Meeting Place

The Brazilian Government thought it had just the place for the oft-postponed Inter-American Conference, now scheduled for next month. The place was Quitandinha, the plush resort hotel just outside the summer capital of Petropolis. But the Government had hardly announced its choice when foreign correspondents let out a loud squawk.

The correspondents well knew that the hotel, with its three bars and five dining rooms, its two swimming pools and its comfortable if chichi rooms, is the best in Brazil. What they were squawking about were the communications between Quitandinha and Rio. They were bad. Only six telephone lines run to Rio. Besides, the correspondents saw no chance of finding quarters in the hotel's 350 rooms. They would have to commute three miles to Petropolis or 40-odd miles to Rio.

Harried officials of Agencia Nacional, Brazil's official news agency, replied that the U.S. Army Signal Corps had been asked to set up enough radio transmitters to send all newsmen's copy. The correspondents were not appeased; they sent a petition of protest to President Dutra.

But Brazil is expected to stick by its choice. One reason: the delegates could be housed in one place, away from the distractions of Rio. Another: the hotel, its casino dark, has been losing $10,000 a month ever since the Government ended licensed gambling last year (TIME, May 13, 1946). Holding the conference there would be one way of partially repaying suave Joaquim Rolla, Brazil's former gambling king, and owner of Quitandinha.

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