Lourdes Garcia-Navarro

With Inspiration From Turkey, Brazil Discovers Mass Protests

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:51:00 +0000

They are young, they are angry and they have drawn inspiration from protest movements a world away in places like Turkey and the Middle East.

Tens of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets across the country Monday night, and more demonstrations are slated for the coming week. Brazil doesn't have a history of this kind of mass dissent, but it seems to be catching on very quickly.

"The social movements in the world are learning from each other," said Marco Antônio Carvalho Teixeira, a professor at Fundacao Getulio Vargas in Sao Paulo.

Criminals Fleeing Rio Crackdown Set Up Shop In The Suburbs

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 07:24:00 +0000

The provincial town of Mage seems a world away from the violence and drug dealing that plague Brazil's larger cities. On a recent afternoon, the central square is a picture of calm. Children play around a fountain; older people sit on the many park benches dotting the area, under the shade of trees.

Mage, about 35 miles northwest of Rio, is close enough that people can commute to the city, which many of them do. Yet it's far enough away that nothing much really happened here in the past.

Once Unsafe, Rio's Shanty Towns See Rapid Gentrification

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 15:51:00 +0000

A new gastronomic guide to Rio de Janeiro's shantytowns — for a cool $35 — has just been published. A new boutique hotel perched on top of one of Rio's previously most dangerous favelas is about to open. And yes, there is a jazz club and yoga, too.

These are new services catering to a new kind of favela resident.

"It's actually very conveniently located for my work," says Natalie Shoup, a 22-year-old American who lives in a favela called Babilonia, or Babylon. "This has a good amount of transportation to every part of the city. It's nice.

Rio Goes High-Tech, With An Eye Toward Olympics, World Cup

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro — Fri, 31 May 2013 17:28:00 +0000

We are standing in front of a huge bank of screens, in the middle of which is a glowing map that changes focus depending on what the dozens of controllers are looking at.

The room looks like something straight out of a NASA shuttle launch. The men and women manning the floor are dressed in identical white jumpsuits.

'We Are Not Valued': Brazil's Domestic Workers Seek Rights

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro — Mon, 27 May 2013 18:13:00 +0000

The phone is ringing off the hook at the crowded waiting room at the Domestic Workers Union in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil.

In the past decade, millions of Brazilians have joined the middle class.

Brazil Looks To Build A 10,000-Mile Virtual Fence

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro — Thu, 16 May 2013 21:04:00 +0000

Brazil's borders are so vast, and the terrain so inhospitable, that attempting to secure them has seemed a virtually impossible task.

But Brazil's rapidly expanding economy has made the country a magnet for illegal immigration, drug smuggling and other illicit activities, and now the country has announced its own border protection program.

Called the Sistema Int

C-Sections Deliver Cachet For Wealthy Brazilian Women

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro — Sun, 12 May 2013 09:34:00 +0000

The office is immaculate, as you would expect in an upscale neighborhood in Sao Paulo — all sterile, white, modish plastic furniture and green plants. Behind the reception desk are pictures that would look more appropriate in a pop art gallery than a private maternity clinic.

The list of services at the clinic in Brazil's largest city is long: fertility treatments, specialized gynecology and, of course, obstetrics. But one thing they rarely do here is preside over a vaginal delivery.

Dr. Alexandre Sasaoka struggles to remember the last time he assisted at one.

As Youth Crime Spikes, Brazil Struggles For Answers

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:21:00 +0000

In Rio de Janeiro, tourists are drawn to Copacabana for its wide beach and foliage-covered cliffs. But a month ago, not far from the tourist hub, an American woman and her French male companion were abducted. She was brutally gang-raped; he was beaten.

Perhaps what was most shocking to Brazilians, though, was the age of one of the alleged accomplices: He was barely in his teens.

"Why? That's what you ask yourself," says Sylvia Rumpoldt, who is walking with a friend at dusk by the sea in Rio. "It's horrible. It's criminal energy."

Her friend, Maria de Paula, agrees.

Brazil Seeks To Avoid Own Goal Ahead Of World Cup

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 07:17:00 +0000

Soccer isn't just a sport in Brazil, it's a religion, and the main temple is the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.

The venue is not only the biggest stadium in Brazil but the biggest in South America. Over the weekend, the newly renovated complex reopened to great fanfare, with stirring musical numbers, a light show and dignitaries including Brazil's president.

The headlines in the local media, however, focused not on the fanfare but on the many problems, from flooding in the VIP area to malfunctioning seats and turnstiles.

In Gritty Sao Paulo, Artists Take To The Streets

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:31:00 +0000

It's lunchtime in the heart of Sao Paulo's financial district. Surrounded by tall buildings of cool glass and steel, men and women in suits and business attire walk back and forth busily in Brazil's largest city.

Standing amid the bustle is Leticia Matos — who is, for want of a better word, a crochet artist. She couldn't look more different from the people around her.

Wearing a short-sleeve shirt and covered in bright, quirky tattoos, Matos is at work, too.

In The Wake Of Brazil's Boom, Prices To Match

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 07:27:00 +0000

In Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, a Starbucks coffee shop looks as it would in the United States. It has the same jazzy music; the same items on the menu.

There is one thing that is different, though: the prices.

"Everyone told me it's expensive, but when you see it yourself it's shocking," says one customer, Thierry, who is from Geneva and is in town for a wedding.

The largest-size chai latte costs nearly $6. Over the weekend, a Brazilian magazine posed the question of whether Sao Paulo has the most expensive pizza in the world. The answer? Yes — an average pie will run $30 to $40.

A War Survivor, An Iraqi Makes A New Home In North Carolina

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 19:44:00 +0000

Ten years after the Iraq War began, NPR is catching up with people we encountered during the conflict. Back in 2008, NPR's armored car was targeted with a so-called sticky bomb in Baghdad. Ali Hamdani, an Iraqi who worked for NPR as a translator and producer, narrowly escaped. Shortly afterward, he left Iraq for the Unites States as a refugee.

The last time I saw Ali Hamdani was in a compound protected by armed guards surrounded by Baghdad's dun-colored buildings.

A War Correspondent Takes On Her Toughest Assignment

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 18:23:00 +0000

When I discovered I was pregnant, I realized it was time for a change of pace. I'd been covering conflicts around the world for 12 years. The plan was to retreat to balmy Miami where my family is, have my baby and just slow down for a bit.

My husband was taking time off; I would have plenty of extra help if I needed it. While pregnant, I fantasized about the tender, quiet moments I would share with my daughter, her suckling contentedly while I cooed.

"How hard could motherhood be?" I blithely thought.

It actually sounded relaxing.

Gaza's Future Looks Bleaker Even Than Its Past

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Ihab Abu Nada's family lives down a series of dark narrow alleyways in Gaza City. The house has two bedrooms for the seven people living there — the kitchen and the bathroom are in the same space, and the roof is made of tin and frequently leaks.

Still, most of the Palestinian family's income goes into paying the rent.

Ihab's picture adorns a cracked wall; it's a simple memorial. Earlier this month, after being unable to find work, the 18-year-old set himself on fire and died.

Sneaking A Bite During Ramadan's Long, Hot Days

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 21:29:00 +0000

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan has fallen on the longest and hottest days of the year, which means up to 15 hours of fasting in soaring temperatures.

This seems to have increased the number of Muslims who aren't fully observing the fast, and may be sneaking a bite or a drink — though no one wants to say so on the record.

"I'm thirsty from 7 o'clock in the morning to the evening.