The Bursting Brazilian Bubble

Brazil, Brazil, Brazil! We´ve been hearing it for years, again. Brazil is the Latin American development model. Brazil is the new home for “sustainable” capitalism to plant a billion genetically modified seeds to generate green economies of scale. Brazil is the emerging soft super power. Brazil is the safe port in a global shite storm of locked up consumer markets. Brazil´s ethanol, Brazil´s oil, Brazil’s water, soybeans, timber, coffee, cacao, açai. The World Cup in Brazil! Brazil´s educated workforce? Brazil´s creative entrepreneurialism? Brazil´s progressive political reforms? Brazil´s infrastructure?

The Rio de Janeiro teachers have been on strike for two months, making demands for better pay, a viable career plan and an end to the market-oriented dogma of merit-based pay. The embarrassment of Rio´s public education system is not reflected in the dedication of its teachers, but in the lack of decent infrastructure, a poorly functioning state apparatus (with lifetime sinecures for untrained, politically appointed administrators), and an executive that would rather pay Woody Allen “whatever he wants” to make a movie in Rio than to pay teachers a living wage. The result is as predictable as it is pathetic: tear gas, pepper spray, truncheons and rubber bullets to clear Rio´s Cinelândia. Pop, pop, pop.



For those keeping score at home, Eike Batista has lost $34.5 billion and is being ridiculed in the national and international media. So sorry Eike. Perhaps you would like to return the Maracanã to the public from which you stole it? Pop. There is a great deal of speculation about whether or not Eike´s Olympian hubris and chicanery can be understood as a metaphor for the most recent Brazilian economic miracle. The Economist isn’t particularly optimistic and the continuing protests around the country are a good indication that the population isn’t satisfied. There clearly needs to be some political reform but the main opposition candidate for next year´s presidential elections, Marina Silva, was barred from registering her political party through a series of dirty tricks that were likely orchestrated by the ruling Workers´ Party. Pop.

The World Cup has faded somewhat from public consciousness but it is a nagging, persistent and troubling stew of discontent. After the Confederations´ Cup, ticket prices for Brazilian league matches, already the most expensive in the world, have gone even higher. While some attendance figures have jumped, others are pretty low indeed. 8,136 people paid to see Santos x Fluminense at the Maracanã. (Remember Santos, Libertadores Champions in 2011?). Pop. The Botafogo x Fluminense clássico in Rio the other night only had 19,562 fans – and this was with prices reduced to R$40. The average price for tickets in the Minerão in Belo Horizonte is R$50 and in Brasilia´s Mané Garrincha R$66.

The top down imposition of a sport business model where fans are transformed into clients, players into pets and stadia into shopping malls was predicated in part on the promise of Brazil´s ever expanding consumer economy. This time next year, FIFA will be in Russia, the hundreds of government agencies created to deliver the 2014 Cup dissolved and the resounding silence of “legacy” will rattle through the intestines of white elephants.

The persistent chant of the teachers in Rio has been this: “Da Copa, da Copa, da Copa eu abro mão, quero meu dinheiro para saúde e educação!” (I give up the Cup, I want my money for health care and education). FIFA, of course, doesn’t like to hear this and may be too busy trying to tunnel out of the Qatari hole they have dug for themselves to notice what is going on in Rio.

Brazilian Porn redux, with Mr. Balls!

There was a brief moment when I allowed myself to believe that the perversions of Rio’s mad rush to privatize life might have hit a democratic roadblock.

After the May 9^th “revelation” that the Maracanã was being awarded to the same company contracted to do the economic viability study, on May 10^th Judge Gilsele Guida de Faria suspended the decision. In her ruling, the judge pointed out a million obvious things wrong with the contract including the lack of transparency, the conflicts of interest, and the huge loss of money for the public.

The most shocking piece of datum was this: the economic viability study suggested that the private management company would make approximately R$157,025,000 per year while paying the state a rent of R$4,500,000 (2.86% of profits). If this isn`t a direct transfer of wealth from public to private hands, then there are still WMDs in Iraq.

Mr. Balls enters the running for FIFA uber-mascot.
Once he parachutes into the stadium, a thousand
Fulecos will roll out of the ruptured scrotum.  

Beyond the financials and complete ludicrousness of privatizing one of the world`s most famous stadiums (after having totally disfigured it), the troubling element for Cariocas and Brazilians should be the fact that their democracy has been kicked in the Mr. Balls so hard that its growth may be permanently stunted. What we saw here was a state level judge identifying potential illegal activity on the part of the executive and sending down a ruling to stop the loss of public goods. The executive branch then cranked up its lawyers, went to the president of the tribunal to say “this will be a grave threat to public order and economic stability”. The president of the tribunal, Leila Mariano (who will no doubt have received future political or current financial benefit), ruled last night to suspend the suspension, allowing everything to fall into place so that public culture and a fledging democracy can be pulverized, put into pipes and smoked.

This ruling represents the end of checks and balances in Rio de Janeiro`s democrapitalist system. The Maracanã, tortured into submission will likely spend the next 35 years as a pet monkey held on a leash held by Brazil`s biggest capital interests. The novela of the Maracanã will continue but as with all porn flicks we know the sticky, unilateral ending.  

Pornographic Brazilian Pornography

There was yet more death and mayhem on the streets of Rio as another cyclist was killed. This time (as opposed to the triathlete killed in Leblon) there will be no solidarity cycle and no collective gnashing of teeth  as the cyclist was working, delivering water and gas canisters along impossibly crowded streets in the Zona Norte. The second paragraph in the ever-sensitive O Bobo was dedicated to the traffic problems caused by the accident. An excellent mapping initiative that will register crimes committed against cyclists has come of these recent deaths, but Rio remains an insanely dangerous place to ride a bike.

Following the death in Leblon, O Bobo revealed that on average, Rio’s buses accumulate traffic fines like the Guarda Municipal collects crack addicts. One bus on the line that killed the triathlete had 136 infractions in four years.  There have been innumerable fawning media reports about Rio’s intelligent city project and the mayor has used his technological initiatives to hobnob with the global elite (really looking forward to that Clinton visit in December!). But what’s the point of having an expensive IBM monitoring system when all you can do is watch in HD the streets flood and people get killed by buses? A “smart city” doesn’t willfully place its citizens at risk and then spend millions to watch them suffer.

Way back in 2007 when no one outside of Rio knew the name Eduardo Paes, he was plugging away as Rio’s state secretary of sport and leisure as the city prepared for the Pan American Games. The Olympic Stadium was over budget, poorly placed, behind schedule and, surprise surprise, poorly constructed. It also took on the name of a corrupt and disgraced former FIFA president. The stadium, like its declining namesake, has been closed for business because the roof is about to fall down. It has likely been in this condition for some time and the public has been at risk for years. Paes explained the other day that the stadium was constructed in a hurry  and that he was not at the head of the city government at the time so, hey, what can you do about the past? What exactly was Paes doing in his position of the state’s most important sporting institution when the stadium was constructed? If it is anything like the current secretary of Sport and Leisure, he likely gave nonsensical and offensive interviews with the intention of using the position as a political springboard. (Amber Alert: Marcia Lins).

Oh yes, because of old João’s peccadilloes with the ISL case and FIFA bribery he has not only had to resign from his honorary position at the IOC, but also at FIFA. The mayor-king has also given a green light for the changing of the Engenhão stadium name saying, “I’ve changed the name of a lot of things in Rio. I’ve changed them because I waned to. Botafogo has the naming rights and can call the stadium whatever it wants.” A little known fact is that Botafogo F.R. (who has the concessionary rights for a song) changed the name of the stadium years ago to Stadium Rio. Maybe we should change the name to Joana Havelange, João’s granddaughter who is one of the top people on the 2014 WC organizing committee, just to keep the black box clamped shut. More reasonably, there is a movement by several of Rio’s council people to put the name Nilton Santos on the Engenhão. Personally, I think the name Milton Santos would elevate geo-political consciousness a bit more (if you’re into geography porn).

In case all of this news didn’t excite you, here’s the money shot: After 63 years in the public domain, more than 750 million dollars of deforms in the last six years and a total dis-characterization of one of the world’s greatest sporting venues,  the Maracanã  has been privatized by the State of Rio de Janeiro. The winning consortium is comprised of IMX (Eike Batista’s main holding company that was contracted by the government to do the economic viability study), Odebrecht (Lula’s favorite civil construction firm), and AEG (a US based entertainment group that owns MLS teams and administers 120 stadiums around the world). The details of the concession are too painful to write down, but the rub is that over the next 35 years the state will receive less than 20% of its investment. I will be looking through this particular slice of this futuristic porn in the coming months but might not have the courage (or falta de vegonha) to write it down.

The Perverse Priorities of Power (PPP)

The Maracanã privatization scheme (Public Private Partnership) is both emblematic and symptomatic of the way that the Rio State and City governments relate to the public. For those not familiar with the story, the Maracanã has undergone a series of crippling reforms since 2005 when the state threw R$430 million at the complex to “prepare” it for the Pan American Games. The promise at the time was that these reforms, which included upgrades to the Maracanazinho gymnasium, the Celio de Barros running track and the Julio de Lamare aquatic center, would meet the demands of international sports federations (IOC, FIFA) so that one day Rio could bask in the temporary glory of being the center of the universe. Overseeing the reforms for the Pan was the current mayor, Eddie P., then the state secretary of sports. In his words at the time, “the privatization of the Maracanã is inconceivable.”

Foto from inside EMOP showing the permanence of the Maracana complex 

After tearing apart the reforms of the Pan, the Maracanã has been ripped to shreds with a price tag that is approaching R$1 billion. The football stadium has been closed four of the last eight years, but the aquatic park and athletics facilities have functioned well, serving a diverse constituency of neighborhood residents, athletic athletes and public schools. Two weeks ago, these facilities were put at risk through the opening of proposals to privatize the complex. Ícaro Moreno, the head of EMOP (state public works), said last week that these installations are being moved across the train tracks, but there’s no project for that at all. In fact the photos of the Maracanã complex on the walls of EMOP show these facilities being preserved in situ. No one has consulted any of the users of the Maracanã: football fans, elderly, parents of school children, athletes, coaches, journalists.

The ONLY time the public interest will be “consulted” will happen tomorrow night in what is being erroneously called an audiência pública. The government will present the project they have developed behind closed doors, open the floor for a few comments, perhaps register that they have somehow engaged in a democratic process and tchau. Following the audiência, the script reads, Batista’s IMX company will submit its privatization proposal, which will be accepted, and poof – no more public influence over one of Brazil’s greatest architectural icons and public spaces, no more public school, no more athletic track, no more swimming complex, no more Museu do Índio. The projected return on public investment (without inflation or interest on loans) over the 35 year concession will be around 26%. After 30 years, these cookie cutter “world-class” stadiums all a face lift anyway, so IMX will likely re-negotiate after the public pours money into the New Novo Maracanã.  This is a direct public investment in private welfare.

The perverse associations between Eike Batista and the state government are little discussed, even amongst the politically conscious. The perverse conception of democracy as one in which the public can comment on but not participate in the formulation of the public interest is totally blasé. The extension and expansion of democratic rights to the population isn’t high on the mayor’s or governor’s or Eike’s to-do list.  The expenditure of public money on public works to be handed to private interests that involves the destruction of a top-performing public school, a century-old indigenous heritage site, and two Olympic quality training facilities in order to generate even more profit for Brazil’s richest man, is a perversity that boggles the imagination. 

The future of the Maracanã must be discussed more broadly with those who use it. An audiência pública to discuss a pre-determined project is merely farcical theatre.

If you didn't have enough to gag on today, take a look inside the host city agreements: http://www.prefeitura.sp.gov.br/cidade/secretarias/copa/documentos/index.php?p=47152

CÈU ABERTO, MARACANÃ LIVRE

The much-anticipated and little discussed privatization scheme for the Maracanã came out last Monday, exactly two weeks after the elections. “The plan” calls for the demolition of the Municipal School Arthur Friendenrich (the subject of Martin Curi’s 2011 book). The parents and principle are convinced that the government is waiting until to the end of the school year in late November to make their move. There is no clear indication of where the kids and teachers would be for 2013. The privitization was launched as a surprise for the general public (even for OGLOBO), but the school has been under threat since 2009 and has taken successful legal action against the state itself to militate for its permanence. Why does this school have to be removed, and if its removal is necessary, why can’t the Maracanã accommodate new school facilities?

The Museo do Índio is also slated for the bulldozers of a private consortium. The Museum, around for more than a century, an architectural treasure and site of indigenous identity, strength and resistance might be made into a parking lot, an walkway, a restaurant, or a storefront selling postcards of Brazil’s rich anthropological specimens. Does anyone know what the project is? Has this project been discussed with all of the relevant stakeholders? If the Museum can’t be reformed in situ, what alternative projects can be considered in collaboration with indigenous communities?

Want to train for the Olympics on the fine track at the Celso de Barros facility? You’d better hurry because the other day  representatives of IMX, (a consortium of Eike Batista and the USAmerican-based sport venue\ and entertainment conglomerate IMG) were seen walking around taking pictures. Probably unnoticed by the suits were hundreds of school children using the facilities, participating in public school Olympics, the Rio equivalent of field day. School kids using public sporting facilities in the middle of the day? Who ever heard ofsuch nonsense!? The track is one of the few Olympic-standard facilities in the state. If privatization will destroy recreation space, where and when are the replacement facilities being constructed?

The Julio Dellamare swimming complex is also going agua abaixo. The elderly are going to have to find a private club or a distant public pool to do their water gymnastics; they’re rightly upset that water therapy is not being valued and that their physical health will be negatively impacted by the loss of the pool. Olympic swimmers, divers and water polo players are going to have to train in Barra where there will finally be a positive legacy for Maria Lenk, coitada. There is a proposed reform for the Maracanazinho gymnasium, which will no doubt be banked by the public. This stadium also went under significant reforms for the 2007 PAN, and should theoretically, be adequate for 2016.  What are the plans here? Is another reform necessary?

To present theseand other unfortunate decisions the city government has called its firstaudiência pública, slated for Wednesday the 8th of November at 18hrs.It will be held at the Galpão da Cidadania on the Rua Barão de Tefe in the ZonaPortuária. (warning, facebook link). 

As with most public meetings of this kind, the panel will likely consist of a table of government officials powerpointing the project, allowing for the public to ask questions and make comments afterwards. This type of public planning ensures a minimum of transparency, maximizes private influence and excludes the general public and civil society from entering the discussion about the destiny of the very facilities that they pay for and use (or not: Maracanã, closed for four of the last eight years).  

The state says it has no option but to privatize, because it is building something that it does not have the capacity to manage. Why not then privatize the construction costs as well? The numbers never add up on stadiums, so why limit the scope of the argument to economic rationality? The stadium complex is multi-use, always has been, and we don’t know how much it cost to run over the last 62 years because the government won’t let us in to look at its records. We have no idea where the old Maracanã would have fit on the World Stadium Index because the is no access to attendance figures, number of events held, or even how much water the stadium used.

 It is long past time to make the Maracanã transparent. Even the clubs are arguing for privatization. As ever,  the clubs and the CBF are hijacking the public interest.  The torcidas organizadas are pawns of the clubs, so there’s no help coming from the most organized fan sectors. What is happening is that mothers, fathers, their kids, the elderly, the disabled, Olympic athletes, indigenous nations, physical education teachers, fans, beer vendors, and  public sector employees  are gathering to create the Plano Popular do Maracanã. Collaborators, enthusiasts and critics unite!

Checking in. Tudo bem? Key-toe'chimo, bri'gado.

Checking back into the craziness of Rio and not too much has changed. The new Minister of Sport, Aldo Rebelo, has been given extraordinary powers and handed the circus over to his cronies and family. Not only did he appoint his personal “people of confidence” , Dilma transferred the APO to the MdoE. That’s a Brazilian acronym to describe the Ministry of Sport, though it could also be MdoE/MoS, just to clarify things and ensure employment for stamp makers. The APO is the acronym for the Autoridade Público Olímpico. This is the body that is ostensibly in control of the R$30 billion budget and the agency that will direct all Olympic-related building projects. All of a sudden, it’s under the new minister. Here we go again, de novo.

FIFA goes along its way, keeping the idiots in charge as long as possible. Can someone please offer Sepp Blatter another job? How about washing dishes in a Brazilian prison? If you haven’t seen Andrew Jenning’s recent stuff, check out www.transparencyinsport.org.  This part might anger Eike Batista, Brazil’s richest, though not most-flatulent man: Ol ‘ Sepp gave the 2014 ticketing contract to his nephew on a no-bid basis. This might rankle the Eikster who said not long ago that if we wanted to get a ticket to the World Cup we would “have to talk to him”.  Let confusion reign.

Where does one begin to explain the differences between Rio de Janeiro and Vancouver? Winter and Summer? Canada and Brazil? South East Atlantic and North West Pacific? Sun People and Cloud People?  How about the airports? Jumpin’ Jaysus. The 40 step escalators at Galeão don’t work. Walking into Vancouver, you passed through a Disney-landesque version of a Rain Forest, which was, despite and because of the Disney factor, impressive and well executed. I thought it was cool, and gave a sense of the natural world one is entering beyond the airport. At Galeão, one also gets an sense of the external, without having to leave the airport.

Vancouver

Rio de Janeiro

It is hard to say which city has a more or less spectacular setting. It’s staggeringly beautiful  In either case, though one could argue that Vancouver has much better access to its environmental amenities. But please, Brazil’s beaches. The one beach I visited was clothing optional, very rocky, and with very cold water. Vancouver, where only the confident wade.

As pequenas barcas de Vancouver. Por que não na Lagoa ou Praca XV - SDU - Urca?

For public transport, is there a better central city area than Vancouver for bus and bike? Water Taxis? They’re as expensive and fancy as a gold tooth, but a great, efficient ride. Very nice, and even in wet, cold weather a good means to get about central Vancouver. I didn’t get to test the inter and intra city ferry system, nor the ferries out to Vancouver Island, but I have a sneaking suspicion that their bike policy compares favorably with that of Barcas S.A.

So, Rio has some serious work to do if it is going to make 50 years progress in 5, again. During my time in Vancouver, Rocinha was occupied by BOPE and MPERJ, OGlobo and Sky TV. Though of course too complex to completely wrap one’s head around, the occupation of Rocinha caused a jump in real-estate prices there and in neighboring São Conrado, an already wealthy enclave. It was widely reported that the marketing bobbleheads that pass for democratically elected leaders were well pleased with the international media attention. There’s no such thing as bad press, right? Not when OGlobo is on your team.

Things are too busy to do more than one or two more posts before the end of the year. One must feed the academic beast some tasty bits from time to time. If you’re just testing the cool waters of geostadia.com for the first time, starting from September 2009 you can find articles related to the Rio Olympics. I enjoy highlighting life’s absurdities and contradictions.  Rio de Janeiro is a seemingly inexhaustible font of inspiration. I enjoy a good circus but don’t want to be a clown. For those who are interested in a sample of my soccer coverage from North Carolina,  click here.  

One question that I would like to pose to those who see (or saw) the Brazilian mega-events through the rose-tinted lenses of dispassionate reason: Why did anyone expect that the negative elements of the Olympics were going to be mitigated in a country and city known for huge socio-economic inequalities, weak democratic institutions, oligarchic business practices, and newly deep pockets?

Back in Action

After nearly two weeks away, much has changed in Rio but everything continues along the same trajectory.

A new UPP was installed in the Mangueira favela, closing the “security belt” around the Maracanã . Many communities are clamoring for the installation of UPPs, but some places are more critical than others to mega-event security and those receive military occupation first. Even O Globo can be heard to clamor for more rapid investment in urbanization and social programs to accompany the changing of one form of martial law for another.

Did you understand what our world cup symbol means?
 They're going to steal public money?
Eiii! Whose hand is this without a finger?

The Federal Government is trying to hide the real costs of mega-event construction at the same time that the tight relationships between Rio governor Deputy Dog Cabral, Eike Batista (the richest man in Brazil) and Delta Construction (recipient of more than a billion in tate contracts in the last 3 years) were revealed because of a helicopter crash that killed the girlfriend of Cabral’s son on the way to a private party in Bahia state. Batista gave R$750,000 to Cabral’s re-election campaign in 2010. Delta is part of nearly all public works projects in Rio de Janeiro. These insider relationships and the closing off of mega-event budgets to public scrutiny because they are considered “state secrets” has not done much to improve public opinion about how, where, why, and how the tens of billions of public R$ are being spent.

On the good side, there is an increasingly coordinated public movement against the autocratic turn in Brazilian politics. On Tuesday (tomorrow) there is a rally in front of the Municipal Government to call for a CPI (Parliamentary Inquisition Commission)  to investigate the forced removal of thousands of homes and the destruction of communities and livelihoods that have been the subject of so much national and international media attention. As ever, Eliomar Coelho is at the front of this movement and is struggling to get a few more city council people to get on board. The majority of the city council is in the pocket of El Principe (mayor Eduardo Paes) and are undoubtedly making tons of money.

The international NGO Witness was in Rio a few weeks ago and produced this video about the removals in the Favela do Metrô, which is being destroyed to make way for a parking lot for the Maracanã. There are a series of videos about other communities in Rio that can be linked to from this youtube clip.

Fueling the Spectacle, the Eike Batista way

Class One World Powerboat Championship, Rio de Janeiro, 26-28 March, 2010

Given my experience doing a consecutive translation for David Harvey at the Urban Social Forum last week, I thought I’d try my hand a written consecutive translation. Apologies for errors in both languages.

Porque tive a experiência de fazer uma tradução consecutivo pelo David Harvey no Fórum Social Urbano a semana passada, eu pensei em tentar fazer o mesmo com minhas próprias palavras. Desculpem os errores em ambos idiomas. 

This weekend Rio de Janeiro hosted the first race of the 2010 Class-1 World Powerboat Championship at the Marina da Gloria, which I can see from my apartment window. Early Saturday morning, I was jolted awake by the screaming engines of the boats and three helicopters circling overhead filming the scene. I had watched some of the time trials via binoculars the previous day and was almost numbed by the obvious: Class One powerboat racing is a sport for the rich, practiced by the rich, in order to stay that way.

Esse fim de semana o Rio de Janeiro cedeu a primeira carreira da temporada 2010 de Class-1 World Powerboat Championship na Marina da Gloria, a qual posso ver da janela de meu apartamento. Sábado pela amanha os gritos dos barcos me davam solavancos enquanto três helicópteros sobrevoavam filmando a cena. Eu tinha visto alguns das corridas preliminares na sexta-feira, e eu me quase senti entorpecido pelo óbvio – Classe One é um esporte pelos ricos, praticado pelos ricos, para permanecer rico.

But I figured that it couldn’t be that obvious, so I hustled down to Flamengo Beach to see what was going on. To my surprise, there were thousands of people lining the water’s edge watching the boats scream past. Truth is, it was pretty cool, because these boats are hitting 250 km an hour and were flying past the beach with a power that you could feel inside your chest. It was also free although the public space of the beach was occupied with huge television installations and a sound system that would make Axle Rose cry for mercy.

Mas eu achava que o evento não pode ser tão óbvio, porém eu corri até a Praia do Flamengo para ver o que estava acontecendo. Me causou sopresa ver miles de pessoas em pé à beira-mar olhando os barcos passando as pressas. A verdade é que foi bacana, porque esses barcos estão picando 250 km por horas e estavam voando pertinho a praia com um poder mecânico que podia sentir no seu peito. Também, era de graça, mais o espaço público da praia estava ocupado com duas telas imensas e um sistema de som que faria Axle Rose chorar pelo tiro de misericórdia.

This is what the production of a hollow spectacle is all about, however. The only way to react to the incredible power and world-class elegance of a boat flying across the waves is to shake your head and think – wouldn’t it be cool to go for a ride? There’s no point in cheering for one boat to go faster than another. There is no mechanism for active participation, even the sound system takes away your ability to converse (the same as stadiums in the USA). It’s impossible to have deeply-felt team allegiances. The clarion call of consumption creates capitalistic cravings that co-opt collective capacity. The race has winners, of course, but do the losers really lose that much? How does this international boat racing work anyway? Who are these people and what were they doing in Rio? I went inside to find out.

Ao final, essa é a esséncia do produção de um espectáculo vazio. A única maneira reagir ao poder incriível e elegancia de classe mundial de um barco voando acima das ondas é balançar a cabeça e pensar – não seria legal pegar corona nele? Não faz sentido nenhum torcer por um barco ir mais rápido que um outro. Não existe mechanismo por participação ativo, o sistema de som tira sua capacidade conversar (o mesmo acontece nos estádios dos EUA). É impossível ter paixão profundo por um time. A chamada clarim de consumismo crea uma cobiça capitalistica que co-optam capacidade coletiva. A carreira tem um ganhador, por su posto, mas que perdem os perdedores? Como funciona esse sistema de carreiras de barcos internacoinal: Quem são essas pessoas e que estão fazendo no Rio? Eu fui adentro para ver.

Entering a marina to watch a powerboat competition one expects to see the most recent manifestations of the consumerist dreams of the upper-middle class. And there they were: a Japanese fusion restaurant, Polo store, H. Stern, boats, flat screen tvs, down tempo electronica, wide spaces, shopping mall ambience. The major surprise was to see Smart Cars on display and not SUVs. But the smart cars were just so cute that parents stuck their kids in the drivers seat and took pictures of them. Create the desire early, valorize those desires, and then capitalize later! Consumption is the only activity that makes sense and it’s so cute!

Entrando numa Marina para ver uma carreira de barcos de alta velocidade a gente antecipa encontrar com as manifestações mais recentes dos sonhos consumistas da classe meia-alta. E aí estavam: um restaurante japonês, Polo, H. Stern, barcos, telas de plasma, musica electrônica, espaços abertos, ambiente de um shpping. A maior sopresa foi ver Smart Cars e não SUVs. Mas os carros eram tão fofinhos que os pais não podiam resistir botar as crianças adentro e tirar fotos. Crea os desejos bem cedo, valorize-os , e capitalize depois! Consumir é a unica atividade que faz sentido e é tão fofoca!

There was some interesting information on hand that revealed the geography of powerboat racing. Between 1992-2009 these countries had representatives in the powerboating championships: Norway, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, San Marino, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Brasil, USA, Cuba (what the?). I’m not sure what this means but when Arabian royalty meet Euro-American capitalists there’s usually some kind of geo-political shitestorm going on.

Tinham informação que revelou a geografia de Class Um. Entre 1992-2009 os seguintes países tinham representantes nos campeonatos: Noruega, Itália, França, Espanha, Alemanha, Suíça, São Marino, Grã Bretanha, Austrália, Nova Zelândia, Emirados Árabes Unidos, Arábia Saudita, Qatar, Brasil, EUA, Cuba (o que?). não tenho certeza o que significa mas quando os reis e principes de Arábia se encontram com capitalistas Euro-Americanos, normalmente tem algum furacão de tipo de confusão geopolítico.

The catalog also showed an interesting geography of powerboat racing, the logics of which I will get to in a moment.

O catalogo do campeonato também mostrou uma geografia interesante de Classe Um, as lógicas de qual tratarei num momento.

The boats were on display in the dry dock so that spectators could watch the mechanics making last minute alterations. Each boat was on a huge trailer that was part of the team equipment. Looking at the places of origin of each of the teams, it’s clear that getting the seven boats to Rio was a huge logistical undertaking. The boats are nearly identical in weight, 4,800 kg, have two 900 hp engines, reach speeds of 130 knots, can hold 900 liters of fuel, and are between 12 and 13 meters in length. These are very sleek, very impressive machines. The gasoline consumption is also impressive – somewhere between 12-15 liters per minute, allowing a maximum excursion of an hour and fifteen minutes – but that will get you 250 km away!

Os barcos estavam nas docas secas para gente ver os mecânicos fazer seus ajustes de ultimo minuto. Cada barco estava acima de um caminhão que foi parte de equipamento do time. Olhando os lugares de origem dos sete times, ficou bastante claro que a logística daquele evento é bastante complicado. Os barcos são quase idênticos em peso, 4,800 kg, tem dois motores de 900 hp, atingiam velocidades de 130 nós, podem conter até 900 litros de gasolina, e são de 12 até 13 metros de proa à popa. Esse são maquinas lisas e super impresionantes. O consumo de gasolina também é impressionante – entre 12 -15 litros por minuto, dando um excursão máximo de uma hora e quinze minutos – mas esse te levará 250 km!

Why has the music at nearly every international event been reduced to the trite recycling of 1980s hits? I can handle the down-tempo electronica of a Japanese fusion restaurant, if only because it’s designed to fit into the background. But please, you people in charge of the empty spectacle, stop playing Billy Idol, Joan Jett, The Pretenders, The Cure, Depeche Mode and whatever sappy pop ballad U2 or Coldplay have recently regurgitated. You know that you are the target demographic of a place when you recognize the music and unwillingly start moving to it or start to sing “White Wedding”. It’s pure manipulation and in the context of this race, not even culturally pertinent. Why not play some bossa nova / samba / forró / rock nacional? Obviously, national music is not a mark of distinction in Brazil, Billy Idol is, and playing exclusively foreign music is a way of creating an air of cosmopolitanism, which feeds the spectacle.  

Porque a música de cada evento internacional tem sido reduzido ao reciclagem banal dos êxitos da década de 1980? Eu posso tolerar a eletrônica de um restaurante Japoneses fusão, porque está desenhado ficar nos fundos. Mas por favor, vocês encargados de espetáculo vazio, pare de tocar Billy Idol, Joan Jett, The Pretenders, The Cure, Depeche Mode, e qualquer emocionante balada que Coldplay ou U2 tinham regurgitado recentemente. Você sabe que está sendo o alvo demográfico de um lugar ou evento quando reconhece a música e começa se mover (contra sua própia vontade), ou começa cantar “White Wedding”. É manipulação pura e no contexto dessa carreira nem caiu no contexto cultural. Porque não toca algo de bossa nova, samba, forró, rock nacional? Obviamente, musica nacional não é uma marca de distinção no Brasil, Billy Idol é, e tocando exclusivamente musica estrangeira é uma maneira desenvolver um ambiente cosmopolita, o qual sustenta o espetáculo.

The press room was busy and I was clearly not in the normal circuit of people reporting results for popular consumption, received some strange looks, and went out to get some more information. Some of the teams had trailers that served as a logistical base camp, serving food, providing some shade and functioning as communications centers. Out of luck or instinct, I walked to the Victory Team encampment and entered into a conversation with Gianfranco Venturelli, the Italian manager of both the reigning world champions and runners-up, and President of the Association of Class One Powerboat Racing Teams. He was very gracious and accomodating. What follows is a rapid summary of our interview.

A sala de imprensa estava lotado e eu claramente não caia no circuito normal de gente reportando os resultados para ser consumidos na grande media, recebei uns olhares estranhos e sai em busca de mais informação. Alguns dos times tinham caminhões que serviam como campos logísticos, dando comida so time e funcionando como centros de comunicação. De sorte ou instinto, caminhei até o território do Victory Team e entrei numa conversa com Gianfranco Ventureli, o técnico Italiano do time campeão reinante e o time vice-campeão, também ele é o atual presidente da Associação de Times de Class One Powerboat Racing. Ele me estendeu muito cortesia e me acomodou com paciência. Ao seguir é um sumario rápido de nossa conversa (só inglês). 

"The boats were the least expensive elements of the Class One team costs, comprising less than 5% of the overall budget and that they were significantly less expensive than the 100 million Euros of a typical Forumula One car. The major difficulties for the teams are the logistics and for this reason the geography of Class One is relatively limited. Each of the seven teams brought at least 30 people to Rio. They all had at least two trailers in addition to their boats. They make their own boats in Dubai, and have 14 nationalities in the team. Team engineers are all “western” and they train Indian, Filipino, and Paquistani mechanics. There are 70 people on the team. The team is responsible for brining fame of Dubai around the world. Logistical concerns make it is difficult to have a world-wide competition. They had to charter a boat from Dubai to Rio and then from Rio to Italy. Looking at two other venues in Latin America to make the trip more viable economically...Class One is also in discussions with China and Australia to have races there. The organizers pay a fee for each team to bring boats, at more than 1000km of distance the local promoter must compensate x-euros por km. “The team is the key to any kind of result, if you have a good team, open listening to each other, pulling in one direction, you will be successful, this is for formula one, football, any kind of entity, success is to build the team, then you need the funding to build the best program that you can, money is not everything, the team is fundamental, there is no difference, the concept must be the same” The reality is that some teams are dependent upon winning to remain in the circuit If they are not successful it is a big problem. But perhaps less for our team [because it is sponsored by the government of Dubai], but it is still important to win. The economy is affecting everybody...our goal is to have ten boats in the competition, right now we have 8, but only 7 participated in Rio. The Brasilians did a great, great, great job of organizing. We have a ten year contract for this race in Rio de Janeiro."

The person responsible for bringing Class One racing to Rio is Eike Batista, the wealthiest man in Brasil (click here for his interview with Charlie Rose). Batista was the central feature of the glossy event magazine, and his Pink Fleet tour boats occupied the first page of the “sights to see” section of the March/April 2010 Rio Guide (conincidence?). That a man with tens of billions of dollars at his disposal and a taste for high adrenaline sports is able to bring Class One racing to the Marina da Gloria is not surprising or bad or good. But given Batista’s claim that “he wants to make Brasil better”, we should ask if Class One Racing is helping to accomplish that.

A pessoa que trouxe Class One ao Rio é Eike Batista, o homem mais rico do Brasil (faz click para ver seu entrevista com o jornalista Americana Charlie Rose). Batista ocupou o parte principal da revista do evento e seus barcos de Pink Fleet ocupavam a primeira pagina de secção “Passeios” na Guia do Rio Março/Abril 2010 (coincidência?).  Que um homem com dezenas de bilhões de dólares e um gosto por esportes de alta adrenalina pode trazer Class One à Marina da Gloria não é surpreendente nem bem nem mal. Mas, dado que ele disse que “quero deixar um Brasil melhor pelos meus filhos”, deveríamos perguntar se Classe One está funcionando alcançar essa meta.

Much as the Victory Team is charged with marketing the ‘brand” of Dubai, Class One racing is intended to market Rio to international capital. This is part of a larger process that cannot be separated from the installation of walls along the highways, the occupation of favelas with shock troops (UPPs), the rezoning of the city to make way for condo development (PEU Vargens), the massive investments in stadium and transportation infrastructure, the World Cup, the Olympics, etc. The production of spectacles like Class One draw media and public attention to events that have no cultural context, that transform public space into zones for the accumulation of capital and encourage the passive consumption of events that once completed disappear into the ether (reminding us of Berman’s famous phrase). Of course, it’s interesting and unique and spectacular and ‘cool’, but within the larger political, social, and economic contexts of Rio de Janeiro and Brasil, it is contributing to processes that are (in my opinion) going to further polarize the city long socio-economic lines, privatize public space, limit public engagement with the production of culture (leaving it in the hands of ‘professionals’), use public funds to stimulate private profit, and create a city that can only be consumed, not engaged, created, and lived.

Como o Victory Team está encargado com a missão de “brand marketing” pelos sheiks de Dubai, a intenção de Class One é colocar o Rio no vitrina de capital global. Esse é parte de um processo maior que não pode ser deslocado dos outros processos como da instalação de muros nas linhas de transporte, ocupação das favelas com UPPs, o rezoneamento da cidade para o especulação imobiliário, investimentos maciços em estádios e infra-estrutura de transporte, o Mundial, a Olimpíada, etc. A produção dos espetáculos como Class One atraem atenção mediato e público aos eventos que não tem um contexto cultural onde caber, que transformam espaço público em zonas pela acumulação de capital e estimulam o consumo passivo de eventos que uma vez completados desaparecem no éter (lembrando nos de frase famoso de Berman). Sem dúvida, o evento é interessante, único, espetacular e “cool”, mas adentro dos contextos políticos, econômicos, e sociais do Rio de Janeiro, na minha opinião, o evento contribui aos processos que vão aumentar a polarização da cidade em linhas socioeconômicas, privatizar espaço público, limitar a capacidade do povo de produzir sua própia cultura deixando esse produção nas mãos das chamadas profissionais, utilizar o bolso público para estimular lucro privado, e construir uma cidade que só pode ser consumido e não empenhado, criado, e vivido.

The above list of changes is what I think Batista was referring to in his interview with Charlie Rose as a process of “exorcising the left” (minutes 21 – 23). Lula, Batista suggests, was only successful because he understood relatively early in his term that it is better to “let entrepreneurs run the country” and that populist governments are the root of problems in Latin American governments (calling Argentina a “Rolls Royce driven by an Egyptian chauffeur”). There can be no doubt that social movements have suffered under Lula and that the neo-liberal project in Brasil is moving as quickly, consuming as many resources, and leaving as little in its wake as Class One Powerboat Racing.

Na sua entrevista com Charlie Rose, a lista de mudança mencionadas acima é que acho Eike queria dizer quando ele falava sobre o processo de ‘exorcizando a esquerda’ (minutos 21-23). Lula, surgiu Batista, só tenha tido tanto êxito porque ele entendeu bem cedo no seu mandato que é melhor “deixar os capitalistas dirigir o pais” e que os “governos populares.” Eike disse que Morales, Chaves e Kirchner estão sendo os raízes dos problemas da América Latina (chamando Argentina “um carro de Rolls Royce dirigido por um condutor Egipciano”). Não pode restar nenhuma dúvida que os movimentos sociais tinham sofrido muito sob Lula e que o projeto neo-liberal no Brasil está movendo-se tão rápido, consumindo tantos recursos, e deixando tão pouco na sua esteira como Class One Powerboat Racing.