More Carnaval

In the first post I mentioned that several of the floats may present irreverently critical messages concerning government policies and politicians and in this post I have included photos of a couple of floats purely because they provide clear examples.

José Eduardo dos Santos is an Angolan politician who has been President of Angola, a former Portuguese colony, since 1979. According to Wikipedia he has "been accused of leading one of the most corrupt regimes in Africa by ignoring the economic and social needs of Angola and focusing his efforts on amassing wealth for his family and silencing his opposition. In Angola, nearly 70% of the population lives on less than $2 a day and yet he and his family have amassed a massive sum of wealth, with stakes in the leading businesses of the nation as well as international corporations." There are many Angolans now in Portugal so there are still strong ties to Angola and this float appears to be a commentary on J.E.S. and his policies in Angola.

In the photo left, be sure to look at the whole image - I have found my eyes paying attention to the lower part of the image and completely missing the main object, namely the horizontal youngster in the upper part of the photo. Unfortunately, his feet and lower legs have been "cut off" by the camera but in spite of that his skill is clearly apparent.

 Another "elevated" child, doing a hand stand on her colleague's hands.

I am not sure what this boy was looking down at but it seems to be someone or something that is appealing to him.

This float represents the "Troika" of individuals who, it seems, are currently responsible for finding ways to put into practice recommendations of the International Monetary Fund. For example, it is alleged that the IMF insists that labor costs in Portugal continue to undermine the competitiveness of the economy and that it apparently "asked" the Government to submit proposals that could lead to a higher "wage flexibility" in the country and to ensure "decentralization of wage bargaining".  All of which a cynic might interpret as euphemistic "IMF speak" to mean establishment of policies that lead to reduced income for Portuguese workers, another of the IMF austerity measures with which, this float suggests, some disagree. But, why would anyone disagree? No doubt the IMF folks making the recommendation for "wage flexibility" are lining up to accept for themselves the same degree of income reduction that Portuguese workers could face.

This fellow was in super enthusiastic dancing mode, jumping around so quickly it is amazing that I was able to get a reasonably sharp photo of him.

Quite the opposite of our friend above, this young onlooker seems to be quite mellow about the activities going on around him.

Where do I stop? I have many more images that I like, but this is likely more than enough for you for now. If I hear an outcry for more Carnaval images I may post a few more later but these and the ones below are the last for this post. But don't miss those below as a couple of them say a lot about how the performers must feel at the end of three days of parading!

Both these last two photos were made on our way toward the exit, and these youngsters look like they are also ready to exit.

This young fellow was literally asleep on the curb with people standing around him to protect him from being stepped on accidentally.

Maybe more images in a later post - or, maybe not.