Chico Amaral and Frazatto's birthday

I received a gift from Dr. Estefânia Caciato, a gift from lawyer Thomas Amaral Lorena de Mello, grandson of Mayor Chico Amaral. I thank him and invite him to join the progressive side, the side of radical defense of democracy, without reservations.

Chico has always been a present or omnipresent figure in my life; my first memory of Chico is of him giving a speech from the back of a truck, and me, at eight years old, sitting on the roof of my grandfather's white Dolfini; it was a rally for his first mayoral campaign; he lost to Lauro Péricles Gonçalves, who was supported by the then-mayor Orestes Quercia.

My grandfather Pedro was one of his voters, largely because of Chico's courage in confronting the dictatorship. 

Chico belonged to the group of opposition deputies, known as the “authentic members of the MDB"and played a prominent role in the Parliament's resistance to the 1964 military dictatorship. They were the "authentic"which pressured leader Ulysses Guimarães to take a tougher stance against the dictators. This chapter of his political life is contained in..." The book I received, written by the great José Pedro Martins, and also in "Authentic MDB members, Sowers of Democracy", by the writer Ana Beatriz Nader. After several secret meetings in the early 70s, the group, in 1973, drafted and signed a document entitled "Anti-candidacy""by Ulysses Guimarães and in the session that "elected" Ernesto Geisel as dictator in office. The document of the "Authentic members of the MDB (Brazilian Democratic Movement). The text, which symbolically returned the vote to the Brazilian people – the main absentee from the electoral process – was read in the plenary session.

Well, Chico did many good things; he was a lawyer, philosopher, and politician, and he always stood alongside and stood with the poorest; he served six terms as a federal deputy, was a state deputy and vice-president of the state legislative assembly, and was mayor for two terms.

Chico has always been affectionate towards me, so I'm going to take this opportunity to tell three little stories that only the two of us experienced, and, since there are no witnesses, they can be considered fanciful, so I call upon my soul brother Mario Orlando Galvez de Carvalho as a witness to my good faith, who, if he doesn't have public faith, has the faith of the public. 

First Story. The year was 1995 or 1996, I don't remember exactly. Celinha and I went to Bebeto Frazatto's house in Barão Geraldo; it was his birthday. When we arrived, Celinha sat next to Ilara, Bebeto's wife at the time; I sat with some acquaintances, I believe among them were Amaury Dimarzio and Carlos Cruz; the conversation was lively, everyone had good stories to tell. But soon Chico arrived…hitchhiking"with Dória, who at the time was driving a Passat that was far from being..."Brand new"When he sat down at our table, he became the center of attention and was besieged by everyone; they wanted to know if he would be running for mayor in 1996, etc., and so on. He just smiled and calmly drank his beer with two or three ice cubes... At one point he asked me: '"And you, Pedrinho, do you think I should be a candidate?"Well, I was quiet, but he asked, and I said: "Chico, to be a candidate you first need a party affiliation... The PMDB doesn't seem willing to support you, and you have to work on your image, present yourself as more youthful and with a disposition for executive office, because people say you don't like executive positions... Invite Dr. Amaury as your running mate, or Cruz..."Chico listened and didn't comment, but his silence didn't prevent me from being criticized by the others; one of them said I had been presumptuous.

But the conversation remained relaxed. 

Second story. A few months later, I don't know how many months, when I was climbing the stairs of the courthouse, which was still operating in the city center, I heard someone call me. It was Chico, already in his seventies, euphoric, climbing the stairs as if he were twenty years old, and with both hands, he squeezed my cheeks and said: "I got the party nomination, the PDS gave me the nomination, I'm going to be mayor and you're going to work with me..."I replied, disappointed: "But Maluf's party? No way, Chico..."He told me not to worry, to follow my conscience, but that he was going to win and I would only not work with him if I didn't want to. Third storyOne night the landline phone rang, and Caio, my middle son, answered and shouted: “Hey! It's Chico Amaral, he wants to talk to you.I thought it was a prank call, but it was Chico... And he asked me:Did you watch the TV show? Am I youthful enough?”

Chico was indeed jovial on TV, wearing a polo shirt and suspenders; moreover, he had just secured the nomination and his running mate was Carlos Cruz, from the MDB party.

At the end of the second round, which Chico contested with Célia Leão (PSDB), and waving the banner of victory, Chico, through Mario Orlando, invited me to preside over the José Pedro de Oliveira Foundation, a unique experience in my professional and political life. I took over the foundation at the age of thirty-three; under his leadership, I was also Secretary of Housing and president of COHAB, in addition to being an alternate member of the SANASA fiscal council. 

I love Chico and I am grateful for his political activism, for his example, and for believing in me like few others.

The stories I share with the reader happened after my audacity at Frazatto's birthday party, which leads me to believe that audacity, as long as it's collaborative and in good faith, is positive and, like the Butterfly Effect., This could represent one of the most striking characteristics of chaotic systems: sensitivity to initial conditions.

These are the reflections.