga

We, the peoples of the Americas, from our profoundest convictions and our dreams, wish to raise our voice and manifest our preoccupation and indignation before so many injustices, in vogue now for centuries, against our peoples by international capital and by irresponsible governments.

The countries of the Third World, as are those of our continent, still suffer—today through a systematic structure—crucial problems that affect the majority of the population. Denied are our rights to work, to food, to land, decent housing, education, and information.

What is globalized is misery, not true progress. This globalization generates dependence, and destroys the sovereignty of peoples. Capital circulates freely while people can't. The priority is competition instead of solidarity. The market is absolutized while ethical values are ignored.

Everything has its price, including dignity. Natural resources are being depleted, risking human survival. Land is privatized, as well as a leaning toward privatizing water, biodiversity, plants, animals, and, who knows, one day the wind, the sun... Property is valued more than life.

But we know that it-s not enough to scream. It's important to struggle with awareness, uniting forces and dreams. We will struggle for the fundamental rights of our peoples: sovereignty, identity, autonomy, freedom, food, work, land, housing, free public quality education.

We will struggle against the monopoly of information by economic groups of imperialist governments, which control the principal communication media of the masses. We'll struggle against financial capital and its insatiable interests. We'll struggle against paying the external debt, which we denounce as truly international usury. We'll struggle against violence and machismo, against political manipulation and economic corruption.

We all join together, against imperial domination which uses the IMF,

International Bank and the OMC, and which favor, on our continent, militarism, violence, repression, with their bases and with their military plans—Plan Colombia, Plan Puebla-Panama, Plan Dignity in Bolivia—and their profits from the Amazon.

We come together right now to unmask and combat ALCA (Free Tree

Agreement of the Americas), a system that is being imposed upon us as a new form for colonial domination of the continent. We especially propose that this year 2002, in all of our America, a great plebiscite, a true popular continental consultation so our peoples decide about ALCA and above all about what affects us directly

Let's raise our awareness, let's organize, in every space and corner, and always walk with our people as a people.

Born in 1928 in Balsanery, Barcelona, Spain, Bishop Dom Pedro Casaldáliga, is a Claretian missionary. He has been living in Brazil since 1968. Ordained bishop of the rural and dusty area of São Félix do Araguaia, state of Mato Grosso, in 1971, he is one of the loudest most passionate voices of the so-called Liberation Theology. His preaching and actions have upset the military, the government, big farmers and the Vatican. For five times during the dictatorship (1964-1985) the military tried to expel him from Brazil accusing Casaldáliga of being a communist. And he can't count the times he has received death threats. Writer and poet, he has written dozens of books.

This material was prepared by Sejup (Brazilian Service of Justice and Peace) You can visit them at www.oneworld.net/sejup/ 
 

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Diplomacy 
Globalization Distortions

Celso Lafer

Here in its entirety is the statement by the Minister of Foreign Relations of Brazil, Celso Lafer, at the opening of the 57th session of the United Nations general assembly, on September 12 2002:

Mr. President,

I congratulate you on your election to the Presidency of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

I thank your predecessor, Han Seung-soo, for the leadership he displayed at a particularly critical moment for the Organization.

To Secretary General Kofi Annan, I reaffirm Brazil's confidence in his statesmanship.

I have the pleasure of greeting the entry of East Timor into the fold of the United Nations, just as we welcomed it, last July, in Brasilia, into our Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries. A free Timor—a remarkable UN success story.

Brazil also welcomes Switzerland, as it now becomes a full member of this global political forum.

Mr. President,

I come to this hall as the representative of a country that has faith in the United Nations.

Of a country that views multilateralism as the guiding principle of relations among states.

This is a conviction we hold dear at all times, good and bad.

We are at a particularly difficult juncture for the Organization. This moment calls for measures sustained by the principles and values on which the United Nations was founded. Brazil has defended them since the first international conferences of the 20th Century.

We have never let ourselves be tempted by the argument of power. Rather, we have been guided by the power of argument.

This has been the foreign policy of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Throughout the eight years of the two terms of office to which he was democratically elected, certain fundamental guidelines have been recurrent:

- fostering democratic decision-making;

- overcoming the governance deficit in international relations;

- designing a new financial architecture and providing effective solutions for volatility in capital flows;

- defending a multilateral trade regime that is both fair and balanced;

- correcting the distortions resulting from economic globalization that is not accompanied by a corresponding process of political and institutional globalization;

- affirming the value of human rights and sustainable development;

These are challenges that we cannot face alone.

For this reason President Fernando Henrique Cardoso has sought to strengthen Mercosul together with South American integration, as instruments for peace, cooperation and greater competitiveness of our countries. Similarly, he has promoted the development of partnerships in all continents, pursuing well-balanced negotiations for the establishment of free trade areas, in particular with the European Union as well as with the countries taking part in the Free Trade Area of the Americas process.

We are committed:

- to see the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol and the establishment of the International Criminal Court;

- to further the social development agenda;

- to move forward nuclear and conventional disarmament.

The Brazilian vision of the world under the leadership of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso expresses goals not just of government, but also of the entire country and society.

That is why the electoral process now underway will further strengthen democracy in Brazil and highlight the country's international credentials.

Our commitment to the United Nations and to multilateralism will not waver "in times of storm and blustery winds" ("em tempo de tormenta e vento esquivo"), to quote Camões, the great poet of the Portuguese language.

The greater the challenges—such as those facing us at this difficult juncture—the greater the need for answers grounded in legitimacy.

Legitimacy born of participation and consensus.

Cooperation must be our "modus operandi".

In the multilateral sphere, leadership is crucial to the tasks before us.

Yet the form and content of each task must be defined through dialogue.

Only through dialogue will a coalition of truly united nations be built.

Nations united by the power of persuasion.

The tangled interests that form a global web of interdependence, can only be managed through authority rooted in multilateral institutions and in respect for international law.

The commitment to negotiated settlements, under the aegis of multilateralism, must be upheld.

At the time of the September 11 terrorist attacks, this Organization immediately showed its solidarity with the United States of America by adopting resolutions by the General Assembly and the Security Council.

At the regional level, the Inter-American Mutual Assistance Treaty was invoked on a Brazilian initiative, as an expression of our firm repudiation and our condemnation of all barbaric acts of terrorism.

These responses have taken the form of renewed collaboration in security, intelligence, police and judicial cooperation issues.

Lasting solutions to terrorism, international drug trafficking and organized crime require careful and persistent efforts to set up partnerships and cooperative arrangements consistent with the United Nations multilateral system.

Mr. President,

Many countries and regions have been burdened with the costs of globalization while at the same time being deprived of its benefits.

The very same free flow of capital that can foster investment is responsible for speculative attacks against national currencies and for balance of payment crises, with negative impact on the continuity of public policies and on the alleviation of social ills.

Protectionism and all forms of barriers to trade, both tariff and non-tariff, continue to suffocate developing economies and to nullify the competitiveness of their exports.

Liberalization of the agricultural sector has been nothing more than a promise repeatedly put off to an uncertain future.

The globalization we aspire to requires reform of economic and financial institutions. It must not be limited to the triumph of the market.

A modern understanding of development must encompass the protection of human rights, be they civil and political or economic, social and cultural.

In this respect, the appointment of Sergio Vieira de Mello as the new United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is a great honor for all Brazilians. He succeeds Mary Robinson, whose important achievements deserve recognition.

Mr. President,

The United Nations was created to maintain peace and security. However, armed conflicts and pockets of irrational violence persist today.

The situation in the Middle East underscores how distant we still are from the international order imagined by the founders of the United Nations Charter.

Brazil supports the creation of a democratic, secure and economically viable Palestinian State as well as the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. Brazil also defends the right of the State of Israel to exist within recognized borders and of its people to live in security. These are essential prerequisites for lasting peace in the Middle East. It is only by mutually and comprehensively acknowledging the conflicting legitimacies in the region, as well as by building on existing agreements that we can staunch the indiscriminate destructiveness of violence and forge a way forward.

The use of force at the international level is only admissible once all diplomatic alternatives have been exhausted. Force must only be exercised in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and in a manner consistent with the determinations of the Security Council. Otherwise, the credibility of the Organization will be undermined in a manner that is not only illegitimate, but that also gives rise to situations of precarious and short-lived stability.

In the specific case of Iraq, Brazil believes that it is incumbent on the Security Council to determine the necessary measures to ensure full compliance with the relevant resolutions. The exercise by the Security Council of its responsibilities is the way to reduce tensions and to avoid risking the unpredictable consequences resulting from wider instability.

In Angola, the international community must support recent positive developments that open the way for the rebuilding of the country and the consolidation of peace and democracy.

Strengthening the system of collective security remains a challenge.

The Security Council needs reform so as to enhance its legitimacy and lay the foundations for more solid international cooperation in building a just and stable international order. A central feature of this reform should be the expansion of the number of members, both in the permanent and non-permanent categories.

Brazil has already made it known—and I reaffirm it here—that it is ready to contribute to the work of the Security Council and to take on all its responsibilities.

Mr. President,

For Brazil, the United Nations is the public space for the creation of power that can only result, according to Hannah Arendt, from the human capacity to act in concert.

The United Nations is the crucial hinge in creating a global governance focused on a more equitable distribution of the dividends of peace and of progress.

Therein lies our vision for the future, a vision of solidarity among peoples and nations, a vision made legitimate by a renewed and inclusive understanding of power.

We are inspired by the observation by Guicciardini, the politically more successful Florentine contemporary of Machiavelli: "Among men, hope is normally more powerful than fear".

Thank you.

Celso Lafer, the Foreign Relations Minister of Brazil, is a tenured professor at the São Paulo University's Law School. He is the author of several books including Comércio, Desarmamento, Direitos Humanos: Reflexões sobre uma experiência diplomática (Trade, Disarmament, and Human Rights: Reflections on a Diplomat's Experience), 1999. The author can be contacted at acs@mre.gov.br  

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