'Worst mayor' in history of Rio de Janeiro, known as 'the Calamity', appointed as South African amba
15 June 2021
What has South Africa done to deserve Brazil sending a racist figure such as Marcelo Crivella, who has been accused of running a criminal organisation out of Rio City Hall, to serve as its ambassador to a supposedly key diplomatic partner?
South Africa and Brazil were supposed to have many agendas in common in the context of deepening North-South inequalities. These supposed BRICS allies could have been working towards a new global vaccination scheme that included the removal of industrial patents and an international stimulus package for poorer countries.
Both countries share a history of racial oppression and authoritarian governments and there is much to learn and share in terms of overcoming the continuing challenges of inequality, environmental destruction and poverty that plague our nations. However, none of this seems to matter for the increasingly authoritarian Bolsonaro government, which has just appointed Marcelo Crivella, an evangelical bishop and the worst mayor in the history of Rio de Janeiro, as Brazil’s new ambassador to South Africa.
Crivella is not only totally unsuited for such an important diplomatic posting, but he is also facing ongoing criminal charges relating to allegedly running a criminal organisation out of Rio City Hall. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he has repeatedly made openly racist sentiments about South Africans and Africa. This begs the question: what has South Africa done to deserve Brazil sending such a figure to serve as its ambassador to a supposedly key diplomatic partner?
Who is Marcelo Crivella?
Crivella is an evangelical pastor, ex-minister of fisheries and senator. He served as mayor of Rio from 2017 until 2020. During his time as mayor, Brazil’s “Marvellous City” faced an unending series of overlapping economic, social and environmental crises. Crivella is widely regarded as the worst mayor in the history of the city, and Rio has more or less only known terrible mayors. The scale and number of scandals over the decades involving Crivella are enough to fill several books. His time in office was so nightmarish that many Cariocas, as Rio’s residents are known, referred to him simply as “the Calamity”.
Rio, a city renowned for its open and cosmopolitan culture, became better known for religious fundamentalism and the collapse of basic services. Crivella, elected on the promise of cutting skyrocketing debts, more or less, slashed all public spending for basic services except contracts for his cronies, leading to the collapse of transport infrastructure, sewage systems and serious environmental disasters. Then there are the criminal charges; prosecutors allege that Crivella was the head of “a well-structured and complex criminal organisation… that had acted in city hall since 2017” and received millions of dollars of bribes. In fact, there was even an office set up in city hall known as “the bribery HQ”.
If that wasn’t bad enough, he handed over key public positions to the churches, pastors became powerful public officials, members of his church were allowed to cut lines in the waiting list for surgeries and public space was used for religious events. He slashed funds for all public services and in essence refused to govern the city. And of course, lucrative contracts were given over to his religious allies.
More:
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2021-06-15-worst-mayor-in-history-of-rio-de-janeiro-known-as-the-calamity-appointed-as-south-african-ambassador/
Marcelo Crivella
Yup, he has those dead lying evangelist eyes we have seen in so many US
televangelists' photos.
Night of the Living Dead.
Mummies belong in North Africa, not South Africa.
