BRAZIL: Former Student Radical in Runoff for Mayor of Rio

[magbana]

Subsequent NYT article reports Gabeira lost the mayoral race run-off: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/27/world/americas/27rio.html
but the following article is well-worth reading.
magbana


NYT: Former Student Radical in Runoff for Mayor of Rio

Posted by: "Walter Lippmann" [e-mail] walterlx
Sun Oct 26, 2008 5:35 am (PDT)

(A founder of the Green Party, and running against a supporter of the
Workers Party led by Lula,

("Just a month ago, few political analysts gave Mr. Gabeira much of a
chance. But a campaign backed by many of Rio's wealthy businessmen and
intellectual elites has helped him make a surprising surge in recent
weeks.

("Powerful men like Eike Batista, the billionaire mining magnate, have
thrown their support behind Mr. Gabeira. Even Valerie Elbrick, the
daughter of the late Ambassador C. Burke Elbrick, whom Mr. Gabeira
helped kidnap, supports his campaign. She says she forgave him long
ago for the kidnapping.

("'He is a charming man, and if I were not working for Obama I would
probably be working for Gabeira,' Mrs. Elbrick said by phone from
Washington on Friday."
---------------------------
("Mr. Gabeira was later captured, tortured, convicted and incarcerated
by the military dictatorship. In June 1970, he was expelled from
Brazil as part of a prisoner swap for the kidnapped German ambassador,
and for 10 years he lived in exile in Algeria, Cuba, Chile, Sweden and
Italy.")
---------------------------
("Mr. Gabeira remains a polarizing figure, and in particular he is
unpopular with evangelicals because of his positions on drugs,
homosexuality and abortion. In a debate with Mr. Paes this month, both
men said they had smoked marijuana; Mr. Paes said he did not like it.")
================================================================

THE NEW YORK TIMES
October 26, 2008
Former Student Radical in Runoff for Mayor of Rio
By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/world/americas/26rio.html

RIO DE JANEIRO — In September 1969, Fernando Gabeira helped kidnap the
American ambassador to Brazil to protest the military government's
oppressive dictatorship here. On Sunday, he could become this city's
next mayor.

In the nearly four decades since that episode catapulted Mr. Gabeira
into Brazilian history, the former student militant, now 67, has
become a respected writer, congressman and symbol of the left here —
although a photo of him wearing a woman's bikini bottom also made him
a sex symbol of sorts.

Now the slender, soft-spoken former guerrilla has a chance to help
chart the future of a city that many say is crying out for radical
redefinition after decades of steadily losing its place as a
diplomatic and business hub in Brazil.

Heading into a runoff here, Mr. Gabeira was running in polls last week
only slightly behind Eduardo Paes, a 38-year-old congressman allied
with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil's president.

Just a month ago, few political analysts gave Mr. Gabeira much of a
chance. But a campaign backed by many of Rio's wealthy businessmen and
intellectual elites has helped him make a surprising surge in recent
weeks.

Powerful men like Eike Batista, the billionaire mining magnate, have
thrown their support behind Mr. Gabeira. Even Valerie Elbrick, the
daughter of the late Ambassador C. Burke Elbrick, whom Mr. Gabeira
helped kidnap, supports his campaign. She says she forgave him long
ago for the kidnapping.

"He is a charming man, and if I were not working for Obama I would
probably be working for Gabeira," Mrs. Elbrick said by phone from
Washington on Friday. If he wins, she said, "it's going to be a huge
task with the scale of the problems in Rio."

"But he has taken on huge tasks before, and I have confidence in him,"
she added.

What Mr. Gabeira lacks in administrative experience, his supporters
say, he makes up for with a remarkably even temperament and a
reputation for clearly stating his positions, which include legalizing
marijuana, abortion and gay marriage.

Mr. Gabeira has been engaged with a wide-ranging group of Rio
residents who are debating the future of a city that has become best
known for its beaches, violent crime and bacchanalian street carnivals.

"Rio is a city that needs inspired leadership, someone that that can
really help us reinvent ourselves," said Amaury de Souza, a political
analyst who heads MCM Consultants here. "Gabeira is modern, someone
that is completely attuned to present times."

In the last half-century, Rio has suffered one disappointment after
another. In 1960 it lost its place as the country's capital and
federal district when Brasília was built. Then the military merged the
city with the adjoining state of Rio de Janeiro, forcing the city
almost overnight to share its tax base with a much larger and far
poorer entity.

Today the city of six million people still has about the same average
income per person that it did in the 1970s, adjusted for inflation,
even as outlying areas of the state have become wealthier, Mr. de
Souza said.

Several economic blows took a further toll on the city's importance.
Rio's major banks and many of its industries left the city in the past
two decades, most going to São Paulo. A trading scandal forced Rio's
stock exchange to merge its meager assets with São Paulo's Bovespa in
1989. Today the Bovespa is the largest stock exchange in Latin America.

The feeling in Rio is not dissimilar to the feeling that existed in
Bogotá, Colombia, some 15 years ago when that city was crying out for
bold change. A series of mayors there, including Enrique Peñalosa,
helped lower crime and redefine the urban landscape by restricting
automobile use and creating grand public spaces.

In Rio, many would-be reformers are betting on Mr. Gabeira to turn
around a city where he made headlines as a 28-year-old guerrilla fighter.

He was among four men with pistols who kidnapped Mr. Elbrick on Sept.
4, 1969, threatening to kill him if the Brazilian government did not
release 15 political prisoners and fly them into exile. Brazil's
military leaders met the demands after a tense four-day standoff.

"I don't condone the methods," said Mrs. Elbrick, 66. "But they were
idealistic people. My father realized he wasn't dealing with thugs.
These were intelligent young men who were at heart peaceful people."

It is not clear how the kidnapping would affect Mr. Gabeira's ability
to obtain a visa to enter the United States were he to be elected
mayor. A State Department spokeswoman did not return calls Friday
seeking clarification.

Mr. Gabeira was later captured, tortured, convicted and incarcerated
by the military dictatorship. In June 1970, he was expelled from
Brazil as part of a prisoner swap for the kidnapped German ambassador,
and for 10 years he lived in exile in Algeria, Cuba, Chile, Sweden and
Italy.

He wrote a memoir about the kidnapping that was the basis of a 1997
movie, "Four Days in September," starring Alan Arkin as Ambassador
Elbrick. It was nominated for an Academy Award for best
foreign-language film.

When Mr. Gabeira returned to Brazil in 1979 he made headlines again
when a photo was published of him on Ipanema Beach in an itsy-bitsy
bathing suit. Years later he said it was the bottom part of a bikini
belonging to his cousin, Leda Nagle, a Brazilian television hostess.

His experience in Western Europe shaped many of the political ideas he
brought back to Brazil. He helped found the Green Party in Brazil and
was an early promoter of ecological awareness in a country that had
long considered environmental protection a luxury of more developed
nations.

His political career initially stalled when he ran unsuccessfully for
governor of Rio State in 1986. After the defeat, he focused on his
journalism career, serving as a foreign correspondent in Germany in
the early 1990s.

In 1994, he was elected to Congress, running as a Green on an
"ecological and economical" campaign; he used recycled paper in his
pamphlets and sought votes while riding a bicycle affixed with a
microphone and speakers.

Despite his recent climb in the polls, victory is still not a given in
the mayoral race. Mr. Gabeira remains a polarizing figure, and in
particular he is unpopular with evangelicals because of his positions
on drugs, homosexuality and abortion. In a debate with Mr. Paes this
month, both men said they had smoked marijuana; Mr. Paes said he did
not like it.

Beyond those cultural flashpoints, neither man has proposed any bold,
sweeping initiatives. Mr. Gabeira has said he would light streets
better to try to reduce crime, and Mr. Paes has said he would seek
more state funds for city projects. But Mr. Gabeira, especially, has
repeatedly said he would not make big promises.

"Neither of them has any administrative experience to speak of," Mr.
de Souza said. "But that is not what voters are asking for. They want
something new and fresh to be done to the city of Rio. He who embodies
that kind of message will win the election."