Sala Verde

The Green Room in the Prefeitura (Town Hall) of Belem, Para, Brazil makes a stark contrast to my shot of yesterday and brings home some of the contrast of riches here.

This building was erected on the profits of the rubber trade which used indigenous slave labour (in many cases brutalised beyond imagination) to maximise its profits.

There is a sense in Brazil that although the country is a proud 'republic', the true meaning of res publica (the common good) has never been fully realised.