Peru-A Swamp To Drain

PERU

A Swamp to Drain

Corruption scandals linked to the Brazilian construction and engineering firm Odebrecht have caught up politicians throughout Latin America.

But the rot might be worst in Peru.

Former Peruvian President Alan García recently sought asylum in Uruguay, saying claims that he took bribes from Odebrecht between 2006 and 2011 were part of a political witch hunt, reported the BBC.

A court ruled that he can’t leave the country. But the Peruvian foreign ministry said it won’t stand in the way of Uruguay accepting him.

Peru’s current president, Martin Vizcarra, denied the witch hunt claims.

“Political persecution doesn’t exist in Peru. There’s full rule of law,” Vizcarra told Bloomberg, adding that he hoped his neighboring country’s president would help in the fight against crooked politicians. “Corruption doesn’t respect borders and therefore heads of state need to work together to fight it.”

That full rule is exposing the extent to which graft permeated the highest levels of government in Peru.

As the Financial Times explained, the last four presidents of Peru before Vizcarra are under investigation for malfeasance in connection with Odebrecht.

Opposition leader Keiko Fujimori is also in jail for allegedly taking cash from Odebrecht. She is the daughter of Alberto Fujimori, a former Peruvian president who is in jail for human rights abuses.

The judge who ordered Keiko Fujimori’s detention said he suspected she was operating a “de facto criminal organization” that laundered money via her political party, wrote Agence France-Presse.

She and the others insist they are innocent.

The younger Fujimori’s plight especially illustrates how prosecutors are growing bolder, the Guardian noted. She held a congressional majority and was gearing up to run for president, a job she almost won in 2016. But leaks and journalistic investigations linked her with corrupt judges and plots to disrupt investigators and shield corrupt officials in government.

The Odebrecht scandal is just one bit of muck in what appears to be a swampy political culture in Peru.

Police recently arrested 14 people, including the former head of the national police, suspected of running a human trafficking ring, the New York Times reported. The criminals allegedly preyed on poor pregnant women, offering them money for their babies and then selling the babies to the highest bidders.

Prosecutors also recently sought to arrest the president of the country’s soccer federation in connection with two murders, wrotethe Associated Press.

With so many former leaders facing prison or exile, one can only hope someone competent will be left to run the place.

Argentina: Where's The Red Carpet?

ARGENTINA

Where’s the Red Carpet?

Argentina has urged residents to leave Buenos Aires ahead of the G20 summit, which begins Friday.

The city has already gone into full security shutdown, the UK’s Guardian newspaper reported, and on Friday flights over the city will be diverted and public transportation suspended. The authorities are expecting 33 anti-G20 protests and cultural events.

“We know there are attempts to generate spaces of extreme violence and situations of chaos and disturbances during the G20,” said the security minister, Patricia Bullrich.

Of special concern is the scheduled attendance of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, who is under fire for the war in Yemen and the killing of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Apart from possible demonstrations aimed at him, Human Rights Watch presented a writ Monday arguing that the Argentinian courts should invoke a universal jurisdiction statute to prosecute him for war crimes and torture.

It’s likely to be an eventful summit in other ways, too, with President Donald Trump saying he’ll meet Prince Mohammed but might rebuff Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s seizure of Ukrainian ships on Sunday.

RFio de Janeiro Elevator Attendants 'Adore' Their Dying, Chatty Trade

RIO DE JANEIRO DISPATCH

Rio de Janeiro Elevator Attendants ‘Adore’ Their Dying, Chatty Trade

Roselia da Conceição at work in a 23-story building in downtown Rio de Janeiro.

Maria Magdalena Arrellaga for The New York Times

By Ernesto Londoño

• Nov. 25, 2018

RIO DE JANEIRO — The elevator attendants are under no illusion: Their days are numbered.

Yet the few thousand operators in Rio de Janeiro who have clung on to their jobs well into the 21st century are hoping the forces of automation won’t entirely obliterate their trade, at least for a few more years.

“You’re never bored,” said Roselia da Conceição, 53, as she ferried passengers up and down a 23-story building in downtown Rio de Janeiro one morning, commanding her bouncy elevator from a tall stool.

“Because you’re always talking and interacting with people, you learn a lot and you create a type of intimacy,” she said.

Marcio Martins, an elevator operator at the Banco do Brasil Cultural Center, assisting a visitor.CreditMaria Magdalena Arrellaga for The New York Times

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Marcio Martins, an elevator operator at the Banco do Brasil Cultural Center, assisting a visitor.CreditMaria Magdalena Arrellaga for The New York Times

While Rio de Janeiro may be best known for its fantastic beaches and hillside favelas, the city, which was Brazil’s capital until 1960, remains one of the country’s major business centers, and its downtown is crowded with high-rises and corporate headquarters.

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In 1991, a state law made it mandatory for commercial buildings with five or more stories to employ elevator attendants, which is the main reason the city still has a small army of some 4,000 operators, said Sandro das Neves, one of the leaders of the elevator operator union.

Board elevators in all sorts of buildings downtown, and you will be greeted, again and again, by attendants, some immaculately uniformed.

It feels as if you are stepping back in time for a few seconds, in a pleasant, yet also bewildering, way.

The ride between floors becomes a chance for a brief, but sociable encounter — the sort of small talk that used to happen all the time at the grocery checkout line, the bank and the airline check-in counter before artificial intelligence and touch screens phased out those human interactions (and those jobs).

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A woman waiting for her cab in the entrance of the building of the Elevator Operators’ Union in downtown Rio.CreditMaria Magdalena Arrellaga for The New York Times

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A woman waiting for her cab in the entrance of the building of the Elevator Operators’ Union in downtown Rio.CreditMaria Magdalena Arrellaga for The New York Times

But the trade of elevator operator, which reached its global heyday in the age of telephone operators and has survived in Rio into the dawn of the driverless car era, may finally be fading away in this city.

Despite the law protecting the jobs of elevator operators, many lost their jobs in recent years as building managers cut costs during an economic recession that hit this city particularly hard.

Then came what will probably turn out to be the fatal blow. This year, a court struck down the 1991 law, siding with state lawyers who argued that the requirement posed unreasonable burdens on building owners.

Since then, Mr. das Neves said, the union, which once fought for better working conditions, is now simply devoted to survival.

“Our fight is not to raise wages,” he said, noting that elevators operators make about $290 a month. “It’s merely to keep attendants inside elevators.”

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Sandro das Neves, one of the leaders of the elevator operators union, in the group’s office.CreditMaria Magdalena Arrellaga for The New York Times

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Sandro das Neves, one of the leaders of the elevator operators union, in the group’s office.CreditMaria Magdalena Arrellaga for The New York Times

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Manuel Fernandes do Prado, who at 77 is well past retirement age, is in charge of the lift at a building on President Vargas Avenue, the main street that crosses downtown Rio de Janeiro.

What does he think of his job? “I adore it!” he said.

Mr. Fernandes, who has been in the business for more than 40 years, sometimes works back-to-back shifts in different buildings. He said he enjoyed tracking the lives of regulars as they aged.

It’s easy to do when you see people daily, he said, often at predictable hours.

He notices when they walk in feeling chipper, when they seem upset, when something is wrong.

“Life is good when you work surrounded by people,” Mr. Fernandes said. Addressing a regular passenger, he asked, “Did you ever see me sad?”

Manuel Fernandes do Prado during his coffee break.CreditMaria Magdalena Arrellaga for The New York Times

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Manuel Fernandes do Prado during his coffee break.CreditMaria Magdalena Arrellaga for The New York Times

Ms. da Conceição said the job wasn’t quite as obsolete as it might seem.

Many elevators in the city are several decades old and have been repaired using custom-made parts because the models are no longer sold.

Keeping them operational requires someone who knows how to handle all the cranks, quirks and funny noises of the aging, fussy machines. And a steady hand when they malfunction, as they often do.

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“When an elevator breaks down, the only person who can’t panic is the operator,” she said.

That speaks to a phenomenon Jacob Carlos Lima, a professor of sociology at the Federal University of São Carlos in São Paulo, has studied in several sectors of Brazil’s economy. While some factory jobs have been eliminated by technological advances, poor infrastructure has spared several occupations, he said.

“Automation in Brazil will be limited by deficient infrastructure,” he said. “What good is a driverless car if we’re gridlocked on top of an overpass?”

Ms. da Conceição at home before leaving for work. “Because you’re always talking and interacting with people, you learn a lot and you create a type of intimacy,” she said of her job.CreditMaria Magdalena Arrellaga for The New York Times

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Ms. da Conceição at home before leaving for work. “Because you’re always talking and interacting with people, you learn a lot and you create a type of intimacy,” she said of her job.CreditMaria Magdalena Arrellaga for The New York Times

Ms. da Conceição said the job certainly had downsides. Being confined to the small, windowless cube for hours has taken a toll on her figure.

“When I started, I was thin,” she said, laughing. “Look at me now: I’m older and voluminous.”

But it’s a job she would love to continue doing for at least seven years, when she’ll be eligible to retire.

“The profession is going to end,” she said, sighing. “And when you’re over 50, you can’t easily get another job.”

An elevator attendant waiting for passengers on the ground floor of the Banco do Brasil Cultural Center.CreditMaria Magdalena Arrellaga for The New York Times

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An elevator attendant waiting for passengers on the ground floor of the Banco do Brasil Cultural Center.CreditMaria Magdalena Arrellaga for The New York Times

Follow Ernesto Londoño on Twitter: @londonoe

Lis Moriconi contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on Nov. 25, 2018, on Page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: Going Down: Brazil’s Profession of Chatty Elevator Attendants. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe