Why the president gets tied down

October 01, 1999

Brazil has lived so long in its own world that adapting to outside forces involves a profound internal struggle. Vociferous state governors have strongly opposed reforms pushed by the federal government. They wield considerable influence in states bigger than some European countries. Sometimes it seems the governors' independent acts - refuting debts or rewriting contracts - could sink the whole ship or, at the least, scare off foreign investors. Maybe these men aren't as wild as their rhetoric. To find out, Brian Caplen took a closer look at three key Brazilian states and their leaders, in Rio Grande do Sul, Bahia and Minas Gerais

RIO GRANDE DO SUL: Riding with the gaúcho

Some say the Brazilian state of Bahia boasts three religions - catholicism with its European origins, candomblé brought by slaves from west Africa and ACM, a uniquely Brazilian phenomenon. The initials ACM stand for Antônio Carlos Magalhães, the president of the senate in Brasília, and the strongman whose every word carries weight in Bahia. He is described variously as the viceroy, the emperor and even the god of the territory. He may only be a politician but in his home state he attracts a religious following.

In Salvador, the state capital, children put up posters of Magalhães alongside their favourite pop stars. A civil servant shows the photograph she carries in her wallet as her own personal defence against the town's notorious kidnappers: a picture of her together with ACM at a public event. The photo implies she is a friend of the powerful ACM and not someone criminals would care to mess with. When the Brazilian comedian Juca Chaves was asked why he made fun of everyone except ACM, he replied: "I don't make jokes about religion."

Why the president gets tied down

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