When the president gets tied down
RIO GRANDE DO SUL: Riding with the gaúcho
BAHIA: Have Ford, will travel
Turning banks into tax collectors
Coming to Belo Horizonte from Salvador, you see the more familiar and rich south-east of Brazil, which includes the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo. The city of Belo Horizonte is in the idiom of São Paulo, with old buildings and churches jammed between skyscrapers, but it's more pleasant: - more trees, wider streets, fewer cars, cleaner air, less crime. Belo Horizonte is not a bit provincial despite being the capital of a conservative, inland state.
Minas Gerais means general mines and the state was a wilderness until the discovery of gold in 1693 by bandeirantes (explorers). The ensuing goldrush led to tension with São Paulo and a war, the Guerra dos Emboabos, in 1708, which São...
