Renata Giraldi Reporter Agência Brasil
Brasília – Yesterday the White House spokesman, Jan Carney, confirmed that president Barack Obama, his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters, Malia and Sasha, will visit the Christ the Redeemer (“Cristo Redentor”) statue in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday morning, March 20. “It is a familiar image that everyone knows and remembers when they think of the city of Rio. It is just one of those must-sees,” said Carney.
The Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio is recognized as the second biggest Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ in the world as it stands over 39 meters high (in 2010, a 190-meter high statue was inaugurated in Poland). The Rio statue, made of concrete and sandstone, was built over a nine-year period and inagurated in 1931. In 2007, it was voted one of the seven wonders of the modern world. The Brazilian government recognizes it as a national heritage site.
Later in the morning the Obama family will go to Cidade de Deus, one of Rio’s many hillside slums, which up until two years ago was ruled over by drug lords. However, the local government began a program of literally taking back the slums - initially by force with an invasion of armed police, followed by a permanent stationing of police and government officials in the area (the program is known as UPP – Police Pacification Units).
Sunday afternoon Obama will make a public speech in the center of the city at a large plaza known as Cinelândia; the official name is Praça Floriano Peixoto, named after the man who lived from 1839 to 1895 and became the second president of Brazil in November 1891 (holding office until 1894). Peixoto became president after the first president, Deodoro Fonseca, resigned. Both Peixoto and Fonseca were army marshals who participated in the War of the Triple Alliance (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay) against Paraguay (1864-70) and led the rebellion that overthrew the monarchy and established a republic in Brazil (1889).
In this speech, similar to other public speeches he gave in Berlin (2008) and Cairo (2009), Obama is expected to send a message not only to his listeners in Brazil, but to the world. He will certainly emphasize the fact that Brazil and the United States are large, diverse democracies with shared historical experiences and similar dreams for the future. He will hold the two countries up as positive examples of what democratic government, economic freedom and progressive social policy can achieve.
[Note: it is reported – 8:40 am, Friday, March 18 - that the outdoor speech in Cinelândia will be moved to a safer location indoors, perhaps the Municipal Theater]
Allen Bennett – translator/editor The News in English
Link – Porta-voz da Casa Branca confirma que Obama e família visitarão o Cristo Redentor
