Five photos of one of the world’s most fascinating capital cities. The fact that Brasília is a very special type of city, one that resembles a settlement on Mars more than the seat of the Brazilian government, is not exactly news. But that didn’t stop it from taking me by surprise again last weekend. It’s(…)
Alex Atala and the feeding of the 5,000
One brave idea proved much too mouth-watering for its own good at São Paulo’s Virada Cultural By Claire Rigby There were sharp elbows, sharp tongues and a few sharpened knives out over the weekend, when an event intended to bring the cream of São Paulo gastronomy to the streets attracted more would-be diners than it(…)
On beauty in Brazil’s old-school celebrity culture
By Dom Phillips, in Rio de Janeiro “Happiness and beauty are incompatible. And if a beautiful woman is happy, we would be certain of a visual mistake – she’s not beautiful,” the great Brazilian writer Nelson Rodrigues once said. Not in Brazil’s celebrity world. Here, to be successful, an actress and/or model and/or television presenter(…)
Another embarrassment for US workers in Latin America
Well, this surely won’t help improve the reputation of US workers in Latin America. Even as the sex scandal surrounding Secret Service agents in Colombia continues to unfold, we have a new incident, involving a Brazilian woman, that the US may have to defend itself against. Former prostitute Romilda Aparecida Ferreira (pictured) has said she(…)
Brazinglish
Brazilian Portuguese has taken on so many words from English that some don’t just have different pronunciations. They have developed wonderful new meanings. By Claire Rigby Soon after taking my first steps towards speaking Portuguese years ago, I got talking to the owner of a small-town language school in Minas Gerais. Happy to be speaking(…)
Criolo – from the ghetto to the clouds
Brazil’s reigning musical deity has given his blessing to its newest national poet. Criolo has broken out of the the ghetto, but he has taken the ghetto with him. by Dom Phillips, in Rio de Janeiro The thousands packed into Brazilian rapper Criolo’s show last Saturday at Rio’s cavernous Fundição Progresso were already jubilant when(…)
Brazil investment advice – agriculture
If you have a long-term interest in Brazil, where is a good place to put your money? That is, you are looking past currency risks and short-term volatility and want a good, safe investment? Over lunch recently, a high-ranking executive gave me a strikingly obvious bit of off-the-record advice: “There might be a day when(…)
How many more lives will the US-led “war on drugs” take?
Denis Russo Burgierman wrote a very interesting piece in today’s Folha de S.Paulo. I’m reproducing it below in full. These words are not mine – I’m just the translator. VB Heads of state from all the countries in the Americas will spend the weekend in the beautiful city of Cartagena das Índias, on the Colombian(…)
Lollapalooza Brazil
The latest in a wave of Brazilian mega-festivals brings the eager masses some long-time favourites amidst moments of old-school Brazilian chaos. By Claire Rigby The racetrack at São Paulo’s Jockey Club was a hive of activity under a layer of floodlit mist last week, while inside the bar, a handful of punters placed their bets(…)
Is the real problem infrastructure?
Continuing on yesterday’s theme, here is another major consideration: I report in this Los Angeles Times cover story that Brazil’s infrastructure is woefully inadequate. Investments here could not only improve prospects for the World Cup in 2014 and the Rio 2016 Olympics, but also make Brazilian products more competitive and give those of us that(…)
