Interview at CEASA

An interview with Amurim, a "carregador ambulante" or freelance carrier. He transports goods from trucks or loading docks to the market building and from the market building to the buyer's truck. I caught him at the end of the work day and he gave me his thoughts on how to improve the CEASA.


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How I put myself in danger and didn't even know

In Google-ing for Aceguá, I found a news article - perhaps the only news ever coming from Aceguá- that happened on the same day that I was there taking pictures and video and being interrogated by the look-outs. Turns out the same contraband group that I caught on camera was caught some miles down the highway with over five tons of contraband Brazilian fruits and vegetables. It looks like I should stay away from Aceguá for a little while, or at least go in a different car, so that they don't blame me for their capture...

Here is the original news feed:

Uruguai apreende contrabando brasileiro de frutas e verduras

2008/12/26

MONTEVIDÉU (AFP) — Funcionários da Alfândega uruguaia apreenderam nesta sexta-feira mais de cinco toneladas de frutas e verduras produzidas no Brasil e que entraram ilegalmente no Uruguai, informaram autoridades.

A apreensão ocorreu na região da fronteira com o Brasil, entre as cidades de Melo e Aceguá, a cerca de 400 km de Montevidéu.

No total, foram apreendidos 5.400 quilos de batatas, cenouras, mangas, mamões e bananas, acondicionados em caixas sem identificação do produtor ou importador, como determina a legislação uruguaia.

Segundo a Alfândega, o contrabando entrava no Uruguai transportado por motos, do território brasileiro, e era distribuído entre diversos varejistas.

and translated:

Uruguay captures contraband of Brazilian fruits and vegetables

2008/12/26

MONTEVIDEO (AFP) — Uruguayan customs workers apprehended this Friday more than five tons of fruits and vegetables produced in Brazil and illegally entered into Uruguay, inform authorities.

The apprehension occurred in the frontier region with Brazil, between the cities of Melo and Aceguá, about 400 km from Montevideo.

In total, there were 5,400 kg of potatoes, carrots, mangoes, melons, and bananas in boxes with no identity of producer or importer, as is required by Uruguayan legislature.

According to customs, the contraband entered Uruguay by motorcycles, from the Brazilian territory, and were distributed to diverse vendors.

Images of Rio Grande

The city of Rio Grande is in the souteast tip of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is home to the second largest port in Brazil, behind Santos. It has just been given an enormous investment by the government to expand the superport. With the speculated tripling of the port, the housing market in the city has boomed, although in the very lowest class of dwellings. The city contrasts a rich tradition of colonial and eclectic Portuguese architecture with the gritty industrialized superport development. Here are images from the downtown area, the housing projects in the outskirts, and the summer beach town next door.

Images of Aceguá

Aceguá is the city I intend on using as my project site. It has lived off its position on the Brazilian-Uruguay border and has recently been granted a free trade zone. I was surprised to find that the city had not changed much since the first time I passed through three years ago. I was also surprised to find an elaborate, albeit meager, contraband operation dealing Brazilian produce into Uruguay. My cameras called attention to the popcorn vendor, who happened to be a look-out, and he eventually interrogated me about my presence there. I played the dumb tourist, but still left rather fast with all my incriminating photage.

On the way back to Bagé, we passed through a German colony between the two cities called Colonia Nova. It was established as a cooperative in the 1950s by German immigrants producing dairy goods. I will post more information on the co-op later.

Procession of Goods

In searching for a program, I have observed a gap in the ideal distribution and urbanization of a region. Despite plentiful land in most regions of Brazil and Latin America, the regional distribution infrastructure is overly dependent on truck traffic, due to a lack of railroads or alternative methods, and far too independent from the small population centers since they are destinations for goods and consumption instead of production centers supplying larger urban centers with goods. There should not be a radial procession of goods, but rather a gradient one.

Present Regional Distribution of Goods in Brazil

Proposed Distribution of Goods through Development of Rural Nuclei