Adventures of a Gringa

Twitter in Brazil: A Virtual Revolution?

2009-07-13T06:00:00-04:00

I wrote this for a friend of mine over at Latin American Thought, who was kind enough to offer to publish the post there. It's long overdue and turned out to be very long, but here it finally is! Read the full text after the jump.

Introduction

While Twitter has revolutionized communication in the US and around the world, it has had an especially large impact on Brazil. Embraced by pop stars and politicians alike, Twitter has taken Brazil by storm and has become one of the site’s fastest growing markets. More importantly, the site has changed the way Brazilians participate in politics, and how politicians reach their constituents. Recently, it has managed to mobilize protests and inspire a political movement during an otherwise politically apathetic period, with citizens jaded by endless corruption scandals.

Overview

Results from a June 2009 study by social media company Sysomos Inc show that Brazil is the fifth-largest nation of Twitter users, with Brazilians making up 2 percent of all users. In January 2009, Twitter had over 54 million unique visitors per month, and currently has over 10 million users, putting Brazilian users at around 200,000. Meanwhile, Brazil has the highest percentage of users of all of the non-English speaking countries polled. The top Twitter-using countries are all English speaking: the United States leads with 62.1 percent of Twitter users, followed by the UK, Canada, and Australia.

The Brazil Twitter Census was established in May 2009 to get a clearer picture of Twitter users in Brazil. Since then, over 14,000 Brazilians have responded. Nearly 68 percent of Brazilian Twitter users are between the ages of 19 and 30, and the majority is male (55.8%). The largest group of users is located in the state of São Paulo (38.28%), and the second largest group is located in the state of Rio de Janeiro (11.95%). According to Ibope, a Brazilian research group, Twitter is the fastest growing social networking site in Brazil this year, since it has grown by 477% in 2009, and also represents the “intellectual elite” of Brazil, since 1 in 4 users have a college education.

In April, Sao Paulo-based marketing agency Bullet performed its own survey of Brazilian Twitter users. According to the study, the majority of Brazilian Twitter users are unmarried, middle and upper class, and are college students and graduates. Here are some of the statistics from the survey:

· 82.8% are unmarried

· 37.6% are currently in college, and 31.7% are college graduates

· 50.7% have a monthly household income of between R$1,001 and R$5,000 (US$500 - $2,500)

· 29.2% have a monthly household income of between R$5,001 and R$10,000 (US$2,500 - $5,000)

· 58.7% have blogs

· 91% use Orkut, the social networking site, and 86.6% use Youtube

· 91.4% use Twitter as their main source of new information on the Internet, followed by blogs (74.6%) and news portals (61.6%)

· 44% found out about Twitter from friends

· 43.6% created their Twitter account between January and June 2009

· 79.9% use Twitter to share links and information

· 70% use Twitter to discuss their opinions

· 80% have taken advice or tips from someone on Twitter

· 79.3% follow or have followed formal news companies on Twitter (i.e. CNN, Globo, etc)

Brazilian celebrities, like TV personalities Luciano Huck and Sabrina Sato, have used Twitter as a promotional tool. Sports teams, athletes, and coaches have also joined Twitter, announcing trades and new coaches. Major media companies have hopped on the bandwagon, creating profiles for networks, newspapers and TV shows. Retailers have grabbed the opportunity to plug promotions and special sales. Two weeks ago, Rio de Janeiro’s Traffic Control Authority created a Twitter account to announce traffic and road conditions in the city.

As a result of its popularity, Twitter has become the subject of research and analysis in Brazil, as academics study its impact on the media and journalism, as well as social media and personal relationships. Websites analyzing Twitter have also been created, like the blog Twitter Brasil and BlaBlaBra, which tracks the most Twittered topics in Brazil. In the past few weeks, Brazilian topics have made it into the top ten trending topics on Twitter, like Corinthians (the Sao Paulo soccer team).

Politicians

In Brazil, some politicians have joined Twitter in order to have easier access to constituents and voters. According to the Brazilian site of PoliTweets, which tracks politicians using Twitter, there is currently one governor, 17 senators, 46 federal congressmen, 11 state congressmen, and 39 councilmen in Brazil who use Twitter. Political parties have also joined, like the PCdoB, the Brazilian Communist Party, which discusses candidates and events on the site. Even President Lula has a Twitter page, though he has only updated four times since February and has a mere 5,443 followers, less than some other Brazilian politicians on Twitter. There are also at least two fake Lula Twitter accounts, which poke fun at the president, but also discuss politics.

Senators in particular have jumped at the opportunity, like José Agripino from Rio Grande do Norte, who now has 3,115 followers, and José Serra from São Paulo, a former governor and senator and currently a potential presidential candidate with 28,256 followers. They write not only about current events in government and projects they’re working on, but also their day-to-day activities, like watching Formula 1 racing on TV and going to the movies. In Brazil, where informality, friendship, and making important connections during leisure activities are all key elements in professional life, Twitter allows politicians to connect to voters on a personal level without having to meet them in person. Politicians on Twitter also personally respond to followers, giving Brazilians a unique voice amongst the country’s legislators. That’s why Senator Paulo Pain from Rio Grande do Sul has become a fan of Twitter. “I have a lot of work and participate in a lot of debates. This is a way to show what I do,” he told a local newspaper from his hometown. Though he only has 901 followers, he received a petition via Twitter from his constituents, as well as compliments, questions, and criticism, and the site gives him the opportunity to respond to all of them.

While some Brazilian politicians have embraced Twitter as a communication tool, others have not, and have wound up suing users who created fake profiles in their name. In September 2008, a candidate running for mayor of Fortaleza, Luizianne de Oliveira Lins, sued Twitter for allowing the creation of a false profile with her name. However, Lins’ lawyers wound up suing the wrong target—Twitter Brasil, which is actually a Portuguese-language blog about Twitter, and was temporarily shut down after the court case. Since then, Lins was elected and the charges against the site were dropped. More recently, a Twitter user created a fake profile of Senate leader José Sarney, which had around 2,000 followers when it was shut down in June. Sarney has threatened legal action against the user who created the profile.

Politics & Freedom of Speech

While the Brazilian media has taken to Twitter to continue its fight for viewers and readers, some members of the media have used Twitter as a forum to voice their opinions on current events and politics. The most notable instance is that of Marcelo Tas, who the Wall Street Journal calls “a tropical version of Jon Stewart.” The host of Band TV’s CQC show, a political satire program, Tas is one of the most followed Brazilians on Twitter with nearly 157,000 followers. Though he is also known for being a Twitter pioneer, accepting a lucrative Twitter advertising deal from Brazilian telecommunications giant Telefónica, gaining readers by linking to his controversial blog, and promoting his show, he is also a political pioneer as well.

Tas weighs in on Brazil’s most pertinent political issues on Twitter, stirring up debate and creating awareness about certain events and issues. He has also been a stalwart supporter of free speech. While he has been threatened with lawsuits after controversies on his TV show, he has also received flack on Twitter after making a controversial comment about a strike at the University of Sao Paulo. Offended Twitter users started an “unfollow” campaign urging people to stop following the popular figure because of his supposedly offensive comment. Tas responded by apologizing for offending people, but reminding them about the importance of free speech in a democracy. But Tas’ greatest political victory on Twitter has undoubtedly been with the Fora Sarney movement.

Political Participation

Senator José Sarney, the leader of the Brazilian Senate, has come under fire for charges of corruption, nepotism, and embezzlement, amongst other things. When congressional leaders first decided to split with Sarney, one senator, Agripino Maia, announced it on his Twitter page. Marcelo Tas was the first to circulate the news and start the Fora Sarney movement in earnest, in favor of impeaching the Senate’s president. Soon, the movement was being promoted by famous Brazilian actors, musicians, and comedians on Twitter, and oddly, even American actor Ashton Kutcher weighed in. A website and Twitter account were created to track protests and events and to promote the movement. In the meantime, Tas continued to spearhead the effort, sharing news updates about the scandal and opinions from other Brazilians. “I think Sarney is a disease infecting Brazil,” he told journalist Ana Freitas.

(Interestingly, the Senate performed a survey, interviewing 1,277 people throughout Brazil between June 3^rd and June 19^th, and found that only 28% of those interviewed even knew who Sarney was.)

Though Sarney has managed to hold on to his post, the movement has been successful in that not only did it manage to create awareness of the situation due to Twitter, but was able to transfer a virtual movement from Twitter into the streets. Protests were held in Brasília, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Recife, and Macapá (Sarney’s electoral base), with smaller protests in Porto Alegre, Divinópolis, and Campinas. A nation-wide protest is an important milestone in a country where mass protests have become sparse after the military dictatorship (1964-1985), with the exceptions of the DIreitas Já! Movement in 1984 demanding electoral rights and the Fora Collor movement in 1992, calling for former President Collor’s impeachment. Though thousands of people protested in the streets then, compared to mere hundreds now, it is notable that a political movement begun on a social networking website was able to physically mobilize citizens in a country with few mass political protests.

Conclusion

In a country where citizens are jaded by endless corruption scandals and letdowns from the government, Twitter has allowed Brazilians to participate in politics in a completely new way, connecting one-on-one with politicians and spreading news at the speed of a single mouse click. It has given politicians the opportunity to be more transparent and to communicate better with their constituents, and to connect much more easily to their voting bases, keeping citizens better informed. Finally, it has allowed the formation of a political movement capable of mobilizing Brazilians across the nation, both virtually and physically. In a country that has struggled to achieve functional governance since the transfer of power from the dictatorship, Twitter has become an important tool in helping Brazilians create a more just democracy.

Abductions

2009-07-10T02:00:00-04:00

It's been awhile since I wrote about the Goldman case, so this post is a bit overdue, but I purposely waited for it to go off the radar to remind people that it is in fact not over. While I'm at it, I'm adding updates about the Zanger case, as well as two new cases that have come to my attention.

The bottom line is that Brazil is harboring kidnappers, and the Brazilian government is setting a dangerous precedent that children essentially can be bought and sold through the horrendously archaic judicial system.

Goldman Update

After the Supreme Court refused to hear the case, since it had not yet gone through the proper judicial channels, the case landed back in Rio, at the state appeals court (TRF-2). Since then, the Brazilian "family" has been on a PR campaign to try to play the bizarre role of the "good kidnappers," appearing on CBS spewing broken English about "Sean's desires" and the usual BS, and appearing in VEJA as "good family lawyers." Much like terrorists do with kidnap victims, they filmed a video of Sean, saying he wants to stay in Brazil, and also recorded an interview Sean had with a hired psychologist to try to hand to the appeals judge.

In the meantime, Judge Pinto, who made the original decision to send Sean home, granted David custody for six days a week--but only if he came to Brazil. There was much hullaballo about whether he should or shouldn't go, considering the logistical nightmare, but sure enough, the ruling was swiftly overruled. The case is still sitting at the TRF-2, with not a peep from the authorities. Unfortunately, some people, delusional, naive, or simply ignorant, think that now nine year-old Sean's "declaration" that he wants to stay is valid, and it's possible the TRF-2 judges, who may not know much about the Hague Convention or may know the LeS too well, may also agree.

Stateside, Representative Chris Smith has put HR 2702 into full swing, which if passed, would remove trade preferences to Brazil until the Brazilian government fulfills its commitment to the Hague Convention to send kidnapped American children back to the US.

Zanger Update

Sascha Zanger still has not been able to bring his surviving child home, though he negotiated an agreement with his ex-wife to bring his son and his daughter's body back to Austria. His ex-wife has agreed to undergo psych treatment and has apologized for lying about Zanger to try to keep him away from his children.

The OAB, which supports Sean's stay in Brazil, has sided with Mr. Zanger and is helping Zanger sue his Hague lawyer, Ricardo Zamariola (who is also David's Brazilian lawyer), for R$25,000 for breach of contract, since he had promised Zanger that the children "were in good hands." Zanger is also accusing the judge who gave custody to his ex-wife's sister of negligence. The judge refused to hear Zanger in court, despite the father's complaints that the children were being malnourished and mistreated. The murdered girl's aunt and cousin have been accused of torture, though they maintain that the four year-old fell in the bathtub, though she showed clear signs of abuse.

_____________________

I found out about two other cases, both similar to David's in that they are left behind gringo fathers at the mercy of the embarrassingly bumbling Brazilian judicial system and ex-wives with connections and money in Brazil. After seeing what has happened with David, I am apt to give both of them the benefit of the doubt. Both of these guys have been through the wringer as much so or more than David--one of them was even arrested and thrown in jail for "failing to send child support" to his kidnapped child!

Read about the new cases after the jump.

The Martin Boyle Story

Here's my story - it's been going on for 17 years...the whole of my daughter's life.

I am a British man, Martin Boyle, who was married to a Brazilian woman, Mara Silvia Oliveira Rezende. The result of my 15 year battle to see my daughter is that I have had my father's rights illegally removed in Brazil, my daughter has been fraudulently adopted by another man (the modus operandi in Brazil) and I have been imprisoned in Sao Paulo on a trumped up charge of non-payment of child support - all in a relentless attempt to physically block me from seeing my daughter. I have been simply unable to see my daughter since 1994 because my ex-wife and her family - with the active connivance of the Brazilian legal system and the pathetic dithering of the British authorities - has managed to run rings around everyone, hide my daughter away, commit perjury and simply refuse to cooperate with any request for access.

My ex-wife and I lived in the UK and Brazil and had a daughter, Rebeca, who was born in July 1992. The relationship between my ex-wife and me had not been good for some time before she became pregnant and it got worse after Rebeca was born, with my wife behaving eratically, undergoing therapy and going through a difficult co-dependant relationship with her parents.

In December 1992, my ex-wife engineered my firing from my post as an English teacher by turning up at my place of work and calling the secretaries there to make wild, unsubstantiated allegations against me. Her parents ended up conniving with her by having their lawyers (a family friend, since my mother-in-law is a lawyer herself) send me a letter at my home (a flat owned by my in-laws) telling me to vacate the flat. I went through a rushed custody hearing which I was not prepared for and which I only half understood and custody was awarded to my ex-wife. I was told I could visit Rebeca one afternoon every two weeks. I was also told that I had to pay £180 sterling a month in child support. I did not have a job or a home (I was sleeping on a friend's floor) because I had been engineered out of both, so I left Brazil to return to the UK to weigh up my options.

I returned to the UK in December 1992 seriously depressed and worked sporadically for a few months. I was unable to pay the child support stipulated but did send money when I could. During this time, neither my ex-wife nor my in-laws acknowledged the receipt of any money at all. In June 1993 I finally secured full-time work again and, in the face of persistent refusal to acknowledge the receipt of money, I opened an account for my daughter in the UK and have been depositing the child support there ever since. I did not realise that this act of love and good faith would end up with me in a Brazilian prison 16 years later on a spurious charge of non-payment of child support.

In June 1994, I turned up in Brazil unannounced because my letters had gone unanswered for a year. I was led on a wild goose chase around Sao Paulo by my ex-wife, Mara Silvia, before I finally got to see Rebeca in a church hall. I broke down in tears when I saw her and so did my ex-wife. I spent two days there before leaving Brazil again to go back to work. I gave Mara some money and we agreed that there would be regular contact through letters and telephone. Little did I know that she had no intention of maintaining contact. Once again, my letters and calls and money transfers went unacknowledged.

In 1997, after years of non-cooperation from Mara, I divorced her in Britain under English law. She was fully informed through her lawyers and they sent a letter in response only after they had received the decree nisi from the English court. Mara herself refused to respond.

After the divorce, I tried to maintain contact with Rebeca by telephone through my ex-in-laws and there were brief periods when I thought that we were reaching an understanding and I chatted with Rebeca on the phone. She knew that I was her daddy and said she loved meand wanted us to be a family. I said that that was my dearest wish as well. I continued to put the child support payments in Rebeca's account in the UK because Mara and her family simply refused to acknowledge any letters or money transfers. Gradually, contact petered out because the ex-in-laws refused to pass on messages. Mara had long since disappeared with Rebeca and I did not know where she was. I continued putting the child support in Rebeca's UK account though.

I remarried in 1999 and it was when I finally managed to contact Mara and tell her in 2002 that contact was broken once and for all and the legal jiggery pokery and bad faith and lies began in earnest. When I told Mara that I had remarried she screamed hysterically down the phone, prompting Rebeca to start screaming too (it was later alleged that I had made Rebeca cry). That was the last time I ever heard my daughter's voice. She was 10.

In 2004 I again started campaigning in earnest to try and make contact with Rebeca. My ex-father-in-law, Milton Pessoa Rezende, promised to take me to see Mara and Rebeca if I came to Brazil. I started writing and emailing through him but still received no reply.

Frustrated and driven to distraction, I boarded a flight to Sao Paulo in an attempt to see my daughter. I made contact through my ex-mother-in-law, Maria Josefina Oliveira Rezende, who said she would contact Mara but instead, in a grotesque act of bad faith, contacted a lawyer instead. I myself took on a lawyer who, it turns out, probably thought that this would be a straightforward access/ money issue, but who underestimated the bad faith of the Rezende family. In the end I did not see my daughter and returned to the UK heartbroken. I had made a denuncia, or official police report in Sao Paulo, but nothing was done about it.

Between 2005 and 2008 I tried the following means to see my daughter:

1. The British Consulate in Brazil.
2. The Foreign Office, Child Abduction Unit.
3. Neil Gerrard, MP.
4. The Office of the Official Solicitor.
5. International Social Services.
6. Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
7. Brazilian Central Authority (Federal Authority), and Interpol.
8. Kent Constabulary, (UK regional police force) - Interpol.
9. Reunite.
10. Missing Persons.
11. Brazilian Federal Police, through which I made a denuncia (accusation) in 2005.
12. The Brazilian Embassy in London
13. Brazilian Social Services.
14. Internet social networking sites.
15. Two private lawyers in Brazil, one of whom ripped me off and did nothing, and the other (recommended by the Brazilian Federal Authority) who simply disappeared before doing any work on the case.

I have also made three Data Protection Act requests to the Foreign Office, the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman and the Office of the Official Solicitor and have uncovered evidence of a degree of duplicity and bad faith on the part of the UK authorities which would cause complete disbelief it were presented as an episode of Yes Minister (e.g. attempting to establish that my daughter had no right to British citizenship so that they could 'get rid of this chap' and 'wash our hands of the matter').

None of these organisations have been able to do anything because my ex-wife has simply refused to cooperate. She has refused to divulge her address, has impersonated a lawyer on the phone to Brazilian social services and the Brazilian Central Authority and claimed to have had my daughter adopted by her new partner on the grounds that I was uncontactable.

The final straw came in June 2008 when I called a woman at the Brazilian Central Authority who had been dealing with my application under the Hague Convention. I had struggled since 2006 to get the Central Authority to agree to pursue the case under the Hague Convention. They finally agreed in December 2007 after Reunite had called Alex Marinkovic at the Office of the Official Solicitor and asked him to request the Brazilian Central Authority to do this (they had previously refused, so it seems that personal requests carry weight in this area). I dealt with two people in the Brazilian Central Authority, Patricia de Texeira Lamego Soares and Lalisa Froeder Dittrich. They told me that we needed to be quick because the hague Convention did not apply to children over the age of 16, and my daughter would be 16 on 23rd July 2008. We put a case together, and Lalisa Froeder told me that as long as the case went to the AGU (Brazilian Federal Court) before my daughter's 16th birthd ay, they would deal with it. She and Patricia Soares contacted Alex Marinkovic on 26th May to say that the case had been sent to the AGU and that they would deal with it in about a month. Between then and yesterday, I had no replies to my emails to them. Yesterday, when I called Lalisa Froeder, it transpired that she had gone on maternity leave and had not arranged to have my emails forwarded to her colleague, Stella Chimarrelli. Ms Chimarrelli, however, informed me that the case had been rejected by the AGU on the grounds that my daughter was ALMOST 16, and that they had sent the documentation to Alex Marinkovic in London by normal mail, even though they knew that there was a postal strike in Brazil. They had made no attempt to email me, even though they knew that I was in regular contact with them. If I had not called, the deadline of my daughter's birthday would have passed and I would have been none the wiser. You could not make this story up, and it confirms accusat ions of Brazilian non-compliance with the Hague Convention. It also shows that my ex-wife's strategy of non-cooperation, refusal to divulge her address and her simply hanging on until my daughter's 16th birthday has paid off for her.

In June 2008 I again returned to Brazil in-person to try and see Rebeca. I was hoping to force an agreement on access and was willing to hand over Rebeca's UK bank account. I never imagined in my wildest dreams what would happen. On arrival at Guarulhos airport I was taken into custody by federal agents and put in a 3mX4m bare cell with 15 - 20 criminals on a charge of non-payment of child support (Brazil runs an archaic system of debtors' prisons a bit like those portrayed in the novels of Charles Dickens). I had offered to pay there and then at the airport but was told that either someone else would have to pay or I would have to serve 60 days. My father sent the money that was officially being claimed but was told by the British consulate that it wasn't enough. In fact the British consulate ended up conniving with the Brazilian authorities in a disgraceful example of duplicity. My lawyer got me out on appeal after 15 days but not after he had informed me thr ee days into my imprisonment that I had had my fathers' rights (patrio poder) officially removed and that Rebeca had been adopted by a man I had never even heard of in 2003. I had never even been summonsed or contacted about it and did not even know the name of this man. I have subsequently found out that his name is José Augusto Dos Santos Sá and he lives in São José dos Campos in Sao Paulo. Rebeca has had her birth certificate changed without my knowledge or permission and her name is now Rebeca Rezende Sá. Even my parents' names have been removed and replaced with those of José Augusto Dos Santos Sá's parents - people who are not her blood relatives.

Mara Silvia Oliveira Rezende is now Mara Silvia Rezende Sá, and she has behaved with extreme duplicity along with her mother and father in this matter. She has lied and delayed, refused access to the British Consulate and to Social Services in the city of Itu, Sao Paulo. She called social services posing as a lawyer and there has been no comeback. She has acted with complete impunity. Right up until the point at which I was imprisoned in July 2008, she and her parents had kept to the position that they had nothing against my seeing my daughter - just that she needed to be 'psychologically prepared'. When she found out that I was in jail, howver, she apparently danced for joy and said, 'he will never see Rebeca as long as he lives. I hope they deport him without a stitch on his back!' She was completely uninterested in discussing either access or money. I have managed to get this far with the support of friends. I sometimes feel like giving up completel y and putting everything in a box marked 'another life' but then I dream about my daughter, wake up breathless and sobbing and know that I have to keep on struggling. It is love that makes me do it.

--written in comment on Rio Gringa

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Adam's Story

I am a Kiwi living in Brazil, I married a Brazilian woman, but we separated in 2007. We have two children, aged 4 (girl) and 7 (boy) and I have remained here because I love them and wish to always be a part of their lives.

On the 2/27/09 I called my ex-wife to arrange to pick them up for the weekend as I normally do and was summarily informed that I would not be able to do so because my 4 year daughter had said that she didn't want to come to my house anymore because I was sexually abusing her.

This was shocking to say the least, I started calling my ex-wife, emailing her to try and get involved in the whole process. I gave them permission to test me in anyway that they wanted, investigate me, whatever... in my entire life I had never been in trouble with the law for anything, never assaulted anyone, never abused anyone!

To be honest at the start I thought that it would all end quickly, that with some further investigation it would all be shown to be a big mistake. And thus began what would become the worst months of my life.

I was calling my ex-wife everyday asking for updates on the situation. At the start she told me that they were looking into it, that everything would be alright and we would meet soon. Little did I know that she was only stalling me while so that she could pass a restraining order on me to officially keep me away from my own children.

Weeks went by and nothing. In the end I went to my local police station and filed an official complaint against her. Around a week later I was presented with a restraining order from a judge stating that I was not allowed within 150 meters of my own children.

Attached to this order was a detailed account of the things I had allegedly done, a statement from a Psychologist saying that I was a sexual predator of the worst kind, that I was the sort of monster that could not control his sexual urges and would even have sex with inanimate objects should the need arise.

All of this was created without ANY input from me. The Psychologist never asked to talk to me once, no one asked me for my side of the story.

I immediately had my lawyer file a counter statement to the justice stating that I denied all allegations and demanding a full investigation with the invitation (once again) to conduct any testing on me deemed necessary along with a specific request to have some kind of access to my children even if supervised.

At this stage I had not seen my children for 2 months or so.

It is now July and the silence is deafening, every few days I am calling my lawyer asking when are we finally going to get to court and all she says is that the process is sitting in a forum somewhere waiting for a judge to look at it. it has been like this for months.

In the meantime I have been advised to hire the best psychologist I can, a psychologist that charges $450 dollars per hour to counter the other psychologists claims because my ex wife's psychologist has a list of qualifications as long as my arm and her words have great weight in the justice system here.

I am not a rich man and this whole process has completely destroyed me, both financially and emotionally. On the other hand my wife's father is a millionaire here and he is funding the whole operation. I was informed at the start by my lawyer that I would need to spend a lot of money to win this case, even though she can see that it is a farce. She told me that if I did not have the money I would have to plea bargain, ask for some type of limited access to my children.

There is no way I can do this, so I am basically scratching up every cent I can to pay lawyer and psychologist fees. It is like the whole system is pitted against me, viewing me as guilty without even a trial. My wife has told all her family that I am a pedophile as well as her church congregation so a lot of people in my community know about this and I feel the eyes upon my back whenever I step outside my house.

So now you find me at the end of my tether, charged with sexually abusing my own two children, the ones I love most in the world. I just want to take them back to New Zealand, out of this backward shit hole they call Brazil.

The only thing that keeps me going now is a hope that I will see my children again and even then my hope is slipping away. Once this is gone I am not sure what I will do.

Once again the Brazilian system has failed. I cried the other night when I heard what happened to that poor Austrian man and his kids and I can only pray every night that my children are ok.

Thank you for listening, please wish me luck.

--written on Bring Sean Home forum

So you applied for a visa

2009-07-09T00:41:28-04:00

Last week, on my new visa series, I explained how to begin the K-1 visa process and the first set of paperwork you must fill out.

So, now you've arranged all of the documents for the I-129F package. You've probably filled out a couple of forms wrong several times and had to start over; had to re-write several documents; had to translate a lot of emails; endured several arguments along the way. You've gathered together every shred of physical evidence to prove your relationship. You've checked everything forty times. You've put everything in order. But you're done with this step! That's one hurdle down.

Next, you have to find which service center to send the package to. Visa Journey recommends you make two copies of the whole package, one for you, one for your fiance. If you live together, I think one is sufficient (considering how many pages you have to copy, it's already expensive enough with one.)

Now you go to the post office and send it off!

Prepare for the anti-climax.

You should receive your NOA-1 from USCIS about two weeks after they receive your application. That means they got your package and have begun to process the application. (If you don't get this within 3 weeks of when the package arrived at the service center, then you should get in touch with USCIS, because it probably means the package never arrived.)

The worst and longest part of the process comes now, even though it requires the least amount of work. This is when you wait. And wait some more. And wait, and wait, and hear nothing. You don't know what to tell people, since everything is in limbo. It creates tension and stress not knowing what's going on. I tried calling USCIS a couple of times and was never able to speak to an actual person, and I routinely harrassed the US consulate in Rio, with mixed results. I signed up for USCIS's online case system, so that I'd receive information as soon as it was released.

We sent our application in mid-December, and received our NOA-2, which is the notification that the I-129F application was approved, on April 2nd (by email), and a week or so later by snail mail. You can get an idea about processing times here, since it depends on the service center and the amount of applications they have.

Getting the NOA-2 is a huge victory, but it's really just the beginning of a whole other slew of paperwork and bureaucracy. But fear not! It's not nearly as bad as it may seem. It's straightfoward as long as you know what you need to do, and on the next K-1 post, I'll explain the I-134 package, and how your I-129F makes its way from the US service center to your fiance's local US consulate.

Complicado

2009-07-08T01:45:00-04:00

Depois de morar no Brasil, eu me sinto brasileira.

Sei que os militantes vão pirar ao ler isto, mas é a verdade. Para qualquer expatriota que mora por bastante tempo em outro país, é facil chegar a sentir como um cidadão desse lugar. Mas é essencial ter uma experiência "normal," ou seja, viver como uma pessoa desse país vive.

Depois de morar como estudante em três outros países, não me sinto espanhola, nem dominicana, e especialmente não argentina. Mas o meu amor para esses três lugares é muito mais puro e simples do que meu amor para o Brasil. Morei na Espanha, na Republica Dominicana e na Argentina em uma situação privilegiada, em uma realidade suspensa, parecida com a vida de uma estudante local mas sem o peso da responsibilidade adulta, que é vital para entender um pais. É certo que minha experiência no Brasil não é completamente autêntica, mas ao viver as mesmas tramas no dia-a-dia (e as maiores e mais complexas), cheguei a ter um entendimento muito mais profundo dos brasileiros.

A minha relação com o Brasil é complicada, como a de uma brasileira nata. Não é que a minha identidade americana seja simples; e não é. Mas morar no Brasil me deu uma perspectiva muito mais clara de como é ser americana, enquanto aprendi como é ser brasileira.

Ser brasileira é ter uma linha muito fina entre o amor e o ódio pela pátria, sentir o puxão entre o patriotismo cego e a desilusão total. Ser brasileira é negar os males enquanto reclama deles. Ser brasileira é colocar mais fé no futebol do que na política. Ser brasileira é ficar acima do muro enquanto joga pedras. Ser brasileira é sempre ser e ter filha, tia, prima, sobrinha, mãe. Ser brasileira é amar sem fim, ainda se doer. Ser brasileira é nunca estar sozinha.

Ser brasileira é escolher entre tampando os olhos ou deixando-os bem abertos. Ser brasileira é encolher os ombros para o seu dia progredir, para você sobreviver. Ser brasileira é rir para não chorar. Ser brasileira é suprimir à vergonha para fortalecer o orgulho. Ser brasileira é ter felicidade na superficie para esmagar a tristeza, empurrar ela mais para dentro e tentar esquecer dela. Ser brasileira é convencer-se sentir livre de problemas, para ficar leve apesar de carregar um peso nos ombros. Ser brasileira é trabalhar para viver, para realizar a prazer e lazer de estar vivo. Ser brasileira é comemorar o grande presente da vida enquanto enfrenta às piores maldições dos homens.

Ser brasileira é uma contradição.

Trouble in the Amazon

2009-07-07T01:20:23-04:00

Two news stories caught my eye this week, showing trouble brewing in the Amazon.

The first story isn't actually the Amazon, but rather the Pantanal, a swamp region in the southwestern part of Brazil. Three American graduate students were arrested there, accused of "crimes against the patrimony" by stealing minerals, as well as doing scientific research on tourist visas. The American and Brazilian coverage, as usual, differs considerably, in that the Brazilian coverage assumes the gringos are automatically guilty.

Here's an excerpt from the US Today story:

"University of Arizona geoscientists Michael McGlue, 31, and Mark Tress, 48, and University of Minnesota-Duluth student Kelly Wendt, 26, were arrested by federal police June 16 while working on a climate change project with the University of the State of Sao Paulo. The Americans spent eight nights in jail before being released on bail June 26. Police confiscated their passports as well as computers, research equipment, cellphones and cash.

Roberto Lins, the men's Brazilian lawyer, says the students may not go before a judge for six months and could face up to five years in prison if convicted of illegally prospecting for minerals."

Here's an excerpt from the Globo story:

"Segundo a polícia, o grupo fazia pesquisa sem autorização de nenhum órgão governamental brasileiro e sem comprovante de intercâmbio ou convênio com entidades de pesquisa do Brasil.

Ainda de acordo com a PF, eles faziam coleta de sedimentos, por meio de prospecção mineral. O material seria levado para os Estados Unidos, onde seriam analisados."

There are a couple of lessons to be gleaned from this story, and none of them are good. The first is that in rural areas like this one, you can get away with robbery, murder, and kidnapping, but not studying sand. And in this case, a study intended to do good, by monitoring climate change. The second is that this is yet one of several cases of foreigners being accused of scientific piracy and exploitation in Brazil, and it creates a major deterrent to scientific research and innovation there. The third is that Brazilian universities and scientific institutions need to be better prepared when working on projects like this, since the American students had trusted that USP had all of their permits in order and had followed their directions "just to apply for a tourist visa." If not, foreigners won't be able to trust these institutions and will go elsewhere to carry out similar projects. And finally, another lesson for foreigners in Brazil is to always, always have your paperwork in order. In the country of Great Bureaucracy, it's always better to be safe than sorry.

The second story takes place in Rondonia, the far northwest of Brazil. Ibama, the government agency responsible for protecting the environment, invaded a national park there. Though the land is supposed to be protected, 3,000 people live there raising 30,000 heads of cattle, and as a result, a quarter of the forest in the park has been destroyed. Ibama went in with 400 men to fine the cattle ranchers and to make them remove the cattle from the land immediately. However, the ranchers were angry, since the Minister of the Environment recently turned over part of the park land to the state to allow residents to stay on the destroyed part of the land.

So some ranchers decided to let Ibama have it. They set one of their cars on fire, and left this pathetically written threat:

It is in this note, I think, that the problem of environmental protection in Brazil becomes clear. The government and conservationists are up against uneducated, armed peons with few options for employment (and rich, well-connected businessmen who can get away with anything) amidst a sea of red tape and conflicting authorities and laws, none of which are effectively protecting the rainforest. This deadly combination spawns chaos, and so far, no solution has allowed the Brazilian government to figure out how to manage the delicate balance between development and conservation.

Brazil, Back in the Day

2009-07-06T02:00:00-04:00

Ray sent me a video about Sao Paulo from Travel Film Archive on Youtube, and there I discovered a treasure trove of videos made about Latin America (and countries around the world) from the 1930s to the 1970s. I discovered two videos about Rio and one about Southern Brazil, so I'm posting them here, as well as an overview of Latin America from Pan Am Airways, which includes footage of Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the Dutch Caribbean, Trinidad, the Guyanas, and a long section on Brazil.

The American interpretation of Brazilian realities is worth a listen, since the films were an attempt to glorify and romanticize Brazil. (I found the racial democracy explanation in the first Rio video a bit odd, juxtaposed with another part of the video in which they talk about the "animals" at the market and show footage of small black children interspersed with footage of monkeys.) It is amazing to be able to see actual footage from the earlier videos in the 1930s, to see just how different (and in some cases, how similar) things were, back in the day.

Be sure to check out some of the other gems about Havana, La Paz, Argentina, and Iguacu Falls. Watch the other four Brazil videos after the jump.

So you fell in love with a Brazilian

2009-07-03T01:20:45-04:00

I've found that a significant percentage of my readers, and a large number of Americans interested in Brazil, happen to be the significant other or spouse of a Brazilian. WIth increased contact between the two countries and Internet technology, American-Brazilian couples are likely to increase in number.

So with that in mind, I've decided to set aside a section for visa issues, specifically, a how-to guide on the K-1 visa to the US, which allows fiances of American citizens to emigrate to the US. It seems daunting at first, but as it turns out, it's an excellent and somewhat unique option for inter-national couples.

The first step is falling in love with a Brazilian. Not very difficult, actually. But this is an important step. Don't even think about trying to abuse this visa to get someone into the US for money or convenience; it only makes it harder for us legitimate couples to have a smoother, more fair process, and for Americans to exercise their rights to help family members emigrate. You also must be sure you want to invest in a long-term relationship with the person (and get married!) because not only must you marry once the fiance arrives in the US, but you must survive the visa and immigration process together without killing each other. (Also note--you must have met the person within two years of applying for the visa).

The next step is to familiarize yourself with the process. One of the best US visa websites out there is VisaJourney.com, which has been my "K-1 for Dummies" guide through the whole process. It has step-by-step guides, forums, timelines, US immigration forms, and pretty much everything you need to figure out how to do the K-1 and other immigration visas. Lots of people hire lawyers to do the K-1 for them, but the truth is, it's not necessary. Typically, this visa takes six months to get, which is better than the marriage visa, which can take between 6 and 18 months to get (I've heard various things).

Once you've taken a look at how the process works, you will probably feel somewhat frazzled and won't know exactly what to do next. But fear not! It seems complicated, but it's a lot more straightforward than it seems.

See BIG STEP #1 of the process after the jump.

Big Step 1:
For the first part of the K-1 visa, you must put together an I-129F package to send to USCIS, US Immigration Services. [Click the link above to see examples of all the documents below] Everything must be in English.

This includes*:

-a filled-out I-129F form (for US citizens--if you are living abroad, you must include a permanent address in the US for Question 2)

-2 filled out G-325A forms (one for you, and one for your fiance)

-a $455 check made out to USCIS

-a signed and dated cover letter, explaining the visa you're applying for and a table of contents of the documents included in the package

-a signed and dated declaration stating how you met your fiance in the last two years

-2 original letters (one from you, one from your fiance), stating you plan to marry within 90 days of your fiance entering the United States

-physical proof of having met your fiance in the past two years, as well as proof of relationship (photos, plane tickets, emails, IM conversations, etc) Everything must be translated into English!

-two passport-style photos (one of you, one of your fiance), with your names written on the back and clipped to the corresponding G-325A form

-copy of the U.S. citizen's birth certificate or a copy of all pages of the U.S. citizen's passport

*If you changed your name, are divorced, widowed, or have been convicted of a crime, you'll have more stuff to include. See here.

Next post: Big Step #2: putting it all together, sending it in, and the big wait.

Café com leite (água e azeite?)

2009-07-02T02:00:00-04:00

As the simple but brilliant title implies, this thirty minute documentary, made at the University of Sao Paulo, discusses the politics of race in Brazil -- coffee and milk, or water and vinegar? Split up into six parts on Youtube, the documentary tries to debunk the notion of "racial democracy" in Brazil, as well as explaining concepts of race, racism, and identity. The truth is that it's difficult to cover such a complex topic in less than an hour, but there is a lot of valuable and valid information, and more importantly, different views and opinions on race in Brazil.

Thanks to Alexandra for the link!

Watch the rest of the documentary after the jump. (Sorry--no English subtitles!)

Why Americans will never embrace soccer

2009-07-01T02:00:00-04:00

When Rodrigo over at Brasil Mundial FC wrote to me on Monday, I thought his question deserved a post. He wanted to know how Americans reacted to the historic U.S. vs. Brazil game on Sunday. He also asked, "Is soccer finally getting in the hearts of Americans?"

Officially, here is what happened. Soccer enthusiasts hoped that the surprising occasion would inspire more Americans to be interested in the game, and would attract new followers. The sports sections of the U.S. media widely covered the game, highlighting the big disappointment of the loss but also the hope inspired from getting so far. I watched the game with Eli, my brother, and my cousin, but I'm not sure I would have if Eli hadn't been here (let it be known that I don't follow any sports, but ever since I moved to Brazil and back, I've watched some of the important soccer games). ESPN reported that the game was the most-watched non-World Cup soccer game on cable TV [in American history?], with 3.9 million viewers in 2.6 million homes.

Now compare these ratings to the big U.S. sports, and 3.9 million is easily dwarfed. The 2009 Superbowl attracted a whopping 151.6 million American viewers, while the first game of the 2004 World Series was watched by 23 million viewers. The 2009 NBA Finals had 13.4 million viewers. Even the Stanley Cup, featuring America's less popular sport, hockey, brought in over 9 million viewers during the last game in 2009. The bigger question about Sunday's game was not how many Americans watched it, but how many Americans actually knew it was going on.

There are plenty of arguments as to why soccer has never become a popular spectator sport in the United States: it's too slow, it's too low-scoring, it has less action than say, American football.

But I would argue that three fundamental issues prevent soccer from taking its place in the ranks of American sports. The first is that we already have too many popular sports: football, baseball, basketball, hockey, even golf, tennis, and Nascar. The American appetite for sports is pretty much satiated, year round.

The second is that the real heart of any sport is regionalism. Even in Brazil, fans pour most of their energy into their city team (except during the World Cup), and those games are really some of the most exciting. Similarly, in the US, our most important games take place at the regional level in the domestic arena, rather than at the international level. (This is another strike against soccer, since some of the biggest games are international.) Also, regional US soccer teams have been written off, simply because so few people care. It would be difficult to have a genuine soccer movement without a serious popularization at the regional level.

The final issue is that there are certain sports that Americans follow, but only at very specific times, namely, during the Olympics. Since our major spectator sports are mostly domestic affairs, these sports are international, when we are given the chance to root for the US as a country, rather than a local team. While swimming, track and field, and gymnastics are huge draws during the Games, much fewer people care or watch them on a normal basis. We have a specific set of sports set aside to root for during the Olympics and to forget about for the next few years. So I have to disagree with this bit from the New York Times' June 28th article by William Rhoden, on Sunday's game and its impact on American soccer:

"The more difficult challenge is to cultivate a broader consumer appetite for soccer in the United States. Debates continue about changing the nature of the sport to fit the American mind-set.

Please, no.

Soccer does not need to be dumbed down to accommodate our Twittered attention span. The sport does not need more scoring or more commercial timeouts.

“People don’t need the sport to be different,” Garber said. “They just need a reason to believe, and every now and again, something happens where they have that reason.”

That’s the greatest misfortune of Sunday’s loss to Brazil. A victory would have been that reason."

It's possible that soccer could enter the pantheon of American spectator sports, but only in that special bracket of "once every four years" sports, like swimming. Instead of the Olympics, though, the big draw would be during the World Cup to root for the national team. Other than that, I don't anticipate soccer entering the ranks of football and baseball. It's just not our style.

The Puzzle of the Jewish Star

2009-06-30T02:00:00-04:00

Before I moved to Brazil, I rarely saw this symbol used for anything other Jews and Judaism.

But once I was in Brazil, I saw it cropping up everywhere.

The Catholics use it...

The evangelicals use it...

Some say you can even find it on Brazilian currency...

And I've seen many Brazilians wear this on a chain, though they definitely were not all Jewish...

But one of the most puzzling uses is in Northeastern folk art, specifically with the figure of the cangaceiro:

Though I've found some clues as to why this symbol seems to have been appropriated by different parts of Brazilian culture, I can't quite figure out how it went beyond the religious realm.

Any symbologists out there?

Subway Tales: Part I

2009-06-29T01:30:00-04:00

One of my favorite things to do in any city is to observe people and how they interact with each other, and in New York, there is no better place than on the subway.

1AM, on the uptown 5. Three teenagers sat across from me, making conversation slightly louder than necessary. One of the boys, tall with messy hair and dark track marks pocking both arms, leaned coolly against the pole, as a girl a few years his junior stared adoringly at him. A second boy, chubby and self-conscious, was seated next to the girl. They talked about getting drunk and getting high, about their plans for the next time they were planning on getting drunk and high, and drunken blather. I wondered if the girl was hiding track marks on her arms, and how old she was. I wanted to scream at her to get out, to get away from these useless people, that it wasn't worth it, that the boy's cold demeanor was obviously pointing to "he's-just-not-that-into-you" and a lot worse. But I bit my tongue, and watched her trail the boy off the train, lovingly clutching his bruised arm.

2PM, on the downtown 6. I clutched the pole, standing next to three Argentine girls excitedly chattering away. "Re bueno, che!" On my other side were a group of Latino kids and a teenager, who swatted at the children blocking the door, admonishing them in spitfire Dominican Spanish. Across from me, a man read a newspaper in Chinese, and two French tourists pored over a guidebook. "God, I love New York," I thought. The whole world is here.

10AM, on the crosstown shuttle. I stared into space at the ads across the top of the car, scenes from different cities, featuring Delta's new destinations. My heart skipped a beat and filled with saudades. [The photo below is the same ad, but Eli took it of a phone booth ad on the street]

7PM, on the Queens-bound N. A hugely tall man, around 6'7, white with messy hair, hauled four large garbage bags and a grocery cart onto the train. He wore dirty sneakers, cut-off sweatpants, and a grungy sweatshirt. He reeked. Once he managed to drag his stuff into a corner, he set off down the car, staring into people's faces to see who was alert and who might be willing to cough up some change. People busied themselves with their iPods and newspapers. He went one by one, leaning close into the passengers' faces: "Do you have a dollar?" It was somewhere between a plea and a statement, but with an aggressive edge, as if he didn't expect anything, despite the fact that mostly everyone did have a dollar to spare, but hoped to somehow intimidate people into giving him money. He returned to his corner empty-handed, and flopped onto the seat, expressionless.

Brazilian "Justice" Fails Yet Again

2009-06-26T02:51:37-04:00

Sasha Zanger, an Austrian man, married Brazilian woman Maristela dos Santos after meeting in Brazil in 1993. They lived in Austria and had two children, Sophie, age 4, and a boy, age 12. But their marriage came to an end and they divorced. Mr. Zanger paid child support ($1300 euros a month) but his ex-wife failed to give him adequate shared custody.

Then, in January 2008, she disappeared. She had kidnapped her children and brought them to Brazil.

Sound familiar?

Mr. Zanger then began a legal battle to get his children back, using the Hague Convention as the legal basis for his plea. Under the convention, his children should have been sent to Austria within 6 weeks of the kidnapping. That didn't happen. He fought in the courts, went to Brazil four times and spent $100,000 euros on travel and legal fees. Despite the fact that children were kidnapped, he continued to pay child support, especially since the children were living in a favela in precarious conditions.

But it did no good. Though Maristela was located in March 2008 in Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian courts granted custody to her sister, Geovana. Maristela suffers from mental illness, and her sister was given responsibility of the children in her stead. Maristela disappeared again in April 2009, and was only located on June 22nd.

Meanwhile, Mr. Zanger saw hope on the horizon: on June 17th, 2009 the Brazilian court granted a warrant for the search and seizure of the children. But the warrant was never put into effect, and law enforcement agents failed to act.

Just two days later, four year-old Sophie was pronounced dead at a hospital in Baixada Fluminense.

She had been severely beaten, with signs of cranial fracture, broken wrists, heavy bruising, and was also malnourished. Her legal guardian, her aunt Geovana, and her cousin, Geovana's daughter, are the prime suspects. They claim Sophie fell in the bathtub. In a TV interview, however, Sophie's brother claims he was the one who beat her, because his aunt told him to.

Mr. Zanger flew to Brazil this week and has refused to leave until he is given his son back, as well as his daughter's body. But after the murder, Maristela's adoptive mother was given custody of Mr. Zanger's son, and he must go back to the court to demand custody.

In the meantime, there is no indication the aunt and cousin were arrested, and Mr. Zanger's son remains in the custody of his ex-wife's adoptive mother.

Land of the Free

2009-06-25T02:00:00-04:00

Anytime I tell someone I just moved back from Brazil, their immediate question is, "What were you doing there?" The answer is a little complicated, and every time I try to explain the set of circumstances that brought me there and that I didn't have an actual career there. That I came back so I could have one.

Since April, I've been searching for a job in New York, even before I came home. I've applied to maybe two dozen places, and got interviews at three. I've been applying mostly to non-profits and a few private companies that do philanthropy, in the hopes that I can find something that involves social development or research in Latin America. I had three first interviews and one second interview, and really convinced myself I was getting the job, in the last case. But with no Masters and two years of unusual non-office jobs, I still find myself unemployed.

Before I came home, my mom had warned me how bad things were, but I waved her off. It wasn't until I got a fresh dose of rejection that I saw how bad the job market really is. I'm competing with people with years of experience and advanced degrees, and despite speaking three languages and having spent a lot of time abroad, I still haven't made the cut.

Though I've been scouring the job boards daily and networking with friends and acquaintances, I've lost a lot of steam since I found out I didn't get the job I thought I would. I haven't heard back from anywhere since then, nor have I found any jobs that look appealing.

The problem is that I came back here with the purpose of doing something worthwhile in my field, to start building a career, and not to take whatever comes around just for the sake of having a job. Though I do need a job for practical reasons, like health coverage and being able to get a lease, I'm still hoping I can find something up my alley. I can't imagine anything worse than languishing at a job I hate just to get by.

But I'm not feeling optimistic. A lot of jobs in my field are in Washington, but for logistical reasons it would be really difficult to move there at this point. I wouldn't mind trying something new, but it's hard to start a career in something totally different. I like teaching, but with no certification and lots more competition with seasoned veterans and properly trained candidates, I don't think I'd have much of a chance. The kind of job I'd like is in short supply in New York, and I'm worried it may be a long time before another opportunity arises.

I definitely don't regret moving back when I did, but I am concerned about what I'm going to do. I can't make a living out of blogging (I'm no Dooce), and making one out of writing is something of a pipe dream. Though I'm overjoyed Eli is finally here, I am weighed down by the stress of not having a full time job, with seemingly no prospects on the horizon.

Credo!

2009-06-24T02:00:00-04:00

I'm starting a new series called "Credo!" which is something of a mixture of funny or sad meets crazy and ridiculous. If you have submissions, please send them my way!

For today's post, we have two videos of evangelicals: a young girl preacher and a very, um, creative interpretation of the Bible. Or should I say, Brible.