Brasilia, Brazil

Brasília: from Utopia to the Capital and Political Arena of Brazil


Since the days of the Marquis of Pombal, there has been talk of transferring the capital to the interior. Today, the chimera city continues to look surreal but dictates the rules of Brazilian development.

The dry season of the Central Plateau is usually inclement with Brasília and the meteorology fulfilled its intentions.

The air had been hot and rough for some days now, almost devoid of moisture, mixed with a light dust that hurt the most sensitive throats.

“Let's go guys, with determination but respect…” an experienced “policeman” alerts over the loudspeaker.

When Demonstrations Take Over the Plateau

Not even the unbearable heat of mid-afternoon had deterred a mega-demonstration of the Federal Highway Police from forming at the appointed time, next to the city's exuberant cathedral.

We see the procession extending along the main avenues. And to linger on purpose at Praça dos Três Poderes, in front of the National Congress building, next to the Palácio do Planalto, where it was crucial that their demands for a career plan and more vacancies were heard.

Police demonstration, Brasilia, Utopia, Brazil

Demonstration of the National Highway Police passes in front of the Planalto Palace.

Brazilians seek their way to Order and Progress. At the same time, another creative protest, this time by teachers, was taking place on the lawn adjacent to the National Congress.

To guard against more than a certain unavailability of politicians to receive them, those responsible had placed dozens of images of deputies on seats. And it was to that inanimate audience that they demanded a salary “floor”, a demand uttered by a representative of the class from a makeshift pulpit.

The costs of interiority in the capital and, in particular, of these expressions of democracy are high. Expenses with transport, food, infrastructure and others reach the order of 2, 3, 4 and even more millions of Reais.

Ministries, Brasilia, Utopia, Brazil

Sequence of buildings in Brasília at sunset.

Despite being tiny compared to what was spent on the construction of Brasilia and the economic potential of Brazil, these numbers affect the promoting organizations that often disclose them to the press as an additional complaint.

The Historical Confines of the Brasilia Project

It was nothing that worried the government of the Marquis de Pombal too much when it considered, for the first time, transferring the capital of the Portuguese Empire to the less explored domains of the colony.

At that time, Brazil's easiest riches – gold and diamonds, instead of the immense present oil – came from the coast to the interior and it suited the Crown to exert the most comprehensive control of the territory as possible.

Installation with favelas, Brasilia, Utopia, Brazil

A work of art installed in Brasília, illustrates a basic type of housing that ended up surrounding the Brazilian capital

The idea was debated and disputed by several factions. Highlighting the Inconfidentes Mineiros. This group of rebels had been conjuring, for some time, a separatist revolt against the pour and other forms of implacable taxes that took to the metropolis part (1500 kg of gold annually) of the wealth accumulated by the wealthy population of Minas Gerais.

Ironically, his chosen place for the capital of the new republic was called São João d'El Rei. The plan was betrayed by a colonel who, in exchange, saw the debt he owed to the Crown forgiven.

In the same year of the French Revolution, the Inconfidentes were condemned in Rio de Janeiro and imprisoned. As a preventive example of new revolts. Tiradentes, the lowest-ranking conjuror, was hanged and quartered.

The willingness to relocate the capital has persisted throughout history, before and after Brazilian independence.

Sailors, Brasilia, Utopia, Brazil

Group of sailors attend a military ceremony.

The Slow Start of the Capital in the Heart of Brazil

In 1891, this change was included in the republican constitution and, at the same time, an Exploratory Commission for the Central Plateau of Brazil was constituted.

Only much later, in 1960, would the desired new capital become a reality, made possible by the political determination of President Juscelino Kubitschek.

Juscelino Kubitshek II Monument ,Brasilia, Utopia, Brazil

Resident crosses the space of the Memorial to Juscelino Kubitschek

Urban planner Lúcio Costa and the architect Oscar Niemeyer received an almost white letter.

They created a city in such an unusual way that, when Russian astronaut Yuri Gagarin visited it, he insisted on declaring: “I have the impression that I am disembarking on a different planet…”.

It's the same feeling we get as we walk along its wide avenues, between shapes created as a 60's vision of what a city in the distant future would be like.

A city that turned out to be the only one built in the XNUMXth century to achieve UNESCO World Heritage status.

Museum of the Republic, Brasilia, Utopia, Brazil

A passerby passes in front of the Museum of the Republic, another sui generis work by Niemeyer.

On the Margin of Urbanism and Architecture, the Humanized Life of Brasilia

Despite its appearance of an organic museum, Brasília quickly took on a contrasting life.

The Federal District welcomed migrants from all regions of Brazil and even from abroad in a much less harmonious way than expected.

In the proximity of the Monumental Axis, the different housing “wings” and the eccentric functional sectors of the city (amusements, culture, commerce, hotels, medical-hospital etc.), the population benefited from the jobs created by the state and those linked to them. It prospered.

Ministry of Environment, Brasilia, Utopia, Brazil

Employee walks next to the Ministry of Environment and Culture building.

At the same time, the municipalities of Goiás on the periphery welcomed thousands of extra newcomers who were looking for alternatives to the poverty of the areas they had abandoned.

Brasília is on the way to the 3 million inhabitants. In social terms, it is considered the 4th most unbalanced city in Brazil and until recently, the 16th of the world.

The crime numbers come, as expected, to match.

Installation with favelas, Brasilia, Utopia, Brazil

A work of art installed in Brasília, illustrates a basic type of housing that ended up surrounding the Brazilian capital

Little or nothing affects the elitist cream of politicians who maintain their luxurious domicile in the capital, but fly whenever they can to the great historic metropolises of the coast – read São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro – where, politics on the sidelines, continues to unfold the “true” Brazilian life.

For the middle class, and even more for the poor, Brasília is the city to deal with.

Installation with favelas, Brasilia, Utopia, Brazil

A work of art installed in Brasília, illustrates a basic type of housing that ended up surrounding the Brazilian capital

Driver Seu Zé and Brazil's So Wealthy Reality

A full-time taxi driver, Mr. Zé is more upset with the plague of demonstrations than with the “birds” (that's what he calls them), the speed cameras that the authorities have hidden in several trees on the avenue. Whenever you can, accelerate.

“These guys are still going to ruin the end of the day for me. I have to take my son to training on time, you know how the famous Brazilian paitrocínio is…” As there's no politician in the family, we try to get by with football, right? ”

Both the complaint and the ambition are old, but Seu Zé admits: “at least in international news, Brazil has only been showing for some time. You know … it has one of the fastest growing economies in the world and is predicted to become one of the top five within the next few decades…”

Itamaraty Palace Staircase, Brasilia, Utopia, Brazil

Employee heads towards the exit of the Itamaraty Palace.

The driver also ends up accepting that the hyper-modern, almost luxurious van in which he works can be considered a result of this new prosperity. However, at the time of the last revision of this text, April 2020, Jair Bolsonaro's Brazil was experiencing a period of social and economic crisis aggravated by the Covid 19 pandemic.

Inside the taxi, we lost track of time. Meanwhile the crowd of protesters had demobilized. When we least expect it, the sun starts to set. Paint an orange sky wall that appears to close off the city to the west.

There is another one of the famous exuberant sunsets in Brasília. A rival twilight follows.

The following morning, several new demonstrations were planned and, who knows, one or another scandal of the ones that give more meaning to the nation's newspapers.

One of the buildings of the architect Oscar Niemeyer that make up Praça dos Três Poderes.

Deputies and senators will occupy their seats in the chamber of the National Congress.

As it has done since the 70s, through its decisions, for better and for worse, Brasília would decide the future of Brazil.

Antenna de Brasilia marks the center of a gaudy twilight that takes over the capital.

Passo do Lontra, Miranda, Brazil

The Flooded Brazil of Passo do Lontra

We are on the western edge of Mato Grosso do Sul but bush, on these sides, is something else. In an extension of almost 200.000 km2, the Brazil it appears partially submerged, by rivers, streams, lakes and other waters dispersed in vast alluvial plains. Not even the panting heat of the dry season drains the life and biodiversity of Pantanal places and farms like the one that welcomed us on the banks of the Miranda River.
manaus, Brazil

The Jumps and Starts of the former World Rubber Capital

From 1879 to 1912, only the Amazon River basin generated the latex that, from one moment to another, the world needed and, out of nowhere, Manaus became one of the most advanced cities on the face of the Earth. But an English explorer took the tree to Southeast Asia and ruined pioneer production. Manaus once again proved its elasticity. It is the largest city in the Amazon and the seventh in Brazil.
Curitiba, Brazil

The High-Quality Life of Curitiba

It is not only the altitude of almost 1000 meters at which the city is located. Cosmopolitan and multicultural, the capital of Paraná has a quality of life and human development rating that make it a unique case in Brazil.
Sheets of Bahia, Brazil

The Swampy Freedom of Quilombo do Remanso

Runaway slaves have survived for centuries around a wetland in Chapada Diamantina. Today, the quilombo of Remanso is a symbol of their union and resistance, but also of the exclusion to which they were voted.
Perth, Australia

the lonely city

More 2000km away from a worthy counterpart, Perth is considered the most remote city on the face of the Earth. Despite being isolated between the Indian Ocean and the vast Outback, few people complain.
Goiás Velho, Brazil

A Gold Rush Legacy

Two centuries after the heyday of prospecting, lost in time and in the vastness of the Central Plateau, Goiás esteems its admirable colonial architecture, the surprising wealth that remains to be discovered there.
Singapore

The Island of Success and Monotony

Accustomed to planning and winning, Singapore seduces and recruits ambitious people from all over the world. At the same time, it seems to bore to death some of its most creative inhabitants.
Itaipu Binational Hydroelectric Power Plant, Brazil

Itaipu Binational Hydroelectric Power Plant: Watt Fever

In 1974, thousands of Brazilians and Paraguayans flocked to the construction zone of the then largest dam in the world. 30 years after completion, Itaipu generates 90% of Paraguay's energy and 20% of Brazil's.
Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, lions
Safari
NP Gorongosa, Mozambique

The Wild Heart of Mozambique shows Signs of Life

Gorongosa was home to one of the most exuberant ecosystems in Africa, but from 1980 to 1992 it succumbed to the Civil War waged between FRELIMO and RENAMO. Greg Carr, Voice Mail's millionaire inventor received a message from the Mozambican ambassador to the UN challenging him to support Mozambique. For the good of the country and humanity, Carr pledged to resurrect the stunning national park that the Portuguese colonial government had created there.
Mount Lamjung Kailas Himal, Nepal, altitude sickness, mountain prevent treat, travel
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 2th - Chame a Upper BananaNepal

(I) Eminent Annapurnas

We woke up in Chame, still below 3000m. There we saw, for the first time, the snowy and highest peaks of the Himalayas. From there, we set off for another walk along the Annapurna Circuit through the foothills and slopes of the great mountain range. towards Upper Banana.
Architecture & Design
napier, New Zealand

Back to the 30s – Old-Fashioned Car Tour

In a city rebuilt in Art Deco and with an atmosphere of the "crazy years" and beyond, the adequate means of transportation are the elegant classic automobiles of that era. In Napier, they are everywhere.
Boats on ice, Hailuoto Island, Finland.
Adventure
Hailuoto, Finland

A Refuge in the Gulf of Bothnia

During winter, the island of Hailuoto is connected to the rest of Finland by the country's longest ice road. Most of its 986 inhabitants esteem, above all, the distance that the island grants them.
drinks entre reis, cavalhadas de pirenopolis, crusades, brazil
Ceremonies and Festivities
Pirenópolis, Brazil

Brazilian Crusades

Christian armies expelled Muslim forces from the Iberian Peninsula in the XNUMXth century. XV but, in Pirenópolis, in the Brazilian state of Goiás, the South American subjects of Carlos Magno continue to triumph.
good buddhist advice
Cities
Chiang Mai, Thailand

300 Wats of Spiritual and Cultural Energy

Thais call every Buddhist temple wat and their northern capital has them in obvious abundance. Delivered to successive events held between shrines, Chiang Mai is never quite disconnected.
Obese resident of Tupola Tapaau, a small island in Western Samoa.
Meal
Tonga, Western Samoa, Polynesia

XXL Pacific

For centuries, the natives of the Polynesian islands subsisted on land and sea. Until the intrusion of colonial powers and the subsequent introduction of fatty pieces of meat, fast food and sugary drinks have spawned a plague of diabetes and obesity. Today, while much of Tonga's national GDP, Western Samoa and neighbors is wasted on these “western poisons”, fishermen barely manage to sell their fish.
Maiko during cultural show in Nara, Geisha, Nara, Japan
Culture
Kyoto, Japan

Survival: The Last Geisha Art

There have been almost 100 but times have changed and geishas are on the brink of extinction. Today, the few that remain are forced to give in to Japan's less subtle and elegant modernity.
Reindeer Racing, Kings Cup, Inari, Finland
Sport
Inari, Finland

The Wackiest Race on the Top of the World

Finland's Lapps have been competing in the tow of their reindeer for centuries. In the final of the Kings Cup - Porokuninkuusajot - , they face each other at great speed, well above the Arctic Circle and well below zero.
Cove, Big Sur, California, United States
Traveling
Big Sur, USA

The Coast of All Refuges

Over 150km, the Californian coast is subjected to a vastness of mountains, ocean and fog. In this epic setting, hundreds of tormented souls follow in the footsteps of Jack Kerouac and Henri Miller.
Jingkieng Wahsurah, Nongblai Village Roots Bridge, Meghalaya, India
Ethnic
Meghalaya, India

The Bridges of the Peoples that Create Roots

The unpredictability of rivers in the wettest region on Earth never deterred the Khasi and the Jaintia. Faced with the abundance of trees elastic fig tree in their valleys, these ethnic groups got used to molding their branches and strains. From their time-lost tradition, they have bequeathed hundreds of dazzling root bridges to future generations.
View of Fa Island, Tonga, Last Polynesian Monarchy
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

Exotic Signs of Life

Aswan, Egypt, Nile River meets Black Africa, Elephantine Island
History
Aswan, Egypt

Where the Nile Welcomes the Black Africa

1200km upstream of its delta, the Nile is no longer navigable. The last of the great Egyptian cities marks the fusion between Arab and Nubian territory. Since its origins in Lake Victoria, the river has given life to countless African peoples with dark complexions.
View from Pico Verde to Praia Grande, São Vicente, Cape Verde
Islands
São Vicente, Cape Verde

The Volcanic Arid Wonder of Soncente

A return to São Vicente reveals an aridity as dazzling as it is inhospitable. Those who visit it are surprised by the grandeur and geological eccentricity of the fourth smallest island in Cape Verde.
ala juumajarvi lake, oulanka national park, finland
Winter White
Kuusamo ao PN Oulanka, Finland

Under the Arctic's Icy Spell

We are at 66º North and at the gates of Lapland. In these parts, the white landscape belongs to everyone and to no one like the snow-covered trees, the atrocious cold and the endless night.
On the Crime and Punishment trail, St. Petersburg, Russia, Vladimirskaya
Literature
Saint Petersburg, Russia

On the Trail of "Crime and Punishment"

In St. Petersburg, we cannot resist investigating the inspiration for the base characters in Fyodor Dostoevsky's most famous novel: his own pities and the miseries of certain fellow citizens.
capillary helmet
Nature
Viti levu, Fiji

Cannibalism and Hair, Fiji Islands' Old Pastimes

For 2500 years, anthropophagy has been part of everyday life in Fiji. In more recent centuries, the practice has been adorned by a fascinating hair cult. Luckily, only vestiges of the latest fashion remain.
Sheki, Autumn in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Autumn Homes
Autumn
Sheki, Azerbaijan

autumn in the caucasus

Lost among the snowy mountains that separate Europe from Asia, Sheki is one of Azerbaijan's most iconic towns. Its largely silky history includes periods of great harshness. When we visited it, autumn pastels added color to a peculiar post-Soviet and Muslim life.
Tibetan heights, altitude sickness, mountain prevent to treat, travel
Natural Parks

Altitude Sickness: the Grievances of Getting Mountain Sick

When traveling, it happens that we find ourselves confronted with the lack of time to explore a place as unmissable as it is high. Medicine and previous experiences with Altitude Evil dictate that we should not risk ascending in a hurry.
Jeep crosses Damaraland, Namibia
UNESCO World Heritage
Damaraland, Namíbia

Namibia On the Rocks

Hundreds of kilometers north of Swakopmund, many more of Swakopmund's iconic dunes Sossuvlei, Damaraland is home to deserts interspersed with hills of reddish rock, the highest mountain and ancient rock art of the young nation. the settlers South Africans they named this region after the Damara, one of the Namibian ethnic groups. Only these and other inhabitants prove that it remains on Earth.
Visitors to Ernest Hemingway's Home, Key West, Florida, United States
Characters
Key West, United States

Hemingway's Caribbean Playground

Effusive as ever, Ernest Hemingway called Key West "the best place I've ever been...". In the tropical depths of the contiguous US, he found evasion and crazy, drunken fun. And the inspiration to write with intensity to match.
mini-snorkeling
Beaches
Phi Phi Islands, Thailand

Back to Danny Boyle's The Beach

It's been 15 years since the debut of the backpacker classic based on the novel by Alex Garland. The film popularized the places where it was shot. Shortly thereafter, the XNUMX tsunami literally washed some away off the map. Today, their controversial fame remains intact.
The Crucifixion in Helsinki
Religion
Helsinki, Finland

A Frigid-Scholarly Via Crucis

When Holy Week arrives, Helsinki shows its belief. Despite the freezing cold, little dressed actors star in a sophisticated re-enactment of Via Crucis through streets full of spectators.
Train Kuranda train, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
On Rails
Cairns-Kuranda, Australia

Train to the Middle of the Jungle

Built out of Cairns to save miners isolated in the rainforest from starvation by flooding, the Kuranda Railway eventually became the livelihood of hundreds of alternative Aussies.
Street Bar, Fremont Street, Las Vegas, United States
Society
Las Vegas, USA

The Sin City Cradle

The famous Strip has not always focused the attention of Las Vegas. Many of its hotels and casinos replicated the neon glamor of the street that once stood out, Fremont Street.
Ditching, Alaska Fashion Life, Talkeetna
Daily life
Talkeetna, Alaska

Talkeetna's Alaska-Style Life

Once a mere mining outpost, Talkeetna rejuvenated in 1950 to serve Mt. McKinley climbers. The town is by far the most alternative and most captivating town between Anchorage and Fairbanks.
Boat and helmsman, Cayo Los Pájaros, Los Haitises, Dominican Republic
Wildlife
Samaná PeninsulaLos Haitises National Park Dominican Republic

From the Samaná Peninsula to the Dominican Haitises

In the northeast corner of the Dominican Republic, where Caribbean nature still triumphs, we face an Atlantic much more vigorous than expected in these parts. There we ride on a communal basis to the famous Limón waterfall, cross the bay of Samaná and penetrate the remote and exuberant “land of the mountains” that encloses it.
Napali Coast and Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii Wrinkles
Scenic Flights
napali coast, Hawaii

Hawaii's Dazzling Wrinkles

Kauai is the greenest and rainiest island in the Hawaiian archipelago. It is also the oldest. As we explore its Napalo Coast by land, sea and air, we are amazed to see how the passage of millennia has only favored it.