Contexto Magazine - Seventh Edition by Priscila Bellini

contexto 7th edition

july 2014

The nobodies 1

Index #editorial

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#illustration

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#Brazil The World Cup for foreigners

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Free Fare Movement and the Brazilian state of exception

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Welcome, Civil Rights-Based Framework for Internet!

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A time when we no longer can say my love

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Interview with Raphael Montes

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#International I take birth control

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#opinion The nobodies of Palestine

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#proseandpoetry

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#photocontext

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#editorial

The struggle is ongoing

hey want us to shut up and keep quiet. We may say it’s a similar situation for every social topic. But we must scream, and shout out loud that we won’t forget and won’t stop fighting. In this edition, you will find article and photos about the situation in Palestine, as well as a lot of struggle during the World Cup in Brazil. The metro workers’ strike, the militant poetry of women, the fight for the Civil Rights-Based Framework for Internet and a lot more. Once again, our special thanks to Qatar Foundation International for supporting our project and a big thank you to those who participate in the magazine. Priscila Bellini Editor in Chief

The Team Editor in Chief

Priscila Bellini Journalists

Emily Stetson Heloisa Vieira Júlia Dolce Priscila Bellini Rafael Leite Rodrigo Borges Delfim Vanessa Panerari Poetry

Marina Barbosa Illustration

Júlia Dolce Design

Fernanda Tottero Seja bem-vindo à Contexto! Welcome! Ahlan wa sahlan!

Photography

Priscila Bellini Translation

Priscila Bellini

#illustration

JĂşlia Dolce studies Journalism at PUC-SP.

#Brazil

The World Cup for foreigners

By Rodrigo Borges Delfim

No Fifa, “Foreigners” Cup is successful in Sao Paulo A Cup for which there was no need to make any new stadium, cheaper and accessible to the public, and more democratic and inclusive than the World Cup organized by FIFA. These are just some of the features of the first FIFA Foreigners, amateur football tournament contested by 24 teams of immigrants living in Brazil. Played between April 13 and June 8, “Copa Gringos” was created by Stéphane Darmani, who is living in the capital since ten years ago, and organized the tournament through his production company, La Vista Events. The soccer fan and former player Juninho Pernambucano, used the experience gained in organizing Virada Esportiva - held annually in São Paulo - to play the new project and fill a demand from

foreigners who had contact in the city: create an event in which they could play football. “Sao Paulo is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, more than 70 nationalities are represented in São Paulo, the whole world is here! It is ideal for providing a ‘World Cup of Foreigners’,” he explains. In the Copa Gringos, it’s possible to support selections that failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup: Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, Congo, Canada and China. It also included Germany, Argentina, Belgium, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Spain, USA, France, England, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Portugal, Alpine (Austria and Switzerland combined) and Esperanto - formed by players of various nationalities.

“There are very different profiles here, executives and employees of multinational companies, students, political refugees, workers. Not only is a mixture of nationalities, it is also a social mix and this is what I think is the coolest part. Everyone is equal during the match, and that’s what I like in football, something universal. Here at least they can interact, since amateur football still allows it”, explains Darmani.

The tournament The 24 teams were divided into six groups (A to F), in which the top two from each key and the four best third placed passed the quarter-final. The remaining eight teams competed in the Silver Series, a kind of “Series B” of Copa Gringos, whose end was one of the preliminary decision of the tournament, on the 8th of June. Almost all the matches were played at the Playball Pompeia, in the west of São Paulo - except for the final and foreplay, which happened in Aclimação Park, south zone of São Paulo.The kickoff was given by Alpine v Ecuador game, which ended tied at 5-5.’s. After nearly two months of competition, Cameroon and Bolivia m a d e t h e g r a n d fi n a l , i n w h i c h Cameroonians succeeded in overtime by 2-1.’s. The result, although frustrated Bolivian crowd, does not dazzle the role it played throughout the competition, encouraging and establishing a presence in the games of the team. “I had never played with a crowd like this, if it was only because of them, we would have

won 10-0,” said Israel Silva Correia, one of the players in Bolivia, after the vice-championship. However, the Cameroonian community in São Paulo can ease the disappointment of seeing the native country being eliminated from the FIFA World Cup, since it won “Copa Gringos” title, conquered a few days before the start of the professional tournament. “I’m speechless, I have no words”, said the Cameroon goalkeeper Bernard Happi, the best player of the final and responsible for repealing the Bolivian attack on the decision. After the finals, the awards ceremony took place at the Pullman Hotel, near the Aclimação Park, in which players received compliments and awards from the hands of former player Rai. “Sport and the integration of people is what they won. Immigrants have made a goal letter,” he said. The third place in the competition went to Peru after a 5-1 win over Chile. In the Silver Series, the winner was the selection of Congo, who defeated Belgium on penalties.

Obstacles Organizing and training teams were two of the major challenges of the Cup. “We got the last two or three teams to get to the 24 after a lot of struggle and I am very happy because it was not easy. For some of them it was not easy to get contacts and players. It was a fight that began in September”, Darmani recalls. A rule of Foreigners Cup allowed that each team could count up to two native

Brazilians and two with dual nationality, which helped build several of the teams that competed in the competition. One of the selections formed in the last minutes was named Esperanto, a mixture of several countries that failed to form a team. “I tried to join the Polish team, but I couldn’t. So the organizers decided to join the players without team to assemble an international team. I found it a very good idea and it gave the opportunity to play soccer at this event, which is very interesting. And you can feel the thrill of playing a World Cup”, says the Polish Marek Zarzycki, an official at the country’s embassy in Brazil and one of the team members of Esperanto, which also featured players from Turkey, Czech Republic, Egypt and Ireland. 8

Another selection formed on the last minutes for the tournament was Chile’s - largely thanks to the efforts of Maghie Contreras, president of the Chilean folk group Quinchamalí. “Wait, we’re in the year of the World Cup, how could we not have a Chilean national team? I was calling one by one, knocking at from door to door. Now we have 14 Chilean and one Brazilian on the team”, explained Maghie, still in the first round. The effort it eventually rewarded, as Chile was one of the highlights of the Copa Gringos and it finished the tournament in fourth place. The financial issue was another factor to be overcome by the organization. Although it has relied on support from some companies, Darmani account

that has not been possible to make investments in other areas he wanted, how to hire a team to record images in the competition - he himself took the publicity pictures of the tournament. “Many brands are not yet interested in the amateur football and are too focused on the professional one. Unfortunately, our football was on that side.”

Legacy of friendship In the two months of Copa Gringos, it was possible to track fans and players committed to supporting and representing their native country, but also a beautiful and important form of integration with other communities. “You see many players who have made friends with each other. I think this is the great

legacy of Copa Gringos. I do not know what will be the legacy of the World Cup, but at least in the Copa Gringos - I see the French team and others, such as Chile and Peru, which were assembled hastily - people who didn’t know each other before, today are real friends and joining each other’s house. We create groups of friends, and this is something that I value very much, besides sports results.” This view is also shared by players and fans who participated in the tournament. “That’s the goal of the Copa Gringos, when foreigners meet to play football, make new friendships, between Austrian, Swiss, and other people. We have already been called up to parties in other communities”, says Stefan Nemetz, 9

commercial vice-consul of Austria in Sao Paulo and member of the Alpine team, which still ended up eliminated in the first round and then played in the Silver Series. The opportunity to represent one’s country, even in an amateur way, has also attracted and motivated players selections. “Wow, it’s time to represent the country. If Bolivia does not go to the World Cup, at least somewhere you can root for her and represent”, said Wilfredo Macias, goalkeeper of the Bolivian team. The diversity of nationalities surprised the German Bastian Barnbeck, who has been in Brazil for only five months and works at a Chilean company. “The first time I came here I saw people from many countries, and I did not know you had so many people from so many places here in Brazil. I hope it’s the same thing in 2015.”

Foreigners League on the way? It is not necessary to wait until next year for the Copa Gringos’ selection return to the field. Due to the success of critics and audiences - and especially among players - a new competition on a permanent basis, should begin in September, called “Gringos League”. The idea is that teams can play for a longer period in a tournament of points accrued. A query made by the organization to the players pointed

out that 93% of them are in favor of a permanent tournament. Issues such as the registration fee to be paid by the teams, number of players per team and the interval between one round and the other are still being discussed, but teams that participated in the Copa Gringos now move along to their own communities to get new players and support the project. Darmani is still unsure of the number of teams that the new tournament will have and about a possible sponsorship and support of the City of São Paulo to achieve the participation of teams that would like to join but can afford alone the costs for a future League. “The event is not connected to the World Cup, it was born to success here. Foreigners liked, some teams already have new players and they are getting ready and they will surely get stronger for September. Not only is the game itself, but also the barbecue that happens after the matches, the meetings during the week, the friendship itself. It can not stop. For all these reasons we expect at least a 12 or 18 teams can join a championship in September. Match results or awards obtained by this or that selection are mere details. The tournament provided a new form of integration of immigrants living in São Paulo, regardless of origin, immigration status or occupation.”

Free Fare Movement and the Brazilian state of exception By Júlia Dolce

Demonstrators fighting against the criminalization of social movements and protests Public transportation was one of the most discussed agendas in Brazil in 2013, reaching even the largest sectors of social exclusion and individuals with significant political alienation and disaffection, from all political groups. The debate began with the Free Fare Movement (MPL, in Portuguese), which despite having been less known by the population in the past, became a protagonist in the so-called Days of June wave of protests that made thousands of protesters take the streets in different cities in the country last year. The MPL is a nonpartisan, independent and autonomous social movement that officially started in Porto Alegre in 2005.

The Movement aims to fight for “a truly public transport” through the “Zero Fare”. The Days of June, however, started as a reaction to the increase of twenty cents in the bus fare in São Paulo (which reached the amount of R $ 3.20 and was abusive, according to the demonstrators and the population in general. Identified as the largest mobilizations in the country in twenty years, since the demonstrations for the impeachment of president Collor, Days of June soon spread throughout Brazil, with popular support in parallel with changes in the mass media approach. The demonstrations, known by the strong

Mariana Toledo in a interview about the World Cup

repression of the Military Police (MP), had their agenda expanded (and somewhat neutralized), to the extent that millions of people took to the streets. The pressure was enough for several cities, including Sao Paulo, to cancel the increase in transport tickets. The struggle of Free Fare Movement however, did not end with the victory of the repeal of the increase, announced in Sao Paulo by Fernando Haddad, on 19th June, in the last year, after six huge protests in the capital. In the last 19 days, the MPL has called an act to celebrate the one year anniversary of the revocation of the increase and the continued struggle

for a zero-rate public transportation, but also agaisnt the the elitist and undemocratic way that the World Cup is being held in Brazil. The act began in Praça do Ciclista (Paulista Avenue), heading for the Marginal Tietê, in order to occupy it with a popular festival. A member of the MPL, Mariana Toledo, gave a press conference to COPA 412 (Occupied Centre for Alternative Production), on July 3rd, explaining the objectives and the organization of the movement, as well as their opinions about the current demonstrations in the country. According to the activist, “The MPL is only one of the forces that make

the fight in the street, that takes the streets now,” and despite the Movement support to the causes such as the recent strike of the Subway workers, it continues with a single agenda: the consolidation of public transportation. The flag of the Zero-rate is still constantly criticized and even ridiculed by a significant part of the population. For Mariana, ignorance of the meaning of this struggle is still a thing. “When they say there is no free lunch, we explain that we do not want free bus and yes to zerofare, which is quite different.” The zero-fare proposes that the payment of public transportation tickets will be no longer done directly, but are going to be indirectly paid and distributed by the company. This would occur through the collection of progressive taxes (after a change in the tax burden for a criterion for tax justice: those who have more would pay more, those who have less would pay less). So the transportation would actually become a right for everyone, such as health and education. M o r e o v e r, c h a n g e s w o u l d b e necessar y in the priorities of the government, in order to decrease that investment in works that encourage individual transport. For the MPL, the increase in fares of transportation is a political decision, as well as the existence of the fare itself, since, according to Mariana, zero-fare is feasible for the reality in which we live. “If today’s agenda seems a bunch of crazy demonstrators, she was once the bill during the administration of former

mayor of São Paulo, Luiza Erundina” says Mariana. The proposal, submitted to the Chamber of Deputies on September 28, 1990, was frustrated by political interests. In the MPL page, there are several examples of positive experiences of implementing zero-fare, such as in the city of Tallinn, Estonia, the first European capital with free public transport for all. As for the internal organization of the MPL, Mariana believes that is one of the most horizontal social movements today. It consists of a rotation system between different committees (Legal, Financial, Communications and Regional Activities). The last one is responsible for the struggle for public transportation in the suburbs, as the case of Marsilac district in the extreme south of the city of São Paulo, where residents have to walk 10km to take a bus. People who are interested in joining the MPL must go through a training process, which according to Mariana, was not a concern before the June Days. “In the first public meeting after the conference, we identified two disguised cops among the demonstrators”. Mariana says that the movement does not follow a specific ideology, does not supporting any political party or candidate: “We focus on self-management. We would think very carefully before chosing an agenda with a political party.” Regarding the current situation of the protests, the MPL fights, along with other social movements, against t h e d e c r i m i n a l i z at i o n of p o l i t i c a l demonstrations, which is being increasingly suppressed by MP, primarily

during the World Cup. Mariana believes that the direction taken by MPL in the last 19 days, have served as a justification for increased enforcement in the following acts. That’s because, writing to the Public Security Bureau right before the protest regarding the presence of policemen, MPL said that social movements were able to ensure their own safety. But even with a proposal for a symbolic manifestation, intended to run the path to the Marginal Pinheiros without any problem, four bank branches were vandalized by supporters of the Black Bloc tactic. Although not condemning such actions and recognizing its importance, Mariana stated that MPL prefers to follow a greater diversity of tactics. After the depredations, the Secretary of Public Security of São Paulo, Fernando Grella, directly criminalized MPL and protests in general. The members of the Free Fare Movement have been intimidated and threatened by police, who are seeking information about the “Black Bloc”, personal information for an illegal database of political activists, leading militant forces to testify in DEIC. According to Mariana, “there is a great effort, after June 2013, to harm the credibility of the protests. Cops were infiltrated as Black Blocs and the mainstream media encourages depredations in order to build a show”. Since the opening of the World Cup, and especially since the Act of the 19th, several unconstitutional arbitrariness have been practiced by the

military police. Riot police, equipped with exoskeleton and cavalry, as well as pickup trucks and cars, water was thrown to the demonstrators. A protest was prevented from happening due to lack of leadership. A policeman shot with a firearm during a demonstration. The number of arrests for investigation is growing increasingly. Fabio Hideki, student and employee of ACE USP, remains trapped in a maximum security prison in Tremembé, in a demonstration against the World Cup (whose video can be watched on the internet). In reaction to the state of exception established by the government, the MPL continues to promote protests and debates, such as the debate on the criminalization of social movements that took place in Cathedral Square in front of the Court, in Feb. 2. Fernando Grella was formally invited by the MPL for the acts, but did not show up in any of them. But the Military Police attended for sure, with 200 officers - in a ratio of one soldier for each activist.

Welcome, Civil Rights-Based Framework for Internet! The proposal In mid-2007, the Brazilian Congress assessed a bill whose main motivation was to fight cybercrime. The proposal became known as Azeredo Bill, the surname of the deputy who created it. The project suffered from a huge opposition from civil society, in terms of its criminal focus, under the pretext of combating cybercrime, providing way for adopting measures to potentially reduce the freedoms of citizens on the Internet. In response to the conduct of such a project, social organizations and government sectors got together to give the new legislation aiming to regulate the Internet in the country, but without hurting the freedoms of Internet users. Between October 2009 and May 2010, a preliminary proposal was the subject

By Rafael Leite

of significant public online consultation with the participation of thousands of citizens. Public hearings were also held in various regions of the country. In an unprecedented way, a bill was collaboratively designed after extensive virtual consultations. The Civil Rights-Based Framework for Internet, as the proposal became known, aims to regulate search and management of the Internet in the country. It establishes principles, guarantees and rights for those involved in the internet: users, businesses and governments. The project seeks to establish rights and obligations for internet, connection, and content providers, also regulating the role of governments in relation to the network. For this reason many have come to refer 15

to as the Civil Rights-Based Framework, the “Constitution of the Internet.”

Content Among the main points of the project, it is possible to point out that 1) ISPs or content become unresponsive over the behavior of users on the network, 2) it is assured the principle of net neutrality, 3) only with court orders for investigative purposes one may violate online communications, 4) the suspension of internet service only occurs in the event of interruption of payment and 5) it is prohibited to supply to third parties, on the part of providers, data users navigation. The bill states that users are solely responsible for the content they publish on the internet, no more access providers (responsible for providing the service of internet connection) or content (those responsible for managing the sites in the network, such as Google or Facebook). This rule is intended to prevent the very common private censorship in cases where providers, fearing lawsuits, held prior to the behavior of users censorship, deciding which content should or should not be available online. With the new framework, published content in the network can only be taken down by providers after court order (except in cases of violence, racism or pedophilia). The principle of net neutrality, one of the main points of the framework, prohibits providers from discriminating data because of its content, origin or destination. The principle ensures

that the data should be treated in an isonomic way, irrespectively of speed of traffic over networks . The main idea is to prevent agreements between ISPs and content, which could make the connection to the sites of powerful media groups faster than access to other content from the network, virtually making the internet a new “cable TV”. The framework also establishes the inviolability of private communications within the Internet, ensuring the protection of privacy and personal data. Only court orders with investigative purposes may allow access to mail network, according to the project. Activists say, however, that the text presents gaps and accordingly needs to be regulated with the adoption of an exclusive law to ensure the protection of personal data. The bill finally argues that all levels of government should not only prioritize the use of technologies, standards and open formats and open, but they must also openly publish their data on the network, develop training programs for using the internet and establish mechanisms for transparent and participatory governance.

The approval The bill establishing the Civil RightsBased Framework for Internet was referred to the House of Representatives by President Dilma Rousseff in mid2011, but only after the beginning of the scandal involving Brazilian communications spyied by the NSA, U.S. intelligence agency, the president

declared emergency for the vote on the project. The adoption of it would be used as a political response to the scandal caused by the revelation of Eduard Snowden. The approval of the Civil RightsBased Framework, however, had many difficulties to continue in the Chamber of Deputies. The vote on the bill was postponed several times due to a context of rebellion among allied parties against the government, giving rise to an acute political conflict between the base of support in the legislature and the government. The project then became a bargain between the executive and rebel allies. Right now, the international commitment made by the President in defense of freedoms in the network and the strong popular pressure - the peak of the dispute over the approval of the

Civil Marco numerous organizations which cooperated with the project creation joined in his defense, including names like Tim Berners Lee, creator of the web - were essential for the government, which faced resistance to the project in the executive branch. Only after countless negotiations the crisis in Congress came to an end and the bill passed in the House on March 25, 2014, by the virtual unanimity of the Members. The framework was then forwarded to the analysis of the Senate, which approved it, so that is destined for Presidential sanction.

Prospects for the Future The Civil Rights-Based Framework is establishing the principles, basic rights and duties for the multiple actors in the network, such as users, providers and 17

governments. It is the first step toward building a free, democratic and safe internet in the country. To keep moving in that direction, new initiatives of law capable of regulating specific uses of the Internet, such as e-commerce or even the protection of personal data are still needed, as seen previously. The approval of the project was not a simple process. At its beginning, it had a robust social participation. After that it was followed by a series of moments of conflict between the

government and the Congress. Those were constant negotiation processes, marked by situations of confrontation and dialogue. This is another reason that makes the approval of the framework a victory for Brazilian democracy: it was a deeply deliberative process. While countries like China, India and Russia approve laws that restrict civil rights on the Internet, Brazil takes a big step towards building a free and democratic web, which is definitely historical.

A time when we no longer can say my love

By Heloisa Vieira

On 5th of June, at the Union of Metro Workers, there was a meeting of the workers in the city of São Paulo, which decided, unanimously, the strike of the group. At the union’s place, where the vuvuzelas and the choir from the stadiums were not relevants, was marked the beginning of the five days that made the conservative speech of the government of the PSDB come to an end and intensified the existing polarization, since the beginning of the year in the country. Once, Drummond wrote: “A time comes when we no longer can say: my God. A time of total cleaning up. A time when we no longer can say: my love.” These three verses of the poem can translate faithfully, the intensification of the class struggle, the life of the exploited and oppressed, and also its “destiny.” When the material conditions of life become insufficient and untenable, when the faith no longer smothers the impatience of empty bellies, people get up and fight. In principle, the resolution of immediate issues - like the abusive price of public transport fare. However, the processes of struggle, combined with the political, economic and social conditions of each season, leaving more than economic achievements to the working class and youth, since it teaches that organization and mobilization can change their lives. This was June. In 2013, in the minds of Brazilians they realized they can truly

win and advance. This feeling, born with the youth, radiated to other sectors of society. The strike by workers at COMPERJ inaugurated in 2014 and the working class as a new forefront of the struggles in the country. As well as several other categories, metro workers started a wage campaign, demanding decent working conditions. Among the claims was an adjustment of 13.25% of meal vouchers, food stamps increased from R $ 247.69 to R $ 379.80, a wage increase of 12.2% (with 7.95% of inflation) and a career plan that would allow workers to remain in the company. Negotiation agendas of metro workers was postponed for a month by the metro and by Governor Geraldo Alckmin, without any concession by the company and the government, which have not changed in any moment the proposed wage increase of 8.7%. The result was a beautiful and legitimate strike, when workers proposed to work for free (if there was the zero-fare), in order to not harm the population. The company and the governor refused to allow them to put the zero-fare in practice, unfortunately, claiming that it would affect the company’s profit. No dialogue with the workers and the denial of free fare have the same precedence: our rights, in neoliberalism, are treated as a commodity. The subway stopped and secured their strike during the five days through

actions and meetings. In response to mobilization of workers, Alckmin requiered prisons and sent riot police to suppress its manifestations. In addition, throughout the strike, the mainstream media, in general, slandered the category and the union, trying to put the public against the workers. The Company’s own website notes were released with titles such as “Maintaining the strike is cruelty for the population.” However, the desperate attempts to guarantee the silence of workers, the comfort and handling of FIFA World Cup were useless. Over 80% of the population support the strike. The media and the companies used their point, that the strike was political and therefore unjust. How well said Wislawa 20

Symborska, “All thy, our, your stuff / day and night, / are political things.” The strike was indeed a policy that required not only material issues for workers, but also a less chaotic public transport, the end of the harassment and the maintenance of the democratic exercise to protest. The shutdown of the subway was, yes, politics - like when youth took to the streets to stop the fare increase and they supported, and they continued to fight. The question that arises, in fact, is not whether the strike was political and therefore illegitimate, but that the company and the government, unlike the union and the class, took political decisions during the whole process and were treated as innocent in order to mislead and confuse the population. The

repression, no dialogue, no free-fare, the appeal to the Regional Labor Court for placement on the illegality of the strike, the notes posted on the company website, the threatening letters of resignation sent to the homes of strikers, the 42 metro workers fired (all were activists and 11 of them were part of the union) - itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all political and unfair. All attacks suffered by metro workers had a goal prevent that the movement of workers and the category could win something. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s because the last few months have shown that the uprising of a group of workers is not something isolated, but a breakthrough to the class as a whole. A strike by subway workers in Sao Paulo was so strong and so brave that shower to the exploited that they can only rely on their own strength. The group joined the strike, and so did many unions, students and social movements. The announcement of the end of the strike took place on June 9, but it did not mean the end of the mobilization of the metro workers. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an agenda for the struggle for readmission of 42 workers ongoing, and future strikes if the Metro and Alckmin decide to not take a

step back. At the same meeting at which the plan was drawn, all the unions in the country, some political parties and various student and popular movements were placed next to the metro workers in the fight against layoffs, corroborating the slogan that comes echoing in the streets: the struggle continues during the World Cup. The moment we are living in the country is exceptional. On one side are the workers and the youth, tired and angry, and on the other, governments and corporations frightened and furious. But their lies and the endless wait no longer fit into the lives of those who begin to learn how to organize, strongly and courageously. The metro workers, as well as all other workers who are facing their bosses, led the way for the construction of a new society. The labor union has also made it quite clear what the role of this device in the struggle of workers: bringing the true democracy in a new society in which the rights and the lives of workers will be priority. This is our time. The time in which it says: the streets are dreams and the future.

Interview with Raphael Montes The brand new name of crime fiction By Vanessa Panerari

Raphael Montes, a new writer from Rio de Janeiro, seems to be the promise of Brazilian crime fiction literature. He’s 23 years old and has two published books. He was a finalist for São Paulo Literature Awards in 2013 and for Machado de Assis Awards in 2012, besides having considerable compliments from big names such as Scott Turow. - How did you start? I started to enjoy reading when I was 12, for a gift that my great-aunt gave me. It was a book of Sherlock Holmes, called A Study in Scarlet, which is the first book in the series of Sherlock Holmes. At that time I read, I found it amazing and at the same time I thought “wow, I want to do this for life.” I decided that this was what I wanted

to do and started writing some short stories. So I wrote several tiny stories at the time of the college, and then I tried to write novels. I even wrote a novel which was never published, called Mere illusion, and then started writing Suicides, which was the publication that came out - and the first one I tried to publish.

- What are your influences in the field of literature? The Sherlock Holmes was the first book I read without being compulsory reading at school, but I’d say my biggest influences are Agatha Christie and Patricia Highsmith. - How is it to be a really young author? It’s kind of crazy, right? It is worth remembering that two years ago I even had a book published. Two years later I have two published books. The last one by Companhia das Letras, with over 10,000 copies sold, with translations and that will become a movie. So it’s something I didn’t expect. I always believed that my books were good, I like the things I write, but I never expected all this impact. What I seek to do is to avoid dazzle me with this, or think I’m better than anyone or that I am somehow, special. After much work I got it all. Much faster than a lot of people, it is true, but I avoid taking it as a kind of guarantee. I avoid finding that everything I write is going to work, it is not so easy. I know I have to always do a good job. - How do you rate the Brazilian publishing market? It is hard to be published in Brazil. But I realize that publishers are increasingly interested in Brazilian authors. In my view, the big problem in the domestic market is the distribution of books. In my case, I have no problems with it in relation to Perfect Days, because it is very well distributed by Companhia das Letras. But I see overall, with national

authors, one of the problems we have to face is this. Another problem is the bias of the reader in relation to the Brazilian national author. One thing I hear often are people who read my book and say, “wow, I loved your book, does not feel like a Brazilian writer.” Because we have such thing as being too influenced by foreign authors, so we can see a national book that is entertaining and has literary quality. While in Europe and the United States, entertainment and quality are not separated things, in Brazil, unfortunately, if you sell very well and people are very sure it’s because your book is not good. At the same time, if you do something with quality, you do not sell anything because the book is considered boring. I think this is a silly division. It is perfectly possible to make good books, entertaining and yet with literary quality. - How would you rate the Brazilian crime fiction? Brazilian crime fiction, unfortunately, is also quite new. We have few authors with a recurring production of police literature, which is what forms an effective identity. Over the years, some authors dedicated to the genre, such as Luiz Lopes Coelho, and today it has more people involved. Luiz Alfredo Garcia and Tony Bellotto, as well as some other authors who flirt with the literature of crime - as Rubem Fonseca, Patrícia Melo, Jô Soares and I. What I think is needed is give some space for new authors. They exist, I have contacted several people who write and are not published or are for small publishers. It is necessary that

the big publishers are interested. It would be interesting if there were an incentive to this genre that is so popular overseas and not here. - How would you like to set yourself in the scenario of crime fiction? I’m not considered a crime writer, but I intend avoid arguments saying that I am an author of crime literature. Crimes and deaths happen in my stories. Not necessarily the interest is in uncovering who the killer is. My interest is the psychology of the characters, which leads someone to commit a crime. The causes and consequences of crime, not exactly the killer’s identity or the police investigation. I want to be seen as a person who writes good books, whether or not crime fiction. I love to be read, receive feedback from readers, cheer people up, or leave them scared. I am very happy when I receive feedback from known writers, recognizing the care that I have to work the language of the text, think about how the story will be told. If they consider me a good writer, it’s good enough - because it is already very difficult. - How each of your two books were welcomed by the public? The Suicide has not had this whole furor that Perfect Days is having, but it was a book that worked for patterns of national author publishing his first novel. The first edition was reprinted. It is a book that worked and people were talking about it. So when the second book came out, there was pressure to make a better book

than the last. I confess that I surrender myself to that kind of thing, and I believe that each book is a book. Inevitably the comparison between the two books and readers on both sides, readers who prefer Suicides and readers who prefer Perfect Days. As I see it, it is great, is a sign that they are two different books. I wanted to make books that were quite different from one another, as it was one of my cares not to repeat myself in my stories. - How is your creative process? I keep the characters in my head for a long time. For example, when I was finishing writing Perfect Days I’ve had the story that I’m writing next. I end up living with the character in my head and thinking about

him, how he reacts and thinks, what he likes or dislikes, what quirks he has. I kinda mentally I live with the characters and am doing well without any great method. When I actually sit down to write the book, which is the moment in which I am now for the next novel, then yes, I do a kind of roadmap to what will happen. I also write a small division of chapters, a list of what will happen in each chapter or what its function is, two lines max. That done, I write. My writing process is very slow, much reread, I have great concern with repetition of words, poorly formulated phrases, dubious words. - What are your plans for the next books? I always start writing two books, then see which one engages and is the next book I publish. That is, along with Perfect Days I was writing a book and over Perfect Days, I had ideas for another book. Now I’m writing what I abandoned, and the new idea. I do not know which one is going to

avenge and I will end up doing, but they are quite different from previous books. One brings the character that will appear in other books. All of them are made of suspense and crime. But even making a series with the same character, I intend to continue writing separate novels. I think this important freedom, because I get a little tired of the characters when I write. When I finished Perfect Days, could not stand to talk about Teo and Clarice. - Do you have plans for the two books already published? They will become a movie. I’ll start working on the script of Suicides in the second semester of this year, with the film’s director, and Perfect Days is still a more embryonic stage in relation to movies. The Perfect Days will reach a foreign audience, will be led to 8 countries. But I do not plan to write sequences or write some comic version of them.

#international

I take birth control “I take birth control”. Those four words shouldn’t be a frightening thing for me to say, but there are so many connotations that come with taking birth control. I worry about how people might think of me as promiscuous, even though I know I’m a virgin. I’m concerned that assumptions are made about my sexual life, when I know that I’ve been taking birth control since I was sixteen, because I wasn’t having a period like other girls my age. However, the more I think about my situation, the more I realize that the unease I feel is completely justified, considering the mixed messages women like me are facing every day. The first day of July, a good friend and 26

By Emily Stetson

I went to a circus performance at our local fair in Brockton, Massachusetts. The ring leader was this beautiful woman dressed clad in bedazzled, white shorts, a bra, and coat. At one point in the show, a male clown ran out and pretended to strip, and the ring leader scolded him for acting inappropriately in a “G-Rated” show. Of course, it was all part of the skit, but that made me think; why is there nothing wrong with sexualizing the female body, but portraying male sexuality is suddenly too risqué? Don’t get me wrong; I don’t see anything wrong with women being proud of their sexuality. However, American media doesn’t seem to think

the same way. According to actress Kat Dennings, the Motion Picture Association of America seems to be okay with portraying male pleasure on screen under a less restricted level than that of a female. Between the circus and the movies, there seems to be a contradiction a b o u t A m e r i c a n at t i t u d e t o w a r d s feminine sexuality in which women are caught between sexual objectification and restricted sexual freedom. While media portrays us as sexual beings to bring pleasure to males, females bear the brunt of sexual consequences. In recent events, this threat to women’s rights over their own bodies has increased dramatically. Just the day before our trip to the circus, the Supreme Court of the United States made a decision in the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby case, allowing companies to deny certain types of contraceptives to workers due to religious beliefs held by the company. Under the belief that life starts at conception, the Supreme Court, by a slim margin, allowed corporations to refuse four types of birth control including emergency contraceptives and intrauterine devices. One of the major hints that something was suspicious about the ruling was that all three women on the Supreme Court voted against Hobby Lobby and other corporations, joined by one male. The majority side, five out of the nine Supreme Court justices, consisted of all men. Maybe we can’t assign blame for the negative attitude towards contraceptives; the term “birth control” itself can be misleading. Women can use

different types of birth control for various other reasons and benefits besides sex. For example, birth control is often prescribed to regulate periods, combat Premenstrual syndrome, treat acne, and even protect against ovarian cancer. Due to this misunderstanding, confusion arises about whether or not some of these forms of birth control terminate a pregnancy. This is where biology and moral beliefs begin to clash. With all respect to religious and moral beliefs, life does not necessarily start directly after intercourse. According to Planned Parenthood, “It can take up to six days for the sperm and egg to meet after having sex”. While there is an ‘abortion pill’, emergency contraceptives like the morning-after pill, is often filed under a type of abortion. The “morning-after” pill, given its name for its use directly after unprotected sex, can work up to five days after intercourse. This shorter time frame does not prevent sperm from fertilizing an egg, but rather slows 27

the release of an egg so fertilization never even happens. The same occurs with intrauterine devices (IUDs); the egg never evens leaves the ovaries. Unlike emergency contraception, IUDs can last up to 12 years, and is a long term type of birth control. Of course, the Supreme Court ruling does not completely prevent women from obtaining these types of birth control. However, finances can. Daily birth control pills can cost anywhere from $15 to $50, emergency contraceptives can cost up to $65, and IUDs can run up to one thousand dollars. This ruling allows one person, a CEO, to deny access to birth control through insurance that female employees may not otherwise be able to obtain. In a CBS news poll, a majority of voters agree that non-profit

organizations can deny birth control through religious rights, but disagree with the notion that for profit companies and non-religious organizations can make such decisions on the grounds of the owner’s beliefs. In the end, America is taking a step away from women’s rights. Due to this new ruling, a woman’s boss has the right to make health care decisions based on beliefs they may not mutually share. Men are still insured for erectile dysfunction medication like Viagra and procedures like vasectomies, but women do not have equal say in their reproductive health. Women are being presented with obstacles in obtaining birth control, regardless for their reasons and context in needing it. Now, we’re literally losing the right to control our own bodies.

#opinion

The nobodies of Palestine By Priscila Bellini

Thirty attacks to Gaza In one night, thirty attacks Two Palestinians killed Two Palestinians found dead Another dead Palestinian Palestinian body found in Jerusalem Another Palestinian killed by Israeli army 105 are killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza It’s difficult to specify the day when we decided to close our eyes and do not see Gaza - and, more than that, Palestine. Comfortably seated on the sofa, it’s easy to know why there’s a constant erasure of Palestinians in our memories, in our speeches and in our newscasts. In the case of dozens of civilians killed since the 8th of July, the show is build slowly: right there, a note about Hamas, and the characterization of the massacre of the Palestinians as a “reaction” to the death of three young Israelis. It should be emphasized that, within a story, an article, a speech given in the newspaper, which is offered to the viewer (or reader) is just a part of the whole context. What appears in the media assumes aspects which are always favoring one point of view - and therefore, contradicting the idea of an impartial press. If we take into account the mainstream media approach, anyone who is in Gaza becomes a synonymous to “Hamas”. In this same show, it comes to our minds the associations that already Hollywood productions gave us

in every movie: the evil Arab, wild people who need to be civilized, the hopeless villain with an enormous nose and thick accent. It turns out that if we look closely to the situation, we can see the framework: in the Gaza Strip, the deaths are more than a hundred (105, according to the Washington Post, until the 11th of July). And we must remember that Gaza has no military power, nor air force, and is the region with one of the highest population density. There are 1.5 million people who live in this piece of land, without a shred of dignity or basic services (including water, shelter, access to food and many other essential factors). The same population, when attacked by the FDI in the last offensive, receives only a “notice”: a fake missile thrown on their roofs. Immediately after 58 seconds, these civilians are attacked by “real missiles” - no time to save themselves or their own families. And we are closing our eyes to it, but at the time looking at what the anchorman says about the attacks, a “reaction” to Hamas. What escapes from the lens and from the speech is that such victims are not numbers, nor the stereotype that we build on them. These people are murdered cowardly, victims of a genocide. GENOCIDE. These are people who had a face, a name and a family. Each of them had a past, had friends, and built relationships throughout life (actually, 29

let’s not mention children and babies killed in at least 700 attacks?). Each one had a name, each one had goals. Each of them had a life - and it seems worth less than other people’s lives. After all, they don’t matter for mainstream media, right? The Palestinians are “nobodies”.

“The nobodies, that cost less than the bullet that kills them”, as described by Eduardo Galeano. (When are going to look at the situation in Palestine as a massacre - of people, not “nobodies” - happening now, just as it is?)

#proseandpoetry

I’ll walk down the street Naked showing my curves boobs hair rights fat soul freedom light! I’ll be there with my arms wide openned so exhibition of what’s mine and what I take anywhere anyhow For those who want to invade me and mutilate me and ask you without kindness that keep your own space your dirty harsh space full of your stupid claims and leave me with my body nude or not and my soul quite free that won’t allow any invasion.

Marina Barbosa studies Social Science at FESPSP. 31

#photocontext

Impressions of Palestine Priscila Bellini studies Journalism at PUC-SP.

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