Cairu Rally
Candidate Paulino invited us to another political rally, this time in the administrative capital of the area, Cairu. I went along.
We again travelled aboard "Obrigado Meu Pae". The atmosphere was not quite as festive as last time and the boat was blacked out for navigational purposes.
A large number of boats arrived bringing supporters of the Peleteiro mayoral slate. At the dock there was a drum band and lots of flag waving.
Once all the boats had arrived a procession wandered through the town to a park where the rally was being held.
So far as I could gather on Sunday there will be elections for the post of mayor of the council which administers the islands of Tinharé, Cairu and Boipeba plus a gaggle of little islands. Councillors for the region will be elected as well.
This rally was for the Peleteiro slate. Peleteiro has been mayor before and is running against the incumbent Hildecio. He is no spring chicken and I suspect this will be his last kick at the can. He does however claim the support of president Lula and Bahia governor Jaques Wagner.
This was a large affair complete with huge stage, big screen video and an enormous sound system.
There were around 14 candidates on the Peleteiro slate. Each was given 5-10 minutes to make a speech. In between speeches an m/c geed the crowd up and loud music was played. Cue flag waving. This often happened during speeches after a punch line.
It was old fashioned stump politics as each candidate worked the crowd. We also had a video endorsement from Jaques Wagner and a few celeb endorsements.
Peleteiro is the chap in the red and white hooped shirt.
At the end of all this Peleteiro gave a longer speech after which we all returned to the boats for the trip home. I saw Peleteiro at the dock and he looked completely worn out. Hildecio is much younger and his "free" water policy is popular. I suspect Peleteiro will struggle to unseat him.
These were clustered together at anchor and there was a fine display of boat handling skills as skippers jostled for a position at the dock.
Our boat arrived back in Galáo at around 01:00.
We again travelled aboard "Obrigado Meu Pae". The atmosphere was not quite as festive as last time and the boat was blacked out for navigational purposes.
A large number of boats arrived bringing supporters of the Peleteiro mayoral slate. At the dock there was a drum band and lots of flag waving.
Once all the boats had arrived a procession wandered through the town to a park where the rally was being held.
So far as I could gather on Sunday there will be elections for the post of mayor of the council which administers the islands of Tinharé, Cairu and Boipeba plus a gaggle of little islands. Councillors for the region will be elected as well.
This rally was for the Peleteiro slate. Peleteiro has been mayor before and is running against the incumbent Hildecio. He is no spring chicken and I suspect this will be his last kick at the can. He does however claim the support of president Lula and Bahia governor Jaques Wagner.
This was a large affair complete with huge stage, big screen video and an enormous sound system.
There were around 14 candidates on the Peleteiro slate. Each was given 5-10 minutes to make a speech. In between speeches an m/c geed the crowd up and loud music was played. Cue flag waving. This often happened during speeches after a punch line.
It was old fashioned stump politics as each candidate worked the crowd. We also had a video endorsement from Jaques Wagner and a few celeb endorsements.
Peleteiro is the chap in the red and white hooped shirt.
At the end of all this Peleteiro gave a longer speech after which we all returned to the boats for the trip home. I saw Peleteiro at the dock and he looked completely worn out. Hildecio is much younger and his "free" water policy is popular. I suspect Peleteiro will struggle to unseat him.
These were clustered together at anchor and there was a fine display of boat handling skills as skippers jostled for a position at the dock.
Our boat arrived back in Galáo at around 01:00.
|