Rio News

By Felicity Clarke, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO - Despite the stifling temperatures, the Brazil fashion set turned out this week for the 16th Fashion Rio. Starting last Friday, January 8th, the event presents the new catwalk collections for Autumn/Winter 2010 by the most exciting designers working in Brazil. The event closes with a spectacular final invite-only show on Wednesday, January 13th.

Maria Extra Bonita runway, 16th Fashion Rio Autumn/Winter 2010, image by ffw.com.br.

Despite rumors of a venue change, the events are taking place at Píer Mauá where it happened for the first time for Rio Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2009. The Centro location has already this week staged the new collections by Auslander, Maria Extra Bonita and Espaço Fashion.

Notable collections which subvert the traditional fashion view of Rio as a city with a bold print, colorful look include Cavendish, who contrasted romantic drapery and florals with rock chic touches such as matt black tights. More dramatically dark creations came from Filhas da Gaia whose show entitled ‘O Belo Frankenstein’ (’Frankenstein Beauty’) featured voluminous shoulders, sharp lines and tight belted dresses.

Cavendish runway, 16th Fashion Rio Autumn/Winter 2010, image by ffw.com.br.

While Cavendish and Filhas da Gaia have been drawn to light and dark contrasts, other designers have focused on the environmental considerations of the fashion industry, for example Marcelo Rodrigos who has developed footwear using recycled tires and Francisca Vieira’s label Natural Cotton Color whose collection is made entirely with naturally colored cottons without any artificial colorings or chemicals.

Alongside the catwalk shows, there is a photography exhibition around the event’s theme, Rio and the 2016 Olympics. Titled ‘Hoje Mais Sete’ (’Today Plus Seven’), referring to how many years from the announcement to the Games, the exhibitions features photography by Gabriel Mendes displayed on the external walls of the warehouse.

Filhas da Gaia runway, 16th Fashion Rio Autumn/Winter 2010, image by ffw.com.br.

The images show how people from politicians to athletes to taxi drivers are preparing for the Olympics. Inside there is also an exhibition by Oscar Metsavaht showing his view of Ipanema plus an installation by Anna Dantas and Carô Veiga covering the whole ceiling of the second warehouse with Carioca banners.

Wednesday’s invitation-only party will close the event. These shows focus on those who are premiering at this year’s Fashion Week such as 27 year-old stylist Nina Kessler and from Minas Gerais, Patachua.

Last year the event caused a simmer of controversy when Beto Neves, designer of Complexo B, used transgendered model Patricia Arauju in his catwalk show. While there may not be the same sense of surprise rippling through the audience this year, it’s sure to be another fabulous climactic close to one of Brazil’s major fashion showcases.

By Jaylan Boyle, Senior Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO - The abortion issue polarises opinion throughout much of the world, and has led to heated and sometimes violent confrontation between concerned parties. America is currently captivated by the impending trial of Scott Raeder, the ‘pro-lifer’ who allegedly shot dead doctor George Tiller in Wichita, Kansas, at the height of a protest in 1993.

Brazilian Health Minister Jose Gomez Temporao (at microphone), photo by Elza Fiuza/ABr.

In Brazil, the country with more Catholics than any other in the world, status quo has largely gone unchallenged until recently: Abortion is illegal in this country, except in cases where the life of the mother is in danger.

Recently the Brazilian Health Ministry amended the applicable laws to the effect that only a police report of rape is required for a procedure to be authorized. The Catholic church has reacted strongly against the amendment, as expected.

In recent years a number of cases have brought the abortion issue to the fore in a country that has always aligned itself closely with church doctrine, on the street if not officially. Most notably, the abortion performed in Recife in March last year on a nine-year-old girl, who is suspected to have been raped and impregnated with twins by her stepfather, has perhaps forced many Brazilians to examine the issue from a new angle.

When the case came to light, the Vatican reaction outraged many around the world. Archbishop of Olinda and Recife Jose Cardoso Sobrinho issued what was interpreted by some as a ‘if you’re not for us, you’re against us’ statement, calling the decision to abort ‘against the law of god’, adding “The law of god is above any human law”.

A demonstration against abortion, in front of the House floor, photo by José Cruz/ABr.

The church then successfully moved to excommunicate those involved, including the girl herself, her family, and the doctors concerned, inducing the Brazilian government to comment. Said Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao: “I believe the position of the church is extreme, radical and inadequate… I am shocked by the radical position of this religion which, wrongly saying it is defending a life, puts another life in danger that is as important as any other.”

President Luis Inacio da Silva was quoted as saying “As a Christian and a Catholic, I deeply regret that a bishop of the Catholic Church has such a conservative attitude.. In this case, the medical profession was more right than the Church.”

At the crux of the issue, condemnation of the church has centered around unwillingness to compromise, even in view of the fact that the girl’s life was indeed confirmed to be in danger. One of the doctors involved, Olimpio Moraes, said that the girl’s circumstances entirely agreed with Brazilian law. “As doctors, we could not allow a girl of 9 to suffer like this or until she paid with her own life,” he said.

The heightened danger is due to the fact that the girl’s hips are immature, and would complicate birth. Tensions were further inflamed when Bishop Sobrinho said further that the girl’s stepfather would not be excommunicated because abortion was a more severe sin than rape.

When, later in March 2009, the Vatican publicly backtracked on the case, many saw it as a move toward greater tolerance in the church. “Before thinking about an excommunication it was necessary and urgent to save an innocent life”, said Archbishop Rino Fisichella. Even the excommunications of the doctors involved were reversed, as according to the Vatican, only those doctors ’systematically’ performing abortions should be subject.

National Movement in Defense of Life - Brazil Without Abortion, photo by José Cruz/ABr.

While some Brazilians are beginning to challenge the church on the issue of abortion, a recent survey found that more than 65 percent of the population are of the opinion that the country’s current law should not be modified, with only 16 percent saying the law should be relaxed, the rest having no opinion.

The illegality of abortion in Brazil has created a lucrative black market for the procedure itself and drugs used to induce abortion. It is estimated that 5,000 women die per year in Brazil from complications related to unauthorized procedures, with 800,000 hospitalized.

By Bruno De Nicola, Senior Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO - The 2010 samba school technical rehearsals started at the Sambodrome, a thrilling weekend of cheerful parades lightened up the Sapocaí Avenue.

G.R.E.S. Unidos do Porto da Pedra, photo by Ygorrj359/Wikimedia Creative Commons License.

Last Saturday night G.R.E.S. Unidos do Porto da Pedra, the gremio from São Gonçalo (just north of Niterói) showed some new moves to the many Cariocas dancing on the stadium’s bleachers. The youngest samba school in the top series is focused on taking home its first title this year.

Porto da Pedra is a very young samba school compared to the other popular schools, the red and white gremio from the other side of the Guanabara Bay, was founded just 31 years ago, in 1978. The school used to be a soccer team and still boasts the symbol of a roaring tiger.

For many years the red and white tiger won São Gonçalo’s own carnival contest, proving itself ready to face Rio de Janeiro’s traditional schools. In the early 90’s, Porto da Pedra moved into the Carioca league but has struggled to bring home its first Sambodrome title.

The technical rehearsals that started last weekend aren’t quite the real thing, but they are surely worth watching. Before the two big February nights of Carnival, samba schools get a chance to line up their troops and practice for their dancing march through the Sambodrome stadium.

There are no costumes or floats during rehearsals, but the audience gets a thrill from the amazing dancing and singing from each beloved school. Entrance is free for the rehearsals, and on Sundays, samba parties continue late into the night after the last rehearsal.

Last weekend opened the 2010 carnival season and many fans and curious onlookers turned out to watch with Imperatriz Leopoldinense opening the Friday January 8th parades, followed by Portela and Porto da Pedra the day after.

Porta Da Pedra in 2008, photo by Luciano Guelfi/Flickr Creative Commons License.

Salgueiro and Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel, closed the first weekend of school rehearsals with enthusiasm Sunday, January 10th.

This weekend other great samba school rehearsals are expected: from Rio de Janeiro’s top series União da Ilha will be parading on Saturday the 16th, while Grande Rio and Viradouro will be marching on Sunday, January 17th.

Event calendars fill up as we get closer to Carnaval, and Porto da Pedra has a busy schedule for January. Every Sunday night at the Club Mauá in São Gonçalo there is a school rehearsal. On January 15th, the Tiger is hosting a Funk party at its facility on Avenida Lúcio Tomé Feteira. On the 24th, and also having a street rehearsal in São Gonçalo’s neighborhood, Paraíso.

To get to São Gonçalo you can take a van or a bus from the ferry-boat terminal in Niteroi, the satellite city on the other side of the Guanabara bay, where the Contemporary Art Museum (MAC) is. For further information, please check out Porto da Pedra’s website.

By Mark Beresford, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazilian exports to the US fell by 42 percent in 2009, to US$15.7 billion, with China replacing the US as Brazil’s top export market, with US$19.9 billion of exports, or more than 13 percent of all Brazil’s exports, according to figures released by the Ministry of Trade last week.

Trade secretary Welber Barral explaining the 2009 trade figures, photo by Fabio Rodrigues Pozzebom/ABr.

The development is largely a result of the strong economic growth in China in 2009, based on a massive central government stimulus, which has seen a surge in demand for Brazilian commodities such as iron ore and metals. Brazilian exports to China rose by 23.1 percent in 2009, to US$19.9 billion from US$16.4 billion.

In turn, Chinese exports to the US have also led to a decline in Brazilian market share in the US. Brazil’s total trade surplus in 2009 was US$25.3 billion, slightly higher than the US$24.9 billion recorded in 2008, reflecting a 22.2 percent drop in exports to US$153 billion and a 25.3 percent fall in imports to US$128 billion. Total Brazilian exports shrank under the combined effects of the rise of the Real, which rose by nearly 35 percent against the US Dollar in 2009, and the effect of the global economic crisis, which had a particular impact on the prices of the commodities that make up the bulk of Brazil’s exports.

However, the US remains the leading importer into Brazil, and Brazil’s number one trade partner, with imports and exports of US$35.9 billion, down from US$53.4 billion in 2008, but only a whisker ahead of China, which had total trade with Brazil of US$35.8 billion in 2009. US exports to Brazil were US$20.2 billion, ahead of Chinese exports of US$15.9 billion. In 2009, Brazil posted a US$4.5 billion trade deficit with the US, its first deficit since 1999.

“We have to strengthen our actions to retake the US market,” Trade Secretary Welber Barral said, “we export a lot of manufactured products to the US, and we are only going to manage to increase our industrial exports if we are able to win back our sales in such major markets as the US and Latin America.”

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Hu Jintao discuss their new relationship, photo by China Daily.

Total exports of manufactured products, which are of higher value and which are responsible for more job creation in Brazil, fell by 27.3 percent in 2009. According to the AEB, the Brazilian trade association, only 28 percent of Brazilian exports are now of manufactured products, compared to 72 percent for commodities, largely because of the appreciation of the Real.

Barral criticized the level of export taxes in Brazil, and said that in 2010 the Brazilian government will intensify its efforts to strengthen trade ties with these countries. After seven years of being in office, the Lula government has still not been on a single trade mission to the US.

Other important export markets for Brazil in 2009 included Argentina (US$12 billion), the Netherlands (US$8.2 billion), and Germany (US$6.2 billion). In addition to the US and China, Argentina (US$11.3 billion), Germany (US$9.9 billion) and Japan (US$5.4 billion), are major suppliers to Brazil.

The trade surplus is expected to narrow in 2010, reflecting strong domestic demand in Brazil and the continued weakness of the global economy. The central bank expects a trade surplus of just US$15 billion this year, as imports continue to rise faster than exports. For its part, the AEB expects a surplus of just US$12.2 billion in 2010, the result of a 12 percent rise in exports and a 28.7 percent surge in imports.

By Jayme Monsanto, Senior Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO - Campeonato Carioca, the Rio de Janeiro state’s soccer championship, will have its 110th edition beginning on next Saturday, January 16th.

Fred and the rest of the Fluminense squad are training at Vitória, in the Espírito Santo state, for the Campeonato Carioca, photo by Marino Azevedo/Photocamera.

Sixteen teams are involved in the competition, split up in two groups: Flamengo, Fluminense, Bangu, Boavista, Americano, Duque de Caxias, Volta Redonda and Olaria are on Group A, while Vasco da Gama, Botafogo, Macaé, Friburguense, Resende, Tigres do Brasil, Madureira and América were put on Group B.

In the first leg of the championship, called Taça Guanabara, each squad plays against the other seven teams of its group. The two teams with the best results in each group advance to the semifinals, and the winners of this match go to the Taça Guanabara final. The winner of Taça Guanabara is automatically qualified to the Campeonato Carioca final.

The second leg, called Taça Rio is a little bit different. The group division remains the same, except that this time, the teams play against the other group’s eight squads. Once again, the two first placers of each group advance to the semis, then there is the Taça Rio final. After that, the winner of Taça Guanabara plays against the winner of Taça Rio in a final match to decide who is the state champion.

Captain Bruno and Flamengo are preparing themselves for the championship by training in Porto Feliz, a city in the São Paulo state, photo by Agencia Fla.

This year’s edition of the Campeonato Carioca has one major change: the experimental inclusion of technical time-outs. FERJ, the Rio de Janeiro State Soccer Federation decided to include two two-minute interruptions in each half, so the coaches can give instructions to their teams. The time-outs will happen every match of the tournament, except the ones that are going to be broadcast live on TV, and will take place at the 20th minute of each half.

The first round of the competition begins on Saturday. On that day, five games will happen: Bangu x Boavista, Olaria x Volta Redonda, Madureira x América, Vasco x Tigres and Macaé x Botafogo. The other three games of the round will occur in the following day: Flamengo X Macaé, Friburguense X Resende and Americano X Fluminense.

Vasco’s match against Tigres on Saturday will happen at the São Januário Stadium at 5PM, while Botafogo’s one against Macaé will be held at the Godofredo Cruz Stadium, at Campos dos Goytacazes, a city in the northern part of the state, at 7:30PM.

On Sunday, Fluminense will also play at the Godofredo Cruz Stadium, against Americano. The match will happen at 7:30PM. Current state and national champion Flamengo will also debut in the competition on Sunday, playing against Duque de Caxias. The match will take place at the Maracanã Stadium at 5PM.

By Carlos Graffigna, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO - As the real estate market in Brazil, and more so in Rio de Janeiro, becomes more dynamic and property demand increases, more people need the services and counsel of real estate agents.

Illustration provided by Danilo Rizzuti/Freedigitalphotos.net.

Finding an agent is not a difficult task, but as in all areas of business, there are doubtful individuals looking to take advantage where opportunities appear and one must be extremely careful to make sure to choose right professional.

Stories about fraudulent real estate agents are common and the issue has authorities taking steps to stop proliferation. There is currently in place cooperation agreements between the Conselho Regional de Corretores de Imóveis (Creci-RJ) (Rea State Agents Regional Counsel for Rio de Janeiro) and the Public Ministry in order to expedite proceedings once charges have been filled against illegal activities.

Vera Senra, Chief Legal Counsel of Creci-RJ, states “There are cases of misleading publicity, larceny. Agents selling lots in preservation areas, properties that do not exist. We are looking into those claims and sending them to the Public Ministry.”

Director Secretary of Creci-RJ José Fernando Werneck Shuster, photo provided by Creci-RJ.

Director Secretary of Creci-RJ José Fernando Werneck Shuster adds, “Illegal real estate agents are harmful to our society. We are counting on the Public Ministry to fight their illegal activities”.

According to Creci-RJ, thousands of claims have been presented and they are working hard to resolve them.

For real estate agents to legally exercise their profession in Rio de Janeiro, they must be registered with Creci-RJ. In order to make such registration they must first; be at least 18 years of age, have a high school diploma and successfully take a 12 month course entitled Técnico de Transações Imobiliárias (TTI).

After a short period of practice work, which needs to be verified by the Conselho Regional dos Corretores de Imóveis (CRECI), a proficiency exam is taken.

Once this process is successfully completed, the agent acquires an identification number which he must be willing to show to his potential clients at their request.

Identifying a legally registered real estate agent must be the first and most important diligence before starting any real estate transaction. A list of authorized professionals is also available at the Creci-RJ web site.

Usually, real estate agents do not have a base salary, their services are paid through finalized transactions and their fees vastly depend on the type of property sold. The normal commissions are; 6 to 8 percent on an urban residential property, 6 to 10 percent on rural property, 6 to 8 percent on industrial property and 5 percent on judicial auctions.

As purchasing property requires in most cases a substantial investment, taking the time to verify that a registered and prepared professional is being hired not only helps you secure the investment, but also helps authorities in their task of eliminating fraudulent activities.

By Davi Baldussi, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO - Fifty years ago the region where Brazil’s capital exists, Brasília, was a barren plain known as Planalto Central (Central Plateau). Today more than 2.5 million people live there, the fourth largest city in Brazil.

Palácio do Planalto, the president's office, photo by Werner Zotz/Embratur.

The capital of Brazil before this was Rio de Janeiro (1763-1960) and before then it was located in Salvador (1549-1763). The idea of building a new capital in the center of the country had been idealized as early as 1891, however, it was only in 1956 that the construction began to take form.

Then, amazingly, Brasília was constructed in just 41 months, from 1956 to April 21, 1960, when it was officially inaugurated. It was Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira (JK), President of Brazil from 1956 to 1961, who launched the “Plan of National Development”, also known as the “Plano de Metas (Goal’s plan)”, famous by the motto: “Fifty years of progress in five”.

By 1957, thousands of workers occupied the area, building what Lúcio Costa (as the main urban planner), and the famous Brazilian architect, Oscar Niemeyer, had designed for the country’s capital. The cost of approximately $19.5 billion dollars, in today’s numbers, transformed an empty plain into a metropolis.

Lúcio Costa’s main concept for the city’s design was the Plano Piloto, imagining Brasília in the form of an airplane, which won him the job in a 1957 public competition. Although named as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, the city is notorious for its windswept emptiness and anti-pedestrian layout.

National Congress, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, photo by Christian Knepper/Embratur.

Oscar Niemeyer also played a part in the competition for the lay-out of Brasília with his old friend, Costa. In the space of a few months, Niemeyer designed a large number of residential, commercial and government buildings.

Among them were the residence of the President (Palácio da Alvorada), the House of the Deputy, the National Congress of Brazil, and the Cathedral of Brasília. From above, the city’s architecture has elements that repeat themselves in every building, giving it a formal unity.

As a visitor, Brasilia’s main highlights are the modern structures, architecture and design of the city itself. City-tours are recommended as walking from one point to another is not easy; although taxis and buses are readily accessible.

Following the Plano Piloto, the largest structure in the city, the Television Tower, is in the “business class” section of the plane, while the “first class” and “cockpit” sections (east) house a parallel row of 19 government buildings that lead to the twin towers of the legislative branch of government.

Flanked by a large cup and saucer, the towers begin the circle of Three Powers Square (Praça dos Três Poderes) made up of the legislative, judicial and executive buildings. Here too are historical buildings and a museum.

Between the tail and the cockpit on both sides of Eixo Monumental (Monumental Asix) are the planned sections designated for hotels, banks, businesses or cultural activities. The north and south wings of Eixo Rodaviario (Axis Rodaviario) are the residential sections where important government officials reside. Each is divided into super-quadras and is totally self-contained, with schools, shops, cinemas, athletic facilities and restaurants.

There are multiple flights from Rio every day on both Gol and TAM for about R$500. It takes only two hours to get there but four hours for the return flight.

By Felicity Clarke, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO - The travel guide books are all great at highlighting the big, the bold and the beautiful. When it comes to the Rio´s museum and art galleries, this means safe bet entries include the Museum of Modern Art, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Niteroi.

Untitled by Maria Neponuceno at A Gentil Carioca, photo by Felicity Clarke.

But just as there’s the Sambadrome and the intimate Boteco Samba Bars Samba Boutiques), the Odeon Petrobras and the small indie cinemas like Cine Santa, there´s the big boy mainstream art galleries and the unique, quirky little spaces that offer an alternative, independent take on art in Rio.

Although there are galleries all over the city, much like the mega cultural centers there´s a concentration of small art galleries in Centro.

Starting in Saara, the web of frenzied shopping streets spreading out from Praça Tiradentes, A Gentil Carioca, is one of the most exciting and forward-thinking art spaces in the city. A doorway tucked between the umbrella and baseball cap wholesalers on Rua Gonçalves Ledo leads up to an airy white space that looks out onto the street below.

Recent openings have included solo shows of playful, large-scale organism-inspired sculptures by Maria Nepomuceno and delicate, clean pastel canvases by Carlos Contente.

There is also the large outdoor wall that is a constant public exhibition space with the full wall becoming a new work of art every four months. This space drew much attention last July and August when artists Tiago and Gabriel Primo attached furniture to the wall and lived there for two months, scaling the wall up and down between the beds, hammocks and tables. The forthcoming Abre Alas exhibition, an annual showcase of exciting emerging artists, opens on January 23rd.

Exhibition space at Centro Maria Teresa Vieira, photo by Felicity Clarke.

Around the Praça Tiradentes corner on Rua de Carioca is another cultural hot spot, but blink and you´ll miss it. The Centro de Artes Maria Teresa Viera is a shabby, seemingly abandoned shopfront on the outside and a warm contemporary art space, studio and education center on the inside.

Founded twenty years ago by prolific Carioca artist and influential art educator Maria Teresa Viera, the center specializes in supporting artists through studios and courses as well as exhibitions. The comfortable space also hosts multi-platform events including poetry, music and performance. A 20 year anniversary exhibition of the center featuring a wide range of contemporary Brazilian artists opens on January 13th.

Moving over to one of the most historic parts of town, on the narrow cobbled lanes off Praça XV there are a cluster of private art galleries contributing to the cultured atmosphere of the area. With a slick, commercial gloss that´s absent from A Gentil Carioca and Maria Teresa Vieira, these cater more urgently to the art buyer yet still show intriguing works by established artists.

LGC Contemporary Art on Rua do Rosário is currently using it’s cool, cozy two-story space to show a collective show of artists with broadly varying styles from Alexandra Vogler’s textured mixed media canvases with an underlying darkness to Claudia Jaguaribe’s dramatic sultry photography.

Around the corner, two stark sculptures sit perfectly in the leafy cobbled area. The works are by José Resende and are the initiative of the Galeria Paulo Fernandes, a small square space that presents contemporary exhibitions set against the building’s exposed 18th century walls.

On a trail in between the galleries mentioned are more little spaces with fascinating visual treats hiding within them. Don’t ditch the guide book culture suggestions, they’re well worth the visit, but for a more intimate, alternative art adventure in the city, keep your eyes open, buzz on the doors and check out the small spaces bursting with aesthetic wonder.

A Gentil Carioca, Rua Gonçalves Ledo, 17. Tel: 2222 1651. Open Tue to Fri 12 - 6pm, Sat 12 - 5pm.

Centro de Artes Maria Teresa Vieira, Rua de Carioca, 85. Tel: 2262 0137. Open Tue to Fri 11am - 8pm, Sat 11am - 3pm.

LGC Contemporary Art, Rua do Rosário, 38. Tel: 2263 7353. Open Tue to Sat 12 - 5pm.

Galeria Paulo Fernandes, Rua do Rosário, 38. Tel: 2233 1537. Open Tue to Sat 12 - 5pm.

By Jayme Monsanto, Senior Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO - Uruguayan player Sebastian ‘El Loco’ Abreu is Botafogo’s newest reinforcement for the 2010 season. The 33-year old striker recently became a national hero in his home country as he scored Uruguay’s only goal in the 1-1 draw against Costa Rica in the last game of the World Cup 2010 qualifiers, the goal that put a stamp on Uruguay’s passport to South Africa.

Sebastian 'El Loco' Abreu received his new uniform by the hands of the legendary Botafogo player Zagallo, photo by Satiro Sodre/AGIF.

In the Uruguayan national team, the superstitious Abreu plays with the number 13 shirt, and he chose that same number to defend the black and white colors of Botafogo. On last Tuesday, January 6th, the player was introduced to the media and fans in Botafogo’s headquarters, at the General Severiano street, in the Botafogo neighborhood.

He received his new uniform from the hands of legendary Botafogo player Zagallo, who in the past also used the number 13 shirt and had a reputation of being superstitious about it too. Zagallo is one of the biggest heroes of Brazilian soccer ever: he won two World Cups as a player (1958 and 1962) and another as coach (1970).

Botafogo’s board of directors, along with coach Estevam Soares are working hard to put a new team together for the 2010 season, and other reinforcements arrived at General Severiano in the last few days. The defenders Antônio Carlos and Fabio Ferreira are two of them.

The former used to defend Atlético-GO, a small club from Goiás, while the latter defended Vitória, a team from Bahia. Midfielder Somália also arrived recently at General Severiano, but apart from ‘El Loco’ Abreu, the biggest reinforcement for the season is another gringo striker.

A big reception of fans and reporters was waiting for Abreu at General Severiano, photo by Botafogo Press Team.

On the 2010 season, Botafogo’s striker duo will be comprised of the Uruguayan ‘El Loco’ Abreu and the Argentinian Herrera, who was lent to Botafogo by Gremio for a year. Herrera had great performances in the last two seasons, in 2008 he helped the Corinthians win the Série B championship and returning to Série A, and in 2009 he was one of Gremio’s top scorers in the Brasileirão.

A lot of speculation is being made about other reinforcements arriving at Botafogo in the next weeks. So far, official sources are not commenting on rumors, but it is being said that Botafogo is trying to sign Corinthians’ Morais, Portuguesa’s Fellype Gabriel (ex-Flamengo) and another foreigner, the Paraguayan striker Ortigoza, who on last season defended Palmeiras.

However, Botafogo also denied negotiations with ‘El Loco’ Abreu, Herrera and others, only commenting on these trades and acquisitions after the fact.

Botafogo is currently training in the city of Saquarema, in the Lake Region of the Rio de Janeiro state. The team will debut in the Campeonato Carioca state championship on Saturday, January 16th, playing against Barueri in Campos dos Goytacazes, in the northern area of the Rio de Janeiro state.

By Joshua Rapp Learn, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO - Amongst all of the diverse forms of Brazilian music, dance, Capoeira has been one of the most persecuted due to it’s origin in martial arts. Celebrated today as an iconic part of Brazil’s cultural heritage due to the acrobatic and musical performances of its practitioners, Capoeira has broken free from the negative reputation that contributed to its persecution.

Capoeira on the streets of Copacobana, photo by Vincent Chaigneau/Flickr Creative Commons License.

Although the history of Capoeira suffers from a lack of documentation, especially previous to the twentieth century, scholars tend to agree that the roots of the martial art came across the Atlantic with African slaves. Even if it is unclear how much of the martial art originated in Africa, Capoeira’s development is credited as a Brazilian phenomenon.

Most legends concerning the roots of the martial art recount how Capoeira was used for defensive purposes in the Quilombo dos Palmares, a large escaped slave settlement that was located in the present day state of Alagoas during the majority of the seventeenth century. Over the years it proliferated, achieving popularity among the Afro-Brazilian populations of Pernambuco, Bahia and Rio de Janeiro.

Dance? Fight? Sport? Part of the reason Capoeira is so hard to define is that somewhere during the process, the people practicing the martial art began to disguise it as a dance to avoid persecution. Different rhythms twanged out on the bow-like Berimbau came to codify approaching danger, letting players know instantly to slow the intensity of a game down to make it appear more dance like and less aggressive.

Two Capoeiristas face off, photo by Irene Nobrega/Flickr Creative Commons License.

From the very beginning, Capoeira in Rio de Janeiro was vilified as an insubordinate practice of the lower classes. Much of the early documentation of Capoeira in Rio comes from police records during the nineteenth century when the sport was made illegal. In the late 1850s and early 1860s, police records from Assunçao showed that nearly 30 percent of slave arrests and 10 percent of total arrests were due to Capoeira.

By 1890, matters took a turn for the worse when it was officially prohibited in the New Republic. Police chief Sampaio, who was reputedly a skilled Capoeirista, trained his forces to use the martial art in their efforts to eradicate it from the streets of Rio. It was during this time that many practitioners began to adopt Capoeira nicknames in order to disguise their true identity – a tradition that continues to this day.

Persecution continued right up until the late 1930s when it eventually became legal, due mostly to the efforts of two Capoeira masters, Mestre Bimba and Mestre Pastinha, the modern day forefathers of the styles of Regional and Angola, respectively. The two worked tirelessly to create academies, record the history of the martial art and regulate its teaching and practice.

Based on the success of Bimba and Pastinha, academies began to proliferate around the country. In Rio de Janeiro, masters like Artur Emidio created some of the city’s first Capoeira academies while Grupo Senzala won the first three competitions of the Berimbau de Ouro in the 1960s, seemingly coming out of nowhere to become one of Rio’s most famous schools.

Today Capoeira is an integral part of Rio’s diverse cultural palette. You can see Capoeiristas training on the beach, playing for tourists and twanging the long Berimbaus.

Many of the schools are open to anyone who wants to train. If you are interesting in trying it out, or even if you just want to go watch a Roda (the musical circles where two capoeiristas face off at a time), phone one of the academies listed on Gringo-Rio’s website.

By Carlos Graffigna, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO - According to ANAC - Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (National Aviation Agency), in the first semester of 2009, the number of passengers traveling on domestic flights in Brazil increased by 6.57 percent compared to 2008 figures.

Galeao International Airport in Rio de Janeiro, photo by INFRAERO/Creative Commons License.

The continuing growth of the domestic airline industry has stimulated investors and over the last few months more airlines have obtained permits to begin operations while others have obtained concessions for new domestic routes.

The latest airlines entering the market are Sol Linhas Aéreas, Nordeste Aviação Regional Linhas Aéreas (Noar) and Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras. These new airlines are part of the dynamic growth of the domestic airline market in Brazil.

The most anticipated new airline was Azul. The charismatic founder of Jet Blue Airlines in the United States, David Neeleman, decided to test his skills and experience in Brazil, putting in over US$200 million in capital to start the Brazil-based company.

Azul founder David Neeleman, photo by James Howes/Creative Commons License.

The inaugural flights took place in December 2008 and over the last few months the company has grown and added several new destinations, including Rio de Janeiro. New flights from Azul include a direct route from Rio to Salvador and daily direct flights to Campinas and Porto Alegre.

Rio de Janeiro has received special attention from most airlines due to a variety of new flight paths becoming available over the last few months. For example Webjet Airlines, who used to have headquarters in Jacarepaguá airport and now operate from Rio Office Park in Barra da Tijuca, recently started offering flights from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Salvador and Guarulhos.

As for other airlines flying out of Rio de Janeiro with new services, TAM Airlines, who just purchased competitor Pantanal Linhas Aereas, has opened new direct routes to Natal and Campinas.

Webjet at Guarulhos Airport, Webjet moved their corporate offices to Rio de Janeiro, photo by Mario Roberto Duran Ruiz/Creative Commons License.

Gol Linhas Aereas expanded their services from Rio to Belo Horizonte, Brasília and Vitória. Belo Horizonte and Brasilia are being served with new flights from both Galeão and Santos Dumont airports.

With the upcoming World Cup in 2014 and the 2016 Olympics, airlines are expected to continue introducing more options for travelers all over Brazil, and the world, to visit Rio de Janeiro.

According to ANAC, the average fare for a domestic flight in 2009 was US$181, a 26 percent drop in price from October 2008. The creation of new airlines and additional routes have had a positive impact on the market; not only has it given travelers more options, but it has also led to more affordable air fares.

By Bruno De Nicola, Senior Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO - Samba madness salutes the New Year and the Sambodrome nights heat up again this weekend pumping energy. Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel, the white and green samba school from the western suburbs of Rio de Janeiro is getting ready for the catwalk and the 2010 technical rehearsals.

Mocidade Independente's samba dancers, photo by sfmission.com/Flickr Creative Commons License.

After a short break for Christmas and New Year’s holidays, all samba activities are back to normal and the next rehearsals will happen on  January 8th, a Friday night with the gremio Imperatriz Leopoldinense heating up the Sambodrome, followed by the “Majesty of Samba”, Portela, on the 9th and Mocidade Independente and Salgueiro on the 10th.

All over Rio the energy of Carnival is heating up and January is always full of amazing parties setting the stage for February’s four crazy days.

Edmar Gomes, a true Carioca from Catete, believes that “for many people, Carnival starts on New Years Eve. February is just around the corner, so I start to party now”.

For Jozé Ferreira, night guard in Santa Teresa, “warm up is an implicit part of Carnival and one of the best moments for tourists to visit Rio de Janeiro”.

The Carnival agenda in January is packed bands and blocos start to rehears their routines on the streets, usually playing in front of the most traditional ‘botecos’ (bar) or in small squares spread around the city. Then what was supposed to be a just a chance to practice, becomes an spontaneous and informal street party.

It’s not hard to catch one of those celebrations, all you have to do is walk down a street and sooner or later, you’ll see one, especially around Lapa and Santa Teresa.

The G.R.E.S. Mocidade Independente from Padre Miguel was founded in 1955, and just as for Unidos de Vila Isabel, the school’s origins are tied to an old football team, actually called Independente.

Mocidade Independente's 2009 joker costume, photo by sfmission.com/Flickr Creative Commons License.

Until the 70’s, Mocidade remained a mostly anonymous school but things suddenly changed when Castor de Andrade, a bicheiro (gambling mobster), and white and green fan, started to finance the gremio. Now the tetra-campeão gremio (four times champion), Mocidade, is hoping to take home another title this year.

Everybody at the school is intensely preparing to dance down at the Sambodrome contest on February 15th at 9:00 PM, to the enredo (theme): “ Do paraíso de Deus ao paraíso da loucura, cada um sabe o que procura (from God’s paradise to the paradise of parties, each one of us knows what he’s looking for). A theme that is basically about things that mankind has strongly craved for, starting from heaven and ending with capitalist power.

Mocidade Independente’s January event schedule opened on the Sunday the 2nd with a school rehearsal at the Padre Miguel facility, on rua Coronel Tamaraindo 38 - a place easy to reach by train from Central do Brasil.

On the Saturday the 9th , at the same location, there will be a delicious feijoada-fest, being served with the best samba around, and on the night after that, Mocidade’s  technical rehearsal at the Sambodrome, starting around 10:00 PM.

For further information please access the gremio’s website.

By Jayme Monsanto, Senior Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO - Swimmer Cesar Cielo and Judo fighter Sarah Menezes won the 2009 Brazil Olympic Award, a prize given by the Brazilian Olympics Committee (COB) to the best athletes of the year.

Cesar Cielo and Sarah Menezes receiving the Brazil Olympic Award from the hands of President Lula, photo by Ismar Ingber/COB.

The award ceremony was held at the Maracanãzinho Arena (a 12,300-seat venue in the grounds of the Maracanã Stadium), and the athletes received the prize from the hands of President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva on December 21st.

The winners were selected via online voting at the Prêmio Brasil Olímpico 2009 website, with over 370,000 votes cast.

Running against Cesar Cielo and Sarah Menezes were gymnast Diego Hipolito and sailor Torben Grael in the male category, and swimmer Poliana Okimoto and taekwondo fighter Natália Falavigna in the female category.

Cesar won the male prize by an amazing margin, he had 77 percent of the votes. This is the second year in a row that the swimmer has won the Olympic Brazil Award. As 2008, 2009 was a great year for Cesar, as he broke the 50m and 100m freestyle world records.

“I want to thank everyone that voted for me. The award is a great reason to keep me motivated to claim new conquests in the road to London 2012. Until then, I would like to keep counting on your support.”, he said.

Sarah won the female prize with 46 percent of the votes, and dedicated her victory to her team. “Judo is the most cooperative individual sport there is. You train on a daily basis with your team, there are your coaches with you day by day. I want to thank everyone that was with me”, she said.

President Lula himself was also awarded a prize in that evening. He was given the Olympic Personality of the Year award, in recognition of his efforts and commitment to bringing the 2016 Olympics to Rio de Janeiro. “I thought I had already experienced every single emotion a human being could feel, but I could never imagine what I went through in Copenhagen. Our presentation was perfect and we showed that we are ready”, the President said.

Carlos Arthur Nuzman, head of COB handed the prize to Lula, along with Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo Paes, Governor Sérgio Cabral, and Minister of Sports, Orlando Silva.

It was the 11th edition of the Brazil Olympic Award, and each one of the 42 Olympic disciplines had individual elections of best athlete of 2009. Following is a list of the winners:
Arcehery - Brunna Hellen Araújo
Artistic Gymnastics - Diego Hypólito
Athletics (track and field) - Fabiana Murer
Badminton - Daniel Vasconcellos Paiola
Basketball - Anderson Varejão
Beach Volleyball - Harley Marques Silva
BMX - Renato Rezende
Boxing - Everton dos Santos Lopes
Canoe/Kayak Flatwater - Nivalter Santos de Jesus
Canoe/Kayak Slalom - Poliana Aparecida de Paula
Diving - César Castro
Eqüestrian Dressage - Luiza Novaes Tavares de Almeida
Eqüestrian Eventing - Serguei Fofanoff
Eqüestrian Jumping - Rodrigo Pessoa
Fencing - Cleia Gulhon da Silva
Field Hockey - Djeniffer Dombrowicz Vasques
Football - Marta Vieira da Silva
Futsal - Tiago de Melo Marinho
Handball - Jaqueline Anastácio
Ice Sports - Kevin Bettencourt Alves
Judo - Sarah Menezes
Modern Pentathlon - Yane Marques
Mountain Biking - Edivando de Souza Cruz
Open Water Swimming - Poliana Okimoto
Rhythmic Gymnastics - Ana Paula Scheffer
Road Cycling - Murilo Fischer
Rowing - Ailson Eráclito da Silva
Sailing - Torben Grael
Shooting - Ana Luiza Ferrão
Snow Sports - Maya Harrison
Swimming - César Cielo
Synchronized swimming - Nayara Leite Figueira
Table Tennis - Thiago Monteiro
Taekwondo - Natália Falavigna
Tennis - Thomaz Bellucci
Track Cycling - Marcos Christian Novello
Trampoline Gymnastics - Taissa Paraíso Garcia
Triathlon - Reinaldo Colucci
Volleyball - Fabiana Marcelino Claudino
Water Polo - Marina Canetti
Weightlifting - Rosane dos Reis Santos
Wrestling - Laís Nunes de Oliveira

By Pedro Widmar, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO - On December 24th after nearly 7 months of deliberation in the U.S. Senate, Thomas A. Shannon Jr. was confirmed as the 54th U.S. Ambassador to Brazil. Shannon is the former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, or the Latin American Czar, as the post is commonly referred to.

Thomas A. Shannon Jr., photo by the U.S. State Department archives/Wikimedia Creative Commons License.

Shannon also served as a Special Assistant to the U.S. Ambassador in Brasilia from 1989 to 1992, during a period of considerable turmoil in Brazilian politics known as the “Collor Era”.

Shannon’s appointment to the office was made as early as May 27, 2009, however the nomination was challenged twice, first in July and then again in November. The first obstacle came when opposition Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) placed a Hold on the designation due to worries about the Obama administrations policies towards the Honduran crisis.

The Hold is an informal process whereby a senator can prevent a motion from reaching the senate floor indefinitely. This measure can only be undermined by a call for Cloture, which would limit the Hold to a predetermined time frame. However, instating Cloture requires 60 senate votes and is seen as a hostile act, which has dissuaded its use by Senate Democrats.

DeMint openly criticized the administration for condemning the coup in Honduras and calling for the reinstatement of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who he accused of having close ties with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s administration. In a July 8th speech in the Foreign Relations Committee hearing over the candidacy, the Senator stated, “The country (Honduras) acted in accordance with its constitution, and our government has inexplicably sided with Chavez.”

Senator George LeMieux (R-FL), photo by Office of Senator George LeMieux/Wikimedia Creative Commons License.

The Hold was dropped however on November 5th shortly after the Obama administration’s announcement that it would recognize elections in Honduras. But Shannon’s appointment was immediately re-placed in Hold by Senator George Lemieux (R-FL) who argued that the Obama administration was taking steps against democracy in Honduras by not normalizing diplomacy with the South American country. The senator categorized the U.S. decision to deny visas to Honduran citizens as “wrong”.

Lemieux’s Hold was a bartering point for gaining assurances that the Obama administration would take steps to motivate democracy in Honduras and also to liberate democracy grants to non-profit organizations directed at Cuba. The Senators stance was seen with some criticism from government officials as an attempt at gaining favor with his Florida constituency over the Castro government.

On December 17th Lemieux dropped his Hold on Shannon’s appointment after a meeting where he claimed that he had “won assurances” from Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, over areas of concern. The government’s position was less clear. But with the Hold rebuked the senate confirmed the appointment one week later in its last session of the year.

By Jayme Monsanto, Senior Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO - According to a poll made by the Datafolha research institute, Flamengo’s fan base has increased its numbers by 6 percent in the city of Rio de Janeiro, meaning that nearly half of all Carioca soccer fans support the red and black shirt.

Flamengo fans pack the Maracanã stadium in the last game of the 2009 Brasileirão, when the Carioca team claimed the national title, photo by AgenciaFla.

The research shows that Flamengo’s fan base in the Marvelous City grew from 43 percent of Rio’s soccer fans in 2007 to an amazing 49 percent in 2009. The most obvious reason for this rise is the great performance Flamengo put on through the last three years, claiming the state championships of 2007, 2008 and 2009 and the 2009 Brasileirão National Championship.

The increased fan base further broadens the gap in popularity between Flamengo and the other three big carioca teams: Vasco da Gama, Fluminense and Botafogo.

Vasco showed the worst performance in the poll. In 2007, the São Januário-based team held the support of 18 percent of Rio de Janeiro’s soccer fans, making it the second biggest fan base in the city. In 2009, this share had reduced to 13 percent. The main reason for the decline in support is the Vasco’s 2008 relegation to Série B. Had the team not successfully fought its way back to Série A in 2009, the reduction in fan base could have been more dramatic still.

A fan showing her colors, photo by leszekwasilewski/Flickr Creative Commons License.

According to the poll, Botafogo and Fluminense shyly increased their fan bases during the period, almost reaching the same level of popularity as Vasco. In 2007, 9 percent of Rio de Janeiro’s soccer fans rooted for Botafogo’s black and white shirt.

By 2009, this number had increased to 12 percent following the good performance of the team in the state championships where they played in the finals for three years running, although were defeated by Flamengo each time. Botafogo’s valiant fight against relegation in the final stages of the 2009 Brasileirão was another factor in increased public attention for the team.

Fluminense’s fan base has increased by only one percent, according to the poll. In 2007, the Laranjeiras-based team had 11 percent of Rio’s soccer fans, but after the team’s good campaign in the 2008 Libertadores and 2009 Copa Sul-Americana international competitions (Fluminense was second in both of them) and the miraculous escape from relegation in 2009, this number has grown to 12 percent, the same amount as Botafogo, only one percent less than Vasco.

Flamengo fans, photo by leszekwasilewski/Flickr Creative Commons License.

In the state of Rio de Janeiro the numbers differ slightly, with Flamengo’s supremacy further marked : In 2007, Flamengo had 46 percent of the share, and in 2009 this number had grown to 51 percent. Vasco’s share of the Rio soccer fan base fell from 16 to 13 percent. Fluminense’s fans grew from 9 to 10 percent, while Botafogo’s numbers remained at nine per cent.

In the national poll, Flamengo leads with 19 percent of the whole country’s soccer fans, rising from 17 percent in 2008. The second biggest fan base of Brazil belongs to the Paulista team Corinthians, with 13 percent of the country’s fans.

By Carlos Graffigna, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO - As residential and commercial real estate markets across the world have submerged into recession over the last year, the value of farmland has steadily risen, driven by several factors and the strong worldwide demand for food.

Sunflowers, one of select oilseeds used for biofuel, photo by Arjen Van Riven/Flickr Creative Commons License.

Investors, disenchanted by traditional real estate markets, have turned their attention to farmland in countries where large tracks of land are still available for purchase. This tendency has directly influenced prices in Brazil, as large areas of sometimes unused land have suddenly experienced great interest from capital investors from both inside Brazil and foreign investors.

According to INCRA over five million hectares of farmland in Brazil are currently owned by foreign individuals or companies, although this number could be much higher considering the statistics do not account for ownership by Brazilian companies with either all or part foreign share interest.

According to a report (pdf) by agricultural policy specialist Tom Caphart written for the United States Congress, various factors account for these higher values including increased production of oilseeds and grains destined for biofuels and higher agricultural production costs derived from raise in energy prices. Other reasons include the doubling of the world’s population since 1960 and also the current loss of almost 50 million acres of land per year to industrial development and urbanization.

INCRA estimates that over the last decade, land prices for agricultural use in Brazil have increased by almost 350 percent and even though they do not expect such a similar steep rise over the next few years, they do foresee a continuing increase in the value of farmland.

Sugarcane harvesters used in Brazil to harvest chopped cane, photo by Mario Roberto Duran Ortiz/Creative Commons License.

Shifting business attitudes towards food production could play a part. Discussing world food demand last March in response to increasing farmland value in the US, Bob Swires, chairman of Illinois Land Value Survey and Conference, stated that “investors are seeing agriculture as a producer of energy, not food and that is making investment in land very attractive”.

There are some concerns for investors attempting to capitalize on the land market here in Brazil however, like continuous attacks from the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra (MST), an organization which has turned to violence in order to show their discontent with current land legislation.

Also, there’s the tendency of legislators to create restrictions on land ownership for foreign individuals and international corporations. To know more about the process of how to purchase land in Brazil, please see our article Buying Property in Brazil.

By Felicity Clarke, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO - It´s a new year, a new decade even, and the only way to start is by making a variety of pledges to ditch the bad habits and become the saint-like being that´s been hidden underneath the chocolate wrappers, beer bottles and cigarette packets.

Retro Tobacco Advertising Exhibition at CAIXA, image by lane.stanford.edu/tobacco/index.html.

Along with getting fit, losing weight and spending more time with friends and family, quitting smoking is one of the most popular new year´s resolutions. There is a good reasoning behind it: stopping smoking the single most important thing you can do to improve your health.

We know this. That smoking is bad for you is common knowledge. It is a universally accepted fact that through endless science and public health warnings is now an ingrained part of our collective attitude to smoking, whether a smoker of not.

It´s taken a while to arrive at this point and the exhibition of early to mid 20th century cigarette advertising on the ground floor at CAIXA Cultural on Avenida Almirante Barroso in Centro shows just how far.

Organised by the US universities Stanford and Harvard Medical School, the exhibition features tobacco posters and magazine advertising and showed in various US cities including New York and Boston before opening in Rio last November.

Initially the commercials amuses more than anything. Images of babies exclaiming “Gee mommy you sure enjoy your Marlboro” and Santa Claus extolling the throat soothing virtues of Lucky Strike can only appear laughable in a contemporary context.

Indeed, from this more knowledgeable perspective the entire exhibition material is humorous. The work and commentary is simply arranged by methods used by advertisers such as family imagery, celebrity and medical profession endorsement and proposed health benefits. Gems of now-outlandish nonsense include the advice “Throat sensitive? Smoke Kool” and “Reach for Lucky Strike instead” as a way to lose weight.

Retro Tobacco Advertising Exhibition at CAIXA, image by lane.stanford.edu/tobacco/index.html.

The exhibition goes beyond the amusing however, as any exhibition dealing with a major public health problem should. While the accompanying commentary material (in Portuguese) tells a simple history of tobacco advertising, the works speak for themselves of the social and cultural history of smoking and the manipulative desperation of the tobacco industry to maintain the image of their product.

They also speak of the power of advertising and the credibility of information in the public domain. One poster reads “More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette”. Another for Chesterfield uses a storyboard of Frank Sinatra at various stages of smoking a cigarette. The farcity of these messages is now known but the danger of them lies in their context and how they would have been viewed at the time.

Although many of the images are only 60 or 70 years old, they show a stark distance in commonly held beliefs and attitudes. What is promising, perhaps when we think about current scientific issues debates, is how quickly the official mainstream dialogue on these things can change and how deeply these messages can alter the collective psyche.

Until 17 January 2010. CAIXA Cultural, Avenida Almirante Barroso, 25, Centro. Open Tuesdays to Saturdays 10AM to 10PM, Sundays 10AM to 9PM. Entrance free.

By Bruno De Nicola, Senior Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO - After New Year’s Eve celebrations, Brazil is facing a new countdown. This time, for the 2014 FIFA World Cup that represents a great challenge for the country’s infrastructure development.

President of Infraero, Murilo Marques Barbosa, photo by Wilson Dias/ABr.

According to a study by O Globo, the eight main Brazilian airports face major challenges – due to matters that go from congestion to investigations over illicit financing - of their infrastructural improvement.

All unfortunate conditions that need to be changed and that, despite the government’s optimism, seem to be pretty far away from an effective solution.

In São Paulo, the Congonhas and the Cumbica airports, where the image of passengers waiting in a line became a sort of leitmotiv, are going to receive a financial aid by the government of just R$45.5 million. Many speculate this is insufficient funding and won’t really cover significant improvements before 2014.

In Rio de Janeiro, the third floor of the Santos Dumont Airport – where restaurants and banks are expected to be placed – is still on hold. Contractors started construction two years ago, however, due to a federal investigation lead by the Tribunal das Contas da União (TCU) (Federal Finance Justice), work has been frozen and the completion date remains undefined.

Aerial view of Santos Dumont Airport, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, photo by Mariordo Mario Roberto Duran Ortiz/Wikimedia Creative Commons License.

Again in the Cidade Maravilhosa, the Galeão International Airport improvement plan proceeds at a level under its potential. The airport renovations should end in 2012, however many experts believe that major electric and pluming efforts still haven’t been faced and may end up causing delays.

The Brasília International Airport reportedly suffers air-traffic problems during rush-hours, a situation compounded by the country’s capital geography, with a lack of train service and difficult travel by bus. Another challenge for the infrastructure is that a larger number of Brasília’s government workers commute just for the week days, and leave during the weekends.

In Confins, Minas Gerais, the Confins International Airport has reports of passangers waiting for forty minutes to collect their luggage at the baggage claim. Apparently the rolling conveyor belts are from 1983 and according to the Infraero – the government’s agency for aeronautical management – are too small and too old.

In the southern part of Brazil, Porto Alegre’s International Airport is Salgado Filho, and it’s expansion plan depends on the relocation of 1,500 families. People who lived in the area for decades will loose their homes and be moved to new buildings. No construction plan has been presented yet for the imminent housing challenge.

The Guararapares Airport in Recife also has a few issues to be resolved. The main one is represented by the fact that the international transportation infrastructure is working way below expected levels, while traveler numbers keep growing quite rapidly.

Eight big ‘Abacaxis’ (Pineapples - Brazilian idiom for complex problems) that the federal government will have to face along with ongoing social and economic challenges in the rush to keep to turn Brazil into a first-world country before 2014.

By Mark Bereford, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO - The state government of Rio de Janeiro has closed off part of the popular tourist destination of Ilha Grande, following a series of landslides that have caused at least 68 deaths in the state, blocked roads across the coastal regions of Rio and Sao Paulo, and cast a shadow over the New Year celebrations.

Aftermath of a landslide in Angra dos Reis, photo by Roosewelt Pinheiro/ABr.

There have so far been 47 confirmed deaths in the coastal area of Angra dos Reis, including 29 victims on the Praia do Bananal, in the north of the popular backpacker island Ilha Grande, where shortly after midnight on January 1st a mountain of mud crashed into the luxury Pousada Sankay lodge and surrounding houses.

Civil defense authorities have evacuated all tourists from the Praia do Bananal area and have closed the region to tourists, although the rest of Ilha Grande remains open to travelers.

Tourist businesses in the area are reporting high levels of cancellations from tourists who had booked vacations in Angra dos Reis and Ilha Grande.

Across Brazil, since December 30th, a total of 82 people have now died in mudslides caused by rainfall. Nearly 600 people have lost their homes in the town of Angra dos Reis alone, and rescue services are continuing to search for bodies, although there have so far been no reports of foreign victims.

The scene of the tragedy in Angra dos Reis, photo by Roosewelt Pinheiro/ABr.

Along the Costa Verde, the jungle-clad coast that runs south from Rio de Janeiro, the combination of high levels of rainfall from ocean clouds, thin and unstable topsoil, and housing that is often built illegally right at the bottom of steep hillsides, has proved lethal to residents and tourists alike.

In the three days leading up to New Years, the rainfall in Angra exceeded the average for the whole month of December, and, with more rain forecast, authorities are expecting further disruption to travel.

The main road from Rio to the port of Santos in Sao Paulo state, which provides access to the resorts all along the Costa Verde, has been partially blocked by the landslides in Angra. Authorities forecast that the road will not be operating normally for around three months, and warn that it could be closed in the event of further heavy rainfall.

Meanwhile, rainfall along the neighboring Sao Paulo coast has also triggered landslides and closed roads to popular beach resorts, while heavy rain in the Vale do Paraíba area in Sao Paulo state has destroyed an estimated 80 percent of the historic area of São Luiz do Paraitinga, including two churches, and left much of the town uninhabitable.

However, Eletronuclear, the operator of the two nuclear power plants located at Angra dos Reis, has denied a request by the town’s mayor to shut down the plants, which provide around 40 percent of the power in Rio. The mayor had said that the plants should be closed, as the landslides have blocked many of the routes, including the Rio-Santos road, which would be used to evacuate the population in an emergency.

By Joshua Rapp Learn, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO - In April 22, 1500, after nearly two months at sea, Pedro Álvares Cabral sighted land in the distance, and named the protruding hill Monte Pascoal. The hill was around 30km south along the red bluffs of the coastline from where Cabral eventually struck land and became the first European to set foot on present day Brazil.

The safe waters Pedro Álvares Cabral sailed into, photo by Joshua Learn.

It may have been more than just the calm sea around the mouth of the Bunharem River that inspired the Portuguese explorers to stop. Turquoise waters, golden sands and a stretch of virgin Atlantic rain forest covered the entire area of what is today the southeast corner of Bahia, and where Cabral decided to first pull into Porto Seguro.

It didn’t take him long to realize that the land he had struck lay east of the allocated colonial territories delegated by Pope Alexandre VI in order to settle land disputes between the Portuguese and the Spanish empires. Keen on fulfilling his intentions of opening new trade routes and spreading Catholicism (by any means necessary), Cabral was quick to send news to Portugal.

At the time, Cabral didn’t grasp the size of his discovery, however. Porto Seguro, and indeed Brazil in general, began its life in European consciousness as The Island of the True Cross, as the explorers didn’t realize they had come across an entirely new continent. It took another 34 years before a village was founded on the site, though the Marco da Posse, a standing marble monument declaring the Portuguese possession of Brazil, was erected in 1503.

The Marco da Posse, photo by opimentas/Flickr Creative Commons License.

In the 1970s Porto Seguro enjoyed a boom in tourism in Bahia. Partly due to the arrival of Lambada – a style of music and dance originating in the far northeast of the country – Brazil’s first city quickly acquired a reputation for its nightlife. Today, no matter what time you arrive in the city, you are never far from the sound of music.

People searching for a little more tranquility can head across the Bunharem River to Arraial D’ajuda, a striking suburb on top of a hill south of Porto Seguro. Here the colorful colonial buildings are filled with handmade crafts and souvenir shops while the various squares are littered with food stalls cooking sizzling Bahian cuisine.

The hill of Arraial d’Ajuda sits above one of Porto Seguro’s best beaches, Praia da Apa Fogo. Walking south along the golden sands of what is referred to as the Discovery Coast brings you to a beautiful red cliff-lined stretch of coast, and the farther south you walk, the more abandoned the beach becomes. Only a couple of kilometers away from Arraial D’ajuda, you will have the epic cliffs virtually to yourself.

Porto Seguro is straight up the coastline, almost 1000km from Rio de Janeiro. Night buses traveling to Porto Seguro leave from the Novo Rio station every night and (supposedly) arrive the following afternoon, making around a 14 hour trip. Travel in Bahia, however, can be unpredictable and delays caused by weather, protests or problems with the road are frequent. Luckily, Porto Seguro has an airport for the impatient.