Get to know one of São Paulo's most emblematic cultural spaces Casa das Caldeiras is certainly one of São Paulo’s most emblematic sites the site used to generate energy for Indústrias Reunidas Francisco Matarazzo the site was transformed into a large cultural complex that is now a favorite among São Paulo residents As well as offering exhibitions and workshops the site still retains remnants of its industrial days You can visit the old factory premises and even take part in free cultural activities Learn more about the history of Casa das Caldeiras below Indústrias Reunidas Francisco Matarazzo was one of the largest business conglomerates in Latin America producing everything from food and drink to textiles In 1920, the conglomerate built the Água Branca industrial complex, which occupied around 100,000 square meters in the West Zone of the capital the Casa das Caldeiras and its iconic chimneys became São Paulo’s historical heritage site after being listed by CONDEPHAAT in 1985 the iconic space underwent a major renovation and revitalization in 1999 opening its doors once again as a cultural center View this post on Instagram A post shared by Casa das Caldeiras (@acasadascaldeiras) Brazil — At the heart of the Brazilian Amazon Jó Farah wades knee-deep through the crystal water of a stream that he claims is the last clean one in the city of Manaus A stream or a little river is called an igarapé in the Amazon region and this specific one  is known as Água Branca which means “white water” and stretches over Manaus’s Tarumã neighborhood an area of 100 meters [330 feet] of each side in order to keep the water springs alive,” said Farah a local NGO working in the region for 19 years Manaus is the most populous city in the Brazilian Amazon surrounded by the world’s greatest tropical forest and connected by tributaries to the mighty Amazon River almost all of the city’s 150 igarapés are totally polluted with trash and other waste Experts say that it will take to at least 20 to 30 years for the waterways to recover; some referred to as “dead igarapés,” are nearly beyond saving as their springs have been blocked with trash or soil [But] this igarapé has a voice,” Farah said maintains a website that updates and monitors the state of the igarapé Água Branca a form of online activism that he says helps keep the igarapé “alive.” the igarapé has attracted researchers from across the city and is monitored remotely by the Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM) Manaus’s population grew rapidly from the 1970s with the opening of its free-trade zone and thousands of factory jobs many migrants built their homes on the edges of the city’s igarapés perhaps the city’s most emblematic example is the Igarapé Educandos the Educandos recedes and it’s possible to see all of the trash that has been dumped in it Another is the Igarapé do 40, which last year was photographed and published in the local media with what was described as a “carpet” of garbage floating on top we are losing opportunities for transport and tourism by not caring adequately for the igarapés,” said Marcos Castro Igarapés are important for natural drainage during rainy season flooding in the city will only get worse over time especially with climate change and related extreme weather conditions “This will lead to greater public health problems in the long run,” he said citing diseases that proliferate with dirty waters Castro’s statement rings true for Manaus resident Cristina Santos who lives in a favela community in the Raiz neighborhood an hour’s drive from Manaus’s famous Amazon Theatre is one of thousands of manauaras — as people from Manaus are called —living in precarious dwellings such as stilt homes by the edges of the city’s igarapés Each year during the Amazon’s rainy season from November to April her wooden shack floods as the igarapé fills and overflows “People’s belongings get damaged … it’s very dirty and full of animals: snakes “We residents have to be more aware and not throw stuff into the igarapé,” she said Manaus has a chronic shortfall of affordable housing and as the richest city in the Amazon it continues to attract thousands of rural migrants from far-flung interior towns as well as recent waves of Haitians and Venezuelans fleeing civil strife Many of the poorest end up living in informal settlements like Cristina’s that lack adequate sewage and waste disposal infrastructure the number of informal settlements grows,” said Antonio Nelson de Oliveira the city’s secretary for the environment and sustainability “This causes great damage to the igarapés.” residents have more immediate concerns than keeping the igarapés clean The night before Mongabay visited Cristina’s neighborhood there was gunfire and rumors that a young man had been killed in a drug gang dispute commanded from the city’s notorious prisons and mainly fought in the city’s poorer communities between gangs vying for control of local markets and trafficking routes low-income buildings built under a state government program to rehouse residents living by the edges of the rivers eject domestic sewage “This is the scenario of Manaus,” said Sergio Bringel a water expert with Brazil’s National Amazon Research Institute (INPA) But it’s not just poor neighborhoods that pollute the igarapés the vast amount of Manaus’ sewage goes untreated “Factories and luxury condominiums also pollute the igarapés,” said Castro is both organic and chemical contamination “This leads to the creation of new bacteria … viruses which can be deadly Polluted igarapés also threaten livelihoods especially in a city that relies on water for many leisure activities the owner of a natural swimming bath that charges for entranceon the northern outskirts of the city said he was worried pollution encroaching into his pool “I don’t know how much longer we will be able to stay open here,” he said Just a 10-minute drive from igarapé Água Branca the Tarumã waterfall provides a frightening contrast Used by Manaus residents up until the 1990s as a leisure option and the preferred spot for the disposal of dead bodies by criminals “They built a road directly over the waterfall’s spring I don’t think anywhere else in the world they would do this,” Farah said came the formation of irregular settlements in the surrounding region “If a heritage site like this with all of its tourist potential doesn’t survive the city,” Farah said “what hope does igarapé Água Branca have?” FEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page. The “fortress conservation” model is under pressure in East Africa, as protected areas become battlegrounds over history, human rights, and global efforts to halt biodiversity loss. Mongabay’s Special Issue goes beyond the region’s world-renowned safaris to examine how rural communities and governments are reckoning with conservation’s colonial origins, and trying to forge a path forward […] Biosecurity is essential for the global success of Brazil’s pig industry Farms are also very aware of the importance of applying decent biosecurity is an independent farm that maintains good animal health status Brazil is often praised for having a privileged health status the world’s third largest producer and exporter of pork has not haGet full access to all stories on Pig ProgressThis Premium article is exclusively available for subscribers Obtain insights from exclusive interviews Dive into articles covering trending industry topics Already subscribed? Click here to login Sign up for our weekly email newsletter to never miss a story Brazil — Protestors of all ages arrived from around the city dancing and chanting their way up Paulista Avenue “my weapon is my education,” and “in the fight for social rights.” teachers and citizens took to the streets in May to protest government budget cuts in education Brazil’s National Student Union organized the protest in response to the federal education administration cutting discretionary spending by a third Brazil has 209 million people under age 40 and roughly 60 million are enrolled in a school of some kind  The budget trims were part of reforms by the new president Jair Bolsonaro The protests marked the end of Bolsonaro’s honeymoon with the electorate and the first nationwide protests on his five-month-old administration which is seeing poll numbers sliding as he battles an economic slump political headwinds in Brazil’s Congress and new questions from some in his base of Christians — Catholics and Protestants — who helped elect him He uses Christianity to be famous and for people to believe in his extremist ideas,” said Isabela Meniz a student at Mackenzie Presbyterian University in São Paulo “We don’t have to vote for a guy who is racist and prejudiced We don’t have to vote for extremist candidates They use religion to take the stage.”   His administration has yet to tackle his key campaign proposal to reform Brazil’s bloated pension system Brazil’s economy is the largest in Latin America and one of the hottest in the world in the past two decades with GDP growth at 7.53 percent in 2010 before dipping to negative growth between 2015-2016 and remaining at less than 2 percent annual growth since 2017 nationwide unemployment has risen from 11.6 percent last December to 12.7 percent in April Bolsonaro has managed to duct-tape an alliance of Christian voters by his rhetoric and symbolic acts such as getting baptized in the Jordan River during a trip to Israel two years ago His campaign staff made videos featuring celebrity pastors His nationalist campaign slogan was even “Brazil before everything and God above all.” Catholics now make up 55 percent of Brazilian voters and they split their votes evenly between the left and right parties evangelical support for right-leaning candidates such as Bolsonaro rose to 70 percent in 2018 Brazil was 92 percent Catholic back in 1970 but today 30 percent of the population over age 16 identifies as evangelical Bolsonaro capitalized on overall citizen anger about corruption in government were willing to move away from liberation theology which has historically animated Catholic populations in Latin America The Christian community wanted a law and order candidate And when Bolsonaro was stabbed and campaigned from the hospital many religious people had compassion on him and appreciated his resilience.  But a Christian left is becoming more active and is concerned about Bolsonaro’s negative comments about women, black people and LGBT people. His minister of women, family and human rights is an evangelical pastor and attorney named Damares Alves. In a video from an election party Alves said she and Bolsonaro would bring in a “new era” in which “boys wear blue and girls wear pink.”  In a pushback last week, Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled that homophobia is a crime akin to racism who has previously said he “would be incapable of loving a homosexual son” and would rather his son die than bring a male lover home called the court’s decision “completely wrong.” He wants to appoint an evangelical judge to balance out the highest bench Bolsonaro also once said a political rival is “not worth raping.” He has described the United Nations as “a bunch of communists.” He has referred to immigrants as “scum.” He believes in arming citizens using firing squads to kill criminals and stepping up an aggressive police force Some evangelical leaders were more supportive of a worker’s party (PT) candidate named Fernando Haddad a Catholic-evangelical alliance calling itself “Love Defeats Hate Christian Collective,” led by Flavio Conrado has been staging marches in several major cities To find the Igreja Batista de Água Branca church in the West Zone of São Paulo you have to drive past a set of warehouses on a gravel road and pull up to a former call center where cars are parked in every spare alleyway and parking lot Igreja Batista de Água Branca church in São Paulo “A businessman who lost the telemarketing business now attends the church,” says Sergio Pavarini a social media influencer and a former executive in Christian publishing in Brazil But now he is happy of the new purpose for the building.” the church is packed wall to wall with 1,500 people at its 11:30 a.m The church is 90 years old but was always a small church until about 15 years ago when it ballooned toward 6,000 members with 3,000 or more other people watching services online from around Brazil as well as Portuguese speakers from other countries Paravini says Sao Paulo has several churches like this in its North A baptism soon begins amid a repertoire of praise songs A black man who is deaf climbs into the baptismal pool and professes his faith in Christ through sign language Thousands of people in the service wave their hands in glad hands style — a visual clap for him The pastor dunks him and when he re-emerges from the water A baptism at Igreja Batista de Água Branco church in the West Zone of São Paulo A woman almost dropped a teenage boy into the water 20 people are baptized.” That’s 60 a month across three services The church is sending a couple with two children This church supports 34 projects in Africa – mostly in Portugal’s former colonies of Mozambique and Angola – with money for health clinics So one former Portuguese colony is providing humanitarian support and missionary work to other former Portuguese colonies senior pastor of Igreja Batista de Água Branco one of the most influential pastors in Brazil published and written articles for several newspapers and magazines His sermon was about the difference between religion and the Gospel and how religion makes us selfish while the gospel makes us more equal before God “We have to build the bridge and not fight against each other,” he says “God calls us to build bridges and to serve people.” Sergio says the pastor is a bridge-builder because he has small groups for big entrepreneurs-- businessmen Some famous Brazilian actors and actresses visit the church but the pastor doesn’t identify them or treat them differently than other parishioners “He teaches the Gospel and shares the Bible with very well-known people Doesn’t post pictures with someone famous.” A guy plays a jazz acoustic version of “What a friend we have in Jesus.” The song leader is Paulo Cesar Baruk a known singer in Brazil who has 700,000 followers on social media The church and Pastor Ed have about 500,000 followers on Twitter Paravini reflects on the strange moment in Brazilian politics and public life He estimates 70 percent of the people attending the Igreja Batista de Água Branco church are against Bolsonaro while 30 percent support him Paravini noted that Bolsonaro used John 8:32 – “The truth will make you free” – during his campaign He also used “God over everything” as a motto They analyzed him and his wife as Christians They hoped he would put their principles over the country.” But Bolsonaro’s sons, working in politics and under suspicion in at least one corruption probe have also frayed Christians’ trust in the president Paravini says he believes Christians – both Catholics and Protestants – appreciate Bolsonaro’s traditional policy defenses of families and children But he thinks they are uncertain about Bolsonaro’s enthusiasm for guns as a way to stop crime “A lot of Christian people don’t believe the politics on guns is a Christian belief and they are reacting to this proposal,” Paravini says said he is a center-left voter and decided to vote for Bolsonaro even though “I don’t like him” and “I don’t agree with his point of views.” He said a vote for Bolsonaro was a strategic vote to renew leadership in the country “I didn’t like the previous government because they did things for poor people but who doesn’t like Bolsonaro but voted for him to renew leadership in Brazil He sees dialogue in Brazil becoming more polarized and charged as people block each other on social media Bolsonaro’s presidency has split friends and families similar to how Trump has caused divisions in the United States Aiello’s brother Filipe is a 30-year-old full-stack web developer in Sao Paulo He also voted for Bolsonaro even though he’s not a huge fan of the man He believes many enemies of Bolsonaro and the media sometimes become hysterical or paint Bolsonaro’s words out of context He’s become worried at how Bolsonaro is pushing guns on Brazilians as a way to fight crime.  noting the political pendulum is swinging to the right too hard and too fast right now Fernando chimes in about guns: “I am against legalizing guns in Brazil Brazilians are not prepared psychologically to carry guns,” he says “A lot of Christian people want to carry guns Brazil never had a culture of carrying guns I don’t believe Brazilians are prepared to have guns Patricia Cotton is a business and creativity consultant based in Sao Paulo who advocates Upsidedown Thinking about problems She sees Brazil as in a political crisis that has expanded to economic crisis “The most tragic is that it is a lack of hope,” she said and the Social Liberal Party supporting Bolsonaro offered hope initially.  But Cotton still thinks Brazil has reason to be optimistic maybe not in the short run but in the second half of the year,” she predicts “One good thing about Bolsonaro is that he is uncynical.” Unfortunately for Bolsonaro, many Brazilians are plenty cynical and angry. In downtown Sao Paulo during the 24-hour Virada Cultural festival in mid-May, hundreds of thousands of people showed up for a concert by hip-hop singer Criolo the crowd — still fresh off the education protests — broke into regular chants that translated to “Hey Bolsonaro Criolo even spoke from the stage about the need for unity and leaders who care about the poor (Criolo’s real name is Kleber Gomes and he built his career by word-smithing songs about poverty police violence and social ails in Brazil.)   São Paulo itself was founded by Jesuit Missionaries nearly 500 years ago Those Jesuits built the first school in the region in 1556-1557 The city has grown to be the largest city in Latin America And education remains a key issue for helping the poor and the underprivileged move up in society So Bolsonaro’s proposed budget cuts to education anger the left as well as the right who appreciate the Catholic liberation theology in Latin America and the historic Christian concern and care for the poor and the uneducated “We are against the government's recent actions toward education it is against basic rights,” said a professor of anthropology at Pontifical Catholic University who wished to remain unnamed in fear of losing her job “We are against the government's actions against workers’ rights Brazil’s higher education budget is divided into two categories, mandatory expense which include salaries and pensions, and discretionary spending, which includes housing, scholarships and utilities. The cuts, organized by the Ministry of Education, slashed discretionary spending by $1.8 billion, Al Jazeera reports federally funded high schools and research grants “I am also losing scholarship,” said Carlos Albuenque a 26-year-old doctoral student at the Institute of Biology in Sao Paulo The cuts are “destroying education and research in Brazil,” he said “The solution to the previous corruption scandal is not Bolsonaro.” While the rally in Sao Paulo remained peaceful, protestors in Rio de Janeiro set a bus on fire and police fired teargas and percussion grenades, according to a report in The Guardian labeling the demonstrations as organized events on behalf of partisan groups. “They are useful idiots who are being used as the maneuvering mass of a clever little minority who make up the nucleus of many federal universities in Brazil,” he said The hardline conservative leader ran on a platform of economic Bolsonaro promised to protect and promote Judeo-Christian values.  “Most Christians identify with Bolsonaro because of his principles… Many Christians saw him as the Messiah,” Aiello said “But they don’t identify with his dark side.”  Wesley Parnell is a Poynter-Koch Fellow at the New York Daily News and is a correspondent for Religion Unplugged Paul Glader is executive director of The Media Project and executive editor of Religion Unplugged Religion Unplugged is part of The Media Project and a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News.EIN: 83-0461425Site design by Peter Freeby Privacy Policy Léo Ramos Chaves The insect Panstrongylus megistus transmitter of the protozoa that causes Chagas diseaseLéo Ramos Chaves insects that transmit the protozoa that causes Chagas disease have been identified in the city of São Paulo: one at the zoo The situation at the zoo was described after a survey by veterinarian Suelen Ferreira of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ) She collected 11 kissing bugs of the species Panstrongylus megistus which is of particular concern due to its ability to survive both in forests and domestic environments Ten of the 11 samples were infected with Trypanosoma cruzi Of the 106 zoo animals examined (mainly monkeys) as did 33 of the 66 wild mammals (opossums and monkeys) captured in neighboring forest areas a team from the Endemic Diseases Oversight Office (SUCEN) found colonies of the P megistus species under the roofing tiles of a barn where more than one thousand chickens kept in the area sleep but the disease-transmitting insects feed on their blood,” observes biologist Rubens Antonio da Silva technical coordinator of the Chagas disease control program at SUCEN the risk of transmission to humans in both locations is low © Revista Pesquisa FAPESP - All rights reserved The Nioaque Indigenous Territory in Brazil’s Mato Grosso do Sul state is home to some 2,000 Terena people living in four villages The territory spans some 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) of the Cerrado the world’s most biodiverse — but also most threatened — savanna biome residents are working on ways to preserve that biodiversity while also improving their own welfare — and the Aguamel project here has already proven to be economically viable “there is no doubt,” says Claudionor do Carmo Miranda an agricultural engineer and president of the Água Branca Indigenous Producers Association (APROAB) The association used 80,000 reais ($16,700) in funding from the Resilient Cerrado Project (CERES) to buy equipment and train 15 Indigenous residents to raise bees “We have already produced 680 kilos [1,500 pounds] of honey and expect to reach 1,300 kilos [2,870 lbs] by the end of 2023 We plan to grow our team and our production every year,” Miranda says The honey is sold at farmers’ markets in the city of Nioaque and in the Indigenous territory and there are plans to include the honey in Indigenous school lunch programs an ethnic Terena with a master’s degree in rural development studies says the initiative could make a big difference in both the economy and food security of this Indigenous territory located in the transition zone between the Cerrado and Pantanal biomes The Aguamel project was funded by the Brazilian government’s Agrarian Development and Rural Extension Agency (AGRAER) and the National Rural Learning Service (SENAR) and APROAB is working on organic certification for the Água Branca honey Miranda will present Aguamel’s results and discuss a new project at a community meeting in July to keep things going He says the first stage of the project was important for organizing production he intends to bring the three other villages in the territory into the project “They all have space to put in apiaries,” he says Aside from the high demand for honey regionally these villages have the advantage of not being surrounded by industrial farms where crops are routinely dusted with chemical pesticides — an increasingly common reality weighing on other Indigenous territories throughout Brazil “The land surrounding us is used for cattle farming,” Miranda says In partnership with the environmental organization Ambiental MS Pantanal APROAB plans to build a greenhouse to raise seedlings of native plants like aroeira or Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolia) sucupira (Pterodon emarginatus) and jatobá-do-cerrado or Brazilian copal (Hymenaea courbaril) as well as other plants considered important for honey bees to feed on Their flowers will be ideal for attracting the bees and boosting honey production while contributing to the floral diversity of the Cerrado The first 100 seedlings have already arrived but the association plans to produce a total of 10,000 in 2023 and another 15,000 in 2024 swamps and other spaces with these trees,” Miranda says Over in the Capoto Jarina Indigenous Territory Indigenous Kayapó will experiment with roasting baru nuts during their harvest from July to September this year “Their children love the nuts,” says Bruno Américo Carvalho Pereira an agricultural engineer at the Raoni Institute This new way of consuming the traditional nut should generate additional income for the women who already produce oil from the babaçu palm (Attalea speciosa) for sale The oil is widely used by Indigenous women for cooking created together with the Kayapó women and approved by the CERES Project aims to guarantee greater economic autonomy in a community where socioeconomic power has culturally been controlled by the men this is because most Kayapó men speak Portuguese The project is considered to be a “paradigm shift” in this Indigenous territory covering 635,000 hectares (1.57 million acres) of the Cerrado Most of the Kayapó territories in Brazil are located in the Amazon Rainforest The Kayapó sought out Central do Cerrado an institution that works with traditional products from the biome Central will help with organization and technical training within the communities and sponsor an event in June to teach the women the importance of familiarizing themselves with the production chain of the nuts they select for generating their income This will be followed by cultural exchange activities which are fundamental to kicking off the harvest and nut-processing period There are no plans yet to buy special equipment so the nuts will be roasted in each village’s existing yucca flour mill The Raoni Institute will then sell the nuts according to mapping carried out by Central do Cerrado There are 35 women involved in the experimental project and the Capoto Jarina Cultural Association is expected to support the project until the women can fully coordinate it themselves With an 18-month timeline slated to finish in 2024 the project also aims to leave a legacy for Indigenous youth external threats are putting pressure on Capoto Jarina “We have been concerned about agribusiness and the attempts being made to convince Indigenous people to rent out their land,” Pereira says Indigenous leaders have been meeting to demand prior consultation by the developers with their communities during the environmental licensing process the project involves construction of a bridge that would essentially eliminate the ferry service that the Indigenous people run across the Xingu River “Indigenous peoples play a fundamental role in biodiversity conservation in the Cerrado because they have a lifestyle that coexists harmoniously with nature,” says forestry engineer Terena Castro, a technical consultant with the Society, Population and Nature Institute (ISPN) one of the organizations behind the CERES Project “In order for these peoples to be protected Castro notes that the Cerrado “is home to diverse Indigenous ethnicities who have lived here for centuries” and says that “deforestation needs to be stopped in the biome through creation of protected areas like Indigenous territories and conservation units.” The CERES Project supports six Indigenous initiatives in the Cerrado to medicinal plant studies and scaling up of both babaçu oil and baru nut production She also points to ethno-tourism as another potential alternative for socioeconomic development Castro says the main obstacle to these projects is legal insecurity “because of the lack of land regularization in the territories.” She says this is why it’s “urgent that recognition and ratification of Indigenous lands be carried out,” adding that “there must be funding for these initiatives.” Another obstacle to progress is the lack of public policy protecting the Indigenous territories and income generation based on “proposals and projects that are of interest to the Indigenous communities themselves,” Castro says adding there needs to be greater support for Indigenous leadership on these initiatives Luciane Moessa, executive and technical director of the Sustainable Inclusive Solutions Association (SIS) agrees that economic growth for Indigenous peoples requires consistent public policy but points to the importance of private sector involvement “The financial sector should no longer provide credit for activities that are harmful to Indigenous communities,” she says “The issue is already clearly addressed in banking regulations.” Moessa says Indigenous projects “can and should be included in a green taxonomy — the classification of economic activities aimed at making capital flow toward activities that benefit the environment, society and the climate.” A study published by SIS in 2022 presents recommendations for Brazil along these lines Another Indigenous initiative funded by the CERES Project in the Cerrado is honey production in Ipatse a Kuikuro village that’s home to some 800 people inside Xingu Indigenous Park president of the local Indigenous health council and ex-president of the Xingu Indigenous Association says the communities are eagerly awaiting their first harvest at the end of this year from 80 hives 45 were paid for by the CERES Project and the rest by funding from the Mato Grosso state government “The project made it possible for us to buy the materials we needed to organize apiculture in our village,” Yacagi says “Standing forest brings in money,” Yacagi says He’s about to get his degree in public administration and plans to develop more projects and apply for funding for Indigenous entrepreneurism Aside from making communities stronger economically the honey produced in the villages will provide a welcome and healthy alternative to the processed foods that the Indigenous residents often consume is surrounded by industrial soybean farms and under pressure from infrastructure projects which is expected to connect Brazil’s Central West region with the state of Bahia where agribusiness is booming at the expense of the dwindling forests The proximity of the road has facilitated access to processed foods in the villages resulting in health problems among the Indigenous population “We want to develop organic farming projects and sell the produce in the cities as well as feed our own people.” This story was reported by Mongabay’s Brazil team and first published here on our Brazil site on June 5 The “fortress conservation” model is under pressure in East Africa as protected areas become battlegrounds over history and global efforts to halt biodiversity loss Mongabay’s Special Issue goes beyond the region’s world-renowned safaris to examine how rural communities and governments are reckoning with conservation’s colonial origins and trying to forge a path forward […] .st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By Dwight B. Shepard | dshepard@repub.comCNN.png This is a screen grab from CNN's video that shows an x-ray of a Brazilian man's head with a knife protruding from it A Brazilian man who was stabbed in the head during an argument Jan 3 survived despite the fact that the knife was lodged in his skull for three hours According to CNN motorcycle taxi driver Juacelo Nunes de Oliveira was at a party in the city of Agua Branca in Brazil's northeastern state of Piaui when he got into an altercation and was stabbed four times One of the wounds in his torso perforated a lung Pictures released by the Brazilian government show the taxi driver lying on a hospital bed with what looks like a kitchen knife embedded in his skull The knife stopped only when it got stuck in the man's lower jaw According to the Huffington Post the knife was removed during surgery that took two and a half hours Albuquerque was quoted as saying that the surgery was very delicate since any slip could have breached his arteries causing him to bleed to death Oliveira was able to leave the hospital five days after his surgery Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, (updated 8/1/2024) and acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/1/2025) © 2025 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us) The material on this site may not be reproduced except with the prior written permission of Advance Local Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site YouTube's privacy policy is available here and YouTube's terms of service is available here Ad Choices Crowds were excited about the fair’s events and food products in São Paulo - Matheus Alves The Landless Workers’ Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra – MST) has released a report on the outcomes of the 3rd National Agrarian Reform Fair, which took place from Thursday (3) to Sunday (6) last week at the Água Branca Park around 260,000 people visited the fair – nearly 100,000 more than the attendance of last year’s event At the food court dedicated to typical foods from all states of Brazil visitors could buy 75 different types of dishes a huge team was necessary to make a big event like this happen “Not only are farmers selling their products Around 300 people organized in many different work teams are necessary to make the fair happen We have work teams dedicated to infrastructure decoration – which is really pretty – the Ciranda Infantil – a child care facility – health facilities to care for those who are working here So there is this whole separation of duties to make sure things run smoothly during the four days of event.” pointed out that the event achieved the goals established by the movement when it was first conceived “We’re entering the home stretch of our fair and we believe it has really fulfilled its purpose We hoped the fair would be a place of conversation with São Paulo’s population and working class and we’re really making it happen with every area of it and the cultural spaces throughout these four days.” Fornazieri also said that the food products that were not sold at the fair will be donated to organizations in São Paulo MST national coordinator João Paulo Rodrigues said that the fair was a way for the MST to show accountability to society for its more than three decades of struggle for the right to land and healthy eating the most important thing is the whole accountability process for the 34 years of struggle and achievements for the MST We have been building these spaces of production São Paulo’s response to that was beautiful because more than 260,000 people visited the fair in the last few days That alone shows how committed São Paulo locals are to healthy eating and the defense of agrarian reform,” he said Rodrigues also mentioned the so-called Agrishow an agribusiness trade fair that took place in the same week as the Agrarian Reform Fair “This is our answer to the Agrishow fair taking place in [the city of] Ribeirão Preto [São Paulo state] They've set up a trade show where there’s nothing but poison and machinery while we've set up a fair that has production This allows us to make a comparison between the two models reflecting the challenge that will take place over the following years in society.” In addition to selling products grown in agrarian reform communities 367 artists performed on the fair’s two stages attracting huge crowds to the Água Branca Park including acclaimed Brazilian artists and bands and the the drum section of award-winning samba school Paraíso da Tuiuti All original content produced and editorially authored by Brasil de Fato may be reproduced provided it is not altered and proper credit is given All original content produced and editorially authored by Brasil de Fato may be reproduced Pastor Ed René Kivitz is a senior pastor of Agua Branca Baptist Church in Sao Paulo BRASILIA — The “empowerment” of the so-called Brazilian evangelical church must be written like this — in quotes — because when religion allows itself to become a political instrument of control Baptist theologian and pastor Ed René Kivitz is a jarring voice among the best-known evangelical leaders who often make headlines in Brazil — the pastors-deputies or owners of television channels who haunt important offices of the federal government thinks Catholics will cease to be a majority in Brazil by 2030 when evangelicals will predominate in the Brazilian religious framework Having a critical view of the related ascension of evangelical politicians, especially the ones linked to “Bancada Evangélica” — a group of 94 congressmen known for their conservative agenda — Kivitz is often booked to give talks and lectures across the country in which he reaffirms the right of Christians to defend their values in the public sphere but not to impose them on the whole of society “Religious logic is by definition anti-plurality and opposed to diversity,” he says by using the name of God at all times in his speeches President Jair Bolsonaro commits sacrilege “The use of the Bible and the god-name speak to dimensions of the human unconscious that no other kind of speech can reach Appealing to the name of God and the symbolic capital of religion implies sacrilege for God ceases to be an end and becomes a means,” Kivitz said in an interview with Religion Unplugged about the evangelical rise and its implications for Brazilian society The number of evangelicals is growing like never before in Brazil and the influence of church seems to have reached its peak The Bolsonaro government has pastors in high positions and these religions have never had such political power What impacts does this movement have for the evangelical church more broadly Ed René Kivitz:  Evangelical representations have for the first time in their history in Brazil the possibility of using the political power of the state to affect the moral guidelines based on their religious convictions the private space of religion operates as a public space for political bargain: the pulpit becomes a stage the March for Jesus [annual event that calls thousands of evangelical Christians to the streets in Sao Paulo] is indeed a March for President congresses and religious events begin to promote and defend the Government and become — directly and indirectly spaces of ideological formation of power The evangelical contingent is now seen and instrumentalized as a useful and differentiated electoral mass reduced to the strategic-electoral aesthetic When a state and a government come to be seen with the arms of the agendas and interests of a religious segment President Bolsonaro often quotes from the passage of the Gospel of John The motto of his campaign was also "Brazil above all Does this kind of speech contribute to the strengthening of the evangelical church Kivitz: The use of the biblical text is a discursive strategy to establish ideological link with the conservative Christian religious public The use of the bible and the name of God speak to dimensions of the human unconscious that no other kind of speech can reach for God ceases to be an end and becomes a means the empowerment of the so-called evangelical church must be in quotation marks for religion captured for purposes extrinsic to its identity will always lose its credibility Evangelicals dazzled by the apparent benefits that membership of the government gives them are in fact betraying the cause of the Gospel What do you mean by “betraying the cause of the Gospel” Kivitz: To betray the cause of the Gospel is to throw away the credibility and (the remaining) authority of the evangelical church: to discredit the messenger is to discredit the message How have your colleagues from other faiths evaluated this new scenario Kivitz: Some see religious fundamentalism occupying the state Others fear the protofascist tendencies of the use of religion by political power For the more traditional religions such as the indigenous and those of African descent given the level of religious intolerance of a certain segment of evangelicals that once again the state is used as a form of criminalization or extermination of certain forms of religious and social life Some fear a kind of censorship or persecution of the plurality of cultural expressions and sensitivities of those who do not profess any formal religion The current government criticizes the former for the equipment of the public machine by the left.  But in his speeches President Bolsonaro often expresses the desire to place “evangelicals” in certain strategic positions Can we speak of an evangelical rigging of the machine Kivitz: Our Constitution states that the Federative Republic of Brazil is a Democratic State of Law This means that political power must be exercised in a manner that safeguards the plurality of society and the rights and freedoms of all citizens under the law Machine rigging occurs when one of the representatives of society uses the privilege of governing to enforce its particular worldview The support of religious leaders in government does not necessarily imply rigging as long as they act following the democratic terms set out in the constitutional pact Some currents of theological thought — such as the one advocating the establishment of a "Christian worldview" — point to the social and economic advantages of having evangelical Christians using influence through their moral values in the field of political power Kivitz: Participation in the spheres of political power is a prerogative of citizens It is natural for every citizen to bring both their worldview and their ethical and moral values Defending their values ??in the public arena is a Christian right imposing them on the whole of society is a betrayal of the democratic pact The testimonies of early Christianity were developed and structured at a time when there was no state What could be wrong with having so many evangelicals promoting their religious agenda in the higher spheres of power would imply the decline of public spirit and subversion of the responsible exercise of citizenship The reduction of secularism endangers social pluralities enables the uniformity of certain life forms and the criminalization of differences Religious logic is by definition anti-plurality and opposed to diversity.  Religion is based on dogmas and taboos truths to be believed and behaviors to be observed It is imperative to state that the social environments characterized by the guarantee of individual freedoms including in terms of beliefs and moral codes are the most favorable for the experience of the Christian faith