Global Voices » Thiana Biondo

TEDxSão Tomé: More speakers confirmed

Thiana Biondo — Sun, 19 May 2013 08:20:23 +0000

Another two speakers [pt] have been confirmed for the event TEDxSão Tomé, in the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, in 20 June. Mark Richard Shuttleworth [en], a South African founder of the company Canonical Ltd, which develops free software like Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Xubuntu and Lubuntu and Guilherme Alves Luís Vaz de Carvalho [pt], an artist from São Tome that composed the song “Frutinha da Sorte” for the film “Frutinha do Equador”.

Angola Threatens to Shut Down Media

Thiana Biondo — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:41:59 +0000

The Ministry of Communication of Angola threatens to suspend the public license of the Radio Despertar station and of the Folha 8 newspaper, despite the measure being unconstitutional. The government says they encourage public disorder. The announcement was made on Wednesday, May 15, as reported the Voz da América [pt] website. Some owners of the Radio have ties with the main opposition party UNITA [en]. In 2012, the police confiscated computers of the Folha 8.

Mozambique Activist Withdraws Candidacy

Thiana Biondo — Tue, 07 May 2013 08:00:02 +0000

Lack of transparency and professionalism when choosing candidates, besides a tendency to determine in advance who will take the institution's positions. Those were the reasons given by the human rights activist, Benilde Nhalivilo, to give up candidacy for a seat on the National Elections Commission of Mozambique[pt], a body responsible for overseeing elections in the country. Information on the A Verdade newspaper[pt].

Turf War Brewing in Brazil Over Corruption Investigations

Thiana Biondo — Tue, 07 May 2013 07:00:45 +0000

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

On the heels of a landmark corruption case[en] in Brazil that saw former members of ex-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's government convicted of participating in a vote-buying scheme, a proposed constitutional amendment in Brazil would hand over much of the investigative powers of the public prosecutors’ office, which prosecuted that case, to police.

Under discussion in the House of Representatives, the proposed amendment[en], dubbed by critics as the “bill of impunity”, aims to restrict the authority of carrying out criminal investigations to police. Currently, the prosecutors’ office can lead investigations just like police can, a measure enacted[en] after Brazil's military dictatorship to counter the country's culture of corruption with another level of accountability.

Former Police Commissioner and Federal Deputy Lourival Mendes, who authored the proposal, has defended the amendment, saying that one institution, not two or more, should be in charge of investigations. The Public Ministry[en], as the federal public prosecutors’ office is called, should be limited to prosecuting cases that originate from evidence gathered by the police, according to Mendes.

But the independence of the prosecutors’ office has paved the way for many major cases, such as the prosecution of former Judge Nicolau dos Santos Neto who was convicted of bribery, embezzlement, fraud, and money laundering in 2006, as prosecuting attorney Janice Ascari (@JaniceAscari) highlighted on Twitter:

@JaniceAscari: Importante: o caso do Juiz Nicolau foi investigado diretamente pelo MPF e sem nenhuma participação da Polícia. #PEC37

@JaniceAscari: Important: the case against Judge Nicolau was directly investigated by the Federal Public Ministry and without any participation from the Police #PEC37

“Against the PEC 37″. Illustration publicized by the site “Brasil contra a impunidade” (Brazil against impunity).

Many institutional bodies would be affected by the so-called PEC 37, including the Secretariat of the Federal Revenue of Brazil [en], the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources [en], and the Central Bank of Brazil [en], but it is the Public Ministry which has spoken out against the measure most, headquartering their mobilization on the website Brasil Contra a Impunidade [Brazil Against Impunity].

An Avaaz petition has already gathered more than 96,000 signatures opposing the proposed amendment as of May 4, 2013, and the prosecutors’ office in the Brazilian state of Ceará has released a song supporting cause.

On April 22, 2013, the prosecutors’ office in the state of São Paulo called for protest against the amendment on Twitter. Using the hashtags #NãoPEC37 and #PEC37, many Twitter users have spoken out their opinions on the subject.

Lawyer Renato Buosi (@renatobuosi) raises the question:

@renatobuosi: A quem interessa fazer com que o Ministério Público não tenha competência para investigações??? #Brasil #NaoPEC37

@renatobuosi: Who is interested in making the Public Ministry powerless in investigations??? #Brasil #NaoPEC37

Blogger Cláudio Fontes (@Claudioffontess) ruled out the need for such a law:

@Claudioffontess: O Brasil não precisa de #PEC37, de Copa do Mundo, de Olimpíadas e muito menos de CORRUPÇÃO, o Brasil precisa de SAÚDE, SEGURANÇA E EDUCAÇÃO!

@Claudioffontess: Brazil does not need the amendment #PEC37, the World Cup, Olympics and CORRUPTION, Brazil needs HEALTH, SAFETY AND EDUCATION!

Some police organizations are leading campaigns in defense of the amendment, such as the National Association of the Federal Police Commissioners and the Association of the Police Commissioners of Brazil, which is responsible for the website PEC da legalidade [PEC of legality].

Even among police, however, there are those who are against the bill, such as federal police agent FC Garisto (@FCGaristo) who affirmed:

@FCGaristo: Na POLÍCIA FEDERAL somente os delegados defendem a IMUNDA #PEC37 – 90% da PF é Contra essa Vergonhosa PEC que defende a corrupção !

@FCGaristo: In the FEDERAL POLICE force, only police commissioners advocate in favor of the DISGUSTING #PEC37 – 90% of the Federal Police are against this Shameful PEC which defends corruption! !

Journalist Decio Neves (@DecioNeves) pointed out one of the possible motivations behind legislators voting in favor of the proposal in a special committee of the House of Representatives, where the PEC 37 was approved with 14 votes on November 21, 2012:

@DecioNeves: LEGISLANDO EM CAUSA PRÓPRIA: Dos 14 deputados que aprovaram a #PEC37 9 estão sendo processados com ajuda do MP http://twitpic.com/ck95kf

@DecioNeves: TO LEGISLATE FOR THEIR OWN CAUSE: From the 14 deputies who approved the #PEC37 nine are being prosecuted with the assistance of the Public Ministry http://twitpic.com/ck95kf

The proposal is ready to be voted on in the House of Representatives. If approved, it will be forwarded to the Senate. Concerning that, Twitter user De Olho na Serra (@todolho) foresaw:

@todolho: Na votação da PEC37 se verá quem é quem. Corruptos serão pró. Os ainda com esperança de salvação votarão contra.

@todolho: We will see who is who in the PEC 37 voting session. Corrupt will be in favor of it. Those who do still have hope of salvation will vote against it.

TEDXSão Tomé: Event arrives in São Tomé and Príncipe

Thiana Biondo — Sun, 05 May 2013 07:00:32 +0000

TEDXSão Tomé

TEDXSão Tomé pre-registration is opened. The event has “Islands Connected : São Tomé + Príncipe = África Connected to the World” as a theme and is going to take place on 20 June. Speakers already confirmed include: Dynka Amorim, Ismael Sequeira, Professor Robert Drewes e Aoaní d'Alva. Tickets cost € 20. More on event Facebook and website [links in Portuguese].

Brazilian Cartoonist Inspires Kissing Protest

Thiana Biondo — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 12:38:44 +0000

Mockup by Leonardo Maciel. Full credits on Solon Maia's blog. (CC BY 3.0)

Images of people kissing went viral on Facebook, blogs and Twitter in Brazil, under the hashtags #beijaço (protest by kissing) and #Laerte. Strips by Laerte published on Folha de São Paulo newspaper, triggered the ‘protest by kissing’ against the anti-gay preacher Marco Feliciano, recently elected Brazil Human Rights Committee Head.

Brazilians Accuse FIFA of Stamping Out Local Culture

Thiana Biondo — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:19:21 +0000

Anger in Brazil is on the rise as World Cup authorities refuses to allow street vendors in the northeastern city of Salvador, one of 12 cities hosting the 2014 football competition, from selling a typical local food known as “acarajé” during the Cup.

The women in the Brazilian state of Bahia who prepare and sell the acarajé, made from fried black-eyed peas stuffed with a spicy filling, will not be allowed to sell the dish at the Fonte Nova stadium since only a bid winner will have the right to sell food during the competition, International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) officials announced [pt] in October last year.

With African origins, acarajé has become a symbol of Brazilian culture and traditionally is sold in and around stadiums during football matches in Bahia's capital city of Salvador.

The move gained the headlines again after the Fonte Nova Stadium, in the city of Salvador, was reopened after renovations on April 5. In the same day, FIFA removed the name of famous Brazilian football player Mané Garrincha [pt] from the National Stadium name in central Brasília, arguing that the inclusion of his name was not appropriate for an international event such as the World Cup.

FIFA's decisions have provoked outrage in Brazil, with some journalists and bloggers accusing the football organization of trying to snuff out Brazilian culture from World Cup branding.

The “baianas do acarajé”, as the street vendors are known, have taken to the streets in their typical all-white cotton dresses, headscarves, and caps to demand their right to sell the dish. Those belonging to the Association of Baianas de Acarajé and Porridge Sellers (ABAM) demonstrated in front of the Fonte Nova stadium during its reopening and handed in a petition to José Vermohler [pt], who is an advisor to the Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

The association demands that the vendors be free to sell during the World Cup just as they used to around the stadium area before FIFA's construction began.

The conflict between the street vendors and FIFA has gone on since last year, and has lead ABAM to launch a petition online that is still asking for signatures through the website Change.org [pt]. The association explains:

Uma resolução da FIFA proíbe qualquer comércio ambulante num raio de 2 km de todos os estádios da Copa do Mundo. Isso exclui vendedores de comidas tradicionais do Brasil. Eles ‘permitem’ os acarajés dentro dos estádios, mas não as baianas.

A FIFA resolution forbids any street trading within a two kilometer radius of all World Cup stadiums. This excludes Brazilian traditional food sellers. They ‘allow’ the acarajé inside the stadiums, but not the ‘baianas de acarajé'.

Fora do Eixo/André Costa (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The Facebook page Frases de Baiano [pt] (Phrases said by people from Bahia), which has more than 260,000 likes, republished the photo above. The photograph was also published on Flickr with the words #NãoQueroMcDonalds #QueroAcarajé (I don't want McDonalds, I want acarajé) which has been shared by nearly 2,000. Those hashtags have also been used on Twitter.

On his blog about Brazilian popular cordel literature, poet and lecturer Antonio Barreto published [pt] a poem entitled “World Cup's Cordel: Will FIFA relegate the acarajé from Bahia?”

(CC BY-SA 2.0) Elói Corrêa/SECOM

— O presidente da FIFA
Deve estar desinformado
Pois o nosso acarajé
Há muito foi registrado
Como Patrimônio Histórico
Pelo IPHAN aqui no Estado
Eu soube que a MacDonald
Essa empresa invasora
É quem vai mandar na Copa
Como patrocinadora…
— Eu não quero fast food
De quinta categoria.
Sanduíche importado
Não tem a menor valia…

- The president of FIFA
Might be misinformed
As our acarajé
Since many years ago has been registered
As a national heritage
By the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage here in this federal state
I've heard that MacDonald
That invasive company
Is the one who will command the Cup
As a sponsor …
- I don't want fast food
Of lower quality
An imported sandwich
is worthless …

“Cultural terrorism”

The removal of Mané Garrincha, a famous player who played for Brazil's national team from 1955 to 1966, from the National Stadium in Brasília has also stoked the ire of many Brazilians. FIFA has defended the decision, saying that the World Cup is an event of “international interest” so the names of game sites should be consistent.

Brazilian football fans took the decision as an insult.

On Twitter, professor Cesar Oliveira (@CesarOliveira10) [pt] wrote:

Não pode botar nome de Mané Garrincha, nem vender acarajé! Pra que porcaria uma Copa do Mundo da Fifa se não podemos nem ser o que somos?

One can't put the name Mané Garrincha, nor sell acarajé! What is the point of having a crap FIFA's World Cup if we can't even be who we are?

On the Mundo Botafogo [pt] blog, dedicated to Garrincha's former team Botafogo, Rui Moura highlighted:

Garrincha foi um craque de prestígio mundial, o melhor jogador de sempre, segundo muitas opiniões. Desde quando a FIFA manda num país? Desde quando interfere na designação de estádios de um país? Se o estádio se chamasse Pelé já estaria tudo bem? E os deputados vão aceitar essa redução de soberania do seu país dando o dito pelo não dito?

É absurdo e revoltante!

Garrincha was an ace with worldwide prestige, the best player ever, according to many opinions. Since when does FIFA rule a country? Since when does it intervene in a country's stadium denominations? If the stadium was called Pelé [considered by many the best player of all time, Pelé, who won the World Cup of 1958, 1962 and 1970, promotes football worldwide together with FIFA], would it be okay? And the Members of Congress will accept that reduction of the country's sovereignty by accepting something stated as not stated?

This is absurd and revolting!

Journalist Zé Reinaldo [pt], who writes about social and cultural resistance movements, criticized on his blog:

Os burocratas da Fifa, em sua sacrossanta ignorância, acham que nomes como Mané Garrincha, Maracanã, Mineirão, Itaquerão e outros inventados pelo povão são de difícil compreensão para quem não fala o vernáculo e muito menos conhece os jargões da patuleia….Desde o começo do século 20, quando o futebol começou a ser jogado aqui com exóticas palavras britânicas, o brasileiro foi capaz de naturalizar vocábulos e sem cerimônia compreendeu que Foot-ball é “Futebol”, goleiro é “golquíper”, defensor recuado é “beque”, meio-campista é “centerralfe”, escanteio é “córner”, penalidade máxima é “pênalti”, e assim por diante.

The FIFA bureaucrats, in their Holly ignorance, think names like Mané Garrincha, Maracanã, Mineirão, Itaquerão, and others created by the populace are difficult to understand for those who do not speak the vernacular and don't know the rabble's jargon….Since the early 20th century, when football started being played here with exotic British words, Brazilians was able to “localize” vocabularies and without formalities understood that Foot-ball is “Futebol”, goleiro is “goalkeeper”, defensor recuado is “beque” [defensive back], meio-campista is “center half”, escanteio is “corner”, penalidade máxima is “penalty”, and so on.

Journalist Xico Sá [pt] recalled in his column in the newspaper Folha de São Paulo that Garrincha was the hero of the first two world titles won by the Brazilian National Team, an icon who made the country overcome the mongrel complex [pt] on the pitch. He has condemned FIFA's attitude towards the baianas de acarajé and Garrincha's memory as “cultural terrorism”.

For those who have never heard of Garrincha, rare images of the football star can be seen on YouTube here:

Will Brazil Stem New Tide of Immigration?

Thiana Biondo — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 10:39:09 +0000

This post is part of our International Relations & Security coverage.

Brazilian visa. By TheTransparentEyeball on flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

The global financial crisis, wars and natural disasters have inspired a new wave of immigration to Brazil. According to the Ministry of Justice, the number of legal immigrants entering Brazil rose by 50% over a six month period [pt] in 2012. The majority of immigrants came from Haiti, Bolivia, Spain, France and the United States.

The new arrivals have not gone unnoticed by mainstream media or the general public. Recently, the popular TV show Domingo Espetacular broadcast a report [pt] called “Perseguidos” (‘Hunted’) which tells their story. Brazilian blogger Pedro Migao [pt] praised the report for describing the many different reasons why immigrants are increasingly turning to Brazil.

However, the consequences of the upward trend in immigration remain the subject of heated debate. In an article entitled “The Other Face of a Global Player” on Mundorama.net [pt], Patricia Martuscelli says that while ‘old Europe’ is creating tougher immigration policies amid economic woes, Brazil has yet to come up with a decisive policy of its own:

É possível analisar que, frente à impossibilidade de atender completamente as demandas de sua própria população, seria difícil para o governo lidar com os custos internos e internacionais advindos de sua posição como global player, principalmente com a situação dos imigrantes e refugiados. Contudo, quanto mais o Brasil demorar em tratar dessas questões, mais elas se agravarão, pressionando a sua população.

It is possible to deduct that due to its inability to fully meet the demands of its own people, it would be difficult for the government to deal with domestic and international costs arising from its position as global player, particularly in relation to immigrants and refugees. Nevertheless, the more Brazil delays addressing these issues, the more it will get worse, putting pressure on its population.

Another blogger, Patrícia Mendonça, says the Brazilian state should accommodate refugees despite widespread poverty:

Ao contrário do que veem tentando nos fazer acreditar, o brasileiro continua vivendo em estado de miséria em muitos pontos do país. Estão aí as secas em várias regiões para mostrar. Assim como estão as favelas… A aparente ascensão das classes D e E vem do crédito oferecido por empresas privadas (santas Casas Bahia) mas muito em breve acarretarão em aumento cada vez maior do endividamento das famílias…
Fica uma pergunta: Temos como acolher esses refugiados? Temos como oferecer dignidade?

Temos, uma dignidade mínima igual a de nossos mais pobres e com certeza maior do que a que teriam em seus países.

In spite of what they will have us believe, Brazilians are still living in a state of misery in many parts of the country. We see droughts in various regions. And there are the slums (…) The apparent rise of the D and E class is the result of the credit offered by private companies (holy Casas Bahia), but will very soon lead to an even greater rise in household debt…
One question remains: Do we have the means to welcome those refugees? Can we offer them dignity?

We have a minimal level of dignity among our most poor, that certainly is greater than what they would have in their own countries.

Brazil has around 4,500 refugees from 75 countries [pt] with the biggest groups coming from Angola and Colombia. As in many other countries, refugees and immigrants in Brazil are among the most vulnerable members of society. Yet Brazil is nevertheless attempting to take concrete steps to protect immigrants from exploitation. In São Paulo, for example, a law was recently passed to revoke the licenses of establishments found to be using slave labor. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees in the Americas has developed the “Amplify your Voice” program to help empower women who have been victims of violence as shown in video in Portuguese below:

Brasilia also expects the influx of immigrants to boost the national economy. A lack of skilled professionals is considered a major factor holding back Brazil’s economic development, a predicament that the government hopes to overcome by attracting suitably qualified immigrants [pt] to the country. The development of successful immigration policies may, therefore, make a telling contribution to Brazil’s reputation as an emerging global power.

This post and its translations to Spanish, Arabic and French were commissioned by the International Security Network (ISN) as part of a partnership to seek out citizen voices on international relations and security issues worldwide. This post was first published on the ISN blog, see similar stories here.

‘Testosterona’ Blog is Out of MTV Brazil

Thiana Biondo — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 00:03:55 +0000

MTV Brazil has cancelled its contract with the Testosterona's blog, affirmed the group ‘Nós Denunciamos’ [pt] on Facebook. It is believed that MTV Brazil attitude came as a consequence of the TV network headquarter's decision in the US and social mobilization against the misogynistic program. Global Voices published an article about the case last year.

Critical Mass: Wheels of Activism Come to Brazil's Salvador City

Thiana Biondo — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 19:29:50 +0000

The international cycling movement Critical Mass – or Bicicletadas [pt] as it is been known in Brazilian Portuguese – has won the hearts of Brazilians, since cars have reached a saturation point on the country's congested roads.

While visiting the city of Salvador, in Brazil, Global Voices contributor, Thiana Biondo got to know more about the ‘Bicicletada’ Critical Mass [pt]. Below are the first excerpts of an interview with two critical mass activists in Salvador - Roque Junior, an Urbanism student at the University of the State of Bahia and Rosa Ribeiro, Doctor candidate at the Course of Architecture and Urbanism at the Federal University of Bahia.

Global Voices (GV): When did you start cycling around the city of Salvador?

Roque Junior (RJ): I've lived in Salvador for more than 20 years and cycled for 10 years. When I started riding here, I was not aware of issues related to the city; the traffic and all the difficulties I later realized and understood in a very empirical way with a friend.

Photo by Bicicletada Salvador Massa Crítica (with 5,302 likes)

I started cycling with him, but not long journeys. I went to run errands in town, in nearby neighborhoods, but I didn't go to very busy roads and I was not aware of the use of a bike as a means of transport.

The turning point was, more or less, about 3 years ago, when I started using a bike in my daily commute to work which was 15.5 km long, going from Barra to Imbuí neighborhoods. This journey bothered me, this thing about buses, and I've never really liked cars very much. What happened was: one given day, I said, “I'll try”, “I'll try [to use the bike] and see how things go.” I did it for the first time. I realized that it was not a problem because the route is not the same for the bus or the cars, in general, because I go by the coastline, and by the coastline I am lucky to have, for a long patch, the cycle lane. I gradually got into physical shape, which is also important, and after that, I started using the bike daily as a means of transport.

Rosa Ribeiro (RR): I used to cycle in Pituaçu Park [pt], so it already had that scheme that you take the bike by car to Pituaçu or to the coastline. I cycled for leisure, but my turning point (laughs) to copy a little bit the term used by Roque, took place 7 years ago. In 2004, I started to do my graduation work at the Faculty of Architecture. One day, my car broke down in Paralela Road [pt], so I went to seek help and some people managed to get the car out of the road towards the Bairro da Paz [pt] area. Having approached those people, from that experience, I said, hell, I think my graduation project will be here. I started walking by the neighborhood to observe … I stayed in a square looking at people and loads of bikes passing by, which were mostly rode by male adults and children. So, one day I asked someone “hey what about those bikes. Where are they going to? Is there any contest or competition taking place, is there any park around here? ” They said “no, nothing, not that I'm not aware of.” From that strange feeling, I started in fact, to investigate further and then I realized that those people cycled daily, that it was something absolutely normal and that those men there used bikes as a major means of transport.

A bike in the neighborhood of Piatã, Salvador, Bahia. Photo by DavidCampbell_ no Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

They cycled for very long distances in the city. And what at first was a budget alternative, meaning a way to save transport tickets at the time, to transform that ticket into money, exchangeable for bread or to be used to buy gas or even other things … but there was also another reason that led them to make that, that it is that bicycles are, relatively, a very flexible and much faster vehicle, within the city of Salvador. For example, one of my main interviewees, Emerson, he went up to the Bairro da Paz area from the neighborhood of Sete Portas in 35 minutes. These days, which bus or car that can do a route like that in 35 minutes?…The ones who rode bikes at that time in Salvador, and I think even in most part of Brazilian cities, were a low-income population who are very stigmatized.

GV: I've noticed that you encourage people to use bikes as a means of transportation. How do you mobilize people to become aware of using bicycles as means of transport? Through Facebook? Are there other channels of communication, meetings? How does this ‘bike activism’ work?

RJ: About three years ago, when I started cycling as a means of transport, I became interested about that, and I started looking for sources of information, especially on the internet, blogs and news … It's interesting, you know, when we start to pay attention to something, we are always going to slowly find people who are interested in that. I started finding people to exchange ideas.

“Yesterday, around 14:00, a bus driver, on the road ACM, almost hit me. ” The story of Edward Luedy on his blog, De Velo in Salvador in August 2010.

Soon, I found Eduardo Luedy's blog. One day, he posted a story reporting on something that happened to him on the ACM Road [pt]; he was pushed off his route by a speedy bus. He wrote a blog post and shared it on Facebook. I got very annoyed by the situation, but at the same time happy to see that story in a clear way. I noticed that it had elements to come to people's attention. It was the kind of situation cyclists could go through when on the streets. I shared that post on many channels. So, while I put it on some sites, I made a list of e-mails of some people who were not my friends, but were acquaintances, people who might be interested because they are cyclists. This email unfolded into a series of events and I believe that was an important step towards the ‘Bicicletada Salvador Massa Crítica'.

GV: How many people are participating in that organization

RJ: During one time, it was a group of around 15 people who made the meetings, proposals, posters, banners. But at the moment, the ‘Bicicletada’ here in Salvador, never has more than 90 people taking part in the day of an event.

RR: Maintaining this group of 90 people, that we have had for a few months, maybe over a year, was the result of a very personal effort. The Bicicletada is a social event. I do not know if people are going to it because of activism. I think there is a desire by some people to cycle which they recognize themselves …There is a very large rotation within the group, presently, we have events with around 25 people. The Salvador Bicicletada has taken place in the city since 2010 and a project called Biking City [pt] which is a cycling system of over 200 KM has been promised to the capital of the federal state of Bahia. Whether the project will happen or not, whether it will become a symbol of pride or a national shame (as the metro, which has not started working even though its construction began twelve years ago), this is something to be seen in the coming months. In the second part of the interview Rosa and Roque will talk further about public policies related to urban mobility in the city of Salvador.

Global: BRICS vs. NATO – Battlefield of Ideas on Interventions

Thiana Biondo — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 16:19:07 +0000

This post is part of our International Relations & Security coverage.

China’s and Russia’s recent decision to veto the United Nations Security Council resolution against Syria -has reignited the debate over the relationship between ‘new’ powers like Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – the BRICS – with ‘old’ powers like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in international interventions.

Heads of BRICS states in New Delhi, India for the 4th BRICS Summit, March 2012. Photo by Roberto Stuckert Filho/PR. Used with permission.

The BRICS conference held last March provides the backdrop for Oliver Stuenkel’s article in The Hindu that foresaw Russia’s and China’s decision to veto the UN Resolution on Syria for a third time:

…There seemed to have been consensus in the case of Libya in February and March 2011. Yet already during the war, the BRICS have rightly argued that North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) forces exceeded the U.N. mandate given to them. Resolution 1973 was “to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack,” yet NATO regarded it as a permission to bring upon regime change. As a consequence, the BRICS are now suspicious of any resolution regarding Syria.

On the other side of the table, the BRICS position has sparked much criticism among the ‘old’ powers. Daniel Korski, an adviser to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, wrote that one could expect a gridlocked world in 2012:

And though NATO Allies succeeded in Libya both diplomatically and militarily, China and Russia have managed to block decisive action against Syria, despite its government’s violent crackdown on protesters. Dealing with Iran, an issue of major concern to NATO Allies, also requires the support of China, Russia and India.

Intervene or not intervene?
Both cases in Syria and Libya are controversial. In fact, they demonstrate that ‘old’ and ‘new’ powers have different approaches on how to deal with conflicts and there are different opinions to back those positions. Alex Thurston, a PhD student in the Religion Department at Northwestern University, Illinois, considers that ‘NATO’s Intervention in Libya Was a Mistake’ in his blog sahelblog:

While the civil war would have produced some chaos regardless, I think the chances are strong that without the Western intervention, Colonel Muammar Qadhafi’s side would have defeated the rebels and Qadhafi would have remained in power, an outcome that would have reduced the resulting regional chaos.

World War II heritage
Countries with a historical tradition of intervening in regional affairs blame ‘new’ powers for not acting in the name of human rights. ‘New’ powers argue that intervention does more harm than good. All countries generally act in their own self-interest though. In fact, while China and other countries boost their economies through their economic ties, last year, US expenditure in defense exceeded $700 billion, the highest since the Second World War according to Time. Brazilian journalist Pepe Escobar calls the insistence of the ‘West” to intervene in Syria, “The ‘hell cost’ of the NATO's Holy War” [Pt]:

E, enquanto o “ocidente” flerta com a Guerra Santa, as empresas estatais chinesas compram mercadorias feito doidas, por todo o Oriente Médio, Norte da Áfria e América do Sul – além de ampliar seus estoques de terras raras nas reservas estratégicas…..

And while the “West” flirts with the ‘Holy War', the Chinese state owned companies crazily buy goods from the entire Middle East, North of Africa and South America – in addition to expanding its stock of rare natural resources within strategic reserves ….

The role of NATO in the current world order – in which the bi-polar world divided between the US and former Soviet Union has been replaced by a multipolar international system – changes things according to Hans Christof von Sponeck, the former UN Assistant Secretary General:

(NATO's) mandate, grounded in the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty, originally dealt with the defense of its member states. At the end of the Cold War, in 1989, its mandate appeared to have been fulfilled. Nevertheless, the NATO members wanted to maintain this Western alliance. This launched the search for a new role for NATO.

Brazil: Questions Surrounding Rio's ‘Pacifying Police’ Units

Thiana Biondo — Wed, 30 May 2012 14:55:48 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage International Relations & Security.

The 18th Rio UPP was launched in November 2011 in the Mangueira neighborhood which has 20,000 inhabitants. Image by SEASDH on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

In recent years, the state government of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has adopted a security policy based on the installation of Pacifying Police Units (Unidades de Polícia Pacificadoras), known as UPPs. The aim of the UPP strategy [pt] is to place permanent police units in favelas (shanty towns) to tackle crime and promote social policies.

Since December 2008, 18 different favelas out of almost 1,000 in the capital city of Rio have received UPPs. In an article for Rede Brasil Atual [pt], Maurício Thuswohl argues that the UPPs have been placed in strategic areas:

“O desenho traçado pelas UPPs no mapa do Rio evidencia a intenção do governo de criar um cinturão de segurança nos bairros com maior poder aquisitivo e nas áreas da cidade onde ocorrerão eventos e concentração de turistas estrangeiros durante a Copa do Mundo de 2014 e as Olimpíadas de 2016.”

“The outline of the UPPs on a map of Rio testifies to the government’s intention to create a ‘safety belt’ for more affluent neighborhoods and areas of the city where there will be events and large numbers of foreign tourists during the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.”

The attempt to establish UPPs in Rocinha, however, which is Rio’s most populated favela, has so far been unsuccessful. In order for UPPs to be established in this part of the city, the Special Police Operations Battalion (BOPE, in Portuguese) has had to undertake a heavily armed operation. This operation has been ongoing in Rocinha since 13 November 2011, but has still not been able to clear the way for the UPPs.

According to an article published by Mundo Real, an organization that is active in the community, widespread corruption and social inequality are ultimately the reasons why the UPP strategy will not work in Rocinha.

The video below shows the ‘occupation’ of Rocinha, posted to YouTube by BlogdaPacificacao on 22 November, 2011:

Some degree of success?

Nevertheless, UPPs have achieved a degree of success. Official data [pt] reveals a drop in Rio’s crime rate and UPP officials have managed to engage with the community. One such example is policewoman Rafaela Malta [pt], who teaches ballet to 70 girls from the Cidade de Deus favela, as shown in video below uploaded on March 7, 2012:

A complementary project known as UPP Social [pt] has also been launched to strengthen ties between such communities and the state. Corinne Cath, however, in an article for the organization RioOnWatch , argues that the priorities of the state are not the same as those of the favela’s residents:

“A second conflict that arises is the difference in priorities held by UPP Social and the community. UPP Social has determined that the focus should be on improving garbage collection, the formalization of payments for electricity (whereby residents now pay their electricity and other utility bills), and the improvement and renovation of public space.

The three primary demands of the community, however, are education, access to health care and a change in the attitude of the police towards the inhabitants of Vidigal and Chácara do Céu. Several representatives of the community described the attitude of the UPP police officers as being the same as that of the ‘normal’ police that interacted with the community when it was still controlled by drug gangs.”

According to Rafael Nunes in an article for Agência de Notícias das Favelas (Favela’s Agency Press) [pt] the state’s strategy is to promote law enforcement together with private activities and services, and these measures have already affected residents:

“…O problema é que uma conta de luz social, que no início não passava de quinze reais e de repente saltou para trezentos reais, pode determinar se uma pessoa vai poder ou não continuar vivendo num determinado local com dignidade.. A coerção e a intimidação por parte de agentes do governo municipal, com a ameaça de prejuízos jurídicos e materiais, nos foram contados como uma constante para pressionar a saída desses moradores e a entrega dos terrenos, que na maioria das vezes não passa as indenizações dos vinte mil reais.”

“…The problem is that an electricity bill, which at first was only 15 reais and that suddenly jumps to 300 reais, can determine whether a person will be able to continue living in a certain place with dignity or not… Coercion and intimidation carried out by agents of the municipal government, with the threat of legal and material losses, were reported as a way of pressuring these residents to hand over the land, which very often is compensated at [only] 20,000 reais.”

Self-determination

Rogério Dias points out in his blog No Foco em Debate [pt] that favela residents are often not heard by the media:

“No que diz respeito à cobertura da grande imprensa, me parece que um lado muito importante da história não foi ouvido e, se foi, me parece que foi sub-valorizado: o lado dos moradores. O que eles acham? Com certeza estão felizes com a saída dos traficantes, mas a presença permanente da força de repressão do estado também não é incômoda? Saem homens armados e entram outros homens armados, e realmente não sei o que é pior para aquelas pessoas…”

“Regarding the mainstream media coverage, it seems to me that a very important part of the story hasn’t been heard, and, if it was, I think it was under-appreciated. This is the residents’ perspective. What do they think? Surely, they are happy with the drug traffickers’s exit. But, is the permanent presence of state repressive force not uncomfortable? Gun men in and gun men out. I’m not really sure about what is worse for those people…”

Because the UPP approach is a security policy that is treated as an ‘intervention’ or ‘pacification’ measure, it could also compromise the right of self-determination. Eduardo Tomazine Teixeira raises this possibility in an article for Passa Palavra [pt]:

“…(se nota) o fim da presença ostensiva da criminalidade armada nos espaços ocupados. Evidentemente, ainda é cedo para tirar conclusões mais definitivas, mas, a manter-se este quadro, as condições de vida da população destes espaços terão mudado significativamente, e terão mudado também as condições de luta pela autodeterminação sobre os seus espaços e de mobilização política de maneira geral.”

“… the end of the overt presence of armed crime in occupied areas (is noticable). Of course, it is still early to draw definitive conclusions, but, if this framework is maintained, the conditions of life in these areas will have changed significantly, as will the conditions of the struggle for self-determination over these areas and for political mobilization in general.”

This post and its translations to Spanish, Arabic and French were commissioned by International Security Network (ISN) as part of a partnership to seek out citizen voices on international relations and security issues worldwide. This post was first published on the ISN blog, see similar stories here.

Brazil: Can the Agrarian Economy Develop Without Rural Bloodshed?

Thiana Biondo — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 17:12:04 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Forest Focus: Amazon

Nilcilene Miguel de Lima, a small rural producer and local leader from the Amazon region, is under protection of the National Force as she has been receiving constant death threats by land-grabbers and illegal loggers.

In the beginning of February, the Brazilian investigative news agency A Pública [pt] went to the town of Lábrea, in the federal state of Amazonia, to interview her:

As ameaças começaram em 2009, quando ela assumiu a presidência da associação Deus Proverá, criada pelos pequenos produtores do assentamento para defender o grupo contra as invasões de terra e roubo de árvores. No ano seguinte, depois de fazer denúncias e abaixo-assinados contra os criminosos, Nilcilene foi espancada e teve sua casa queimada em um incêndio anunciado. Em maio de 2011, foi obrigada a fugir enrolada em um lençol para despistar o pistoleiro que estava de campana no seu portão. A equipe da Força Nacional foi deslocada em outubro para garantir que a líder pudesse voltar para casa e continuar denunciando os problemas da região.

The threats began in 2009 when she became the president of the “Deus Proverá” [God Will Provide] association, which was created by small producers in the local settlement to defend them against land invasions and theft of trees. In the following year, after making complaints and petitions against criminals, Nilcilene was beaten and had her house burned in a fire for which she received a warning. In May 2011, she was wrapped in a blanket to outwit and escape from a gunman who was at her front door. The National Force was deployed in October to ensure that she could go back home to keep denouncing problems in the region.

In the video [pt], some of Nilcene declarations are:

Why do we have to live like that? Someone has to fight, to do something. [...] The authorities have to take action. [...] So many conflicts because of logging and land. [...] If the National Force leaves, my partner and I have to leave before them. If we stay, before being killed, we will be tortured. [...] Until today, I keep receiving death threats.

Shot dead for protecting the forest

As well as being one of six people under 24 hour protection of the National Force, Nicelene is among 172 people who have received death threats by gunmen in the Brazilian countryside. According to the Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT) [pt], an organization which supports rural rights to land and water, this figure has increased 107% compared to 2010, when 83 people were in the same situation.

Last year, as Global Voices reported, the CPT published data which shows that 1,614 people have been murdered in the last 25 years due to rural conflicts. This number includes worldwide known cases as those of Chico Mendes, Dorothy Stang and the Eldorado dos Carajás killing amongst others.

Current information shows that, in total, the number of people coping with pressures imposed by outlaws due to land and water conflicts in Brazil increased from 38.555 in 2010 to 45.595 in 2011. There were 32 executions of workers or local leaders from these communities in 2010 and 23 in 2011, as CPT reported.

Adelino Ramos. Photo from Altino Machado's blog (used with permission).

The intervention of the National Force to protect local community leaders in the Northern region of Brazil, came also as a consequence of the work of the CPT. The CPT handed in to the Special Secretariat for Human Rights [pt], a body within the Brazilian Ministry of Justice, a list with people under death threat after the murder of Maria do Espírito Santo and her husband José Claudio Ribeiro da Silva in the federal state of Pará shamed the country.

After the brutal murder of the couple, other killings have hit the headlines as those of Adelino Ramos in the federal state of Rondônia and of Nísion Gomes, an indigenous chief, in the Central-Eastern state of Mato Grosso do Sul. CPT asserts that:

Pelo menos 8 das mortes estão diretamente relacionadas com a defesa do meio ambiente. Outras… 2 mortes são de quilombolas e [outras] 2 de indígenas…….A intervenção federal depois dos primeiros assassinatos não foi minimamente suficiente para inibir a ação dos grileiros, proprietários de terra e outros.

At least eight of the deaths are directly related to [people who] protect the environment. Some others…… two deaths concern quilombolas [members of slave descendent communities in Brazil] and [another] two [deaths concern] indigenous people…… The federal intervention after the first murders was not sufficient to inhibit the action of landgrabbers, landowners and others.

An hour length documentary released by the website Vice (English subtitles) has an indepth analysis of the conflicts. An interview that Maria Espirito Santo gave when alive is included in the video. She commented how she felt to be constantly harassed because of her and her husband's commitment to fight against illegal logging:

There are people who keep saying it not worthy it. To me it is worth it. To me, to my husband it is definitely worth it. I know there's a risk, I have no doubt about that. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't afraid.

Another two victims [pt] have been in the spotlight recently: João Chupel Primo and Junior José Guerra. The former was shot dead October last year and the latter had to leave his community behind last month with his family.

For the sake of growth and Rio +20

Having new perspectives in the changing international scenario, the Brazilian state has acquired new economic and political capabilities using what is known as ‘soft power’. Like any other nation state, it is under pressure to push its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rates up in order to attract investors to buy its sovereign bonds in the international market.

Rise in deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest. The Brazilian Amazon rainforest had 5,850 km sq of its legal area deforested from August 2009 to April 2010, according to INPE- Instituto de Pesquisas Espaciais. Brazil. Photo by Ronie Luis Leite copyright Demotix (July 2007)

But, while some praise a “sustainable” economic growth, others consider that President Dilma Rouseff has a misleading perspective of development [pt].

For Assuntos Produtos da Mente [pt] the export-oriented production in Brazil “is undergoing a process of reprimarization of the economy based on the production and export of agricultural and non agricultural commodities (mining), which is unable to fund and promote sustainable development and solidarity and meet the needs of the Brazilian people.”

One of the most controversial initiatives is the bill to change the current forestry code. The Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science (SBPC, in Portuguese) handed in an open letter to the reader of the bill proposed last week in which reads:

A reforma do Código Florestal Brasileiro, tal como vem sendo processada no Congresso, sob a influência de grupos de pressão setoriais, representa a desregulação do setor do agronegócio com sérios riscos para o meio ambiente e para a própria produção agrícola. A proteção de áreas naturais está sendo consideravelmente diminuída e perde-se assim a oportunidade de produzir alimentos com mais eficiência e com sustentabilidade ambiental, o que deveria ser o grande diferencial da agricultura brasileira

The reform of the Brazilian Forestry Code; as it has been processed in the Congress, under the influence of lobby of some sectors; means the deregulation of the agribusiness sector putting at serious risks the environment and the agricultural production itself. The protection of natural areas would be considerably reduced, and hence, a great opportunity to produce food in a more sustainable and efficient way would be missed; what should be the great asset of Brazilian agriculture.

The Brazilian Congress was expected to vote it this week, however a request for postponement is eventually going to delay it. President Dilma wants the new rules to be approved before the United Nations conference, Rio+20.

Next June, Rio+20 will bring together heads of states in Brazil to discuss how sustainable development can come together with the preservation of the environment and social inclusion. In an interview to the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM), the journalist Eliane Brum said:

Brazil will host Rio+20 and on its territory is located the world’s biggest rain forest. And part of this forest is dominated by organized crime. And part of it is stained by the blood of Brazilians who have fought for it without any support of the State and have died for it having said – on video – that they were going to die. On part of this forest, ipê and other precious woods are being robbed in conservation unities and part of this wood comes out legalized from Brazilian ports towards Europe. If that’s not a reason for embarrassment when hosting a conference on environment, then the world is even more cynical than I suspected.

Journalist Amália Safatle reminds us that:

Por mais que países pobres e emergentes dependam do crescimento para corrigir seus passivos sociais, a questão do desenvolvimento implica muito mais em qualidade dos serviços disponíveis à população e à criação de oportunidades, em equilíbrio com o meio ambiente, do que em aumento da taxa do PIB. Até porque o PIB é uma régua extremamente ruim, pois registra como crescimento da economia de guerras a acidentes de trânsito.

As much as poor and emerging countries depend on growth to correct their social liabilities, the issue of development involves much more in quality of services available to the population and creating opportunities in equilibrium with the environment, than in increasing the rate of GDP. Especially as GDP is an extremely poor measure as it registers everything from wars to traffic accidents as economic growth.

This post is part of our special coverage Forest Focus: Amazon

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.