Thursday Reads

Here are some interesting news stories from Brazil that are definitely worth a read.

Brazilian 7 year-old girl will be Carnival queen after all, Brazzil

"After all the international furor the news stirred Brazilian 7-year-old Júlia Lira will be the Carnaval Queen. A Rio judge has decided that the little girl can parade and that she doesn't see anything wrong or erotic about Júlia's participation."

[In the end, the Brazilian media has clearly avoided this story, which I find interesting, since usually they report on any stories about Brazil that garner lots of publicity abroad. It seemed intentional that the story was avoided.]

Clamping Down on the Kaleidoscope of Rio's Beaches, New York Times

"Citing health reasons, the mayor has outlawed the sale of boiled corn and freshly cooked foods like steak and shrimp on the sand. And for still less obvious safety reasons, beachgoers are prohibited from playing paddle ball or kicking a soccer ball near the water’s edge between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Pets at the beach? Forget about it."

[Banning corn and churros but allowing mate? Public health is evidently not the real priority here. Plus, the real key to cleaning up Rio's beaches are better sewage control and better policing of petty crime, not policing vendors providing useful services and trying to make a living.]

Zamariola sai do casulo, Piaui

"Quem é o advogado de 28 anos que venceu a mais célebre causa de direito de família dos últimos tempos – o caso Sean – e como ele viveu a maratona que antecedeu o embarque do menino para os Estados Unidos"

[A must read with amazing new details about the Goldman case from the fabulous and fearless Dorrit Harazim. Though it's essentially a glowing profile of Ricardo Zamariola, it also profiles the major players in the case and details the last few days of the case beautifully. This will hopefully be available in English soon on BSH]

Comments

[Pri G]

I read the NYT's Kaleidoscope article yesterday and thought it was pretty stupid. Is the ban on food even enforceable? Something tells me informal vendors will pop back up quite quickly. Additionally, who is to say that the mayor won't flip flop on the food ban the same way he did on the mate ban? The mayor claims the mate ban was rescinded after popular protest because mate is simply too strong a Carioca tradition to ban. I suspect the general public will feel the same way about all beach refreshments.

What stood out to me in this article WAY more than speculation over the food ban, was the way that the media ALWAYS sensationalizes Brazil and Rio. Take the first paragraph for example, which I found INCREDIBLY hokey:

"Luis Fernando Bensimon beamed as he looked away from the crystalline waters of Rio’s famed Ipanema Beach, away from the beautiful bodies perfecting their caramel-mocha tans just days before the city explodes with its annual Carnaval celebration."

Ipanema's "crystalline" waters? And the "beautiful bodies perfecting their caramel mocha tans," before the city "explodes" for Carnaval? Gag me!

We all know the water in Ipanema isn't that great, there are fat, unattractive people there too, and Carnaval is fun, but the article is making it sound like the second coming of Christ or something.

There was another article yesterday, concerning Rio's heat wave, which referred to the city as a "pre-Carnaval furnace." Again, the article seemed sensational (it was just fine here yesterday) and also creepily Holocaustal sounding:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100210/wl_afp/brazilweatherheatwave_20100210212011

The media is fascinated with Brazil and Rio, that's for sure. I just wish more of them would take the time to live here and gain a notion of how life in the city really is. Right now it just seems like they're just hungry to sell papers with the next Rio story to be oohed and ahhed at by the international community.

[Ernest Barteldes]

I was in Rio last May, and didnt see any vendors selling corn. Mate was on sale, but it wasnt sold in bulk - instead, they had those disposable cups that
come from the manufacturer with a seal on top, like yogurt cups in the US. I don't see a problem with that. Mostly, I bought canned beer from them. It is too bad they won't allow shrimp any more, but I understand their point of view.

But really there has to be more control over vendors on Brazilian beaches. It is almost impossible to simply enjoy the sun, as they come after you almost every 30 seconds peddling their wares, which go from sunglasses to T-shirts to souvenirs... and beer.

I'm not saying that people should not be allowed to make a living, but I think there should be a limit of how many vendors populate the beaches. And that is not only in Rio. The same thing happens in Fortaleza and other tropical countries like Jamaica and The Dominican Republic.

[Eric]

Agora, parece que o Estadão resolveu colocar um artigo sobre isso no site: http://www.estadao.com.br/noticias/geral,carnaval-2010-justica-libera-rainha-mirim-da-viradouro,509788,0.htm

[Julia]

Excelente o artigo sobre Zamariola. Obrigada por postar!

E eu acho que a bagunça na praia faz parte do cenário :) Vou sentir falta...

[Ayron Mathias]

I hope the way Zamariola and their partners did in Sean Goldman Case show up how we Brazilians think our country should be. They really represented us so well.