Two painful losses

By Eric Nepomuceno, for 247

In a year that seems endless, Jair Messias continues his mission to destroy everything in his path.

He just now dissolved the National Truth and Justice Commission, created in November 2011 by the government of Dilma Rousseff (who was imprisoned and tortured during the dictatorship) and established in May 2012.  

It is true that the Commission considered its task completed and delivered a compelling report four years later. It is also true that it lacked the power to punish the criminals who acted under the cloak of the dictatorship.  

Thanks to an Amnesty Law that an indifferent and cowardly Supreme Federal Court validated (it's never too much to repeat that Brazil is the only – the only! – Latin American country that has never punished state agents who committed crimes during dictatorships), nobody was brought to trial and punished.

However, there is another truth: the Commission's mission was to continue the search for the bodies of those who disappeared during the bloody repression of the dictatorship that lasted from 1964 to 1985.

How did Jair Messias dismantle it? Well, simple: of the seven members of the Commission, three represent civil society. The other four, that is, the majority, were appointed by the Genocidal President.

And while he continues his destructive mission, fate – or chance, who knows – has just claimed two lives that were part of mine and will forever be part of my memory.

I'm referring to my friend Nélida Piñón, whom I only called Piñón, and she liked it. We met in 1973, in a distant Buenos Aires, and we never parted again. And my dearest Carlos Brickman also passed away, Carlinhos, whom I met at the defunct (and at the time revolutionary, in its form and content) Jornal da Tarde newspaper.

The irony of life: Carlos was enormous, immense, tall, fat, and I can't remember him without his unique smile illuminating life. He was so big, and he was little Carlos...

It had been a while since I'd seen Nélida, due to her many trips and my stay here in Rio.

It had been a long time since I'd seen Carlinhos, due to life's ups and downs.

I cherish countless memories of her integrity, gentleness, elegance, restlessness, and talent.

I cherish countless memories of him: his brilliant intelligence, unique sense of humor, an Olympian talent for journalism, and an affection that, even from a distance, never faded.

I couldn't let this day pass without celebrating his memory and expressing how much I miss him.

Kisses, dear Piñón.

Big hugs, Carlinhos, more than a master.

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