As I mentioned
some months ago, I will be leaving Brazil for Switzerland in January of 2015,
joining the Space
and Organization Research Unit in the Department
of Geography at the University of Zurich. As of January 1, I will be the
editor of the Journal
of Latin American Geography, so let´s got those manuscripts rolling in.
After spending
six of the last ten years in Rio, I´m not encouraged by the direction the city
has taken, nor indeed that of the country as a whole. The recently released homicide
numbers are tragic and pathetic, but not surprising.
One official said that Brazil could “celebrate the stabilization” of homicide
rates. More than 50,000 people are murdered each year in Brazil, the vast
majority poor, black men.
Elections may bring
out the worst elements of a country´s character and the recent exercise in
collective box ticking showed the real frailties in Brazil´s democratic system.
The debates between the presidential candidates were spoofs, the questions
typically irrelevant, and policy issues wholly ignored. The level of public
discourse is pushed to the bottom by media conglomerates that use their
platforms as blunt political instruments. The opposition candidate, a George W.
Bush playboy type, ran on a law and order platform that would put the young
black kids that didn´t get killed behind bars at an even earlier age. The
wealthy coxinhas of the South got up their Reaganite hackles to attack the
“undeserving poor” who have benefitted from the PT´s largesse. The moving of
people from extreme poverty to absolute poverty is positive, but it does not and
will not change the power structures in Brazil.
The PT is mired
in corruption scandals that should touch the highest levels of power, but
somehow always falls short. The emptying of moral authority has been
exacerbated by the explicit use of state companies for personal enrichment and
the consolidation of power. There may be a way back from the precipice but
without electoral reform or a general revolt from the PT´s base, the gig is up.
Pursue developmentalist consumerism based on automobiles, closed condominium
residential landscapes, and mega-events at your own risk! Of course it is the powerful
syndicates of the automobile industry that brought the PT to power in the first
place, so this model should come as no surprise. Brazil has a fundamentally
conservative, reactionary political class that is allergic to change.
The World Cup
was never talked about in the election cycle. Readers of HWE will know why, but
the opposition couldn´t very well complain about privatization and the
maddening profits of civil construction firms, banks, telecommunications, and
media conglomerates, or the increased police presence, summary arrests, human
rights violations, etc. If the PT can´t or won´t point to the positives of the
World Cup as evidence of good governance, then who will?
Football in
Brazil is more depressing than ever. And while Brazilians will always remember
where they were for the 7-1, the day to day is equally traumatic.
OBobo has started
an editorial line to convince people that
“Maracanã lotado” is less than the number of people murdered every year
in Brazil. To me, this seems an attempt to install collective amnesia about
public space and culture. Vasco put out some discounted tickets and had 42,000
paying fans last weekend and the babadores who write for Obobo clamored about
how they had filled the stadium. 15
years ago, the capacity was 179,000. 10 years ago, the capacity was 129,000.
Five years ago it was 89,000. Now, it´s around 55,000 because the police say
that they can´t guarantee safety beyond that number. I have witnessed first
hand the death of pubic and space and culture in the Maracanã. Not many
Cariocas seem to care.
Years ago, I
wrote about the Vasco Fiasco, where a youth trainee died from lack of medical
attention and then tried to hide their other nefarious human trafficking
practices. Yesterday, Vasco had another fiasco with the re-election of Eurico
Miranda to the presidency (with senator Romário´s support). Miranda embodies
the old school of the cartolas in a way that few others do. I met him ten years
ago when he was president of Vasco and since then, nothing in Brazilian
football institutions has changed. If anything, it is less transparent and more
corrupt. Not many Brazilians seem to care.
Remember the
Portuguesa-Fluminense debacle at the end of last season? To refresh: Portuguesa
played an ineligible player with 15 minutes left in the last game of the
season, were docked points and relegated, thereby ensuring Fluminense´s (and Flamengo´s) permanence in the first division. A police investigation has revealed that, as
expected, Portuguesa
sold their spot. Who paid? Who cares? This isn´t news,
just business as usual.
The CBF just
received 100 million dollars in “legacy” money from FIFA. This is the money
that Blatter dropped out of the plane as he fled the Confederations´ Cup
protests – but it was an already programmed cash transfer. If someone out there
still believes that the CBF doesn´t know how to get around the independent
auditor, or that this money is going to be used to benefit Brazilian society in
a meaningful way, or that we should continue to listen to the never-ending
stream of half-assed bromides coursing from the mouths of …eh – deixa para lá –
I can´t even get upset anymore.
The day to day
of living in a pre-Olympic city I am going to leave to other commentators.
Following and commentating on the contortions of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil in
this highly turbulent time has been very rewarding and frustrating. I may not
have survived without the blog and the great feedback from readers, so thank
you. If you want to find the non-blog pieces I´ve been writing over the past
few years, please go to my
academia.edu site. I will keep HWE up as an archive and have some spin off
projects that I will announce in due time. For now, I´ve got to get a move on.
Tchau.