Carnaval 2007 - Nothing To Celebrate

It's Carnaval time in Brazil once again. Today is the last day of the the four-day celebration. Actually today is the only day that is an actual holiday but all government offices, banks, post offices and many businesses were closed yesterday as well giving most Brazilians a 4-day weekend.

Most of the larger cities in Brazil have constructed permanent stadiums called Sambodromos that are used exclusively for the four days of festivities. Many of these cities, such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Salvador have spent millions on constructing these arenas yet they also have some of the greatest levels of poverty.

The Samba (dance) clubs spend the entire year in preparation for the event, developing floats, storylines and costume concepts. While there is much that is visually beautiful, there is a greater dark side to this event.

Part of the problem is that most of the people participating in Carnaval are from the poorest class. They save during the entire year in order to purchase the materials needed for their lavish costumes. In recent years there have been many reports of drug trafficking and theft in order to finance their costumes.

Each year there are numerous reports of murder and rape with extremely high estimates of others not reported. Muggings and assaults are common as many of the participants are intoxicated and become easy targets.

Our TV networks broadcast the events from the Sambodromos round the clock while many of the participants are semi or completely nude. Add to that the rampant immorality that takes place and you begin to see that for many of us in Brazil, Carnaval is no reason to celebrate.