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Tracks in the Amazon

On April 22, the Brazil Institute will launch Tracks in the Amazon, the story of the Madeira-Mamore Raildroad

Date & Time

Tuesday
Apr. 22, 2014
3:00pm – 5:00pm ET

Location

4th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center
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Overview

When construction of the Madeira-Mamoré Railroad began in 1867, Bolivia had lost its war with Chile, causing it to become landlocked and unable to ship its minerals and other products from the Pacific Coast. Since Bolivia needed to find a way to move products from the Atlantic Coast, the government decided a railroad should be built around the Madeira River--which originates in Bolivia and travels almost 2,000 miles through Brazil to the Amazon--facilitating shipment to foreign markets via the Amazonian waterway. Completion of the railroad was initially stalled by lack of funding, but the project was resurrected in the early twentieth century and completed in 1912. Intended as an integral piece of the rubber export industry, the railroad became unnecessary once the world supply of rubber moved from Brazil to Asia.

Although there have been many brief chronicles and writings about the Madeira- Mamoré Railroad over the years, most barely scratch the surface of this incredible story. Of particular importance in Tracks in the Amazon are the photographs--which until now have rarely been seen--taken by Dana Merrill, a New York photographer hired to document the construction of the railroad. It also includes reproductions of the Porto Velho Marconigram, an English-language newspaper written for and by the American expatriates who lived in the construction headquarters at Porto Velho. Because this unique railroad traversed the densest tropical jungle on earth, more than 10,000 workers lost their lives laying the first five miles of track. Reviewing the original version of the book, published in Portuguese in 2011 under the title Trilhos na Selva, Rosental Calmon Alves, Professor of Journalism at the University of Texas Austin described it as “a relevant contribution to the very rare records of one of the most fascinating adventures of American engineers and capitalists in foreign lands, which happened immediately after the spectacular Panama Canal project."

Gary Neeleman and Rose Neeleman lived in Brazil for more than ten years, where Gary worked as a foreign correspondent for United Press International (UPI) and later was the vice president of UPI for the Latin American area. They live in Salt Lake City, where Gary the Honorary Brazilian Consul for the state of Utah. Three of their seven children and 20 of ther 34 grandchildren are dual citizens. Tracks in the Amazon is the first volume of an emerging trilogy that will include a study on  rubber soldiers that migrated from the Northeast to the Western Amazon in the 1940s and  on the more than twenty thousand Americans who immigrated from the South to Brazil in the years following the end of the Civil War. 

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Brazil Institute

The Brazil Institute—the only country-specific policy institution focused on Brazil in Washington—works to foster understanding of Brazil’s complex reality and to support more consequential relations between Brazilian and U.S. institutions in all sectors. The Brazil Institute plays this role by producing independent research and programs that bridge the gap between scholarship and policy, and by serving as a crossroads for leading policymakers, scholars and private sector representatives who are committed to addressing Brazil’s challenges and opportunities.  Read more

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