Rio's Evangelical mayor is at odds with carnival
Since the beginning of his term, Rio de Janeiro Mayor Marcelo Crivella (Republicans) has had a stormy relationship with the party that draws the most tourists to the city and is intimately connected with the identity of its residents. Still, this year he is doubling down his bets against carnival, despite being the last year in office and already facing an uphill battle to get re-elected. In a show of antipathy and disaffection, Mr. Crivella cut all the budget for the elite of Rio's samba schools, the so-called "special group," who will respond in kind by singing their criticism on the main stage of its Marquês de Sapucaí Sambadrome.
Mr. Crivella had already pushed forward by half a year the outcry of the opposition, which sees him as an enemy of carnival and the city's values. But the stance also pleases the growing conservative electorate that many politicians, far beyond the mayor of Rio, cultivate as their social base. One example is last year's tweet by President Jair Bolsonaro, in which the president criticized the party by tweeting a video of a reveler urinating on another (a fetish that is known as "golden shower").
Mr. Bolsonaro later backed off, but Mr. Crivella, elected mainly by Evangelical voters, uses such clashes to rile his base constantly. During his tenure, he never attended the Sambadrome's parades. In three of his four years in office, Rio has not held the traditional ceremony where the city's keys are handed over to King Momo. Amid the pre-carnival atmosphere, the mayor will participate tomorrow in an Evangelical mega-event alongside Mr. Bolsonaro in Botafogo Bay, south of Rio, competing with the samba "blocos" (spontaneous parties) that are already spreading throughout the city.
The frayed relationship is also evident on the other side. Samba schools and street blocos are unhappy with the municipal administration. Depending on the interlocutor, City Hall's position toward carnival can be considered "a mistake," as defined by Leandro Vieira, a composer of current samba-school champion Mangueira. Luís Carlos Magalhães, president of rival Portela, says that "the carnival will never end." For him, the next mayor, "if he has a minimum commitment to the city, will help carnival." But he is concerned: "If he [Mr. Crivella] wins re-election, it will complicate things."
The mayor defends his disregard with socioeconomic motivations. In an interview with Valor, he compares the Sambadrome to a farm with black people who were...
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