Behavior 
Pretty and Conceited

William Javier Nelson

A very attractive woman paraded herself before us, with a great deal of self-admiration, as she boarded the airplane (we were all loading the airplane so we welcomed the diversion). Most of us stopped what we were doing to stare at her, all the more so as she seemed to be of Latin American origin. I lazily glanced up, took note, and resumed working.

"What would she be in the Dominican Republic, Javier?" one of my buddies asked me.

"A five."

We all chuckled. So concluded a ritual, which no doubt other Latino guys (like me) have participated in. You see, Latina women, in case one hasn't heard, are extremely attractive and a trip to the Dominican Republic (my home) or Brazil (yours) yields an array of stunningly beautiful women. Fortunately (for men in those countries), that counts for great opportunities of meeting winsome females—unfortunately (for women in those countries), it means competition from other stunningly beautiful women. However, Latina (Brazilian, etc.) women can take heart. If they can somehow get to the United States things will look up considerably, for the secret has long been out: Latinas are in.

Criolla women compare quite favorably to gringas in terms of beauty. Maybe it's the mixture of bloods, maybe it's the permanent tan, maybe it's the sensuality. I don't know. What I do know is that I have seen gringos falling for Latina women in the U.S. who wouldn't turn a head in Santo Domingo, Bahia or São Paulo. If that alone doesn't translate into a favorable situation, there is also this thing called the Marriage Gradient, which makes romantic liaisons with Latina women much easier than for Latino men.

The Marriage Gradient stands for a custom quite common in the United States: Men habitually marry women of a lower economic and/or occupational status than them. This means that it is quite acceptable for a male engineer to marry a female secretary. But it is rare that a female lawyer would marry a male gardener. What this all means is that Latina women coming to the United States from less than optimal economic backgrounds can, if they play their cards right, wind up meeting a male of substantial economic means.

Sociologists have long commented on this phenomenon, noting that Latino men in the U.S. are usually far more alienated from the U.S. mainstream than Latina women. Moreover, intermarriage between Anglo-Saxons and people of Latin American ancestry is higher than almost every other combination—and the great bulk of those marriages involve Latinas and gringos. [As Brazil has a number of rich folks who get to come to the U.S., the Marriage Gradient would still operate, if for no other reason than the fact that the U.S., wealthy as it is, possesses a number of gringos even richer than most brasileiras.]

This was brought home to me once at the airport. Two gringos were ordering a meal and the Latina waitresses were getting along quite well with them—almost to the point of being asked out. Now these guys were both passengers, and both quite well-fixed.

Right now, some Latina bombshells of note include Salma Hayek, Mia Maestro and Jennifer Lopez. Quite attractive to be sure—but any brasileiro knows that women like that positively abound in Brazil.
So, if you have a young sister or daughter who is contemplating visiting the United States, prepare for her vision of her beauty to get a significant enhancement. Will it make her more conceited? Not if you can get her back home again.

William Javier Nelson, holds a Duke Ph.D. in Sociology and is of Dominican nationality. Letters (friendly or hostile, Spanish or English) can be addressed to: cibbaeno2@aol.com

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Indians
Party at the Mount

The Pataxó of the south tip of the state of Bahia staged a large demonstration on August 19 to celebrate the third anniversary of the reoccupation of the Pascoal Mount, which they claim as a traditional indigenous land, the first anniversary of the building of the Resistance Monument, a symbol of the indigenous struggle in Brazil, recent land reoccupation actions, and the creation of the Pataxó Struggle and Resistance Front.

About 350 indigenous people representing eight Pataxó villages took part in the demonstration. Allies from various movements and entities that support the struggle of the Pataxó, among which Cimi, ANAI-Bahia, Cese, the Office of the Attorney General, the Union of Bank Employees, the Teacher's Association, the Terra Viva organization, Funai and different churches also took part in the demonstration.

The celebrations began with a ritual prayer, the toré dance, and chants of the Pataxó and Maxakali. Representatives of the Cahy village carried a large banner with the words "We Will Advance."

The demonstration was coordinated by chief Joel Braz, who described the challenges posed by the organized actions of gunmen hired by farmers who invaded indigenous lands. "It is not an easy task to deal with gunmen and recover what we have lost _ we have to hide in order not to die young," said Joel, aware of the risks he faces for his courage and determination to fight for the territory of his people.

When a car of the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) passed by, the demonstrators became outraged. Ibama does not recognize the right of the Pataxó to the Pascoal Mount indigenous land and wants it to continue to be an environmental preservation area.

The speeches delivered by the allies of the Pataxó were marked by words of solidarity to their struggle and rejection of the maneuvers of Ibama. "Ibama's plans to appoint a new manager to the area are preposterous... You should not allow people like Ibama's officials to come here... The Pataxó should expel all intruders from this area," said Guga, of the ANAI organization of Bahia.

Jeferson, from the Terra Viva organization, said: "Your struggle has a remarkable meaning for all the indigenous peoples of Brazil (...). Your enemies are still very active. They gave up their old strategy of giving you mirrors and knives and now they are offering you salaries, a car, a house.... The shared management scheme they are proposing is a scam. We support the position of the Resistance Front of saying no to Ibama".

Cimi's executive secretary, Egon Heck, reiterated the full support and solidarity of the entity to the struggle of the Pataxó, "who have become a symbol of hope for indigenous peoples and for all those who are fighting to change this country."

Funai's regional administrator, Sandro, criticized the attempts of Ibama to divide the indigenous people. "The fight is not over, it is just beginning," Sandro said.

The leaders of the Pataxó people delivered courageous and firm speeches. Dio, the chief of the Corumbauzinho village, warned Ibama's officials "not to try to stop indigenous people from doing what they have to do. The fight has begun now and will not stop here."

Lídio Matari, chief of the Piqui village, asked the demonstrators to support the Pataxó in their efforts to defend themselves from gunmen and reoccupy their land. "I have received death threats, we are suffering. But I am happy now, because we will be able to rely on the help from our relatives."

Chief Timborana, from the Cahy village, spoke about the suffering that indigenous people are experiencing at the Cumuruxativa camp as they get ready to reoccupy their lands. "I have been threatened by gunmen and bandits. But we have our father Tupã, who will not let us die. We should support our relatives who reoccupied the Piqui land. If we have to fight physically, we will, if we have to die together, so be it!"

Joselito, another leader, derided the Pataxó who signed Ibama's proposal for the "shared management" of the Pascoal Mount in April. "We should not accept any shady proposals. In the past, they cheated our people with red ribbons and mirrors; today, they try to cheat us jobs, a car and a furnished house."

The women delivered speeches also. Marlene Pataxó said that the struggle of her people is not a men's affair only. "It is not only the men who have a voice. We also have one. I am the mother of 13 children and we will not allow others to come here again. We kicked Ibama out. Why would we allow an enemy inside our house now? This land is ours, we have the right to be here. We are willing to die before we give up. Every time an indigenous person dies, our fight grows!"

Maria Lica, another Pataxó woman who is the mother of five children, one of which is still an infant, called on the Pataxó to unite after reporting that gunmen had once tried to prevent her from cooking for her children "We don't want no barren land. You expelled us from the forest and now you want to give us back a land that is barren!", she angrily shouted to the gunmen, referring to the environmental degradation caused by farmers.

At the end of the demonstration, the Pataxó issued a manifesto reiterating that the Pascoal Mount "was, is and will always be the land of the Pataxó" and asking the Brazilian Government "to demarcate the Pataxó territory."

This material was published by Cimi - Indianist Missionary Council
 

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Ecology
Saving the Green 

Telling that this was Brazil's contribution to the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg, South Africa, President Fernando Henrique Cardoso announced on August 22 the creation of the largest rainforest national park in the world. The new green sanctuary covers 9.4 million acres—an area the size of Switzerland or Taiwan—of the Amazon along the border with Surinam and Guyana. This represents 1 percent of the Amazon and, according to the government, is just the first step of a more ambitious program, which will preserve 10 percent of the region.

The Tumucumaque National Park shelters 12 percent of all primates living in the Brazilian Amazon like the black spider monkeys as well as jaguars, sloths, giant armadillos, anteaters and harpy owls. Scientists believe that at least eight primate species, 350 bird species and 37 types of lizard live in the park. A number of environmental groups helped create the park, including the World Wide Fund for Nature and Conservation International.

Tumucumaque means "the rock on top of the mountain" in the language of the Apalai and Wayana Indians. The park is part of a package containing six environmental protection measures. Tumucumaque park is 568,000 acres larger than Slonga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, previously the world's largest tropical park.

According to the official news agency Agência Brasil, from 1995 to 2000, Brazil almost doubled the green area it protects, from 15.3 million hectares to 29.5 million (135,600 square kilometers to 174,500 square kilometers in forestlands).

"With the creation of Tumucumaque Mountains National Park, we are ensuring the protection of one of the most pristine forests remaining in the world," President Cardoso said. "Plants and animals that may be endangered elsewhere will continue to thrive in our forests forever."

Cardoso also signed several laws regulating the use of genetic material gathered from Brazil's immense variety of plant and animal species. A number of environmental groups helped create the park, including the World Wide Fund for Nature and Conservation International.

"The park is very important because it helps consolidate one of the world's last roadless wildernesses," said Roberto Cavalcanti, director of Conservation International in Brazil. "Much of the Amazon is still wild, but there are roads running through it."

In much of the Amazon, roads have accelerated destruction of the forest by providing access for settlers, prospectors and loggers. Deforestation has destroyed about 15 percent of Brazil's Amazon rainforest, which today covers about 1.35 million square miles.

"This park today looks much like it would have hundreds of years ago, since Tumucumaque has not been deforested," said José Maria Cardoso da Silva, Conservation International's Director for Amazonia.

"I don't have any doubt the park will yield new species," said Josë Pedro de Oliveira Costa, secretary for biodiversity and forests at Brazil's Environment Ministry. Costa hopes millions of dollars in promised funding from the World Bank and Global Environmental Facility will help Tumucumaque avoid the fate of other parks in the Amazon, where a shortage of forest rangers and infrastructure has made parks vulnerable to illegal mining and logging and virtually inaccessible to the general public.

Initially, the park will be open only to scientists, who will study how best to combine tourism with preservation.

"This is an opportunity that doesn't come along very often," said Garo Batmanian, chief executive officer of the World Wild Fund for Nature. "Because most of the land in the Amazon is still in the government's hands, the environment can still have a vision for zoning the Amazon."

Some observers are skeptical towards the project pointing that the development agency for Amazon is involved in a corruption scandal and will be able to do very little in this climate.

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