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From Our Own Correspondent: Brazil’s legacy of racism

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Brazil’s legacy of racism

25/07/2020 GMT

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, Brazil’s legacy of racism

Brazil confronts racial inequality; Turkmenistan and Covid-19 and a Venetian festival

The death of a young boy in Brazil highlights entrenched racist attitudes; Turkmenistan’s handling of Covid-19 and a visit to a Venetian festival, minus the tourists

Stories from Brazil, Turkmenistan, Hungary and Italy.

The global anti-racism movement following the death of George Floyd has resonated in Brazil. It has a long legacy of racial inequality – Brazil was the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery – and that’s left deep scars. And even though more than half of the population now identify as black, very few hold positions of power. Our South America correspondent Katy Watson reports from Sao Paolo. 

Police in Hungary are investigating the alleged suicide of a Roma rights activist and politician who died earlier this month. Laszlo Bogdan was 46 and had made a name for himself as mayor of the small village Cserdi in southern Hungary. Under his leadership, the village had become a model for others. He was also popular as Roma leader who fought for greater integration. His death has left many in the community searching for answers– as Nick Thorpe has heard.

Turkmenistan is one of the most secretive and authoritarian states in the world. And so far it has not officially registered a single case of Covid-19. That's despite high rates of coronavirus reported by all its neighbouring countries, including Iran and Afghanistan. And its leader is focused on creating a different narrative in the country: an Era of Supreme Happiness, filled with fast cars, beautiful horses and rap music written by him. He likes to be known as “the Patron.” 

But despite the media black-out, independent news organisations are reporting numerous cases of people falling ill with Covid-like symptoms. There are even reports that a Turkmen official has died of the virus – but still, the country insists there are no cases. So how did the recent visit by experts from the World Health Organisation help to shed light in an information vacuum? Rayhan Demytrie reports.

Cultural events have been cancelled or put on hold around the world in 2020 because of the pandemic. The Tokyo Olympics, the Eurovision Song Contest and the Cannes film festival have all been postponed, but it’s the hundreds of thousands of local events many are missing the most. In Venice, one festival has gone ahead, albeit in a more restrained way -   and, perhaps fittingly, it’s the one that celebrated the end of the plague in 1576. Julia Buckley attended the festival.

(Image: Woman at a "Black and Indigenous Lives Matter" demonstration in Manaus, Brazil. Credit: Reuters/Bruno Kelly)

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