This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

011509Z Jul 04

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRASILIA 001635 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR DEMPSEY 
TREASURY FOR SSEGAL 
AID FOR LAC/SAM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SOCI EAID PGOV PHUM ELAB ECON BR
SUBJECT:  ACAUA TRIP REPORT: THE POLITICS OF HUNGER IN 
BRAZIL 
 
REFS :  (A) 03 Brasilia 3939 
 
        (B) 03 Brasilia 3867 
        (C) 03 Brasilia 3347 
        (D) 03 Brasilia 1192 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY.  Acaua is a modest municipality of 5,430 people 
in northeastern Brazil that was selected as one of two pilot 
communities for President Lula's flagship social program 
"Fome Zero" (Zero Hunger) in February of 2003.  Econoff's 
June 2, 2004 trip to Acaua provided a sharp contrast to 
desolate, destitute pilot sister town of Guaribas (Ref. A). 
Acaua's infrastructure and accessibility is far better than 
that of Guaribas and many surrounding municipalities.  A 
trip to Acaua begs the question of how this municipality was 
selected as a Zero Hunger pilot town and invites the answer 
that the choice was political rather than needs-based.  By 
its inhabitants' own accounts, Zero Hunger has brought only 
minor and spotty benefits to the community, and the recent 
watershed improvements in local life have come rather with 
electrification and the ongoing construction of cisterns - 
both initiatives of the previous, Cardoso administration. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  Both  Acuaua and Guaribas are in Piaui, one of Brazil's 
poorest states, have mayors from Lula's Workers' Party (PT), 
and are the Zero Hunger pilot towns.  There, the 
similarities end.  In contrast to Guaribas, Acaua has 
several municipal buildings, some cobblestone roads, general 
stores, budding businesses, and satellite dishes on several 
homes.  Note.  The scattered satellite dishes mounted on 
numerous Acaua dwellings cost 400 Reals - quite a luxury 
when considering the minimum wage of 260 Reals per month. 
End note.  According to many people, the defining moment of 
increased prosperity was not the arrival of Lula's Zero 
Hunger food cards and accompanying social programs, but 
electrification three years ago. 
 
¶3.  Eraldo, 29, has had a tire repair business for five 
years.  He worked during daylight hours in the dim premises 
before he received electricity.  He only had a pump and 
rudimentary accoutrements to fix the tires.  Today he has 
lights, a compressor, and an electric cutter which has 
replaced his hand-saw.  His home is at the side of the shop, 
and he has converted the front part into a snack shop.  He 
displays chips and has a case with hot foods.  Eraldo's 
little store caters to students who sometimes come for lunch 
from the vibrant blue three-room school cattycornered from 
his shop.  The fact that students have discretionary- 
spending money for less-nutritious snacks was a surprise 
when put in the context that this was a Zero Hunger pilot 
town. 
 
¶4.  Renato, 36, has had the largest grocery store in the 
community for seven years.  Renato estimated that about half 
the people in the municipality benefit from Zero Hunger.  He 
commented that his gross income has not increased since the 
implementation of the program: just the form of payment from 
many customers has changed.  The blaring television could be 
seen from the counter, fed by a satellite dish.  The shelves 
in the two large rooms were stocked not only with staples, 
but with what most would consider discretionary items like 
nail polish, fancy flip-flops, liquor, and sling shots.  The 
freezer section contained meat and ice cream. 
 
¶5.  Equmira, 29, is one of five teachers in the secondary 
school.  She was born in Acaua, went to the college in 
Piaui's capitol, Teresina, and came back to the family farm 
to live with her parents and four brothers.  She teaches 30 
9-17 year-old youngsters four hours per day, eight months a 
year.  Equmira did not believe her students faced 
malnutrition before Fome Zero commenced, since there were 
many farming families with children in the school, and added 
that the biggest difference was the five cisterns built in 
the community over the last few years, which she associated 
with the program.  Note.  Interesting that Equmira 
associates these cisterns with Zero Hunger, as the 
installations were initiated during the Cardoso 
administration with UNICEF and World Bank funding. 
 
¶6.  Twenty-seven-year-old Val was born in Petrolina, a city 
two hours away in the state of Pernambuco, where he was a 
gas station attendant.  He moved his bride and their two 
children to Acaua after the advent of electricity to fulfill 
his dream to own a business.  His father-in-law gave him 
land, and he and two friends constructed the medium-sized 
bar in less than 30 days.  The structure contains a TV, pool 
table, refrigerator/freezer, and two shelves of beauty 
products and snack foods.  Val said his place functions as a 
bar on weekends, and pointed to a shelf with liquor, soft 
drinks, and cigarettes.  He praised the arrival of the 
electricity that allowed him to manifest his dream, but did 
not have an opinion on the Zero Hunger program. 
 
¶7.  Econoff stopped at several houses for a more 
comprehensive spectrum of opinions.  Barthalemeu, 18, is one 
of five children and works on the family farm raising goats, 
pigs, horses, and chickens.  The family sells goat cheese 
and left-over meat to the local market.  Barthalemeu pointed 
out the cistern which was funded by UNICEF in 2002 during 
the Cardoso administration.  Regina, 29, is the mother of 
three children, and the wife of a farmer.  She raved about 
Zero Hunger and commented that her family also received the 
Bolsa Familia ("Family Stipend", an umbrella family-benefit 
program) stipend for a total of 95 Reals (exchange roughly 3 
Reals to the USD) per month. 
 
¶8.  Antonio lives in a cluster of eight houses built with 
materials funded by the Cardoso administration.  The 
municipality released the land, and eight families helped 
each other erect these humble dwellings in 30 days.  Antonio 
commented that he did not vote for Lula during the 2002 
election cycle, and will not vote for him in the future.  He 
added that he voted against the current PT mayor, and 
resented the fact that Mayor Antonio Rodrigues Filho does 
not even live in Acaua, but in Paulastino, a municipality 18 
kilometers away.  Rita, 27, was downright bitter about the 
Zero Hunger program.  She has one school-aged child, no 
husband, no income, and does not receive any money from Zero 
Hunger or the Family Fund. 
 
¶9.  Jose was repairing the cobblestone streets.  He had done 
this seasonal work for 25 years in Acaua, which was 
incorporated eight years ago.  This 36 year-old man appeared 
to be well into his 50s, evidence of his difficult life of 
working in the sun to support his family of four.  He cannot 
work during the rainy season, but commented that as a 
recipient of the Zero Hunger card, he is less reliant on his 
extended family for basic needs. 
 
¶10.  The mayor's office in Acaua looks strikingly nice for a 
small Brazilian municipality.  The city is run by City 
Administrator Jose Antonio Filho, 45, who left a teller job 
at the State Bank of Piaui after he was appointed by his 
father, the mayor.  He said that the federal and state 
government governments, in concert with several NGOs, were 
working together to implement a myriad of social and 
community improvement programs.  In addition to the ongoing 
installation of 394 cisterns, a community center with a 
swimming pool and 20 houses are being built. 
 
¶11.  Econoff asked about Rita's desperate situation as a 
single mother with no income and not qualifying for Zero 
Hunger and associated benefits.  Filho said the community 
committee of seven people met once a month to evaluate who 
should receive benefits, which was difficult, because it is 
"the poor choosing the poor".  Although there is no appeal 
process, he added that a family could re-apply monthly for 
the benefit. 
 
¶12.  Children guided Econoff to the home of Izilina, the 
municipality's Secretary of Health, by saying it was the 
nicest in Acaua.  Indeed, it was a spacious, well- 
constructed home with coffered ceilings and crown moldings. 
This 33 year-old woman has been in her position since 1997, 
and her husband heads tourism (sic!) in the mayor's office. 
The community has a public health team consisting of 19 
employees, including a dentist, doctor, and nurse.  All of 
the health programs in place existed before Zero Hunger. 
 
¶13.  Edvaldo Pereira, attorney from the mayor's office in 
Petrolina, Pernambuco, commented that he could show Econoff 
people much worse off than the citizens of Acaua in a nearby 
quilombo (communities founded originally by run-away 
slaves).  Afranho is a community located in Pernambuco, less 
than eight miles from Acaua.  The mayor of the town is from 
the opposition party PSDB and commented that only 15 of 
Afranho's 400 inhabitants receive Zero Hunger cards. The 
municipality of 400 is much closer in appearance to Guaribus 
than to Acaua with its dirt roads and nothing but individual 
dwellings - not even a grocery store.  Francisca de Lima, 
57, is a 30-year resident who lives in a shanty with six 
family members.  They are subsistence farmers and receive no 
benefits from any government program.  Lima said she has not 
seen any improvement since the Lula government came to 
power. 
 
¶14.  There is a sharp contrast between the Zero Hunger pilot 
towns.  There is definitely poverty to be found in Acaua, 
but not so ubiquitous and repressive as in Guaribas. 
Piaui's Fome Zero Director Rosangela Sousa commented on 
Econoff's earlier trip (Ref. B) that Guaribus was selected 
as the pilot due to lack of infrastructure, and that Acaua 
was selected because it had the lowest per capita income. 
Guaribas was an obvious choice, but that of Acaua was more 
complex.  The raw per capita income numbers were deceptive, 
because many people in the community are subsistence 
farmers, thus did not have a dire hunger problem. 
 
¶15.  Comment.  It is striking that few residents gave Lula 
the credit for the positive changes Acaua has experienced 
via the Zero Hunger program.  During this period of the 
administration's eroding  popularity, not even this showcase 
municipality is generating positive publicity  for the 
administration's social programs. 
 
DUDDY