
Issue No 104		27 July 2001

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International

Phil Davey's Amazon Postcard

The CFMEU's Boy Wonder has downed the megaphone for three months in South America. Here's what he's been up to.


	Phil Davey

***************

I am in the colonial city of Sao Luis, on the Atlantic coast of Brazil. Sao Luis is over 500 years old and the historical centre (where we r staying) is all World Heritage listed. It reminds me a lot of Havana, but has been maintained much more systematically.

I am recovering from a week long odyssey down the Amazon River. We travelled with the locals on a succession of small wooden riverboats. Strung our hammocks up on the deck and just rolled down the longest river in the world, stopping at little river ports and watching cargo being loaded on and off.

(No straddles or cranes in Brazil, the wharfies and deckhands humped the cargo the old fashioned way. They left pools of sweat on the deck)

The Amazon is amazing. Apparently the river carries 20 per cent of the world's fresh water. The jungle contains 30% of the worlds remaining forests. The river is 6275 kilometres long and has an amazing 1100 tributories.

I can believe it about the tributories...you could see them flowing in to the Amazon itself every few kilometres, sometimes you could see two or three tributories flowing parallel, one behind the other into the distance.

Anyway, it was a long slow trip...at times the river got so wide you could only just make out the shorelines...at other times it was narrow and you got great views of jungle and little Indian villages.

At many of these villages the Brazilians on our boats would throw clothes in plastic bags out to local tribesfolk in waiting dugout canoes...charity Amazon style.

Less commendable was the way the Brazilians on the ferries threw every bit of rubbish they had out into the river. Beer cans, wrapping, everything went overboard. A pamphlet was distributed early on the first day which detailed how long it takes for, say an aluminium can to break down. Irony of ironies these pamphlets were carefully read by most and then themselves thrown overboard. (The pamphlet said it took three months for pamphlets to break down).

Anyway, I don't sit in judgement but I was genuinely suprised that the locals obviously didn't give the Amazon the "icon" status the rest of us do...or at least they have a different idea of what constitutes pollution maybe.

The first boat we caught was going to Parintins- a huge festival, the biggest in the Amazon region.

The journey took 27 hours. For 27 hours the bar on the top deck pumped out top volume Samba. Sleep was impossible so we just drank and partied with the locals...much hysterical dancing...you can imagine.

When we got to Parintins we had another 24 hours or so of Samba music before fleeing the party in a sleep deprived stupor.

I'm glad I went to a Brazilian festival, particularly such a big one which (they reckon) rivals Rio's Carnival now. I wont go into huge descriptions of what I did or saw there...suffice to say it was a very big party and I have images from it that will stay with me for a long time. Brazil is simply the best for parties.

The next few riverboats were more ferries than party boats. They turned the Samba off at 11PM.

Every day little dugouts would skilfully intercept our boat, almost rolling in the wake before lashing on properly. Then river prawns were brought aboard and sold to us passengers. They were delicious but very salty.

In terms of other river traffic, the size of the Amazon seemed to make it appear minimal. Occasionally you would see other riverboats/ferries, very occasionally a huge super-tanker or cargo ship would barge past.

In the evenings you got a feel for how empty the Amazon is in places...you could look out into the blackness and see no lights of any sort on either shore for many hours at a time. We saw lots of bird life, occasionally a river dolphin which was a thrill.

Two or three times a day a huge rainstorm would power past. You could see them building and coming towards you for hours before hand. When they hit they blotted out all light and everyone had to flee to the bowels of the ship to escape a soaking. They only lasted 20 minutes but were incredibly powerful.

You know you're in the tropics when...

Everyone got very bored on the last boat from Santarem to Belem, at the mouth of the Amazon. That was 48 hours straight on the boat. Again we were the only non locals so we suffered through a succession of well intentioned locals bailing us up and wanting to teach us Portugese/recruit us into the Assemblies of God/introduce us to their daughters.

In Portuguese, no one can understand your polite "�'d just like to read and watch the jungle" excuses. On the boat, there was no escape.

It was a relief in the end to see the high rise and heavy industry of Belem hove into view.

From here we cruise slowly down the coast...Fortaleza is the next stop big enough to appear on a map. I set aside 7-8 weeks to see Brazil. It wont be nearly enough.

P.S. More amazing facts about Brazil...

* The richest 10% of the population controls 54% of the nations wealth

* The poorest 10% have 0.6%

* Half the population of Brazil is under 20 years old

* There are 12 million abandoned children in Brazil

* Half of Brazils land is owned by 2% of landowners

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  Issue 104 contents

Interview: A Super Agenda
Labor's federal spokesman on superannuation Kelvin Thompson outlines the challenges a Beazley Government will face in managing the nation's savings.

E-Change: 1.4 The Shifting Sands of Ideology
Peter Lewis and Michael Gadiel conclude the first part of their study of new politics by looking for core Labor values in a post-Cold War environment.

Corporate: Locking Horns
The same names keep cropping up in the business pages as the web of corporate control stays tied to a few big players. Georgina Murray has been looking at the extent and depth of the connections.

Unions: The Workers Bank
With banks on the nose, David Whiteley looks at how unions and super funds have got together to create the real deal � the workers bank.

International: Phil Davey's Amazon Postcard
The CFMEU's Boy Wonder has downed the megaphone for three months in South America. Here's what he's been up to.

History: Faded Vision of The American Bounder
King O'Malley was an American ex-pat who dreamed of a people's bank. Neale Towart looks at what happened to his vision.

Activists: The Big Gee-Up
With the big guns of the anti-corporate movement in town, Mark Hebblewhite goes looking for a definition of globalisation.

Indonesia: Where to the Workers After Gus Dur?
At the end of a turbulent week, Jasper Goss looks at the impact of the overthrow of Wahid on Indonesian workers.

Review: Mixing Pop and Politics
'The Bank' is a new Australian film that takes a contemporary political issue and transforms it into a piece of compelling popular culture.

Satire: Milosevic's Defence: "I Was Just Issuing Orders"
Disgraced former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic has brushed off against charges for war crimes against humanity and mass genocide.

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» Activists Notebook