CRUZ DAS almas: a BRAZILIAN VILLAGE' — ^PIERSON 



187 



Since, however, the candidates of this party had 

 few partisans and few opponents in the village, the 

 visit evoked little interest or con"unent. Of the 

 candidate for prefeito, several villagers remarked, 

 "He isn't a bad sort. He's better than Chato 

 (naming the candidate of the principal opposi- 

 tion)." Of the candidate for vereador, however, 

 one villager said, "That fellow has the nerve to 

 say he's from here and knows our needs. He once 

 was a caipira just like we are, but he went away 

 to study and became so important he doesn't know 

 anyone any more. When you meet him in Boa 

 Vista, he passes you up." "That's right !" replied 

 another villager, "he hasn't been here for 12 years ; 

 and, now, just about election time, he suddenly 

 remembers he's our fellow villager. Isso num 

 pega (literally, 'that doesn't catch hold'; i. e., it 

 will not be effective) ." 



A few days later, two automobiles and a truck 

 bearing the candidates for prefeito and vereador 

 of the party supported by most of the local in- 

 habitants, together with several friends, appeared 

 in the village. Their coming had previously been 

 announced by word of mouth. Flavio, the candi- 

 date for rereador had grown up in the village and, 

 since moving to the seat of the 7nunicipio, had 

 maintained cordial contact with local inhabitants. 

 The members of the village band gathered around 

 and played a march. Both candidates and another 

 leader of the party climbed into the truck and each 

 spoke in turn to the approximately 100 persons 

 who had gathered around. The candidate for 

 prefeito said, "I had never thought of being a 

 candidate. But, one day, Flavio, who is your can- 

 didate for vereador, came to my house and said, 

 'We have selected you to be our candidate for 

 prefeito. The people of the village are with us. 

 You can count on all of us.' So I accepted, and 

 now I've come to see if Flavio was right when he 

 told me 'The people of the village are with us.' " 

 The third leader of the party then spoke briefly. 

 During his remarks, the statement "These men 

 who are going to be the new prefeito and your 

 vereador, are both of them men of the people, 

 simple men like us," was repeated again and again. 

 With a modesty and simplicity which were much 

 appreciated, the candidate for vereador then 

 thanked the local inliabitants for their attention 

 and support. When he had finished, he was given 

 a spontaneous Viva! and the members of the 



village band played another march. All the 

 members of the band were present except one who 

 had become a partisan of the opposition party. 

 For not being present, he was severely censured. 



The following afternoon, a truck, covered with 

 posters, brought a third candidate for prefeito and 

 his friends into the village. As the truck was 

 driven around the praqa., a man repeated, over and 

 over, through a loud-speaker, "Vote for Lino, the 

 candidate of the people." As the driver pulled up 

 in front of the church, about a dozen men and boys 

 gathered around. Two men began to scratch 

 themselves vigorously, "as if they were full of 

 chatos^'' a bystander said. This beha%aor was 

 motivated by the facts that most local inhabitants 

 were opposed to the candidate and that his nick- 

 name was "Chato," a slang term used to refer both 

 to a certain body parasite, thought especially to 

 inhabit brothels, and someone who is considered 

 a "bore." Several persons called out, "For 

 chatos, get detefon, get detefonP'^ The volume 

 of the loud-speaker was turned up, but this action 

 merely resulted in louder and more ironic shouts 

 on the part of the two men and other townspeople. 

 The truck then drove once more around the praga 

 and left the village. On the faces of other persons 

 who, attracted by the commotion, appeared at the 

 windows and doors of their homes, were evidences 

 of approval of the behavior of their fellow vil- 

 lagers. "What is Chato doing here?" was a com- 

 mon remark. "He knows we're against him." 



Meanwhile, the leaders of the two opposing par- 

 ties in the community had persistently continued 

 conversations with local inhabitants, regarding 

 the way they would like them to vote. As the day 

 of the election approached, the tension in the vil- 

 lage increased. During the final week, almost no 

 other topic of conversation was discussed. On 

 election eve, a truck was arranged by the partisans 

 of each party to leave at daylight to bring in per- 

 sons who otherwise, by reason of age or distance, 

 would have difficulty in reaching the polls. Two 

 head of cattle were slaughtered for the churrascos., 

 or barbecues, which the two parties would give 

 the next day. 



By 5 o'clock the following morning, the streets 

 of the village were already beginning to fill with 

 people. In keeping with the law, the hotequiTis 

 and vendas remained closed. People milled about 



*» A form of D. D. T., sold in Brazil. 



