Soares, Mário (Mário Alberto Nobre Lópes Soares), 1924-, Portuguese politician. Soares rose to prominence as a vocal critic of the regime of António Salazar and as an advocate of democracy and economic development; he was imprisoned on numerous occasions. Exiled in 1968 and again in 1970, he returned from Paris in Apr., 1974, following the military coup that ousted the government of Premier Marcello Caetano. Soares became foreign minister for the new military junta, but as this fell increasingly under the control of radicals Soares broke with the junta and led the fight for parliamentary democracy. After the leftist coup attempt of Nov., 1975, was crushed, his cause was successful. Soares and his Socialist party were the dominant force from 1975 to 1978, but were generally ineffective and their power eroded. During the early 1980s they alternated in office with the Social Democrats, who gradually replaced the Socialists as the major party. A three-time premier, Soares presided over the granting of independence to the country's African colonies and negotiated Portugal's entry into the European Community (now the European Union) in 1986. That same year, Soares stepped down as head of the party to run successfully for the Portuguese presidency. An extremely popular president, he was reelected in 1991 and retired in 1996, credited with consolidating the democracy he did much to create. He again ran for the presidency, unsuccessfully, in 2006.

Rio de Janeiro, state (1996 pop. 13,316,455), 16,568 sq mi (42,911 sq km), SE Brazil, on the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Rio de Janeiro.

Rio de Janeiro [Port.,=river of January], city (1990 pop. 5,533,011; 1995 metropolitan area est. pop. 10,181,000), capital of Rio de Janeiro state, SE Brazil, on Guanabara Bay of the Atlantic Ocean. The second largest city and former capital of Brazil, it is the cultural center of the country and a financial, commercial, communications, and transportation hub. It has an international airport and a subway. Rio, as it is popularly known, has one of the world's most beautiful natural harbors. It is surrounded by low mountain ranges whose spurs extend almost to the waterside, thus dividing the city. Among its natural landmarks are Sugar Loaf Mt. (1,296 ft/395 m); Corcovado peak (2,310 ft/704 m), site of a colossal statue of Jesus; and the hills of Tijuca (3,350 ft/1,021 m) and Gávea (2,760 ft/841 m).

The city acquired its modern outline in the early 1900s, and extensive public sanitation and remodeling are continuing. Hills have been leveled, tunnels bored (the longest underground urban highway, linking the northern and southern sections of the city, opened in 1968), parts of the bay filled, parks laid out, and beautiful palm-lined drives built to connect the various districts. Favellas, or slums, are interspersed throughout the city.

Economy

Rio's harbor is deep enough for the largest vessels to come alongside the wharves, which lie near the city center. Through the port flows the major portion of Brazil's imports and exports (iron ore, manganese, coffee, cotton, meat, and hides). Rio is also a distribution center for the coastal trade. The city's manufactures include textiles, foodstuffs, household appliances, cigarettes, chemicals, leather goods, metal products, and printed material. There are two major airports.

Rio's climate is warm and humid, and although the city remains a major tourist center, its success has been hampered by a serious crime problem. Of particular attraction are the crescent-shaped beaches, especially Ipanéma and the Copacabana, with its mosaic sidewalks. The most popular holiday is the pre-Lenten carnival, with its colorful street processions and reveling Cariocas (citizens of Rio).

Points of Interest

Examples of Rio's famous modern architecture are the ministry of education, the Brazilian press association headquarters, and the museum of modern art. Older buildings house the national library, the municipal opera house, and several museums. The Itamarati Palace is also noteworthy. Foremost among educational institutions are the Univ. of Guanabara (formed 1920 as the Univ. of Rio de Janeiro), the Univ. of Brazil, now partly housed in the University City on Guanabara Bay, and the Catholic Univ.; there are also military and naval academies, the Oswaldo Cruz biological research center, and other scientific institutes. Notable churches include the ornate Candelária Church, the 18th-century Church of Nossa Senhora da Glória, the 17th-century Franciscan convent, and a 16th-century Benedictine monastery. Rio has beautiful subtropical parks, including the Quinta da Boa Vista (a former estate of the emperors) and the botanical garden (founded 1808). The sports stadium is one of the world's largest.

History

According to tradition, the Rio de Janeiro area was visited in Jan., 1502, by Portuguese explorers who believed Guanabara Bay to be the mouth of a river; it was therefore named Rio de Janeiro. It is more likely that the region was discovered in 1504 by Gonçalo Coelho. In 1555 the French Huguenots established a colony, but they were driven out (1560-67) by Mem de Sá, governor-general of the Portuguese colony of Brazil. At the same time the city of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro was founded by Mem de Sá's cousin. The settlement was captured and held for ransom by the French in 1711. Rio gained importance in the 18th cent., when it was designated the shipping point for all gold from the interior. It replaced Bahia (now Salvador) as the capital of Brazil in 1763 and subsequently became capital of the exiled royal court of Portugal (1808-21), the Brazilian empire (1822), and the federal republic (1889). It was superseded as capital by Brasília in 1960.

Rio Treaty (Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance), signed Sept. 2, 1947, and originally ratified by all 21 American republics. Under the treaty, an armed attack or threat of aggression against a signatory nation, whether by a member nation or by some other power, will be considered an attack against all (see Pan-Americanism). The treaty provides that no member can use force without the unanimous consent of the other signatories, but that other measures against aggressors may be approved by a two-thirds majority. It differs from previous inter-American treaties in that it is a regional treaty within a larger international organization; it recognizes the higher authority of the Security Council of the United Nations.

Rio Grande do Sul, state (1996 pop. 9,445,000), 108,951 sq mi (282,183 sq km), S Brazil, bordering on Argentina and Uruguay and on the Atlantic Ocean. Pôrto Alegre is the capital.

Rio Grande do Norte, state (1996 pop. 2,415,567), 20,469 sq mi (53,015 sq km), NE Brazil, on the Atlantic Ocean. Natal is the capital.

Rio Grande, city (1991 pop. 172,422), Rio Grande do Sul state, S Brazil, on the Rio Grande River at the outlet of the Lagoa dos Patos (a tidal lagoon) to the Atlantic Ocean. It is an important outport for the city of Pôrto Alegre on the northern end of the lagoon. Rio Grande has oil refineries and factories producing foodstuffs, leather, and tires. The city was founded in 1737.

Rio Grande, name of several rivers of Brazil. The largest rises in S Minas Gerais state, SE Brazil, and flows c.650 mi (1,050 km) NW to the Paranaíba River, with which it forms the Paraná River. Its lower course forms part of São Paulo's northern boundary. The huge Furnas Dam with its reservoir near Passos, Minas Gerais, serves the industrial heart of Brazil with hydroelectricity.

Rio Grande, river, c.1,885 mi (3,000 km) long, rising in SW Colo. in the San Juan Mts. and flowing south through the middle of N.Mex., past Albuquerque, then coursing generally southeast as the border between Texas and Mexico, making a big bend (see Big Bend National Park), and eventually emptying into the Gulf of Mexico at Brownsville, Tex., and Matamoros, Mex. Other paired towns along the river are Laredo, Tex., and Nuevo Laredo, Mex. and El Paso, Tex., and Juárez, Mex. The river, known in Mexico as Río Bravo del Norte, is unnavigable except near its mouth, but is now often reduced to a trickle there by drought and the drawing off of water upstream.

The Rio Grande is an important source of internationally regulated irrigation, a use it has long been put to. Pueblos were thriving on its banks N of Las Cruces, N.Mex., and the Native Americans were practicing irrigation of the arid country, when Spanish explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado arrived (1540). Today, dams on the Rio Grande are used for irrigation, flood control, and regulation of the river flow. Elephant Butte Dam (completed 1916) and Caballo Dam (completed 1938) in New Mexico create reservoirs that serve large areas. Further downstream N of Del Rio, Tex., is the Amistad Dam (completed 1969); it is 6 mi (9.7 km) long and impounds a huge reservoir; Amistad National Recreation Area is there. Below Laredo are Falcon Dam (completed 1954) and its large reservoir. Near the mouth of the Rio Grande is the irrigation-dependent citrus-fruit and truck-farm region commonly called the Rio Grande Valley and developed principally in the 1920s. An agreement between the United States and Mexico in 1944 provided for future distribution of the river's water, but in drought years the amount reaching the United States is often less than what is called for under the treaty.

Shifts in the river's channel have led to border disputes between the United States and Mexico. Parts of its bed have been stabilized by canalization, and an international border commission mediates disputes. The 114-year controversy over the location of the border at El Paso was finally settled in 1968 when the water of the Rio Grande was diverted into a concrete channel. A 191-mi (307-km) section of the river on the American shore below Big Bend National Park is protected as the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River (see National Parks and Monuments, table).

Rio Branco, José Maria da Silva Paranhos, barão do, 1845-1912, Brazilian statesman and diplomat. He was consul in Liverpool from 1876 to 1893, when he was appointed to plead Brazil's case in the border dispute with Argentina arbitrated by President Grover Cleveland. After winning his case in 1895, he worked on the dispute with French Guiana over the territory of Amapá and again won (1900) a substantial victory. He served briefly as minister to Berlin and returned to Brazil in 1902 to become minister of foreign affairs. In this post, which he held until his death, he concluded some 30 treaties of arbitration.

Rio Branco, city (1996 pop. 228,907), capital of Acre state, NW Brazil, on the Acre River. Rubber and Brazil nuts are its chief products; there is also some farming. Rio Branco has air connections with the major cities of Brazil, but river travel is still an important means of transportation. Rio Branco was built on the site of a former rubber plantation. It has a university.

Pinar del Rio, province (1994 est. pop. 700,000), W Cuba, the westernmost province of Cuba. Pinar del Rio is the capital. The province, occupying a narrow area, has an irregular and swampy coast; it is mostly level, with one important mountain range, the Cordillera de Guaniguanico. The chief river is the Cuyaguateje. The traditional industry of Pinar del Rio, Cuba's poorest province, is the growing of tobacco, which is cultivated in the Vuelta Abajo region and is among the world's best. Other agricultural products are of limited importance; mines at Matahambre yield copper, and tourism is also important to the economy.

Pinar del Rio, city (1994 est. pop. 118,000), capital of Pinar del Rio prov., W Cuba. It is linked by rail and highway to Havana and is the center of a road network running through the province. The city, founded in 1699, is famous for the tobacco grown in the Vuelta Abajo district. Near the city is the picturesque valley of Viñales.

Fernández or Hernández, Gregório, c.1576-1636, Spanish baroque sculptor. By 1605 he was established in Valladolid and was working for Philip IV. His sculptures, often realistically polychromed, are dramatic in expression. His Pietà (1617), Baptism (1630), and Mater Dolorosa are famous examples of his work. He is best represented in the churches and the museum of Valladolid.

Del Rio, city (1990 pop. 30,705), seat of Val Verde co., W Tex., on the Rio Grande opposite Ciudad Acuña, Mexico; founded 1868, inc. 1911. It is the marketing and distribution center for a region known for its sheep, wool, and mohair. Irrigated farms also yield truck crops and fruits (especially grapes). Its bridge to Mexico has made Del Rio important in tourist traffic and in importing from Mexican factories (see maquiladoras). Laughlin Air Force Base is to the east. The spectacular S-shaped International Amistad (Friendship) Dam and its lake on the Rio Grande are 12 mi (19 km) northeast. Del Rio suffered disastrous floods in Aug., 1998.

Andrade, Mário de, 1893-1945, Brazilian author. Through his fiction, poetry, and wide-ranging essays, Andrade became a leading representative of Brazilian modernismo. Macunaíma (1928, tr. 1984), his most important novel, is marked by colloquial and innovative language and anticipates the rise of magical realism in Latin American literature. Andrade's work shows the influence of Freud and surrealism. At the same time he stressed the need for Brazilian writers to draw on their own national heritage.

City (pop., 2005 est.: city, 6,094,200; metro. area, 11,570,524), capital of Rio de Janeiro state, and port, southeastern Brazil. The site was founded by the Portuguese in the early 16th century and became important in the 18th century as an outlet for mineral exports from gold and diamond mines. Located on one of the largest harbours in the world and known for its scenic views, it was the capital of Brazil from 1822 to 1960, when the national capital was moved to Brasília. It is the country's second largest manufacturing centre, after São Paulo. Major industries include metallurgy, electronics, and food processing. Noted for its wide streets, public buildings, beaches (see Copacabana), and public parks and gardens, it is a leading tourist and resort centre.

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in Mexico Río Bravo

River, North America. One of the longest rivers of North America, it flows 1,900 mi (3,000 km) from its sources in the Rocky Mountains of southwestern Colorado, U.S., to the Gulf of Mexico. It rises high in the San Juan Mountains and flows generally south, passing southeast and forming the entire border between Texas and Mexico. The earliest European settlements were along the lower course of the river in the 16th century, but many of the Pueblo Indian settlements of New Mexico date from before the Spanish conquest. During the Spanish period, the middle and upper portions were called the Río del Norte, and the lower course was called the Río Bravo. It is a major source of irrigation. At the U.S.-Mexican border, it defines the edge of Big Bend National Park, Texas.

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