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Monday, November 29, 2010

Brazil's gangs: Time's up | The Economist

Brazil's gangs: Time's up | The Economist

Time's up
Nov 28th 2010, 19:06 by H.J. | RIO DE JANEIRO
ONE WEEK after drug dealers and gangsters started a campaign of arson and robbery in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian security forces have entered the Complexo do Alemão, a group of 12 favelas (shantytowns) where the ringleaders are hiding, in an effort to reassert the state’s control over the area. Around 2,700 police and soldiers began laying siege to the slums on November 25th, and gave their adversaries a deadline of sunset on November 27th to surrender. This morning, they stormed the neighbourhood, and met surprisingly little resistance, as some of the criminals fled to the hills above. Among the 30 or so arrested so far is a gang leader known as Zeu, who was wanted for the torture and murder of Tim Lopes, an investigative journalist, in 2002.
The wave of violence started on the night of November 20th, when the gangs began hijacking and burning cars and buses to cause fear and disruption. Since then over 40 people have been killed—mostly suspected traffickers, but also some innocent bystanders, including children, who have been hit by stray bullets. The authorities believe that the attacks were a reprisal for their gradual retaking of the lawless favelasin recent years, by expelling drug dealers and gang members one slum at a time, and preventing their return by installing permanent “Pacification Police Units”, or UPPs. Even though barely a dozen of the hundreds of favelas have been reclaimed so far, the drug lords are clearly already feeling the pinch. Police say a note found by a burning bus on November 24th explicitly linked the campaign, the UPPs and the 2016 Olympics, due to be held in Rio: “with UPPs, no Olympics”, it read.
The city has responded with overwhelming force to a threat that its mayor, Eduardo Paes, has described as terrorism. It has called in its off-duty police and put those with desk jobs on the streets, while turning to the federal government for military firepower and help controlling the major routes to and from the city. On November 24th the police raided Vila Cruzeiro, another large favela. Broadcast live by Globo, a television network, which had moved its helicopter from São Paulo to film the action in Rio, some hundreds of gang members were seen toting weapons and ammunition from Vila do Cruzeiro to Complexo do Alemão, where they then holed up. The implication that the city’s normally warring drug gangs were teaming up to fight the government (Amigos dos Amigos have their headquarters in Vila do Cruzeiro; Comando Vermelho in Complexo do Alemão) was worrying. But after a fierce but short shoot-out, lasting around half an hour, the siege was over.
Down on the “asphalt”, as favela-dwellers often refer to the swish seafront areas, after a few shaky days with businesses closing early and taxis hard to find, life is by now pretty much back to normal. “Nothing to do with here,” said one resident; another said she was lunching inside restaurants, rather than on their terraces, at least for now. But there was general approval. Many locals referred to the action as a long-overdue “civil war”. The governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Sergio Cabral, was recently re-elected easily for a second term in part because of his plans to improve public safety.
What seems new is that the residents of the favelas themselves seem to be welcoming the police. Not that they are particularly keen on the gangsters and militias who rule their neighbourhoods, but the police, who tend to mount violent hunt-and-search operations with little care for bystanders and then pull out again, have managed to be even less popular. That seems to be changing as the UPPs stay put. Favela-dwellers appear to be slowly allowing themselves to hope that this time, when politicians and police say they are here to help, they mean it for more than the short term.
(Photo credit: AFP)

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Schumpeter: The Brazilian model | The Economist

Schumpeter: The Brazilian model | The Economist

In Argentina, Touring the Tigre Delta - NYTimes.com

In Argentina, Touring the Tigre Delta - NYTimes.com

OVERNIGHTER

In Argentina, Touring the Tigre Delta

Beatrice Murch for The New York Times
In Tigre, Argentina, riverboats depart the Estación Fluvial for trips around the Tigre Delta.
THE stunning belle-époque building that houses the Museo de Arte Tigre in the Tigre Delta of Argentina opened as a social club a century ago, when rich bohemians would visit the region to give themselves a respite from Buenos Aires. The building eventually fell into disuse before reopening as a museum in 2006, newly refurbished with marble, bronze and stained glass as part of a municipal improvement project.
Its fortunes in many ways mirror those of the delta, 45 minutes by train from Buenos Aires. The area has been rediscovered by the leisure class that abandoned it for beachier getaways, leaving behind their imprint in the paintings they created that hang in the museum.
“There are three places in Buenos Aires which are changing, which everyone is talking about,” said Diana Saiegh, the director of the Museo de Arte Tigre. “San Telmo, Palermo Viejo, and now, Tigre. The most rich people of Buenos Aires have come here.”
The renaissance comes after a long decline during which down-market tourists began traveling to Tigre, oftentimes without staying overnight, and it slowly developed a honky-tonk, rundown feel. Recently however, the municipality of Tigre has spearheaded renovations like improving the waterfront walkways along the Río Luján and renovating the shopping and information arcades near the main train station. Developers have also become attracted to Tigre, building homes and spas on its remote islands, aiming once again at the very wealthy.
The region is vast. At 5,405 square miles, the Tigre Delta is among the world’s largest, and it is the only major delta not emptying into a sea or ocean. It flows instead into the Río de la Plata, which separates Argentina and Uruguay, after the Río Paraná splits into several smaller rivers and forms a multitude of sedimentary islands covered in forest and grasslands. With its islands and canals, Tigre is what Venice might have looked like before development.
Tigre is named for the jaguars — which were called tigers — that once roamed here, before the islands became important agriculturally for wicker and fruit in the mid-1800s; the British built trains bringing these products to market. After an 1877 yellow fever epidemic in Buenos Aires, Tigre was seen as a healthful retreat.
British character pervades Tigre, with Victorians and half-timbered mock Tudors. Many of those structures and the museum are on what locals call “continente,” the mainland. This center sits on the Río Luján tributary and is a launching pad from which boats travel from the Estación Fluvial terminal to venture to the islands scattered in the delta. The center has no shortage of draws. In addition to the museum, there is an amusement park and a market where handmade reed furniture, leather, artisanal food and other products are sold.
Tigre still attracts artists, like Sebastián Páez Vilaró, son of the Uruguayan artist Carlos Páez Vilaró. His atelier, where he makes bronze and copper repoussé art, is a miniature of his father’s amorphous Casa Pueblo in Punta Del Este. Mr. Páez Vilaró, 25, said he finds Tigre inspiring “because I can enjoy nature and the land and still be close to Buenos Aires.”
But it is the delta’s remote, carefree islands that provide a greater reprieve from urban life. A number of spa resorts and gated communities — called “countries” after American country clubs — have opened on the islands, once known only for rugged day trips. For example, there is Bonanza, an island where the Bonanza Deltaventura company offers horseback riding, kayaking, bird-watching and tramping through forests, where botanists point out plant species. Some new developments attempt to bridge the two worlds.
One of them, the Isla el Descanso, is a small island occupied by a retreat that highlights its natural attributes: lagoons, channels and gardens. The owner, Claudio Stomato, created the retreat when he converted his weekend home into a retreat with sculptures by Alberto Bastón Díaz, an Argentine artist. Its most famous visitor was Madonna, who came in 2008 with her children and bodyguards in tow.
Other developments are more ambitious. Delta Eco Spa, on an island near Bonanza, is a sprawling resort that opened in November 2009, six years after construction began. Building is continuing, according to the hotel’s commercial director, Marcelo Israel, with much of the material coming laboriously by boat. “Constructing in the water is not the same as constructing on solid ground,” he said.
Though its physical structure is not finished, the spa’s vision seems complete. It is meant for romance: Children under 10 are not permitted, and rooms feature showers for two; each room comes with a sprawling patio deck. Private vacation bungalows are being developed on the island to offer guests even more privacy.
The precursor to Delta Eco and the wave of other spa resorts that have been built is Rumbo 90, which opened in 2005. It’s intimate, with only seven guest rooms and a rustic-romantic candlelit dining area whose menu emphasizes river fish and other local products. It’s possible to visit for half days or just for lunch, but Paula Gezzi, an owner, said that day-trippers are limited to maintain the sense of solitude. The resort fronts Canal del Este, which Ms. Gezzi described as “upscale.” Across the water, a neighboring island has large, expensive homes.
Ms. Gezzi, 32, vacationed as a child in Tigre. “Twenty years ago,” she said, “the only thing to do was have some fun in the day and then return to the city, but now people choose to stay on the islands.” She added, “you are only half an hour from land, but you feel very far away.”
Her sentiments were echoed by Norma Effrón of Buenos Aires, who was celebrating her 54th birthday at Rumbo 90 and was staying there overnight for the first time. “I love the vegetation,” she said. “I love the water. There was a time when I used to come very often, but it was only to stay for the day.”
This time, she said, she found that “Tigre is a way to refresh the head.”
Susana Neira, 53, a Buenos Aires-based tour guide, finds the mainland just as restorative. Ms. Neira is a member of the Buenos Aires Rowing Club, located between Tigre’s train station and the Estación Fluvial. She calls the club’s baronial British structure a “Harry Potter place,” but it also looks like an Abercrombie & Fitch ad location, with its ivy-covered crew-boat storage areas. Among Ms. Neira’s favorite pastimes is rowing along the Tigre waterfront.
As she paddled there on a recent trip, people waved from the Puerto de Frutos, the tourist market. At water level, the intimacy is astounding: kayakers stop one another for directions, and one can hear the conversations emanating from the docks of island houses built on stilts.
The crew boat returned to Tigre as the sun set, casting a golden glow over the lapping water, silhouetting the Parque de la Costa amusement park.
Ms. Neira stopped rowing, taking in the view. “I spend all my free time here in Tigre,” she said.
IF YOU GO
For general information, laisladelta.com.ar is a good source.
From Buenos Aires, a 45-minute train goes from Retiro Station in Buenos Aires to Tigre, and it runs about three times an hour. The cost is a mere 1.70 Argentine pesos, or 45 cents at 3.9 Argentine pesos to the dollar. Taxis from Buenos Aires to Tigre run about 120 pesos (about $31).
A scenic Sturla ferry boat connects Puerto Madero (54-11-4731-1300;www.sturlaviajes.com.ar) in Buenos Aires to Estacion Fluvial in Tigre. It costs 75 pesos. Private water taxis can run as much as five times that, but many resorts are also on the Interisleñas boat bus routes, which cost 19 pesos. Transit can be confusing and is best coordinated with the resort or travel agent.
Boat transfers to the islands from downtown Tigre are often included with the cost of a resort room.
WHERE TO STAY
Most resorts are all-inclusives, with excursions and spa treatments extra.
Delta Eco Spa (54-11-5236-0553; deltaecospa.com) is on the western delta’s Río Carapachay. Standard rates from 330 pesos per person per night to 570 pesos for bungalows.
Rumbo 90 (54-9-11-5843-9454; rumbo90.com.ar) is on Canal del Este, in the eastern delta. Standards from 440 pesos per person per night to 739 pesos for Jacuzzi suites.
Bonanza Deltaventura (54-11-4728-1674; deltaventura.com) is in an 1898 villa on a former Río Carapachay fruit plantation, ideal for the eco-conscious. From 172 pesos for day trips, 560 pesos for two--night stays.
GUIDES AND TOURS
Say Hueque Tours (54-11-5199-2517; sayhueque.com) runs reasonably priced adventure delta excursions.
Borello Travel (800-405-3072 or 54-11-5031-1988; borellotravel.com) runs luxury spa and art tours.
Susana Neira acts as a guide in Tigre and Buenos Aires (54-9-11-4992-3780;susananeira159@gmail.com) as does Mariana Jimenez (54-9-11-4997-7832;mariana.v.jimenez@gmail.com;).
SIGHTS
Museo de Arte Tigre, Paseo Victorica 972, Tigre (54-11-4512-4528; www.mat.gov.ar).
Atelier Sebastián Páez Vilaró and Casa Pueblo Tigre, General Campos 160, Tigre (sebastianpaezvilaro.com). By appointment only.
Isla El Descanso, Rio Sarmiento (54-11-4825-6996; islaeldescanso.com).
Puerto de Frutos (puertodefrutos-arg.com.ar) is a market that is a 10-minute walk from the Tigre train station.
Parque de la Costa (54-11-4002-6000; parquedelacosta.com.ar) is a waterfront amusement park next to Puerto de Frutos and Tren de la Costa station.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

mi amiga Vilma

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Patricia y yo con Ariel y Nain

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Pastricia con sus hijos

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mi hotel en Buenos Aires

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My Beloved Hotel In Buenos Aires

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Dogs In A Buenos Aires Park

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A Mosque at Buenos Aires

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un restaurante con el nombre de mi hija

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Mis amigos Ing. Fernando Ruiz y Ariel Dagnino

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mi restaurante favorito en Buenos Aires

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Mi amigo querido abogado Aldo Spiccaci con su esposa Corina

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The Aberdeen Latin America Equity Fund

Profile

 | SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2010

São Paolo Style

Aberdeen Latin American Equity Fund manager Nick Robinson is making a big bet on Brazil and its booming consumer economy.

NICK ROBINSON WAS SWAMPED DURING his first visit to Latin America, in 1997. As a member of the Oxford crew rowing in a demonstration meet in the rain forest up the Amazon, Robinson found his shell taking on water from the wakes of old gunboats carrying local TV cameramen filming the race. His boat sank while the rival Brazilian rowers cruised to victory.
"This taught me in no uncertain terms how important it is to understand local customs and behavior whenever venturing into foreign places," explains Robinson. He's learned to navigate the emerging markets a lot better over time. Since taking over the Aberdeen Latin American Equity Fund (ticker: LAQ) in July 2009, when it was acquired from Credit Suisse, he has generated a total return of 74.47% through Nov. 10. That's about 16.5 percentage points better than its MSCI benchmark.
Paulo Fridman
Nick Robinson
Robinson, who's 32, cut his teeth managing U.S. and global funds for Aberdeen Asset Management starting a decade ago. In February 2008, he moved to London from the firm's Philadelphia offices to join its global emerging-markets team. The following summer, he relocated to São Paolo to run the fund.
"This was a remarkable opportunity to enhance an already proven fund," recalls Robinson. His strategy: pare down the its 100-plus positions to a more focused portfolio. Today, the fund holds only 49 stocks.
Robinson believes concentrated, bottom-up stock selection puts the fund into companies that can exploit the region's rapid expansion better than a broader swath of shares can. According to Morningstar, he has done just that.
Over the past 12 months through October, the MSCI Emerging Market Latin America Index was up 23.98%, in U.S. dollar terms. The net asset value of Aberdeen returned an additional 12.23 percentage points. Reduction of the closed-end fund's discount added another 2.75%, giving investors a total return of 38.96%. Performance has pushed assets up to $245 million in the U.S.-traded fund and $453 in the Luxembourg-based open-ended version (not available to U.S. residents).
Thinking outside the index is key to his outperformance. For example, being underweight struggling Petroleo Brasilerio (PBR/A)—known also as Petrobras—helped. Where the Brazilian oil giant makes up 13.15% of the MSCI EM Latin America Index, Robinson's holding was 9%. And where a leading Brazilian retailer, Lojas Renner (LREN3.Brazil), whose stock is up 62% this year, represents only 52 basis points of the index, it makes up 4.7% of Aberdeen's portfolio.
A dozen analysts and investment managers based in London and an additional analyst beside Robinson in São Paolo jointly select investments based on growing, well-managed firms selling at reasonable valuations.
"First off," he explains, "we generally invest in companies with simple, transparent business models." He then judges opportunity according to basic valuation tools. "For most sectors we use price-to-earnings multiples and cash-generation ratios, adjusting the former for any noncash distortions. This is particularly important in places like Brazil, where goodwill is deducted in the tax accounts but not in the reported accounts, so cash taxes tend to be lower than reported taxes."

Aberdeen Latin American Equity

866-839-5205

Total Returns*

1-Yr3-Yr5-Yr
Aberdeen Latin20.8%6.4%22.2%
MSCI Emer Latin Am10.0%2.6%19.9%

% Of
Top 10 HoldingsTickerPort.**
Petroleo BrasileiroPBR/A8.9%
ValeVALE/P8.8
Banco BradescoBBDC35.9
America MovilAMXL5.7
Lojas RennerLREN34.7
Multiplan EmpreendimentMULT33.9
Ultrapar ParticipacoesUGP3.7
Natura CosmeticosNATU33.6
Fomento Econo MexFMX3.4
Grupo Financiero BanorteGFNORTEO3.3
Total:
51.9%
*All returns are as of 11/17; three and five year returns are annualized. 
** As of 9/30. Sources: Morningstar; Bloomberg; company reports
He relies on conservatively conceived two-year earnings models for all companies to help determine if current prices make sense. When prices appear to have gone beyond reason, he'll take money off the table.
Aberdeen's investments are driven by several key emerging-market themes: natural resources, business development and, above all, powerful expansion of the middle class. According to Robinson, this income group has increased by 32 million [the size of Canada] in Brazil alone over the past seven years. This helps explain why two-thirds of the fund's assets are parked in the country. (About 22% is in Mexico, and 7% is in Chile.)
With communications at the core of economic growth, Robinson's fourth-largest position is Mexican telecomAmerica Movil (AMXL.Mexico), his sole stake in that sector. "Having the largest number of subscribers and highest margins, America Movil is Latin America's leading wireless carrier," says Robinson, "and its recent move into fixed lines should position it to exploit growing broadband demand serving computers and television."
In addition to synergies from bundling wireless and wireline services, he projects increasing service and data demand to shift customer usage from prepaid to more lucrative contracts. This should further propel shares, which were up 22.6% in dollar terms through Nov. 18. Selling at about 13 times expected 2011 earnings, Movil's valuation is still very attractive, he says. America Movil is expected earn $7 billion in 2010 on $41 billion in sales.
His primary concern is that the company is being too aggressive in managing its currency derivatives to try to reduce the cost of its $9 billion debt. Although it's done well with the strategy, Robinson would prefer that it simply hedge its currency position so that its debt doesn't grow.
At 5.9%, São Paolo-based Banco Bradesco (BBDC3.Brazil) is the fund's third-largest position. "Aberdeen Funds have been in the bank for years," says Robinson. The reason: It's one of the region's largest financials, providing a full range of consumer, commercial and investment-banking services. If the company meets 2010 estimates, its revenue and profits will have nearly doubled over the past five years. This year Robinson projects that the bank will make a profit of $9.7 billion on revenue of $53.4 billion. The stock is up 12% for the year through Nov. 18.
"BRADESCO IS Astable, well-managed way to play Brazilian growth," posits Robinson, "especially the expansion of consumer services, such as loans, mortgages and insurance. And these activities should increase as interest rates decline." This should mitigate the main risk to which the bank is exposed: local borrowers dependent on global economic growth.
Another pure Brazilian play in Robinson's portfolio is the high-end retailer Lojas Renner. Spun off from J.C. Penney in 2005, this department store's sales have tripled over the last five years to $1.6 billion, propelled by new store openings, its branded credit-card services and improving operating efficiencies. Helping it attract international investor support is the stock's listing on Brazil's Novo Mercado—a segment of the main exchange reserved for companies with superior corporate governance. Although Robinson has taken some profits on the surging shares, Aberdeen remains a major backer of Renner, with its 14.6% ownership of the company.
"This remains one of the most compelling ways of playing Brazil's emerging middle-class story," says Robinson.
Petrobras represented 20% of the fund's portfolio when Credit Suisse owned it, but Robinson sold off more than half of it by October 2009. As a result, he sidestepped much of the dilution from the recent $70 billion secondary offering that's financing Petrobras' acquisition (from the government) and development of massive reserves off the Brazilian coast. The shares have lost nearly 28% this year through Nov. 18, which has hit the fund's 9% position hard.
Still, Robinson remains optimistic. "There are few oil companies in the world with such high-quality reserves," he says, "and the capacity to nearly double production to nearly 4 million barrels per day by 2020 from current levels of 2.1 million barrels."
But he agrees that political risks remain: "The secondary offering showed how the company has been used by the Lula [Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva] government as a tool for fiscal policy, and we are concerned the same may occur under the incoming Rousseff [president-elect Dilma Rousseff ] government." The government received $43 billion from the stock sale.
While a small part of Latin American equity benchmarks, Chile is the most compelling country in the region, with the soundest financial and government systems. For Robinson, Banco Santander Chile (BSAN.Chile)—created by the global Spanish bank—is an effective way to play this country. "Besides directly benefiting from expanding demand for financial services, especially mortgages," observes Robinson, "we especially like to invest in firms that are controlled by established, developed-market companies that have applied their expertise in the region." A legacy position, the bank has soared 103% since Robinson took over the fund through Nov. 18.
Robinson believes the Latin American story is far from over. But he acknowledges bumps are out there. Managing rising local currencies without stalling foreign direct investment that's fueling growth requires a deft touch and a bit of luck. Despite internal growth, failure of developed-market recovery to gain traction will hurt. And despite their embrace of freer private markets, Latin American politics will always remain a potential flash point. It's something that Robinson's learned to navigate carefully.  
ERIC UHLFELDER, author of Investing in the New Europe, covers global capital markets from New York.

Sheriff Who Refused To Evict Foreclosed Homeowners Forced To Resume

Sheriff Who Refused To Evict Foreclosed Homeowners Forced To Resume

Friday, November 19, 2010

32 Years After The Jonestown, Guayana Massacre

Peoples Temple observance: Jonestown memorial rift

Photos of some of the 918 killed in the 1978 Jonestown suicide are displayed at Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland.
It seems the grief and pain of Jonestown never fades. On Thursday, it erupted anew on a tranquil East Oakland hillside.
At the 32nd annual Jonestown memorial, held at an Evergreen Cemetery mass grave for Peoples Temple victims, a schism among mourners led to competing ceremonies - one led by a woman who lost 27 family members in the mass suicide in Guyana, the other by Jim Jones Jr.
The first ceremony was hosted by Jynona Norwood of San Francisco, who has organized what she calls the "official" Jonestown memorial for more than three decades. Hers is a heartbreaking ceremony focusing on lessons learned, guidance from God, and the dangers of following charismatic leaders like Jim Jones.
The second ceremony, held four hours later at the same site, was organized by Jones Jr., son of the infamous Peoples Temple leader who ordered the suicides of 909 of his followers, plus the killings of Rep. Leo Ryan of San Mateo and a news crew, in 1978. Jones Jr.'s ceremony was more of a family reunion. People hugged, took snapshots, caught up on each other's lives and reminisced. There were no sermons, no music, no speeches. Jones Sr. was hardly mentioned at all.
Both ceremonies were attended by 30 to 40 family members of Jonestown victims.
Norwood was insulted by the "outrageous" second ceremony.
"It's like spitting on the souls of those who've died," she said. "It's an insult."
Jones, now a medical equipment salesman in San Francisco, didn't see it that way: "After 32 years, do I need any more sermons? Do I need to learn the lesson again? Let's not talk about what happened anymore. I want to talk about healing and moving on."

918 dead in the jungle

Nine hundred eighteen people died at Jonestown, many them African Americans from Oakland and San Francisco who had followed Jim Jones to the jungles of Guyana to found a utopian society.
Many tried to leave when Jones Sr. became increasingly dictatorial, but he prevented them. Ryan, an accompanying defector and journalists were shot and killed when they flew to Guyana to investigate.
Shortly afterward, Jones induced 909 of his followers - including 305 children - to consume a cyanide-laced drink. More than 400 of those bodies were never claimed, either because whole families had died or because surviving family members were afraid of Jones' minions or the stigma of the tragedy.
Evergreen Cemetery volunteered to take the unclaimed bodies, where they lie in a mass grave on a quiet, shady glade overlooking the bay.

Rising tensions

Allowing two ceremonies was an easy decision for the cemetery's staff. In recent years, tensions have been increasing among mourners, and in some cases people had lost their tempers, cemetery director Ron Haulman said.
"We don't want anyone to come here to mourn and pay their respects and not feel safe," he said. "We want to be courteous to everyone."
In another rift among survivors, Jones Jr.'s group plans to install four granite plaques at the grave next year. The plaques will be engraved with the names of all 918 victims, including Jones Sr.
Norwood's group also undertook a memorial plaque project. But it was engraved with only 917 names - everyone but Jones Sr.
Norwood's plaque project is temporarily stalled because it is so large and heavy that it would have toppled on the cemetery hillside.
So Jones Jr.'s plaque appears headed for the memorial site. The $15,000 project has been financed by an anonymous donor who will be repaid over time with donations, said Fielding McGehee, head of the Jonestown Institute in San Diego, an archive of the church's history.
After 32 years, it's time for the new plaque - that includes Jones - and a new memorial ceremony that omits Jones, McGehee said.
"Pretty much everyone who was in the Peoples Temple is over Jim Jones," he said. "They've forgiven him or gotten past their anger. It's time we recognize that."
For Tommy Washington of Oakland, the behind-the-scenes politics were irrelevant. Washington, a professional dancer who grew up in Peoples Temple in San Francisco and lost numerous friends and family members, attended his first anniversary memorial Thursday and went to both ceremonies.
"For all these years I never talked about it, like it never happened," he said. "But then all these memories started coming back, good and bad."
"Just to be here and finally talk about Jonestown, it's just bringing a whole new dimension to my life," he added. "All this talking about it helps me finally understand what went on."
E-mail Carolyn Jones at carolynjones@sfchronicle.com.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/18/MNET1GEEDD.DTL#ixzz15jeZBKr4The Gift