Ｄａｎｉｌｌｏ Ｓａｎｔｏｓ， Ａ Ｄｅｖｏｔｅｅ ｏｆ Ｂｒａｚｉｌ－Ｃｈｉｎａ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｓｈｉｐ

One day in November 2003 I opened my email as usual to read email messages from around the world. Suddenly， an email message with the title of “Sincere Invitation” caught my eye. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was an exciting message from my good Brazilian friend Mr. Danillo Santos， saying that the China-Latin America Friendship Association (CLAFA) was going to confer China-Latin American Friendship Medal upon him and inviting me to attend the medal-awarding ceremony. I did really want to attend this important event in the history of China-Brazil friendship， but it apparently was impractical to fly to Rio de Janeiro immediately. However， I felt heartily happy for him， for he deserved to be called an “all weather friend” who had shared weal and woe with us and to be conferred upon the medal. When I thought of this， my heart seemed to fly to Brazil， a beautiful and distant country， where I got to know Mr. Santos， an old friend of mine， who has worked very hard for the friendship between Brazil and China for more than 40 years， and just as what he has said， he is “China’s most sincere friend who has visited China more times than any other Brazilians.”

I have two pots of pau do brazil (brazil wood tree) at my home， and I treasure them as if they were my most beloved “daughters”. Under my care， they have grown so green and graceful that everyone praises and likes them when they see them. In the 1970s the pau do brazil was not so popular as it is now in China. Especially in the north it was a rare decorative plant. Mine is authentic， for it was brought to me by my good friend Santos all the way from Brazil. At that time he already predicted that Brazil-China friendship would be as evergreen as the pau do brazil.

Mr. Santos was born in Recife， Brazil in 1934， and graduated from the Institute of Law of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 1959. From 1959 to 1966 he worked as a lawyer for the Group Bunger Born of the Rio. Since he became a lawyer， he has formed an indissoluble bond with China. Faced with pressure and opposition， he has never flinched from them but always worked hard for developing and safeguarding Brazil-China friendship. Though he is now seventy years old， his enthusiasm is ever-rising instead of diminishing.

The story goes back to 1963. That year China sent an exhibition delegation to Brazil to participate in the International Fair in the State of Nitroi of the Rio. At that time China and Brazil had not yet established diplomatic relations， the Brazilian people knew very little about China. What is more， there were malicious calumniations against China spread by western anti-China forces. But Santos was a young man with progressive ideas and a sense of justice. He said， though at that time he knew very little about the tremendous historic changes in China， he admired the Chinese people’s cause of liberation. Therefore， he was very happy to get acquainted with the first Chinese delegation， resolutely accepted the invitation to become the first Brazilian lawyer hired by the Chinese delegation， and helped the delegation that was unfamiliar with the place and people there to successfully prepare for the exhibition.

Around that period， there appeared some good momentum of Sino-Brazilian relations. In 1961 invited by the then Chinese Vice President Dong Biwu， Brazilian Vice President Joao Goulart paid a visit to China. He was the first state leader of a Latin American country who visited China since the founding of the People’s Republic. After Goulart assumed presidency in 1962， Sino-Brazilian relations was further promoted. During that period the Xinhua News Agency sent Wang Weizhen to be the resident journalist and set up the branch of Xinhua News Agency in Rio de Janeiro. In June 1963， the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) set up a representative office in Rio de Janeiro. Since then various kinds of delegations including delegations of students， personages of educational and cultural circles， architects and lawyers of the two countries began to visit each other’s countries. In these friendly exchanges in the early period of Sino-Brazilian relations， we could always find Santos busy himself sometimes receiving Chinese delegations and sometimes providing legal consultation， giving great help to the personages and delegations sent by China to carry out activities in Brazil. But， in the mid 20th century Latin America was under the high degree control of “Uncle Sam” both politically and economically. In the Cold War pattern where the two camps——the socialist and the capitalist were seriously antagonistic to each other， the United States regarded China as a hostile country that should be blockaded and contained. The development of the relations between China and Brazil and between China and other Latin American countries was accordingly affected. Just as was expected， the situation suddenly changed. In the history of Sino-Brazilian relations an unusual event happened in which nine Chinese were unjustly charged， shocking the whole world.

On March 31， 1964， intensive gunshots suddenly broke out in the streets of Rio de Janeiro. Plotted by the United States， the pro-American military group “Los Gorillas” accused President Goulart of attempting to “carry out communist revolution in Brazil”， staged a military coup d’état and overthrew the Goulart government. In the small hours of April 3， at dark the Brazilian armed forced besieged the apartment where the branch of the Xinhua News Agency was located， and arrested Wang Weizhen， the Xinhua News Agency reporter， and other three staffers. At the same time， other five Chinese including Wang Yaoting， deputy representative of the CCPIT， who lived in another apartment， were also arrested. When the news came out， the whole world was shocked. The Chinese government immediately started the rescue action， and entrusted Cabral Pinto， a well-known Brazilian lawyer， to plead for the accused. Santos， who was at that time only 30 years old， served as Pinto’s assistant and an important witness and directly involved in rescuing the nine arrested Chinese.

Once trying hard to suppress the indignation he could still feel， Santos told me this past event. He recalled， at the court 72-year-old lawyer Pinto and he himself proved with a large number of irrefutable materials and facts that the nine Chinese had entered and worked in Brazil through legal procedures with the consent of the Brazilian government， and that they were legally and openly engaged in news reporting， trade and preparations for the economic exhibition. It was unscrupulously absurd and groundless that the Brazilian authorities accused the nine Chinese of committing the crimes of “spying” and “subversion”， saying slanderously that the ancient rocket pictures distributed by the branch Xinhua News Agency when introducing the ancient Chinese civilization were evidence that “the Chinese were developing new-type rockets” and that “they wanted to destroy Brazil”， and taking the map of Brazil that the Chinese bought in the local bookstore as the testimony of “the Chinese were plotting a guerilla war in Brazil”. The prosecutor was refuted by their stern speeches of justice. Santos said， finally as the Brazilian authorities could not find any evidence of crimes and were facing increasingly strong protests from around the world， they sank into a very passive position. On April 17， 1965 the Brazilian authorities announced “deportation” of the nine Chinese with a fabricated charge. Santos and Pinto issued a statement immediately， refusing to accept the authorities’ gratuitous accusation of the nine Chinese， and strongly protesting the so-called “deportation”， for “These Chinese are innocent.”

Soon after that， Santos went to the prison to express his sympathy， and helped and accompanied the nine Chinese who had been in prison for a year to leave Brazil for China. When seeing the nine Chinese off at the airport， Santos embraced and shook hand with them， repeatedly saying: “ We will surely meet again.”

The nine-Chinese unjust case left pain in his heart， but he did not shrink back. Instead， he became more determined to work for Brazil-China friendship. “We will surely meet again!” was the belief deeply rooted in his heart.

In August 1974 China and Brazil established diplomatic relations. Since then the relations between the two countries have embarked on a healthy road. Needless to say how happy Santos was. He said， “At last the dark clouds have been dispelled and I see the clear blue sky. Brazil-China friendship will be further developed. Let’s work with added vigour!” Things went on as he had expected. Soon after the Chinese preparatory group for constructing the Chinese Embassy arrived in Brazil. Meeting with them， Santos said， “Nine years ago when I said ‘We will surely meet again’， many people only half believed what I said. Today what I have said has come true. The Chinese common saying ‘Where there’s will there’s a way’ is right.” He then busied himself helping the Chinese preparatory group select the site for the Embassy and buy the plot of land. As the lawyer entrusted by the Chinese Government， he signed the contract for the construction of the Chinese Embassy in Brazil， paving the way for China to build up the Embassy there smoothly. Later， he did a lot of work to help establish friendly ties between Brazilian and Chinese big cities including those between Beijing and Rio de Janeiro and between Tianjin and Rio de Janeiro State. Together with his friends he set up the first Latin American private enterprise in China， winning the reputation of being a bellwether of Latin America in looking for business opportunities in China.

In December 1985， I， as a member of the CPAFFC delegation， visited Brazil. Before our departure， Santos sent us a telegram， saying that he had made careful preparations for the delegation’s visit. People in Rio often say proudly: If you do not come to Rio， you have not been to Brazil. Indeed， the scenery in Rio was enchanting; but what was more unforgettable was the warm friendship shown to us by Santos and other friends in Rio.

On the day when we arrived in Rio， Santos was having a fever. Having taken some medicine， he came to the airport to meet us. Our visit to Brazil happened to be around Christmas. We apologized for the inappropriate time of our visit. To our surprise， Santos laughed heartily on hearing our apology. He said， “It is a happy thing to spend the local holiday with local people when you visit a foreign country. Next time you should come to Rio at the Carnival. I have been to China many times. Now I am thinking of visiting China at the Spring Festival when I can set firecrackers， eat dumplings and visit temple fairs together with you. How interesting it will be!”

Not long after the CPAFFC delegation left Brazil， Santos together with other friends who were enthusiastic supporters of Brazil-China friendship started to prepare for setting up the Brazil-China Friendship Society (BCFS). In June 1986 when visited China again， he brought us the happy news: The BCFS had been formally registered and a five-member leading committee with him as its chairman had been formed. Backed by the BCFS， he was able to carry out richer and more colourful activities such as holding the Chinese film week， photo exhibitions of Chinese culture， receiving Chinese delegations， etc. Particularly when Chinese leaders visited Brazil， he organized large-scale activities to welcome them. He recommended the first batch of Chinese youth to be trained in football playing in Brazil， which was a very new idea at that time. In addition to the above activities， he helped bring about the visits to China by important delegations of the Brazilian National Congress， government officials and businessmen. In a word， whenever people talk about Sino-Brazilian friendship， they will mention the name of Danillo Santos.

There was an episode during my visit to Brazil. At that time the Brazilian TV series La Esclava was very much liked by the Chinese audience when it was shown in China. Therefore， we asked Santos to arrange for us to meet the actress Roselia Santos who played the role of Izula， the heroine of the series. Unfortunately， we were unable to meet her to tell her about our feelings of her excellent performance， for she happened to have an urgent filming task. Roselia was warmly welcomed during her visit to China in April the following year 1985. Later Santos told us that the story that Roselia became the first foreign film star who had ever won China TV Goldeneagle Award passed from mouth to mouth with approbation in Brazil. I told him that the Chinese audience spoke highly of Roselia’s performance， and that her winning the award was an event deserving congratulation in the history of cultural exchanges between the peoples of China and Brazil.

On November 22， 2003 Cheng Siwei， vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and president of the CLAFA， who headed a CLAFA delegation on a visit to Brazil， conferred the China-Latin American Friendship Medal and the certificate upon Santos. Just as what Wang Hongqiang， secretary general of the CLAFA， said in his speech， this old friend， who now serves as chairman of the Brazil-China Cultural and Trade Centre， cherishes profound friendly sentiments towards China and the Chinese people， has worked for the cause of Brazilian-Chinese friendship for many years and made outstanding contributions to enhancing mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples and promoting the relations between the two countries. He fully deserves the China-Latin American Friendship Medal. Santos emailed me his thank-you speech at the conferring ceremony， letting me share his happiness. It is really an excellent speech in which Santos said， “People use ten fingers to learn to play the piano. But we have borne hardships and use fifteen fingers to play the music of peace and friendship one piece after another in the past 40 years. My contact with the Chinese people can be traced back to 1963 when I got acquainted with Mr. Wang Yaoting from China who had extraordinary courage and insight and Mr. Zhang Baosheng， one of the nine brave Chinese who served as a link between China and Brazil. After the sad nine-Chinese event happened in 1964， they had to leave Brazil. But， thanks to the concerted efforts by the Chinese friends and us， by learning the spirit of utter devotion to others without any thought of self advocated by Chairman Mao in his article Serve the People and following the example of the hard struggle of the Foolish Old Man who Removed the Mountains， we at last broke the solid ice and greeted the spring of Brazil-China relations. Chairman Mao’s article Foolish Old Man who Removed the Mountains tells us that on the road to progress， no matter how many mountains there are in front of us， as long as we work persistently and dauntlessly， we are bound to remove these huge mountains away， as when I die， my son will carry on; when they die， there will be my grandsons， and their sons and grandsons， and so on to infinity. I have great respect for Mao Zedong， Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping. It is they that changed China from a poor and backward country into a strong and prosperous one. Now Brazil-China friendship and economic and trade cooperation are developing rapidly. I firmly believe that on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence， the friendship mansion built by the two developing countries with the largest territory in the world will forever stand on the planet.”

How good Santos’s speech is! These are the words from the bottom of the heart of a friend who has devoted all his life to Brazil-China friendship. I am sure that he together with other Brazilian friends will add more illustrious chapters to the annals of Brazil-China friendship.

The author is former Chinese ambassador to Bolivia and Uruguay.