Natal declares State of Emergency because of dengue

The mayor of Natal issued a decree declaring the city to be in State of Emergency; see report by Tribuna do Norte; see also report by Diario de Natal informing that more than 50 cities in the State are also under State of Emergency.
During the State (90 days), the Public Administration will be allowed to sign contracts with private companies without a price bidding process; in the lives of citizens, little changes.

The Emergency is because of the dengue.
Brazil is facing an epidemy of dengue; in Rio de Janeiro, where the situation is the worst, several dozens people have already died this year (see report by the New York Times).

Rio Grande do North is the 4th State in number of cases; so far in the year (from January till mid April), more than 5,000 cases of dengue were reported; hospitals are crowded with people looking for treatment.

Dengue is a tropical disease transmited by a mosquito. In its milder form, dengue usually causes severe headache, muscular pain, vomiting and malaise. In a percentage of cases, dengue evolves to the hemorrhagic form, which can lead to death; a few casualties have been reported in Natal this year.

There is no vaccine against dengue. The most effective way to prevent dengue is to prevent the mosquitoes to proliferate; and to do so, people must learn that mosquitoes need clean, still water (like vases and swimming pools) to incubate, and develop health habits.

But most people either don't know what to do, or just don't care (until, of course, there is an outbreak of the disease, like now).

Tourism in Natal suffers with lack of planning

Newspaper Tribuna do Norte published today, December 30th, an article called "Lack of planning is the biggest problem of tourism in Rio Grande do Norte".

The report describes how Natal still receives many tourists, attracted by a set of features not easily found anywhere in the world: sun, beaches, peaceful people, absence of cataclisms. If there were professional management of the Tourism business in Natal, the area would be one of the most important tourist centers in the world; however, because tourism in the Goverment levels is commanded more by personal interests than professional merits, the result is a lack of planning (and actions) which brings more and more uncertainty to the future of Natal as a world tourism destination.

The text below is paraphrased from the original.

"The charter flight coming from England is 15 hours late. This is not news neither for the passengers embarking in London, nor for the staff of Infraero (airport management) which work in Natal.

But there is one thing which surprises Gina Robinson, a representative of the Secretary of Tourism of Rio Grande do Norte who arrives in the flight: a escalator which goes the wrong way. When passengers disembarked, at 5 am in the morning, there was nobody to provide assistance, and the only way to get upstairs was climbing the escalator which was rolling down. As the passengers were not used to open doors without authorization, they were surprised to see Gina calling for someone from staff to open the doors and start working with the luggage.

And there are more things in the Airport Augusto Severo that need fixing. The air conditioning, for example, has been broken for months (in a city where temperatures about 100 degrees F or 35 degrees C are common); the cost of fixing it would be R$ 200 thousand (about US$ 110 thousand), but Infraero doesn't seem to have the money (the boarding tax in Brazil, which goes entirely to Infraero, is one of the highest in the world). According to Mário Barreto, President of Via Costeira Hotels Association, the airport is a wreckage.

One of the reasons is the lack of planning. The tourism authorities are trying to raise numbers for a report about the number of tourists coming to Natal, but not even this seems easy. Once again, there are talks about a joint action between the city and the State (someone discovered that there are no bus lines between the airport to the city, which obliges passengers to pay outrageous taxi fares or pay for closed packages to tour operators); this time, talks include the help of Federal funds, as the Ministry of Tourism also seems to have found out that Tourism can be a good business for Brazil.

And, as in previous years, the lack of reliable statistics creates rumors about the actual number of guests in the hotels of Natal. Every year, hotel owners claim that business are not doing well, and ask for more Government action, support and subsides. In the beginning of 2007, the Association of Hotels forecasted "the worst year for the hotels in 21 years", but at the end of the year several hotels in Via Hosteira claimed a "very successful year". Now, again, the hotels say that "2008 won't be good; the dollar is down, the air traffic in Brazil is still a mess, more and more tourists are staying in cruising ships (rather than hotels)". But, as Tribuna says, there are more and more hotels being built, and very few have been closed down.

Hotels are again asking for more promotion: "we have to attract again the European passengers". The Secretary of Tourism says that the priority should be attract the Brazilian travelers, particularly the business travelers."

Note from Natal-Brazil: last year (2007) was quieter than the previous one (2006); and this year, so far, is quieter than last year. Natal is still sunny, beautiful, cheap and peaceful, and this downtrend can turn out to be benefic for visitors.

Tourists complain about Tourist Services in Natal

A report published by newspaper Tribuna do Norte shows that visitors still complain much about the quality of tourism services in Natal.

The report starts by mentioning severals cases of Brazilian tourists who say that they can't move around Natal and the neighbor beaches because of the lack of information and signalization. Several people got lost trying to reach the beaches, both in the Northern (Jenipabu and beyond) and Southern (Pirangi and Pipa) coasts; the opening of the new bridge only made matters worse. Besides, people complain (remember: Brazilian people) that there is not information available about the main places of visitation within the city; tourist guides are said to be uninformed. And the report didn't mention it, but it is well known that a place where educational levels are low, like Natal, can not provide skilled manpower to the tourism businesses.

Of course, the situation is much worse when it comes to foreign tourists. Then, to the lack of culture and lack of professionalism, one must add the lack of proficiency in other languages. If Portuguese speakers find it hard to move around the city, foreigns get lotst much easily; public signalization, when available, is in Portuguese only; as the report says, the only multi-linguals source of information are the propaganda papers distributed by private businesses.

Some phrases, quoted from the article: "Many of my fellows don't speak any English, they just string the clients along until they tire", said a tourist guide; "I don't feel any difficulty; the clients always ask the same clients", said the girl who works at the bookshop of the airport; "I don't loose any business (because of my lack of English), the customers end up getting used to it"; said the owner of a shop at the airport; "only 20% of the 350 buggy drivers are capable of speaking English", said a very optimistic Director of the buggy drivers association; "I think that the foreign visitors must learn Portuguese; when we travel abroad, nobody tries to learn Portuguese to talk to us; sorry, I don't care about them", said a staff of the airport !

And what does the Government say? The Secretary of Tourism, Fernando Bezerril, says that things are going to get better. There have been meetings, studies, conventions, etc, and now they know what to do. The same old story.
Link again: http://tribunadonorte.com.br/noticia.php?id=60735

Bridge Natal - Redinha is opened.

The new bridge Natal - Redinha was officially opened yesterday, November 20th 2007.

This is the longest and most beautiful bridge in Brazil (the bridge JK, in Brasilia, is also modern and beautiful, but the scenery in Natal is uncomparable better).

Besides being beautiful, it was planned to be useful. Before the bridge, there were two ways to get across the river Potengi: driving around the Northern bridge of Igapó or taking the ferry boat; the bridge will save about half an hour of thousands of drivers every day (the Transit Department estimates that about 25 thousand vehicles a day will use the bridge), and will hopefully bring economic progress to the Northern part of Natal.

Below, a few photos of the bridge.
Photos by Ivanízio Ramos, sponsored by the Government of Rio Grande do Norte; click the photos to view a much large image.

November 21st is holiday in Natal.

November 21st is Day of Our Lady or Presentation (Nossa Senhora da Apresentação), Patron Saint of Natal; it's a holiday in Natal.

Every year, a pilgrimage attracts thousands of people, who follow an statue of Our Lady from the Church of Rosário to the Metropolitan Cathedral.

October 3rd, holiday in Natal and RN

Starting this year, October 3rd is a Holiday in Natal and in the Rio Grande do Norte. Private businesses like hotels and restaurants should open as usual, but Government offices should be closed.

This Holiday sparkled a discussion in the city, as can be seen at this article by Tribuna do Norte.

Back in the 16th and 17th Centuries, Portugal and Spain merged into one single Kingdom. Portugal had friendly relationships with Holland, but Spain didn't. When the Spanish King ordered that Brazil ceased to negotiate with Holland, the Dutch invaded Brazil and occupied Olinda and Recife, from 1630 to 1654. To consolidade the domination, the Dutch attempted to expand their ruling to neighbor areas (in this process, they also took Natal and founded Fortaleza).

On July 16th 1645, the Dutch soldiers and their Indian allies attacked a church in Cunhaú and killed 69 people who were attending a mass. On October 3rd 1645, another attack, this time in Uruaçu, killed another 80 people; these people were given the chance to survive, provided they accepted to abandon Portugal and Catholicism, and became loyal to Holland and Protestantism; they refused, and were killed.

In 1989, a process started to canonize (declare Saints) those people who were killed. In 1998, the Pope declared some people (those who could be identified) Martyr. In 2000, they were beatified. The process is still going on, but there is no prevision about when they will be Saintified.

So, what's the fuss about?

First off, this is a Catholic celebration; Catholics argue that this demonstration of courage deserves to be remembered (and deserves a Holiday). But, since 1889, Brazil doesn't have an official religion (during the Brazilian Empire, from 1822 to 1889, Catholicism was official; the Empire funded the Church, and in turn had strong influence on the Bishops); Catholicism is still predominant, but Protestantism is the religious group which grows the fastest. So, critics say, there is no need to make this celebration day a Holiday for people of all religions.

Besides, there is the economic factor. Private shops will open, but employers must pay extra to staff; and if anyone needs the Government, will have to wait. Brazil is probably one of the countries with the highest number of Holidays in the World; to name just a few: Sept. 7th was a National Holiday, and so will be October 12th and November 2nd (and on top of that, everyone has 30 days of paid yearly vacations, plus 10 extra days of salary). In such a poor, low productivity country, each Holiday means less welfare in the future.

More American tourists in Natal ?

Veja magazine (the biggest in Brazil and the fourth biggest in the World) published an interview with the American Ambassador in Brasil, Clifford Sobel.
Mr. Sobel has been in Brasil for one year; previously he had been Ambassador in Holland for four years. The interview was about the current state of affairs between Brazil and USA; President Lula and President Bush have met two times this year, and there seems to be a strong mutual interest in developing the market of ethanol (the most promising kind of bio-fuel; Brazil is the largest producer and technology leader in this field).
Veja is for subscribers only, but a copy of the interview is here.

One of the questions/answers was:

"Veja: What other projects of cooperation between Brazil and USA are in progress?

Sobel: See what incredible thing: there are barely no American tourists in the Brazilian Northeast. We intend to stimulate the tourism of our country fellows to this region. The Northeast is the region of Brazil closest to the US, features some of the most beautiful places in the country and is full of Europeans, but not of Americans. We want to work jointly with the private sector to setup new air routes between American cities and cities of the Brazilian Northeast. The tourism potential of these new routes is immense."

Mr. Sobel is a true fan of the Northeast, where he is usually seen spending holidays.

Every year, more than one million Americans visit Rio de Janeiro; this is more than the number of foreign tourists who visit Fortaleza, Natal and Recife combined. If Mr. Sobel succeeds in drawing attention to the Northeast, and new routes are created saving Americans from three or four hours flight, a big increase in visitation should occurr.

Now, this would be an excellent opportunity for the Travel Authorities of Natal to contact Mr. Sobel and beg him to offer every possible kind of help. But, telling from past experiences, this is not going to happen.

Illegal tunnel was being carved

A Spanish group which is building a hotel and a mall in Ponta Negra was carving a tunnel without any authorization.
The tunnel would pass under avenida Roberto Freire (the street which goes downhill to the Ponta Negra beach) and would connect the hotel to the beach street. It was discovered only because the workers broke a water pipe, and CAERN (the Water and Sewage Company) was called.

When CAERN reached the tunnel, it was already 3 meters high, 3 meters wide and 18 meters long (see photo). The city Government ordered immediate stop of the work. The owner of the hotel, Adolfo Sierra Calderon, went to the authorities, but didn't explain why he was building the tunnel.

Carving such a big tunnel is obviously against the law (probably a crime), and puts at risk the safety of many people; even in Brazil, this kind of act is unheard of. The Spaniards managed to burst another wave of criticisms against the foreigns who "come to Ponta Negra and do whatever they want". See comments by the readers of Tribuna do Norte here.

The name of the mall being built is Gorbea Shopping. Recommended for those who want to do business with people who don't seem to care much about respecting the law.

Update: the Public Prosecutors entered into an 'agreement' with the Spaniards. There will be no criminal suit. The Spaniards should 'donate' some equipment to be used in water sanitation or something similar; estimated cost is 'at least' R$ 20,000 (about US$ 10,000); the Prosecutors will be 'very rigorous' to guarantee that the Spaniards fulfill the agreement.

Death toll in federal highways in RN

On July 15th, newspaper Tribuna do Norte published a report about the number of people who died in transit accidents in the federal highways of Rio Grande do Norte.

The numbers don't cause any commotion among Brazilians (who are accostumed to hear such news), but they may shock visitors from other countries.

According to the Federal Highway Police (which must be called whenever there is an accident in federal highways), in the first semester of 2007 alone, 103 people died on federal highways; the number is up from 69 in the same period of last year; the number doesn't include the cases which happened in State roads, and doesn't include the cases where the victims die later on, because of the accidents.

The main cause of accidents is misbehaving of drivers. Disrespect to signalization (overspeeding, prohibited overtaking) and driving under influence of alcohol are very common.

The BR-101 (which leads to João Pessoa and Recife, in the south, and Touros, in the north) has the highest number of accidents, but the highest number of fatalities occurs at the BR-304 (which leads to Mossoró and then to Fortaleza).

New airport in São Gonçalo: no sooner than 2010

Another schedule was announced with regards to the new airport to be built in the city of São Gonçalo, about 30 km from Natal.
When finished, it should be one of the largest airports in Brazil. More specifically, due to its position (near Europe and North America), it should be the largest cargo hub in Brazil. Natal should benefit from the increase in tourism and trading.

Several schedules have been announced so far, but little has been done. The main problem is that the airport requires a lot of money, and neither the Governments nor the private sectors are willing to take the risks.

Recently, a new planning was announced (see report in Portuguese here).

The new idea is that BNDES (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social - National Bank for Economic and Social Development), an official bank which fomments businesses by loaning subsidized money, will provide the necessary funds.
The building of the airport will be chartered to a private company, to be chosen by a bidding process. The winner will use BNDES money to build the airport, and will be granted the rights to explore the business for a period (yet to be determined) of 20 or 30 years. This model is different from most other airports in Brazil, which are built and managed by the Federal Government (through an agency called Infraero).
Besides charging taxes from air companies and passengers, the charterer will have rights over the Special Exporting Zone which will be built around the airport.

According to officials, the fact that the Government and its bureaucracy will not be involved with the works should speed up the process.
If everything goes as planned, the new airport should be (partially) operating before the end of 2010.

Exports of Rio Grande do Norte

The Secretary for Economic Development of Rio Grande do Norte released a report about the products exported by the State of Rio Grande do Norte; the original report, in Portuguese, is here.

According to the report, in the first five months of 2007, the total volume (in dollars) exported by the State grew by 12.7% in comparison to the same period of 2006, going from US$ 129 million to US$ 145.5 million.
The report doesn't take into account the steep devaluation of the dollar against the real in the period; that means that the volumes of cargo actually shipped increased by more than 12.7%.

It is also interesting to observe that the profile of exports consists basically of primary products, reflex of the low level of industrialization in the State.

The first item of exportaion was mellon, US$ 22.5 million, followed by shrimp, US$ 16.3 million. Next came cashew nuts, US$ 15.9 million, and banana (value not informed, but banana had the highest growth rate, 68%).

Only in 5th place is there a semi-elaborated product, sugar, US$ 9.7 million exported. Other products with more than US$ 1 million exported are iron ore and carnauba wax (carnauba is a kind of palm tree which grows in the interior of the State).

It is clear that, for good and for bad, the State of Rio Grande do Norte will not industrialized in the near future.

Dollar breaks the R$2 barrier

Today, for the first time since February of 2001, the dollar fell below the R$ 2 barrier: markets closed with the course of US$1 = R$ 1.9890.

In 2002 and 2003, the dollar reached almost US$ 4, because President Lula used to defend ideas like non-payment of debts, punishment to wild capitalists, etc. However, after taking office, Lula continued (and in many cases deepened) the orthodox measures implanted by ex-President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. This continuity of Economy policies, along with the excellent conditions of the international financial market, caused the dollar to fall since 2004.

This is bad news for foreign tourists, and for businesses which depend on tourism.
Many Brazilian tourists are preferring a trip to Miami or Buenos Aires rather than the Northeast, because prices in dollar are falling.
On the other hand, tourists who bring dollars to spend in Brazil are seeing their money buying less and less.
The euro has not been loosing much to the Real, so prices in euros are not going up. However, with the increase of Brazilians travelling abroad (and they must return, eventually), airline companies have less seats to sell to foreigns; this decreases availability and increases prices of tickets.

Ponta Negra bridge is re-opened

The Ponta Negra bridge, which links Avenida Roberto Freire to BR-101, was re-opened, now with an extra lane; there used to be two lanes from BR-101 to Avenida Roberto Freire and only one the opposite way; now there are two lanes each way.

This bridge is the one near Nordestão and Hiper, in one end, and Carrefour and Natal Shopping, in the other end.
Because of the high flow of vehicles from Ponta Negra to the BR-101, this bridge was one of the main transit bottlenecks in Natal. At rush hours, traffic jams were inevitable.

This is a feature which makes Natal stand out from other major Brazilian cities: not only transit flows smootherly, but also the authorities plan in advance to prevent problems from growing too big. In recent years, important works were done to improve transit in the city, such as the Complex 4th Centenary (near Machadão stadium), the loops and bridges in the cross ways to Fortaleza and Recife and the Redinha bridge.

Despite the big recent growth in the number of vehicles, Natal still has one of the best transit systems in Brazil.

Brazil - Norway operation arrests criminals in Natal

A joint operation between the Federal Police of Brazil and Okokrim, the National Police of Norway, resulted in the prison of nine people in Natal and fifteen people in Norway.

Since March of 2006 (see archive here), there were suspicions that groups of Norwegian criminals were using Natal to launder illegal money.
The investigations by the Polices showed that the group called B-Gang was laudering money in Brazil. This is an important criminal organization in Norway, commanded by Pakistanis, charged of extortions, kidnappings and drug traffic.

The money obtained by the gang was sent to Brazil and used to build and buy luxury real estate. The gang was the owner of three real estate groups in Natal: Blue Marlim, Natal Invest and Grupo Capricórnio. Some Brazilian lawyers who helped the gang in Brazil were also arrested.

The Police were helped much by the work of two journals: Brazilian Tribuna do Norte and Norwegyan Dagens Naeringsliv.
The article in Tribuna, wich names of some of the people arrested, is here.
The article in Naeringsliv, in Norwegian, is here.

The Pope in Brazil

The Pope Benedict XVI (in Portuguese, he is called Bento 16) arrived today in Brazil, and will stay here until the 14th. Brazil is THE biggest Catholic country in the world.
There are political discussions about the importance of this visit; for example, there is a draft of law in Congress about legalization of abortion in Brazil (today, abortion is legal only in very specific circumstances), and the Pope would have talked about "excomunhão" (expelling from Catholicism) of Deputies and Senators who vote for the law.

The purpose of this post, however, is to remind Catholics visiting Natal that a Pope visited the city in the past.
Pope John Paul II came to Brazil in 1991 (it was his second visit to Brazil), and the first city he visited was Natal. On October 12th, day of the Patron Saint of Brazil, Our Lady Aparecida, John Paul II celebrated a mass at the Cathedral of Natal (see his speach).

John Paul stayed one night in Natal. Instead of the hotels by the beach, the Pope chose to stay at the Centro de Treinamento, a Training Center used by the Catholic Church for meetings and events.
The Training Center is located at the end of Ponta Negra village, about one hundred meters behind the Ponta Negra church.
The Center has, besides meeting halls, some rooms used for accommodation of the people who attend the events.

Last year, I visited the center (I mean: I asked the lady who was guarding the gate to allow me a short entrance), and I was told that, during certain months of the year (from January to March), the rooms are open for other guests.
Catholics may find spiritually significant to visit the center. In the garden, there is a tree (a pau-brazil) which was planted by the Pope.

Two news: low quality education and high income concentration

Two news which are likely related.

On April 26th, the Federal Government published the results of Ideb (Index of development of Basic Education), which assess the quality of all schools (public and private) of the basic education in Brazil, which, at the time of the survey, was composed of eight years on elementary cycle (currently, it's nine) and three years of intermediary cycle.
From 1st to 4th grade, the State of Rio Grande do Norte had the worst results of all 27 States, tied with the States of Piauí and Bahia; the average grade of these States was 2.6, whereas the national average (which itself reflects the low level of Education in Brazil) was 3.9.
From 5th to 8th grade, the State was in 24th position, better than Pernambuco, Alagoas and Paraíba; the State average was 2.6, the national average was 3.3.
In the intermediary cycle, the average was also 2.6, against a national average of 3.0; the State was in 25th position.
When only the capitals are considered, Natal finished 26th in the elementary cycle and 21st in the intermediary cycle.
The city of Acari had the best score in the State, with an average of 4.7.
Newspaper Tribuna do Norte published more details about this survey on Education in Rio Grande do Norte.

On May 1st, another survey showed the other side of the coin: Rio Grande do Norte has the third worst index of income concentration in the country; only the State of Piauí and the Federal District (comprised of a rich nucleus, Brasilia, and a very poor periphery) are worse than RN.
The Gini Index, an attempt to turn income concentration into a number, is 0.578 (the higher, the worse); the average for Brazil, known for its high income concentration, is 0.552.
The 430,000 people in the poorer classes have an average income of R$ 160 per month; the 110,000 people in the richer classes have an average income of R$ 3.014 per month, nearly 19 times as much.
This same survey showed that 21.5% of the population of RN are officially illiterate, and other 32.3 are functionally illiterate (can only read and write little more than their own names).
More detailed article is here.

São Miguel do Gostoso, a growing travel destination

According to Exame, a well regarded magazine oriented to business and finances, the city and beach of São Miguel do Gostoso, in Rio Grande do Norte, will become one of the most popular travel destinations in Brazil in the near future; São Miguel has potential to become as popular as Porto Seguro and Bonito.

Other cities appointed by Exame as future popular destinations are Belmonte (Bahia), Aquiraz (Ceará) and Cambará do Sul (Rio Grande do Sul).

Governor is prosecuted

The Public Prosecution of the State of Rio Grande do Norte filed a public civil suit against the Governor, Mrs. Wilma Faria, and members of her staff.

According to the prosecutors, the Governor used public funds to pay for self-promotion; the prosecutors demand the defendants to refund R$ 6 million (about US$ 3 million) to the Treasury.

Last year, the Government paid R$ 6 million to television for a campaign called "Tá Melhor" (It is Better), in which the State showed their realizations, in comparison with the previous Government.
Brazilian legislation allows use of TV to publicize Government realizations, but it must be institutional, prohibited any personal reference.
Prosecutors say that, by inducing a comparison between governments (and carefully showing only evidences that hers was better), Mrs. Faria infringed the law.

More info on this page of the website of Public Prosecution of Rio Grande do Norte.

Neuroscience Symposium in Natal

Natal will host, from 23rd to 25th February, the II Neuroscience International Symposium.
The event will have 25 lecturers and 600 attendants. Some of the greatest researchers in the field will come to Natal, like Miguel Nicolelis (Brazilian, chief organizer of the event), Michael Merzenich (UCSF) and Mriganka Sur (MIT).

Miguel Nicolelis is a Brazilian physician, one of the directors of Center for Neuroengineering in the University of Duke, North Carolina. In 2004, Science and Scientific American appointed Nicolelis as one of the most influential researchers in the world.

Nicolelis is mentor and main director of the Instituto Internacional de Neurociencias de Natal. The Institute, with main office in Macaiba and campi in Macaiba and Natal, will combine research, learning and social services.
Despite being probably the most famous and capable Brazilian scientist alive, and despite being IINN a private foundation, Mr. Nicolelis is facing a tough battle to conclude the Institute, which will be a major Brazilian research center. The infrastructure (access roads, water and sewage, etc) depend much on the Governments, but these don't seem much willing to help.

Visit the website of the International Institute of Neuroscience in Natal.

Carnival in Natal - 2007

Natal is still known for not having a big carnival. Actually, it looks like the big carnivals in Brazil (Rio, Salvador and Recife) gain more and more popularity (with tourists and media) every year; there is a rumour that the cities will try to push a carnival tour, by which a tourist can spend two days in each city.

Back to Natal: there was again a police strike during carnival (last year, it was the civil police; this year, the military). Coincidence or not, the headline of Tribuna do Norte on February 21st was: "Carnaval 2007 is the most violent in recent years - 36 violent deaths from Friday to Tuesday"; notice that this number (36 deaths) is remarkable in Natal, still a safe city, and would be ordinary in other more violent cities.
Old traditions were kept in 2007, like the samba schools parade and the drag queens parade.
The city government, like in 2006, created carnaval poles around the city, like this one, to make it more accessible to the population.
Other cities in the interior of Rio Grande do Norte, like Touros, Macau, Areia Branca, maintained the tradition of happy carnavals.

The hotels in Natal were busy during the carnaval. Natal is still an excellent place for those who want to take some rest during the carnival.

Salaries of the Police

Newspapers report that the Association of Soldiers and Sargents of the Military Police are in talks with the State Government to talk about raises of salaries. According to the Association, the Government would not be honouring promises made last year, during the elections campaigns.

I think it may be interesting for foreigns to know how much Brazilian Police is paid.

There are three main Polices in Brazil: Federal, Military and Civil Police (some of the bigger cities have also a Municipal Police, but not Natal).
Federals take care of federal crimes and surveil borders, among other jobs. The Military are incumbent of keeping law and order; they wear uniforms and drive cars with police signs. The civil police are incumbent of investigating crimes (robberies, assaults, etc).

Federal Police has the highest salaries, something around R$ 8,000 (US$ 4,000).

Military and Civil Police are both paid by the States.
Right now, the Military are asking to have the same salary as the Civil. If this happens, the salary of a soldier policeman will raise from R$ 1111 to R$ 1594; the salary of a Colonel would raise from R$ 4935 yo R$ 7310.

That means that, if the Military manage to get the raise they are asking for, a Police soldier or agent in Rio Grande do Norte will be paid around US$ 800 a month.

Education in Rio Grande do Norte: some statistics

Since a few years ago, Brazil has been attempting to do what other countries have been doing for decades: measure how much students actually learn.
Most researches are conducted by the Brazilian Ministry of Education (www.mec.gov.br), which has an assistant Institute to help analyse the numbers: INEP - National Institute of Educational Studies and Researches.

INEP released their most recent results.

Case 1: SAEB (National System of Basic Education): students are submitted to tests of Math and Portuguese (reading and comprehension).
Students of the 4th Year of Elementary Level of Rio Grande do Norte ranked the worst in Brazil (Brazil has 27 States and one Federal District).
Students of the 8th Year of Elementary Level of Rio Grande do Norte ranked 22nd in Portuguese and 19th in Math.
Students of the 3rd Year of Intermediary Level ranked 23rd in Portuguese and 21st in Math.

Case 2: ENEM (National Test of Intermediary Level). Students are submitted to tests in all subjects. Some Universities may accept the results of ENEM to determine who is going to enroll.
Rio Grande do Norte dropped from 12th position in 2005 to 13th position in 2006.

SAEB is compulsory; ENEM is voluntary. In both surveys, the State of Brazil with best results was Rio Grande do Sul (in the southern extreme of Brazil).


Update: To check the results of ENEM for all schools in Brazil, click here, then click on "Faça sua Consulta", then select "Rio Grande do Norte" or other UF, then the city (TODAS means ALL).
The schools in Natal with the best performances were: Centro de Educação Integrada, (final grade 63.66); Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica, (63.39); Salesiano São José, (60.44); Colégio Marista de Natal, (59.58); Colégio Nossa Senhora das Neves, (58.54); Escola Doméstica de Natal, (59.11).

The average result for the city of Natal was 41.902; for the State of Rio Grande do Norte, 39.855; and for Brazil, 42.558.

Tourism in Rio Grande do Norte: some statistics

IBGE, the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics, published yesterday a report with some figures about internal tourism; this is the first time that IBGE made such study.
IBGE used data of the year of 2003; the full report, in Portuguese, is here.

In 2003, the tourism sector contribution to the total value added to the Economy was only 2.2% (R$ 31 billion, or about US$ 15 billion); notice that 'value added' is something equivalent to 'profits'.
IBGE concluded also that Brazilian families spent only 1.7% of their budgets (about 17 billion) with tourism.
This only shows how tourism is still incipient in Brazil.

Regarding the State of Rio Grande do Norte:

In the list of States where Brazilians spent most money with tourism, Rio Grande do Norte takes the 15th position (Brazil has 27 States and one Federal District).
To mention only the States of Northeast, which compete among themselves for tourists, Bahia was first (Brazilian tourists spent R$ 3 bn there), followed by Pernambuco (R$ 1.6 bn), Ceara (R$ 1.1 bn) and Rio Grande do Norte (R$ 492 million).

In 2003, there were 18,700 people employed in the tourism sector in RN; the total mass of salaries was R$ 112 million. This means that the mean annual salary was R$ 6,000, or R$ 500 per month, or, at current exchange rate, about US$ 250 per month.

These figures are from 2003; even though inflation is at low levels in Brazil, there was a significant increase in minimum wage (it was R$ 200 in 2002, it will be R$ 380 from May 2007), which may have caused a proportional increase in the average salary of the tourism industry. However, by American and European standards, the salaries of people working in the tourism sector of RN are still very low.

Salaries of teachers in Natal will be raised.

Carlos Eduardo,
Mayor of Natal.

Good news for anyone who likes Natal.

The mayor Carlos Eduardo Alves announced today a raise in salaries of the teachers of the municipal schools, starting March of this year.
The raise will be of 23.74%. This is surprising, not only because inflation rate last year was around 3%, but also because the Government and the Union of teachers had already agreed on an increase of 17.81%.

If this raise is confirmed, the accumulated raise since January of 2001, when Mr. Alves took office as Mayor, will be of 93.1%, way above the inflation indexes, which stayed at around 55%. Besides, Mr. Alves declared that, among other actions to support education, his Government created a Career Plan to teachers, invested in new schools and started providing free uniform and learning material to students.

With this raise, the new minimum salary of a teacher, for a shift of 20 hours per week, will be R$ 842.90, or around US$ 400 (the minimum salary for general workers will be R$ 380, for a 40 hour shift); a teacher at the top of career will earn around R$ 2,000.00, also for a 20 hour shift.
The Mayor says that Natal will be the city in the Northeast of Brazil which pays the highest salaries to teachers.

Our congratulations to the Mayor Carlos Eduardo Alves.

Natal is behind Salvador and Fortaleza

The States of the Northeast of Brazil (the area of the coast with latitudes between the Equatorial Line and the Tropic of Capricorn) compete fiercely for tourists, both domestic and foreigner.

Infraero is a federal agency which controls most Brazilian airports (it is to Infraero that travelers pay the outrageously expensive Brazilian boarding tax); Infraero keeps statistics about the number and nationality of people who use the airports.

Infraero released statistics about international visitors in the airports of the Northeast in the period January-2006 to October-2006.
According to Infraero, the airport Luis Eduardo Magalhães, in Salvador had the highest number of foreign visitors, with 308.507 passengers; airport Pinto Martins, in Fortaleza, came second, with 218.491 passengers; airport Augusto Severo, in Natal, had 203.477 passengers; airport Gilberto Freire, in Recife, had 140.353 passengers; Maceió was next, with 21.024 passengers.

Foreign investments: some statistics

Newspaper Jornal de Hoje published a report on Wednesday, December 27th, about foreign investments in the Northeast of Brazil.

The source of the information, according to the report, was the Central Bank of Brazil, Bacen; the market of foreign currency in Brazil is fully regulated by Bacen, which monitors each dollar which moves in and out of the country.

According to Bacen, Rio Grande do Norte is the State in the Northeast of Brazil which most received investments of foreign individuals in 2005; the article doesn't say so, but probably most of these investments were towards the acquisition of real estate. Notice that the statistics refer only to individuals, and do not include the investments made by corporations.


A total of US$ 127 million were invested in all the States of Northeast combined. Rio Grande do Norte was the one which, by far, received the most: US$ 61 million; Bahia came in second, with U$ 33 million; Pernambuco received US$ 1.5 million; Paraiba received only US$ 154 thousand. The report doesn't mention any other State, but it is very likely that Ceará had received the biggest part of the remaining US$ 31 million (check out this post about investments in the northeast of Brazil).

The report also says, withouth mentioning specific figures, that Bahia is the State in Northeast where the highest number of permanent visas is granted; Rio Grande do Norte is the second State in the Northeast, and tenth in Brazil, to grant permanent visas.

A reminding to all: Natal is a city in a Third World country

I lived in London for a few months.
Only once did I have the chance to see a British policeman lose his temper: a driver had stopped his car in a forbidden place (middle of street), for a brief time, just to pick up a packet in a shop; the policeman *yelled* at him, not as much because of the infraction, but more so because he was blocking several other cars which were after him; the infractor moved on, right away.
This showed me how much repulse the British in particular, and socially developed countries in general, have for people who act in an anti-social way: knowing they are doing something wrong, but doing it anyway. Civilized people don't need laws to know what is right and wrong, and act accordingly.

Well, it's 2:45 am in Natal, December 25th.
Someone is throwing a party, and the sound is so loud that the entire neighbourhood (in Capim Macio, near Ponta Negra) is obliged to listen to it. Something which would be unthinkable in Western Europe.

In London, Stockholm, Helsinki, Barcelona, Lisbon (btw, all cities that I had the pleasure to visit), the police would take less than ten minutes to shut down the party.
In Natal, the Police number is 190. They say that they won't do anything, though; one must call the environment protection agency, or something similar. The police is kind enough to pass the phone number, but guess what: nobody answers the phone there.

This post is a ranting and a reminding.
This entire site is an attempt to show that Natal is an excellent place to visit.
However, people coming from North America and Europe may be shocked to learn in practice that Natal is a city in the Third World, and that some basic rules of civility taken for granted at their home country simply do not apply here.

Christmas in Natal

Natal is the Portuguese word for "Christmas".
So, Christmas is an even more special occasion in Natal than in the rest of Brazil.

Brazilians celebrate Christmas like most Western countries.
Natal prepares special events to celebrate Christmas.
Click here to read more about Christmas in Brazil and Natal.

Carnatal 2006

Carnatal 2006 finished yesterday.

The event attracts more and more people every year.
It is a private event, organized by professionals. Every year, mistakes made the previous year are fixed.
Many people who came the previous year return the following years. Most of the bands and artists are also becoming old timers, more and more integrated with Carnatal.

Carnatal 2006 was, like all other editions, very orderly and peaceful.
We attended Carnatal and took some photos. Read about Carnatal 2006.
To read general information about Carnatal, click here.

America is promoted to First Division

Yesterday, America FC, one of the football teams in Natal, managed to qualify to play in the first division of Brazilian football in 2007.
America finished the Second Division in 4th place, and will be one of the 4 teams promoted to the First Division (the other ones are Atletico Mineiro, from Minas Gerais, and Sport Recife and Nautico, both from nearby State of Pernambuco).

This means that, in 2007, the major Brazilian football teams, such as São Paulo, Flamengo, Corinthians and others will play in Natal; it will be a good chance to go Machadao and watch some famous Brazilian players.

Since 1998, when America was demoted to 2nd Division, there had not been a team of the State in the First Division.
The other major team of Natal, ABC, is struggling to move from Third Division to Second Division (but is unlikely to succeed).
ABC is, still, the most popular team in Rio Grande do Norte (measured by number of fans). However, after several very bad seasons of ABC, some say that America is closing the gap, and may soon become the most popular.

Brazilian airports become a chaos

On September 29th, a tragedy occurred in Brazil: a Boeing 737 and a Legacy jet collided on air; the Boeing crashed, killing 155; the Legacy managed to land. Read what BBC wrote about the airplane collision in Brasil. Until today, the investigations about the causes of the accident are still in progress.

One of the possible causes is a failure in the Brazilian flight control; the failure can be human, of procedures or of equipments.
Since the accident, the flight control personnel, both military and civilian, has been declaring that they work in very stressful conditions; according to them, because there are too few flight controllers, each one of them is obliged to work long hours, and to control more flights at the same time than the recommended safe limit.

Since the last week of October, the flight controllers adopted a radical measure: they would follow ALL security rules. For example, they would work only the recommended number of hours; they would control only the recommended number of simultaneous flights; they would allow an aircraft to take off only thirty minutes after the previous one.

Result: the major Brazilian airports (Brasilia, São Paulo and Rio Janeiro) became a chaos. Some flights had delays of up to 24 hours; many flights were cancelled; the airport waiting rooms were overcrowded.

Natal was not in the center of the problem, but suffered the consequences. Most flights which arrive in Natal come from the major airports; when a plane delayed there, all the flights along the chain were also delayed.

The Brazilian authorities are trying to take measures to sort the situation, but any solution involves the training of new controllers, and it takes time.
Nobody can guarantee when the situation will return to normality.

Daylight Saving WILL NOT be adopted in Natal

At 00:00 am of November 5th, several States of Brazil, including Brasília, will adopt daylight saving time; clocks shall be setup to 01:00am. This will last until 00:00 am of February 25th 2007; then, in the States which adopted the saving time, clocks should be setup to 11:00 pm.

The States in the Northeast of Brazil (including Rio Grande do Norte) do not adopt the daylight saving time.
This means that, during that period, time in Natal will be one hour less than in Brasilia (when it is 8pm in Brasilia, it will be 7pm in Natal).
This difference may affect some activities, like watching Brazilian TV channels, or taking a long distance flight.

The intention of the daylight saving is, like everywhere in the world, to save energy.
In the Northeast, where sun rises sooner and sets later, it makes even more sense to adopt the new saving time. Actually, it doesn't make any sense to adopt the scheme in the South of Brazil and not to adopt it in the North.
It used to be the case that all States in the Northeast adopted the saving time. However, a few years ago, large States in the region like Bahia and Pernambuco refused to adopt it, alleging that, because people would have to leave home earlier, when the Sun wouldn't as high, there could be an increase in criminality.
Ever since, the entire Northeast is outside the daylight savings zone.

The maps below show the difference in time between Brazilian States.



Normal time in Brazil



Times during the daylight saving period

A little more about the elections

Some people may find this interesting.

The elections finished at 5 pm, October 29th.

Before 9 pm of the same day, the new Governor was announced by the Electoral Court.

It took less than four hours to count all votes.
And despite the very tight difference in the number of votes (particulary in the first round), there was not any questioning by the any of the candidates. Nobody mentioned recounting, nobody doubts that the elections were free and fair.

For more than ten years, Brazil has been using electronic ballots.
After a ballot is closed, someone just picks up a diskette and takes it to the Electoral Court, where all diskettes are processed.
In this aspect, Brazil is a developed country.

Wilma de Faria is re-elected Governor of Rio Grande do Norte

Wilma Maria de Faria was re-elected, in a second round, Governor of Rio Grande do Norte; Mrs. Wilma will finish her first term on December 31st, and will be empowered for a second term, from January 1st 2007 to December 31st 2010.
In this second round, final results were: Mrs. Wilma de Faria: 52.38% of valid votes (blank votes or votes made null by the voter are not considered); Mr. Garibaldi Alves Filho: 47.62%.

In the first round, on October 1st, the final result was: Mrs. Wilma de Faria: 49.57% of total valid votes (if she had one vote more than 50% of total votes, there would not even be a second round); Mr. Garibaldi Alves Filho: 48.60%; other candidates combined (Sandro de Oliveira Pimentel, José Geraldo Forte dos Santos, Humberto Mauricio da Silva, Antonio Jose Bezerra and Marco Antonio do Nascimento): less than 2%.

According to surveys conducted three months ago, Mr. Garibaldi was favorite. During the campaign, Mrs. Wilma knew how to use the support by President Lula to gain votes among the poorer sectors of the population.

The State of Rio Grande do Norte and the city of Natal will remain governed, as it has been for the past decades, by an oligarchy. Names like Alves, Maia, Faria, Rosado, Mello, Bezerra and very few others dominate the political scenario. The State of Rio Grande do Norte is the one in Brazil where oligarchies are strongest.

Mrs. Wilma de Faria will be Governor, Carlos Eduardo Alves will be Mayor until 2008; the three Senators of the State will be: José Agripino Maia (until 2010); Garibaldi Alves Filho (until 2010); and Rosalba Ciarlini (elected in 2006, for a term until 2014).

Mrs. Wilma de Faria is affiliated with PSB (Brazilian Socialist Party), a leftist Party. As a curiosity, the PSB, a small to medium sized Party, won elections for Governor in only three States, all in the Northeast of Brazil: Rio Grande do Norte, Pernambuco and Ceará.

For more information about elections 2006 in Brazil, visit the site of the Superior Electoral Court.

Gastronomic Festival in Pipa

From 6th to 15th of October 2006, Pipa will see the Third Gastronomic Festival.
This is a kind of contest among the restaurants of Pipa (participation is voluntary). Each restaurant should prepare a new plate especially for the Festival, using mostly regional products (which include fish and seafood); price is limited to R$ 15. Juries composed by gourmets and customers will elect the best recipes.

Pipa is one of the places in the Northeast of Brazil with the best selection of restaurants. This is an excellent opportunity to taste delicious food for reasonable prices.

Read more about restaurants in Pipa, and read more about the Pipa Food Festival.

Windsurfing from Fernando de Noronha to Natal

Two Brazilian windsurfers, Diogo Guerreiro and Flavio Jardim, windsurfed all the way from the island of Fernando de Noronha to Natal, a distance of 370 km (about 230 miles). The journey started on September 26th and finished on the 27th; the surfers were not accompanied by any boat.
Diogo and Flavio applied for an entry to the Guiness Book.

The event had the support of the Tourism Secretary of Natal, and showed that Natal is one of the best places in the world for practices of windsurf and its more radical version, kitesurf.

Actually, at present, the beach in the State of Rio Grande do Norte where these sports are more popular is São Miguel do Gostoso, about 120 km North of Natal.
In the neighbour State of Ceará, a beach called Cumbuco has been known for a few years already as being one of the main places in the world for practice of kitesurf.

Population revolted against new condo in Ponta Negra

There is a project under progress to build three vertical condos very near the Morro do Careca, in Ponta Negra beach, main landmark of Natal. The project was approved by the Secretaries of Urbanization and of Environment.

Tribuna do Norte reports today that the population of Ponta Negra is fiercily against the construction of the buildings. A group led by journalist Yuno Silva is making a call for lawyers, engineers, architects and authorities to better discuss the problem.
The dwellers of Ponta Negra say that the three buildings will cover the view of Morro do Careca, one of the most beautiful and famous views in Natal. Besides, the aglomeration of another 200 families in a small space will create further problems to the area, such as increase in transit of vehicles and difficulties with sewage infrastructure. Many people recall also that, very recently, the Secretary of Environment obtained a judicial order to stop the building of a hotel in Via Costeira (read here), and wouldn't have taken the necessary precautions to issue a license now.

The full article by Tribuna do Norte is here.
It is interesting to read the comments posted by readers. There is a nearly unanymous feeling that the city government should be more concerned with the excessive growth of Ponta Negra; that beach was the favorite of natalenses just a few years ago, and today every square meter of it is being taken by foreigners.

Update: today, 29th, the Mayor of Natal said that the licenses would be revised. Mr. Carlos Eduardo Alves said that, even though the Secretary of Environment had issued the licenses, he would ask the Juridical Advising sector of the government to have a second, more thorough, looking at the whole process.
By the tone of his speech, it looks like the Mayor want the licenses to be revoked. This is clearly a response to the action of the population. The voice of the people was heard.

Spanish newspaper writes about sex tourism in Natal

Important Spanish newspaper Elmundo published on September 17th 2006 an article describing the troubles that some Spanish tourists faced in Natal when they engaged in paid sexual encounters.
The article was mentioned by newspapers in Natal and had repercussion among authorities and population in the city; the full original text in Spanish is here.

The article tells how three Spanish citizens arranged to have a sexual encounter with five prostitutes they picket in Ponta Negra beach; it turned out that three of the prostitutes were shemales, and some of them were underage. The clientes were blackmailed (they suspect that the taxi drivers and hotel owners may have been part of the scheme) and had to pay a hefty amount to avoid facing the Police. Elmundo goes on to say that Natal is the most selected euro-bordel in Brazil.

The report sounds a bit biased. Below, some facts of interest.

The legislation: prostitution is not illegal in Brazil; it is not fully regulated, as it is in Holland or Germany, but it is not illegal. Prostitutes are not criminals, so they don't have to hide from the police, nor do they need pimps (pimping is a crime; running a place for prostitution purposes is a crime; incitement to prostitution is a crime; profiting from prostitution is a crime).

Because there is much poverty in Natal, and because many people are willing to pay for sex, many women resort to prostitution. Tourism grew quickly in Natal, and attracted many sex workers, including many from other States. Public prostitution in Na