Squatter Life in Salvador

Abstract

At Twenty, Vicos is largely responsible for supporting no fewer than thirteen people in addition to himself. He said that he earns 50 000 cruzeiros (about us $25.00) monthly for sweeping up and tending bar at a nearby café. The manager seems to be fond of Vicos, who he feels typifies those poor back-country pretos (blacks) who are responsive to Communist propaganda because they are childlike and innocent of urban ways. The Senhor was of the opinion that at least some of the invasores were Communists or had been egged on by Communist agitators; and he found this notion sufficiently stimulating to stand on a chair and wave his arms in imitation of a ‘Communist agitator exhorting the masses to take the land that was really theirs’. He was quite serious about this, but as he sat down again, he sighed: ‘After all, what else can they do? All Brazil is underdeveloped, and Bahia is the worst State of all.’ The contrast between Vicos’ family’s way of life and that of Martin and his family is quite stark, though both are squatters in the same invasion.*

Other parts of Pendrell’s study demonstrate that Martin and his family are much wealthier. (Ed.).