Marvellous Regência

Saturday – 09/01/2016

After leaving Vitória, bestowing upon the trip an opening tone, finally I will see the river, which I already knew, but which is now another… Feeling gratified, especially for having travelled the road that separates the capital from the mouth of the Doce along the coast. From the mountain range onwards, the whole coast is spotted by a stretchby-stretch decreasing number of touristic cities, the wind remains strong and constant. The traditional population, now more in need than ever, is extremely close to the river. I witness the richness of a complete occupation here. Seeing camps and settlements of the MST10, native Indian territories, quilombo11 remnants, a harbour, oil extraction wells and one of the largest pulp and paper mills in the country. At the same time, the diversity of my country consolidates the presence of large public or private projects. They are widespread, and their impacts are as absurd as they are evident. More than in our cities, the contradictions of those above versus those below are evident. The conflicts over land have pushed the population towards a situation of severe need. I perceive this all along the route, especially since the dam has collapsed. The impacts of the toxic waste on the region are obvious and profound... The sea? turns orange, half bloody, half rusty and riverside dwellers – if not everyone – claim their rights here.

Saturday – 09/01/2016

Arriving at Regência, having seen the river, I notice the same mud sadness on everyone’s face. Although the summer is present in this, one of the most touristic regions in the state, the atmosphere is one of mourning. Alongside the riverbank, on the beaches and wherever there is a tap, the rust colour and the same smell is in everything. Fishermen, surfers, boatmen and residents many times keep at their work in the same way, not because they are unaware of the risks, but mostly because of the impossibility of dissociating their existence from their occupation. Their connectedness. What would they be if not this? Barely having arrived, my being is already being invaded by the damage the mud has caused. I am welcomed by my friend Hauley, active on several fronts in the struggle for the Doce, as well as a sociologist, surfer, thinker and social articulator of Regência.

No one could better explain to me the real impacts of the catastrophe and their magnitude in the region. We spend three days surveying the flood’s effects on various communities in the surroundings. They are intense days, not only because of the demanding work routine, but also in view of the stories, as rich as they are tragic. One of the marked examples of the regional richness is the story of Caboclo Bernardo, a fisherman who in 1887 saved 128 lives from a shipwreck in the Imperial Navy and was personally decorated by Princess Isabel12. He became a hero, and also a contradictory figure in the region, mainly because of repercussions of this event and the half real, half legendary aspect of his story. He is an acknowledged spiritual entity in Umbanda13 rituals, a Christian chapel has been erected in his honour and he is remembered even in popular festivities, being known as far as in the Triângulo Mineiro14 and viewed by some as a native Indian. He is a representative of the Caboclo and traditional culture that survives in the region, as well as of our dilemmas. Km 753

Saturday – 09/01/2016

There are also other contradictions in the region, where Samarco15 has been present for months, as a big hand moving ambition and not healing the actual, obvious and brutal reality here. Likewise, there is clear evidence of attempts to dismantle social groups in the region, meetings that conflict with community activities, a financial support that in no way replaces water and the distressing presence of a big lie. I ask myself daily, and each time more, about the real dimension of the disaster and all its implications in such a vast region of Brazil, as well as the shameful reaction of our government. After all, the increasingly obvious impossibility of the current game rules vis-à-vis social needs is painfully clear.

Saturday – 09/01/2016

“Arriving at the port of Regência, the metallic smell of the air is omnipresent. The static waters numb my perception of colours. It could even be the natural colour hue of the river, but the silence of the atmosphere whispers otherwise. Empty vessels float sadly as if afraid of abandonment. In the floating line of the hulls, the ochre trace of a dyed river can be distinguished. Nearby the daily life persists, a couple lives their romance and kids playing distracted gives the impression to the visitor that the indignation is an already digested theme.”