Carnaval!

From the Gulf of California to the Strait of Magellan, 125 million Latin Americans braced themselves hopefully this week for the gayest, gaudiest carnaval in years.

Only in Panama would joy be confined. There, an outbreak of 130 polio cases led President Arnulfo Arias to call off all public assemblies. But in Trinidad, the calypso tents have been billowing for weeks to the chants of contenders for the title of 1951 calypso king. In Haiti, more than 30,000 people, clad in bamboo suits of armor and other bizarre costumes, loped along mountain trails on their way to masquerade in Port-au-Prince. In Buenos Aires' downtown Avenida de Mayo, colored lights, bunting and comic posters went up in preparation for a municipal jamboree. In Uruguay, practical jokers would soon be in full frolic on Montevideo's streets. In Lima, everybody battened down for a soaking, giggling weekend of indoor juegos con agua (water fights).

With Getulio Vargas' inaugural this week, Rio planned the greatest carnival in history. Every night tambourines sounded in samba time from the capital's shanty-lined favela hills. For the favela folk, pro-Vargas almost to a man, the return of the "father of the poor" called for a big blowout. In their "samba schools," where fathers, mothers and children had paid dues all year toward costumes and a community float for the carnaval parade, the sentiment was the same: "We'll make this one for the velhinho [little old man]."

The pre-carnival samba competition broke all records with 700 new entries. At week's end, two were declared 1951 co-winners. One was a coldhearted ditty called For Your Information ("For your information, there's someone else in your place"). The second, fretting over the city's perennial water shortage, was called I Hope It Rains Three Days in a Row. No sooner were the winners announced than it rained three days in a row. Now all that Rio asked was clear skies--and perhaps a word from the velhinho that he would legalize gambling--and it would be a carnaval which no one could forget.

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