Order and Progress: A Brazilian Peace Corps Saga

Abstract

As Peace Corps volunteers, Jack Epstein and Chuck Fortin arrived in Bahia, Brazil, just four months before the military government enacted harsh repressive measures of the Institutional Act No. 5 in December, 1968. In their respective favelas, they operated under the vigilant eye of local police authorities who squashed community organizing initiatives and even issued an all-points-bulletin for Jack’s arrest. After vacation through the Amazon oblivious to police pursuit, they returned to Salvador and Jack was immediately hustled out of the country for fear of arrest, imprisonment, or worse. This saga tells of his exile, of conflicts and tense negotiations with Peace Corps authorities, and his forbidden undercover crossing of the Brazilian border in time for Chuck’s wedding. The story describes the challenges and modest outcomes of community development under military rule. Later, under more favorable circumstances, they both returned to Brazil and, for several years, continued to make their presence felt.