MINAS GERAIS: Franco the noisy populist

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.