Belying a news flash issued just an hour ago, organizers — if that is the word for what is essentially a low-tech flash mob reminiscent of the opening verses of Piers Plowman — of the Cordão da Bola Preta have received assurances from officers of the state military police that the event will count on full security measures.
Cordão da Bola Preta will parade as planned today at 8 p.m. along Rio Branco Avenue in the Cinelândia district of Rio de Janeiro. The annual attraction had its cancelation announced because of the strike by state military and judicial police and fire brigades, but things have returned to normal and merrymakers need no longer worry.
Organizers say Colonel Luis Castro, of the the First Patrol District of the Miltary Police had reassured Bola presidente Pedro Ernesto Marinho that security would operate normally in his zone.
Despite such promises, however, the first hours of the strike revealed a city without routine police patrols;in some cases, major thoroughfares lacked any patrols at all. SUch was the case with Avenida Brasil, and the Red Line and Yellow Line highways.
The bolão is a delightfully informal and spontaneous street celebration. Here in the Vila Madalena, for example, we have Vai Quem Quer, or Come as You Are.
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