Mangueira de Maconha

Big news storm going on about Mangueira, which is the most famous, oldest, and one of the most dangerous escolas in Rio. Its massive influence seems almost malevolent to me sometimes; Mangueira has always seemed more than a little creepy.

Mangueira´s always been proud about never having any connections to the jogo-de-bicho (illegal lottery) but everyone knows they´ve got connections to the traficantes (drug dealers). So anyway, the police have just raided a massive maconha (marijuana) processing plant in the favela of Mangueira. It belongs to the well-known traficante (drug dealer) Tuchinha, who has long-term connections to the escola, and there also seem to be a lot of connections to the president of the escola and to Ivo Meirelles, who until recently was president of the bateria. Tuchinha has suddenly vanished. The police are calling it `Operation Carnaval´.

What seems to be going on is that Mangueira´s Saturday rehearsals have been used as a major drug-selling locale for Tuchinha to off-load his product to the approximately ten zillion tourists and locals who all go there every Saturday. The estimate is that Tuchinha makes one MILLION reais per WEEK off his pot operation, of which SIXTY PER CENT is sold at the Mangueira rehearsal. Let´s see... that´s about US$350,000 cleared at every single rehearsal. Wow. I´ve always said Mangueira´s rehearsals are way too crowded! Now I finally know why!

Tuchinha also happens to be one of the composer´s of this year´s samba-enredo song for Mangueira. The newspaper reported snippily today `It´s not even a very good song.´

The newspapers also said that for some reason, almost everybody they contacted who has any knowledge of Carnaval or Mangueira had absolutely no comment about this news story. Nobody knows anything. Gee. Go figure.

Just maybe people are remembering 2004, when the director of the Mangueira bateria was assassinated because he´d publically disagreed with a local drug dealer about which girl should be queen of the bateria.

In the end, nothing will happen. Just like with Beija-Flor being accused of buying Carnaval last year. Nothing ever happens.

Another headline that I read hurriedly in the newstand yesterday referred to the police finding a `forno micro-ondas para queimar as pessoas´ in Tuchinha´s pot factory, which no matter how many times I look at it still translates to `a microwave oven for burning people.´ Have not quite figured this out & not sure that I want to know!

Meanwhile I´ve been chatting with friends who were thrilled about getting to play with Mangueira last week. There´s a type of sambista whose sole goal seems to be to parade in a bateria of Grupo Especial, and there´s a sort of one-up-man-ship about which bateria you´ve played with. That was my goal too when I first arrived, but the more I´ve lived here, the less it matters to actually parade. On this current trip, I haven´t wanted, or asked, to play in ANY of the escolas I´ve visited. I say "I went to Unidos da Tijuca last night!" and other sambistas say "Did you get to play?" and I say "Huh? What? Oh, no, I was chatting to Olivia and Pat and then I ran into Dudu, and then I was dancing with the passistas and then I had a beer and then I ran into these Germans who were really fun, and one of them bought me this ENORMOUS caipirinha, it was so funny..." You get the picture. I´ve got other things going on. I get plenty of playing time (with my bloco Banga) and there´s nothing I need to prove any more. Now I want to spend time with my friends.

I don´t think it´s a coincidence that the people who come here most often, like Jacare and me, eventually end up spending most of our time with the blocos in our home neighborhoods, and less time with Grupo Especial. Once you know what´s really going on, Grupo Especial is just plain creepy. I´ll still probably parade with a Grupo Especial escola someday, next time I get a good long stint here. But I don´t idolize them.