JANUARY
2003

Cover 
by
Salvino
Campos

For a larger
cover

CONTENTS:

COVER STORY 

Meanwhile,
South of the Equator
A killer former representative kills again. Architect Oscar Niemeyer botches again. Patriot transvestites send money back home.  God's  Town, a shocking wakeup call. Derrière wigglers sue a Miami's escort service. And a taste of Veja magazine's hypocrisy.
by John Fitzpatrick

From Republic to Empire
Our futurologist in residence peers into the future and reveals how everything goes wrong in the Lula administration and how in 180 days Brazil goes from broke to chaos and beyond in a Simpsons-like scenario.
by Anônimo Days

So, This Is Lula?
Everything Lula has done confirms his intention to live with the free market reforms Brazil has made over the last fifteen years. He has built a center-left coalition and plans to follow Cardoso's example and is even open to negotiating a free trade agreement with the US.
by Ted Goertzel

In Lula's Hand
So far so good, but the new President is untried as a national leader and we do not know how he will cope with the constant crises which mark Brazil. Lula has little patience for the ins and outs of politics and seems incapable of sticking to a script. And he has to stop being a man of the people and become the leader of the people.
by John Fitzpatrick

Where the Buck Stops
Lula is putting politicians in charge of Brazil's money. Central Bank chief, Henrique Meirelles (photo) and Finance Minister, Antonio Palocci are abandoning elective mandates to take their new posts. By giving control of the nation's finances to two politicians, Lula is overturning the basis on which President Fernando Henrique Cardoso founded the economy.
by John Fitzpatrick

All the President's
Men (and Women)
President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's cabinet members are mostly from his own party, the PT. Four of them are women, five have no party affiliation. Here's a list and the pictures of the new ministers and secretaries.

It All Started in Caetés
Lula journeyed from a little Ceará town to Brasília's Presidential Palace, he went from migrant to President. A march 500 years in the making. If Lula had a Ph.D., he would be a president like all the others. His merit is to have matured without changing sides.
by Cristovam Buarque

Lula Checkmates Bush
Even the most orthodox international lending institutions have been checkmated by President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's announced policies. The head of the International Monetary Fund, Horst Kohler, called Lula "a leader for the twenty-first century."
by Roger Burbach

I'll Miss You, Fernando
Brazilians live under threat and are easily intimidated. This belies the idea that Brazil is a laid-back, tolerant country. It is only laid back and tolerant because it allows you to do what you want but won't allow you to complain when somebody else does what he wants. Brazil needs a mental revolution.
by John Fitzpatrick

License to Kill
With the appointment by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Mr. Luiz Eduardo Soares for National Secretary of Public Security the good days of vulgar criminality are over. From now on all criminals without ideology belong in jail. I dare not ask where the others do belong.
by Olavo de Carvalho

Preparing for War
Brazil is about to spend $700 million dollars on a fleet of jet fighters. Brazilian authorities should use this opportunity to bring new technology to Brazil—not only for the production of state-of-the-art jet fighters, but also to build nuclear weapons.
by Ricardo C. Amaral

A Brazilian Answer
I have witnessed the good side of globalization. It was hard to hide my emotions when I looked into the eyes of every child and stepmother receiving the Bolsa-Escola in Tanzanian shillings from a Ugandan mother living in the US, who got funding from a British foundation.
by Cristovam Buarque

Getting to Know You
Brazil is not a place for beginners or the unprepared. Americans think that globalization means doing things "the American way", but it's more a two-way learning process. Latin America is an American creation for the sake of convenience.
by Kirstin Elaine Myers

Can't You Hear My Scream?
Pará is the poster state for Amazon destruction, injustice and violence. The last decade has seen the assassination of over 1000 Brazilians in Pará; many environmental activists or individuals working towards land reform. Here, just a scene of this enduring and tragic play.
by Todd Southgate

A Call to Peace
Look into the eyes of most Brazilians while speaking of Iraq, and you will see a people not fooled by the pretexts spun by the US as justifiable cause for its increased aggression on Iraq.
by Norman Madarasz

Bahia, You've Cast a Spell on Me
A new musical revolution is on the rise in Salvador. At any given time of day, you are guaranteed to feel the presence of forró and reggae in the city's streets. These two genres are synonymous in depicting the flavor of modern Bahia.
by Anna Chlumsky

An Amazon Rendezvous
Here's Parintins. A place of magic and mystery. We felt something special right from the beginning. It's a bustling city; people have cell phones and computers, but retain a deep attachment to the indigenous culture that surrounds them.
by Rita Shannon Koeser

On Jobim's Track
Being dedicated Jobimophiles, we had asked to be shown all the places Tom Jobim loved to go to, including Tom's favourite tree—the towering sumaúma, in the Botanical Gardens— where he would go to relax.
by Liz Ashton

  Heavy Hand
The U. S.' intervention in Colombian-Brazilian bilateral relations follows the election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a left-wing candidate in Brazil who openly has stated his reservations regarding the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which he considers "a process of annexation of Brazil to the United States".

The Brazilian Ruling Class
Without José Bonifácio's de Andrada e Silva influence on Brazilian history, we would have instead four or five independent countries in South America where Brazil is located. Without José Bonifácio, Brazil in its current form would simply not exist.
by Ricardo C. Amaral

Short Story in Portuguese
Lives from Jail
After 15 minutes, the gallery was invaded by around 20 policemen from Garra, all dressed as Ninja, and heavily armed with 12-gauge shotguns, baseball bats, iron bars and electrical nightsticks, cussing and screaming. They commanded that all inmates take off their clothes shouting, "Everybody naked, get out, you assholes, you shit flies."
by Humberto Rodrigues