SAO PAULO BRIEFING March 2005

News this month

Marta's legacy

José Serra, São Paulo’s new mayor, is struggling to deal with his predecessor’s fiscal legacy. Mr Serra, who succeeded the left-leaning Marta Suplicy in January, has revealed that the city will only be able to pay half the debts it owes to contractors—about 1 billion reais ($395m)—during his four-year term. The rest will have to wait until 2012. São Paulo has a budget deficit of nearly 2 billion reais and a slew of questionable municipal contracts. Shortly after taking office, Mr Serra froze all discretionary investment spending (nearly one-third of his annual budget), pending further review.

There will be little cash left to tackle the issues high on the new mayor's agenda, such as improving healthcare and education, and fighting slums and traffic. Still, he has announced plans to bring two of São Paulo's biggest slums—which house roughly 20% of the city's slum population—under his jurisdiction. They have been run mostly by drug barons; he hopes to bring them basic services, public transport and police. Mr Serra is also putting his mark on the city’s public schools: uniforms will change from red (the colour of Mrs Suplicy’s Worker’s Party) to blue, the colour favoured by the PDSB, Mr Serra's party.

A continuing crisis

Riots, break-outs and the death of another inmate kept São Paulo’s juvenile detention system in the news in February and March. The surge of violence in institutions run by the Foundation for the Wellbeing of Minors (FEBEM) also provoked complaints from human-rights organisations. In February the FEBEM, which is trying to modernise its rehabilitation methods, sacked more than 1,700 employees, some of whom were suspected of torturing inmates. It then controversially dismissed a child psychologist who advocated a more enlightened approach.

The continuing crisis may threaten the ambitions of Geraldo Alckmin, the state governor, who plans to run for president in 2006. Critics accuse him of attempting to devolve responsibility for the problem to the federal government. There are 77 juvenile detention units in São Paulo state, more than half of them in the city. They house about 18,000 children aged 12 to 18.

A knotty problem

A Valentine's Day wedding seemed like a romantic idea for Ronaldo, Brazil’s biggest football star. The ceremony was scheduled to take place in a pretty French chateau, with his fiancé, Daniella Cicarelli, a Paulistano model and television presenter. Alas, it was not meant to be. After French authorities discovered that the footballer's divorce from his first wife, Milene Domingues, will not be final until June 2005, they quashed his nuptuals. Antonio Maria Borges, a favourite confessor of Brazil's celebrities, was flown to the chateau to give a blessing to the couple. Though the Brazilian press kept referring to the event as a wedding, the Archdiocese of São Paulo insisted that it was not, despite the couple's rather fancy regalia.

Hard to get around

There was more bad news than good for São Paulo's commuters in March. The popular bilhete unico, a single ticket that allows passengers to change buses for up to two hours, will be extended to the metro by the end of the year. But this welcome development was overshadowed by an increase in fares. The price of tickets rose by 20 centavos (7 cents), with buses now costing 2 reais a ride and the metro 2.10 reais. Mayor José Serra said the increase was needed to finance both increases in single-ticket cost and wages for public-transport drivers.

In another blow to commuters, São Paulo state refused to integrate its metropolitan buses, which carry more than 1.2m passengers into the city every day, into the single-ticket system. Longer journeys are more expensive and the bus companies cannot afford to match the inner-city fare.

Catch if you can

March 2005

Musical interludes

Until March 15th 2005

There are plenty of opportunities for music enthusiasts in São Paulo in March. As part of the Avon Women of Brazil series, some of the nation's top female vocalists are in town, including Elza Soares and Tania Maria (pictured), two chanteuses with international reputations. Andy Summers, once guitarist in The Police, a popular British rock band from the 1980s, is also visiting to promote his new album, “Splendid Brasil”. This collection of Brazilian jazz and bossa nova classics features Mr Summers performing with Victor Biglione, one of Brazil’s best-known jazz guitarists and violinists. It is the second album the pair have made together.

Elza Soares and Fernanda Porto: March 10th at 9pm. Tania Maria: March 11th at 9pm; March 13th at 6pm. Sesc Pompéia, r. Clélia 93, Água Branca. Tel: +55 (11) 3871-7700. See website.

Andy Summers and Victor Biglione: March 9th at 8pm. SL Music Hall, R. José Maria Lisboa 745, Jardim Paulista. Tel: +55 (11) 55-11-3884-9149. March 15th at 9.30pm. Via Funchal, Rua Funchal 65, Vila Olímpia. Tel: +55 (11) 3038-6698.

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