MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

South America News

Brazilian version of Pinochet's coup.

The Chilean government will officially request information from Brazilian authorities following an article by Rio do Janeiro's mayor claiming the September 1973 military coup in Chile was decided in the Brazilian Embassy in Santiago. Cesar Maia wrote a column in the prestigious Brazilian newspaper "Jornal do Brasil" claiming the final details of the September 11 violent takeover by the Pinochet dictatorship were "defined, decided, prepared and laid out" in the Brazilian Embassy four days before, taking advantage of the Brazilian September 7th. Independence Day diplomatic reception. A room was specifically prepared and "our Embassy was converted into a clandestine meeting place for conspirators, a simple garrison, a war room, were the violent actions were planned", writes Mr. Maia, adding that "this is well known inside and outside Itamarati", (Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Mr. Maia said he expects Brazilian president Fernando Cardoso will name an inquiry Committee and "I'm willing to tell everything I know and what all the fans of Flamengo (Rio's most popular soccer team) also are aware of". "We've requested our Embassy in Brasilia to obtain all the possible information on the issue, so we know where we're standing", said Chilean Foreign Affairs Minister, Soledad Alvear in Santiago. A spokesman for the Brazilian Embassy in Chile indicated "we've nothing to add. If those meetings took place they don't figure in our records". Pinochet's dictatorship with one of the worst human rights violations record extended 17 years until 1990 and left 3,000 detained or arrested unaccounted for, better known as "disappeared".

Indexation threatens the Real

The Plan Real that seven years ago for the first time created in Brazil a relatively stable currency, is now challenged by the same forces that inspired its formulation. Ravaged by decades of hyperinflation, and with an electorate longing for stability, Brazilian authorities created in 1994 a strong Real, that supposedly ended the indexation of all prices, services and rates in the economy, plus enforcing contracts with a minimum term of twelve months. With a steaming econo