| The International Course Caracas |
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The International Course on Physical Activity and Public Health happened on 17 and 19 November in Caracas, Venezuela. The course was attended by Dr Victor Matsudo presenting evidence on physical activity and health and experience of the Agita São Paulo.
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Caracas, November 2011The first time I landed in Caracas was in 1976, shortly after the failed attempt at classification of the Brazilian Olympic men's basketball, which in my 27 years has served as a doctor. It was a shame, I mean two, because one has been to Montreal and the other the arrival of the delegation to this country, where we came to play with the famous team of Guaiquiris in Margarita Island, then a jewelry open to international tourism. The organizers had arranged a bus to transport our delegation, but the amount of luggage, or rather the stash, charged by our athletes was something that would be the envy of Elda Mark or even Farah Diba. Only one of them had bought 40 basketballs! As I have repeated in my travel reports, it is always good to arrive at any airport and have someone waiting with a plaque with your name. But in this case, the treatment was more elaborate, for I hoped soon to exit the plane, with a very nice buzz and savvy that solved my immigration papers in less than two minutes and Douglas, coordinator of Protocol of the Ministry of Sports and staunch lover football, helped me to quickly disengage the customs. Too bad that all this attention resulted in frustration for nearly half an hour waiting for the driver, who had gone as good Latin put gas... The airport is at sea level, about fifty minutes of Caracas, which is 1600 meters above sea level, reached by road crossing the hills, covered by hundreds of thousands of lights, the shacks, houses and huts remedied, which hang in the mountains and some of which are that there are 4000 slums in the capital. Reach the hotel despite the time that I recognized as a place already known, but according to the name, Caracas, understood as something new. But what was my surprise to learn that in fact this hotel had been other times, because it was nothing less than the Hilton, now expropriated by Chavez in one of his outbursts anti-imperialist. The truth is that the wildlife that frequents the hotel at the time, scenes reminiscent of Salvador Dali as the surrealism of finding such indigenous in the elevator now adorning a five-star international class. But there is not the distortions that the current regime imposes the local people, with splashes in the tourists. There since the name of all ministries contains the expression: the Ministry of Health, Education, Sports .... I learned that recently issued a decree that practically delivers the rented apartments to their occupants, leaving only the owners right to whine, and quietly. I wondered if all the effort we had with the Course of Physical Activity and Public Health served indirectly to contribute to the scheme. But perhaps the commitment to allow the dream of most people leave the lifestyle, spoke louder. The atmosphere of the restaurant nice and beautiful Antigua, with its fancy lamb, is like an oasis in this country sadly taken by a puppet disqualified. Dr. Vitor Matsudo |
