Global Voices » Brazil

Brazil: “We Are All Pinheirinho” Spreads Around the World

Raphael Tsavkko Garcia — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:22:52 +0000

[All the links lead to Portuguese language pages except when otherwise noted.]

Brazilians all over the world, as well as citizens from different countries, have mobilized online and organized protests in various cities like Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Buenos Aires, among others, in support of the community of Pinheirinho. The settlement was recently evicted with extreme violence by the Military Police of São Paulo and the Civil Guard in the city of Sao Jose dos Campos, in what became known as the “Massacre of Pinheirinho.”

Teacher Lúcio Flávio de Almeida comments:

Os lutadores e lutadoras do Pinheirinho foram desalojados e vivem uma situação muito difícil, extremamente difícil. No entanto, sua luta, que é nossa luta, continua. Sob certos aspectos, cresce e deve crescer ainda mais.

The fighters of Pinheirinho were displaced and are facing a very difficult situation, extremely difficult. However, their struggle, which is our struggle, continues. In some ways, grows and should grow even more.

The citizens were organized under the motto “We are all Pinheirinho” on Facebook, in blogs and on the streets. The movement, in a letter released by the blog Vi o Mundo, explains:

Pessoas em várias cidades do mundo estão agindo em rede para mostrar sua indignação pelos acontencimentos no Brasil. São brasileiros e pessoas de várias nacionalidades buscando pressionar para que a situação das famílias em Pinheirinho não caia no esquecimento facilmente.

People in many cities around the world are acting as a network to show their indignation by the events in Brazil. They are Brazilians and people of various nationalities seeking to push for the situation of families in Pinheirinho not to be forgotten easily.

Activist Erick Cristiano produced a video with pictures of various events around the world and posted it on YouTube:

“Eu sou do país dos Pinheirinhenses” (I am of the country of the Pinheirinese) is the motto of a group of activists who put out the Tumblr “What is your country?”, which now has dozens of videos of people declaring their solidarity with the people expelled from Pinheirinho like the following uploaded by user engenhoso:

On January 27, a group of Brazilians protested in front of the Brazilian Embassy in Madrid, capital of Spain, with a great banner and a flag of Brazil.

"Solidarity with Pinheirinho. Brazilians in Madrid". Protest in Madrid. Photo by Fábio TQrz, used with permission

The group also released a letter of complaint, in Portuguese and Spanish, questioning the President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, and Minister of the Special Secretariat of Human Rights, Maria do Rosário, requesting action regarding the homeless of Pinheirinho.

Protesters talk to the secretary of the embassy after the ambassador refused to receive them. Photo by Fábio TQrz, used with permission

With banners and flags, Brazilians who live in Lisbon, Portugal, protested in front of the Brazilian Consulate in the country on February 2, and walked through the center of Lisbon, but not before delivering a manifesto to the consul, who declared that the government had already announced its position in relation to what happened in Pinheirinho.

Protest in Lisbon. Photo by Soraya Barret, used with permission

On January 31, with temperatures below minus 10 degrees celsius, Brazilians protested in Berlin with a giant banner that read “Wir Sind alle Pinheirinho” and another calling for an end of social hygiene policy in Sao Paulo. The group released [de] a manifesto on the Internet in German. It was also released a video of the demonstration in Berlin.

"We are all Pinheirinho". Photo by Christian Russau, used with permission

"São Paulo: Stop the politics of sanitation". Photo by Christian Russau, used with permission

About 50 Brazilians demonstrated in Paris, capital of France, with several banners in French and Portuguese, on February 4, also in front of the Brazilian Embassy in the country. The French police, however, did not allow the act to last long, driving the protesters of the place, claiming it would be forbidden to take pictures near the embassy. A small group stood in a square nearby.

Protest in Paris. Photo by Dudas Bastos, used with permission

A Facebook group was created where one can read in French, a manifesto in solidarity with Pinheirinho. Daniel Ybarra, on Facebook, announced that the letter sent by the group to the Brazilian Embassy would be sent to the Brazilian government.

Protest in Paris. Photo by Maite Weill, used with permission

Another protest was also held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where at least 30 people engaged in the march from the “Obelisco”, singing all the way.

Protest in Buenos Aires. Photo by Victoria Vajda, used with permission

In Santiago, Chile, at least 20 people concentrated in the Plaza de Los Heroes, where the embassy of Brazil is located. The protest also gathered some Chileans.

In Natal, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, a demonstration took place on January 31 and in Curitiba, a banner of protest was exposed during a football game of the Paranaense Championship.

Photo by Rodrigo Tomazini, used with permission

Filmmaker Pedro Rios Leão ended his hunger strike after 11 days. The activist Alysson Bordi joined him but had to suspend the strike after being referred for medical care in a health clinic on February 7. The activist, however, wrote a manifesto in which he gives the reasons for the end of the strike and asks for support for the cause.

On Sunday the municipal guard of the city of Rio de Janeiro tried to remove the strikers and other activists who were with Pedro:

Pessoal, ontem a guarda municipal gentilmente atendeu a pedidos e chegou para nos remover. Depois de puxar cacetete, ameaçar muito nos agredir, resolveram só nos deixar ao relento. […] Na confusão perdi meu celular e algumas outras coisas. O acampamento ficou desbaratado e os ânimos devastados. No sol, e no pior ponto da greve, eu comecei a passar muito mal.

Guys, yesterday the municipal guard kindly responded to requests to come in and remove us. After pulling clubs and threatening to beat us, they decided to just leave us in the open. In the confusion I lost my phone and some other things. The camp was in disarray and devastated souls. In the sun, and the worst point of the strike, I started to feel ill.

Firefighters and military police officers on the eve of going on strike in the city supported the hunger strike of Pedro, that completed 11 days on Wednesday, February 8, when it came to an end:

11 dias sem sentir gosto nenhum, 12 quilos a menos no meu corpo. Espero que sirva para alguma coisa. Não peço desculpas pelo transtorno. Isso foi só uma tentativa.

11 days now without feeling any taste, 12 kilos less on my body. I hope that works for something. I do not apologize for the inconvenience. That was just an attempt.

Activists support the hunger strike of Pedro Leão. Photo by Pedro Leão, free use.

On February 2, a great act took more than 5,000 people to the streets of São José dos Campos to protest and show solidarity with the residents of Pinheirinho.

Meanwhile, fundraising campaigns are oganized and it is immense the pressure on politicians to take a stand in relation to the disproportionate violence and on the help the evicted families need.

Brazil: Is the Weather Wacky?

Melissa Mann — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:06:46 +0000

[All links lead to Portuguese language pages except when otherwise noted.]

Talking about the weather may be mere elevator chit-chat but, come rain or shine, there is no honest conversation that does not make some reference to the weather. With the recent droughts in the southern region, floods in the southeast region and atypical weather in the Northeast, terms like El Nino, La Nina and convergence zone have made their way into our everyday vocabulary and become the topic of many conversations.

Obviously the online community could not remain silent on the issue. Especially not in the face of Brazil's readying for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20.

But what do Internet users actually think about these recurring ecological disasters and atypical climate changes? Is the conversation a mere reflection of the fact that we now have access to weather occurrences throughout the world and are aware of disasters occurring at micro- and macro-regional levels, or are we indeed in the midst of a worldwide climate change with disastrous consequences?

Storm approaching in Marau, Rio Grande do Sul, 2009. Photo by Mateus Waechter on Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

As reported in an article [en] published on Global Voices in 2009 concerning the effects of heavy rains in Salvador that were mitigated on account of information circulated among the online community, while some claimed that the heavier rains were due to climate changes, João Miguel Lima left a comment claiming that:

Para os climatólogos, ainda não quer dizer que o volume de chuvas seja mudança climática. Seria necessário um intervalo de tempo maior para se perceber um padrão novo para afirmar isso; até agora é uma instabilidade do clima.

For climatologists, the volume of rain does not mean [we face a] climate change. A longer period of time is needed to observe a new pattern and confirm such a claim; right now, [we can say] it is weather instability.

Now that three years have passed, has it been long enough for us to draw more solid conclusions? Some Internet users believe so.

“Is the weather in your city wacky?“

The question was posed on a Yahoo! Answers forum by a user who triggered an online version of the ever prosaic elevator conversation:

Eu moro em Guarulhos-SP [São Paulo] e o tempo aqui cada vez está mais estranho, uma hora faz calor, outra o tempo fica nublado e friento, e outra chove e depois para de chover e faz bastante calor e depois frio. Tá uma doideira o tempo em Guarulhos, e na sua cidade?

I live in Guarulhos, São Paulo, and the weather is getting stranger and stranger here. One minute it's hot, the next it's cloudy and cold, the next minute it rains, and then it stops raining and gets really hot and then cold again. The weather in Guarulhos is wacky. What about where you live?

The same question has reverberated in many online discussions; and there are few answers to the many questions raised. According to some specialists, climate change is real. A study published by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE according to its Brazilian acronym) in June 2010, for example, points out that floods are occurring with more frequency in the city of São Paulo.

As mudanças no clima (…) indicam aumento de dias com chuvas intensas e mais freqüentes e as projeções de crescimento da população na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo, que deverá dobrar de tamanho nos próximos 20 anos, especialmente nas periferias.

Climate changes… indicate an increase in the number of heavy-rain days and more frequent rains and growth projections for the population of the Greater São Paulo Metropolitan Region, which is expected to double in the next 20 years, especially in the city's outskirts.

Climate changes, combined with urban growth and rural development lacking adequate planning to ensure protection, lead to even greater social and economic consequences in both cities and suburbs.

The site Climate Changes is entirely dedicated to encouraging understanding and information-sharing regarding this phenomenon. In an article published on the site in 2009, the head of the Climate Change and Energy Program for the WWF-Brazil, Carlos Ritti, states that “climate change is the greatest environmental and development challenge of the 21st century.”

Uma série de eventos climáticos muito intensos ocorridos nesta última década já indicava que o clima do planeta está passando por uma transformação significativa.

A series of very intense climatic occurrences in the last decade have already shown that the planet's climate is undergoing notable change.

Nonetheless, between clouds and torrential rains, many people end up not knowing the difference between climate and weather, and they end up not understanding the true dimensions of this phenomenon. According to Gabriel Cabral, in an article written for the site Education World:

O tempo refere-se ao estado momentâneo que ocorre em um determinado local a partir do ar atmosférico que pode ocorrer de maneira lenta ou rápida. Em diferença, o clima refere-se ao conjunto de condições atmosféricas que ocorrem em determinados locais de forma marcante.

Weather refers to the momentary state of atmospheric air in a given locale that occurs either slowly or suddenly. In contrast, climate refers to the set of atmospheric conditions that occur in certain locations in a more remarkable manner.

Rio+20 for change?

Rio+20, the United National Conference on Sustainable Development, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro, 20 years after the city also hosted the Earth Summit [en], where the concept of sustainable development was first endorsed, has already included climate change and the worldwide effects of climate change in its agenda. The UN itself already has a Convention on Climate Change [en], most recently held in Durban in November and December 2011.

According to the organization, “the Convention on Climate Change sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change. It recognizes that the climate system is a shared resource whose stability can be affected by industrial and other emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.”

Smog in Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro. Photo by Pierre-Yves Dansereau on Flickr. (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Despite the objectives of Rio+20 including:

um comprometimento político renovado com o desenvolvimento sustentável, avaliar o progresso feito até o momento e as lacunas que ainda existem na implementação dos resultados dos principais encontros sobre desenvolvimento sustentável, além de abordar os novos desafios emergentes,

[a] renewed political commitment to sustainable development, identify[ing] the progress that has been made to-date and the existing gaps in the implementation of the sustainability declarations, [in addition to] address[ing] new emerging challenges,

some specialists have noted that the conference does not have a clear and specific agenda. Marina Silva, the former presidential candidate, stated in an interview granted to the newspaper Folha de São Paulo and published on the site The Echo that the draft published by the organization, containing the zero draft of the Rio+20 outcome document:

é insuficiente. Genérico, não faz uma crítica ao modelo de desenvolvimento atual e dos padrões de produção e consumo. (…) Tudo parece apontar para aquele conhecido roteiro: decepção e paralisia dos governos, enquanto a crise socioambiental só se agrava -foi assim na COP 15, 16, 17…

is deficient. It is generic, does not at all criticize the current development model or the current patterns of production and consumption…. Everything seems to point to the same old script: deception and government paralysis while the socioenvironmental crises only worsens; this was the case with the COP 15, 16, 17…

One need not be a specialist to realize that something is changing and that the repercussions go beyond the confines of the elevator. This is no longer an isolated fact affecting merely one city, but rather a combination of various elements that bring to light the impact of these climate changes. Instead of questions, however, we need to focus on the answers.

Brazil: Comments On A New Wave of Privatization As Airports Are Sold

Raphael Tsavkko Garcia — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:15:13 +0000

Blogger Mauricio Caleiro comments [pt] on a new wave of privatization - “masked” as “concessions” - led by Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff who, during the electoral campaign, said she was against this instrument. So far three of the biggest Brazilian airports were sold to private companies.

Brazil: New Minister Denounces Torture Against Her Daughter

Raphael Tsavkko Garcia — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:07:29 +0000

Blogger and writer Antônio Mello reproduces a denouncement [pt] by the new Minister of the Special Secretariat for Women, Eleonora Menicucci, in which she says that her 1 year old daughter was tortured during the Brazilian military dictatorship (1964-1985) in 1972, in front of her.

Latin America: Energy Podcasts in English

Silvia Viñas — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:39:50 +0000

Setty recommends the Institute of the Americas' English-language podcast series on energy in Latin America.

Brazil: Folha, The Second Best-Selling Newspaper

Raphael Tsavkko Garcia — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:53:03 +0000

Teacher Chico Bicudo [pt] and journalist Lino Bocchini from the blog Desculpe a Nossa Falha [pt] comment on the fact that the newspaper Folha de São Paulo still declares itself as the number one newspaper in Brazil while the country's institute that verifies the circulation of newspapers denies it.

Brazil: Indigenous Guarani Kaiowá's Letter Asks for Survival

Raphael Tsavkko Garcia — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:43:22 +0000

Blogger Sonia Matuscelli posts a letter [pt] written by the leaders of the Guarani-Kaiowá people of the Ñanderu Laranjeira-Rio Brilhante settlement, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, saying that they “want to physically and culturally survive as a Brazilian original people”, in face of the genocide they are suffering.

Brazil: Footage of violent removal of homeless by São Paulo police

Janet Gunter — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 02:18:36 +0000

The first video footage came out from this morning's forceful removal of families awaiting assistance from city hall on a São Paulo sidewalk. A police officer peppersprays the woman filming. Then a citizen reporter interviews Manoel del Rio, lawyer for the social movement, who has an gaping wound on his head from a police beating.

Brazil: Homeless families awaiting help from São Paulo city removed with force

Janet Gunter — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:21:43 +0000

Homeless families evicted from a disused building in São Paulo city center last week had been camping on the sidewalk, waiting for negotiations with authorities to produce a long-term housing solution, when city police expelled the group including women and children with pepper spray, sound bombs and batons this morning. @LutaMoradia reports people were bloodied and ribs broken.

Brazil: Pinheirinho Videos ‘Cover-Up' Leads Activist to Hunger Strike

Raphael Tsavkko Garcia — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:29:09 +0000

The violent eviction of thousands of poor residents from their homes on land owned by the bankrupt estate of Naji Nahas, on January 22, 2012, is an event in Brazil that has become popularly known as the ‘Massacre of Pinheirinho‘.

It was photographed and filmed from various perspectives: from the day before the eviction itself, to the moments of panic among the population while becoming victims of police brutality in the city of São José dos Campos in São Paulo state, to the interviews conducted after the completion of the evacuation, with the poor people in precarious shelters being harassed by the police forces meant to protect them.

There was no shortage of reports of abuse of power and extreme violence, and allegations that many people had been injured and even killed, but no information was available from hospitals or the local Institute of Forensic Medicine (IML). Activist Pedro Rios Leão [pt] was in the city of São José dos Campos and interviewed dozens of residents who, on camera, talked about the existence of dead and wounded who were being hidden by the city and state governments.

Leão is now on hunger strike, chained in front of one of the entrances of the TV Globo television station [pt] in Rio de Janeiro, accusing the mainstream media of complicity in the “massacre” for having hidden the events or treated them as normal.

Pedro Leão on hunger strike in Rio de Janeiro. Photo of the Facebook user Rodrigo Ajooz, used with permission. On the sign one can read "For the deceased of Pinheirinho".

In a video, provocatelly titled ‘Eu queria matar a presidenta: depoimentos da guerra civil brasileira‘ (I wanted to kill the president: statements from the Brazilian civil war), Leão declares that it is a legitimate right to desire the death of those who bring death to the people. There is a touching piece of poetry created by Antônio da Silva [pt], an expelled resident of Pinheirinho, in the opening of the video.

Leão points to not only the township of São José dos Campos, nicknamed ‘São José dos Campos de Concentração' (São José of the Concentration Camps) by many, but also the state and federal governments for what he considers to be their guilt in a crime against the people of Pinheirinho. He has declared a state of war against those complicit in the suffering of the homeless population and has begged for the Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff to take action.

His video exposes the fear of the population in the face of the violence with which they are being treated, and collects numerous complaints to be urgently investigated. The church where villagers had taken refuge was the target of bombs and bullets - despite the denials of the local priest who later expelled [pt] the locals - and nearby a man was allegedly murdered by the occupying troops of the Pinheirinho. In the video, there are repeated reports of bodies “gone missing” from the IML:

YouTube user stresser recorded a video that shows the beginning of the hunger strike of Leão and his speech explaining the reasons for the strike:

And here is the second part, with an interview with Leão.

The Coletivo de Comunicadores Populares (Collective of Popular Communicators) [pt], fom the city of Campinas, in São Paulo state, recorded and edited the video ‘O Massacre de Pinheirinho: A verdade não mora ao lado‘ (The Pinheirinho Massacre: The truth does not live next door), so far available with subtitles in English, Spanish and French.

It has been viewed by more than 190,000 people, and features interviews with displaced residents of Pinheirinho denouncing atrocities committed by the Military Police on the first day of eviction. These include the use of pepper spray against pregnant women and children, intimidation, threats, tear gas, and bombs aimed at morale if not targets. There are also testimonies of people who, after being expelled from their homes, were refused the right to go back and get their documents, in the area organized by the city hall for registration of the displaced families.

The video also depicts the humiliated sense of the refugee population in a nearby church and shelters. Finally, the Collective summarizes the legal and political situation behind the whole operation, accusing the government of São Paulo and the local justice to be subject to the sale of the assets of bankrupt speculator Naji Nahas, against the public's interest:

The Collective also interviewed families the day before the eviction, on Saturday, January 21, “soon after the attempted repossession was frustrated by a federal injunction that forced the police to stop the operation.” The video, called ‘Onde estarão os Nobres? Uma família de Pinheirinho 1 dia antes do Massacre‘ (Where are the Noble? A family of Pinheirinho 1 day before the massacre) is the story of ordinary people about their situation and the fear they felt of losing everything:

The group Los solidários [pt], whose name is a tribute to an anarchist group that worked in Barcelona in the 1920s, collected images of the violent eviction punctuated by statements of Military Police Captain Antero, also head of communications of the prime minister, in order to show the discrepancies between the official action and discourse in a video called ‘O Pinheirinho é do povo! — crônicas do terrorismo do Estado‘ (Pinheirinho belongs to the people! - chronics of state terrorism).

The group also interviewed residents driven from their homes who reported the existence of many dead people, whose bodies have been hidden by the authorities. The group also sought information from hospitals about deaths and injuries but gained no access, and conducted interviews during the night after the eviction with residents visibly scared and fearful of their future:

The activist Hiure Anderon recorded two videos posted on his YouTube channel, with testimonials from mothers displaced from Pinheirinho, many with small children or pregnant women:

Rapper Davi Perez has recorded a song [pt] to honor the victims of the “Massacre of Pinheirinho,” reproduced by the blog “Solidarity with Pinheirinho Occupation”. Blogger Hugo Albuquerque meanwhile, has compiled a list in English and Portuguese on the ten most common lies told about Pinheirinho.

Brazil: Homeless squatters await eviction in São Paulo city center

Janet Gunter — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:43:44 +0000

In the aftermath of the Pinheirinho eviction in São Paulo state, police will be evicting a homeless squatter settlement in a disused building in downtown São Paulo this morning. According to the Frente de Luta por Moradia, a social movement (@LutaMoradia), a court ruled the city must provide for ‘basic necessities' of the evicted.

Cuba: What's on President Rousseff's Agenda?

Janine Mendes-Franco — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:53:54 +0000

Brazil's first female president is in Cuba on a visit intended “to strengthen bilateral ties especially in the economic and commercial spheres”, according to the Cuban press. Bloggers are very interested in her agenda.

The Cuban Triangle, who trusts that the focus of the trip will remain economic, raises the issue of the Mariel port project and says of the possibility of Brazilian companies investing in ethanol production in Cuba:

Let’s hope that’s the case. Brazilian investment in Cuban ethanol production would bring world-class technology and know-how to Cuba, generate jobs, enable Cuba to cut oil imports and foreign exchange expenditures, and provide sorely needed revival to an economically and culturally important sector of the Cuban countryside.

babalu is more interested in the statement by the President's special advisor, which suggests that her foreign policy “will emphasize human rights”. The post goes on to highlight a contradictory statement by Rousseff's foreign minister, which said that “there doesn’t appear to be a (Human Rights) emergency in Cuba” - to which the blogger quips:

Absolutely-Un-'Freakin-Real

Capitol Hill Cubans, meanwhile, posts a reminder of what it calls the President's “convenient memory lapse”:

In 1970, now Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was arrested and tried for her armed opposition to that country's military dictatorship (1964-1985).

Yet, today, she's unwilling to meet or show solidarity with peaceful opponents of Cuba's military dictatorship during her visit to Havana.

In response to the foreign minister's statement, the blog writes:

We'd like to remind the Rousseff Administration that the International Committee of the Red Cross and the U.N.'s Special Rapporteur on Torture have unfettered access to the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo.

Meanwhile, the Castro regime has not allowed either of these international observers into Cuban prisons in its 52-year rule.

Moreover, it's fascinating how Rousseff sensed the emergency regarding human rights in Brazil during its military junta, which inexcusably imprisoned, executed and exiled tens of thousands of Brazilians — numbers stymied by the brutal Castro dictatorship in Cuba.

Finally, Yoani Sanchez (who incidentally is still waiting on permission from the Cuban authorities to travel to Brazil for the presentation of “Cuba-Honduras Connection”, a documentary in which she appears) weighs in, saying of the presidential visit:

Everything seemed neatly tied up: a fast timeframe, efficient, protocol, focused on economic themes, ending with her boarding her flight to Haiti. But something complicated it.

Several days before the Brazilian economist and politician landed at Jose Marti Airport, a young Cuban died after a prolonged hunger strike. The official media threw itself into presenting him as a common criminal…the radicalized discourse of power and the political temperature reached those levels where our rulers perform so well. In that context, the recently concluded Conference of the Cuban Communist Party became more an act of reaffirmation than of change, a statement of unity rather than an opening. Many who were waiting for an announcement of political transformations of great significance, realized that the event was, instead, the ultimate lost opportunity for the generation in power. One day after its closure, Raul Castro — General Secretary of the only permitted party — received Dilma Rousseff, the former guerrilla who today leads a country with diverse political forces and a highly critical press.

Brazil is our second largest trading partner in Latin America, but it’s not just a question of resources. The Raul regime also has the urge, at this time, to be legitimized by other presidents in the region. So there will be smiles, handshakes, commitments to ‘eternal friendship' and photos, lots of photos. The civic activists, for their part, will attempt a meeting with the woman who was tortured and imprisoned during a military government, though there is little chance that she will receive them. Dilma Rousseff will converse with Raul Castro, she will be very close to him at exactly this delicate juncture in which chance has placed her. We hope she will not miss the opportunity and will comport herself consistent with the clamor for democracy, instead of opting for a complicit silence before a dictatorship.

The thumbnail image used in this post is by R. Furquim, used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Creative Commons license. Visit R. Furquim's flickr photostream.

Brazil: Sex Scandal on Big Brother Provokes Debate on Machismo

Alex Higson — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:54:10 +0000

[All links lead to Portuguese language pages except when otherwise noted.]

In the early hours of the 14th of January, on Big Brother Brazil (BBB), the program with the largest audience in the country, there took place “a rape on live television, without anyone doing anything about it”. The comment comes from Alê, a feminist blogger who was disgusted by the passivity of the biggest television network in the country, TV Globo, when she witnessed the event. Alongside her, thousands of other internet users voiced their outrage.

After partying on Saturday night, BBB contestant Monique Amin, a 23-year-old student, went to her bedroom. Having consumed alcohol – as is encouraged by “Globo itself (…) in copious measures” – Monique got into bed, clearly drunk. Daniel Echaniz, a model aged 31, went with Monique and lay down next to her on the bed. Moments later, he appears to be making sexual movements towards her. However, as the program itself has admitted, Monique was not awake, and it was therefore impossible for her to consent to any sexual activity.

Blogger Leticia Fernandez shared the news stream that the premium version of BBB showed at the time:

Está rolando o clima entre Daniel e Monique debaixo do edredom. Ele se mexe, parece acariciar a sister, mas a loira não se move.

Things are hotting up under the covers between Daniel and Monique. He's moving around, seems to be fondling her, but she's not moving.

As you'd expect, the video of the event was not available on the internet for very long. Videos on YouTube were removed “for violating YouTube's policy on content involving nudity or sex”.

Love is a beautiful thing … machismo is not

The events didn't receive any immediate response on television, except for the comments of the program's presenter, Pedro Bial, who said - after viewers had been shown a video that, according to several Twitter users, had been edited to diminish the impact of the events - that “love is a beautiful thing”. However, the size of the backlash on the internet was inversely proportional to the televised response. The topic was discussed on blogs, news sites, Twitter and Facebook.

On Twitter, many people suggested that “it might be a hoax to increase the ratings”, according to blogger Rosangela Basso.

Ana Marques, known as Morango, a former participant of the show, criticized the handling of the events, saying that she herself felt violated:

Esperei ouvir de Bial, jornalista e pai de uma filha que tem a idade de Monique, um manifesto de repúdio à atitude de Daniel que servisse de exemplo. Também esperei do “BBB” uma edição minimamente transparente e depois, um posicionamento. Mas foi o contrário.

I expected to hear Bial, who is a journalist and the father of a daughter Monique's age, be an example to others and condemn Daniel's attitude. I also expected that BBB's editing would not be very transparent, and that they would then make a statement. But what happened was the opposite.

Though opinions on sexual abuse in BBB were almost unanimous across the social networks, there were also internet users who saw the case from a different perspective.

"Machismo Kills", Slut Walk, Brasilia 2011. Photo by Bianca Cardoso on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Journalist Sara Martinez (@sarafcmartinez) complained of the spread of comments such as “she was drunk / she deserved it / she's a slut / the guy is black, so it was bound to happen”. While several people shared photos of the Slut Walk [en] protests in Brazil, journalist and writer Nina Lemos, shocked by Pedro Bial's statement, summarized the day's events as “cynicism and machismo”:

Chocante é (…) também o machismo que correu solto na internet o dia inteiro ao se falar do caso. “Quem bebe além da conta não tem do que reclamar no dia seguinte. Se quer respeito, aprende a beber”, escreveu um blogueiro com milhares de seguidores.

The machismo that raced around the internet all day whenever anyone mentioned the events […] is also shocking. “Anyone who drinks so much that they lose count can't then complain the next day. If you want respect, learn to drink responsibly”, wrote one blogger with thousands of followers.

More than just an incident on a reality show, what happened between Daniel and Monique also raises important questions related to sexual behaviour and education in Brazil.

Alex Castro, from the Papo de Homem (Men's Chat) blog, wrote an article based on “the following rule: if there's any doubt, don't rape”:

Estamos há séculos ensinando as meninas como se vestir e como agir – para a segurança delas, claro! Mas talvez fosse a hora de ensinar os meninos como não-estuprar. (…) entre esses pais que controlam as saias das filhas com tanta ênfase e afico, quantos já usaram a MESMA ênfase e o mesmo afinco para controlar os hormônios e os impulsos dos filhos? Para ter uma conversa franca e aberta sobre estupro e escolha?

For centuries we have been teaching girls how to dress and how to act – for their own safety, of course! But perhaps it's now time to teach boys how to not rape. […] amongst all those parents who control their daughters' skirt length with such enthusiasm and obstinacy, how many have employed the SAME enthusiasm and obstinacy to controlling their sons' hormones and impulses? Enough to have an honest and open conversation about rape and choice?

In just a few hours his article gathered “3 thousand likes on Facebook, 850 RTs (retweets), 160 comments, and was read 80 thousand times”, as he reported on his private profile on Facebook.

In the same vein as “it's not women who need to learn to avoid and protect themselves against rape, it's men who need to learn that they must not rape”, the collective blog Biscate Social Club furthered the debate on rape, stating:

Estupro não é sexo. Estupro não é uma vontade incontrolável de dar prazer à outra pessoa mesmo que ela não saiba que quer muito isso. Estupro não é um favor, não é um acidente, não é uma empolgação. Estupro é uma violência que decorre de uma relação de poder. No estupro, aproveita-se da vulnerabilidade do outro.

Rape is not sex. Rape is not an uncontrollable urge to give pleasure to another person even if she doesn't know how much she wants it. Rape is not a favour, not an accident, not exciting. Rape is violence that results from a love of power. Through rape, a person takes advantage of the other person's vulnerability.

Applying the law to a “reality show”

As journalist Natalia Mendes wrote in a special article for the Nota de Rodapé (Footer) blog, it was only “after the mobilization on the social networks and the #DanielExpulso (#EvictDaniel) hashtag reaching first place in Twitter's Trending Topics” that the program's producers took action.

It was only in the episode on Monday 16th January that Globo decided to make its move. Not specifically mentioning what happened, Pedro Bial said that Daniel had broken the show's rules and had therefore been evicted. Federal Public Defender Francisco had already stated on Twitter that it was Globo's duty to do so, reinforcing the use of article 215 of the Penal Code regarding rape of a vulnerable person, explaining “that the instigation of the action does not depend on the victim”, as the action would be assumed.

Maíra Mano explains in her blog why the actions can be considered a crime:

Segundo o artigo 213 da lei 12.015, de 2009, é estupro “constranger alguém, mediante violência ou grave ameaça, a ter conjunção carnal ou a praticar ou permitir que com ele se pratique outro ato libidinoso”. (…) também é preciso mencionar o artigo 215, que fala sobre violação sexual mediante fraude e estupro de vulnerável na modalidade em que a vítima está impossibilitada, por outro meio, de oferecer resistência.

According to article 213 of law 12.015, of 2009, “to oblige someone, through violence or serious threat, to have sexual intercourse or to practise or allow someone to practise with him or her another libidinous act” is rape. […] it is also necessary to mention article 215, which speaks of sexual abuse through deceit and rape of a vulnerable person by means of the victim being unable, for other reasons, to offer resistance.

"You cannot touch without my consent". Photo by Bianca Cardoso on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

On Tuesday 17th January, the presenter spoke again on the program about the case, and confirmed TV Globo's statement that both Daniel and Monique were conscious on the Saturday night, even despite Monique “possibly suffering from alcoholic amnesia” having previously claimed that she didn't remember what had happened. Globo itself announced on the 17th that both of them had denied rape in statements to the police.

It would not be the first time that a case of sexual abuse has occurred in a Big Brother reality show. The website Operamundi details a similar case in South Africa, in which although “many people demanded that the student be held legally responsible for his actions”:

os dois seguiram no programa até o final. Após votação popular, Richard ganhou o BB da África do Sul e faturou o grande prêmio — Ofunneka ficou em segundo.

both of them stayed in the program until the end. After the popular vote, Richard won South African Big Brother and claimed the grand prize – Ofunneka came second.

Ana flávia Ramos, from the Tab na Rede (Tab on the Net) blog, leaves us with a question:

O histórico de barbaridades no BBB já não é novo, mas quais serão os limites do programa após um suposto estupro em cadeia nacional? Como será interpretada pelas autoridades públicas e pelos telespectadores a omissão da Globo diante do caso?

The history of barbarity in BBB is by no means new, but where do the limits lie for this program after an alleged rape on a national TV channel? How will Globo's shortcomings regarding this case be interpreted by the public authorities and television viewers?

Raphael Tsavkko Garcia contributed to this post

Brazil: Watchdog of 2016 Olympics Reports on Suspended Bid

Thiana Biondo — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:55:54 +0000

An injunction has suspended bid for 2016 Rio Olympic Park, reported the organization RioOnWatch. The court considered that the concerned Public-Private Partnership contract is not clear on whether or not the Olympic development to be constructed on the Vila Autódromo neighbourhood would imply the eviction of 900 families from the area.

Brazil: Movement Calls for March Against Law on Construction in Salvador

Thiana Biondo — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:19:16 +0000

The Movement ‘Desocupa Salvador' - which recently claimed rights for public space during carnival -, is now calling [pt] people to march towards the City Hall on February 1. Major grievances include the illegal approval by the Mayor of amendments in a law that threatens the Enchanted Valley Ecological Park, an Atlantic Forest reserve, and allows tall constructions next to the beach.