Herbert de Souza

Herbert José " Betinho " de Sousa and de Souza ( born November 13, 1935 in Bocaiúva (Brazil); † August 9, 1997 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil ) ) was a sociologist and activist against the injustice of the economy and the corrupt government in Brazil. He was the founder of the Instituto Brasileiro de Análise Social e Econômica ( IBASE ). He is the founder of the largest citizen initiative in the history of Brazil. Under his guidance, millions of poor people were provided with food and registered by the authorities.

Life

Souza was born in the state of Minas Gerais, the son of a prison officer. Since he was a hemophiliac, he quickly learned to defend themselves with words in order to avoid injury. At 15, he contracted tuberculosis and spent three years in strict quarantine in a garden house that built his father because the family had no money for drugs.

After his recovery he set out to make up for lost time. He finished school and studied sociology. After graduating he became involved in radical left-wing church groups, Marxist circles and in the national student association. After the military coup in 1964 his name was on the wanted list. He had to descend. While he was stuck at night posters, he sold the day masked ones sewn leather bags. He acted five years under the code name " Wilson " as a member of the resistance group " number 31" in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo against the rule of the generals.

Later he fled to Chile where he was appointed by President Salvador Allende as a consultant for agrarian reform. 1973 coup, the military and even there " Betinho " had to flee with his wife Maria Nakao. In Canada, he earned his doctorate as a sociologist and taught at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Mexico City. In 1979, he was able, after an amnesty of the generals to return to his homeland. In Rio de Janeiro, he founded IBASE, which is one of the most prestigious Institute of Social Studies in Brazil.

1986 experienced " Betinho " and his two brothers, all three hemophiliacs that they had been infected by the injection of blood products to AIDS. For the brothers, the disease broke out very quickly. " Betinho " carried the disease for years, without that they erupted. And his brethren were treated in different hospitals, he brought them up to her death, the mutual messages. So he was able to observe twice the foreseeable course of his disease. After the death of his brothers, he intensified his efforts for IBASE and other organizations. In 1997, he died of complications from infection with HIV and hepatitis C.

The citizens' initiative

The Basics Betinhos citizens' initiative originated in 1992., The then President Fernando Collor de Mello was suspected of corruption. After nationwide protests, which resulted in Collor resigned, the spokesman for the protesters decided to harness the power of protest wave. "Democracy and hunger are incompatible " she told the new President Itamar Franco and convinced him to publicly support the " civil action against the misery ". The citizens' initiative consists of committees, to take responsibility for their own little county. By 1994 there were 9000 of these committees, with nearly one million members. They mingled confidently into the work of public authorities and politicians.

The main reason for the success is also a speech by the President on June 23, 1993. Brazilian television stations interrupted their program for a special program in which the President the results of a study published after there were 32 million hungry people in Brazil. Within a few months, 4,000 new committees established. The work consisted in part in free neighborhood aid, which everyone contributes according to their own abilities. Another part was the registration of people in slums and poor neighborhoods by the authorities.

Great fundraisers where Betinho held as a special guest a speech were held. Admission was a kilogram of food. In mid-1994, President Franco agreed to donate 400,000 tons of grain. Despite protests by members of the government these crops donation was distributed within a year of the committee.