Brazzil
Prejudice
June/July 2002
A Cautionary Tale from Brazil—The
Land of Sunshine, Festivals
and Fear
One cannot dispute the reputation Brazil has in the international "eye." It is the place where despite all the economic troubles and social turbulence, people seem to know how to live in some kind of harmonious struggle. Brazil, as one would expect from any developing South American country, also harbors hidden pain and terrible stories of fear, corruption and impunity.
On March 1st 2002, the citizens of Montes Claros, in the state of Minas Gerais, were shocked by a tragic event. A well-known dancer, actor and choreographer had been brutally murdered. His name was Igor Xavier. He was 29 years old. Since then, the man who shot him in cold blood has been at the center of a firestorm of controversy. His name is Ricardo Athayde, a proud homophobe, whose political connections have so far allowed him to literally get away with murder.
Athayde's cousin is the mayor of Montes Claros and his brother works for the federal government. But his victim, Igor, was a rising star of the artistic community who had many friends and some clout of his own. Some are now fighting to expose the depth of corruption and prejudice that runs deep in Brazilian society.
I have lived in America since the mid eighties and right now, for the first time, I am ashamed to call myself a Brazilian, for many parts of that country are absolutely not safe for minorities like gays, blacks, native Indians, the poor and others. Any simple Web search will show evidence of that. American tourists should heed my advice to think twice about visiting Brazil, do the proper research especially if they belong to any of these minority groups.
Indeed, behind the exuberance of Rio's annual Carnaval and soccer fever and life-loving people lays a secret, dark world of hate and corruption that authorities may not want you Americans, potential tourists to know about. To illustrate this harsh reality, here are the details of young Igor's unimaginably senseless murder.
On the night in question, middle-aged Ricardo Athayde was sitting among several local artists at a popular bar frequented by local intellects and artists where he was sharing his views on philosophy and sociology. At around midnight, he invited Igor, whom he later claims he had never before met, back to his place to lend him some books as research material for Igor's next play.
Once inside his nearby apartment, Igor, armed only with a smile and a carrying case containing his work, was severely beaten and shot four times with not one, but two different guns. Two of those shots were at close range, execution style, one in the back of the neck, one on the forehead, the others in the chest and arm. All of that happened within a couple of hours.
Then, Igor's bloody body was dragged down two flights of stairs, leaving behind a trail of warm blood across the hall and stairs. Once on the street, the lifeless body was thrown in the back of a pick up truck. Then the body was driven several miles out of town and ditched from a cliff on the side of a semi-deserted road. The nearest small town is called São João da Vereda and the murderer's rich family owns a farm in the vicinity.
Perhaps because of his political ties, he felt he had enough clout to calmly return home that night and call on two of his brothers and apparently his son Diego (who later gets deeply involved in this) for a late night of floor-scrubbing to wash away evidence before heading out to mom's house in a gated community to concoct his story that later surfaces as an incredible web of contradiction.
Igor's Story
But Igor, who comes from a poor family, was not a complete 'nobody.' He was an artist who lived to break artistic boundaries. Igor had been taking artistic risks and taking quantum leaps in theater and dance since the late 1980's. He toured the country as an actor on Hilda Furacão, a play that later became a highly rated TV series and is now airing on Telemundo Network in Spanish all over America.
He also had his hand in choreographing, teaching and writing. Igor Xavier taught dance at Unimontes, the local university and at the Jaqueline Pereira Studio of Ballet and had conducted several dance/theater workshops in the state capital, Belo Horizonte. His last theatrical venture was an original adaptation of a compilation of works by the renowned Brazilian author Carlos Drummond de Andrade called "My Refrigerator Does Not Work." Local and regional papers call Igor a "rising star."
By contrast, Athayde is a local "farmer," though it is a known fact among those who know him that he does not hold a steady job and is habitually spotted drinking at bars and eating out, living off family money. Now he is the toast of all of his homophobic beer-guzzling friends. But to others he is also a disturbing topic of conversation in the bars and cafés and in the streets.
Indeed, terrible rumors started to tear thru the city perhaps not even 12 hours after the murderer tried to hide Igor's body from the police. A passerby on a horse and carriage had spotted it. The police was called and a police reporter recognized the body and called upon other people in the media.
By the time Igor's parents got a phone call that tore their hearts to a million pieces, by the time Igor's father had to come identify his son's beaten and executed body, the murderer and his son, aided by his brothers, were already hundreds of miles away on a family cottage near the city of Belo Horizonte.
Police Story
It did not take long for the slow and sloppy Brazilian civil police to come up with a suspect. It was just too obvious to miss. In a perfect world one would think that justice is underway, that having a prime suspect who admits to the killing, it would be easy to build a case. But it seems like in that country, if you are a first time offender, without any registered priors, you actually can kill someone and be allowed to go free. It is fair to note that the opposite can also be true if the accused has no money or political connections.
Igor's body was viewed at the city's Cultural Center. There were so many people, and the streets were blocked in front of the theater/gallery. It was clear to everyone who was behind the killing for the police had already found the victim's blood at the fugitive's apartment along with a small plastic carrying case containing Igor Xavier's belongings. The police report contained speculations and rumors, but it did not contain the statement of potential eyewitnesses such as a neighbor who allegedly heard the shots and saw a body being dragged down the hall late that night.
The report did not contain statements from some key people who were present at the bar the night before the murder. Of course, speculations aside, the police in certain South American countries just do not have the resources and the training to get to the bottom of things, even if the case is a no-brainer and especially when the prime suspect is rich and well connected.
About a week after the murder, amidst demonstrations and protests, the murderer returns, armed to the teeth with expensive lawyers from the capital city. Ready to confess and willing to tell his version of the truth. And his truth and the reason he slaughtered an unarmed, innocent human being is HOMOPHOBIA. He says that late that night, after being at the bar for several hours, he and the victim went to his place to see about some books. He said he had never met Igor until that night. So he took a "stranger" into his home after midnight. Just what anyone would expect from a nice, trusting man.
He stated that, as they walked in, his son Diego was in another room watching TV. He called for Diego to keep his "friend" company while he went to the bathroom. He then alleges that when he returned to the living room, Igor was sexually harassing his little boy, the 19-year-old, 6' tall, 190-lb Diego. He stated that Igor had a hand on Diego's leg and possibly genitalia and that he heard Igor call Diego "cute" and "charming."
To the police he stated: "The sight of a homosexual touching my kid made me go over the edge…I DESPISE homosexuals." He did not yell or kick Igor out. Instead, he went to a drawer in the living room and took out two guns (the police did not bother to check if the weapons were even registered). As he was walking towards Igor Xavier pointing the gun, he claims he "slipped" and shot Igor once. Then, when Igor, trying to stop the attack, got off the couch and stumbled towards him, he, desperate and confused, shot again. Police investigators accepted that version even though the close range shots clearly painted a different picture.
After the police interviewed him in a room crowded with out-of-town defense lawyers, the murderer was simply allowed to go home free and await developments, just to run into relatives and friends of the victim outside the police station who confronted the killer, yelling and shouting out "murderer" and "coward" as he was escorted into a car by detectives and uniformed police officers and shielded by lawyers.
In Brazil, generally the police have 30 days to conclude an investigation and submit a report to the DA's office. Meanwhile, the confessed killer kept hanging out at restaurants, going shopping and even walking the streets as if nothing ever happened. The people are outraged and some folks even shouted him out of a supermarket where he was seen along with two bodyguards.
On the 14th of March, Diego Athayde made a statement to the police and repeated almost verbatim his father's story. Some papers reported this statement being identical, even in the punctuation. It was the same with the statements from the brothers who aided in disposing the body of the choreographer.
Story Retold
When the police report finally got into the hands of the DA's office, it was considered dubious. The Ministry of Public Justice denied the accuracy and legitimacy of the report calling it "sloppy" and "weak," so the prosecutors took the time to reconstruct the report and found new witnesses and new evidence.
After two months of hard work aided by Igor Xavier's family lawyer, who's basically working pro-bono, Adenilson Veloso, the district attorney. has submitted a new report to the judge, Frederico do Espírito Santo, who on April 27th issued a warrant for Ricardo's arrest. This report cited Ricardo Athayde and Diego Athayde as authors of the brutal crime and Márcio Athayde as co-author.
Athayde has been "out of town" since late March and now his lawyers say they are unaware of his whereabouts and therefore he has not been notified about the warrant. Athayde was supposed to turn himself in on May 14th and was a no-show. Then the district attorney simply rescheduled for June 14th. Still nothing. Now he is simply a fugitive, but there is nothing being done to find him. And like most things in a resigned society, the longer it takes the less of a priority it becomes. Impunity wins.
Beyond all the clear facts, there have been numerous rumors about the murderers, rumors that even though not proven, add possible twists to the investigation. The murderer's brother, Luís Antônio Athayde holds a federal job in Brasília at the Development Ministry and that could be a reason for a less than aggressive search for justice given the way things tend to be done in small towns in Brazil (the so-called jeitinho brasileiro or little Brazilian way), then again politics become ammunition for heated talks.
There have been no comments from the local mayor, Jairo Athayde. It is also heard among the artistic community that Ricardo Athayde has in the past approached several other gay men for dates and was rejected. Becoming outrageously angry. Protesting artists say that they are afraid for their lives and would not think of testifying to that effect.
In fact the final D.A,'s report concluded that there was some form of sexual affinity between Xavier and Athayde. Therefore the story concocted by the confessed killer was bogus and untrue. Whatever the nature of such affinity, whatever transpired between victim and killer, hatred and/or homophobia were the reasons for the senseless murder. For those watching this case unfold, it appears as a classic case of a closet homosexual moved by rejection and anger.
The newspaper Hoje em Dia (Belo Horizonte, March 3rd, 2002) printed some intriguing questions about the killing having been committed by more than two people because of the particulars of the event i.e. two guns, close range shots, the getaway on a borrowed pickup truck and other intricate details in the medical report that indicate the Igor had been severely beaten before he was shot when Igor was a strong, tall man and was in perfect shape. Also the fact that Diego, the son, apparently just sat and watched all this unfold before his eyes…none of this makes sense and at the same time none of this is remotely taken into consideration.
While all this is happening, or not happening, a mother has lost her child and the last memory she holds is of his bruised, battered body and his swollen face, punctured by a bullet hole to the forehead. A city has lost one of its most talented and courageous cultural trailblazers. People still talk about the customary impunity for the rich and the politically well connected. Some wonder if this whole affair will probably blow over without any real sense of justice.
There have been three other gay murders in that city alone during the first three months of 2002, all unsolved, much like the massacre of street children in São Paulo and Rio by the so-called death squads in the late eighties and early nineties, Brazil seems to be able to continue to hide its dirty secrets. People are taken by fear. Bad economy and inflation take the back seat now. It's the new era in Brazil. The era of fear.
Meanwhile, in America we always hope that such brutality and hatred does not hit home because we know that when it does, we instantly become part of the experience. We become responsible for any future action and committed to make a difference. We unite and we stand! If I am to not be angry and scared of what might happen in my own life, if I am to live free from oppression, then I must do my part by exercising my democratic right to protest loudly about injustice both here and in my native land.
That is the only way I can live with the inexcusable and unacceptable death of Igor Xavier. Only with the interest of the ever-influential media and strong organizations in America will the government and the people of Brazil try to reform its judicial system to save itself from further embarrassments that could affect the flow of tourism dollars and foreign aid. Hopefully, the American arts community and the gay community and communities with anything at stake will also rally behind this cause for justice and show people in Brazil the true meaning behind the inalienable freedoms and rights that make America such a great nation.
The fight for justice will have to continue, whether or not we like it or want it or have any disposition left. One brick at a time, one word said at a time, for you and I know and can no longer ignore the only truth: "Evil flourishes when good men stand by and do nothing".
Andre Lacerda is a writer, actor and Corporate Event producer in Los Angeles, California. For several years, Lacerda served as a radio host in Washington D.C. at the now extinct Jazz90 (WDCU FM) and has written music reviews for RhythmLA.com besides working as a web music community builder for Beatnik.com. The author is willing to ask for what all of us want: freedom, a voice, and the end of 21st century colonial type oppression. He can be contacted at algl@email.com
Among many other sources:
http://rmtonline.globo.com/ms/materia.htm?id=27735&ca_id=67 (National)
http://www.glsplanet.com/cgi-glsplanet/searchnews.cgi?keyword=assassinado
(Gay related website. National)
www.guiamontesclaros.com.br/Noticias.asp?CD=2068 (statewide news)
www.guiamontesclaros.com.br/Noticias.asp?CD=2324
http://www.sinop.com.br/nacionais/mostra.php?id=28463&cat=brasil (Site for national news)
http://grandeminas.globo.com/noticias.php?id=10497 (Local TV station. See other news on that page)
Newspaper clippings not online.