Economist.com Cities Guide: Sao Paulo Briefing - December 2005

News this month

Death of a symbol

On November 12th, Cleonder Santos Evangelista, a 20-year-old, died of pneumonia in a São Paulo prison. This would not have been headline news had Mr Santos Evangelista not previously been hailed as a symbol of what the state’s troubled reform schools for 12- to 18-year-olds, known as Febem, could produce. Released in 2003 from Febem, where he was held for drug-trafficking and attempted murder, he won a book contract and a scholarship, went on a lecture circuit and met Luiz Ignácio Lula da Silva, Brazil's president. When he was arrested on murder charges in July, Mr Santos Evangelista claimed he was being persecuted by a detective he had criticised in his book, “Light at the end of the tunnel: the success story of an ex-Febem inmate.”

His death in prison has drawn the media’s attention to Febem’s problems, which include overcrowding, violence against inmates, escapes and staff strikes. In November, riots in Febem's Tatuapé complex in São Paulo state left one inmate dead and 55 injured. The state governor, Geraldo Alckmin, criticised the judges for sending too many children to an already overcrowded system, and non-governmental organisations for inciting riots. (The NGOs deny this, but they are active in pressing for inmate rights and publicising cases of abuse.) These harsh words may haunt him should he win his party’s nomination for next year’s presidential elections.

Serra’s penalties

When José Serra became mayor of São Paulo in January, he promised to crack down on drivers who flouted the city’s traffic laws. Known as “choque de fiscalização” (“shock of enforcement”), the blitz appears to be working; the city collected 213m reais ($97m) in traffic fines during the first half of the year, a small rise from 207m reais during the same period last year. Congestion is easing as more people respect their “rodízio”, the one day a week when cars are not allowed to circulate during morning and afternoon rush hours, depending on the last figure on their number plates. Those caught, either by radar or traffic police, are fined 85.12 reais. From January to October the number of such fines nearly doubled—to 650,000—compared with the same period last year.

But Mr Serra’s crackdown has had a few glitches. Nearly 4,000 speeding tickets had to be cancelled due to equipment failure, and 9,500 “rodízio” fines were annulled because the clocks in some radar machines had not been adjusted for daylight saving.

Airport congestion

More flights, more passengers and more construction, along with the success of low-cost carriers, have lengthened the lines at Congonhas, São Paulo’s inner-city airport. Passenger numbers for the first nine months of 2005 were up 30% from the same period last year, making it the busiest of the region’s three airports. Built in the 1930s to cater to 6m passengers a year, the airport welcomed twice that number in 2004, and 15m are expected this year. Congestion inside the airport is matched by traffic jams outside, caused by the construction of a new parking area.

On November 21st BRA, a former cargo carrier, entered the low-cost passenger market, with Congonhas as its hub. It plans flights to Rio de Janeiro for 99 reais ($47), as well as to 22 other cities.

Woman head for USP

The Universidade de São Paulo (USP), often named South America’s top university, will have a female rector for the first time in its 71 years. Dr Suely Vilela Sampaio, who is 51 and a graduate of the Ribeirão Preto campus of USP in biochemistry and pharmaceutical studies, was most recently the university’s director of post-graduate studies. She beat two other candidates in a final round of voting, and her appointment got the necessary approval of the state governor, Geraldo Alckmin, on November 24th. Dr Vilela said her priority would be to increase the number of students at USP from the public-school system, who make up 85% of all high-school students in São Paulo, but only 20% of USP’s students. A recent survey showed that a majority of public-school students had not heard of USP, which is free and consequently very difficult to get into.

Plastic not so fantastic

The number of cosmetic plastic surgery procedures in Brazil decreased by 2.3% from 2003 to 2004, the first decline after a decade of 10% average annual growth. Yet in São Paulo city, the numbers rose 2% to 126,815, with an increase in the state of 9%. The Sociedade Brasileira de Cirurgia Plástica, a trade organisation, suggested that the national decline could be due to cost, with more people opting for lower-priced Botox injections to reduce wrinkles, rather than surgery.

Two recent events might further slow growth: the death of a 37-year-old lawyer following a botched liposuction procedure, and a crackdown on the widely ignored ban on advertising that uses dodgy “before and after” photographs to woo clients.

Catch if you can

December 2005

Latinoamerican Jazz

December 9th & 10th 2005

The stylish new Ibirapuera auditorium, designed by Brazil’s most famous architect, nonagenarian Oscar Niemeyer, will host two of South America’s best-known jazz musicians, Antonio Arnedo and Adrián Iaies (pictured), in December. Mr Arnedo, a Colombian, plays saxophone and flute and will be leading his quintet, which features Ramón Benitez on the bombardon tuba. Mr Iaies, who is from Buenos Aires, is touring with a quartet. An accomplished pianist who fuses tango and jazz, he has received three nominations for a Latin Grammy award, including one for his solo 2002 album “Tango Reflections”.

Auditório Ibirapuera, Avenida Pedro Álvares Cabral, Parque do Ibirapuera, Portão 2. Time: 8.30pm. Entrance: 30 reais. Buy tickets.

More from the Sao Paulo cultural calendar