Brazil: Pay the poor to see a movie?
鈥� A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.
S脙O PAULO, BRAZIL 鈥� Brazilian President Luiz In谩cio Lula da Silva is known as a man of the people. His idea of Brazilian culture is not theater and dance, but soccer and barbecue.
So it was a surprise when President Lula announced recently that he will give poor Brazilians 50 reais a month (about $27) to spend on cultural pursuits.
The money will come in the form of credits redeemable for anything from CDs and DVDs to cinema and museum tickets. It will go to some 12 million of Brazil鈥檚 poor, pending approval by Congress.
The idea is the latest in a series of handouts for Brazil鈥檚 poor and was welcomed by both the arts crowd and by officials, who say it will boost local spending.
鈥淲here workers are demanding culture,鈥� said Culture Minister Juca Ferreira in announcing the program, 鈥渢here will be an increase in jobs, creating micro economies.鈥� He said vouchers would pump up to $3.8 billion into the economy.
For now, it鈥檚 mostly Brazil鈥檚 urban elite who can afford to sample the nation鈥檚 cultural riches. Some 96 percent of Brazilians don鈥檛 go to museums, and 93 percent have never been to an art exhibit, according to the Culture Ministry. Some 78 percent have never seen a dance performance. Even cinemas are present in only 408 of the country鈥檚 5,564 municipalities.
Lula chided lawmakers about the lack of movie theaters, then joked about his personal reason for wanting more Brazilians to go to the movies: He is the subject of a forthcoming biopic.
