Sports! Editor’S Letter

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spring 2012

harvard review of Latin america sports! editor’s letter

AZocalo Sports Hed Confession 26 pt

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I hate sports. As a little girl, I was always stuck on the softball outfield—the practical way of including a chubby, clumsy kid in the mandatory physical education class. I’d rather have been inside reading my favorite poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. I didn’t watch sports because I didn’t understand them and I didn’t understand them because I didn’t watch them. Still don’t. I found some recent comfort that I was not alone. My friend James N. Green from Brown University had his own confession, telling me in an e-mail, “I am still traumatized for having been chosen eighth or ninth when we made up baseball teams in elementary school and I always prayed that the ball did not come my way.” Even so, Green, a Brazil expert, made half a dozen suggestions, some of which have found their way into this issue. And so it went. I’d mention a ReVista on sports and a torrent of suggestions would follow. Volume Xi No. 3 Have you thought about rugby, polo, tejo, skiing, American football, lucha libre, cycling, vol- David Rockefeller Center leyball, zumba, basketball, jujitsu, capoeira, Xavante wrestling, Jamaican bobsledding, they for Latin American Studies would ask. Director Then there were those who got excited about sports and race, sports and gender, sports Merilee S. Grindle diplomacy, not to mention sports as violence prevention, as a way of resolving conflicts, as a Executive Director way of understanding history. It seemed to be the only conversation that managed to integrate Kathy Eckroad friends, acquaintances and colleagues who were sociologists, historians, political scientists, ReVista journalists, anthropologists and even a computer geek or two. Editor-in-Chief I suddenly realized that for the first time in my life I was talking sports. June Carolyn Erlick And the stories began to flow. Not the stories I had imagined about who had beat out Copy Editor whom in what game, but intimate stories of sports and life. Many of those tales are in these Anita Safran pages. Journalist Stephen Kinzer recounts his first trip to Cuba carrying a suitcase to the Publication Interns family of Red Sox player Luis Tiant. Mariano Siskind from Harvard’s Romance Languages and Jai Chowdhry Beeman Alicia Zamora Literatures Department explains in an intimate fashion how soccer loyalty is formed early and Carlos Schmidt passed on through the generations. Harvard anthropologist Davíd Carrasco, who holds a joint Design appointment with the Divinity School, recounts the powerful saga of his father, a man from the 2communiqué borderlands, who became a sports diplomat during the 1968 Mexico Olympics. www.2communique.com Historian Peter Winn from Tufts University told me that, on a recent trip to Hawaii, he ap- Printer proached a crowd on the edge of Waikiki Beach surrounding an informal show. The perfor- P & R Publications mance turned out not to be Polynesian ritual, as he had been expecting, but Brazilian capoeira. Contact Us Suddenly Latin American and Latino sports seemed to be everywhere. 1730 Cambridge Street This January, on my first trip to the Middle East, I was sitting with some Colombian friends Cambridge, MA 02138 Telephone: 617-495-5428 in an open-air park in Abu Dhabi. It was a balmy evening. Families, including veiled women and hordes of children, sat eating appetizers of Middle Eastern mezzes and enjoying water pipes Subscriptions and Reader Forum [email protected] known as shisha. A large screen displayed an ongoing soccer game. I don’t speak Arabic, but listened to the murmuring sounds as I conversed with my friends. All of a sudden I heard a Website www.drclas.harvard.edu/publications/ word I thought I recognized: Maradona. I looked quizzically at my friend Federico, who teaches revistaonline at Zayed University. Yes, he said, reading my look, Maradona is training in Dubai. So there we Facebook had it. Sports and globalization. ReVista, the Harvard Review of Latin America I (may) still hate sports. I sure love the idea of them. Copyright © 2012 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. ISSN 1541–1443 ReVista is printed on recycled stock.

This issue of ReVista is made possible through the generous support of Banco Santander harvard review of Latin america

spring 2012 Volume Xi No. 3

sports! Published by the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies FIRST TAKE Harvard University

Sports Diplomacy by Davíd Carrasco 2 soccer nations in every issue Sentimental Soccer by Mariano Siskind 8 Great Players, Bad Business by Rory Miller 10 The Ball and the Blackboard by Bruno Carvalho 13 BOOK talk ¡Gooooal! by Johanna Damgaard Liander 15 86 Soccer Clubs by Aldo Panfichi 17 Jobs for the Boys Soccer and Literature by Michel Di Capua 20 A Review by Barbara Nunberg The Cradle of Brazilian Soccer by Paulo Fontes 22 Playing with Cuba, Really? 87 Women’s Soccer in Brazil by Carmen Rial 25 A Review by John H. Coatsworth play ball Argentina: Press and Power 89 Religion, Politics and Plenty of Betting 30 A Review by Marysa Navarro by Barbara W. Fash and William L. Fash MAKING A DIFFERENCE Caribbean Baseball by Rob Ruck 34 Asociación Civil Lapacho 91 Searching for Burt Reynolds by Jack Spence 38 By Diana McKeage “Baseball in Our Blood” by Jack Spence 41 Speaking of Baseball by Félix Julio Alfonso López 42 Baseball Dreams by Stephen Kinzer 44 the sporting life online To Dance or to Box by Andrés Sanín 46 Look for more content online at Indeed, It Is about History by Sergio Silva Castañeda 49 drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline. Santo and Lucha Libre by Gabriel Guzmán 52 Bullfights by Daniel Samper Pizano 56 Sports and Political Imagination in Colombia by Ingrid Bolívar 58 Women and Sports in Peru by David Wood 60 social change and rights Sports and Recreation by Mario Roitter 66 Fútbol con Corazón by Samuel Azout 69 Sports Diplomacy by Bob Morris 71 Beyond Soccer by Ryan Guilmartin 72 preparing for rio On the cover Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup by Stanley Engerman 74 The collage represents many sports in Latin America, including Preparing Rio by Claudio Beato 76 baseball, soccer, boxing, lucha libre and even American football in Mexico. Latino players like Davíd “Papí” Ortíz (originally from My Goalsetters by Preston So 79 the Dominican Republic) have influenced sports in the United Preparing for the Olympics by Jake Cummings 81 States and beyond. Photo credits (clockwise): courtesy of Boston Red Sox, courtesy of Istock photo, Historia Gráfica de Complexo do Alemão Field Notes by GSD RioStudio 84 Fútbol Americano en México; Andrés Sanín; Carin Zissis. first take

Sports Diplomacy

David L. Carrasco, From Borderlands to Bridges by DavÍd Carrasco

The Washington Star sports editor opened ‘I’ll be back tomorrow and I’ll have a he did with this knowledge was to de- the letter from far-off Caracas, Venezu- new basketball with me.’ velop a moral vision that sports should be ela, that had just arrived by diplomatic If you could have seen the looks on used to help people excel in competitive pouch. Entitled “A Very Sad Day,” the their faces when the ball collapsed you situations—and especially for those who piece was penned by my father David would have agreed with me that it was ‘a had been denied practice fields where L. Carrasco, the American University very sad day’. Tomorrow, I promise, will they could develop stronger bodies and basketball coach who was touring Latin be happier. Coach Carrasco.” more competitive minds. America as a sports diplomat for the U.S. From his work as a sports diplomat in State Department that summer. Latin America, Dave Carrasco came to Man from the Borderlands The letter soon appeared in the news- think of sports as an ”international lan- Carrasco’s ability to connect with people paper under the headline, “Carrasco Has guage.” Sports were played all over the from different classes, races and places Compassion for Caracas Youngsters.” globe and enabled kids to reshape their came from growing up in an internation- His poignant story of a Venezuelan play- aggressions into exercise and games. al setting, but not one that people value ground scene ties coaching youth to in- But for this Mexican-American from the as a training ground for sports, diploma- ternational diplomacy, sports in Latin U.S.-Mexico borderlands, sports were cy and cultural richness. He was a “Tex- America to poverty, sadness, compassion more than just exercises in competition. Mex,” a ”border man” from the Segundo and perhaps even social change. Sports were a means through which so- Barrio of El Paso, Texas, literally within a “Today I call it a ‘Very Sad Day,’” cial equality could be played out. When stone’s throw of the Chamizal, that piece Carrasco wrote. “When I arrived at one he was interviewed for a 1968 essay on of Mexican land that had moved to the of the recreation centers in Caracas, there the Mexico City Olympics in the New U.S. side of the border when the Rio Bra- were about 75 kids waiting for me to start Yorker, Carrasco said, vo changed its course in the 19th century. the class in basketball. Keep in mind that “The United States should get more He took his toughness from the streets of these recreation centers are not like the involved in youth programs abroad. south El Paso, where he was a feared box- ones in Washington D.C. or Montgomery Sports are very important for Latin er and all-star basketball player, to Mex- County with good facilities and plenty America—for developing leadership. ico where, before he was 20 years old, he of equipment and sufficient instructors. They are about the only field here where starred for the national Mexican basket- Here, these kids are real poor and they the opportunities are the same for all ball team, the “Chihuahua Dorados,” in wear very old clothes that are dirty and growing youngsters, regardless of their the 1938 Central American Games. His torn and many of them have holes in their heritage. Furthermore, they bring people 6 ’4” size—along with his shooting ability shoes or no shoes at all. These kids come from isolated parts of a country together and play around the rim—led to his nick- from shacks with dirt floors and leaky so they unify that country” (P. 80, “Letter name El Cocotero—“the Coconut Tree roofs and no water or lights. Just noth- From Mexico.”) Jumper.” ing. They need these recreation centers Sports are, in his words, “opportuni- After World War II, we moved to because at least they can wash and bathe.” ties.” With good coaches, adequate equip- Maryland, where he became a champion- The letter stated there was only one ment and a decent place to play, sports ship basketball coach at the high school old rubber basketball and the boys were could level the social playing field and and college level. Reflecting his growing having fun playing and learning some help people make positive connections. vision of sports as a leveler of race and athletic drills Carrasco was teaching. In Latin America, he also experienced social stratification, his American Uni- Then the ball went over the fence, hit a at first hand that sports were connected versity basketball teams were the first sharp stone and flattened out. The Ven- with culture, politics, national iden- college teams in the nation’s capital to ezuelan kids turned to look at the coach. tity and friendships. Sometimes, as he be racially integrated. His example and “...the kids just stood and stared at me learned the hard way, sports were over- message were that sports and education, with big, wondering eyes. I called them whelmed by local rivalries and interna- athletics and social justice, games and together and said, tional/Cold War political agendas. What race were intertwined. But he never left

2 ReVista spring 2012 Top: Coach Carrasco with Afro-Guatemalan youth; young Carrasco playing in Mexico with the Chihuahua Dorados. Middle row: Mural in El Paso honors Coach Carrasco; the coach with his wife, Marjorie, and the author. Bottom: U.S. Vice President Hubert Humphrey tosses a ball as Carrasco looks on; Carrasco’s return to Mexico as sports diplomat.

photos and newspaper clippings courtesy of davíd Carrasco drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 3 sports!

Left: Front page of the sports section of Di- arío de México shows Carrasco with Mexican coaches; right: U.S. postage stamp in commemoration of the 1968 Mexico Olympics. his U.S.-Mexico border past behind and One of the Mexican coaches is also grip- shared their language and blood, which the U.S. State Department, learning of ping the ball as though Carrasco is either enabled them to grasp and apply what he his coaching credentials, language abili- handing it off or the two are in conten- was teaching. Another full-page news- ties and cultural knowledge, sent him to tion for it. They are staring approvingly paper spread entitled “Un Gran Coach Latin America to conduct clinics aimed into each other’s eyes. The other coaches David L. Carrasco Un Enamorado del at helping Latin American coaches im- are crowded together like a team, leaning Baloncesto Mexicano” has him telling prove their skills. He toured Guatemala, into the center of the picture—smiling or the coaches that “El Jugador Mexicano Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Argenti- looking intently at the scene. Their hun- es muy ‘pícaro’ pero sin fundamentos.” na and Mexico, spending longer periods ger to learn and his ability to teach are Carrasco praises the hustle and crafti- in Mexico and Ecuador. well stated in the accompanying article. ness of the athletes he was training but “De todos los entrenadores que nos pulled no punches in challenging them El Pícaro Jugador Mexicano han visitado, con el fin de impartir sus to practice intensively if they wanted to When the Confederación Deportiva conocimientos a los manejadores mexi- compete internationally—especially for Mexicana invited Carrasco to help im- canos, él que ha dejado una fructífera se- the Olympic Games. prove the country’s coaching staffs be- milla es sin duda, David Carrasco. ginning in 1963, he ran a series of coach- “De ascendencia mexicana, él lleva Mexico ’68: Sports Olympics, ing clinics in Mexico City and formed sangre nuestra en sus venas y la facilidad Cultural Olympics strong friendships with successful Mexi- de entenderse. Fueron factores deter- The 1968 Olympics marked a glamor- can coaches Carlos Bru and Constancio minantes, para poder apreciar en todos ous achievement for Mexico in what was Córdova. The growing Mexican teams’ los sentidos, los amplios conocimientos called El año de México. Even though enthusiasm to improve their basketball que posee y poder captar dichos cono- that triumph was overshadowed by the coaching techniques was evident in a cimientos para ser aplicados a nuestros tragic and unforgettable events of the photograph that appeared on the front basketbolistas. October 2 Tlatelolco massacre, Mexico page of the sports section of the Diario de “Carrasco, conocedor de nuestro me- staged a very successful Olympics games México on July 4, 1963, five years before dio, ya que fue integrante de los Dorados and Carrasco played a notable role on the Olympic Games. The photo shows de Chihuahua, puso el dedo en el renglón, both the athletic and cultural sides as the the very tall, smiling Carrasco holding a respecto a las fallas y falta de progreso del U.S. Olympic Games Attaché. Mexicans basketball tightly in his hands, surround- mismo.” (Diario de México, June 1963). put enormous effort in hosting the 19th ed by some of the 57 Mexican coaches Instead of receiving the usual norteam- Olympiad, making it a return to Greek who had been brought into Mexico City ericano to impart superior knowledge ideals (of celebrating body and soul to- from towns and cities throughout the to Mexican basketball coaches, they now gether) and an innovative international republic to train for a month with him. welcomed a Mexican-American who cultural and sports event.

4 ReVista spring 2012 images Courtesy of davíd carrasco first take

There were many ”firsts” in the Mex- number of countries were slow to re- cal movements in Latin America. When ico City Olympics: the games took place spond and contribute their best cultural Agee later wrote his highly controversial at the highest altitude of any games in representatives. Ramírez Vázquez asked exposé Inside the Company: CIA Diary, history; it was the first time a so-called the U.S. Embassy to use its influence to he both praised Carrasco’s leadership developing country hosted the Games; help motivate a stronger international during the Olympics and made an ex- they were the first games held by a participation. Carrasco’s language skills tra effort to state that Carrasco “had no Spanish-speaking country; first games and cultural knowledge were called upon connection whatsoever with the Agency.” ever held in Latin America, to be only and his efforts resulted in a decisive im- The Agency justified Agee’s assignment now followed by Brazil in 2016; first provement in cultural contributions. because, in part, Soviet coaches (clan- games at which there was a significant Outstanding among the twenty events destinely accompanied by Soviet intel- African presence in men’s distance run- of the Cultural Olympics were the Inter- ligence operatives) had been welcomed ning, which they came to dominate; first national Festival of the Arts (U.S. partici- by the Mexican sports agencies to help time El Salvador, Guinea, Honduras, pants included Van Cliburn, Alexander coach some of the Mexican athletes Nicaragua, Paraguay and British Hon- Calder, Martha Graham, members of and teams believing it would improve duras (now Belize) participated; and a the Newport Jazz Festival, Merce Cun- Mexico’s medal count. Partly to counter first when a powerful living symbol for ningham, Duke Ellington and Orches- these influences the United States had Mexico appeared for the first time in tra, the Tijuana Brass). David Álfaro also supplied coaches and a kind of spy- Olympic history, when a woman, Norma Siqueiros’s gigantic stone mural at the ing competition went on alongside the Enriqueta Basilio de Sotelo of Mexico, National University (UNAM) was re- sports training programs. ran the Olympic flame into the Olympic furbished, as well as a mural by Diego Race and politics infiltrated at least stadium and up a long stairway to light Rivera on the façade of a movie theatre two public events during the Mexico City the Olympic cauldron and inaugurate on a major thoroughfare, Insurgentes Games. In the months leading up to the the 19th Olympiad. For the first time in Sur, which became the site of the weight Games, the Mexican Olympic Committee Olympic history, a Cultural Olympics lifting competition. One “event” that left was troubled by the rumor that African- were held. As U.S. ambassador to Mexico an enduring mark on Mexico was the In- American athletes might boycott the Fulton Freeman said at the time, “Mexico ternational Meeting of Sculptures which Games to protest human rights abuses in has reached back into history and par- placed 21 major sculptures in prominent the United States. Carrasco investigated alleled the athletics with culture in the places throughout Mexico City includ- the rumor and learned that some African- Cultural Olympics.” ing Alexander Calder’s 70-foot-high American athletes were politicized about Carrasco’s assistant attaché at the U.S. “Red Sun” which greeted visitors to the the long history of racial abuses inside Embassy, Malcolm Butler, noted that Olympic Stadium. The stadium also had and outside of American sports practices “Mexico used the Olympics to put itself a mammoth mural by Diego Rivera con- but that they were planning to compete. on three maps—the sports map, the cul- structed on its side. The meaning of the rumor became clear tural map and the geo-political map as when Tommie Smith and John Carlos, an international destination. They used Diplomacy, Spies, Dialogue the gold and bronze medalists in the the Olympics to show the world that But all was not culture and friendship in men’s 200-meter race, took their places their entire culture was rich and thou- the months leading up to the Olympics on the podium for the medal ceremony sands of years old.” because Cold War politics had infiltrated wearing civil rights badges and black But it was a Mexican genius, the ar- Mexico’s greatest sports festival from socks without shoes. As the Star Span- chitect Pedro Ramírez Vázquez who, as both the Soviet and U.S. sides. Carrasco gled Banner played they lowered their president of Mexico’s Olympic Organiz- was deeply troubled when, after accept- heads and each defiantly raised a black- ing Committee, was the visionary force ing in 1967 the position as cultural at- glove fist. Assistant attaché Butler hap- linking the Cultural Olympics to the taché for the Olympics, he learned that pened to be sitting about 40 yards away Sports Olympics and thereby put anoth- a C.I.A. agent named Phillip Agee was and remembers the scene. er face of Mexico on the extravaganza. to be assigned as one of his assistants. “This act left many of us in the stadi- Mexican officials correctly understood When he realized that his own creden- um breathless. I remember thinking that that Mexico would not be a leading com- tials as a legitimate sports figure were these people are really putting it on the petitor in the sports competition and going to be used, in part, as a “cover” for line and will likely get thrown out of the therefore added the Cultural Olympics to Agee’s clandestine activities in Mexico games. Many Mexicans felt the same way help the country stand out as a success- City, Carrasco struggled with whether he about their courage and the punishment ful host of the Games. In spite of Mexico’s should resign the job. In 1968, only a few that was to come.” vigorous attempts to make the Cultural in the United States understood just how Another tie between sports and po- Olympics a major part of the Games, a destructive the CIA had been to politi- litical diplomacy was made evident at

drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 5 sports!

the Olympic Village where the athletes In 1966, the Peace Corps worked with coach, reminisced, “We were a bunch of from the different countries lived. Mal- high schools throughout the country to kids running around at Pine Crest play- colm Butler summarizes the scene he organize the first national high school ground one summer when this big man witnessed. basketball tournament. The tournament showed up with baseball equipment “You see, Mexican athletes were was held in the port city of Guayaquil and organized us into a game. After that proud that the Cuban athletes were part with teams coming from all over the first day, he was our coach and we had of the Mexico City games even as the U.S. country for the three day tournament. the best summer playing ever.” An All was in a powerful Cold War conflict with National television and radio stations American basketball player recounted, Cuba. But their pride was not because emphasized the intense rivalries between “We were black high school kids playing they wanted to defy the U.S. as some peo- coastal and sierra peoples. As fate would ‘make it-take it’ over in the neighborhood ple thought. Mexicans saw the Olympics have it, the championship game was and here comes this big man, who didn’t as the setting where Americans and Cu- played by teams from the coast and the look black or white, over to the sidelines bans could get to know each other, talk interior—Guayas from Guayaquil and to check us out. At the break he called and compete fairly against each other. I Pinchincha from Quito. Right before tip us over and told us that if we wanted remember one day at the Olympic Vil- off, the local referees became intimidated to play college ball in the area and stay lage that some U.S. athletes went out of by the crowd’s insults and jeers and fled near our families, he would help us out. their way to greet and talk with the re- the stadium. Carrasco and one of the And he did!” markable young Cuban runner Alberto Peace Corps volunteers ended up refer- Others followed and the theme was Juantorena. This amiable exchange at- eeing the game. A company of Ecuador- the same. Playground ball with Carras- tracted onlookers and we could see and an soldiers came into the building and co started them on the path to becom- feel, in a palpable way, the pride and sat- circled the lower section of seats with ing competitive athletes. As did those isfaction that some Mexican athletes felt rifles strapped to their shoulders. When kids in Venezuela, they had all met him at the opening of this friendly dialogue the visiting school, Pinchincha, won by as boys on poor or working-class play- between Cubans and U.S. athletes.” a single point, the losing hometown grounds. Looking back over his life that Here was a Mexican moment when crowd flew into a rage and the Guayas night it was clear to me that these shared sports and Cold War politics were beat- officials who sponsored the tournament achievements were rooted in those fruc- en out, if only momentarily, by athletes fled the stadium. tíferas semillas and pícaro lives in the in dialogue. It was left to the Peace Corps repre- borderlands of Latin America. And it sentatives, to the delighted players and became clear to me that as a man from Guns and Basketball in fans who had stayed behind, to hand out the borderlands, he embodied the best of Ecuador’s Geo-politics of the trophies. Good intentions and good sports diplomacy—the ability of sports to Sports sportsmanship, as Carrasco learned, are create bridges between people and cul- Not all sports involve athletes in dialogue sometimes trumped by geopolitical re- tures and foster social change. though. My father learned this two years alities of rivalries and distrust. Yet my before the Olympic Games when he be- father never stopped trying to be an ef- Davíd Carrasco is the Neil L. Ruden- came director of the Peace Corps’ Physi- fective sports diplomat and a catalyst for stine Professor of the Study of Latin cal Education program in Ecuador. He social change through sports. America at the Harvard Divinity always took a disciplined approach of School, with a joint appointment with combining craftiness and physical con- Playground Man the Department of Anthropology in the ditioning with his teams, but the first When my father was inducted into the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. A Mexican time he refereed a game between teams Sports Hall of Fame at American Uni- American historian of religions with a from rival parts of the country, he found versity in 1994, I learned more about the particular interest in religious dimen- this approach was not quite enough. In results of his compassion for playground sions in human experience, Mesoameri- the dressing room following a wild first kids. A number of speakers at the Hall of can cities as symbols, immigration, and half of verbal attacks on players and ref- Fame banquet described how they first the Mexican-American borderlands, his erees, Carrasco asked the Ecuadoran met him and how he changed their lives. recent collaborative publications include referee about a plan of escape if things One multi-sport all-star stood up and Breaking Through Mexico’s Past: Dig- got worse. Unzipping a concealed pants said, “My first memory of Coach Carrasco ging the Aztecs With Eduardo Matos pocket, the Ecuadoran reached in, taking was at a playground at Sligo Jr. High. He Moctezuma (2007) and Cave, City, and out a handgun, and told Carrasco “aquí was the biggest, strongest looking man I Eagle’s Nest: An Interpretive Journey lo arreglamos”—we can fix it all with this. ever saw and he organized us into teams Through the Mapa de Cuauhtinchan Another sports event reveals how in- and taught us how to play together.” No. 2 (2007) and The Aztecs: A Very tense basketball rivalries got in Ecuador. Another star player, now a successful Short Introduction (2011).

6 ReVista spring 2012 section header

SOCCER NATIONS

Soccer is often thought of as the Latin American sport or, as in the words of Franklin Foer, “soccer explains the world.” Here, authors look at soccer from a variety of perspectives.

n Sentimental Soccer 8 n Great Players, Bad Business 10 n The Ball and the Blackboard 13 n ¡Gooooal! 15 n Soccer Clubs 17 n Soccer and Literature 20 n The Cradle of Brazilian Soccer 22 n Women’s Soccer in Brazil 25

photo by paul goodman http://www.pdgoodman.com drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 7 sports!

Sentimental Soccer

River Plate and the Depth of My Sorrow by Mariano Siskind

Between Wednesday, June 22, and Sunday, could—keep wallowing in the compla- diations that make up our (masculine for June 26, 2011, River Plate, the team I’ve cent mud of this excessive melancholy, I the most part) subjective identities, and been a fan of my entire life, was relegated sat down and wrote a number of ideas, the relations we form with our fathers, to the second division of Argentina’s soc- hypotheses, reasons to explain what I felt our sons, our friends. It’s not just soccer; cer league. The depth of my sadness dur- during those days’ declines, defeats and there’s also politics, music, school, yes, ing those days took me by surprise. Soc- demotions. but soccer is particularly effective as a cer has always been an important part of I’ve lived in the United States for more way of invoking the sentimental universe my life, and some of my first childhood than ten years, and since the birth of my of Buenos Aires that I would like to pre- memories are tied to River—my father two sons (Valentín and Bruno, both of serve here in the United States. taking me to the stadium, the lights, the them huge fans of River like myself and Soccer is not just soccer. Soccer is the greenest grass I had ever seen, the red my father), I have developed a decidedly emotional world that contains it and and white waving flags, the whole place schizophrenic relationship with the iden- determines the weight of its social and shaking when our team came out to the tity-forming rituals of progressive Argen- subjective significance. So, for me, soc- field. The news of River’s demotion—the tinity and, most of all, with the practices cer is the name of vertical and horizontal winningest team in Argentina’s league and modalities of my own childhood forms of affect: in 1975 my father took history, and ninth in the historical rating in Buenos Aires, that my memory dis- me to the stadium for the first time to of the International Federation of Soc- torts over the double gaps of time and watch River win a championship after 18 cer History & Statistics—startled fans throughout the world, and the incessant front page news about everything around it proved that interest extended well be- Soccer is not just soccer. Soccer is the emotional world yond the strict realm of sports. Even that contains it and determines the weight of its social though it occurred to me that it might be interesting to tease out the significance of and subjective significance. the signifiers around River’s decline (the national resonance of management’s corrupt practices, the crisis of cultural insti- diasporic space. I pay close attention years of defeat; and I was four when my tutions at the core of popular imaginar- to what goes on in Argentina, I refer to dad took a picture of me in Hacoaj, with ies, the end of soccer as a tale of heroism current-day affairs of Argentine politics my first River jersey and soccer ball, pos- unthinkable in other social spheres), but and cultural life with sharp cosmopolitan ing as a professional player (I’ve taken during those days when River could not irony, but at the same time, I exhaust my- similar pictures of my two boys in both beat Belgrano de Córdoba, this intellec- self with vain attempts to reproduce for Cambridge and Buenos Aires); beyond tual agenda seemed like a grandiloquent, my sons a series of everyday routines and the hand of God and the most beauti- pompous and trivial exercise compared modalities (food, music, sports, movies, ful moves in the history of the game, my to the narcissistic intensity of my sorrow. jokes and word games, overwhelmingly memory of Maradona’s goal against Eng- The fact was I was very sad. Too sad. intimate physical closeness) that I imag- land in the 1986 World Cup is marked Suspiciously sad for someone passion- ine they would have if they were growing by the way my grandfather Juan and I ate about soccer, but nevertheless ce- up in Buenos Aires. celebrated and embraced for an eternity; rebral and rational (most of the time). To me, soccer is one of the most effec- the endurance and power of the litur- An episode involving sports—no matter tive ways of bridging my family’s diaspor- gies of friendship depends, at least par- how traumatic—should not set off such ic gap, but this is not specific to my rela- tially, on the convoluted shapes of love deep sadness, I kept telling myself. But tionship with my sons; the socio-affective inscribed in the ways my Boca Juniors in this slightly demented interior dia- significance of soccer is a proven global friends and I tease each other like kids. logue, I could make no argument that fact. Throughout the world, like very And as a mechanism of identitification, could dissipate my sadness. And when few other cultural phenomena, soccer is River gave me an excuse to avoid partici- I no longer wanted to—or no longer one of the names of the sentimental me- pating in the disagreeable chauvinistic

8 ReVista spring 2012 soccer nations

Four-year-old Mariano Siskind poses in his first River jersey.

Thinking it through, perhaps it is this re- proaching gaze (which is my own, most certainly) that leads me to intellectualize those days of River-Belgrano, and thus redeem my sorrow from its sports speci- ficity and its apparent triviality. The soccer fan in me tells me that I am unbearably pretentious in writing this essay. This inner voice tells me that the sadness of those days in June was (and is still) strictly sports-related because it was (and is) unimaginable that River has fallen so low, betraying its history, its colors, its stadium—and my own fresh memory of having felt, not so long ago, unbeatable, the best. But I have a twofold existence: the other part of me, the one that writes these lines midway between mourning and melancholy, shares space with the suffering sports fan. But if my sorrow can be explained through the evidence of affective relations and degraded childhood memories, the strictly sporting hypothesis carries some weight as well. Otherwise, I would stop caring about wins and losses, scores and rankings, rosters and injuries, for the year River will spend in the second division, and I would throw myself whole- heartedly to the process of mourning. But that’s not the case. I insist on the tor- tuous ceremony of watching River every Saturday over the Internet. Valentín and Bruno sit down and watch with me, they side of Argentines’ love of the national Wednesday, June 22, and Sunday, June sing soccer songs they understand par- team (I’m a River fan, not of Argentina: I 26, was not the horror of having to play tially, we hug each other with every goal never cheered for a goal of a Boca player in the second division with teams like and at every step of the ritual that per- in la selección—Maradona doesn’t count, Defensa y Justicia, Patronato, Atlanta haps redeems the socio-affective charge of course: he is universal patrimony). and Deportivo Merlo, but the literal deg- that River’s demotion and my own dia- That’s why the sadness I experienced radation of one of the signifiers of that sporic status have degraded. And per- in late June 2011 had very little to do name my sentimental life. The exasperat- haps, through magical thinking, wishing with the demotion of River to the second ed and impatient response of those who Cavenaghi scores again, the three of us division. Its strict sports meaning gets don’t hear any emotional echoes in the can will River into becoming champions lost, indeed dissolved, in its overflowing deafening noises of soccer (my wife, for once again. socio-affective significance. If “River” is example) bothers me precisely because the way in which I work through my rela- I am perfectly capable of seeing how ri- Mariano Siskind is an Assistant tionship to Buenos Aires and its cultural diculous my over-investment in soccer is Professor of Romance Languages and universe, then what was in play between (so masculine, so Argentine, so idiotic). Literatures at Harvard University.

photo courtesy of mariano siskind drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 9 sports! latin america and beyond

Great Players, Bad Business

Soccer in South America by Rory Miller

Just as my final undergraduate exams finals. I looked forward to seeing Peruvi- teams in Montevideo; six played else- finished in June 1970, the World Cup an stars like Teófilo Cubillas and Ramón where in South America while the re- finals started in Mexico, and I settled Mifflín playing for Alianza and Sporting maining fifteen were spread around sev- down to three weeks of watching soc- Cristal in Lima. en European countries. cer. Across the world, fans of my age re- It would not be the same today. Of Why do so few South American fans member those finals—the first we saw the 66 players in the Brazilian, Peruvian manage to see the stars of their national on color television—for the unforget- and Uruguayan squads in 1970, just one team playing, except on television? Since table third World Cup victory with Bra- played for a club outside his home coun- 1995, when the European Court of Jus- zil’s “Beautiful Team,” the magical squad try (an Uruguayan who had crossed to tice issued the so-called Bosman Judg- that included Pelé, Gerson, Rivelino and Buenos Aires to play for River Plate). ment, which relaxed restrictions on for- Jairzinho. Since I was hoping my exam Compare that with the 2010 World eign players in European leagues, star results would be good enough to obtain a Cup finals in South Africa. Just three soccer players have effectively gained postgraduate grant for research on Peru- of Brazil’s squad of 23 still played for the freedom to play for whichever club vian history, one match particularly en- a Brazilian team; twelve for clubs in they want, and, not surprisingly, they thralled me—Brazil’s brilliant 4-2 victory Italy or Spain. The Uruguayan squad have flocked to the wealthiest teams in over a strong Peru side in the quarter- contained only two who represented Europe. In 2010-11 the CIES Football

10 ReVista spring 2012 photo by rory miller soccer nations

Merchandise for the Millionarios team on membership subscriptions—all major since 2007, and average gross revenues sale at a Bogotá stadium. clubs in Brazil, as elsewhere in South 300,000 reais a match ($180,000), America, are member-owned social compared with the $750,000 that a Observatory counted 132 Brazilian and clubs, often offering other sporting activ- mid-table English Premier League club 111 Argentine players in the top five Eu- ities and social facilities as well. Just 15 like Everton generates, let alone the $4 ropean leagues, as well as 93 from other percent came from commercial revenue million that Arsenal, with a large new South American countries. Lionel Messi, sources such as sponsorship and mer- stadium in north London, obtains from an Argentine who won the Ballon d’Or, chandising. Much of the rest, between each home match. Ticket prices obvi- FIFA’s award for the Best Player in the 20 and 40 percent of Brazilian clubs’ in- ously have to reflect local incomes and World, for the third successive year in come in the last five years, has come from demand for seats. However, football 2011, moved to FC Barcelona at the age selling players, especially to Europe. has to compete with many other leisure of 13 and made his first-team debut four And Brazil is the richest league in activities, and attendance has suffered years later. However, legal changes pro- South America... Reliable financial details too from a growth in spectator violence. vide only part of the reason. Generally, for clubs in other leagues are scarce, but Starting in Argentina in the 1950s and the soccer business in South America has a couple of examples help to illustrate the 1960s, groups of noisy and often violent lagged behind the enormous commer- gaps with Europe. In late 2011, Boca Ju- young men, barras bravas, have come cialization of Western European soccer niors and River Plate, the best-supported to dominate soccer grounds, often fight- that has occurred over the last twenty clubs in Argentina, both signed sponsor- ing amongst themselves for prestige and years, even though countries like Brazil, ship contracts with BBVA Francés, worth spoils. In the 1990s, especially, simi- Uruguay and Argentina continue to pro- $4.5 million and $3.5 million a year re- lar barras also began to grow in Brazil, duce some of the best and most valuable spectively. Compare this with the $30 Peru, and Chile. Going to a match in a players in the world. million that Liverpool claims to earn an- country like Colombia can be reminis- Conventionally, in Europe, we divide nually from Standard Chartered Bank, cent of the worst days of soccer hooli- the revenues of leading clubs into three which has extensive interests in Asia, or ganism in England in the 1980s, not income streams: matchday (the money Manchester United from AON, a U.S. just in terms of the threatening atmo- earned from spectators attending the insurance broker. In Chile, the 21 teams sphere outside the ground, but also the game), media (mainly television, but also in the top division together generated body searches and other barriers the fan the Internet and mobile platforms), and total revenues of only $40 million in has to cross in order to gain admission. commercial (mainly jersey and kit spon- 2007. The leading Chilean club, Colo- The outcome is to deter many, espe- sorship, commercial partnerships and Colo, currently earns roughly half its cially families, from attending, as well as merchandising). In Western Europe, all income from player sales. Through- increasing the security costs that clubs three revenue streams have grown enor- out South America clubs have to oper- have to meet. mously since the early 1990s. According ate with much lower revenues than in Media income has also suffered. The to Deloitte’s Annual Review of Football Western Europe. The result is that they armchair fan in South America who has Finance, the English Premier League have to transfer their best footballers to access to cable television or, now, the In- clubs earned $3.3 billion in 2009/10, Europe, often fail to pay the players that ternet, can watch a bewildering variety with roughly half coming from media remain, and still incur increasing debts. of soccer, especially at weekends when income and the remainder split between Why have South American clubs failed to matches from all the major European matchday and commercial income. The keep pace? leagues are transmitted, or during the total earnings of the top five leagues in Matchday income is poor, due to low- week when many prefer to watch their Western Europe reached just over $11 er ticket prices and declining attendanc- favorite players representing teams like billion, $7.2 billion of which went for es. In the case of Estudiantes, a leading Barcelona or Inter-Milan in the UEFA player salaries. Argentine club, a monthly subscription Champions League rather than South The clubs participating in the Brazil- of $9 buys entry to all home matches, American competitions such as the Copa ian Campeonato, in contrast, earned just while the normal entrance ticket costs Libertadores. The accident of geography over $1 billion in 2010 (helped consider- $12. Moreover, in contrast to the well- and time zones does not help: European ably by the appreciation of the real). The filled, comfortable stadiums in England matches are shown during the day or previous year, according to figures com- or Germany, clubs in South America early evening in South America while piled by Brazilian financial expert Amir only ever fill their grounds for the big South American matches transmitted Samoggi, just over a quarter of Brazilian matches against local rivals. A report on to Europe would fall in the late evening clubs’ revenues came from their broad- the Brazilian Campeonato for 2011 sug- or the middle of the night. Attempts to casting deal with the Globo TV network. gests that average attendances amounted televise delayed highlights of the Argen- About a quarter came from tickets and to just under 15,000, down 20 percent tine or Brazilian leagues in Europe have

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generally failed, much to the chagrin of Peru, in January 2012, the debt to players spare time and with an eye always to the aficionados of South American football. reached almost $4 million. FIFPRO, the next election for club officials in a year or Problems also arise from the dominance international professional soccer players’ so’s time. This often makes for question- of particular television networks, often union, reported similar problems in Co- able alliances between club directors and part of larger business groups, which lombia, where nine of the eighteen clubs leaders of the barras bravas, on whom reduces the value of media rights for do- in the top division had failed to pay play- they depend for support (and sometimes mestic competitions. Between 2009 and ers, while in Bolivia players refused to intimidation of opponents). It also helps 2011, TV Globo, which dominates pro- turn out for the national team until their to stimulate both an ‘arms race mental- gramming in Brazil, paid only $250 mil- clubs paid them. Brazilian soccer players ity’, where directors always feel pressured lion a season for the rights for the Bra- have hundreds of cases pending against to spend more than their rivals, and poor zilian league. Furthermore, Globo places their employers in the labor courts. In a and amateurish decision-making. much more value on the advertising gen- country where the legal system is notori- Yet perhaps there are signs of hope. The appreciation of the real and economic growth are leading some Brazilian soccer players to return home, improving Poor management, in a continent where its three the quality of the Campeonato. Chilean representatives on the FIFA Executive Committee clubs have recovered their media rights and generate much more income by con- have all faced serious allegations of corruption, is rife. trolling their own television channel. Some clubs have made serious attempts to understand their fans and modern- erated by its world-famous telenovelas ously slow, this offers impecunious clubs ize their businesses. Boca Juniors is a than on soccer, with the result that mid- one way to delay payments they cannot rare example of an international brand week matches kick off after 10 p.m. when afford. For good players, on the other originating in Argentina. Other clubs, the telenovelas finish, depressing both hand, the prospects in Europe seem ever like Santos or Internacional-RS, have attendances and TV audiences. more attractive. realized that there is commercial poten- Poor television audiences for domes- Financial difficulties also lead to clubs tial in a high-quality youth system that tic soccer, especially when it is confined incurring large debts to the state for un- develops players for the international to Pay-TV, also have an impact on spon- paid taxes and social security. The Ar- market. For all said and done, whatever sorship income, because the potential gentine government claimed in August the problems with the business, South partners for clubs or sponsors for com- 2009 that the clubs owed $80 million American football still produces some of petitions gain much less exposure. Inter- in unpaid taxes. In Brazil the Lula gov- the most skillful and iconic footballers in national firms may also be deterred from ernment established a new soccer lot- the world. backing a sport marked by violence and tery, Timemania, in 2007, in an attempt corruption, though this is clearly not true to recoup some of the tax payments due Rory Miller’s professional career took of some of the banks and oil companies, from the clubs, an initiative that has an abrupt turn in 1997 when he was as well as Pepsi and Coke. As noted also far failed to generate anything like asked to become the founding program ready, the clubs’ sponsorship revenues the revenues anticipated. Amir Samo- director of Liverpool University’s MBA are only a fraction of the levels seen in ggi’s report on Brazilian club finances specializing in Football Industries. Since Western European markets. Other forms in 2010 estimated that the debts of the then he has pursued research on football of commercial income, such as merchan- leading 25 teams totalled $2.1 billion, finance and the football business in dising, also suffer from weak legal pro- 40 percent of which was owed by four Britain and Latin America, co-editing tection of brands and trademarks. How clubs in Rio de Janeiro, where reform Football in the Americas (London: many people are going to buy a new of- of club management has advanced more Institute for the Study of the Americas, ficial team shirt at $25 or more when pi- slowly than in São Paulo or Rio Grande 2007) with his colleague, Liz Crolley. rated merchandise is available at a frac- do Sul. At the same time he has continued to do tion of the price? Poor management, in a continent research on Latin American business This all makes for poverty-stricken whose three representatives on the FIFA history, publishing Empresas británi- clubs and discontented soccer play- Executive Committee have all faced seri- cas, economía y política en el Perú, ers, who are frequently left unpaid for ous allegations of corruption, is rife. In 1850-1934 (Lima: Instituto de Estudios months. In Argentina, it was claimed in part this is due to the fact that most pro- Peruanos, 2011) and jointly editing the 2009 that clubs in the top division owed fessional teams still legally belong to so- Journal of Latin American Studies for players $8 million in unpaid salaries. In cial clubs, run by their members in their Cambridge University Press.

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The Ball and the Blackboard

Soccer in the Classroom Bruno Carvalho

As an undergraduate, I had a Classics professor who sometimes spoke of the humanities’ task as the search for the strange in the familiar, and the familiar in the strange. The idea stuck with me, and in my own classes I have attempted to create an environment in which students re-evaluate their preconceived notions, and simultaneously establish connections to what may seem remote or exotic. Since most of my courses revolve around the cultural histories of cities, normally this is a rather safe exercise. How might a 19th-century urban dweller find our sartorial habits unusual? How might we draw parallels between Brasí- lia’s development and that of more traditional capitals? In fall 2010, however, this pedagogi- in the 1980s. A game could be tense, university, I only encountered support cal effort became quite personal and heart-wrenching or cathartic. It was sel- and encouragement. But what if my sta- tricky. I had developed a Freshman Sem- dom entertainment. My sense of national dium instincts kicked in during seminar inar called Soccer and Latin America: belonging, meanwhile, was easily sur- discussions, reverting the tweed-jacket History, Politics, and Popular Culture. It passed by the role the soccer club Vasco intellectual back to the jersey-wearing was now time to face fifteen bright and da Gama played in early memories, fam- aficionado? eager Princeton students, as well as my ily ties and friendships. Few things are Suffice it to say that at least the ma- own obsessive relationship to the sport. less conceivable in Brazil than the idea of jority of the time, I was able to fake it. While not out of place in Brazil (where an individual switching allegiance from The students turned out to share my I am from), my unrestrained passion one team to another. “Of all the loves I enthusiasm, and class discussions were of soccer would certainly reduce me have ever had, you are the oldest,” one of productive and vibrant. Since the semi- to the stereotype of the fiery Latin Amer- the chants sung at Vasco’s games begins. nar had around thirty applicants, I could ican. All of a sudden I feared that my A cross-town rival’s anthem asserts how assemble a diverse group that included immigration status as a “non-resident this first-love lasts “until death.” first-year students from Singapore, Ire- alien” would actually be confirmed in I could never think of a stadium be- land, El Salvador, England and several the classroom. ing renamed after a bank, of a team corners of the United States. Some came In my many years studying and then having an owner, or of a club treated as to the course because of soccer, others working in North American universities, a “franchise” that could even move to a had an interest in Latin America and I had mostly retained an adolescent at- different city. Now I would have to lead no prior relationship to the sport. It was titude to soccer. Comparisons to the ex- a seminar with students who found all an effective combination, and as intend- perience of sports like baseball and foot- of these aberrations to be normal. At the ed, the course provided a window into ball were readily dismissed. To be sure, same time, I had been living away from the study of the region’s political, social, I recognized the existence of rabid fans Brazil—and working as an academic— and cultural histories since the early north of the Rio Grande, but someone for long enough to recognize myself as 20th century. from a country with a flag on the moon an outlier when it came to soccer. My Between clips of Maradona and Gar- could never understand the extent to initial concern that others at Princeton rincha in action, the seminar focused which past World Cup victories defined would not find the topic serious enough my sense of national identity as a child was quickly proven unfounded. At the Fans at a soccer game in Brazil.

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on topics not unlike those that might is easy to lose your sense of proportion als remain mired in a false equivalence arise in more orthodox courses. Discus- when so much seems to be riding on a between beauty and failure. Since the sions involved a variety of issues like World Cup semi-final. But no matter 1990s, soccer strategists have mostly the relationship between intellectuals how incensed one might feel about Luis agreed that to achieve successful results, and popular culture, representations of Suárez using his hand to prevent a game- one must play defensively, prizing physi- national identity, and the dynamics of decisive Ghanaian goal against Uruguay, cal force over creativity. That myth has globalization. We investigated interplays our indignation would be best directed been shattered by today’s wildly victori- between soccer and the state, discussing towards more far-reaching and conse- ous Barcelona, led by Lionel Messi, the the sport’s use and co-optation by dicta- quential injustices. pale and brilliant Argentine. torial regimes of the 1960s and 70s, as Over time, I began to get a sense that If Latin America is to have a return of well as its role in different countries’ self- my intense, lifelong relationship to soc- its soccer golden age, this time accom- assertions on the world stage. We read cer—both as a veteran of the stands and panied by progress in other areas, the narratives of prominent chroniclers who as a player—actually served a purpose moment seems propitious. As Brazil pre- elevated soccer to “epic” status, project- in the classroom. And not just in this pares to host the 2014 World Cup, how- ing national teams as the embodiment particular course. I began to worry less ever, all signs point towards ambivalence. of a collective identity. In the process, we that the moments when we were enjoy- Much of what has been promised in terms explored how some authors, like the Bra- ing footage from a great match might be of infrastructural investment will likely zilian playwright Nelson Rodrigues, uti- unbecoming of an academic setting. We not be delivered. And stadium construc- lized soccer as a vehicle through which to even decided to have a class-wide pick- tion is already leaving a legacy of wasted confront broader racial issues. up game (a promise on which I have resources. We discussed in class José Reflections over the place of soccer not yet delivered). Just like serious pur- Miguel Wisnik’s wonderful recent essay in the social landscape inevitably led to suits can coexist with pleasure, critical of national interpretation, Veneno Remé- questions of how, in a region of deep eco- thought and physical engagement need dio: O Futebol e o Brasil (Poison-Cure: nomic inequalities, the sport can function not be antithetic. Mens sana in corpore Soccer and Brazil), that interprets soccer both as a congregator and as the prover- sano should adorn our academic halls as as a pharmakon, containing at once the bial “opium of the masses.” Throughout much as our gyms. possibilities of curing and poisoning. In the semester, students grappled with The soccer fanatic, after all, could be a cruder way, the category also applies to how soccer captivates the imaginaries of compatible with the scholar. In this sense the flow of capital tied to the upcoming so many, and began to view its popular- it was not just I who had changed, but mega-sporting event. Rio de Janeiro’s ization in the context of developments Latin America itself. The notion of soc- Maracanã Stadium, for example, is unlike radio, technology to build massive cer players’ performances as an expres- dergoing a massive billion-dollar recon- stadiums, and immigration. Those who sion of national characteristics seems to struction. While updating the “temple of were up to date on the latest results from have been greatly diminished. This has soccer” to meet safety norms, the inter- the world’s major leagues never allowed partly to do with how many of the best vention has also entailed drastic changes us to forget about the game’s more “spec- athletes sign up to play for European to its design. This includes an unneces- tacular” or aesthetic aspects. Intersec- teams. It also has much to do, I suspect, sary roof replacement, forever altering tions between soccer, religion, dance and with the extent to which civil society what used to be an exceptional acoustic theater came up often. and democracy have matured in several space. The veteran of the stands already Our readings included social scien- of the region’s countries. In the 1960s mourns the loss of a familiar place. In tists, poets, journalists, cultural critics, and 70s, soccer had been both a tool of this case, I do not much care what the and even soccer players—they could not authoritarian regimes, and a space of academic in me thinks. But maybe, have been more interdisciplinary. The resistance against them. It might not be I think, my students will understand. conversations too sometimes proved to clear where things are going now, but we be eclectic. On at least one occasion, we know that they have changed direction. Bruno Carvalho is an Assistant Profes- made an incursion into the differences The Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo sor of Luso-Brazilian literatures and between Heraclitus’ and Parmenides’ Pasolini once claimed that “there are cultures at Princeton University, where conception of time. Often, we debated two types of football, prose and poetry. he also teaches urban studies and film. the implications of Johan Huizinga’s European teams are prose, tough, pre- Currently, he is completing a book notion that “play […] lies outside mor- meditated, systematic, collective. Latin tentatively entitled Porous City: Rio de als” (Homo Ludens). As the semester American ones are poetry, ductile, spon- Janeiro’s ‘Little Africa,’ ‘Jewish Neigh- progressed, it became apparent that taneous, individual, erotic.” That too borhood,’ and the Formation of Brazilian the students frequently ascribed more would appear to be an outdated view, Culture (1808-1945). He wishes to be importance to the game than I did. It when most of the region’s profession- buried with a Vasco flag.

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¡Gooooal!

Soccer and Study Abroad by Johanna Damgaard Liander

There are many ways to be introduced to the then hardly fashionable Brooklyn, the surrounding high grass) or while we soccer. You can play when you’re young riding the subway, again with my father, waited anxiously in the jungle to take our (or not so young), you can listen or watch to watch immigrant soccer leagues on trip to Iguazú falls. Soccer was another the media, or you can be a spectator right the playing fields of Bay Ridge. Like most way to meet as a group, create a spectacle there at the stadium or at the field. All youngsters, never really focusing on the for porteños, cordobeses, or correntinos three were part of my experience, and rules, I caught the passion of soccer while in the parks, or wherever we were…and happily, all three became the experi- watching the European immigrants of soccer was a way to socialize, to im- ence of my students last summer during the time, from the north and south alike, prove linguistic competence and cultural Harvard Summer School in Buenos Ai- taking a day off from the (generally man- awareness, reinforcing the good feelings res, as part of our linguistic and cultural ual) workweek to continue the tradition within the group, inviting Argentine immersion. and the joy of soccer on a new continent. friends and family, and accepting com- What a privilege as an American The rituals were followed, of course, by a ments and advice from rather surprised growing up in the 1960s to play soccer family Sunday lunch. and amused onlookers. in Central Park as part of my curricu- So what could be more thrilling, along Nothing was more satisfying than to lum, or at least as part of Eleanor Borg’s with sharing a city and a language that hear my students say “cháke” (“careful,” intent for her second and third graders I loved, than to witness my students’ rein Guaraní, used while playing soccer) or at a New York elementary school. The living my soccer days in all their dimen- to hear them comment on what Homero game was coed and the coach, our gym sions, over our summer/winter months Manzi meant when he wrote “si el alma teacher, a middle-aged energetic Swed- together in Argentina. And we thrived. está en orsai” (“if your soul is offside”) in ish woman who taught us soccer, gym- Soccer was the pastime when the “Che, Bandoneón.” For just as there is a nastics and poetry. group could no longer study grammar language of tango, there too is a lexicon My home kitchen was filled with the or read Borges or Sarmiento. Soccer was of soccer, usually learned spontaneously, aromas of my father’s cooking and the a way to run off all that bife, ice cream and which, not surprisingly, has borrow- soccer broadcasts over the tiny televi- and dulce de leche, and soccer was a most ings from other tongues. sion, which accompanied us in those effective distraction when our bus broke Soccer in Argentina, as in the United years. My father, from rural Denmark, down in the middle of northern wetlands States, is intimately associated with im- who had sailed the high seas eventually (while alligators and capybaras roamed migration. Along with the railroads, to settle in New York and catch the eye of a young Finnish girl in Harlem, was bored with all American sports. He cried for joy when professional soccer finally arrived in the United States, when he was well beyond middle age, and he became glued to the TV for all games ever since. Whether it was croissants, plates of crème caramel, roast goose or oxtail ragout that emerged from his kitchen, they were always prepared to the accom- paniment of “goooooool,” generally hol- lered in a faint porteño accent. Then there were Sundays, familiar to many as church and soccer. For me, too, they were spent traveling from some enclave of Protestantism in Manhattan to

Students in Buenos Aires

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the English brought several sports to Ar- family meal. Fito Páez is one of many to screenings of several matches of the gentina in the 19th century, and soccer, recall: Copa América at the Plaza San Mar- by 1912, finally could be called criollo, as Todas las mañanas que viví tín, the loveliest of Buenos Aires’ parks, a winning team (Racing Club de Avel- todas las calles donde me escondí where I believe Borges still strolls. To- laneda) had more sons of Italians and el encantamiento de un amor, el sacrificio gether in Córdoba, we almost missed our Spaniards than Englishmen. Neighbor- de mis padres overnight bus back to a mourning Bue- hoods in cities began to have clubs, espe- los zapatos de charol… nos Aires, because of the jubilant crowds cially places with large immigrant popu- los domingos en el club in the street gathered after a Córdoba lations, and the soccer club created the salvo que Cristo sigue allá en la cruz team (Belgrano) defeated the River Plate identity of the neighborhood. One played las columnas de la catedral team from the capital earlier that day. soccer for distraction from the hard lot y la tribuna grita gol el lunes por la capi- Together, in fact, we had listened to that of the immigrant. The rest of the week’s tal… fateful match on our bus driver’s radio, as poverty and nostalgia disappeared tem- —Fito Páez, “Mariposa Tecknicolor”, we drove through the magnificent Sier- porarily, and dreams were played and Circo Beat, 1994. ras Chicas of Córdoba province. won on the soccer field, thus providing [Each morning that I lived, So wherever we were, like Christopher a form of egalitarian theater and recre- each street where I hid, Robin and Pooh, the soccer ball was there ation, dependent on el azar (chance) di- the spell of a love, my parents’ sacrifice, as well. And at any free moment, we—or rectly related to the nimbleness of one’s patent leather shoes… most of us—played. The soccer moms we feet. As Mariano Gruschetsky points Sundays at the club had left in the United States would have out in “La sociología del fútbol” (July 18, even though Christ is still there on been pleased, and the non-Americans in 2011, Harvard Summer School in Bue- the cross my group just joined in, as they would nos Aires), current sociology of soccer the columns of the cathedral have done back home. And naturally the contends that chance plays a far greater and the stand (of the soccer stadium) Argentine audiences emerged to watch role in soccer than in basketball, for ex- shouts “goal” Monday in the pages of La and comment, whether in the Bosques ample, played with one’s hands, generally capital (newspaper from Rosario)] de Palermo, the province of Misiones, on more dexterous than one’s feet. The gam- the banks of the Paraná River, or at the beta or dribbling—a term from Gaucho Last summer in Argentina, we experi- seemingly infinite estancia of one of our literature, referring to the running of an enced all of this, even the Sunday asado host families, among sheep, buffaloes, ostrich—was, of course, individual and with host families. Outside of the class- horses, cows, and most gracious gauchos. unpredictable. room, we cheered for Argentina at the In the classroom we did not play soc- For many Argentines, the classic Sun- Monumental, the largest stadium in cer. Yet we certainly referred to it as we day was church and/or the soccer club, Buenos Aires, home to River Plate. We read and commented moments of Ar- and of course, the asado, the traditional went to the immense open-air public gentine history or the past week’s news.

16 ReVista spring 2012 photo by paul goodman http://www.pdgoodman.com soccer nations

In reference to both, we inevitably mentioned Maradona, as well. Soccer Clubs Soccer, though never a neutral topic, often became a focus of din- Kicking Off Democracy in Latin America ner conversations at the students’ local homes. One of the first bits of By Aldo Panfichi information about the families was usually whose hinchas (fans) they were. A convinced or polite homestay student would promptly appear in On June 25, 1978, Argentina and Holland tive life and political culture dominant class, wearing the appropriate remera were playing the World Cup final. Gen- within a society. (t-shirt). Several students went one eral Jorge Rafael Videla’s dictatorship It is true that some clubs emblematic step further. They were invited for an had spent millions to organize the Cup; of the region have been transformed into entire evening—a male evening—out the Montanera guerrilla had decreed a corporations (S.A.) to participate in the to the pampa to play soccer, cards unilateral truce, and all of Latin America globalized soccer industry, but a large (truco) and eat mondongo (no defini- stirred with euphoria for Argentina’s sky- number of professional clubs have not tion needed), providing testimonies blue flag in hopes of a victory. At the same done so. Morevoer, most clubs in the in class (too early) the next morning hour, we—a group of college freshmen— region are purely local in nature rather and in their written diaries. were taking an exam on the subject of than professional, with different levels Each session of Harvard Sum- democracy. Our professor, a well-known of institutionalization, but with great mer School in Buenos Aires has had political scientist, had adamantly refused impact on the life of the community. In its own character—dancing tango, to postpone the test when we timidly sug- practically any corner of the continent, looking for history, art, shopping gested he do so. So there we were, work- clubs compete on the soccer field, wheth- and boliches (clubs, in this case) or ing in anguish and silence while every er to settle local rivalries or to experience simply, eating beef (“at least once once in a while the enthusiastic shouts of the politics of everyday life. a day”). Certainly the last two years workers from a nearby construction site In their original form, the clubs are will be remembered as the soccer penetrated the classroom. We shot glanc- voluntary associations of individuals summers. es at each other, unable to concentrate, who get together from time to time to Aníbal Troilo used to say to the with the wall clock ticking away the min- play soccer. These clubs are part of the uninitiated that “el tango te espera.” utes left in the game. And suddenly, there organizational fabric of civil society, al- (“Tango will wait for you.”) Likewise came a huge roar from the street that though not often recognized as such. As my father always hoped that the shook us: Argentina Champion! Argen- Alexis de Tocqueville points out in his sport of his childhood would catch on tina Champion! We couldn’t stand it any classic Democracy in America (1835 and in his adopted new land. He is, I more—test or not—and we got up and 1840), the civic associations citizens cre- believe, being granted his wish. And ran to the nearest radios and televisions, ate, for whatever reasons, have an enor- perhaps I am, too, for what is more and in the scramble, someone mumbled, mous impact on the development of a rewarding than to transform one’s “to hell with democracy.” democratic culture capable of sustaining own experiences and knowledge— Soccer is much more than a sport. As and giving legitimacy to political institu- with a dose of nostalgia—into a his- we sociologists like to say, it is a “com- tions. Focusing more on citizens’ social tory worth sharing? plete social occurrence,” able to capture practices than on the bureaucratic opera- And what better place to be nos- the complexity and dilemmas of any tion of political institutions, Tocqueville talgic, in Spanish, than Buenos Aires? given era. For this reason, at a time when makes the argument that civic associa- dissatisfaction with democracy is so tions encourage the free participation Johanna Damgaard Liander, extended throughout the hemisphere of citizens in matters of collective inter- Harvard ’78, Ph.D. ’87, has been Se- that even new forms of citizen participa- est (in this case, sports), develop habits nior Preceptor of Romance Languag- tion have not been able to legimitize it of sociability based on discussion and es and Literatures since 1988 and again, it is necessary to question those respect for agreements, and strengthen has directed and taught the Harvard social practices that accompany the per- learning about democratic electoral pro- Summer School in Buenos Aires since formance of political institutions. It is cedures and rules. Following this line of 20 program since 2007. thus worthwhile to take a look at the re- argument, Robert Putnam and Sidney lationship between soccer clubs and de- Verba argue that the civic traditions that Practicing soccer in Brazil... a sport that mocracy, since these clubs are privileged are nurtured in these civic associations unites Latin America (and divides it too) spaces in which to observe the associa- have a formative impact on the attitude

drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 17 of citizens towards the political system. larly in the creation of rules and institu- able” masculinity that combined physical In other words, civic associations can tions that regulate its practice and abide strength, solidarity with fellow workers be spaces for democratic practice—as by the democratic principle of competing and militancy in the socialist and com- these authors suggest—as well as spaces on equal terms. munist parties (Brenda Elsey, “The Inde- that reflect the participants’ limitations At the end of the 19th century and pendent Republic of Football: The Poli- and challenges. the beginning of the 20th, soccer clubs tics of Neighborhood Clubs in Santiago, The concept of the club as a sports began to proliferate in the ports and Chile, 1948-1960,” Journal of Social His- association began in Europe in the 20th poor neighborhoods of the principal tory, Spring 2009). century. As sociologist Norbert Elías Latin American cities, giving a sense of At the present time, the most impor- notes, it is quite significant that the term belonging and identity to immigrants, tant soccer clubs in Argentina, Brazil and “club” was adopted by French revolu- factory and dock workers, students and Uruguay have thousands of members; tionaries in the 18th century, when they enthusiastic neighbors. Historian Bren- they are institutions that offer a wide desired to claim the political right to da Elsey describes how, for example, be- range of services and are considered to free association, a right absent in the tween 1948 and 1960, some soccer clubs be very important economic and social previous feudal and autocratic regimes. were means of politicization and radi- actors. In the recently published “The The modern sports clubs also played an calization in Santiago’s working-class Democratic Dribbler: Football Clubs, important role in the transformation of neighborhoods. Members and players Neoliberal Globalization, and Buenos soccer from a series of leisure activities of these clubs criticized class inequality Aires’ Municipal Election of 2003” (Pub- or games to the sport it is today, particu- and constructed an ideal of “more honor- lic Culture 19, Duke University Press),

18 ReVista spring 2012 courtesy of aldo panfichi soccer nations

Far left: Comando Sur fans of Club Alianza Lima, Archivo Don Balon, Lima 1998; this page (left), Players from Club Atlético Cha- laco del Puerto del Callao, 1918; (right) Don Adelfo Magallanes of Club Alianza LIma, leader of the so-called Rodillo Negro (Black Knee) in Camarin, preparing for a game, Lima 1933

Clearly, there is not much interest in democratizing the clubs or expanding their membership base, since this would put an end to the small groups or clans. The scant institutional life, moreover, is dominated by a factional- ism that impedes the construction of horizontal bonds that would result in a democratic outcome. Instead, conflictive relations, imposition, and the arbitrary and untransparent use of power pre- dominate. In this context, clubs often are seen by some adventurers as the means to gain celebrity, be recognized by public opinion and eventually move into a political career or business success. This is the case of club leaders transformed sociologist Carlos Forment shows that ness dominate in the administration of into congressmen and mayors. Instead of in Argentina soccer clubs are the largest resources and in the decision-making being spaces to practice and learn and most widespread civil associations in process. At the same time, these clubs are democracy, these clubs have reproduced the country, providing elements of iden- facing economic bankruptcy while accu- social authoritarianism and archaic tification and social differentiation to the sations of corruption and tax evasion are strongmen. majority of the population. These clubs aired from time to time in the media. In If this has happened within soc- play two contradictory roles, however. other words, in the internal life of the cer clubs and other associations of civil On the one hand, they promote civic principal soccer clubs, anti-democratic society, perhaps it is not strange that and democratic practices among their values and behavior are actually foment- democracy is fragile and does not count many members by electing club leading a type of “uncivil society”—values that on citizen loyalty, as polls and studies ers through electoral processes in which unfortunately are also present in the wider show, such as those done by the United several lists compete. But, on the other society, political parties and the state. Nations Development Programme. De- hand, their internal disputes legitimate Dramatic examples of this situation mocracy is not just a group of institutions an authoritarian and strongman—cau- are the Peruvian soccer clubs Alianza and rules, but above all, habits, practices dillo—culture. These disputes are often Lima and Universitario. Both boast and values that have been firmly inter- violent, and the clubs use free tickets to millions of followers, but have only a nalized. To the degree to which citizens manipulate violent fans, the so-called little more than a thousand members; lack spaces in which to learn and prac- barras bravas—organized groups of vo- of these only a minority participated in tice democratic ideals, democracy will be cal supporters. the last elections. The small number of more of an aspiration than a reality. Soc- The situation is equally disheartening members in relation to its popular back- cer clubs, above all other local organiza- in Colombia, Perú, Paraguay and Bolivia, ing results in a closed club, with very tions, can help create the practices and where the clubs with the greatest num- high entrance fees that put off fans in habits that build strong citizens to nour- ber of followers can hardly be consid- spite of the fact that both clubs are asso- ish our democracies. ered spaces or “schools” to learn about ciated with the grassroots. This leads to democracy. On the contrary, they are in- a vicious cycle, in which well-intentioned Aldo Panfichi is Professor and Chair, stitutionally weak associations with little fans or reformers avoided greater par- Department of Social Sciences, Univer- incentive to stimulate the associative life; ticipation due to existing corruption and sidad Católica del Perú. He was a 2002 caudillo politics, secrecy and arbitrari- lack of incentives. Visiting Scholar at DRCLAS.

drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 19 sports!

Soccer and Literature

A Look at Roberto “El Negro” Fontanarrosa By Michel Di Capua

The woman in the bookstore in Rosario, tina for several months before hap- would change (tango on Monday nights, Argentina, could tell I wasn’t a native. pening upon Rosario, a city four hours salsa on Tuesdays, student bands on She asked me what I was doing in the away from Buenos Aires on bus, where Wednesdays), but the crowd hardly did. city. I told her I was trying my luck as a the tourist traffic was so incidental that During that stint in Rosario, I matured freelance writer. Writing about what? I was the sole guest at the town hostel as a traveler. I learned how satisfying it “About Argentine soccer leagues,” I the nights I stayed there. Though Rosa- is, in the middle of a long trip, to drop told her. rio had been billed as one of the coun- your pack in an unassuming place, com- “Ok. Fontanarrosa’s books are over try’s loveliest cities, it was unappealing. mit to it, commit to routine and to not there,” she said. Its river is dirty, and its prized flag mu- seeing much at all. But undoubtedly the “Whose?” seum grandiose. And yet, in the days memories of Rosario abide because of my “Fontanarrosa’s. El Negro.” I spent there, I became attached to the having met El Negro. She was surprised I had never heard city—not because of anything it offered, I soon discovered that everyone in of the man. You can call him, she told but because, quite by accident, I found Argentina knew who El Negro was; he me. Why would I call him? “You’ll see,” myself in a gratifying daily routine. I’d was a soccer journalist, novelist, short she said, as she gave me El Negro’s phone bicycle along the river, eat ice cream in story writer, and, above all, the country’s number. the late afternoon, and go to the local I had been traveling across Argen- dance hall at night. The theme at the hall An Argentine street scene

20 ReVista spring 2012 photo by nefer muÑoz soccer nations

comedian: a cartoonist famous for his ties...”) We talked about Cartagena, and match in which the proceeds would ben- “Inodoro Pereyra” comic strips about a about my travels in Argentina, for a bit. efit a local leprosy hospital. Rosario Cen- gaucho, his talking dog, and his fat, petu- Then, I opened my notebook and began tral refused the offer and branded New- lant wife, Eulogia. He was also some- to scan through my list of questions that ell’s fans “lepers,” as if sympathy for and thing of a local hero in Rosario, where he I wanted to ask him, and then—I closed contraction of the disease were indivis- had grown up and had pledged his very the book and invited him to just tell me ible. In exchange, Newell’s fans referred public, very immoderate loyalty to a local stories about soccer. to Rosario’s as “canallas” (scoundrels). soccer team. I was able to reach El Negro “Yyyyyyyyyyyy, que sé yo?” [What The names have endured. Men holler by telephone the day after meeting the do I know?] he said, in that typical Ar- leproso and canalla at each other in the woman in the bookstore, and he agreed gentine expression of feigned ignorance. city’s streets, and a Rosario café is host to to let me interview him several days later. And then without pause, the storytelling regular meetings of a secret, black-clad In anticipation of my meeting with started. He talked about the rivalry be- group named O.C.A.L. (Organización El Negro, I bought a tape recorder. I tween Buenos Aires’ two famous soccer Canalla Anti-Leprosa). had not done much interviewing before franchises: Boca Juniors, long associated The hour I spent listening to Fon- then. I spent a long time drafting ques- with the city’s poorest neighborhood, and tanarrosa’s soccer stories is a treasured tions. I remember my nervousness as the River Plate, founded by wealthy English- memory. At the end, we talked with Gaby, hour before our encounter approached; men and linked to the city’s aristocracy. we exchanged e-mail addresses, and he I found his house and sat outside for the At La Bombonera, Boca’s home stadi- prepared me for another upcoming in- remaining minutes testing and re-testing um, fans sing elaborate, profanity-laced terview, this time with Daniel Passarella, the recorder. And then I rang the bell; his chants about the murdering the “rich the River Plate coach. Afterwards, dur- wife, Gaby, ushered me in, and I found El chickens” from River. At River Plate Sta- ing the rest of my travels, one Argentine Negro, bearded, sharp-eyed, gaunt… and dium, River fans mock the “second-class” after another would tell me about their immobile. For three years, he had been citizens that constitute Boca’s fan base by own fascination with El Negro. No one, suffering from amyotrophic lateral scle- unveiling large banners that read “Wel- it seems, could better articulate how Ar- rosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, a neuro- come to Argentina.” gentines see themselves than he could degenerative disease that causes muscle El Negro, however, is most famous for with his irreverent jabs. No one was fun- weakness and eventually results in loss his allegiance to his home soccer team, nier. (A man goes hunting for hares with of control of voluntary muscle move- Rosario Central. In Rosario, the most Inodoro, the central character in Fon- ments. Because of his illness, El Negro jingoistic city in an already proud coun- tanarrosa’s comic strip. Inodoro cautions had finally been forced to stop drawing try, hordes of townspeople gather in the him that hares are guided by their sense his own cartoons, and had now resorted local stadium every December 19 to com- of smell, so it’s necessary to coat oneself to dictating his writings. memorate and re-enact a legendary goal with cow manure to cover human scent. Our conversation began. He was ex- by Rosario Central that had occurred on “But it’s disgusting,” says the hunter. In- cited to learn that I was originally from Colombia; he had just returned from the Hay Festival in Cartagena (a literature festival once described by Bill Clinton as No one could better articulate how Argentines see a “Woodstock of the mind”) where he had themselves than he could with his irreverent jabs. No received the annual grand award given to a Latin American author. As it is a prize one was funnier. ordinarily given to “serious” writers, Fon- tanarrosa’s selection had come as a surprise. The applause from the crowd of that date more than thirty years ago. One odoro responds, “That’s why we cover it fellow writers lasted three minutes, and of Fontanarrosa’s most celebrated fic- with cow manure.” “And you don’t wear his recognition speech, “In Defense of tional stories, titled “19 de diciembre de any?” says the hunter. “Con uno alcanza,” Vulgar Words,” was emblematic. (“I want 1971,” is about the effort of young fans to replies Inodoro. [If one of us wears it, it’s to take note of the word mierda [shit],” force an old man to come to the stadium enough.]) he said, “which is a word that is irreplace- during the game, because the team had I watched a performance of Les Lu- able, whose secret is in the letter r, which never lost with the old man present. He thiers, an ingenious Buenos Aires-based the Cubans pronounce much more weak- went on to describe the rivalry between comic troupe, for whom Fontanarrosa ly... and there lies the fundamental prob- Rosario Central and Newell’s Old Boys. is a chief scriptwriter. In April 2006, lem with the Cuban Revolution, in that In the 1920s, Newell’s offered to play the Argentine Senate honored him it is limited by its expressive possibili- Rosario Central in a no-stakes charity for his contribution to the country’s

drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 21 sports!

culture. When I returned to Argenti- na months later, this time during the The Cradle of 2006 World Cup, he was writing soccer-related humor articles for Clarín, Brazilian Soccer Argentina’s largest newspaper, just as he had done in previous World Cups. Working-class History and the Futebol de Várzea With the bewitching, salacious Hermana Rosa as his clairvoyant in São Paulo By Paulo Fontes protagonist, the articles were rich in knowledge and passion for soccer, unfailingly droll, and sometimes, somehow, also profound. In one ar- Thousands of fans drive to a soccer of the fans and the sense of attachment ticle, he claims to have found an epic stadium, a very common scene every between the local clubs and their com- poem, “Veintisiete toques y una flor” Sunday in soccer-mad São Paulo. Bra- munities make amateur soccer, the real (twenty-seven touches and a flower), zilians are proud to be five-time World soccer, the heir of the best of Brazilian about Argentina’s sensational goal in Champions, to be the home of Pelé, Gar- soccer tradition. the second game of the World Cup rincha, Romário, Ronaldo and many In the last decades, the scarcity of (he even gives us the final verses of other skillful players, who earned Brazil playing fields due to state speculation, this fictive poem). the epithet as the land of the kings of the changes in popular leisure activities El Negro’s health worsened. I had “beautiful game.” and even urban violence made amateur remained in touch with Gaby, who However, the soccer scene that Sun- football less visible in the major cities. publishes a wedding magazine in day, November 13, 2011, looked far from Nevertheless, after many years of decline Rosario, and when I called to wish glorious. It was not a match gathering and ostracism, amateur football seems them a happy new year in 2007, she Corinthians, São Paulo F.C. or Palmeiras, to be back in fashion again. Popular ma- sounded discouraged, even as she the best-known professional soccer clubs jor championships, films on the topic informed me that they were trying in the city. Distant from the glamorous, and Internet and television coverage are new treatments. But El Negro spoke rich and comfortable world of top profes- helping to recover, little by little, the lost of his disease as “este quilombo de mi sional players, two modest neighborhood prestige of this leisure practice, especial- salud” (this mess with my health), as clubs were disputing that day the final of ly in São Paulo. if it were principally an aggravation. the municipal amateur championship, During the Brazilian soccer golden I didn’t know enough to gauge how considered to be the largest in Brazil. age between the 1950s and ‘70s, the well he was coping, but I do know the Despite the humbleness, enthusiasm and widespread workouts of amateurs in the line every reader of Inodoro Pereyra spirits were high. For many, the fervor main cities of the country spread the knows. Each new storyline in the comic strip unfolds with a character asking Inodoro how he’s doing, to which Inodoro responds, “Mal, pero acostumbrau.” (“Bad, but used to it.”) Roberto “El Negro” Fontanarrosa passed away in July 2007 from respi- ratory failure. He was 62.

Michel Di Capua works in the private sector, in the renewable energy industry. He has a Master’s degree in literature, with a focus on early 20th century European novels, as well as a Master’s in Business Administration. His published freelance writing has included soccer-related articles for the Buenos Aires Herald in Argen- tina and the Business Standard in India. He is based in New York City.

22 ReVista spring 2012 courtesy of pablo fontes soccer nations

familiar idea that amateur football was and rail lines of the city, with plenty of the social conformation of the older and the cradle of Brazilian soccer. In fact, the low and flat land alongside the water- more central industrial areas. majority of professional players started courses. It was in these spaces that the Although football was a predomi- their careers in humble local clubs. In working-class practice of soccer prolifer- nantly male recreation, women could places such as Rio and São Paulo, experts ated. These peculiar conditions helped to also explore the clubs as a leisure space. from professional clubs used to pick the popularize the term futebol de várzea (lea The sport itself was restricted to men, best amateurs and hire them in a con- or field football) for amateur soccer. but women were eager spectators, some- stant flow from city lots to fame. Since Frequently stigmatized by the rul- times bringing along the whole family the professionalization of the sport in ing classes and the police as a space for for picnics and parties on the side of the the 1920s and ‘30s, soccer was one of the disorder and violence, this lea football fields. Moreover, the clubs often expand- forms of upward mobility for working- became the most popular leisure activ- ed their activities beyond soccer itself by class youngsters in Brazil. ity in the districts of the city and, by the promoting balls, parties and beauty con- In cities such as São Paulo, amateur 1930s and 1940s, gained some recogni- tests. At best they worked as real centers football has a very long history that tion and legitimization. Until the 1970s, of working-class leisure and integration, strongly merges with the trajectory of amateur soccer was widely reported on but they also gave rise to varied forms of civil society organization and working- in the popular and sports press. Impres- conflicts and antagonism. class activism. Introduced through the sive crowds gathered at many of these Almost every district and new con- interaction of the English community amateur games. centration of people had its own club with the local population, and cultivated After World War II, amateur soc- and soccer team—important for the rein aristocratic sports clubs of Brazilian/ cer accompanied the growth of the city, inforcement of local identity. The resi- English elites, soccer quickly spread spreading out around the new working- dents frequently considered the teams through the city’s neighborhoods. The sport was soon mastered by the working class, which included the sport in its recreational menu. The move to The residents frequently considered the teams a professionalism in the early 1930s even sort of representation of their “space,” their “area,” boosted soccer’s popularity, both as a spectator sport and as a leisure activity. a representation of the place where they lived and Analysts conservatively calculate there shared difficulties but also of solidarity with their were around 3,000 football amateur popular clubs in São Paulo, involving a neighbors and friends. very significant part of the working-class population during that decade. Many of these clubs were related to class districts on the outskirts. In every a sort of representation of their “space,” the new factories and workplaces of the neighborhood, dozens of different clubs their “area,” a representation of the place city. Indeed, textile industrialists pro- and teams were created and constituted where they lived and shared difficulties moted the creation of company clubs as a fundamental aspect of working-class but also of solidarity with their neighbors part of a broader paternalistic industrial leisure and associational practice. and friends. Therefore, the clubs were relations policy, seeking to discipline and The number of soccer playing fields also important for the constitution and to control the leisure time of the workers. in São Paulo during the 1950s is a clear reinforcement of ties and bonds among However, it was the working-class neigh- indicator of the widespread diffusion of specific working-class communities. borhoods that became the locus par ex- the sport. However, while in the original The rivalry between clubs from dif- cellence for the practice and creation of industrial belt of the city real estate spec- ferent districts could be fierce. It is not popular football clubs. In the first half ulation and the canalization of the main surprising, for instance, to note the huge of the century, thousands of these clubs central rivers destroyed hundreds of participation and enthusiasm of the fans were created in the industrial districts fields, the new outskirts areas had plenty and supporters (including women and of the city, such as Brás, Mooca, Belen- of space for practice. As Afonso José da children) during the local tournaments. zinho, Bom Retiro and Lapa, among Silva, an old resident of the outskirts of The general climate was partisan, and others. This first industrial belt of São the city, recalls, “Every new neighbor- violence and conflicts could frequently Paulo was located near the main rivers hood had to leave a space, a specific area break out. for a soccer field.” Progressively, a geo- Beyond the localities, the clubs Chemical workers union soccer team, graphical dislocation of working-class could express ethnic and racial identi- São Paulo 1950s sociability was taking place, altering ties or other working-class cleavages.

drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 23 sports!

Amateur soccer clubs existed specifically ments and deep social reforms. During litical action during the 1950s. They were for blacks, international migrants’ the 1950s trade unions and neighbor- deeply connected with the process of fast groups such as Italians, Spaniards, Hun- hood organizations grew increasingly industrialization and urbanization in São garians or Portuguese, or internal mi- close, including joint participation in lo- Paulo and interacted with both the for- grants’ groups from different areas in cal sports clubs. Trade unions used soccer mal and informal world of the workers Brazil. Clubs could even be composed as an instrument to recruit support from during that period, helping us to under- of individuals from specific cities or re- its working-class audience, promoting stand the varied facets of working-class gions within these countries and states. championships and trade-union clubs. lives, including their solidarity and con- However, the clubs’ identity exclusive- During a 1957 general strike in the city, flict aspects. The creation of new football ness could vary a lot. The neighborhood, for instance, many meetings and picket clubs and teams by informal groups in friendship relations and ties seemed to lines were organized at amateur football the different districts and streets of the be more important for club association clubs in the neighborhoods. city also opened a space of relative au- than other criteria. In this sense the clubs were important forms of popular organization to integrate residents of the same locality. But they achieved more The supposed borders between the world of labor and than that. the world of residence were frequently crossed by these The so-called football festivals (a sort of championship tournament in which organizations, reflecting an inclusive class perspective, clubs from various districts could play which took into consideration the diverse dimensions against each other) integrated residents from different neighborhoods, allowed of the workers’ lives. them to get to know the city space and landscape and also stimulated experience exchanges. As early as 1921, neigh- The supposed borders between the tonomy for workers facing control by the borhood tournaments were taking world of labor and the world of residence companies, the entrepreneur organiza- place. The District Championship, for were frequently crossed by these organi- tions concerned with working-class lei- instance, gathered together teams rep- zations, reflecting an inclusive class per- sure, and the state. Football as a leisure resenting the main neighborhoods of the spective, which took into consideration activity was very much part of a clash city. These clubs and tournaments inte- the diverse dimensions of the workers’ of aspirations and values among social grated the São Paulo working class in a lives. Based on informal relations and on classes in the Brazilian society—a repre- communication network that connected diverse social networks, these local asso- sentation struggle—which helps us to un- the different areas and spaces of the ciations were not necessarily permanent derstand not only working-class culture, popular city. entities. Actually, organizational discon- its sociability and cleavages, but also the The amateur soccer clubs are inter- tinuity was one of the features of these classes’ relations at a vital moment of the esting examples of a network of local and social movements, although this rarely histories of the city and country. voluntary associations that proliferated meant absence of struggles for rights. in the working-class districts of São Pau- Often leisure activities could be the basis Paulo Fontes is an Associate Professor lo in the years following the World War for demanding movements. The long- at the Fundação Getulio Vargas in II. These neighborhood organizations, time trade unionist Waldomiro Macedo, Rio de Janeiro. He was a Visiting Pro- the Sociedades Amigos de Bairro (Neigh- for instance, affirms that “many recre- fessor at Duke (2004) and Princeton borhood Friends Society), were the most ational associations themselves used to (2006-07) Universities and is a histori- vocal in demanding infrastructure im- claim benefits for their neighborhoods.” an of Brazilian labor and working-class provements and social equipment, such Through these clubs, many local politi- culture in São Paulo after World War as schools and hospitals, for the deprived cians got information about the residents II. In 2011, his book Um Nordeste em working-class districts. This neighbor- and their problems and established fun- São Paulo. Trabalhadores Migrantes hood associationism is a fundamental damental network contacts during the em São Miguel Paulista, 1945-1966 was feature of the working-class culture and electoral period. It helped them to rein- the winner of the first Thomas E. Skid- political action in São Paulo. In the late force their claims of belonging to specific more Prize, sponsored by the National ‘50s and early ‘60s, neighborhood associ- localities, communities or even to the Archive, Rio de Janeiro and the Brazil- ations, trade unions and popular political working class as whole. ian Studies Association. As a result, parties joined forces in demands against Amateur soccer clubs were key ele- the book will be published in English. inflation, agitating for urban improvements of working-class culture and po- e-mail: [email protected]

24 ReVista spring 2012 soccer nation

Women’s Soccer in Brazil

Invisible But Under Pressure By Carmen Rial

“No one knows, no one saw,” reads the of the women’s Liberators Cup, largely terized with formulas such as “Cristiane, headline in an important Brazilian news- because the game was broadcast on tele- who is on the Brazilian national team,” paper announcing the conclusion of the vision and Marta was playing for Santos. and the recent history of women’s soccer main women’s soccer championship on Marta Vieira da Silva, or simply Mar- needs to be explained—“women’s soccer the continent—the Taça Libertadores da ta, is a midfielder who has played for became an Olympic Sport in 1996, when América—accompanied by a photograph Sweden’s Umeå IK, Santos, L.A. Sol, FC Brazil was in fourth place.” It is difficult of an empty stadium. The team from Gold Pride and Western New York Flash to imagine having to inform viewers Santos won the Cup for the second time and was a member of the Brazilian na- of men’s soccer that Maycon, Robinho with six victories in six matches, scoring tional team that won the silver medal at or Neymar is on the Brazilian national 25 goals and suffering none. Brazil’s na- the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics. team or that Brazil is a five-time world tional champions dominated the other Marta was voted FIFA’s Women’s World champion. teams, even Chile’s Everton and Argen- Player four times. During the 2009 final, In 2010, the press barely covered tina’s Boca Juniors. The tournament fin- the fans chanted, “Marta is better than the women’s Liberators Cup, preferring ished with an average audience of 300 Kaká,” referring to Brazil’s internation- to use the space for the coverage of un- people per game, in other words, all of ally famous male star. Still, her fame does important international matches of the the games were played in nearly empty not compare to that of male players. “seleção,” the Brazilian national team, stadiums. Santos was not able to hire Mar- and the national league in male soccer. By comparison, the men’s D Series ta in 2010 because of the higher sal- A study conducted of the leading Bra- championship (the fourth from the top ary ($400,000-$500,000 annually) she zilian news magazines, Época, Isto and in the country) averaged 2,700 paying commands at the L.A. Sol. Without Mar- Veja, and the leading sports magazine, viewers per game, nine times as many. ta on the field, games were only broad- Placar, showed that in the past four years The paucity of fans can be interpreted cast on pay television. there were only 11 articles about women’s as a lack of interest in women’s soccer in The way the few television broadcasts soccer (Almeida, Caroline. Boas de Bola. Brazil, a sport which is new in the coun- narrate women’s games points out the try. But in 2009, 15,000 people went great gap between men’s and women’s A woman soccer player prepares for a big to Pacaembú Stadium to watch the final soccer. The players are regularly charac- match.

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Projeto de dissertação. PPGAS/UFSC, ni, and reached about 40 in Rio de Janei- women’s bodies by pretending to protect 2011). In other sports, differences exist in ro in the mid-1940s. But then women’s their maternal functions, and forwarded coverage between genders, but not near- soccer suffered a tremendous blow, with the letter to the Minister of Education ly as sharp as those in soccer. a ban that would last decades. and Health, who, in turn, corroborated A letter from a Mr. José Fuzeira to the writer’s thesis, raising scientific and A bit of history President Vargas, which helped trigger medical arguments that supported the When soccer came to Brazil from Eu- the law, asks for “the clairvoyant atten- drafting of article 54 of the decree of rope in the mid-19th century, it did not tion of your Honor to avoid a calamity April 14, 1941 by the National Sports totally exclude a female presence. In fact, that is about to fall upon female youth in Council, stating that the name that designates a fan in Brazil, Brazil.” He explained: “Women will not be allowed to prac- torcedor, comes from women squeezing “I refer, Mr. President, to the enthu- tice sports incompatible with the condi- white handkerchiefs (torcer in Portu- siastic movement that is inspiring hun- tions of their nature, and for this reason, guese) at the peak of their demonstra- dreds of girls, attracting them to become the National Sports Council should issue tion of passion for one of the teams. The soccer players, without considering that the necessary instructions to sports enti- throng of women at the games was en- a woman cannot practice this violent ties in the country.” couraged as a form of sociability between sport without seriously affecting the The medical reports that supported the genders, creating another location to physiological equilibrium of her organic excluding women from soccer sought meet a “good partner,” a white husband functions, due to the nature that disposes to protect their procreative capacities, from the elite. The women were there to her to be a mother... The newspapers say which would supposedly be placed at make the location more attractive, not to that in Rio there are nothing less than ten risk. The argument is a corollary to eu- learn to play a new sport. women’s teams. In São Paulo and Belo genic ideologies influential in the country As workers gradually took up the Horizonte others are being formed. And, since the 18th century, which preached space previously reserved for aristocrats with this growth, within a year it is prob- the importance of protecting women’s on the teams, women also shifted their able that throughout Brazil there will be bodies so that they could breed healthy role from fans to players. These transi- 200 organized women’s soccer clubs, or, children and thus improve the white race tions met with strong resistance, stron- in other words, 200 centers to destroy in Brazil. The theory is highly refutable gest and longer-lasting against women’s the health of 2,200 future mothers, who, because of the simple fact that women’s soccer. In men’s soccer, professionalism moreover, will be caught in a depres- reproductive organs are internal, unlike was once prohibited as an indirect way to sive mentality and given to rude and men’s, which are outside the body, objec- exclude the lower classes, and blacks and extravagant exhibitions... It would not tively at greater risk when playing soccer. mulattos were not allowed on the teams. be surprising that the feminine move- Behind this supposed protection, we These interdictions died at the beginning ment to which we are referring is just a find the mise-en-jeux of a biological-so- of the 20th century with the gradual in- beginning, for, over time, the daughters cial image of woman: that of the mother, clusion of blacks on the teams and the of Eve will also present themselves in conforming to an ideal corporal model of institution of the so-called “brown ama- teurism” in which players were paid on the side (Mario Filho, O Negro no Futebol Brasileiro. RJ: Mauad, 2003). Prohibited since the 1940s, women’s soccer continued Historians differ about the date of to exist in the shape of sporadic transgressions against the first women’s soccer game played in Brazil. For the first decades of the 20th the order of male domination. century, there are records of women’s teams playing soccer in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Historian Fábio Franzini, wrestling matches and even in the “noble a plump body, without visible muscles, in the article “Futebol é coisa ‘para ma- art” whose nobility consists of two oppo- with rounded forms and limited mobil- cho’?” points to the existence of at least nents hitting each other until they drool ity. This model corresponds to socially 10 women’s teams, including Cassino Re- blood (Franzini, Fábio, “Futebol é ‘coisa prescribed feminine behavior: passive aliengo and the Eva Futebol Clube, com- pra macho’? Pequeno esboço para uma and submissive, without agency. peting in tournaments in Rio de Janeiro história das mulheres no país do futebol.” by the 1940s, when Brazil was under the Revista Brasileira de História. n. 50, vol. The long exclusion control of dictator Getúlio Vargas. 25. São Paulo. 2005. p. 316–328). Prohibited since the 1940s, women’s The number of women’s soccer teams Vargas gave heed to the clamor for soccer continued to exist in the shape increased with time, according to Franzi- maintaining male domination over of sporadic transgressions against the

26 ReVista spring 2012 soccer nations

order of male domination. Luiz Carlos Rigo’s article, “Notas acerca do futebol feminino pelotense em 1950: um estudo genealógico” [Notes on Women’s Soccer in Pelotas in 1950: a genealogical study], documents the organization of two women’s soccer teams in the city of Pelotas in southern Brazil, the Vila Hilda F.C. and the Corinthians F.C., which challenged the legislation and functioned until banned by the Regional Sports Council. Most of the players were young, ages 13- 18, came from the lower middle class, and lived in the neighborhoods where the clubs were located. Some of the athletes stood out, such as the striker Gelsi, described in a local newspaper as an “ele- ment of great quality,” who “controls the ball with precision, with the opportunity to translate her qualities as the play- maker of the Sunday match.” The respect offered in this brief newspaper article, however, was not enough to change the position of sporting authorities, and, unfortunately, the teams had short lives. There were other cases similar to those in Pelotas, but only a few, and when they gained notoriety they were system- atically stopped by the Regional Sports Councils. What is surprising is precisely the rarity of the transgressions. The 1941 law remained in force and was affirmed by the military dictatorship in 1965. Thus during the 1970s, a time of great transformation in gender relations in the Western world, Brazil reinforced the exclusion of women from the sport that occupied (and still occupies) a central place in the Brazilian imagination. Banning women from soccer, which articulated nationalism and modernity, excluded them from a greater collective and a broad spectrum of social practices. Incapable of symbolically representing education which were stimulated by the reproductive rights (Grossi, Miriam P. the nation, they were not only passive, feminist movement. In the same year, an 1996. “Feminismes et Generations Poli- silent and submissive, but also second- Amnesty Law was passed which allowed tiques des Années 90 au Brésil.” Cahiers class citizens. To keep them from playing the return to the country of women who du Cedref (Politique et Recherchees Femi- soccer was to exclude them from full par- fought the dictatorship and went into ex- nistes), Paris, v. 6, p. 169-190). In the end ticipation in the nation. ile, mostly in France. The feminism that feminists linked to the field of physical The prohibition of women in Brazil- began during the 1970s and was linked education gained a great victory: the end ian soccer was revoked in 1979, after the to the struggle against the dictatorship Brazil’s Marta Vieira da Silva, or simply country’s political opening, following raised questions at the end of the decade Marta, was voted FIFA’s Women’s World heated debates in the field of physical related to the body and to sexual and Player four times.

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of the prohibition of women’s participa- dent Eduardo Farah, “We have to try to The export of players to countries in tion in soccer (and in other sports) as combine the image of soccer and femi- the North has gone on for years. Pretinha, spelled out in Deliberation no.10 of the ninity.” Another director of the FPF, Re- one of the precursors in this movement, National Sports Council. nato Duprat, was even more categorical: played 3 seasons in the United States, “No one plays here with short hair. It’s and later in Japan. Kátia Cilene and Sim- Marta and the exception in the regulations” (Arruda, Eduardo, one Jatobá went to France, Elaine and that is the rule. “FPF institui jogadora-objeto no Pau- Marta went to Sweden and the United According to Fábio Franzini in his 2005 lista” at http://listas.cev.org.br/cevm- States, Cristiane went to Germany, Swe- article “Futebol é ‘coisa para macho’? kt/2001-09/msg00216.html.2001). den, and the United States and Rosana Pequeno esboço para uma história das Thus, although permitted, women’s to Austria. Of the 11 starters on the Bra- mulheres no país do futebol,” various soccer continues to be limited by a macho zilian women’s team, 8 play abroad. But women’s soccer teams sprung up around perspective of gender, which only accepts this flow is far less than that of male ath- the country beginning in the 1980s, the presence of women on the field by letes, and the women obviously do not linked to both traditional clubs and independent businesses, with games in the 1970s organized by gay bars, if we believe a Veja magazine report. The National Although permitted, women’s soccer continues to be Sports Council maintained ridiculous rules for bodily protection such as breast limited by a macho perspective of gender. shields and shorter game time. Women’s soccer began to organize local and regional competitions, but the first Brazil- controlling their bodies: now, however, it have the same visibility as the men. The ian championship wasn’t held until 1994. is not mothers that they want, but sen- Brazilian Football Federation (CBF), an The re-initiation was led by Radar in sual models. Those who may think that entity linked to FIFA, has records of the Rio de Janeiro, which had the leading this view is limited to Brazil have never departure from 2004 to 2009 of only 46 athletes. While Radar enjoyed a series of seen the websites of the most important women from the country, compared with victories in international competitions, sports media in the world. 3,000 men. The United States led the it was only with the Olympic Games of In this situation, the chant “Marta is importation of Brazilian women with 14, 1996 that we can speak of a significant better than Kaká” truly seems to be an followed by Spain with 10. return of Brazilian women to the soccer exception. And it’s true: to get where On November 18, 2010, the main fields. they are, the Martas of Brazil need to sports program on Brazilian television Despite the strong performance of overcome much tougher obstacles than concluded with a report on two games Brazilian women in international com- the Kakás. the night before. Argentina had defeated petitions, activity within the country Brazil 1 to 0 in a friendly in Qatar. In a is far below that in other countries. Al- The international second light-hearted commentary, the though gender relations have been trans- circulation of athletes report noted the 4–0 victory of the Bra- formed in recent decades, the famous With limited space in Brazil, few clubs, zilian women over Argentina. Neverthe- line of the former coach of the Brazilian and poor salaries, some women soc- less, unlike the avalanche of images of men’s team, João Saldanha, still rings cer players have sought other places to the men’s defeat, the television showed true for most Brazilian men: “Can you play. In Brazil, most professional women only a few photos of the women’s vic- imagine your son coming home with his players earn about R$500 (200 euros) tory. It was an official game of the South girlfriend saying: ‘she’s the defender for a month. In the large clubs, the salaries American championship, which Marta Bangú’? No way, huh.” range from R$1,500 to R$5,000 (600- and her colleagues won a few days later. The women who enter the universe 2,000 euros) a month. In the United Although theoretically such a match of soccer must be capable of attracting States, a typical salary among the top was more important than the friendly, male eyes not because of their athletic players is US$500,000 a year (Frutuoso, there was no televised transmission, and performance, but for their quite specific Suzane G. “A bola está com elas. O fute- few images to show. Once again, no one physical attributes. Without any embar- bol feminino começa a ganhar espaço knew, and no one saw. rassment, the São Paulo Soccer Federa- com salários melhores e campeonatos tion indicated that “feminine” beauty is importantes, como a Libertadores.” Épo- Carmen Rial is a faculty member in a fundamental requirement for selecting ca n. 2082 de 07. Out. 2009). In Sweden, the Anthropology Department at the the girls who would play in the compe- it is estimated that Marta earned about Universidad Federal de Santa Catarina tition. In the words of Federation Presi- US$8,000 a month. (UFSC) in Brazil.

28 ReVista spring 2012 section header

play ball

Ancient Mesoamerica played ball. Baseball is a favorite game in parts of Latin America and the Caribbean, and Latin Americans have shaped the sport in the United States.

n Religion, Politics and Plenty of Betting 30 n Caribbean Baseball 34 n Searching for Burt Reynolds 38 n “Baseball in Our Blood” 41 n Speaking of Baseball 42 n Baseball Dreams 44

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Religion, Politics and Plenty of Betting

The Old Ball Game in Ancient Mesoamerica By Barbara W. Fash and William L. Fash

“While the rest of the world was caught ball and hip-ball (the one played in the it back to the other team. The ball was up in contests of individual athletic skills masonry courts; Figures 1 and 2). After struck with particular parts of the body, such as jousting, footraces, swimming years of exhaustive research on the courts such as the arms, shoulders, or buttocks. and wrestling, New World cultures were where the hip-ball game was played, Eric Players were prohibited from using their fielding teams of ballplayers who com- Taladoire succinctly summarized the hands, feet, or head to hit the ball. This peted against each other on specially rules of that game as follows: was probably a matter of safety, since a designed courts” (Paul Kirchhoff, Me- “Two teams, consisting of between single blow from the heavy ball could soamérica, sus limites Geográficos, Com- two and seven players each, faced off, injure or even kill a player. To protect posición Etnica y Caracteres Culturales, separated by a centerline in the ball- themselves from the impact of the ball Acta Americana 1:92-107, 1943). court…. The best players took positions and the rigors of play, the almost naked There were in fact many different along the alley, while others worked the players wore protective belts, gloves, and kinds of rubber-ball games in ancient end zones. They prevented the ball from sometimes kneepads and sandals. Scor- Mesoamerica, including stickball, hand- going dead by deflecting it and sending ing was mainly the result of faults, as in

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Photos: p. 30, Figure 1. A view of the court; this page: (top left): Figure 2. View of the masonry ballcourt at Uxmal, Yucatan, Mex- ico; (bottom left): Figure 3. Maya Hip-ball game, Monument 171, Tonina, Mexico

The imagery carved or painted onto the temples and playing alleys of the ballcourts suggests they served as the stage in which the players re-enacted cosmic dramas. Scholars agree that the movement of the rubber ball symbolized the movements of the sun and moon and thus tied the game to rituals promoting fertility and abundant harvests. From major sites to small communities, the spectacle of the sport was a climax to festivals timed to both the calendar and politically charged events. People made pilgrimages to large sites with storied courts to be entertained and enthralled by the pageantry of mytholog- ical tales reenacted amidst a backdrop of these lively architectural settings. The “cosmic” backdrop was appropriate because ballcourts were also often the setting for dispute resolution and war-related activities. Beyond reinforcing social tennis: touching the ball with a prohib- ethnohistoric data on the subject of the status and rivalries, the games and courts ited part of the body; failing to catch or hip-ball game (ollamaliztli, in Nahuatl) in Mesoamerica also served as a means to return it; or sending the ball outside that was played in stone masonry courts of maintaining political boundaries and the court. Due to the complex scoring (tlachtli). These accounts concentrate settling disputes between communities. method, games could last for long peri- almost exclusively on the practical as- The playing of the game and the wa- ods—sometimes the entire day” (Eric Ta- pects of the game, such as the manner gers that accompanied it apparently ladoire, “The Architectural Background in which it was played, the high stakes served to resolve conflicts of various sorts of the Pre-Hispanic Ballgame: An Evolu- of heavy gambling that accompanied it, among the Aztecs. Diego Durán reported tionary Perspective.” In The Sport of Life and famous cases of Aztec disputes rein detail on the great stakes of the gam- and Death: The Mesoamerican Ballgame, solved—or not—on the playing alleys of bling surrounding the games in the Aztec edited by E. M. Whittington, pp. 96-115. ball courts. Triple Alliance. This perceived “sin” was Thames and Hudson, London, 2001). Yet the deep-seated importance of one of the principal reasons—along with The longevity of the rubber ball game religion and politics associated with the the numerous injuries resulting from the played in stone masonry courts was one game also emerge from analysis of the game—that the Spanish friars outlawed of the diagnostic features of the Meso- Aztec accounts and other earlier sources, it after the conquest (Fray Diego Durán, american culture area that German- such as those from the Maya area. The Historia de las Indias de Nueva España e Mexican anthropologist Paul Kirchoff sacrificial aspects of the ancient games Islas de la Tierra Firme, vol. I: 208-209, defined. Although a variety of ball games are often sensationalized. This empha- México, D. F. Editorial Porrúa, 1967). were played throughout the region, the sis overlooks the archaeological evidence The most famous tales of ball-game hip-ball game holds the greatest fascina- and historical accounts that indicate how wagers that have survived also revolve tion today (Figure 3). This is due in large ball games crossed social, ethnic and around Mexica rulers. The Emperor measure to the rediscovery of the perti- gender divisions, and sustained diverse Axayacatl tried to secure gardens in Xo- nent 15th and 16th Mexican manuscripts ritual economies, constituting much chimilco from its lord, Xihuiltémoc, bet- in libraries and other collections during more than “mere sport” for everyone in ting his own market and the lake around the 19th century, which relay a wealth of ancient Mesoamerica. it. Upon losing the game, he had his

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Photos (left): Figure 4. Gameboards: Codex Borgia after Seler (b) and (c) Copan, Ballcourt I; (right): Figure 5. Line drawing of Copan ballcourt marker; p. 33 (left): Figure 6. Ballplayer figurines, Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City; (right): Figure 7. Tzompantli at Tenochtitlan, Mexico City, Mexico.

Xochimilcan counterpart strangled to Offerings and sacrifices associated with figure as the then-living king Waxakla- death rather than lose such a treasure to the ballgame were a means of imbuing jun U’baah K’awiil (Ruler 13 in the Co- a lower-ranking lord. When the Texcocan objects with value and sacredness. Durán pan dynasty of 16 sovereigns) dressed in sage and ruler Nezahualpilli interpreted also mentions the numerous shrines and the guise of an earlier, Maya version of the appearance of a comet as a harbinger offerings left to patrons of both the ball- the deity the Aztecs called Macuilxochitl, of the end of the Triple Alliance, his Mex- game and board games. Copal, flowers, complete with the hand painted over ica counterpart Moctezuma dared him to candles, and blood sacrifices were left at the jaw that his later Aztec counterpart test his prophecy on the ballcourt. The these spots frequently in efforts to ensure always bore (Figure 5). This identifica- Texcocan won the day and Moctezuma a favorable outcome. tion suggests that Ruler 13 was identi- lost both the game and, eventually, his The patolli board game, a form of fied not just as the patron of the hip- empire. gambling played by the Aztecs, has ante- ball games, but of the divination and Significant wagering clearly had an cedents in the Maya area, in the eastern gambling that took place in association impact on the exchange and manufac- third of Mesoamerica (Figure 4a). Our with them, in the very heart of the city’s ture of goods, and much of what drove recent discovery of a series of patolli- sacred precinct. styles of dress (such as feathers, jewelry, like game boards scratched into the east For commoners and nobility alike, belts and sandals) was no doubt rein- structure’s floor of the earliest ball court wagers ranged from jewelry to slaves to forced by the ballgame events and the at Copan attests to the important func- land. Indeed, even the personal liberty dramatization of the costumes and para- tion this board game had as a ritual ac- of the family and the gambler himself phernalia associated with the game. The tivity linked to the ballgame (Figures 4b, could be lost in a bet upon the outcome sheer amounts of goods needed to satisfy c). Likewise, among the Aztecs, the god of a game. Much of the wagering has bets alone accounted for increased pro- Macuilxochitl (“Five Flower”) was the been likened by Vernon L. Scarborough ductions of textiles, featherwork, jew- supernatural patron of both the ballgame to the kind of displays of status rivalry elry, and vessels, keeping the economy and patolli. Both are associated with documented by the anthropologist Clif- rich and many employed. Tribute lists divination, yet both were the focus of ford Geertz in modern Bali cockfighting. recorded in manuscripts like the Codex heavy gambling. On the central playing Thus the acquisition and consumption of Mendoza often show rubber balls and alley floor marker of Ballcourt IIb (715 objects surrounding the game may have reflect these payments to some degree. A.D.), we have identified the right-hand had an important “leveling” function in

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many Mesoamerican communities, from close proximity to ballcourt architecture in that place and time. rural villages to the Aztec “Triple Alli- for practical reasons. The two activities For the Aztec era, the Spanish chroni- ance” empire. went hand in hand. Whenever there was clers document that many rulers had Ceramic figurines depicting ballplay- a major ballgame, the festivities and con- professional players in their employ and ers throughout Mesoamerica show that sumption that accompanied it were im- made arrangements for them to face off the ballgame was a wildly popular pas- portant market events as well. on important occasions. But the profes- time and likely played by both women Harvard PhD John G. Fox made the sional players were not well looked upon and men as early as 1800-1000 B.C. (Fig- important point that a great deal of feast- by everyone, because it was considered a ure 6; see Suzanna Eckholm, “Ceramic ing also took place in association with vice to play ball for the purpose of bet- Figurines and the Mesoamerican Ball- the games and the courts. He suggests ting. Despite this supposed shunning, game” in The Mesoamerican Ballgame, that feasting fulfilled significant connec- depictions of the ballplayers in Sahagún’s ed. Vernon L. Scarborough and David R. tive functions, both within and between masterwork show them in the company Wilcox, pp. 241-250, Tuscon, University communities (John G. Fox, “Playing with of different social classes, indicating the of Arizona Press, 1991, and Douglas E. Power: Ballcourts and Political Ritual game was played and enjoyed by persons Bradley, “Gender, Power, and Fertility in in Southern Mesoamerica,” Current An- of all social positions. the Olme Ritual Ballgame” in The Sport thropology, 37(3): 483-509, 1996). The Although the games played in the of Life and Death: The Mesoamerican games staged by Aztec kings and nobles courts in the barrios, and next to the Ballgame. ed. E. Michael Whittington, often ended with music and dance, ac- marketplaces, never ended in sacri- pp. 32-39, London, Thames and Hud- cording to both Durán and Bernardino fices, those in the great public contests son, 2001). de Sahagún in The Florentine Codex: that ended in death surely captured the Fray Bartholomé de las Casas saw General History of the Things of New imagination of the ancients as much as games played by women, possibly at Spain. 13 vols., trans. Arthur J. O. An- they do the sensationalist writers of our Hispaniola. Classic Maya reliefs at Yax- derson and C. E. Dibble, Salt Lake City, own place and time. There are numer- chilan show royal women with the ball in University of Utah Press, 1950-82 [Vol. ous scenes of human sacrifice in post- one hand, indicating they indeed played IX: 299]. game rituals depicted on ballcourt re- the game, or put the ball into play. The While the great public games car- liefs, most notably at Chichén Itzá, and popularity of the game across both gen- ried on at the main courts of the larg- in abundance throughout the Peripheral der and social divisions highlights the est kingdoms of Mesoamerica served to Coastal Lowlands of the southern Maya degree of exchange of locally manufac- showcase the power and beneficence of area, and at Tajín. It seems clear that by tured ballgame-related goods and “sou- the rulers who sponsored them (not un- staging games that resulted in such sac- venirs” which likely took place at every like the Roman caesars and their “bread rifices, the rulers of ancient Mesoameri- major contest. and circus”), these same integrative as- can towns were intent on demonstrat- It is clear that in addition to the high- pects functioned at much smaller sites, ing their power over life and death. This ly visible ballcourts in the center of the throughout ancient Mesoamerica. Vir- power was clearly exercised both on their sacred precincts of the larger cities, there tually every community of any size in enemies and their own subjects alike. In- were courts in the barrios and at the ma- highland Guatemala had a functioning deed, at both Tula and Tenochtitlán, the jor markets as well. Large marketplaces ballcourt in the Postclassic period (900- skull rack for the heads of sacrificial vic- at many ancient sites are often found in 1519 A.D.), a testimony to its importance tims (tzompantli) was constructed next

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to the principal ball court (Figure 7). This particularly graphic aspect of the Caribbean Baseball architecture of the ball game stands as grim testimony of the duality of At a Crossroads By Rob Ruck life and death associated with it. The public spectacles and the imagery that documented their denouements remind us that this form of ritualized When Sammy Sosa, a sixteen-year-old the game today, Latinos won half of the combat, and the ideologies associated shoeshine boy from San Pedro de Ma- Silver Slugger Awards given to the top with both the public ball games and corís, signed his first baseball contract in offensive player at each position in the with warfare, had gripping and oc- 1985, he took part of his $3,500 bonus American and National Leagues in 2010 casionally fatal consequences in the and splurged—on a used bicycle. I’m not and 2011 and routinely dominate All Star quotidian lives of people throughout sure what sort of ride fellow Dominican line-ups. ancient Mesoamerica. Michael Ynoa bought when he signed MLB needs them more than ever, es- Just as sporting events today con- with the Oakland A’s for $4.25 million pecially because the black community tinue to draw masses of spectators in 2008, but it likely had more than two has turned its back on the game. Afri- and are sources of economic enrich- wheels. can Americans, who contributed more ment for many segments of society, in Despite his modest bonus, Sammy did than 27 percent of all major leaguers in ancient times any community—be it okay. At Sammy’s 38th birthday party in the late 1970s, now make up a little over major city, aspiring town, or humble 2006, a line of statuesque Venezuelan eight percent. Despite what baseball once village—that hosted the event re- and Dominican models greeted guests meant—during segregation when Afri- ceived an economic boost. Religious to his home in Casa de Campo. They can Americans built their own baseball underpinnings of the ancient games walked through his residence, passing by world (the Negro Leagues) or during the were a driving force in the produc- fish tanks as big as SUVs, and emerged fight to integrate the majors—a victory tion, acquisition, and consumption into a backyard along the water’s edge. that eased the way for Brown v. Board of of a wide variety of goods that satis- The celebration comfortably hosted 500 Education—the game elicits little more fied the sacred and secular functions guests, including Salma Hayek, Julio than a collective shrug these days in most of the grand spectacles. Today’s con- Iglesias, and Dominican President Leo- black neighborhoods. temporary ball games perpetuate nel Fernández. Sosa could, by then, in- Caribbean baseball, however, has be- these traditions established 3,500 dulge whatever whims he fancied. His come the cornerstone of MLB’s player years ago in the New World and their final multi-year contract with the Chi- procurement system, and factors increas- shops and stalls echo the lively an- cago Cubs had paid him about $18 mil- ingly into its marketing and profitability. cient marketplaces and the vigorous lion a season; endorsements brought The recently negotiated collective economies associated with the ritual even more. Horatio Alger could not have bargaining agreement (CBA) between of sport, which satisfies the emotional imagined a more unlikely tale. MLB and the Players Association ad- and physical needs of people from all But the difference between Sosa’s dresses the industry’s angst over esca- walks of life (see also Jane Stevenson $3,500 bonus in 1985 and Ynoa’s $4.25 lating player development costs. It does Day, “Performing on the Court.” in million deal in 2008 underscores how so by sacrificing the interests of the next The Sport of Life and Death: The Me- much the business of baseball in the Ca- generation of Latino ballplayers to the soamerican Ballgame. ed. E. Michael ribbean has changed. And Major League clubs’ bottom lines. The Players Asso- Whittington, pp. 64–77, Thames and Baseball (MLB) doesn’t like that one bit. ciation, meanwhile, conceded these cost- Hudson, London, 2001). No longer able to sign bushels of Carib- cutting measures—which do not affect bean prospects for a few thousand dollars them directly—in the agreement in order Barbara Fash is the director of apiece in hopes that a couple of them will to preserve the current members’ own the Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic make it in the majors, MLB has launched generous pay scale. Inscriptions at Harvard’s Peabody a campaign to control costs. The new contract, by imposing a Museum. Caribbean baseball has never mat- tax on any club that spends more than tered more to MLB’s brand and bottom a total of $2.9 million for signees from William L. Fash is the Bowditch line. After Jackie Robinson vaulted the the Caribbean basin next season, will Professor of Central American and color line in 1947, darker-skinned La- lower player development expenses. The Mexican Archaeology and Ethnol- tinos began following the pigeon-toed tax will be set high enough to discourage ogy in the Harvard Department of Brooklyn Dodger on to major league the multi-million dollar signing bo- Anthropology, Archaeology Program. diamonds. The best cohort of talent in nuses that have rewarded top prospects

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in recent years. they were unworthy of attaining their more Latin minor leaguers than they had More ominously, the new CBA set up birthright. visas to bring them to the States. The a player-management committee tasked Darker-skinned people from the Ca- solution was to create Dominican acad- with developing a proposal to bring ribbean basin were similarly dismissed emies where players could be trained and Latin America into MLB’s annual player in baseball until Jackie Robinson’s evaluated without visas. It was also much draft, which now includes only the Unit- triumphant debut with the Brooklyn cheaper than bringing these players to ed States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. That Dodgers in 1947 re-integrated MLB the United States. change would eliminate the best thing and allowed them in. Cuba’s Orestes Sa- Epy Guerrero built the first academy that a Latino prospect has going for him- turino ‘Minnie’ Minoso, Puerto Rico’s in Villa Mella on the outskirts of Santo self—the opportunity to begin his pro- Roberto Walker Clemente, and the Do- Domingo for the Toronto Blue Jays. A fessional career as a free agent and thus minican Republic’s Felipe Rojas Alou led spare, utilitarian facility featuring two shop his services to the highest bidder. the first wave of Latin talent. By the mid- well-manicured ballfields, the complex But if the committee decides to include 1980s, when I started traveling to the cultivated a crop of future major league the Caribbean in the draft, a boy would Dominican Republic, Latinos comprised All-Stars. I got lost after visiting there in be able to negotiate only with the club a tenth of all major leaguers. Half were the 1980s and wound up driving through that selects him. Signing bonuses would Dominican. the nearby Santo Domingo dump where drop accordingly. Those mind-boggling numbers soon an army of scavengers, rags covering Though a few Latinos, mostly Cu- exploded. Latinos, not including His- their mouths and noses, picked through bans, played for major league ballclubs panic Americans born in the United refuse. Given the alternatives—working in the first half of the twentieth century, States, make up over a quarter of all in the dying sugarcane industry or the few men from the Caribbean basin could major leaguers today and well over forty growing tourist trade, much less living in pass through MLB’s color line. Some percent of those in the minors. The Do- the dump—it’s no wonder that the boys played in their own countries during the winter and joined Negro League clubs in the United States each summer; others forsook the racial hazards of segregated Latinos, not including Hispanic Americans born in baseball and spent their careers in the Caribbean circuit. the United States, make up over a quarter of all major Baseball in the Caribbean was more leaguers today and well over forty percent of those in simpático—a multi-racial and multi-national game since its origins in Cuba in the minors. the 1860s. And as Cubans—the apostles of baseball—spread the game around the basin, integrated play was adopted as an minican Republic’s ten million people who trained at the academy took their article of faith. Baseball was perceived, currently account for over a tenth of all sport seriously. as Cuban independista Benjamin de Ces- major leaguers. The Dodgers saw the talented cohort pedes called it in 1899, “a rehearsal for Now baseball is a multi-billion dollar of ballplayers making their way from democracy.” business in the Dominican Republic and Villa Mella to Toronto and opened their Not so in the United States, where important elsewhere in the region. Its own, state-of-the-art, academy, Campo racial barriers stained the game during foundation is the Dominican Summer Las Palmas, in 1987. This first-world fa- the 1890s when the nation abandoned League—the entry league for most La- cility caught baseball’s attention as the the vestiges of progressive reconstruc- tinos—which has more than a thousand Dodgers began producing an even great- tion. Given the other setbacks at the players. It’s the largest professional base- er number of talented ballplayers than turn of the century—lynchings, Plessy ball league in the sport’s history. Toronto and did so at a minimal cost. In v. Ferguson, sharecropping, and segre- The Latin workforce in baseball the years since, every major league orga- gation—exclusion from major league ramped up considerably after major nization has opened an academy where baseball was hardly African-Americans’ league organizations started building they house, feed, and train their youngest most pressing concern. But there was a training academies in the Dominican players. A boy usually gets two or three cost. Baseball had become an arena in Republic in the 1980s. Congressional years there to prove he is worthy of being which citizenship and U.S. identity were limits on foreign minor leaguers in base- sent to the United States to play. He eats defined for generations of European im- ball had capped the number of available well, receives better medical attention migrant boys. In that context, the exclu- visas. Although major leaguers were ex- than ever before, and plays ball. At more sion of African Americans suggested that empt from the visa limit, many clubs had progressive academies, he will learn

drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 35 sports!

rudimentary English and perhaps make Until recently, Latinos signed for their high school class would graduate progress on his education while lifting far less money than boys in the Unit- were eligible for the draft. As with the weights and training the rest of the day. ed States. In 1990, major league clubs NFL and NBA drafts, once a player is Most of the academies are now clus- signed about 300 Dominican boys to selected, he can negotiate only with the tered near Boca Chica and San Pedro, contracts for a total of $750,000. Most organization that drafted him. Canadian near the Santo Domingo airport, conve- received bonuses of between $2,000 and and Puerto Rican youth were added to nient for front office personnel who fly in $5,000; not one of them received nearly the draft later. But as long as signing bo- for a few days to evaluate their employ- as much as top prospects in the United nuses for boys in the Dominican Repub- ees’ progress. They are rarely forced to States. By 2005, however, the average lic, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and elsewhere leave their comfort zone as they watch signing bonus for the 407 young players in the Caribbean remained far below the the players compete in the Dominican who signed that year had risen to about U.S. market, major league scouts pros- Summer League. $33,000. And then, at least from MLB’s pected for players at rock-bottom prices. The fruits of these investments can perspective, matters got out of hand. Their largely unregulated, bargain base- be seen on major and minor league dia- In the first four months of 2011, the ment approach soon produced the best monds across North America. Over the 188 boys signed by major league orga- wave of talent the game had ever seen. last twenty years, Dominicans, and to a nizations received bonuses averaging This mother lode of young ballplay- lesser extent, Venezuelans, have made a almost $131,000. Multi-million dollar ers, however, spurred the emergence of a disproportionate mark on the game. Pe- signing bonuses had become common- lucrative market in juvenile talent that at dro Martinez, Vladimir Guerrero, Albert place. its worst is little more than the traffick- Pujols, Robinson Cano, José Reyes, and By then, Latinos did not only better ing of children. The boys, mostly from Alex Rodríguez could each end their ca- understand the system, they had figured poor backgrounds, often equipped with reers by joining Juan Marichal, the only out how to take advantage of it. MLB little more than an eighth-grade educa- Dominican Hall of Famer, in Cooper- never intended it to be that way. tion, and made vulnerable by their de- stown. And Pedro, Manny, and Big Papi When MLB instituted its annual sire to become peloteros and take care (David Ortíz) even brought the Boston player draft in 1965, Latinos were left of their families, nevertheless benefit Red Sox to baseball’s promised land, not out of the process. Only boys in the Unit- from two MLB policies. The first is that once but twice. ed States who were of the age at which because they are exempt from the draft,

36 ReVista spring 2012 photos by rob ruck play ball

they begin their careers as free agents. tentioned; others are thieves who abuse bean talent market. The new contract That means they can sign with whatever their charges in hopes of a pay-off when will cause signing bonuses to fall, and the club they chose, presumably the one that and if they sign professionally. prospect of extending the draft to the Ca- makes the most attractive offer. Some encourage their boys to take vi- ribbean is now on the table. A second policy is the “Jimy Kelly” rule. tamins that turn out to be steroids (of- Caribbean baseball is at a crossroads. After the Toronto Blue Jays were chided ten veterinary steroids); others persuade MLB has long profited from the region for signing a 13-year-old Dominican boy, them to lie about their age. When clubs and wants to ensure that its escalating Jimy Kelly, in 1984, MLB passed a rule gauge a boy’s potential, they reason that player development costs will drop in that prevents a club from signing a boy the younger he is, the higher his upside future seasons. An international draft until the summer of the year he turns 17. is likely to be. But clubs have been made would be a boon for Baseball Inc. but That prohibition spawned an industry the fool when the seventeen-year-old take millions off the table for boys in the of self-styled agents known as buscones they sign turns out to be several years region. MLB spokesmen have cast their (from the verb buscar—to search) who older. The Washington Nationals were efforts with a patina of reform—that they approach boys as young as 13 and offer a laughingstock when their $1.4 mil- are a means of cleaning up the game. assistance in developing their baseball lion, 17-year-old signee Esmailyn ‘Smi- But many in the region distrust MLB talents. The boy often moves in with his ley’ González turned out to be neither imposing a tax on signing bonuses as a buscón or to a facility he owns. There, the seventeen nor Esmailyn González. He self-serving solution and consider an boy is fed, housed, and trained. When he was 21-year-old Carlos Álvarez Lugo us- international draft even more objection- approaches his seventeenth birthday, the ing the identification of a relative whose able. Those who seek to speak for base- buscón attempts to create a market for disabilities prevented him from ventur- ball and youth in the Caribbean must be his services by taking him to tryouts at ing from his home in a small rural town. bolder in challenging MLB and the Play- the academies that each of the 30 MLB Those who knew of the deception were ers Association on these matters. They clubs operate year-round in the Domini- either bought off or gladly cooperated need to take greater ownership of the can Republic. A smaller number of clubs to benefit the families involved. Mak- game in their nations, protecting their maintain Venezuelan academies and all ing matters worse, drug testing after young countrymen from MLB’s drive for organizations scour the Caribbean basin boys sign has found a high incidence of profit and reducing their manipulation for kids who often end up at a Dominican the use of performance enhancing drugs by buscones. academy. (PEDS). Once boys stop juicing, their There are win-win reforms, especially In return for his speculative invest- hard hit balls don’t travel so far and their ones that could better equip the over- ment in a boy, the buscón takes about sizzling fastballs slow down. whelming majority of signees who never thirty percent of his signing bonus and This wild West scene, replete with reach the majors and find the best years sometimes his salary, too. Buscones run MLB employees and buscones caught of their lives over before they turn twen- the gamut from freelance operations skimming bonuses, age and identity ty-one. MLB could set aside some of its housing boys in ramshackle accommo- fraud, and PED abuse, led MLB to send lucre to better prepare boys vocationally dations to the multi-million dollar Inter- the sheriff to town in 2010. MLB dis- and academically. They could give some- national Academy of Professional Base- patched long-time baseball executive thing back to the region that defines the ball that former Yankees executives Steve Sandy Alderson to the Dominican Re- game today with its impassioned virtuos- Swindal and Abel Guerra set up with for- public to clean up Dodge. Alderson spoke ity. Baseball has become the pan-Carib- mer U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican of instituting MLB-run youth leagues bean pastime; it’s where the game has Republic Hans Hertell. Boys obviously for Dominicans under the age of 17 to retained much of it dwindling soul. But prefer the living conditions and ameni- displace the buscones, as well as drug- that soul is endangered by the dynamics ties at the better-heeled operations but testing and finger-printing prospects as of baseball as business. It doesn’t have to most will take whatever they can get. young as age 15 to create a database to be that way. Some buscones are honest and well-in- verify age and identity. But Alderson encountered resistance Rob Ruck, a member of the Department Photos (top left): Barefoot boys play ball in of History at the University of Pitts- the cane fields at Batey 59; (top right): boys from Dominicans both because of his sit in the dugout of a ball field in Consuelo, imperial swagger and the realization that burgh, is the author of Raceball: How a sugar mill community near San Pedro de MLB was trying to cut the buscones out the Major Leagues Colonized the Black Macoris; (bottom right): Johnnie Cuevas, an of the picture. He soon resigned his po- and Latin Game and The Tropic of Atlanta Braves minor leaguer, during a work- sition and took on an even more daunt- Baseball. He and Dan Manatt made the out at Tetelo Vargas Stadium in San Pedro documentary “The Republic of Baseball: de Macoris in 1989; (bottom left): a boy in ing task—as the New York Mets general San Pedro de Macoris shows what might well manager. But MLB is serious about re- Dominican Giants of the American be the national stance. gaining the upper hand in the Carib- Game,” which aired on PBS.

drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 37 sports!

Searching for Burt Reynolds

A Dominican Plays in Western New York By Jack Spence

While traveling from Michigan to Boston We wondered after the game about the All-Star Game last summer, as his fa- in July 2010, my family stopped for the the story behind that movie star name. ther José pitched to him. José had had a night in Batavia, NY, and discovered When I returned to work at the Uni- brief Major League pitching career, and a baseball game was about to begin. versity of Massachusetts Boston, I asked ran a baseball academy.) But I could not My 16-year-old daughter Darcy and I my Dominican friend, maintenance find a website or telephone number, so I hustled over to Dwyer Stadium to catch man, and sage, Milton Mejias: “How paused in the Burt Reynolds search. the Batavia Muckdogs play the Hud- weird is it that a Dominican not only gets Why so many Dominicans? The pro- son Valley Renegades, from Wapsinger two Anglo names but even gets to be a portions are astounding. The DR, with Falls, NY. movie star’s namesake?” a current population of ten million, has This was the New York-Penn Class A Milton pointed out that Burt Reyn- had 543 players appear in at least one Short Season League, the lowest level of olds was from San Pedro de Macorís—a Major League game. That’s more than the minor leagues. The players had been small city near Santo Domingo now leg- the next two Latin sources combined: signed and paid for by Major League endary for its production of major and Venezuela, with 270, and Puerto Rico, teams: the St. Louis Cardinals (Muck- minor league players. San Pedro, Milton with 233. But the DR did not get its first dogs) and the Tampa Bay Rays (Ren- told me, had been a sugar-producing player into the big leagues until 1956, egades). center going back to the 19th century. decades after Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico A balmy night brought out a lively The plantation owners had imported and Venezuela. (Panama, Nicaragua, and crowd of about a thousand fans. Front workers from English-speaking Carib- Colombia have been smaller sources.) row seats were $7. Corn dogs, pizza, and bean islands. So, Milton explained, in Though baseball’s origins differ by coun- beer were on offer; a bizarre-looking San Pedro, not only are English names try, it will not be lost on ReVista readers mascot cavorted. Between innings were frequent but it remains common to hear that the list corresponds to places invad- contests, public service awards, raffle people speaking English. ed by U.S. troops. winners, and promotions—all animated Still, I wondered about the movie star Of players who debuted in the ma- by a boisterous announcer. name. And I had been curious about why jors since 2000, the DR with 252 has Most of the players on the field ap- the Dominican Republic, a country of far more than climate-friendly Florida peared to be white kids just past high only ten million, and San Pedro de Ma- (163), a state nearly twice its size, and school age. But a substantial number corís in particular, had so many major 75 percent as many as California, a state did not. Our program revealed that both and minor league players. nearly 4 times its size. shortstops came from the Dominican The Renegades had released Burt San Pedro de Macorís, a city of Republic; both catchers were Latino Reynolds at the end of the 2010 season. 220,000, has had 86 players make it to (DR and Venezuela), both third basemen This was his fourth year in the minors. the majors, surpassed in the DR only by were Puerto Ricans; the two first base- He had shown some power hitting and Santo Domingo, with 125 players, a city men were from California (Sánchez and speed, but his strikeouts were many; his 10 times its size. Is it the water? Tinoco), and a Renegade relief pitcher walks few. We might have seen him on A combination of international poli- was Venezuelan. The right fielder was his best night. tics, economics and Major League base- named Burt Reynolds. We initially failed I could not find him on 2011 minor ball rules partly explains the Domini- to notice that the program said he was league rosters. Nor was he listed on any can, if not the San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican. of the Dominican professional league phenomenon. Cuba had long been the That changed when Reynolds, with a teams that play during the winter. I wrote dominant Latin baseball power. The laser beam throw to third base, caught and called the Renegades to locate him, first Dominican Major League player, Muckdog slugger Bergman trying to turn but without results. So I tried a sports- Ozzie Virgil, did not debut until 1956. By a double into a triple. Three innings later writer for the Poughkeepsie Journal who contrast, the first Cuban player came Reynolds drove in two runs with a rocket suggested I get in touch with Robinson in 1911, and players came from Mexico, homerun over the right center field fence. Canó, the superstar New York Yankee Venezuela and Puerto Rico between Nonetheless, the Muckdogs defeated the second baseman, because Reynolds is his 1933 and 1942. Renegades 9-3. cousin. (Canó won the homerun derby at By 1947, Cuba had sent 39 more to the

38 ReVista spring 2012 Majors. But they had to be fair-skinned Cubans. Jackie Robinson broke the color line in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers and Larry Doby joined the Cleveland In- dians two months later. In 1949 Cuban- born Saturnino “Minnie” Minoso became the first Black Latin in the majors, a boy- hood favorite of mine when he played for the Chicago White Sox. In the ten years following the Cuban Revolution, three dozen Cuban-born men came to the majors (twice as many as Dominicans), almost all of them previously U.S. residents. But in the next 30 years only two dozen Cubans made the majors, compared to 276 Dominicans. Dominican (and Venezuelan) players came to have an advantage over Puerto Ricans because Major League Baseball applied U.S. rules for drafting young players to Puerto Rico, but not to other Latin sources. This made it possible for teams to sign Dominicans at younger ages and lower prices. In the last ten years Major League debuts from Puerto Rico declined 25 percent. They expanded 50 percent from Venezuela and the DR. Relative to other Latin sources, baseball culture has “thickened” in the DR due to several factors. The Dominican players have filled a vacuum left by Cuba and to a lesser extent Puerto Rico. Com- pared to Venezuela, its baseball talent is geographically compressed. Its population is nearly 40 percent that of Venezu- ela; its land size is but 5 percent that of Venezuela. Its economic resources and diversity are far less than Venezuela’s, so opportunities are fewer for young men. Following the 1956 debut of Ozzie Virgil, through 1965 only seventeen Do- minicans made it to the majors. Six were from San Pedro. San Pedro’s historic sugar economy had only seasonal work. After the harvest, they played baseball on teams organized around sugar mills. San Pedro was primed for the Dominican leap to the majors. Success and numbers contributed to this “thickening.” Of the first seventeen players, eight had very long Major

Baseball Hall of Famer Juan Marichal

photos courtesy of the boston red sox drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 39 League careers (ranging from 13 to 21 speaks to him as if Sugar understood jor League experience). Rosters are filled years), and six became stars (the three English. After some early-season pitch- with players hoping to get into the minor Alou brothers, Manny Mota, Rico Carty, ing success, Sugar runs into a rough leagues, to be late bloomers, and a few and the incomparable Juan Marichal, a patch and some hostility. He bolts from former major leaguers hoping for one Hall of Famer), making for an amazing the team, finds his way to New York, and, last shot. record of success. With legends in their with his visa expired, gets a job washing I called the Bears—a team that began midst, baseball became a way out for dishes. He finds some redemption, play- in Newark in 1917—and was directed to young men. Even though minor league ing ball in pickup games in Central Park Buddy Caruso, Business Manager, Con- wages are quite low, they are consider- with other Latinos. cessions Director and jack-of-all-trades. ably more than what young men with This story is not overdramatized. He gave me Burt’s e-mail address and limited education can make in the Do- Sugar could call home on his cell. The speculated that he was home working minican Republic. And Major League Dominican great Pedro Martínez was as- out with his cousin Robinson. The Bears salaries exploded after the 1970s. signed to the wilderness of Great Falls, plan to sign him for this season. So far, But minor league wages last only for Montana, in the pre-cell days of 1990. Vi- Burt Reynolds has not responded to my a few months during the season. In sas for minor league players expire at the e-mails. sharp contrast to the DR’s first decade of end of the season and some, like Sugar, success, the vast majority never makes who have not had enough success disap- Jack Spence played first base for the it to the majors. And life can be diffi- pear into the big cities. Fenton High School Bisons. He later cult for Latin Americans in the minor I wondered if this might have been became Associate Professor of Political leagues—as illustrated in the poignant the case with Burt Reynolds. Then I dis- Science, with a research focus on war- filmSugar (2008). covered through another web search that torn Central America, and Associate A Dominican player, Miguel “Sugar” Burt played last summer for the Newark Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the Santos (Algenis Pérez Soto), is assigned Bears in the independent Canadian- University of Massachusetts Boston. He to a lower-level minor league team in American league. Independent teams retired in 2010. a small city in rural Iowa. His English have no affiliation with Major League is limited. He lives with a local family, teams, so they have to pay their play- well-meaning but with little background ers out of ticket sales (perhaps $800 to Baseball players David Ortíz and Pedro in things Latin American. His coach $2,000 a month, more if they have Ma- Martínez, formerly of the Boston Red Sox

40 ReVista spring 2012 photos courtesy of the boston red sox play ball

“Baseball in Our Blood” A Nicaraguan Plays for the Yankees

In its Cold War zeal, the Reagan adminis- and Martisabel have divorced, and their view, he suggested that my friend Judy tration relentlessly sought to portray the daughter and two sons have grown up. Butler, a long time resident and transla- Sandinista revolution as a projection of Each son had taken up baseball and tor in Nicaragua, and I meet him in the Soviet-Cuban power in “our backyard.” It had been signed by Major League teams. evening in San Juan del Sur’s central once used intelligence photos of ubiqui- In an interview in San Juan del Sur, Ni- park. Eduardo, who had been mayor of tous baseball fields to show that baseball caragua, last November, Eduardo told San Juan del Sur (1995-1999), greeted us loving Cubans were all over Nicaragua. It me that young Carlos Eduardo, signed and took us to a small outdoor sandwich was, for the equally baseball-crazed Ni- up by the LA Dodgers, had his career shop in the park. As it happened, the caraguans, one of the few laughs enjoyed cut short by an injury. Mario had played sandwich shop’s small television set was by all sides to the 1980s conflict. three years in the NY Yankees farm sys- showing a baseball game. And, as it hap- Baseball in Nicaragua did not stop tem. He was their most adept second pened, Mario was playing. The irony that during those war-torn years, but it was baseman at fielding—but had not hit well Mario had played for the Yankees was severely damaged by military service and enough to make it to the majors. not lost on Eduardo. When Mario hit a the overall economic catastrophe of the Carlos Eduardo tells us that his fa- towering drive he attempted to stretch war. One of the baseball casualties was ther dreamed his sons could play ball. the hit into a double, a dangerous gamble Eduardo Holmann, a promising out- He says, “Baseball is in our blood.” And it considering that the Boers by this time fielder who had played in the Nicaraguan teaches valuable skills: discipline, dedi- were far behind. He was thrown out at professional league for four years in the cation, and punctuality that carry over second base, much to the amusement of 1970s. He put baseball aside to join the into one’s professional life. Carlos Edu- his cheering father. revolt against Somoza, and then became ardo studied engineering and manages a The next morning, on our way out of a Sandinista agrarian reform official— pharmaceutical chain in Managua. town to visit the wind farm of Miguel a position that took him into war zones In the DVD, Mario is seen playing for Barrios, another one of the siblings, we where the U.S.-backed “contras” attacked the Boers, Nicaragua’s most famous team spotted a live game—Las Aguilas were farm cooperatives and ambushed gov- with a history going back to the 1920s. playing Los Delfines in the Gran Final ernment officials. We see Eduardo urging Mario—now that Del Beisbol Infantil. Baseball lives on in In 1984 Susan Meiselas, the preemi- his career with the Yankees is over—to Nicaragua. nent photographer of the Nicaraguan continue his studies. Mario’s response: revolution, and Alfred Guzzetti, now no problem—baseball practice in the Jack Spence Harvard’s Osgood Hooker Professor of morning; classes in the afternoon. Mario A Nicaraguan baseball scene from The Bar- completed an engineering degree from Visual Arts, created Living at Risk, a rios Family Twenty Five Years Later, a DVD film that portrays the mother and five the University of Managua. of interviews by Susan Meiselas and Alfred children of the historically prominent When I called Eduardo for an inter- Guzzetti. but politically divided Barrios family. The film shows the siblings participating in the revolution. One of the siblings, Martisabel, was married to Eduardo Holmann, who has a prominent part in the film. At one point, we see him playing catch with a young son. In 2010, Meiselas and Guzzetti made The Barrios Family 25 Years Later, the second part of a two-DVD collection called A Family in History. We meet again the protagonists of Living at Risk, and also their children, who were the toddlers in Living at Risk. Eduardo

photo courtesy of alfred guzzetti drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 41 sports!

Speaking of Baseball A Trip to Vuelta Abajo (Cuba)

By Félix Julio Alfonso López

As the old saying goes, there’s nothing new groups, Artemisa and Mayabeque, better than baseball except for talking at the same time that the anachronistic about it. And so, with this in mind, we set and weak Metropolitanos team survives off with Yasel Porto, a young sports jour- as a branch of Industriales, without any nalist, and Martín Socarrás, an expert possibility of reaching a championship researcher and writer about 19th century ever. The former Havana teams suffer baseball, to the westernmost province of from a dangeous imbalance, because one Cuba, Pinar del Río. Waiting for us was (Artemisa) has great pitchers and weak yet another fan and expert on everything offensive players, while Huracanes de baseball, the amiable Juan Antonio Mar- Mayabeque has exactly the reverse. And tínez de Osaba, author of several biog- we ought to add that this year, the ball raphies about the region’s most distin- itself will be less “alive”—the Mizuno guished baseball players in the last half 200—and the pitcher’s mound will be century, outfielder Luis Giraldo Casano- higher, theoretically to protect the pitch- va; third baseman Omar Linares, and the ers from the furies of the batters. right-handed pitcher Pedro Luis Lazo. Of course, we also talked about the It’s well known that Casanova was a ver- most recent setbacks of the national satile ballplayer, nicknamed “Mr. Base- team in the World Cup and the Pan ball Player” by commentator Bobby Sala- American games, where it lost to teams manca; “Kid” (“El Niño”) Linares was a that didn’t have nearly the history and superstar when he had hardly reached tradition of Cuba in baseball—such as adolescence and still holds the batting Holland—and barely beat out unlikely average record in the Cuban national rivals such as Germany. All this has to series (368 in 20 seasons); and the giant do, obviously, with deficiencies of our Lazo is the king of the pitchers, with 257 players in their technical and tactical victories. approaches, such as: a lousy pitching ro- It’s not odd that a person should write tation; the lack of pitchers who—rather so many baseball biographies or that an than pitch complete games—would ap- ing of professional Latin American and entire road trip in Cuba be dedicated to pear in relatively short innings (the so- European soccer and the scant program- baseball. Baseball has been part of the called opening-preparing-closing system ing of major league baseball or other fabric of Cuban life since the 1840s, and now used in the major leagues and other professional games. As a result, chil- Cuban players have helped popularize international baseball circuits); our play- dren and youth are getting interested in the game throughout Latin America and ers’ lack of international experience; and playing soccer, leaving baseball aside the United States. The challenge—as we the impossibility of becoming familiar and becoming fans of great European found in this excursion to Vuelta Abajo— with more advanced versions of the sport clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Mi- is if it can keep its status and image in a by inserting themselves in other area fed- lan or Manchester United, which bear changing baseball world. erations such as Venezuela, the Domini- absolutely no relationship with Cuban Throughout the trip, we chatted can Republic or Mexico’s two leagues, soccer and certainly not with the cultural about the upcoming National Series, and even a few outside the region such as tradition of the island, which has been a competition frankly in decline from South Korea and Japan. tied to baseball since the 19th century. the viewpoint of the game’s quality. To As we approached Pinar del Río, the Upon arriving at the Pearl of the make things even worse, this year there topic turned to another danger for Cu- West—as Pinar del Río is known—and will be one more team since the old Ha- ban baseball, fomented by the media. after partaking of a delicious meal along vana Province team has divided into two We talked about incessant broadcast- the riverbanks, we went off to Osaba’s

42 ReVista spring 2012 cultural get-together at the Hermanos Certainly, Tony Oliva was likewise Cuban catcher Ariel Pestano “El Veterano” Loynaz Center, not far from where the a topic of conversation, since the Cu- on the field with a U.S. player great painter Pedro Pablo Oliva has his ban three-time batting champion in studio workshop. We kept talking about the major leagues with the Minnesota his hometown of Consolación del Sur or baseball and we listened with rapt at- Twins team was visiting his homeland even one of the small baseball diamonds tention to the mentor laureate of Vuel- right then. It’s a source of pride that he for children that are scattered over the is- ta Abajo, the man who has conquered is a candidate for the Coopertown Hall land will be named after him so that kids the most titles in Cuban baseball, a of Fame, a hard-earned honor he has will be inspired to imitate his brilliant ca- charismatic figure with a special sensi- deserved for a long time now. With- reer. As Osaba told me, Tony Oliva does tivity to our national pastime of base- out a doubt, Tony is one of the greatest wish to live and die in Cuba, the country ball. Jorge, a friend of ours, told us Cuban baseball players of all time, and where he was born, and where he is, as that when homerunner Hank Aar- his qualities as a player are coupled with an irony of destiny, an illustrious un- on hosted the Cubans in his home a lengendary simplicity, even though the known person. during the Olympic Games in Atlanta, majority of Cubans are not aware of his the great black slugger spoke with great outstanding sports trajectory. Félix Julio Alfonso López is a Cuban admiration and deference of the Cuban Hopefully, some day this injustice historian who writes frequently about ballplayers. will be remedied, and the stadium in baseball.

photo courtesy of Félix Alfonso lópez drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 43 sports!

Baseball Dreams

A Cuban Suitcase Saga By Stephen Kinzer

Not many visitors to Havana make their the Rivera Hotel, built by the gangster States. I was eager to hear stories about way to the back streets of Marianao, but Meyer Lansky as part of his plan to the elder Tiant’s career, for he had been when I took my first trip to Cuba in 1974, turn Havana into the Sin City of the a huge star in a baseball-mad country. it was high on my list. I was carrying Western hemisphere. On one of my first He spoke reluctantly, under prodding gifts from Red Sox pitcher Luis Tiant evenings there, I found a taxi and told from his wife. They wanted to hear about to his parents, whom he had not seen the driver I wanted to go to Marianao, their son. in years. formerly a suburb but now absorbed To my surprise, they did not ask a sin- It was exceedingly difficult for Ameri- into Havana. He assumed I was on my gle question about his accomplishments cans to travel to Cuba in those days. My way to the Tropicana nightclub, the on the field. They were only interested campaign for a visa took several years. neighborhood’s only tourist attraction. in his character and reputation. Did he When it finally succeeded, I called my I pulled out the piece of paper on which behave himself, or was he sometimes in old Spanish teacher from Brookline Tiant had written the address of his par- trouble? Did fans respect him? Did he High School in Massachusetts to tell him ents. The driver was surprised but agreed treat other people well? I assured them the news. to take me. that he was a model citizen much be- My teacher, Felix Fernández, was We made our way through the twi- loved in Boston. born in Cuba and had been involved light and found our destination. The el- As I rode back to the Riviera, I won- in Castro’s revolution before becoming derly couple was surprised to see me, and dered if my visit might be the last contact disillusioned and moving to the United even more so to hear why I had come. this famous son would ever have with his States. He had played baseball in those They received the suitcase, looked briefly parents. A few months later I was thrilled early days, and while living in Brookline, inside, then asked me to sit and share a to read that, through the intercession of he picked up extra cash by working as a fruit drink. Senator George McGovern, Fidel Castro batting practice pitcher for the Red Sox. Naturally he was friendly with Tiant, the only Cuban on the team. Not long after I gave Felix the news When he threw the ceremonial first pitch that day, a of my visa, he called back with an unex- baseball story that had extended across nations and pected proposition. He had mentioned my planned trip to Tiant, and Tiant won- decades finally came to a happy end. dered whether I might take a suitcase to his aging parents. Naturally I was thrilled with the pros- Tiant’s father, also named Luis, had had agreed to allow the parents to fly pect of a connection to this Boston icon been one of Cuba’s baseball heroes. From to Boston. They made the trip. On Au- at the peak of his popularity. We met one the 1920s to the 1940s he spent winters gust 26, 1975, the old man was given a evening at his home in Milton, shared a pitching for Cienfuegos and summers huge ovation as he strolled out to the drink or two, and played a bit of billiards. with the New York Cubans of the Negro pitcher’s mound at Fenway Park. When Then Tiant brought out the suitcase. To League. His son took up baseball at an he threw the ceremonial first pitch that assure me that my mission would be in- early age and emerged as a Little League day, a baseball story that had extended nocent, he opened it for me and showed star in the 1950s. The young man then across nations and decades finally came me what was inside. There was a leisure played in the Mexican League, arriv- to a happy end. suit, a couple of shirts, and a few trinkets. ing in the United States under contract Tiant told me that he missed his par- to the Cleveland Indians in 1961. That Stephen Kinzer is the author of books ents, and lamented that political trouble year’s Bay of Pigs invasion sharply in- about Guatemala and Nicaragua, both had made it impossible for his family to creased tensions between Havana and published by DRCLAS and distributed reunite. I said I’d be happy to serve as his Washington, and he did not return home by Harvard University Press. He is writ- messenger and courier. because he feared the Cuban government ing a biography of John Foster Dulles After arriving in Cuba, I checked into might not let him go back to the United and Allen Dulles.

44 ReVista spring 2012 section header

the sporting life

Soccer and baseball may form a core of Latin American sports, but the sporting life in Latin America includes a variety of sports and unusual trends. Here are just a few.

n To Dance or to Box 46 n Indeed, It Is About History 49 n Santo and Lucha Libre 52 n Bullfights 56 n Sports and Political Imagination in Colombia 58 n Women and Sports in Peru 60

artistphoto bycredit carin name zissis, and www.carinzissis.com url drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 45 sports!

To Dance or to Box

The Struggle of San Basilio de Palenque By Andrés Sanín

It’s Sunday, the streets are dusty and the Palenque nor Biohó received much at- istry of Culture. Inside hangs a large only arrivals to San Basilio de Palenque tention during the commemoration portrait of Kid Pambelé, a palenquero are some motorcycle-taxis and an old of the Latin American bicentennial of who went from being a bootblack to be- bus from the village of La María. Ped- independence. Few people remembered coming the most famous black boxer of dlers descend from the taxis with hand- how Benkos died heroically as a martyr Colombia, when on October 28, 1978 in made sweets, tropical fruits or cheap when the Spanish governor of Carta- Panama City he knocked out Peppermint Chinese sunglasses to sell on the beaches gena betrayed the terms of the peace Frazer and won the world championship of Cartagena. The colorful bus often car- treaty that he had signed. That’s why the title in the light welterweight category ries a group of tourists who come to see tourists still ask who is that nude black (140 pounds). a mapalé dance show. Public buses drive man in bronze and chains reaching for In the 1970s, two other world boxing by without taking the unpaved road that the sky. champions from Palenque also brought leads to the heart of San Basilio in north- Despite the town’s deficiencies (there national attention and pride to San ern Colombia. In the central plaza three is no sewer system, for example), the Basilio: the Cardona brothers, Ricardo things stand out: a chapel painted in pas- population keeps expanding because of and Prudencio, in the divisions of ban- tel colors, a soccer field and the sculpture the arrival of displaced peasants from tamweight and flyweight, respectively. of a figure that stretches its manacled Montes de María—victims of a long Palenque’s Rodrigo “Rocky” Valdes also hands out to the sky. It is Benkos Biohó, and never ending conflict among para- held both the WBC and WBA middle- a runaway slave who established this militaries, guerrillas and the state. The weight crowns at various times between maroon community. In San Basilio, just palenqueros don’t want to be involved in 1974 and 1978. Nevertheless, Kid Pam- about every palenquero (blacks of Bantú, politics. In San Basilio the atmosphere belé alone kept the world championship Kikongo or Kimbundú ancestry) knows is peaceful and the only sound is that of for eight years, defending the title in 21 his name, yet he is virtually unknown to champeta, beating a catchy rhythm that fights. He became a close friend of Presi- most Colombians. animates the streets. San Basilio—often dent Misael Pastrana Borrero, whom he What is known to most Colombians called just “Palenque”—carries a long brought to San Basilio for a historic visit, and in the world beyond is that this vil- history of oppression, misery and colo- along with the public electricity and wa- lage of 3,500 has produced at least three nial violence, but the town receives the ter supply its residents had been awaiting world champion boxers, the most famous foreign tourists with the festive music of for so long. On Christmas of that year the probably being Antonio Cervantes—Kid the picos (mobile speakers) and the joy- saint of devotion was no longer San Basi- Pambelé. But the story of San Basilio as ful dancing of a mother lulling her little lio (the same San Nicholas who inspired a cradle of champions is inextricably in- twins. Behind a fence, in the public school Christmas), but San Kid Pambelé, deliv- tertwined with its struggle with freedom. grounds, boys and girls play soccer. Some ering the greatest gift the town had ever That history of struggle began when pose for the camera, showing their fists received. According to Colombian jour- Benkos, the Prince of Guinea Bissau, in boxing positions. The youthful boxing nalist Juan Gossaín, the cult of the Kid is was kidnapped by Portuguese slave traf- tradition arose from the military society explained by the fact that he taught Co- fickers and sold to Alonso del Campo in that the villagers had to develop to fend lombians that winning was possible in a 1596. On the way to Cartagena the boat off the Spaniards (a fact immortalized in country of losers, where people often cel- sank in the Magdalena River. He escaped Marlon Brando’s film Burn!). The com- ebrated failure because of near victories. to Montes de María and became the munity became a kind of Afro-American This was that same frightened, in- leader of the Cimarron resistance move- Sparta. As soon as they could walk, boys secure and weak boxer whom his first ment, whose members would settle in and girls were trained in the martial arts. trainer had called the Black Threat. This San Basilio de Palenque. Many consider On the other side of the soccer field fighter once placed a bet against himself Palenque as the first freed territory of is a boxing gym that Coldeportes, the in a fight with such bad luck that his op- America, one that UNESCO crowned national sports agency, inaugurated in ponent had done the same thing, so he with the flamboyant title of “Masterpiece 2007, practically a palace among poor threw himself to the ground first with- of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of houses and only comparable to the new out having received the slightest scratch. Humanity” in 2005. However, neither cultural center constructed by the Min- After the discredit following such a loser

46 ReVista spring 2012 Children learn to box from an early age in San Basilio de Palenque.

trick, the iron discipline and even the hard words of his trainer were fruitful. According to journalist Eugenio Baena, trainer Ramiro Machado, seeing that his pupil was not reacting during a fight, used to insult him with racial epithets, adding “You will always be a slave if you don’t win this fight.” Pambelé says the cursing from his mulato trainer didn’t bother him, but rather spurred him on. Nevertheless, we have to wonder if such insults, used again and again since colonial times to destroy self-confi- dence and self-esteem, were what threw him from glory to the obscurity of drugs and addiction. Today our Kid struggles between an image of himself as Antonio Cervantes, former world champion and father of at least 11 children, and a hallucinated version of “The Black Threat” who harms himself and his family. In the national imaginary and the archives of YouTube and the electronic media, the images of some of his 44 knockouts coexist with those in which you can see him punch- ing the wind. A man of very few words, he coined a phrase that ended up as part of the national popular wisdom: “It is always better to be rich than to be poor.” The sentence competes only with one that Francisco Maturana, former trainer of the Colombian national soccer team, offered after one more defeat: “Losing is winning a little.” Both have been the object of general mockery and scorn, but they are maxims that suggest why the portrait of Kid Pambelé remains as lonely as the boxing ring of San Basilio and the man who inspired the painting. He still wanders in search of his past glory, while his family would give all they have to bring him back, even though he sold all the properties he had in Cartagena and Caracas, including the house he had bought for his mother.

photos by andrés sanín drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 47 The music that flows through San Later on Sunday a heavy rain begins Extremely erotic, expressive and skillful Basilio in the form of bullerengue, son to fall. The lonely boxing trainer closes dances permeate San Basilio de Palenque. palenquero, chalupa, chalusonga, lum- the doors of the gymnasium and says he balú, mapalé and champeta and the ex- is this close to throwing the towel. He Biohó and San Basilio de Palenque in the tremely erotic, expressive, skillful and complains because there are few young- language of the village: challenging dances that palenqueros sters ready to dedicate their lives to box- “Chi ma nkongo, perform makes us wonder if the palen- ing and embrace the hard discipline re- chi ma luango, quero boxer has something like the jogo quired to have a new palenquero world chi ma ri Luango di Angola e; de cintura of a Ronaldinho who seems to champion. Most of them run away from Huan Gungú me ñamo yo; dance samba while he plays soccer. But punches and prefer to go in search of Huan Gungú me a de nyamá, ee.” in San Basilio there is no clear bridge be- glory as singers. They play champeta, a tween combat and dance. The punches growing rhythm of Cartagena, similar “De los congos (soy), that led Pambelé to his glory and fall had to reggaeton. During October’s drums De los loangos (soy), more force and violence than the power annual festivity, this Cimarron enclave De los de Loango de Angola (soy), eh; of congregation, bonding, cultural reaf- turns into a cosmopolitan center. Tour- Juan Gungú me llamo yo; firmation or erotic seduction of dances ists from all around the world come and Juan Gungú me han de llamar, eeh.” like mapalé. In his fight against poverty gather with the palenqueros, this time (translation by Armin Schwegler in and the meanness of a world in which not to see a black man knocking down “Chi ma “kongo”: Lengua y ritos ances- you “hit or you are hit” (“te chingas o te another man in exchange for a golden trales en El Palenque de San Basilio (Co- chingan,” in Mexican terms), the Kid had belt in the Madison Square Garden, but lombia) moved far away from his own people into to celebrate a rebirth of the same power an environment where the wealthy and that led the fists of Biohó towards free- Andrés Sanín is a lawyer and journal- privileged class adopted him as a trophy dom. Imagine the people, all dressed ist from the Universidad de los Andes of national success, but abandoned him in white, gathered to chant a lumbalú in Colombia. He is currently a doctoral when he turned into a falling idol lost in to honor the life of their dear Antonio candidate in Harvard’s Romance Lan- a limbo of cocaine. Cervantes, Kid Pambelé, son of Benkos guages and Literatures Department.

48 ReVista spring 2012 Photo by Andrés Sanín the sporting life

Indeed, It Is about History

Soccer, Football and Baseball in Mexico By Sergio Silva Castañeda

Mexico doesn’t have the history needed to and even today they outstrip soccer in States as the ones who brought south win the World Cup. At least that’s what terms of popularity and fandom in cer- their beloved pastime. According to the you would hear from various Mexican tain parts of country, as well as in certain Mexican Baseball League’s website, the sports commentators during the last social sectors. first baseball game played in Mexico took World Cup (South Africa, 2010). As a his- Although soccer in Mexico has been place in the port of Guaymas, Sonora, in torian, the idea that history might help slowly moving up the long road toward 1877. While resolving this controversy us to understand the tragic downward public loyalty, its history as a profession- would not, in all likelihood, prove insur- spiral of Mexican sports was not some- al sport is relatively short. The Mexican mountable, the truth is that each of these thing I could let pass unnoticed, even if Professional Soccer League was founded three theories is probably correct, and the role these commentators assigned to in 1943 and, at the time, included teams that baseball arrived to Mexico by each history is not exactly what I had in mind. from only three states—Jalisco, Distrito of the routes suggested independently of The point I’d like to make is that a histo- Federal and Veracruz. Later on, more one another. What we know for certain ry of team sports in Mexico can aid in our teams would join the league, includ- is that multiple Mexican baseball teams understanding of why—contrary to what ing additional teams from the center of were already in existence during the last so many people (and especially those in the country (Morelos, Guanajuato and decade of the 19th century. the United States) would have you be- others). Teams from the northwestern At the time Mexican soccer was orga- lieve—Mexico has never even been re- portion of the country beyond Jalisco nizing a professional league, baseball had motely close to winning the World Cup. wouldn’t occupy a division-one spot in already been present in the country as a What I suggest is that the key to understanding the difference in development of professional soccer in Mexico and its expansion in other Latin Ameri- Although soccer has lately monopolized the royalty of can countries is that at least two other the Mexican population, its history as a professional sports have always competed for the attention of the Mexican masses: Ameri- sport is relatively short. can football and baseball. In his book How Soccer Explains the World: An Un- likely Theory of Globalization, Frank- the professional first division until the professional sport for two decades and lin Foer argues that one of the reasons 1990s. This is because just as soccer was was beginning to extend its influence for the United States’ distinctly under- beginning to take off in the center of the in the rest of the country. This occurred whelming presence in the realm of the country, the northwest was seized with through the inclusion of teams from world’s most popular sport is that the a very different passion—a passion for more distant states, such as Monter- social role filled by soccer in other parts baseball. The same argument would ap- rey, and—as the game grew in popular- of the world (such as Europe or Latin ply to the southeast portion of the coun- ity—through discussions of the potential America) is occupied by other sports try or to the state of Oaxaca. for international competition with the in the United States, especially bas- While the topic is one to which that United States. In 1945, a second profes- ketball. In Mexico today, soccer enjoys professional historians have dedicated sional league was founded, this one for a popularity to rival that in Europe or but little time, at least three theories the winter months, known in the United South America—yet this is a relatively exist regarding the arrival of baseball States as the Mex Pac, or Liga Mexicana new stage. For decades soccer was only to Mexico. Two of them agree that the del Pacífico. During the latter half of the one of many organized sports played in sport arrived to Mexico by way of Cuba, 20th century, especially during the 1950s Mexico, fighting for popularity. For near- but differ as to whether it came first to and 60s, the expansion of both leagues ly all of the 20th century soccer had been Veracruz or the Yucatán Peninsula. The would make it so there were teams in forced to share the spotlight with Ameri- third theory places the arrival of baseball practically every region of the country. can football and baseball. Both of these at the northern frontiers of the country, The period of the 1930s and 1940s is rival sports had long histories in Mexico, citing railroad workers from the United pivotal to our understanding about the

drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 49 sports!

historical importance of baseball in Mexico. For this was the time when businessman Jorge Pasquel attempted to convert the Mexican league into an international league large enough in stature to compete with the Majors. John Virtue tells a good chunk of this story in South of the Color Barrier: How Jorge Pasquel and the Mexican League Pushed Baseball Toward Racial Integration. Pasquel’s plan was a simple one: he would recruit players from Cuba or from the Negro leagues (places the Major leagues were not looking for new players) and place them in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol. As the Liga grew, even players from the Major Leagues would make the move to play in Mex- ico. In 1947, having retired from professional play, Babe Ruth visited Mexico on Pasquel’s invitation. In answer to a direct question by the New York Times, Ruth said that he would refuse any offer to work as commissioner for the Mexican League, but also praised Pasquel’s project, saying “Anyway, the Pasquels de- serve a lot of credit. Baseball is a game that should be played all over the world. It keeps kids out of trouble and develops them into better citizens” (New York Times, May 16, 1946). Ruth’s statements are particularly interesting if we take into consideration the fact that they coincided directly with a lawsuit filed by the New York Yankees against Pasquel and the Mexican Baseball League. According to the Yankees, Pasquel and his agents had violated the law when they invited Yankee players to leave New York to play in Mexico. Setting aside the means by which players were convinced to depart, the truth is that during this period many players, from the Yankees and other professional teams, left the United States to play in Mexico under the patronage of Pasquel (New York Times, May 5, 1946). At the end of the day, Pasquel’s experiment failed and baseball—at least on a national level—lost some of its popularity in Mexico during the following decades. Still, if we are to understand the relative historical delay of Mexican soccer compared to other Latin American countries, we must bear in mind that in 1950, while Uruguay and Brazil were battling it out in one of the most famous World Cup finals in the history of the tournament, a vast majority of the population of Mexico was far more concerned with the victory of the Algodoneros de Unión Laguna over the Charros of Jalisco in the series final of the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol. The Uruguayan upset, the now famous “Maracanazo,” had little effect on fans of these Liga teams, who were more concerned with outs and innings than goals and halves. In Mexico today, despite the obvious domination of soccer at a national level, there are still some areas (notably the northern and southeastern regions of the country) where baseball continues with a popularity similar to the one it enjoyed in its heyday. Mexico also continues to send a significant number of players to Major League baseball teams each year, a number far larger than that of players sent to compete in European soccer leagues. Soccer may hold the hegemony in Mexico, but it is not alone. Yet baseball is not the only sport in Mexico’s history to

50 ReVista spring 2012 photos courtesy of historia grafica del futbol americano en mexico the sporting life

distract the public, as well as sports officials and sporting goods companies, from soccer on a national scale. It was another sport with a little-known history, one whose presence preceded the success of other sports, that would steal the scene: American football. As in the case of baseball, accounts differ as to how and when American football arrived in Mexico. What is well known is that, while baseball came to Mexico via the working classes, American football was trans- Photos (top left): Football training at the Politécnico; (bottom left): mitted from one elite to another. Each version of the story of “Cerillo” Mariscal is intercepted by UNAM’s Guillermo Castilleja; (above left): The first of the pumas nicknamed C“ asti” in honor football’s crossing into Mexico involves the elite, Porfirian or of the great university football player Guillermo Castilleja; (above post-revolutionary, that sent its sons away to the United States right): Guillermo Castilleja. to study. These young men, upon returning to Mexico, began the necessary steps to continue practicing the sport they had It should also be mentioned that in some of the lower-class picked up abroad. We also know that, by the end of the 1920s, neighborhoods (and in terms of profitability for sporting-goods the sport had been integrated into institutions of higher learn- businesses), boxing and wrestling were for decades another ing, and by the end of the 1930s, it had quickly become the most source of intense competition for soccer in Mexico. Despite not important collegiate sport in the country. being team sports, their potential effect on soccer’s slow diffu- Little known in the United States is the fact that, since 1936, sion and rise to popularity in Mexico is not to be overlooked. It the most important student sporting event of the year in Mex- is a paradox of soccer’s presence in Mexico that in telling its his- ico City is what is known as El Clásico: the game between the tory we must make room for several other sports as well. UNAM Pumas and the Burros Blancos of the IPN, playing not There can be no doubt that today the national sport of Mex- soccer but American football. These matchups were so popular ico is soccer. But we should bear in mind that this is a fairly re- they filled the most important stadiums in Mexico City before cent development. During a significant portion of the twentieth professional soccer even existed. century, several other sports were competing for the public’s at- Yet more interesting than the importance of El Clásico tention, resources and fanaticism. Even today, despite its prom- among the student contingent of the two largest universities in inence on a national level, soccer in Mexico must still share Mexico is the quick expansion of the sport to practically every the public’s loyalties with baseball in certain regions, and—in institute of higher learning in the country. This even includes the areas such as Tabasco—is still in an obvious second place. In Universidad Obrera (“Worker’s University”) founded by Vicente university environments, soccer is omnipresent, but collegiate Lombardo Toledano. What was it about American football that American football leagues still seem to be the more efficient and even openly Marxist universities would make it an integral part better-financed of the two organizations. of student life? A complete investigation is still lacking, but one With this history of sports in mind, Mexico gives us a picture hypothesis would be that members of the Mexican elite—those of a recreational and professional sports scene far more diverse that had either constructed or strengthened many different in- than we usually expect. This historical diversity allows Mexican stitutions of higher education in Mexico during the thirties or tourists to the United States to be able to visit Fenway Park and forties—had a concept of what a modern university should be, enjoy a sporting event that is in no way exotic. Mexicans do not and this idea overrode any ideological differences among them. usually need explanations of any of football’s complex rules dur- Whether it was Garza Sada in Monterrey or Vicente Lombardo ing the Super Bowl. In exchange for this familiarity with vari- Toledano in Distrito Federal, they agreed that each modern ous sports, however, Mexico may be forced to wait longer before university should have an American football team. it can claim one of those World Cup trophies we have coveted The effect of American football on the expansion of soccer for so long—from Argentines, Brazilians, and now from Span- in Mexico seems to be more ambiguous, however. American iards as well. football distracted resources and interest but, at the same time, its promoters shared infrastructure, traditions and identities. Sergio Silva Castañeda is DRCLAS Senior Fellow, Mexico After all, American football competed with soccer only for the and Central America Program, and a Lecturer in History at interest of the middle and upper classes—those who were at- Harvard. A native of Mexico City, he studied economics at tending university—and never became a professional sport in CIDE in Mexico and received a Ph.D. in Latin American His- Mexico. Still, American football has, even today, a clear niche tory at Harvard. This article is dedicated to the memory of his among the loyalties of Mexican society. aunt Isabel Castilleja.

drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 51 sports!

Santo and Lucha Libre

Three Falls By Gabriel Guzmán

First Fall: They will fight palutla. Unlike the lucha libre stars that I the air despite his corpulence, would two of the three falls was used to seeing in Santo’s films, these hold a match in Huajuapan. With a solid without a time limit! wrestlers came from the state capital. I and well-lit ring, a delirious audience One of my earliest childhood memories don’t remember any of their names, but and a Sports Center filled to capacity, is of sitting in front of a small black-and- their movements, their physical appear- the show fulfilled all expectations. After white television in my parents’ store in a ance and the tremendous emotion I felt the match was over, I returned home on working-class neighborhood in Mexico as I watched the match have stuck with foot, wandering through the city’s poorly City. With a bunch of kids my own age, me until now. The match took place on a lit streets, certain that I would always we sprawled out on the floor almost ev- hot night in the village’s dusty plaza in a remember the moves and masks of that ery night to enjoy the movies featuring ring so precarious that I thought it might magical night. Santo: the Mexican wrestler and su- collapse at any moment. The slightly perhero who—through his films—tran- overweight wrestlers tried to please the Second Fall: The Silver scended the borders of fiction and reality. crowd—in the hundreds—that had gath- Legend An impressionable child, I was afraid to ered to watch them fight and shouted Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (1917-1984), go to sleep right after watching images none-too-polite profanities at the rough better known as el Santo, has been the top of vampires and monsters terrorizing fighters and the referee. But once the star in lucha libre in and beyond the ring. populations. Luckily, I would then think match was over, the townspeople re- His fights against rivals such as the pow- of Santo, who always arrived in the nick ceived the wrestlers with warm hospi- erful Blue Demon, Black Shadow or Cav- of time at the end of the movie to get rid tality, and the exhausted fighters in turn ernario Galindo are legendary at home, of those horrible specters. Then I would drift off to sleep. A short while later, I began to understand that wrestling—lucha libre, the kind of acrobatic fighting that Town and wrestlers came together: the insults had Santo engaged in—was also a sport. Our vanished and there was only genuine gratitude on neighbors were an athletic family that included a wrestler who fought under the all sides. electrifying name of 5,000 Volts. He had a worn-out tarpaulin in his patio where my friends and I could practice begin- gave their hosts their sweaty masks as a and his films crossed beyond the borders ning wrestling moves after school. It was gift. Town and wrestlers came together: of Mexico, making him a cult figure that at my neighbor’s house that I discovered the insults had vanished and there was over time consolidated into an authentic the fascinating world of wrestling. Over only genuine gratitude on all sides. legend. Yet the more than 50 films that time, I began to understand that perhaps Life went on at a slow pace. While I Santo made between 1959 and 1980 were no other sport in Mexico personified so developed my incipient interest in music, subject to ridicule by film critics because well the actual lives of Mexicans: their I also followed the latest events in Mexi- of their unlikely scripts. The movies suffering, pain and desperation, but also can wrestling as best I could through also confused Santo’s followers abroad, their enjoyment, happiness and urge to television, specialized magazines such who sometimes weren’t sure if the films overcome life’s adversities. as Box and Lucha, or better yet, going to should be taken seriously or not. Towns- When I turned seven, my fam- lucha libre matches. When I was in ju- people enjoyed watching the films and ily moved from Mexico City to the then- nior high, I discovered with great joy that commented on every single detail: they small city of Huajuapan in the state of star wrestlers from the AAA company, argued whether you could see the strings Oaxaca. It was there that I first had the with its impeccable production and su- on the little vampires that held them up luck to see a live wrestling spectacle for perb wrestlers such as Mano Negra and so they appeared to be flying; others said the first time, which took place in honor Abdullah Tamba, a bald and stocky fight- of the feast day of the local patron saint er also known as “the fighting elephant” The author poses masked as el Santo; lucha in the nearby village of San Miguel Pa- for his ability to perform pirouettes in libre in the ring in Oaxaca

52 ReVista spring 2012 photos by carin zissis, www.carinzissis.com sports!

that the vampires were incredibly good looking; that the monsters provoked more laughter than fear; that el Santo was very chubby, etc. For anyone who has not seen a Santo film, they usually play out a variation of a single plot: in a secret hiding place, a crazy scientist—preferably an ex-Nazi—has figured out a way to destroy the earth with atomic bombs or bloody monsters, sometimes for motives the plot never clarifies. For example, in the movie “Santo contra los Asesinos de otros Mundos” (1971), the scientist creates a loathsome monster that eats people alive but upon closer look, the spectator will realize that the heinous monster is just a bunch of people under a grey sheet, that Santo chases across the rooftops of the ever-grayer Mexico City. By the end of the film—and in general, all of his films—Santo emerges victorious over the crazed scientist and his horrible creatures, saying farewell as he drives away in his 1965 Aston Martin auto to some far off corner of Mexico where his help is needed. Despite all the criticism, the Santo films—as David Wilt, one of the most knowledgeable experts on Mex- ican film, points out—were a launching pad for serious Mexican actors such as Claudio Brook, who starred in the 1963 “Santo en el Museo de Cera” and two years later earned the leading role in Luis Buñuel’s mythical “Simón del Desierto.” Without a doubt, Santo’s movies today provoke a nostalgia in fans of the genre for a Mexico that no longer exists, where there was room for innocence and for a superhero of flesh and bones who, in addition to combating zombies, fought every Sunday in a humble gym in some town or other rather than in the elegant arenas of the big city. Moreover, with the crisis of violence in Mexico, more than a few long to watch the films in which Santo arrives to defend the population against soulless criminals and even— why not?—against the corrupt politi- cians that plague the country.

Top: Gabriel Guzmán, a musician and teacher in real life, poses as el Santo; bottom: fanciful lucha libre masks are for sale.

54 ReVista spring 2012 photos by carin zissis, www.carinzissis.com the sporting life

Third Fall: Wrestling and something I had not experienced since ences about lucha libre; Santo’s films Lucha Libre! my adolescence. The arena filled with en- have been shown in festivals both in When I moved to New York to continue tire families with children proudly carry- Mexico and abroad with great fanfare. my music studies, it was hard for me to ing their favorite wrestler’s mask; young Society in general has revalued lucha follow Mexican lucha libre because of couples who were out on dates; artisans libre and the sport has influenced Mexi- lack of time, but also because this region who sold excellent-quality masks at re- can popular culture. Among those who of the United States was not exactly over- ally accessible prices, as well as all the have contributed to the new appreciation flowing with live matches or even televi- paraphernalia associated with wrestling of the sport is the Mexican rock group sion broadcasts. I was left remembering matches. On arriving at the arena with Botellita de Jeréz and its song “Guacar- Santo movies, reading Carlos Monsiváis’ my wife and wedding guests, most of rock del Santo.” The theme joins the rock essays on the theme and once in a while them from the United States, people be- rhythm, with a bit of “avocado,” as the watching U.S. wrestling. But this type of wrestling left me with the impres- sion that most of it took place down on the mat; that the sport was much more From afar, one hears the steady noise of the multitude “muscular” and lacking in a sense of humor, although quite spectacular. In con- in the arena who cheer their favorite wrestler and who trast, Mexican lucha libre is celebrated feel, suffer and live in their own flesh and blood the up in the air; it is much more agile and has a natural tendency to provoke an emotions of the wrestling ring. excess of emotion—“desmadre,” as we Mexicans call it; a type of humor that any Mexican can understand quite read- gan to ask me out of pure curiosity why I band observes, and an entertaining cho- ily, in which chaos and absurdity easily was there. I answered proudly that I had rus that turns “pleb” (naco) into chido mingle. For example, during one of the just gotten married. The master of cer- (cool). “Santo was like a sturdy tree, he presentations of the always charismatic emonies almost immediately announced was a great champion that fought on and wrestler Rayo de Jalisco, he got into the over the microphone the presence of a on,” sang band members Arau, Vega and ring accompanied by a mariachi group newly wed couple in the audience and we Mastuerzo. And as reinforcement there that got the crowd all worked up in the received a great ovation. The match be- were the magnificent photos by Lourdes Arena Mexico. Everything went really gan and, on this occasion, and different Groubet, who has made portraits of Mex- well and el Rayo let himself be adored from the wrestlers of my childhood, the ican wrestlers for decades both in the in- by the fans and be lulled by the musical athletes were young and determined to timacy of their homes and in the ring, as group when all of a sudden an opposing put on a good show. Instead of the usual well as the writers, promoters, and the wrestler grabbed a precious large guitar bell, an old car muffler blurted an odd wrestlers themselves who have dedicated from one of the mariachis and smashed it noise to start the fight. The fight went on their lives to the sport. against Rayo’s broad back, provoking the in an entertaining fashion until we had After a match—as we would have seen marachis to flee, leaving more than one to leave the arena and practically flee the if we didn’t have to run off to our hon- sombrero dancing over the ring. What a City of Oaxaca because of an impending eymoon—the lights go off in the arena way to begin a fight! transport strike that was to start at mid- and people return home. From afar, one Hollywood also scored good points night and block highways—which would hears the steady noise of the multitude in when it paid homage to lucha libre films have ruined our honeymoon. So we left the arena who cheer their favorite wres- in the movie “Nacho Libre,” starring Jack the wrestlers and the masks and the en- tler and who feel, suffer and live in their Black. Filmed in Oaxaca and inspired thusiastic crowd and headed off to the own flesh and blood the emotions of the by Fray Tormenta, a real priest who par- beach on the last bus out. wrestling ring. ticipated in wrestling matches to earn Once on the way to the beaches of The master of ceremonies in the ring money to maintain an orphanage, the Oaxaca State, I began to think again cries out: Mexican lucha libre, the best in film managed to celebrate the innocent, about lucha libre and realized that from the world. extravagant and joyful world of wres- my childhood and through adolescence, tling. wrestling matches were considered to Gabriel Guzmán is a Mexican musi- The last time I attended a lucha libre be for “plebs” or uncultured folks. For- cian and music teacher who lives in match in Mexico was the day after my tunately, things have changed and it’s New York City. He is a performer and wedding in Oaxaca City. The atmosphere now common to find brainy articles in songwriter with Radio Jarocho there and in the Alcántara Arena de Oaxaca was magazines and books, as well as confer- lifelong lucha libre aficionado.

drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 55 Bullfights

A Special Art By Daniel Samper Pizano

Spain’s history is not written in ink, but in a famous episode in which the hero, en- tools, as well as the help of a lancer on bull’s blood. The shadow of the black emy of the invading Arabs, speared a bull horseback (picador) and banderilleros, beast with sharpened horns has spread from his horse. Seven centuries later, the who test the bull for ferocity and dimin- over the Iberian peninsula for thousands painter Francisco de Goya depicted this ish its strength by stabbing a mound of of years and extended to Latin America. scene in one of his drawings. muscle on the animal’s neck. The bull- Anyone who goes to see the Altamira The poetry of the Siglo de Oro—the fighter must make the bull respond to cave paintings in northern Spain will Spanish Golden Age that spans the 16th the orders of the piece of cloth, to have it note the presence of a figure that looks and 17th centuries—frequently makes run at a specified speed and bow its head tranquil in some poses and aggressive reference to kings who confronted bulls, to facilitate its death by sword, all before in others. These images depict—dating and celebrations that were only complete half an hour has gone by. back to some 1,500 years ago—the ances- if they were accompanied by the threat of Spanish bullfighting fans do not per- tors of the protagonists of bullfighting. angry bulls. mit this spectacle to be called a sport; for According to some historians, the But one thing is the sport of killing them, it is an art. It is as if one measured Roman conquerors brought their circus bulls, which can be compared to fishing the beauty of a painting by the size of the celebrations to Spain 23 centuries ago. or hunting, and quite another thing is biceps of the artist or a dancer’s talent by These public spectacles quite often could tauromaquia, the art of taking on a bull the ability to stand on tiptoe. Indeed, fans be cruel. The genesis of bullfights can be that weighs a half a ton or so with only like to compare bullfighting to ballet. For traced back to these events, which imme- a small piece of cloth (the cape and the them, the blood in a bullfight is only an diately became hugely popular. muleta, the stick that the red cloth hangs inevitable accident. What is at stake in In the 11th century, the epic poem of from) and an anachronistic sword called this game is more than just blood: it is Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (Mio Cid) recounts estoque. These are the bullfighter’s scanty life and death.

56 ReVista spring 2012 photo by patricia plana, [email protected] the sporting life

Bullfighting in Bogotá garments, some secular rites, the offering of a victim and an atmosphere shrouded by death. provoked. But the bull used for bullfights But, unlike in most religions, the is different. It is the product of dozens of priest puts his life at risk in the ritual of generations in which the crossbreeding sacrifice. Juan José de Bonifaz, the his- of races and breeds has produced a hefty torian who keeps the most meticulous animal with sharp horns and irrepress- count of bullfighting casualties, talks ible fierceness that charges at human be- of “hundreds of deaths.” Between 1771 ings because the instinct has now been and 1991, about 500 bullfighters have genetically inscribed. Bulls nowadays been gored to death. That is, one every know no cowardice; they become more semester. Two centuries ago, there were and more aggressive the more they are more victims, but penicillin—celebrated hurt and they keep on attacking until the with a monument in Madrid’s celebrated last moment of their lives. bullfight ring Plaza de Las Ventas—has These specimens are not sold at an prevented casualties that could have ordinary cattle market. “The bull used spiralled easily into the thousands. for bullfights,” says the historian Fed- Nevertheless, many famous bull- erico Carlos Sáinz de Robles, “is an arti- fighters have lost their lives in the rings. ficial zoological type, created exclusively Among them are several of the art’s for the fiesta.” Bulls for bullfighting are founders and a significant number of raised in only a few countries—Spain, modern bullfighters. Among the dead France, Portugal and a few Latin Ameri- figure Pepe Hillo, Pepete, Espartero, can countries. In other spots on the Gallito, Joselito, Paquirri and the most planet, one can find temperamental bulls famous of all: Manuel Rodríguez Sán- (how about the the irascible bucks of chez, Manolete. When he was mortally North American rodeos?). But not fierce wounded in the small Spanish city of bulls. Thus the crucial paradox that sur- Linares in 1947, there was international rounds the debate about whether to ban consternation. It was as if Muhammad bullfights or tolerate them: if fierce bulls Ali had died from a right hook in the box- were banned from fighting to protect ing ring. Manolete was 30 years old. them from death by sword-thrusting, Unlike many other animals who un- A Unique Animal this race of bulls would disappear. avoidably must die in the service of hu- For centuries, bullfighting was a form of mankind, the bullfighting bull, if it is combat in which a horseback rider at- When the Priest Dies fierce enough, is pardoned its life and tacked a bull with spears. But, the story The bulls are the product of a slow and returns to the countryside as a stud bull. goes, at the beginning of the 18th century, careful selection of lineages, but the fi- Not bad… a man by the name of Francisco Romero esta in which they confront the bullfight- got off his horse, took up a cape and a ers is clearly part of popular culture. Un- Rejecting the Bullfights; sword and confronted the bull, face-to- like many sports that attract crowds, it Loving the Bulls face, body-to-body, inch-by-inch in a bat- was not born in a palace garden nor in The “national fiesta,” as bullfights are tle to the death and in clearly disadvan- club meetings. It was born in the grass- called in Spain, travelled to its Spanish tageous conditions. Romero was a young roots, in the poverty of peasant festivities colonies along with the viceroys, soldiers, carpenter from Ronda, the legendary and patron saint celebrations. The bulls wine and ham. During several centu- Spanish city where Ernest Hemingway have lived in the Spanish soul from ries, bullfights were staged in almost all wrote novels and Rainer Maria Rilke po- even before Spain existed. They are inte- the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin etry. Orson Welles is buried there. And it grated in its language; they are a unique America. Argentina and Uruguay, fa- was there that the Romero family estab- symbol and awaken a curious and an- mous for their cattle, also had bullfight lished bullfighting as it is known today. cient passion. rings, and some bullfighters met death in From then until now—for almost In many ways, the bullfights represent Montevideo. 300 years—bulls have evolved a lot more a religious metaphor that, like the Chris- Now only Mexico, Colombia, Venezu- than bullfighters. Everywhere, even in tian mass, demands a central sacrifice, ela, Ecuador and Peru host bullfights. Switzerland, there are bulls that charge if consecrated priests, some ceremonial In Europe, in addition to Spain, there’s

drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 57 sports!

Sports and Political Imagination in Colombia

Some Unanswered Questions by ingrid Bolívar

A special exhibit entitled “A Country Made But when we saw what was happening in of Soccer” at Colombia’s National Mu- Colombia, for us it was motivation to de- France and—in a more sporting than seum features press photos, radio nar- fend our country, make more of an effort, artistic manner, Portugal. ratives, uniforms and other objects as- play better” (http://www.the2escobars. In the case of Colombia—or at sociated with the sport. Inaugurated last com/lapelicula.html). Afterwards, refer- least of Bogotá—one wonders for December 3, the exhibition told the story ring to the assassination of player Andrés how long. Newly elected mayor Gus- of this sport in Colombia and, in particu- Escobar in June 1994, Maturana adds, tavo Petro announced on January 13, lar, the Colombian National Soccer Team “Soccer did not kill Andrés; he and soc- 2012, that he would begin negotia- (see http://www.museonacional.gov.co/ cer were the same thing, and the society tions with Bogotá’s bullfighting entity sites/futbol/exposicion.html). killed him.” In a similar fashion, other to put a stop to bullfights, which are a The exhibit shows the history of soc- players also tried to show how soccer his- “spectacle of death.” cer and the history of the country as tory and other social processes were re- For about 20 to 30 years now, entwined, especially during the years lated: Leonel Álvarez, Alexis García, Luis bullfighting has faced two great en- 1989-1990. In May 1989, Medellín’s Fernando “El Chonto” Herrera, among emies: the high price of the spectacle National Athletic team won the Copa other national team players, comment on and the opposition of increasingly Libertadores de América (Liberators of their own path to becoming top players aggressive anti-bullfighting groups— America Cup) for the first time for Co- in a city where they did not have access to many of them animal rights groups. lombia. In the second semester of 1989, playing fields or soccer schools. Two distinct Spains have begun to this team was the core of the national Stories are told about how regional emerge: the bullfighting Spain, most- team, which qualified for the World Cup drug-trafficking networks with head- ly Andalucía, Valencia and Madrid— in Italy in 1990. During this same period, quarters in Medellín, Cali and Bogotá where the bullfightingfiesta has been three presidential candidates were as- infiltrated the teams and bought equip- declared “cultural patrimony”—and sassinated (Luis Carlos Galán, Bernardo ment and players to “launder drug mon- the anti-bullfighting Spain, led by Jaramillo and Carlos Pizarro). The mu- ey.” These accounts underestimate not Catalonia, where bullfighting was seum exhibit includes some front pages only the deep-rootedness of these net- prohibited this year. of one of the national newspapers. Im- works, but also the importance of sports With fiesta or without fiesta, the ages of a crowd at Galán’s funeral share as a social practice, its regional and in- black and corpulent bull will keep the page with images from the national stitutional role in the country. Moreover, on being Spain’s millenial shadow. team’s triumph. How can one make sense this narrative ignores the players them- As it happens, billboards are prohib- of this “coincidence”? selves and their experiences, the social ited on Spanish highways—except for In an interview for the documentary struggles of some of their communities one featuring a defiant bull. After the film Los Dos Escobar, directed by Jeff of origin, as well as the achievement of flag, it is the best-known symbol, in a and Michael Zimbalist for ESPN’s 2010 competence and sports triumphs as rea- land where the king is the most en- “30 for 30” collection, Francisco Mat- sons for pride and collective celebration. thusiastic bullfighting fan. urana, the then-technical director of The images of drug lord Pablo Escobar Medellín’s National Athletic team and of inaugurating playing fields for microsoc- Daniel Samper, a 1981 Nieman the national team, referred to this period cer, for example, tend to elicit comments Fellow, is a Colombian journalist of the history of soccer and the country focused on “manipulation” by the head of who has resided in Madrid for many itself as follows: “When people see the the Medellín cartel of the working-class years. A columnist for El Tiempo team winning, they identify with us, they sectors from which he also recruited of Bogotá, he is the author of many say, ‘That’s our team, that’s our identity’… his army. Escobar’s closeness with cer- books, including No es porque sea people embrace us; they adopt us. We tain players is seen only as an expres- mi hijo, Piedad con este pobre huér- were the extension of an illusion; we were sion of power on his part or of “lack of fano and El huevo es un traidor. joy and idiosyncracy… enough already! values,” “lack of education and morals”

58 ReVista spring 2012 photo by patricia plana, [email protected] the sporting life

on the part of the players. Very little at- the players. So in midfield the need was the year Colombia exploded into a period tention has been paid to the history of for hard workers and well-disciplined known simply as the Violence after the public spaces in poor or working-class players, provided by Alvarez and Gómez assassination of Jorge Eliecer Gaitan— city neighborhoods and how they got to from Antioquia region where such quali- and who were the regional leaders be- be used for sports and leisure in these ties are commonplace, while the fan- hind the different departmental leagues. communities. The importance of com- tasy was left to Valderrama, Asprilla and I’d also like to know how the competition petitions and of the playing fields for Rincón, people from Cali and the Coast among the different leagues from dif- youth like Leonel, Alexis and Chonto has who were harder to discipline but more ferent cities was set up and maintained simply been ignored. Perhaps the play- creative” (Tony Mason, Passion of the during the 1920s and 1930s, who the ing fields and soccer balls were indeed People? Football in South America, Lon- businessmen were behind the so-called donated by Pablo Escobar. Perhaps this don: Verso. 1995, p.140). Soccer of El Dorado, and how, at the is true. However, this should not stop us The quote brings out a soccer-orient- height of the era of the Violence, various from appreciating what different com- ed new kind of geography. As in other ar- clubs could pay internationally famous munities have constructed in these spac- eas of Colombia’s social life, people from soccer players such as Adolfo Pedernera, es, the great enjoyment different genera- Antioquia are represented as hard-work- Alfredo Di Stefano, Nestor Rossi and Va- tions have enjoyed with soccer practice, ing and disciplined, while the inhabit- leriano López. the memories of the youth and the pride ants of the Caribbean and the Pacific We ought to know more about the of the neighbors in seeing one of their Coast, especially Afro-Colombians, are interaction of the members of the cy- kids turn into a professional player and seen as “difficult to discipline, but cre- cling competition known as the vuelta join the national team. ative.” The attribution of a specific psy- a Colombia, which began in 1951, with Thinking about the sport thus pro- chology and abilities to racial or regional social movements, peasant resistance vides an opportunity to explore how groups has been very extensive and quite and political violences in far-flung mu- players themselves have experienced well studied in Colombia. However, the nicipalities. In his lovely book Reyes de not only their professional formation, geography that is imagined through soc- las Montañas, Matt Rendell recounts but also other processes such as political cer players, their origins, physical capa- how in 1964 the newspaper El Tiempo violence that is one of the characteristics of national society. We need to ask, for example, how the residents of a zone like Urabá—the venue of many massa- The attribution of a specific psychology and abilities to cres in the middle and late 1980s—ex- racial or regional groups has been very extensive and perienced the rise to professionalism of players such as John Jairo Trellez, Luis quite well studied in Colombia. Carlos Perea and Luis Hernando Ga- viria. They must represent a great deal to those neighbors as they watch their bilities and career trajectories has not published a front page story about the boys triumph, win the title in Medellín, yet been analyzed; neither has the bond national government’s declaration of travel abroad. Colombian social scien- between the state and forms of popular war against the independent republics tists have not studied the social history culture expressed in the social origins of and about the bombing of Marquetalia. of sports and sports players. The general many of the players and spectators, and At the same time, it published photos understanding is that these sports play- the ties that are created among them of all the phases of la vuelta a Colombia ers—at least in soccer and cycling—come through sports practice. and the immense public acclaim for the (or came) from the so-called popular sec- Perhaps our lack of curiosity about cyclists (See Rendell, Matt. Reyes de la tors. Much has been speculated about these subjects has to do with the idea that Montañas. Cómo los Héroes del ciclismo the regional origins of the players, who there are more pressing social problems colombiano incidieron en la historia de put places on the map with their talent. or that soccer is prone to manipulation su país. Grupo Editorial Norma. Col- So, for instance, one renowned soccer and lacks autonomy. Yet there is much ección Biografía y Documentos, 2004, historian comments: to learn about the relationship between also in English: Kings of the Mountains, “Colombians should play in their own state and sports in Colombia, especially Aurum Press, 2002). In June 1964, the style, essentially a short-passing game those sports that have fostered popular war against Marquetalia was reported based on the individual ball control of culture in the country, such as soccer, almost literally alongside the new victory the players, but he [Maturana] also in- cycling and boxing. I’d like to know, for by Antioquia cyclist Martín “El Cochise” sisted on the importance of teamwork, example, why the professional soccer Rodríguez, who had been cycling in the maximizing the regional characteristic of championship began precisely in 1948— vuelta since 1961. En 1970, El Cochise

drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 59 sports!

participated in the so-called Marca de la Hora thanks to the sponsorship Women and Sports in Peru of a bicycle manufacturer, because the Colombian sports authorities did Playing for a Place in the Nation by david Wood not recognize the vuelta as a championship contest. However, when Co- chise became the champion and people enthusiastically hailed his victory, One of the many vivid memories of my first girls such as the colegio Rodó and the Colombian authorities—and particu- stay in Peru involved listening to a radio liceo Fanning. The founder of the latter, larly President Misael Pastrana Bor- commentary of the national women’s Teresa González de Fanning, published rero—decided that the occasion did volleyball team as they played against in 1898 a series of articles entitled Edu- indeed have merit. Rendell tells how the Soviet Union in the final of the 1988 cación femenina, in which she advocated the day after Cochise’s victory, his Olympic Games. The commentary was physical education for girls as an impor- photo appeared in an ad alongside playing on a series of buses I took on my tant means of engaging with the latest the director of Proexport, the state way home from downtown Lima, and the scientific trends and of preparing them agency that promotes exports. The passengers were living the drama of ev- for the rigors of life. In line with the La- ad extended an invitation to peasants ery point, bound up in the efforts of these marckian thinking that was prevalent at and other sectors to take up the chal- women to bring glory to the nation. After the time—which claimed that acquired lenge like Cochise had done and to five closely-fought sets, the Soviet team characteristics could be passed to one’s produce more to export more. Under prevailed, but above and beyond the sil- children—physical education was also the photo was a caption that thanked ver medal the Peruvian team won (the seen as a way of improving the national “the voluntary cooperation of Martin country’s only medal of the 1988 Games), character, and González de Fanning Emilio Cochise Rodríguez (…) as a the women who played had achieved the embraced this as another reason for the patriotic gesture in the benefit of na- rare feat of becoming female representa- participation of girls in physical exercise. tional development” (Rendell, 166). tives of the nation on an international Her contribution to national efforts to At the end of 1999, Cochise Rodrí- stage. Volleyball has continued to be an address what was seen as the national guez was honored as Sportsman of arena in which Peruvian women gain ailment of molicie (softness) and forge the Century in Colombia, but we do a national profile, but since the turn of hombres de acción (men of action) has not know how he, now a national fig- the new millennium other female ath- to be understood in the context of Peru’s ure, his colleagues, the fans of cycling letes have come to prominence in the catastrophic loss to Chile in the War of and of other sports had felt about the country, especially through surfing and, the Pacific (1879-83), in which González war against the Independent Repub- most recently, boxing. Sofía Mulánovich de Fanning lost her husband during the lics and the other wars that were tak- became a household name in Peru after battle of Miraflores (1881). In her excel- ing place throughout the country. As being crowned women’s surfing world lent 2001 study Diversiones públicas en in 1970, many sports players needed champion in 2004, and when I found Lima 1890-1920 (Public Entertainments to find their own sponsors because myself confronted with images of her on in Lima 1890-1920) Fanni Muñoz Ca- the state did not consider sports one roadside advertising hoardings, in shop- brejo devotes some consideration to the of its priorities. And as in 1970, the ping malls and local newspapers, shortly presence of women in sport during this authorities and other sectors waited afterwards it struck me that something period, finding that it was largely re- for victories to acclaim sports as a had changed in the representation and stricted to women of the socio-economic form of patriotism. And when there public presence of women in the country. elite, and to women from the expatriate were no victories, well, then it was The success of sportswomen seemed to communities, who typically enjoyed golf, just the fault of the players. be playing a key role in this process and tennis and horse racing. I began to study the presence of women The first decades of the twentieth cen- Ingrid J. Bolívar is an Assistant in Peruvian sports as part of a broader tury were crucial in the development of Professor in the Political Science De- project to explore shifts in the country’s sports in Peru and saw the beginnings partment, Universidad de Los Andes, cultural identity. of mass participation, notably in soccer, Bogotá. She is a doctoral student in Archival research in Lima has rein which the early presence of women’s History at the University of Wiscon- vealed that the practice of sports by teams was short-lived. Articles in the sin at Madison. Her research focuses Peruvian women can be traced back to Peruvian press began to discuss the im- on state formation, political violence, the late nineteenth century, when gym- portance of physical exercise for women and popular culture in Colombia nastics and callisthenic exercises were from the turn of the century, albeit with (beauty contests and sports). part of the curriculum in schools for certain limitations: the transcript of a

60 ReVista spring 2012 the sporting life

lecture given in San Marcos University, published over two numbers of El Sport in September-October 1899, advocates regular exercise for women, but recom- mends that tennis, cycling, rowing, mod- erate walking and gymnastic exercises are “most suited to women’s structure and character.” Needless to say, all of these sporting practices—with the exception of walking—require equipment and a locale that were beyond the reach of the great majority of women. In addition to these practical obstacles to widespread presence of women in sports, there were also a series of objections from tradition- alists, who saw in the practice of sport risks to women’s reproductive function and the danger of their becoming mascu- linized. The strength of feeling was such that some parents withdrew their daughters from schools that introduced physical education to the curriculum around the turn of the century, and the cartoon reproduced here, from 1920, suggests that public attitudes to women in sports had not changed significantly over the following two decades. By juxtaposing the “natural sport” of motherhood with a series of sporting practices that are portrayed as unnatural, explicitly in visual form and implicitly by textual contrast with the final caption, traditional notions of a woman’s physicality were forcefully expressed. The view among influential sectors of society that sports were not the way to achieve physical health for women is reinforced by a series of advertisements in the same issue of Variedades that offer a variety of medical treatments to improve women’s wellbeing. Indeed, the page facing the cartoon offers an exaggeratedly outmod- ed vision of elegant domesticity, recom- mending aspirin and caffeine tablets as the remedy to combat constitutional frailty: “The woman’s nervous system is ‘Feminine Sports,’ Variedades (a weekly illustrated magazine), 27 March 1920. so sensitive and her organism so delicate that daily domestic chores and social Odo-ro-no, marketed under the headline their physicality through means other commitments cause her constant health that “You will not be charming until you than motherhood. problems.” Other advertisements in the are free from perspiring armpits.” Wom- The 1920s in particular saw the ex- same number offer means of improv- en were to be admired for their beauty, pansion of sport in Peru beyond the ing women’s appearance or attractive- helped to overcome their weakness, and socio-economic elite: soccer became ness to men, such as the antiperspirant mocked when they sought to express hugely popular among men of all classes,

illustration courtesy of David wood © drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 61 sports!

and by the early 1930s Alianza Lima, a leyball as the sport for Peruvian women Hall of Fame, the same year seeing her team built around black players from par excellence simultaneously betrays finish as runner up in the world cham- the working-class neighborhood of La enduring conservatism: volleyball’s ini- pionships. Her consistent success and Victoria, had established itself as the tial acceptance can be explained in good recognition beyond Peru (most recently, best in the country. For women, volley- measure because it conformed to the she won gold in the International Surfing ball emerged as a widely practiced sport perceptions of early twentieth-century Association World Surfing Games held in the 1920s. In contrast to the mocking society as to what constituted appropri- in China in January 2012) feeds back di- representation of sporting women in the ate types of physical exercise for women. rectly into national pride at her achieve- edition of 1920 discussed above, Varie- Muñoz Cabrejo sums this up as forms of ments in a country that continues to oc- dades in September 1928 carried a page exercise that “developed flexibility and cupy a complicated position in relation to of photographs that describe the sport- agility” (p.208), both characteristic fea- the modern and the traditional, the local ing action in terms comparable to those tures of volleyball; moreover, the lack of and the global. Mulánovich, known sim- used for football matches on preceding men’s volleyball teams means that the ply as la gringa, finds herself at the point pages in the same edition. women’s success was not seen in terms of convergence of various strands in this The establishment of volleyball as the of a direct comparison—or threat—to ongoing process of cultural realignment: sport of Peru’s women is a curious phe- an otherwise male-dominated sporting as a blonde woman from a surfing family nomenon, dating back to soon after a environment. of Croatian descent she embodies tradi- 1910 YMCA delegation introduced the Volleyball is far from the only sport tional notions of femininity while simul- sport to the country. According to a se- in which Peruvian women have excelled. taneously challenging long-held assump- ries of special supplements published in Peru’s 1,500 miles of Pacific coastline tions regarding the position and visibility El Comercio between July and Septem- make it an ideal surfing location, and the of women in society. Alongside Mulánov- ber 1986 (entitled The Wonderful World of Volleyball), volleyball was soon played in private girls’ schools—a welcome addition to the gymnastic exercise routines Volleyball’s initial acceptance can be explained in good that formed the basis of physical education. In a process that parallels what hap- measure because it conformed to the perceptions of pened in soccer, volleyball was quickly ap- early twentieth-century society as to what constituted propriated by female domestic servants who would play the game in Lima’s parks appropriate types of physical exercise for women. and open spaces by the 1930s, leading to the sport being commonly known at that time as “the sport of cooks.” Follow- sport has proved increasingly popular ich in the Peruvian team that won the ISA ing the creation of a league in 1933 and since its introduction in the early 1940s, World Surfing Games in October 2010 a national federation in 1942, Peruvian initially among the white elites of coastal was Analí Gómez, and the two women women’s volleyball claimed its first major cities, but more recently among other featured prominently with their male international success in 1964, when the sectors of society, particularly the middle teammates in a rare display of Peruvian national team won the South American classes and women. Although Peru has team supremacy beyond women’s volley- championships, going on to defend its had previous world champions from the ball. Gómez, known simply as la negra, title in 1967. Since then, Peru’s women ranks of its male surfers, Sofía Mulánov- is a multiple South American champion, have been at the forefront of interna- ich’s overall triumph on the Association and was runner-up in the World Junior tional volleyball, and the introduction of Surfing Professionals (ASP) world Championships in 2007. Her position as to the El Comercio supplements (which tour series in 2004 brought her a pub- a mixed-race woman surfer from humble ran alongside a similar series produced lic and media profile in Peru that were socio-economic origins provides a more for the 1986 Soccer World Cup) acknowl- unprecedented for a sportswoman. Elec- significant challenge to the established edges that women’s volleyball “has writ- tronic media in particular (Mulánovich norms of Peruvian identity than Mulá- ten into the annals of national sport the has her own website) have ensured that novich. It is difficult to gauge whether her greatest number of victories and honors” this profile has been international as well lesser public profile in the country can be (July 1986, p.4). While this success has as national: from 2005-08 she was voted explained in purely sporting terms—her no doubt helped to break down tradi- the most popular female surfer in the an- achievements are outstanding, but not tional perceptions of women, especially nual poll conducted by Surfer Magazine, quite at the level of Mulánovich’s—or by those from less privileged backgrounds, and in 2007 she became the first South factors that owe more to social and cul- the acceptance and celebration of vol- American to be inducted into the Surfers’ tural issues.

62 ReVista spring 2012 the sporting life

Photos (top): Girls playing volleyball on Taquile island, Lake Titicaca; (bottom left): Women’s volleyball championship held in the National Stadium, Lima; (bottom right): Sofía Mulánovich, front cover of sport supplement of El Comercio from December 24, 2007 celebrating “The best of the best” from the previous year.

photos courtesy of David wood © drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 63 sports!

Mulánovich was beaten to the title standing athletes: she was named the which—despite securing a commendable of Peruvian women’s champion in 1996 world’s best player after the 1988 Olym- third place in the 2011 Copa América—is by Kina Malpartida, her main rival as a pic Games, received the Pierre de Cou- renowned in recent times for a series of teenager, who shares her surfing family bertin medal and the Women in Sport power struggles, pre-match parties and history and upper middle class (partly) trophy from the IOC in 2003. She was player peccadilloes. Sports have pro- European descent: Malpartida’s father the first South American to be induct- vided a space within which women have was a Peruvian surfing champion and ed (in 2005) into the Volleyball Hall of been able to demonstrate their abilities her mother an English supermodel. Fame. In the national elections of 2000, and prove their international excellence, While studying at college in Australia, Tait’s profile as an outstanding sports- all of which has seen them increasingly Malpartida took up boxing, which she woman, alongside experience gained recognized as a significant factor in the pursued by moving to Los Angeles in as a councillor in one of Lima’s poorer construction of a sense of modern na- 2006. In 2009, she became world cham- districts, served as the basis for her elec- tionhood. The achievements of female pion in the women’s WBA super-feather- tion to Peru’s Congress, becoming the volleyball players, surfers and boxers weight category. Surfing’s emphasis on first Afro-Peruvian to serve as an elected have played an important part in break- aesthetics and on flow may share some representative at this level. Her popular- ing down barriers that are not just about of the “feminine” characteristics identi- ity as a congresista was confirmed in the gender, but also ethnicity, evident in the fied in sports appropriate for women in 2011 elections, when she headed the list appointment in July 2011 of Susana Baca the early 20th century, such as flexibil- of candidates for Alejandro Toledo’s Perú as Minister of Culture in the govern- ity and agility, helping to explain why Posible party and was re-elected to Con- ment of President Humala, thus making this—alongside volleyball—has become a sport in which women’s success enjoys such public recognition, but Malpartida’s move into boxing placed her squarely outside the parameters of Peru’s nor- Sports have provided a space within which women mative femininity. Nonetheless, it has have been able to demonstrate their abilities and brought her a public profile that places her on a par with Mulánovich: she was prove their international excellence, all of which has voted Peru’s most popular athlete (male seen them increasingly recognized as a significant or female) in a 2009 poll conducted by Ipsos Apoyo, and the same year saw her factor in the construction of a sense of modern receive a global leadership award from nationhood. the Latin Business Association, in recognition of her position as a role model for women and children. gress with the ninth-highest vote count her the country’s first black government During campaigning for the presiden- among the 468 candidates to stand in minister. Baca’s long career as a singer tial elections in April 2011, Malpartida the capital. Also elected to Peru’s Con- reminds us that sport is not the only joined Keiko Fujimori for a photoshoot gress in 2011 were Gaby Pérez del sphere in which women have achieved in a gym, where she gave the presidential Solar and Cenaida Uribe, both part of public recognition, and that it is one— hopeful a pair of pink boxing gloves, a fit- the team at the 1988 Olympic Games significant—aspect of broader social, cul- ting symbol perhaps of the shifts in the (Pérez del Solar had previously served tural and political change in the country, balance of power and modes of public during the 2006-11 Congressional term), change that it still being played out in the presence for Peruvian women to which as well as Leyla Chihuán, captain of the sporting arena and beyond. sports have made a significant contribu- national women’s volleyball team from tion. Malpartida was clearly acting in a 2006-10. David Wood is Professor of Latin supporting role here to the aspirations Women are no longer cooks who play American Studies at the University of another woman, but the role of sport volleyball in their spare time, but can of Sheffield, England, where his work in the acquisition of political agency has be internationally successful athletes centers on various forms of cultural gone beyond gender politics and cultural whose discipline, endeavour and com- production, particularly literary texts, politics to be assumed more directly by mitment enable them to be recognized cinema, and sports in Peru, Cuba and other sportswomen. Cecilia Tait, captain as valued members of the national com- Mexico. A keen birder, his time in Latin of the volleyball team that won the silver munity and to go on to gain public office. America has also helped him achieve two medal at the 1988 Olympic Games, is These attributes compare favorably with childhood ambitions: to see a Bee Hum- widely recognized as one of Peru’s out- the headlines around Peruvian soccer, mingbird and an Andean Condor.

64 ReVista spring 2012 section header

social change and rights

Sports—long considered a catalyst for social change—also should be conceived of as a right like health or education.

n Sports and Recreation 66 n Fútbol con Corazón 69 n Sports Diplomacy 71 n Beyond Soccer 72

photo courtesy of fútbol con corazón drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 65 sports!

Sports and Recreation

Just a Tool or a Social Right? By Mario Roitter

Sports as a social and cultural phenom- ly true for youths from low-income com- Furthermore, in a more informal enon have notably grown worldwide. munities who engage in sports activities; manner, public places such as squares, Latin America is no exception to this they should be entitled to fun and play as village commons, parks, vacant lots, expansion. This is in part because of a social right. beaches or streets turn into arenas for the large industry built around sports Sports have developed principally as a all sorts of games, especially soccer— through mass media, apparel manufac- popular expression. In some cases, they activities that spontaneously engage ev- turing and the organization of major are linked to classic civil society institu- ery social class, again involving mainly sports events. As a result of this growth, tions such as the characteristic neigh- children and youth. world-class athletes have become very borhood club (“club de barrio”) typical To summarize, the social actors that popular figures, appealing especially to of Argentina, Uruguay and to a lesser promote sports practice in communities children and youth, who try to emulate extent Chile and Peru. In other cases, with a high poverty rate make up a very their heroes feats in their own games. non-governmental organizations provide complex and diverse group. They include, Because sports and recreation have a sports activities with a focus on children among others, well-known sport players strong educational impact on children and youth. And finally, either indepen- (active or retired) and community lead- and adolescents, we do not consider dently or institutionally, initiatives taken ers, international organizations as well as these activities as a means to an end, but or financed by public organizations mas- non-government organizations, business rather as citizens’ rights. This is especial- sively spread the practice of sports. enterprises and state institutions. In all

66 ReVista spring 2012 photos by flavio janches social change and rights

these cases the word “sports” is usually lives in poverty, consumes illegal drugs, inequalities that are embedded in Latin accompanied by the word “social,” but has conflicts with the law or suffers a America and in societies where the de- the meaning and action embodied in this high level of teenage pregnancy. sired lifestyle is plagued with a strong concept may differ widely. From this socially consecrated stand- individualism, esteem for competition I would like to challenge the wide- point springs the idea, which is repeated against another person, fear of other spread assumption that sports and rec- mantra-like in most fields, that sport is people and also, even though “well in- reation for poor people must provide a always praised as a good way of convey- tentioned discourse” claims otherwise, moral lesson, or an added value, whereas ing “values,” a term seldom defined, as discrimination against people who are sports recreation for middle-class youth if the challenges that young people face perceived as different. carries no further objective aside from could be reduced to a question of mere Nevertheless, several countries in fun and practice. lack of “values.” In other social spheres Latin America provide examples of how Popular beliefs and mass media im- sports are praised because they exalt the sports and recreation may help in the ages convey the remarkable convening notion of effort, competitiveness, self- development of a whole community, power of sports and the values usually improvement and team work—traits strengthening its abilities to organize it- attributed to it, converting sports in gen- usually evoked by the business sector as self in a way that influences relevant pub- eral and the so-called “social sports” into basic conditions to access to the labor lic issues such as transportation, sanita- one of the many remedies for a variety market. But it seems that these virtues, tion, education and health. of ailments of modern societies: seden- which compose one of the corner stones This relative optimism about the use- tary lifestyle, lack of alternate spheres of middle class “common sense,” are not fulness of sports arises from the analysis for socialization, school dropout levels, guaranteed to emerge as a consequence of a quite long initiative in sports and and youths in “situations of social risk.” of the mere practice of sports. Photos (left): Children explore a playground This last euphemism is one of the many Sports activities do not operate in a that they helped design themselves in coined to allude, in a politically correct void but rather in highly complex social Argentina; (right) street space provides a manner, to the youth population that contexts with the exasperating social venue for informal recreational activity.

drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 67 sports!

recreation, developed in the Civil Society, enjoyment and personal and collective ed to widen and diversify the available Culture and Development Department strengthening. choices of non-formal education as well of CEDES, for the promotion of social At the same time, to bring our pro- as recreation and sports. In addition, we participation and local development of grams to fruition requires a collective seek the expansion and consolidation of youth, supported by the WK Kellogg effort on all fronts in the areas where a networking at the local and regional lev- Foundation in some Latin American project is to be launched. els, starting or deepening relationships countries between 2002 and 2010. That is why our intervention has em- with institutions or organizations with These programs were envisaged from phasized new ways of observation and related objectives (for example, art and a mainly educative perspective that pri- new social practices that confront ste- culture) both in governmental and non- oritized the development of recreation- reotypes and preconceived ideas that governmental areas. al, physical and sporting activities in a are embedded in the world of sports. The work and the initiatives that framework of integral formative propos- As long as these preconceptions are not CEDES endorses are focused outside the als. These efforts tried to move away from challenged, they weaken the rights of context of the educational system. Nev- focusing on the organization of tourna- individuals or groups—particularly of ertheless, the principles, the strategies ments, on the recruiting of young talents women, disabled youths, poor people themselves and the scope of our propos- for professionalized sport practices, and and immigrants, among others. als are relevant and provide a meaningful on the promotion of one specific sport. Our approach acknowledges contri- contribution to reevaluate and partici- If we are in agreement that sports butions from non-formal education and pate in the sphere of formal education. are a citizens’ right, and that such right from recreation as a field of pedagogical The experiences that we have gathered is very often denied even by socio-community projects, either because access to recreation is not a priority and/or because it is linked in an exclusive way with We aim to create or strengthen groups that could success-oriented, superficial, commodi- collectively participate through their commitment fied messages and practices, we should also concur that sports do not need to be and interest in social transforming processes. justified on the grounds that, for example, they help reduce the use of drugs and alcohol. We should emphasize, above all, work. It differs from standard approach- as a result of our programs allow us to as- the opportunities that sports provide for es that usually focus on the provision of certain that an integral vision of sports, building relationships with others and some material resources and/or big tour- i.e. as embedded in a wider social con- for taking care of themselves and the naments that are often designed to foster text, is a powerful tool to encourage juve- place where they live. the prestige of mayors and other authori- nile leadership, to promote cooperation These experiences on the playing ties. That is to say, we favor arrange- and solidarity, to boost integration and fields are privileged opportunities to ments with community organizations, permanence of children and youths in teach and learn about solidarity and to other civil society organizations and, formal educational programs (achieved put in practice collective accomplish- sometimes, local authorities and schools. through cooperation between schools ments that are also important in terms of The concepts, skills training and tech- and grass roots organizations), to dis- critical thinking, mobilization and social nical assistance for civil society organiza- cuss the sources of violence, intolerance, involvement. That is to say, sports may tions in Latin America that we have pro- marginalization and discrimination, have the power to transform when, as moted try to capacitate key actors in the to foster horizontal and democratic re- with the arts, they involve relevant expe- organization and development of local lations and the interaction and integra- riences both at individual and group lev- sporting and recreational activities. We tion of gender issues, to stimulate healthy els, resulting from high-quality programs aim to create or strengthen groups that lifestyles—in short, to contribute to the and well-thought-out points of view. could collectively participate through effective exercise of citizens’ rights and The efforts of CEDES take account their commitment and interest in social to trigger the social transformations that of the transmission and revaluation of transforming processes. are much needed in Latin America. ideas, practices and traditional games The objectives of our intervention fo- particular to each different local culture, cus on strengthening of groups of young Mario Roitter is a Senior Research so our actions have been geared to recov- people active in their communities, offer- Ass-ociate at the Center for the Study of er public spaces in specific localities and ing them alternatives and broadening the State and Society (CEDES, Argentina). to offer hundreds of youths the opportu- field of participation in their own com- He can be contacted at [email protected]. nity to gain access to recreation, leisure, munity context. We have also attempt- He was a 2003 DRCLAS Visiting Scholar.

68 ReVista spring 2012 social change and rights

Fútbol con Corazón

Changing the World, One Goal at a Time By Samuel Azout

Fútbol con Corazón, a Colombian initiative, is a social change model that uses soccer’s calling power to transmit basic human values and life skills.

Picture a soccer field where the rules of the game are re-written; where boys and girls play together and re-invent themselves as agents of change. Where matches are won not by the team scoring the most goals, but by the squad that best adheres to fair play agreements. This is Fútbol con Corazón. When children join Fútbol con Corazón in their neighborhood, they know they won’t be playing “soccer as usual.” The “soccer for peace” methodology calls for mixed girl-boy teams in various age categories, a practice that is unthinkable in the social context in which the children are growing up. Before the match begins, the children themselves negotiate the behaviors to be displayed on the field, and after the game, each team evaluates peer and self-compliance with these agreements. The girls play participate in workshops targeting the are consistent role models who develop a vital role, as they must be the ones to development of core life skills in four ar- strong bonds with program beneficiaries score the first goal in the match. No girls, eas: critical thinking and cognitive skills; and their families. no match. coping and self-control; social and moral Our developmentally appropriate Fútbol con Corazón began in 2008 skills; and communication skills. These model also incorporates workshops on in Barranquilla’s most vulnerable neigh- life skills are believed to help promote sexual and reproductive health, HIV pre- borhoods, where excessive free time—a well-being, positive health outcomes, vention education, non-violent conflict result of half-day school schedules— and productive development (Jacobs resolution, substance-free living, and threatens the very fabric of society. Chil- Foundation, 2011). planning for the future. These thematic dren and youth are prey to recruitment The program staff includes physical units aim at defeating myths and gender by gangs and irregular armed groups, education and soccer specialists who biases, and empowering participants to and into drug traffic and consumption, adapt all training to the program’s core make healthy decisions about their own prostitution and petty crime. The young values and methodology. In addition, lives. Fútbol con Corazón has worked also must play multiple social roles, in- a group of psychologists uses an expe- closely with organizations such as the Ja- cluding parenting, housekeeping, and rience-based curriculum to reinforce cobs Foundation, Compartamos con Co- other unofficial forms of labor. Fútbol the themes and topics in workshops. lombia, Beyond Sport, Soccer for Peace con Corazón is a safe extra-curricular Notably, these staff members are not Foundation, MEXFAM, International space for more than 2,000 girls, boys and coaches—they are asesores and asesoras Planned Parenthood Federation, Fe y youth in Colombia, where they receive (“advisors”); that is, facilitators of learn- extra nutrition, practice soccer skills, and ing rather than coaches or teachers. They A child in the Fútbol con Corazón program

photo courtesy of fútbol con corazón drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 69 sports!

Alegría, World Bank, Inter-American from corporate sponsors, grants from in- Teammates—boys and girls—are active Development Bank, the Colombian gov- ternational development organizations, participants in Fútbol con Corazón. ernment, and others to continually mon- and individual donations. The group’s itor and strengthen our programs and work has been recognized by Beyond change through soccer, and supported by organizations such as the World Bank, UNDP, UNICEF and the German De- The group’s work has been recognized by Beyond Sport velopment Agency GIZ. More than ever, today’s social, public and government as the “best organization in sport for social inclusion.” sectors have recognized the need to work in tandem to address some of the social ills of our great nation: intractable in- our team’s skills. Fútbol con Corazón is Sport as the “best organization in sport equalities, internal strife, and the break- often a springboard for employment and for social inclusion” (2010) and received down of family structures. Fútbol con higher education, as our “graduates” have the International Prize for Solidarity in Corazón can and does “play” a role: our attained unique skills and habits that Sport by Asociación Deporte, Cultura y young people come to us to exercise their make them attractive to these sectors. Desarrollo, Madrid, 2010. This prize in- right to play in peace, learn with peace, Today, Fútbol con Corazón has op- cluded an all-expenses-paid trip to Spain and work for peace. erated in nine different locations in the for seven girls and seven boys from our Caribbean region, as well as in pilot pro- beneficiary pool. Samuel R. Azout is a Colombian econo- grams in conjunction with Colombia’s Currently Fútbol con Corazón leads mist and entrepreneur dedicated to non- Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Fa- the Colombian National Network for profit work in poverty alleviation and miliar (Department of Family Welfare) Soccer and Peace, composed of 12 orga- social inclusion. He is a graduate of the in Bogotá. Funding comes primarily nizations nationwide committed to social Harvard Kennedy School (MPA 2007).

70 ReVista spring 2012 Photo courtesy of futból con corazón Sports Diplomacy

A Dominican Adventure By Bob Morris

I tried not to have my personal interests sations I could have with my host fam- in sports and languages collide, but some ily that weekend ran from “How many things just can’t be avoided. children do you have?” to “Your house is In the mid-1970s, after graduating nice.” That was pretty much the full ex- with a business degree, I decided to apply tent of my fluency. to the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps tries On Sunday, when it came time to to do its best to match the skills of po- make the five and a half hour return tential volunteers with program needs. trip to Santo Domingo, I took a carro As I had played two sports in college and público—a freelance taxi driven by a man had coached youth programs, the Peace whose main goal seemed to be to squeeze Corps recruiter suggested I might be a as many passengers as he could into his Bob Morris as Peace Corps volunteer. good fit for a sports administration pro- ancient car. He drove a rusty Datsun gram in Africa. whose shock absorbers were but a dis- “Yes, yes.” “No thanks,” I said. “I would much tant memory. “Are you playing in that big tourna- prefer to put my business degree, not my I gave the driver a slip of paper with ment?” sports acumen, to good use, and I would the Peace Corps office address in Santo “Yes, yes.” really like to become fluent in a language Domingo, and we were off—that is me, “It is going on right now, correct?” that I could use in the future, preferably three campesinos, a baby goat and a cou- “Yes, yes.” Spanish.” ple of chickens—all stuffed in a car seem- “Do you want to go directly to the sta- “Well, we have a program in the man- ingly held together by rubber bands and dium?” agement of savings & loan cooperatives chewing gum. “Yes, yes.” in the Dominican Republic,” said the Despite my near complete lack of What could I do? I was not exactly recruiter. Spanish, my fellow travelers insisted on in a position to explain where I really “Sounds great to me,” I replied. conversing with me. I did what I’ve seen wanted to go and that I was not an in- Today, the Peace Corps requires that others do in a situation like that: when ternational athlete. I did the only thing volunteers have a certain level of fluency they asked me a question, I would smile, I could. I shook their hands, said adios in the relevant language before they be- nod my head and say “Sí.” and walked down the pathway to the sta- gin their service. In the 1970s, volunteers During this conversation, which dium. My new friends were waving furi- like me with no language experience seemed endless, the single word I could ously from the car. I could only assume studied in an intensive language immer- discern with my “considerable” fluency they were wishing me good luck. sion program six to eight hours a day for was volibol (volleyball), since it sounds Once the car was safely away, I came three months. If you did not meet a cer- similar in Spanish and English. I just out of the stadium and made my way to tain level of Spanish proficiency after the kept smiling and nodding. the Peace Corps office, a two-mile walk. three months, you were not permitted The car finally arrived in Santo Do- On that long walk I continued that to start your volunteer service and were mingo and, to my surprise, made its way imaginary conversation, which veered to sent home. I trained in the capital of the to the sports arena erected for the Cen- more dire scenarios: Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo. tral American and Caribbean Games, a “Hey, can you get us all free tickets One weekend, early in the training pe- sort of regional Olympics. It pulled up for tonight’s match and leave them at the riod, we took trips to our respective sites to the volleyball venue and my compan- ticket window?” to familiarize ourselves with what would ions (except the chickens) looked at me “Yes, yes...” eventually become our home for the next expectantly. two years. My site was a town of 3,000 in Suddenly, the conversation that had Bob Morris is the President of Foresight the northwestern part of the country. No taken place on the ride took a new shape Strategy, a corporate social responsibil- one in the town spoke English. in my mind: ity consultancy. He received a Master’s Looking back, it is amusing how shaky “Hey, you’re tall. Are you a volleyball in Public Administration from the Har- my Spanish was. The deepest conver- player?” vard Kennedy School in 1983.

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Beyond Soccer

Building Community By Ryan Guilmartin

“It’s like being part of a real family. soccer is popular. Many of the athletes on Each and every coach, and there are I don’t want to get into what I was like the soccer team are immigrants trying many of them, has an important addi- before I got on the team because I’m not to adjust to life in the United States. We tional role to play in the program. Some proud of it. Lots of gang stuff. I don’t try to provide them with the things that help with jobs, others with community know why I was into that, but I didn’t they need, whether it is support, help outreach. My main job on the team is to have a lot when I got to the U.S. I guess finding a job, or in some cases a place keep track of grades and discipline with- I needed to belong, and people from my to live. Many of them have gone through in the school. The real secret to the suc- country were in a gang so I joined to feel difficult times, and most still do not cess of the team is the boys themselves. like home for me. But I’m proud of my- have an easy life now. They talk about They provide each other with support, self now, ever since I started playing. I their lives once in a while, and they have guidance, and, most importantly, friend- got out of the gang and got on the soc- the most powerful stories about life ship and family feeling. The results of cer team.” It is not entirely unusual for us in the home countries, and of their jour- our efforts show up in many ways: by the to hear similar stories from boys around neys here. growing number of the boys who attend Somerville High School. While winning soccer games is great, college, by the attendance of former play- The Somerville High School boys’ it is not our most important job. We ers at games, by the e-mails and phone soccer team has become used to success. We consistently make deep runs into the state tournament. We are always at or near the top of the Greater Boston “I don’t know what I’d do without the team. It’s a part League. We are used to having college and club coaches come to our games to of me. I get better grades now. I go to bed on time. I watch our student-athletes. The things come to school. The coaches and players showed me that make us proudest, however, are our accomplishments off of the field. how to do things the right way. It could be different for The team’s motto is “gentlemen first, me, but I made the right choices. It’s all because scholars second, athletes third.” As a coaching staff, we do our best to instill of the team.” these values into our players. What head coach George Scarpelli and the coaching staff try to create is a fam- want to give our student-athletes a calls from coaches and parents from op- ily atmosphere. It’s important to give foundation that will enable them to do posing teams. the kids a safe place where they feel great things later in life. Our work does One player told me, “I don’t know like they belong. Most of them come not end when the state tournament what I’d do without the team. It’s a part from families that have been broken up is over. We meet nearly every week of me. I get better grades now. I go to by immigration or have parents that to discuss volunteer options, jobs, bed on time. I come to school. The work long hours, and they need the and, most importantly for our seniors, coaches and players showed me how feeling of a family. In fact, “family” is college applications. Our main goal is to do things the right way. It could the word that comes up most when talk- to ensure that the best years in the lives be different for me, but I made the right ing to members of the team. of our boys are not the high school choices. It’s all because of the team.” The growth of soccer in Somerville years; that they are in a position for Another student-athlete put it much mirrors the changes that have taken better things to come. When Scarpelli more succinctly: “We’re a family on the place in the city. What used to be con- learned that one of his student-athletes field.” sidered a predominantly white, work- had won an award from his teachers ing class Massachusetts city has become for overall improvement in class, he Ryan Guilmartin is a Somerville home to many immigrants, especially said “That’s better than winning a state High School history teacher and from Brazil, Haiti and El Salvador, where tournament.” soccer coach.

72 ReVista spring 2012 section header

preparing for rio

Rio de Janeiro will host the Olympics and the World Cup. Preparations are underway and challenges lie ahead.

n Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup 74 n Preparing Rio 76 n My Goalsetters 79 n Preparing for the Olympics 81 n Complexo do Alemão 84

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Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup

What Price Prestige? By Stanley Engerman

Two major international sporting events The hope, seldom if ever realized, is that mer and winter Olympics experienced attract wide audiences in many coun- the stadia and arenas for sporting events losses—despite the frequently lucrative tries—three if we treat separately, as do will serve a useful purpose in future years television contracts which have appar- the Olympic Committee (IOC) and tele- for the city’s population, while the Olym- ently become the primary financial sup- vision networks since 1994, the Winter pic Village will be sold to provide hous- porter of the Olympics. Although there Olympics and the Summer Olympics. ing for residents. There are often other had been knowledge of corruption and Then there’s the World Cup of soc- problems that serve to limit gains (or, also some complaints of the manner in cer, or as called outside of the United more likely, to increase losses). The prin- which the IOC operated, no real impor- States, football. These events have cer- cipal argument for benefit is the hoped- tant attacks occurred that threatened tain things in common. They occur every for expectation of attracting customers to change the nature of the selection four years; they have huge television and from outside the city, who would pro- procedure. international audiences; the location of vide revenues for hotels, restaurants and The first modern summer Olympics the event is different each time; there ticket sales. These expectations, however, took place in Athens in 1896, with 14 is some discussion of bribery in choos- are not often met, and revenue gener- nations participating. They have since ing the location (generally because such ally falls short of the amount projected taken place every four years, except dur- bribery exists); and much controversy at the time of competing for the event. ing World Wars I and II, the most recent about the outcome of particular sport- Also, rather traditionally, the several being the Beijing Olympics in 2008, with ing events is certain to occur. Each event years that lag between the competition more than 200 nations participating. is the property of a private organization, for hosting the events and the actual The winter Olympics began in 1924 and, which is responsible for choosing the event see an increase in the costs above except during World War II, took place location, overseeing the nature of local projections, costs which must be met every four years (until 1992) in the same arrangements and the rules regarding by the hosts in fulfillment of their year as the summer Olympics. Then, due participants and selling the international obligations. to the benefits to the IOC of splitting the television contracts. This private orga- It is the general shortfall of revenues two Olympics, and thus gaining from nization also does everything it can to and the over-run of costs that account for favorable television contracts, the next protect the monopoly of the event’s logo, the major financial problems confronted winter Olympics was held in 1994, and apparel and related goods. by the host. But, also important, is the it has since taken place every four years. In 2014, the World Cup will be held in nature of the commitments made to The World Cup, now presided over by Brazil, and then in 2016, Rio de Janeiro obtain the events, and the failure of the the soccer organization, FIFA, held its will host the Summer Olympics. Many in post-event expectations about the use first event in 1930, and then it has taken Brazil are anticipating profits and trans- of constructed facilities to be realized, place every four years except for the WW formations of the country’s infrastruc- meaning that much of the construction is II years. The summer Olympics had, af- ture. Yet, are those expectations realistic? usually never utilized to the anticipated ter 1900, included a soccer competition, One thing is certain: every time, the extent. and this has continued except for 1932, competition to become the location of With only several exceptions, the but this event has lost its prestige value these events has recently become rather Olympics and World Cup had meant relative to the World Cup. fierce, with a number of cities or coun- severe financial losses for the hosts. Little is known about the financial tries competing heavily for the rights to Yet, given this knowledge, the compe- aspects of the early Olympics, although host the event, cities for the Olympics, titions to hold these events are highly it is believed that the 1984 Los Ange- countries for the World Cup. The nature sought after, whether due to excessive les summer Olympics was the first (and of the bidding is the first step in what optimism or the belief that international probably the last) of the games to show often becomes a financial disaster. It is prestige is worth the cost. To which the a positive profit. There have been a num- required that the hosts provide an ex- basic question would be—what price ber of financial horror stories, of the host tended infrastructure for the games, in- prestige, or international stature? Only city losing large sums of money, with cluding facilities for the actual events as the 1984 summer Olympics in Los An- costs exceeding expectations while rev- well as housing for Olympic participants. geles showed a profit. All other sum- enue fell below what had been expected.

74 ReVista spring 2012 preparing for rio

The Montreal summer Olympics cost Cup are the regional requirements for frastructure. London put in a bid for the $1.2 billion, leaving a debt of $750 mil- infrastructure. As part of the bill for 2012 summer Olympics at the time at an lion that was not fully paid off until the 2002 World Cup, Japan was required estimated cost of $2.4 billion. Last heard, about two years ago. The 1992 Barcelona to build seven new stadiums and refur- the estimated cost was about $9 billion, Olympics cost about $10.7 billion and bish three more, at a cost of $4.5 billion, most to be provided by a public subsidy. left a debt for the government of $6.1 while South Korea built ten new sta- It is probable that the subsidy will be in billion. The 2004 Athens Olympics cost diums at a cost of $2 billion. These are the 80-90 percent range of some early about $9 to 10 billion, a figure equal to now generally referred to as “white el- Olympics—90 percent (Montreal 1976) about 5 percent of Greece’s GNP, leaving ephants.” The largest of the Japanese sta- and 82 percent (Munich 1972). a net debt of about $11.5 billion. Costs diums, 64,000 seats, cost $667 million to By now the main source of revenues were only part of the problems faced by build. After the World Cup the city paid for the Olympics has been the sale of TV Athens, as the demand was unexpectedly $6 million per year to maintain a facility broadcasting rights, mainly via sales to small. Only an estimated two-thirds of for a local team that barely drew 20,000 the U.S. networks. These rights belong to the tickets were sold, and the number of fans. the IOC, and the organization controls the visitors to Greece fell by about 12 percent The Montreal Olympic Stadium was distribution to local committees, a share from the previous year. initially budgeted at $150 million, but that was about 30 percent in 2000. After The 2008 Beijing Olympics cost when it was completed it cost $1.47 bil- several decades of rapid rise in fees paid, about $43 billion. In the cases of Athens lion including repairs, charges, and in- this increase has recently been slowed. and Beijing, much of the financial dif- terest. This made a substantial contri- In the post-1980 period, the demands of ficulty was due to the requirements for building infrastructure for the games, which generally meant new stadiums and arenas for their events. In Athens, Brazil’s 12 host cities have been slow in completing 21 of the 22 built stadiums have been left underutilized, and these often have some the twelve stadiums and thirteen airports, (plus 50 continued costs of maintenance. A simi- transportation projects) it promised FIFA, and there is lar outcome occurred in China, where, despite the $43 billion cost, many of the presently talk of a lawsuit by FIFA to encourage Brazil new facilities have no use. No permanent to complete these pieces of infrastructure. At present use was found for the very expensive ($500 million) new stadium. It now ap- the estimated cost is about $11.2 billion. pears that it will be made into a shopping mall while other smaller stadiums are to be demolished. The Olympic Park built bution to Montreal’s debt of $1 billion. television led to a fundamental change in for Sydney, for the 2000 games, has not The home of the money-losing Montreal the rules of eligibility, permitting profes- been utilized. And after the 2010 World Expos of the National League until they sionals as well as amateurs to participate, Cup in South Africa, new stadiums re- left for Washington in 2004, the stadium and allowing participants to receive cash mained empty, the residue of a cost of now has limited uses for sporting and rewards for performances. The most $5.4 billion. The winter Olympics of other events. It has no main tenant and dramatic shift to professionalism in 2010 in Vancouver has similarly led to is now called “The Big One,” a reference the Olympics came when the 1992 U.S. financial difficulties. The early expecta- to its financial position. basketball team shifted from com- tion that the Olympic Village would cov- The expectations of continued deficit pletely college and amateur players to er its costs by being sold for housing has expenditures are seen for both the 2012 National Basketball Association All- not been fulfilled: fewer than half of the Olympics to be held in London, and Stars, the so-called Dream Team. This apartments have been sold, the shortfall the 2014 World Cup to be held in Bra- shift was made for two reasons—one, to contributing to the overall debt from the zil. Brazil’s 12 host cities have been slow make things more appealing to televi- games of $743 million. This was, howev- in completing the twelve stadiums and sion, but also as a response to failure to er, considerably less than the loss in the thirteen airports (plus 50 transportation win in earlier years, and as a nationalis- 1998 winter Olympics in Japan, where a projects) it promised FIFA, and there is tic desire to reassert U.S. supremacy in cost of $13-14 billion ended with a debt presently talk of a lawsuit by FIFA to en- this sport. of $11 billion. courage Brazil to complete these pieces What may seem puzzling, given the Important in creating loss for the of infrastructure. At present the estimat- near certainty of a loss of substantial host city of Olympics and the World ed cost is about $11.2 billion, most for in- magnitude, is the increased desire of

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more cities to obtain rights to hold these events. In 1984 only one city, Los Angeles, was bidding for the Olympics, successfully. By 2012 it was up to nine cities, and for 2016 it was 12. In the United States, cities frequently provide some subsidies to their professional sports franchises through the building of stadiums and arenas. It is well established that these cities do not cover costs. The justification involves some non- pecuniary or non-financial explanations—such as municipal pride—how can you regard yourself as a major city without an NFL franchise, prestige of having a major league team, of improving city spirits, of gaining attention from others. These are some of the explanations for undertaking an activity that is expected to Preparing Rio lose money. These explanations are, of course, the rationale for seeking Breaking the Cycle of Violence By Claudio Beato an Olympics or a World Cup, although on a greater scale given their greater costs. Thus expecting financial losses, based on the past record, What have we Brazilians been doing to transactions openly take place with other is not itself a deterrent from bidding break the ongoing cycle of violence boys and girls delivering large plastic for these events. plaguing the country over the past three bags—all the while in contact with the The combination of the World Cup decades? Can we offer a safe environ- armed lookouts. The entire favela has in 2014 and the Summer Olympics ment to foreign visitors before we host taken on the look of actual military oper- in 2016 promises to have a negative the World Cup in two years? And in the ations. All of this translates into an ever- impact on Brazil’s financial position. Olympic Games in 2016? You may have present sense of insecurity for the people Brazil’s construction of the necessary seen some of the violent scenes on the living in large urban centers. infrastructure is currently behind the streets of Rio de Janeiro or in the north- However, the boys and girls on the projected schedule due to poor plan- east: helicopters shot down by heavily- lookout are only tangential protagonists ning and financial constraints and it armed drug traffickers, gunfights in of the organized crime threatening the is not clear if they will be able to com- luxury hotel lobbies, mass murders and order and power of the Rio de Janeiro plete their commitments as to the judges assassinated by police officers. state. Those who have kept a trained eye number and quality of airports, sta- This looks like an environment of urban on the situation have discerned a wor- diums, and ground transportation. warfare. risome rising criminal profile with very How the issue will be resolved if Bra- A visit to one of the areas controlled distinct traits and an even more orga- zil does keep its promises remains by gangs involved in drug trafficking is nized design. Criminal activity has been to be seen, although the Brazilian an eye-opening experience, with younger structured with the logic of large urban officials claim that all will be comp- boys and girls serving as lookouts to alert centers. Crime begins with gang activ- leted by the start of the World Cup. gang members about the possible intru- ity in impoverished neighborhoods with sion of enemies and/or police. At the high unemployment and unfavorable Stanley Engerman is John Munro same time, on the broader, surrounding economic and social conditions. Jailing Professor of Economics and Professor streets of the favela, another set of armed gang members has led to a new level of of History, University of Rochester, boys and girls keep watch from wooden organization initially developed within and Visiting Professor of Economics benches or crates—also equipped with prison walls in the form of coalitions at Harvard University. handheld radio communicators. Drug that serve originally for protection but

76 ReVista spring 2012 photos by greg scruggs preparing for rio

Views of Rio and its favelas: is it possible to turn things around before the World Cup and the Olympics?

rapidly degenerate into criminal activ- occur in the same way and to the same One of the most emblematic scenes ity. The main Brazilian criminal factions degree throughout the entire country. In for Brazil in the fight against crime in today originated in the slums and orga- some regions, highly organized groups underprivileged communities was the nized in jail. Groups compete intensely, tightly control the areas they dominate. occupation of the Vila Cruzeiro neigh- using both and increasing mechanisms In a large portion of more populated ur- borhood by Rio de Janeiro’s police force. of corruption to win fierce competition ban centers, youth gangs fight each other After a number of successive criminal at- for territory. in poorer, underprivileged areas. But tacks against the population, the police As the situation seems to evolve from now, they are being replaced by more stormed and overtook two of the main laissez-faire gangs to organized crime, is organized groups that have a different strongholds. It was the beginning of the it possible to turn things around before logic, more structured and rational. attack on “the heart of evil,” as the state’s the World Cup and the Olympics? What All violence—independently of its public safety chief termed it. Television is being done—and what are the results level of organization—is usually spatially viewers saw amazing images of a horde that are being registered in major cities concentrated and tends to contaminate of Vila Cruzeiro drug traffickers scram- around the country? A few states, such surrounding areas and neighboring com- bling from police into the neighboring as São Paulo and Minas Gerais, have munities. Violent communities continue Complexo do Alemão—the next area to managed to achieve important mile- to perpetuate the crime pattern that has be raided and taken by the Army and po- stones, while other states like Bahia and been present over many years and open lice. Viewers saw a crew of rag-tag young Alagoas have witnessed a dramatic de- the doors to organized crime as fertile men that did not seem to fit the image of cline in public safety conditions. Large grounds for recruiting and sales. organized crime thought to rule over Rio to medium-size urban centers around It is known that concentrated socio- de Janeiro’s favelas. Rather than looking the country have all suffered urban vio- economic disadvantages are inseparable like an irresistible fortress, the scene sug- lence. Rio de Janeiro has used police from the presence and ills of concen- gested more a symbolic decline of an era occupation operations in extremely vio- trated violence. On the other hand, not of organized crime if it was represented lent areas to re-establish order in the all underprivileged areas have elevated by that particular group of young men. communities bordering tourist attrac- violence. Many neighborhoods, commu- At any rate, the state’s simple territo- tions, and such strategies may be imple- nities and favelas are relatively peaceful; rial occupation of the community was an mented in other parts of the city over the conversely, we have yet to find a violent important moment in the area’s public short term. area that is not classified as underprivi- safety policy. But is this enough to ensure public leged. However, organized crime—often Lately, iron-fisted governmental safety and improve the institutions in originating in poor communities—mani- strategies have been pushing out tradi- charge of security? Let’s take a moment to fests itself in wealthier communities tional criminals. Instead, they stimulated recall some of the specific characteristics through public insecurity, money laun- the growth of, and competition between, of crime in Brazil. First, crime does not dering, corruption and extortion. organized crime groups that tend to take

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a business approach and have more effi- However, the leap from the condi- ganization, we have a recipe for the same cient criminal patterns. The aim of these tions that breed crime to new, organized disasters we have witnessed in other groups has increasingly turned toward criminal levels has more to do with Latin American countries. Lethargic and making political connections, sometimes the institutional incapacity to deal with inefficient justice departments prevail, getting representatives from the groups more complex criminal structures. The while government administrations fail elected into office in legislative assem- modernization of the criminal justice to introduce incremental mechanisms of blies and on municipal boards. system, focusing on particularly intense effective management, as well as the ap- As a result, “militias” are developing police reform, is one of the most impor- propriate legislative infrastructure. within Rio de Janeiro’s criminal scene. tant priorities. Nevertheless, it is also a fact that many Police and military officer involvement The ability to establish control and states in Brazil have shown exceptional with these illegally formed groups within cohesion mechanisms in communities results in the fight against crime. Over favelas has long been said to be common. riddled with violence—known in the lit- the past 20 years, the relative absence However, over the last few years, we have erature as collective efficiency—in truth of the federal government in addressing seen these militias become stronger, re- depends heavily on the strength of in- public safety issues has forced governors organizing their activities on an entirely stitutions. One of the most important to take matters into their own hands in new level. Because the state is not ca- aspects in the control of crime pivotally the search for effective solutions. pable of restoring order in these com- depends on the active participation of With its declining homicide rate, São munities, criminal activities take on an the Brazilian criminal justice system. Paulo is an intriguing case study to ana- informal, however no less illegal, shape Brazilian court proceedings are slow, lyze. The city has attempted to restruc- through militia groups. The key factor resulting in incredibly low conviction ture investigative precincts by increasing to minimize the conflict between groups rates. Fewer than one of ten homicides staff and providing training. In addition, tends to be through radical methods of result in some sort of punishment; only police officers on the street have focused controlling the market—which, in turn, 23 percent of cases reaching the courts on confiscating weapons wherever and includes the imprisonment of, or even are ruled on by judges. We have penal whenever possible. Coupled with a prop- elimination of competitors. In addition, laws created in the 1940s for a complete- er, modernized information system and commercial activities have begun to ly different scenario than the one cur- high arrest rates, the effort has resulted branch out into other areas beyond those rently being faced. in a direct decrease in crime indicators. of drug trafficking, again no less illegal, Our police force is poorly managed; Similar investment in modern police in the form of informal access to public it is frequently lax in carrying out essen- management methods, decentralization services, illegal connection to the electric tial duties and, to bring back a recurring and integration of the public safety sec- power system, goods and services such as theme, often involved in serious cases of tor taken by the state of Minas Gerais gas, transportation and public safety and human rights violations, police abuse and has now led to a 50 percent reduction in even prostitution rings. Because conflict brutality. Some states have seen record violent crimes in its large urban centers. is costly and time-consuming, coopera- highs in victim fatality in police actions. The enormous events that Brazil tion among groups and reaching an un- Over the last ten years, the Rio de Janei- will host have also served as a catalyst derstanding with police offers a better ro police force has been responsible for for solutions that may come together to alternative to warring with local factions. more than 11,000 violent deaths—a fig- provide positive results in public safety. As groups have developed a sharper ure that accounts for 20 percent of over- Even if the initial purpose may be to business sense through the expansion of all homicides in the same city. Corrup- construct pockets of safety for visitors mechanisms of control and monopoly of tion levels and police involvement in or- of these events, they may result in creat- local markets, excessive violence is seen ganized crime have reached fever pitch. ing ever-expanding safe havens that may as less necessary. How has this come about? A succes- one day end up as an entire continent Both social and institutional factors sion of poorly run governments have of safety. perpetuate this situation. Communities lacked the political mettle required to made up of families lacking structure, take on serious public safety issues and Claudio Beato is a professor in the wracked by teenage pregnancy, truancy, to allocate the necessary financial re- Department of Sociology and Anthropol- poor schooling and informal employ- sources and institutional re-engineering. ogy at the Federal University of Minas ment, in addition to high rates of alco- If we add to the equation the constantly Gerais, where he is the coordinator for holism and drug-addiction, provide fer- acute situation of the favelas and hous- the Center for Studies in Criminality tile grounds for producing a generation ing issues in Brazil, the processes of and Public Security (CRISP). He was the of youths with little to no supervision, spatial segregation and socio-economic 2009-10 Jorge Paulo Lemann Visiting and whose family members have limited decay in the population of large urban Scholar at Harvard’s David Rockefeller control over their behavior. centers, informality, disorder and disor- Center for Latin American Studies.

78 ReVista spring 2012 preparing for rio

My Goalsetters

Finding Hope in Pirituba By Preston So

As I stood in an unkempt Brazilian park, seemed to wane there, and paulistanos cer field, laid only weeks before myar- seemingly landscaped as an after- were sheltering themselves—quite un- rival. I peered at the students, uniformed thought, trucks and buses careened left derstandably—in the vast apartment in matching white Clube Escola T-shirts and right on the thoroughfare behind buildings that ten percent of Brazilians and blue shin guards. I noticed on- me. Their cacophony was accentuated now call home. Caio pointed at an area lookers, young and old, cheering the by a squeaking highway sign, detached behind my workplace, where a steep athletes on. from its post and swinging carelessly in hillside separates the community center The Clube Escola program is unri- the wind, perpetually in danger of tum- from a few dilapidated tenements and valed in its penetration of the most dis- bling, scythe-like, to the asphalt below. It his public primary school. “It was over advantaged neighborhoods of São Paulo. was in this setting that ten-year-old Caio, there,” he said expressionlessly. “This is Scarcely five blocks from the community bursting with energy, told me about the why you can never walk on that road that center, the ramshackle roofs of corrugat- day he nearly lost a finger. goes by the hillside. One day, at seven ed steel and signature symbols of favela In Pirituba, a peripheral suburb of in the morning, I walked it to get to my life starkly belie the rapid development São Paulo, breathless talk of the impend- school. Right as I got to the top, a man Pirituba pursues today. Yet the Clube Es- ing Olimpíadas and Copa do Mundo fills ran out, reached for my backpack, and cola and the Pirituba community center the air, but there is a sense of unease— threatened to stab me.” enjoy high attendance at their programs amid the optimism—about Brazil’s read- He gripped his fingers anxiously. “I in youth soccer and judo—with more iness for the one-two punch in less im- didn’t know what to do. I let him take my than a hundred participants—build- mediately visible ways. The convergence backpack, but he almost cut my finger ing on high esteem for established op- of these mammoth undertakings formed off anyway.” With that, he showed me his portunities in yoga and other initiatives an intriguing backdrop for my internship hand, where an inch-long scar ravaged for adults. Children at the Clube Escola teaching English at a city-funded pro- his pointer finger, and pursed his lips in are admitted solely on proof of enroll- gram linking athletic achievement with frustration. ment at school, and they must continue social dividends. Many of the metropolis’ “I couldn’t go to school anymore after to keep up academically in order to stay community centers now have these ini- that,” he said. “The Clube Escola will kick in the program. tiatives, Clubes Escola (“School Clubs”), me out because I dropped out, but fute- My project was to offer the students that provide afterschool sports programs bol’s the only thing I’ve got left.” a comprehensive curriculum in English for children and teenagers. Professor Tatá, as he is affectionately that immersed them in the language, The tension surrounding Brazil’s in- known, is one of the head soccer coach- but that they could relate to. Relying on creasing exposure on the world stage was es, and while I watched a pickup soccer educational materials that I had written, certainly reflected in Caio’s experience. Amid a welcome peppering of questions to me about America (“Have you met “My goal is not to create soccer players,” he said. Michael Jackson? Have you met Barack Obama?”), he related his close brush “It’s to create citizens.” with death. “This place is too dangerous,” he told me authoritatively, and I was pleased game from the sidelines, he described his I managed to weave the formidable dif- he was teaching me for a change. He ambitious vision between pep talks and ficulty of English into a course that incor- gestured at my backpack, the placement demonstrations. “My goal is not to cre- porated elements of citizenship, leader- of my wallet, and my overall demeanor. ate soccer players,” he said. “It’s to create ship and futebol to inspire my students. “You have to be on the lookout all the citizens.” But given the state of Brazilian public time.” At Clube Escola Liderança, the fruits education today, I found that many pu- He was right. In São Paulo, a friend of his labor were omnipresent. Before pils already “exposed” to English were commented about a loss of “our culture.” me, I saw the new synthetic grass that subjected to frequent teacher absentee- The famous friendliness of Brazilians adorned the formerly sand-only soc- ism and an unsatisfactory curriculum,

drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 79 compounded by a paucity of teaching day one. Each time I drilled conjugations The first group of the day kicks off on materials and infrastructure. of to have, I attempted to involve him. recently sodded synthetic grass at Clube As one of my most driven students, He merely shook his head and remained Escola Liderança. Luis, told me, he and his brother suffered silent. “He doesn’t know the answer be- from a curriculum too advanced for their cause he can’t read,” his classmates even- to the Coração de Bugre bus stop. Dur- ability and too limited in its approach. tually informed me. “And he’s in the fifth ing the day, it is a bustling place evocative Every day, he said, they would relearn grade.” I then realized that he had simply of a forward-looking Brazil. Casual com- numbers and the verb to be, and no prog- been emulating his classmates’ responses muters eagerly brandish smartphones ress was made in grammar or vocabulary. and repeating my spoken words. I bor- and music players, as newfangled LED “[Our teacher] talks so fast that the only dered on despair as I sent him home, screens list the next arriving buses. At words I can understand are ‘boys and pained that there was nothing more I night, the stop becomes silent, with peo- girls,’” he lamented. could do. ple looking furtively about them, warily These disadvantages were striking. For all its incredible progress in the keeping hands—and fingers—safe in In my first week of classes, I taught basic last several decades, Brazil still has work pockets. Even so, amidst the insecure greetings and games to forty students, to do before it can fend off accusations darkness, there is a brilliant beacon of ages eight to seventeen, irrespective of of unpreparedness for the two most possibility in the distance: the newly their prior credentials. By the end of important sporting events on earth. installed stadium lights at Clube Escola my internship my class enrollment had Hope is on the horizon with programs Liderança, where a brightly illuminated dwindled to eight motivated learners, like Clube Escola; through playing soc- team of teenagers kick and lunge on into only half of whom presented final proj- cer and extolling teamwork and sports- the night. ects about their career aspirations. They manship, these young athletes will grasp stunned me with their newfound fluency what it means to exercise citizenship Preston So is a sophomore at Harvard with each successive poster: I want to be and command self-discipline. These are College currently concentrating in a veterinarian. A pilot. A teacher. Olympic qualities. linguistics. He hopes to write a thesis Nonetheless, my biggest shock was On one breezy evening, one of my last concerning language rights and policy. with Marcos, a struggling youngster before I would leave São Paulo, I left a Preston So is also a web designer at whose English had not improved since co-worker’s birthday party and walked www.prestonsodesign.com.

80 ReVista spring 2012 photo by preston so preparing for rio

Preparing for the Olympics

A Tale of Two Favelas By Jake Cummings

This is a tale of two favelas: united in maravilhosa. On this flat plain in Jaca- surface road to one of Rio’s major tran- scarcity, divided by provision. repaguá—an indigenous name meaning sit corridors. In the face of this project, Favelas—“informal settlements” to “shallow alligator pond”—you are less Bezerra is working to keep as many dis- the academic, “illegal slums” to the an- likely to see alligators than unfenced placed residents within the community tipathetic—are spontaneous, grassroots horses, their heads languidly bent to lap as possible. He is pragmatic in his deal- communities found throughout Brazil. water from puddles along the avenue. ings with the city: strategically combat- In Rio de Janeiro, host to the upcoming In Chile, the name “Salvador Allende” ive when he thinks he can get conces- World Cup and Olympics events, these brings to mind the Marxist president sions; cooperative when he is resigned to settlements are marbled throughout the who led the nation down La vía chilena their position. wildly protruding landscape, clinging al socialismo—“the Chilean path to so- But while the introduction of a mass to hillsides and diving under viaducts. cialism.” But in Rio, Salvador Allende transit artery is set of shave off part of About one out of every five of Rio’s citi- leads to the Barra mega-development the village, new investments are also in zens calls a favela home. Much of what the outside world understands about Rio’s favelas is shaped by popular representations of savagery, criminality, The Avenida is, in many ways, a living spectacle of and despair, such as the film Cidade de Deus (“City of God”). But in the peaceful the unfolding clash between a mega-scale coalition of spots, there is no organized crime or drug corporate and government elites and the micro-scale trade. People go to work, help their kids with homework, and enjoy a barbeque sensibilities of favela life. on the holidays. They exist outside the city’s networks of services, and not much ink is spilled about them. Now that the cluster for the Olympic Games—that is the works. Because of its visibility to the Olympics are coming to town, however, to say, in quite the opposite direction of Olympics Barra cluster, and therefore the world is beginning to take note. its ideological namesake. to international visitors, the community Around the bend from the real Cidade The Avenida is, in many ways, a living has been prioritized for urbanization de Deus—which is not technically a fave- spectacle of the unfolding clash between through the Morar Carioca program. The la, but originally a social housing project a mega-scale coalition of corporate and latest incarnation of Rio’s favela upgrad- built for favela evictees—are Asa Branca government elites and the micro-scale ing efforts, Morar Carioca represents an and Vila Autódromo. Separated by little sensibilities of favela life. The self-built, R$8 billion investment in city services more than half a mile, today these two self-contained Asa Branca is on the far and public space improvements for fave- favela communities have proximate northeast end, where most days Carlos las, expressly favoring the communities geographies but divergent destinies. Alberto “Bezerra” Costa can be found within Olympics venue perimeters. Slat- While the Summer Olympic Games are manning his hot dog stand in a row of ed for Asa Branca are health clinics, land set to kick off in London later this year, local businesses facing the thoroughfare. titling, and improvements to the sewer- the Rio 2016 Olympic juggernaut is al- As president of Asa Branca’s residents’ age system. So far, the community has ready deciding winners and losers at association, Bezerra is also the captain had little input into the formulation of home. So far, Asa Branca appears to be of a ship rocked by the first waves of the these projects, and Bezerra’s stance has a winner, while Vila Autódromo’s fate Olympics’ turbulent waters. had to be mainly reactive. hangs in limbo. The city has informed the community At face value, Morar Carioca will im- Both neighborhoods open up to the of its plans to condemn approximately prove the quality of life in Asa Branca, thoroughfare Avenida Salvador Allen- thirty residences for demolition in or- but these improvements could be a mixed de, four lanes of traffic split by a broad, der to make way for the TransOlímpica blessing. With urbanization and better shrubby median, and a world apart Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line, which services, the community becomes more from the rugged grandeur of the cidade will transform the Avenida from a quiet conducive for formal development. With

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nearby sports venues and transporta- that the 2016 Games would be awarded tor by the entrance to the community tion infrastructure, it becomes attractive to Rio, this sleepy settlement has been to topple the houses,” she told commu- to middle-class households. And with embroiled in a battle with Rio’s city gov- nity journalists last year. “So, the people land titling, it becomes commodified ernment over its future. closed the community and did not let for property owners to sell on the open The Olympic Park, the focal point anyone enter.” Today the community en- market. Together these ingredients con- of the Barra Olympics cluster, is slated trance has a welcome sign with a banner stitute a recipe for gentrification, the dis- for this pie slice of land jutting out into stretched beneath reading: Não remove placement of lower-income households, the lagoon. While most of the site’s land meu sonho-Urbanize. “Don’t remove my and the breakdown of community cohe- area is taken up by the racetrack and is dream–Urbanize.” sion and character. Tall condominium thus unpopulated, the city and the Bra- As it stands, the fate of Vila Autódro- towers rising on land surrounding the zilian Olympic Committee insist that mo is suspended over a gap that routine- community contribute to the sense of the village (population 4,000) cannot ly opens up between policy and politics besiegement. remain as part of the redevelopment in Brazil. The intent of policy and law Despite their anxiety about rising real program, and they have begun the pro- is clear: the community supposedly has estate speculation and alterations to the cess of forced eviction. Vila Autódromo secure tenure; squatters’ right to posses- urban fabric, Bezerra and his neighbors residents, who have endured this threat sion is granted after five years; and land have made out reasonably well for the before and obtained right-to-use title in takings are not legal except in certain cir- time being. But a short walk past the 1994, are fighting the action in court and cumstances, such as in areas of environ- speeding cars and banana trees of Ave- in the hearts and minds of the interna- mental risk. But despite this progressive nida Salvador Allende takes you to a vil- tional community. policy environment, public officials often lage in far more precarious straits. Here, One resident activist who has helped try to manipulate and intimidate their wedged in the interstitial space between the community withstand pressures to politically unsophisticated constituents, the Avenida, a race track, and a large relocate through the Rio Earth Summit use divide-and-conquer tactics, or make lagoon—the Lagoa de Jacarepaguá—is in 1992, as well as the Pan-American transparently insincere claims such as the fishing village of Vila Autódromo. Games in 2007, is 54-year-old Jane Nas- the environmental risk gambit. Each of Almost from the moment the Interna- cimento de Oliveira. “The city govern- these justifications has been used at one tional Olympic Committee announced ment even went so far as to put a trac- time or another against Vila Autódromo.

82 ReVista spring 2012 preparing for rio

Photos (far left): A residential street in Asa Branca; (top and bottom middle): What remains of evicted favela Recreio II; (right): Context map of the planned Olympics developments..

Follow Avenida Salvador Allende fur- recipe for debt and corruption? Does economic or environmental terms. Tell- ther southwest to its end and you join the effort required expand access to jobs ingly, in the brief for the design for the up with a second planned BRT line, the and public amenities or does it channel Olympic Park, the section on ecologi- TransOeste, which stretches across the benefits mainly to the already wealthy cal sustainability goes on for ten pages, Barra neighborhood on its way to Rio’s and privileged? Indeed, the effect of while a short paragraph regarding “social outer suburbs. In the wake of construc- the many exigencies and vast urban re- inclusion” remains unheeded. Today Asa tion for this bit of infrastructure lie the shaping that comes with hosting the Branca comes out ahead, but tomorrow remains of the demolished favelas of Games is complex and multi-faceted. But the urban growth machine could reverse Restinga, Recreio II, and Vila Harmonia, a place where the Olympics Games falls course and decide that it, too, needs to the hollowed-out shells of the remaining particularly short is in the area of spatial go. Such is the predicament of what fave- structures a foreshadow of one possible equity. From Seoul to Barcelona to At- la scholar Janice Perlman calls “living on future for Vila Autódromo. Here some of lanta to Beijing, the Games have meant the edge”. Rio’s most marginal residents, who may eviction, dispersal, worsened segrega- have lacked the political savvy of Bezerra tion, and diminished affordable housing Jake Cummings is a Master in Urban or Jane, have been relocated to social in urban centers. Planning student at Harvard Graduate housing projects even more remote from It doesn’t have to be this way. In the School of Design. His work and research their long-time homes, jobs, and social topsy-turvy logic of Rio’s Olympics plan- on favelas and their urbanization was networks. The legacy of Cidade de Deus ning, some communities are awarded made possible by the GSD’s Community lives on, in other words, and it and ema- long-needed improvements and services, Service Fellowship Program and by a nates in ever more remote reaches of the while others get intimidation and deceit. research grant awarded by the David urban periphery. The idea of social sustainability—that Rockefeller Center for Latin American Every four years, cities with Olym- healthy societies depend on respect for Studies. Most of the information for this pic glory in their hearts vie to host the community, civic participation, and or- article comes from his and others’ contri- Games. Then the debates rage, as inevi- ganically formed connections to urban butions to RioOnWatch.org, a commu- table as they are familiar. Are the Games space—does not yet command the same nity journalism site run by the nonprofit a catalyst for investment and fame or a purchase as sustainability in strictly organization Catalytic Communities.

photo OPPOSITE PAGE by Candy Pilar Godoy; top and bottom left by Candy Pilar drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 83 Godoy; Right—Google Earth, Victoria Wolcott, Jake Cummings (map) Complexo do Alemão

Rio de Janeiro field notes by gsd riostudio

Harvard GSD RioStudio members arrive in Rio de Janeiro for a week’s intensive field work in one of the city’s largest groups of informal settlements, Complexo de Alemão, home to about 80,000 people. Government initiatives have been developed to improve basic infrastructure, ac- cessibility (including the teleférico system, above), environmental quality and violence prevention. RioStudio’s work this semester entails the investigation of possibilities for the insertion of new schools and community social services into the Complexo’s tightly-knit urban fabric.

On-site planning session. Prior to commencing the field work, studio The support of local community leaders enabled students to leaders, Harvard Graduate School of Design Professors Jorge Silvetti penetrate into the least accessible areas to acquire a first-hand un- and Paul Nakazawa, together with studio members; Lemann Fellow derstanding of the process of change various communities within Pedro Henriques de Cristo and DRCLAS’ Tomás Amorim, met with the Complexo are experiencing. Recognizing the present social community volunteers who acted as guides through the labyrinth of identity and memory of each community is a fundamental part of the Complexo’s narrow streets and passageways. the investigation that will inform the design process.

84 ReVista spring 2012 art courtesy of gsd riostudio preparing for rio

With base maps of the Complexo’s terrain provided by the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro, the studio deployed three teams of students with local community guides to develop a detailed map of buildings and landmarks important to the residents. Over the course of a week, the team members walked more than 100 kilometers in the Complexo.

The Municipality of Rio de Janeiro, in joint venture with the Office of the President’s Secretary for Strategic Affairs, is engaged in a long-term research initiative to improve public policies concerning Early Childhood Development (ECD). One of GSD RioStudio’s challenges is to address the presently ill-defined criteria for spatial qualities that would best support the educational mission for younger children within the specific context of the Complexo.

Now back in Cambridge, the studio is generating concepts and designs for new schools and community social ser- Left to right, front to back: Adriano (community guide), Christin To, Caroline vices for the Complexo do Alemão. We see the World Cup Shannon, Tristie Tajima, Liwen Zhang, Lucia, Raquel Gutierrez, Amy Fung, Paul and Olympics as potentially useful catalysts for the more Nakazawa (instructor), Karl Landsteiner, Zhou Wu, Tomás Amorim (DRCLAS- sustainable efforts being made in Rio and Brazil toward Brazil Office), Francisco Izquierdo (research assistant), Pedro Henriques de addressing social, economic and environmental issues. Cristo (special advisor), Luciano (community guide), Jorge Silvetti (instructor), that are the foundations for improving the lives of citizens Danish Kurani, Marina Correia (TA), Alexandr Nizhikhovsky. well into the future.

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The author is no mind- Jobs for the Boys: less booster of patronage systems, though. Throughout the The Politics of Public volume, she reminds us that the flexibility that patronage Sector Reform affords government to achieve its goals can also be viewed A Review by Barbara Nunberg as capriciousness. As such, it’s an appropriate target of reform. Jobs for the Boys scores Merilee Grindle, Jobs for the patronage has been employed perhaps its best points in Boys: The Politics of Public by rulers to achieve political discussing the “process” of Sector Reform (Harvard objectives. It then documents reform. Experience suggests University Press, 2012) the ongoing struggle to reduce that reforms commonly origi- “Party government isn’t or- the role of patronage in public nate in crisis. The revolution ganized for efficiency, nor to administration through the in Japan, Prussia and France that spawned Japan’s Meiji serve the people. It is orga- introduction of Weberian bu- by rewarding local elites restoration, the egalitarian nized to provide jobs for the reaucracies or, more recent- while consolidating central- impulse of the French revolu- boys.” ly, of market-friendly New ized power at the national tion, Britain’s dismal perfor- Merilee Grindle begins her Public Management. These level. In Mexico, Chile and mance in the Crimean War, remarkable book with this developed-country reform Argentina, patronage ap- the assassination of President lament from a 1913 edition narratives provide a backdrop pointments allowed leaders William Garfield by a dis- of the Syracuse Herald. It’s for the analysis of four impor- to mount bold policy reforms gruntled office-seeker, each a familiar refrain, especially tant Latin American cases— by recruiting specialized tech- triggered a reform “moment.” to the international agencies Argentina, Brazil, Chile and nocratic competence into Just as Argentina’s early pouring aid dollars into pro- Mexico. Each has waged its high-level reform teams. Nor 1990s fiscal crisis spurred moting civil service reform in own war—with varying de- is patronage an inevitable a cost containment policy developing countries. Patron- grees of success—to promote source of corruption. The U.S. that in turn incorporated age in the public sector—dol- merit-based civil services. founding fathers targeted merit-based civil service re- ing out positions, promotions The work is an ambitious patronage appointments on forms. and perquisites for personal undertaking. But Grindle “gentlemanly” character traits But Grindle also under- or political purposes—cor- pulls it off masterfully. She of integrity and honor in an scores significant differences rupts government and tar- persuades us that it’s only effort to cherry-pick the best among reforms, some of nishes public sector perfor- through this grand historical and the brightest for govern- which have not been well rec- mance. Do away with “jobs for excursion that we can fully ment service. ognized. She argues that the the boys” and you’ll find the grasp both the drivers of pa- Grindle also shows that role of the “demand” side of holy grail of good governance: tronage and the dynamics of reforms of patronage systems these reforms—public opin- probity, accountability and ef- reform and counter-reform aren’t all good. For instance, ion and civic mobilization— fectiveness, right? that play out over much patronage reduction hasn’t may have been overestimated. Not exactly, writes Grindle longer time frames than to- always leveled the playing Only in the United States in this sweeping, amazingly day’s “reform-mongers” and field. In Britain, Japan and were the combined voice of a readable account of the var- their international develop- France, the introduction of vociferous press and an angry ied uses of patronage and the ment financers would like to recruitment linked to exami- citizenry pivotal in advancing efforts to curtail it over the believe. nation and credentials served civil service reform. In con- centuries. The book traces Without fanfare, Grindle’s to reinforce class privilege, as trast, Weberian civil services the experience of six histori- painstaking review upends a only elites had access to the of Prussia, Japan and France cal cases—France, Britain, catalog of received wisdom. educational institutions that were initiated by authoritar- Germany, Japan, Spain, and She shows, for example, that prepared them to compete for ian regimes in the course of the United States—to show patronage is not all bad. It’s public positions along newly consolidating state authority. the distinctive ways in which been vital to stabilizing states meritocratic criteria. Even in the United Kingdom,

86 ReVista spring 2012 artist credit name and url reforms emanated from gov- If Grindle is right, a good ernment insiders and were ne- deal of what international Playing with Cuba, gotiated internally, with little development experts thought uproar from the public. The (and think) about current Really? Latin American experiences civil service reform programs confirm the closed nature is wrong: that you can achieve A Review by John H. Coatsworth of reforms; most of the bar- reform in bite-size time- gaining was among inside ac- frames of five to ten years; tors who stood to lose from that merit reforms need to broadening the basis of civil deliver a knock-out punch to Debating U.S.-Cuban service recruitment and lead- old patronage practices in or- Relations: Shall We Play ership. der to be deemed “successful;” Ball, edited by Jorge I. Reforms don’t necessarily that aid donors must identify Domínguez, Rafael Hernán- require a charismatic leader. a charismatic aid darling to dez and Lorena Barbería French reforms lacked a gal- shepherd through reforms; (New York and London: vanizing figure but progressed that there is a single window Routledge, 2012) apace, Grindle shows. She of opportunity for reform that Here we go again—yet also draws important lessons can be identified in advance. another moment in history about reform time frames. Grindle’s methodology tilts when the U.S.-Cuban rela- Some reforms, such as the towards historical institution- tionship, frozen (more or Cortes that Napoleonic rule alism but embraces rational less) since early 1961, could brought to Spain, took root choice and democratic the- be lurching toward sanity. quickly and lasted for genera- ory, where appropriate. She What makes this moment tions. Others, such as the U.S. is about detecting patterns special, even hopeful, are Pendleton Act or the Brazilian in a rich narrative tapestry, simultaneously promising exchanges between Soviet Administrative Department rather than testing theorems. changes in both countries, and U.S. scholars in the Cold of Public Service (DASP), This may leave those seek- identified in each case War era, one could scramble took decades to be fully adopt- ing the rigor of randomized with a new leader: Barack the names of the authors of ed. The rubber meets the road trials or large-sample stud- Obama in the United the chapters in this book in implementation, Grindle ies dissatisfied. For the rest States and Raúl Castro in and few who did not know finds. She renders a fascinat- of us, it provides a most wel- Cuba. How relations might them would notice. Cubans ing, case-by-case picture of come—indeed, way overdue— change, at what speed, and and their U.S. counterparts the political pulling and haul- reality check on the not-well- with what effects on the (plus two Canadians and a ing that characterizes reform understood history of public two countries is the subject German working in Spain) construction, deconstruction sector reform in compara- and reconstruction, often over tive perspective. Scholars many years. These reforms and practitioners seeking to are anything but monotonic, improve the policy record on Cubans and their U.S. counterparts and unreformed patronage civil service reform will find systems frequently cohabit this book both riveting and look at the same evidence, assess it with with more modern meritoc- essential reading. identical analytical tools, and come to racies, sometimes stabilizing a fragile social pact. Pristine Barbara Nunberg teaches remarkably similar conclusions. merit systems are elusive, public management and gov- even today. And then, the ernance issues in development objectives of reform may at Columbia University’s of this remarkable book. look at the same evidence, themselves be transformed School of International and Remarkable, because like its assess it with identical ana- by new ideals, just as reform- Public Affairs. She previously 1989 predecessor, U.S.-Cuba lytical tools, and come to ers in the United Kingdom, served as head of the World Relations in the 1990s, Cu- remarkably similar conclu- Chile or Brazil sought to re- Bank’s program on public bans from Cuba contribute sions: that normalization place Weberian bureaucracy sector reform and governance a lot to the conversation. of relations would benefit with the New Public Manage- for the East Asia and Pacific Remarkable also because, both countries, that poli- ment. Region. unlike the often awkward cymakers in Cuba as well

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as the United States would tioned above. The remaining Hernández points to “favoring the Cuban government to need to overcome domestic chapters assess state-to-state able circumstances” in which stay the course. The Obama political constraints to move relations, national security “an apparently small step can administration, unlike its pre- ahead, and that fundamental and terrorism (three chapters unleash a march that exceeds decessor, has not intervened asymmetries in power and on this), the role of the Eu- all expectations.” Domínguez to discourage the EU’s open- resources complicate matters ropean Union in U.S.-Cuban argues that with so much hu- ing to Cuba, despite multiple enormously. relations, the potential eco- man capital (partly due to pressures to do so. There are differences of nomic impact of ending the the Revolution’s successes in Canadian Archibald Rit- perspective and goals, barely embargo, emigration/ immi- education and health), “Cu- ter and Cuban Jorge Mario visible at times and possibly gration issues, and academic bans should not fear the fu- Sánchez Egozcue analyze the crucial. However, the fact and cultural exchange. ture” (p. 49). potential impact of a “normal- that issues of policy and con- Rafael Hernández, Cuba’s The three essays on secu- ization” of economic relations text can be discussed (despite best-known political scientist, rity issues complement each between the United States other well. Peter Kornbluh’s and Cuba. Both countries short piece provides a fasci- would benefit economically, nating glimpse into the 1960s of course, but in Sánchez’s There are differences of perspective and 1970s when “Castro-hat- words, “what happens in the and goals, barely visible at times and er” Richard Nixon sought the future of bilateral economic cooperation of the Cuban gov- relations depends largely on possibly crucial. ernment to end an epidemic Cuba’s capacity to change it- of airline hijackings. The 1973 self and on how the United agreement took only a few States reacts to those chang- the title, there’s not much de- contributes an opening chap- weeks to negotiate. Terrorism, es” (p. 162). Ritter looks at the bating here) in the detached ter of uncommon sophistica- of course, remains an issue in impact of ending the embargo language of modern social tion and analytical power. He U.S.-Cuban relations, but as on Cuba as it is now (modest, science and policy analysis is argues that in the U.S.-Cuban both Carlos Alzugaray Treto but positive) and on a Cuba testimony to the deep cultural relationship, “confrontation and Hal Klepak point out, this where economic reforms have and intellectual ties that a half and cooperation [are] not is not because Cuba engages gone much deeper (huge, as century of relative economic incompatible phenomena or in it. It is an issue because in China or Vietnam). Sán- and diplomatic isolation has successive stages but… coexis- the U.S. State Department re- chez’s brilliant essay reaches failed to break. The structure tent and, to some degree, mu- fuses, against all evidence to a similar but more nuanced of the book—mostly paired tually consistent” dimensions the contrary, to stop including conclusion, worth quoting essays on the same topic, one (p. 9). He then addresses, Cuba in its list of “State Spon- at length: “Cuba’s prosperity by a Cuban, the other by a U.S. head on, the key issues: what sors of Terrorism.” Both essays does not depend on having or other non-Cuban scholar— is preventing normalization, point to potential areas of fu- economic relations—good or is ideally suited to reinforc- what political changes in the ture collaboration. bad—with the United States. ing this point. Two of the he- United States and in Cuba The European Union It depends on Cubans’ capac- roes (heroines, actually) of the would be needed for relations speaks with many voices and ity to reinvent their country,” struggle to maintain schol- to improve, what about the for that reason, according adding that good economic arly and academic exchanges democracy and freedom is- to Eduardo Perera Gómez, relations would be a “welcome despite the often frustrating sues, what areas of coopera- “lack[s] significant capacity complement, and the negative obstacles—Milagros Martínez tion are possible. The paired to influence U.S.-Cuban rela- side could be managed with- Reinosa (University of Ha- essay by Jorge Domínguez tions…” (p. 100). Both Perera out recourse to extraordinary vana) and Sheryl Lutjens contributes a penetrating and German scholar Susanne sacrifices…” (p. 177). (California State University, review of the history of past Gratius analyze the special The excellent essays by San Marcos)—contribute lu- efforts to improve rela- role that Spain has played Lorena Barbería and Anto- cid chapters to the volume. tions and sketches five pos- both in its bilateral relations nio Aja Díaz on U.S. immi- The book begins with a sible but not equally plausible with Cuba and in setting the gration policies provide two brief introduction that deftly “scenarios” that could lead tone for EU-Cuban relations. perspectives on the history of frames the volume, written toward normalization in the As Cuba embarks on signifi- alternating conflict and coop- by Jorge Domínguez and Ra- 2010s. cant internal changes, the EU eration, trends in population fael Hernández, who together The two chapters con- is poised to play a key role in and emigration, and pros- edited the 1989 volume men- clude in fascinating parallel. encouraging and even aid- pects for better cooperation in

88 ReVista spring 2012 artist credit name and url sectionbook header talk

the future. All the chapters focus on Argentina: Press and Power how closer and more harmo- nious relations might emerge A Review by Marysa Navarro from the current stalemate. The editors’ strategy for the volume mirrors the approach both countries would need to Graciela Mochkofsky, of his abduction, impris- take to improve relations: ig- Pecado Original: Clarín, los onment and torture by the nore the various elephants in Kirchner y la lucha por el military government headed the room and try to get some- poder, (Buenos Aires: by General Rafael Videla in thing positive accomplished Planeta, 2011) 1977. Mochkofsky’s book is before any of them wake up. Graciela Mochkofsky is a centered on the journalist, The editors have succeeded young Argentine journal- revealing his financial deal- admirably, though in nearly ist who has worked for two ings and close political con- every essay one can hear the major newspapers in her nections with the military, great beasts stirring in their country, authored several how he acquired wealth sleep. books, and is presently co- and influence, and his im- Cuba’s political system founder and co-editor of a pact on successive military shields the country from U.S. digital magazine, el puer- dictatorships, including his economic and political domi- coespín. She was also a Nie- cooperation in the demise of nance and for that reason is man Fellow at Harvard in an elected democratic gov- unlikely to change soon. Is 2009. ernment. the United States ready to For much of the past de- Pecado original is anoth- class background, became deal with Cuba in the same cade, Mochkofsky has been er attempt by Mochkofsky the mistress of Roberto No- way that it does with China been part of a group of to contextualize the debate ble, the lawyer and politician or Vietnam? Perhaps, but as Argentine journalists inter- about the role of the press who had founded Clarín in Hernández observes, “Noth- ested in examining the role in a democracy. Since much 1945. In 1958, he fathered a ing indicates that the U.S. of the press in their coun- of the present discussion daughter by another woman. government would be content try. Their concern has been has been prompted by the The child, known as Lupita, with a form of market social- prompted by the transforma- confrontation between the was registered as Guadalupe ism; it seeks nothing less tion of newspaper publish- Grupo Clarín and Presidents Noble and became his heir. than a capitalist restoration” ing in Argentina, including Néstor (2007-2011) and Cris- However, in July 1967, when (p. 11). Unhappily for the U.S. the rise of large multimedia tina Fernández de Kirchner he was 63, he finally married government, normalization of groups, technological chang- (2011-), this book is largely Ernestina, who was 42. He diplomatic, economic, migra- es, the role of the press dur- a detailed history of how the died two years later. Lupita tory, and cultural relations ing a brutal military dicta- owner of the tabloid Clarín, was to inherit Clarín but un- is not likely to bring regime torship (1976-1983) and in became the head of the Gru- til she reached legal age, Er- change in Cuba. But it could the subsequent return to de- po Clarín, Argentina’s major nestina would direct the pa- be good therapy for U.S. poli- mocracy. multimedia group, and one per with the help and advice ticians and policymakers, who Mochkofsky has already of the largest in the Spanish- of a man Noble trusted and still have trouble seeing the made a substantial contri- speaking world. It also fol- admired, Rogelio Frigerio, small countries of the Carib- bution to the discussion. In lows its dealings with succes- an economist, politician and bean and Central America as 2003, she published an ex- sive governments and offers businessman. Ten years later, independent. cellent biography of Jacobo a rich account of its confron- she had severed her ties with Timerman, Timerman. El tations with President Carlos Frigerio, became the owner John H. Coatsworth is the periodista que quiso ser parte Saúl Menem (1989-1995 and of Clarín after a bitter legal Provost of Columbia Univer- del poder (The journalist who 1995-1999) and the Kirchner fight with Lupita and cre- sity. He served as the Direc- wanted to be part of power). presidencies. ated a sucession of her own. tor of the David Rockefeller Timerman, the man who cre- This complex story be- At the suggestion of Frige- Center for Latin American ated modern journalism in gins in 1957 when Ernestina rio, she had adopted a boy Studies from its founding in Argentina, also gained inter- Herrera, a beautiful 25-year- and a girl, Felipe and Mar- 1994 until 2006. national attention because old woman of lower middle- cela, in 1976. She managed

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to give them the last name of channel that included exclu- silence and a public confron- gentina. The acquired compa- her dead husband and have sive rights to transmit soccer tation that identified them as ny had previously been owned the final adoption papers in games, the favorite Argentine political opponents.” He saw by David Graiver, a banker an extraordinarily rapid pro- sport. Clarín as an economic group whose family members were cess. Despite the substantial fundamentally interested in subsequently imprisoned and Throughout the years of profits reaped by the Grupo accumulating more wealth tortured and his wife raped in military rule, Clarín con- Clarín from the Menem gov- and more power, not in pro- jail. Mochkofsky discusses this tinued publishing, growing ernment, relations between viding information to the issue at length, providing new steadily, silent on human the two were far from smooth. public. La Nación and Clarín information and questions rights violations and disap- They became even more dif- took turns at being the enemy the legitimacy of the versions pearances, though while offered by the two newspa- Frigerio was on board, it criti- pers. cized the economic policies An additional issue be- of the finance minister J. A. He saw Clarín as an economic tween the Kirchner govern- Martínez de Hoz. When the group fundamentally interested in ments and the Grupo Clarín military dictatorship ended, concerned the origin of Er- Ernestina’s trusted collabora- accumulating more wealth and more nestina Herrera de Noble’s tor Héctor Magnetto tried to power, not in providing information children, adopted during the influence President Raúl Ri- years of military rule. The cardo Alfonsín (1983-1989) to the public. question was whether they to pass legislation that would were among the hundreds of permit Clarín to acquire babies born to disappeared other media, especially televi- ficult during the devastating until both eventually became young women and given to sion stations—a decision that political and economic crisis “the opposition.” Journalists members of the armed forces. involved much more than of 2001, when Argentina had were compelled to take sides. It was a painful, drawn-out Clarín because it meant set- 5 presidents in 10 days, and All those who sided with him confrontation that began in ting the media policies for after the 2003 election of practiced what they called the 1990s. The final decision the entire nation. He failed, Nestor Kirchner. periodismo militante, some- was that they were not chil- though he managed to buy A largely unknown thing too often too close to dren of abducted mothers. his first radio station, Radio 43-year-old three-time Per- propaganda. Pecado original is a fas- Mitre, through a third party. onist former governor of San- All-out war exploded cinating, meticulously re- The election of Peronist Car- ta Cruz province, who won shortly after his wife, Cristina searched cautionary tale and los Saúl Menem got him what with 22 percent of the vote, F. de Kirchner succeeded him. it is also an excellent exam- he wanted. Despite confron- Kirchner brought back some A new Media Law to replace ple of investigative journal- tations with his govenment, measure of economic stability, the 1980 decree issued by ism, though Argentines will those were the golden years democratized and diversified the military dictatorship was be able to follow more easily of Clarín. In 1999, it became the Supreme Court and devel- enacted in October, 2009. than foreigners the layers of the Grupo Clarín, presided by oped a vigorous human rights Among other things, it limited its complexity. Ernestina Herrera de Noble policy. In 2003, a law annulled the number of licenses avail- with Magnetto as its CEO, an the so-called impunity laws, able to a firm and gave a year Marysa Navarro- Argentine owned company including the pardon granted to those needing to sell their Aranguren is the Charles until Goldman Sachs joined by Menem, which prevented holdings. These two articles Collis Professor of History it bringing in 500 million dol- the trial of lower rank officers attacked specifically the Gru- Emerita at Dartmouth Col- lars. Grupo Clarín was com- accused of crimes against hu- po Clarín and have had a pow- lege and the DRCLAS Resi- posed of several newspapers manity committed during the erful effect on the group. Dur- dent Scholar. She has written and radio stations, Fibertel military dictatorship. ing the congressional debate, and edited several books, (an internet provider), Ca- The President’s press poli- information emerged con- including Evita. Her current blevision (a television cable cy was an extension of what he cerning the acquisition during project is entitled “The Inter- provider), several channels had done in Santa Cruz. “He the military dictatorship by American Commission of in Buenos Aires, TN (a cable drew a line between allies and Clarin and La Nación of Papel Women, the Pan American news channel), Artear (produ- enemies, granted access and Prensa, a business that gave Union and Women’s tion and broadcast channels) exclusives to some, paid back them the monopoly of news- Suffrage in the Americas, and TC, a television sports others with an absolute news paper publishing paper in Ar- 1928-1948.”

90 ReVista spring 2012 artist credit name and url making a difference

Asociación Civil Lapacho

By Diana McKeage

I spent a summer volunteer- run a bank which offers loans ing at a Grameen microcredit without any collateral besides bank in Resistencia, Chaco, the promise and honor of each Argentina, called Asociación prestataria. Civil Lapacho, thanks to the While Lapacho’s main of- student organization A Drop fice is in Resistencia, the bank in the Ocean (ADITO) and has six centers in poor towns grants from DRCLAS. La- in the vicinity of Resistencia. pacho was founded in 2001 In each center approximately in response to the economic forty women receive loans crash in Argentina, which had from Lapacho to engage in serious ramifications nation- “productive enterprises and wide but which devastated es- projects.” According to its pecially areas already affected website, Lapacho “holds the by poverty; Chaco is Argen- unique distinction of being tina’s poorest province. the first Grameen replica in For the past eight years the Chaco province and, fur- ADITO has been sending at ther, as being the first micro- least two Harvard students to credit institution in Argentina spend a summer working for to employ the Rural Grameen the bank. Lapacho’s founders model,” in which loan recipi- and current operators are lo- ents—in the case of Lapacho, cal academics and profession- always women—form team- als, who work there in their like groups of three to five spare time; the bank runs women to keep the networks entirely on volunteer work of support and fiscal account- and donations from religious ability among friends, rather groups, government institu- than leave these responsibili- tions and individuals. As an ties to the bank. institution, Lapacho benefits A detail I loved was that from the diversity of knowl- each group gave itself a name, edge and professions of its always very uplifting, such as board members as well as its Esperanza (hope) or Nueva status as a non-profit institu- Vida (A New Life). The inge- tion operated by volunteers. nuity of the Grameen system That the life-blood of the bank lies in how it brings women flows entirely from the good together, giving them confi- hearts of its founders and dence in their own work at managers is evident in close the same time as creating a personal relationships that friendly system of account- the managers formed with the ability. women who receive loans— Every week, all the groups the prestatarias—and is ul- in each center have meetings. Diana McKeage with collegues (sitting far left); Woman with her timately a very wise way to Loans are paid and minutes business in Fontana

photos by diana mckeage drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 91 making a difference

are taken while successes, take pictures of the women tant way in which I could help Women with Fontana businesses. grievances, concerns and with their businesses for was to listen to the women. I questions are all aired among the website, but the deeper was only there for nine weeks; Any institution that creates the women. Current and fu- benefit came from talking to it would have been foolish to meaningful change on a local ture events are discussed the women about their lives, think that I could implement level through the sole mecha- while mate is passed around. their concerns and hopes in some incredible project with nisms of trust and hope fore- If there is a new woman the present and for the fu- everlasting effects. While I shadows a promising future joining the bank, she reads ture. We drank mate; they let may not have effected a mean- indeed. out the pledge in front of the me play with their children, ingful change for the women, other women, who applaud dogs, and cats; bakers fed me I will never forget their sto- Diana McKeage is a senior in and welcome her into the delicious pastries; seamstress- ries and the faces I encoun- Cabot House, concentrating fold. Often, the meetings end es dressed me in intricate tered that summer; they did in Literature with a second- with a prayer circle of thanks- sweaters; the sound of fútbol leave an everlasting effect on ary field in Government. giving. and chickens in the back- me, and have inspired me to Currently, she is pursuing a My work involved attend- ground mingled with laughs pursue development econom- Certificate in Latin American ing meetings, talking to the and tears. ics and international affairs. Studies and writing a thesis women, and arranging to visit At first I had no idea what More importantly, however, on magic realism in novels their homes and businesses to expect from my time with the spirit of community I felt by Miguel Angel Asturias (which were often in the same Lapacho. I worried that I among the women—for each and Alejo Carpentier. After building)—an incredibly fun might be number crunch- other, and for the managers graduating, she hopes to re- and life-changing experi- ing in a corner and not really of the bank—gave me a great turn to Argentina (Salta and ence for me. The ostensible making a difference. I soon deal of hope for microcredit as Resistencia) and spend time purpose of the visits was to learned that the most impor- a means of rural development. in Brazil.

corrections

In the table of contents and on page 15, author Noel Maurer is identified incorrectly as Noel Mauer. Our apologies for the editing error. The photo on page 5 should be credited to Edu Ponces. The photo on page 37 should be credited to Stephen Ferry. Amy Chazkel’s book Laws of Chance was published in 2011, not 2010.

92 ReVista spring 2012 photo (above) by diana mckeage; (Right page) by Andrés Sanín corrections

artist credit name and url drclas.harvard.edu/publications/revistaonline ReVista 3 Harvard University non-profit org David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies u.s. postage 1730 Cambridge St. paid boston, ma Cambridge, MA 02138 permit no. 1636

contributors

69 Samuel R. Azout is a Colombian economist and entrepreneur. Harvard Graduate School of Design. 89 Marysa Navarro-Aranguren is 76 Cláudio Beato is a professor in the Department of Sociology and the Charles Colllis Professor of History Emerita at Dartmouth College. Anthropology at the Federal University of Minas Gerais. 58 Ingrid 17 Aldo Panfichi is Professor and Chair Department of Social Sciences, Bolívar is an Assistant Professor in the Political Science Department Universidad Católica del Peru. 25 Carmen Rial is a faculty member in at the Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá. 2 Davíd Carrasco is the Neil the Anthropology Department at the Universidad Federal de Santa L. Rudenstine Professor of the Study of Latin America at the Harvard Catarina in Brazil. 66 Mario Roitter is a Senior Research Associate at Divinity School, with a joint appointment with the Department of the Center for the Study of State and Society (CEDES, Argentina). 34 Anthropology. 13 Bruno Carvalho is an Assistant Professor of Luso- Rob Ruck is a member of the Department of History at the University Brazilian literatures and cultures at Princeton University. 87 John H. of Pittsburgh. 46 Andrés Sanín is a doctoral candidate in Harvard’s Coatsworth is the Provost of Columbia University. 81 Jake Cummings Romance Languages and Literatures Department. 56 Daniel Samper is a Master in Urban Planning at Harvard Graduate School of Design. is a Colombian journalist and a columnist for El Tiempo of Bogotá. 49 20 Michel Di Capua works in the private sector in the renewable en- Sergio Silva Castañeda is a Lecturer in the History Department and ergy industry. 74 Stanley Engerman is Visiting Professor of Economics DRCLAS Senior Fellow, Mexico and Central America Program. 84 at Harvard University. 30 Barbara W. Fash is the director of the Corpus Jorge Silvetti is Nelson Robinson Jr. Professor in Architecture at of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions at Harvard’s Peabody Museum. Harvard Graduate School of Design. 8 Mariano Siskind is an Assistant William L. Fash is the Bowditch Professor of Central American and Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures at Harvard University. Mexican Archaeology and Ethnology in the Harvard Department of 79 Preston So is a sophomore at Harvard College currently concen- Anthropology, Archaeology Program. 22 Paulo Fontes is an Associate trating in linguistics. 38 Jack Spence was the Associate Professor of Professor at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro. 72 Ryan Political Science and the Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts Guilmartin is a Somerville High School history teacher and soccer at the University of Massachusetts Boston. 60 David Wood is Professor coach. 52 Gabriel Guzmán is a Mexican musician and music teacher of Latin American Studies at the University of Sheffield, England. who lives in New York City. 44 Stephen Kinzer is the author of books about Guatemala and Nicaragua, both published by DRCLAS and WITH FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHY BY Carin Zissis, Andrés Sanín and distributed by Harvard University Press. 15 Johanna Damgaard Liander Patricia Plana is the Senior Preceptor of Romance Languages and Literatures at Har- vard. 42 Félix Julio Alfonso López is a Cuban historian who frequently CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Nicole Golbari, Paul Goodman, writes about baseball. 91 Diana McKeage is a senior at Harvard College Flavio Janches, Nefer Muñoz, Candy Pilar Godoy, Nery Moises Porras concentrating in Literature. 10 Rory Miller is the director of Liverpool and Greg Scruggs University’s MBA specializing in Football Industries. 71 Bob Morris is the President of Foresight Strategy, a corporate social responsibility consultancy. 84 Paul Nakasawa is a Lecturer in Architecture at the