By Maria Angelica Troncoso Ilha de Marajo, Brazil, Aug 5 (EFE).- The phrase “mounted police” typically evokes images of officers on horses or, in some Middle Eastern nations, camels. Less well known is the world’s only buffalo-riding police unit, the 8th Battalion on Ilha de Marajo, a Switzerland-sized island located in the estuary where the …
By Maria Angelica Troncoso Arraial d’Ajuda, Brazil, Mar 14 (EFE).- A coral reef paradise in Porto Seguro, one of Brazil’s main tourist destinations, is struggling with the negative effects of tourism. Located in the northeastern state of Bahia, the town welcomes thousands of tourists every year thanks to its magical white sand beaches that stretch …
By Maria Angelica Troncoso Rio de Janeiro, Feb 11 (EFE).- Though the official start of Carnival is nearly a week away, thousands of Rio de Janeiro residents poured into the streets Saturday to join the rolling parties, known as “blocos,” that many see as the most authentic expression of the city’s famous pre-Lenten bacchanal. After …
By Maria Angelica Troncoso Rio de Janeiro, Feb 3 (EFE).- More than 60 lower-level samba schools in Rio de Janeiro, home to Brazil’s most emblematic carnival, are determined to stand apart from the crowd, work their way from one tier to the next and eventually earn a place among the elite clubs in the city’s …
By Maria Angelica Troncoso Rio de Janeiro, Jan 19 (EFE).- “The order was to kill the Jews,” Michael Stivelman, a Holocaust survivor who settled in Brazil after the end of World War II, recalled in sorrowful testimony included as part of a newly inaugurated memorial in Rio de Janeiro to victims of the Nazi genocide. …