Brazilians see metaphor for their struggles in museum fire

RIO DE JANEIRO — Firefighters dug through the burned-out hulk of Brazil's National Museum on Monday, a day after flames gutted the building, as the country mourned the irreplaceable treasures lost and pointed ¿QJHUV RYHU ZKR ZDV WR EODPH

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"It's a crime that the PXVHXP ZDV DOORZHG WR JHW to this shape," said Laura Albuquerque, a 29-year-old dance WHDFKHU ZKR ZDV LQ D FURZG SURWHVWLQJ RXWVLGH WKH JDWHV "What happened isn't just UHJUHWWDEOH LW V GHYDVWDWLQJ and politicians are responVLEOH IRU LW

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Luiz Fernando Dias Duarte, the museum's deputy director, criticized authorities for VWDUYLQJ WKH PXVHXP RI YLWDO IXQGLQJ ZKLOH VSHQGLQJ ODYishly on stadiums to host the :RUOG &XS LQ

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Duarte said that anything held in the main building ZDV OLNHO\ GHVWUR\HG &ULVWLDQD 6HUHMR D YLFH GLUHFWRU of the museum, told the G1 QHZV SRUWDO WKDW DV OLWWOH DV percent of the collection may KDYH VXUYLYHG 7KH EXLOGLQJ ZDV RQFH KRPH WR WKH UR\DO family, and the museum's collection included pieces that EHORQJHG WR WKHP

The collection also contained a painting by the Brazilian artist Candido PortiQDUL DQG H[WHQVLYH SDOHRQWRlogical, anthropological and ELRORJLFDO VSHFLPHQV ,W KHOG D VNXOO FDOOHG /X]LD WKDW ZDV DPRQJ WKH ROGHVW IRVVLOV HYHU IRXQG LQ WKH $PHULFDV DV ZHOO as an Egyptian mummy and WKH ODUJHVW PHWHRULWH HYHU GLVFRYHUHG LQ %UD]LO ² RQH RI WKH IHZ REMHFWV WKDW RI¿FLDOV FRXOG FRQ¿UP KDG VXUYLYHG

Brazil has struggled to HPHUJH IURP D WZR \HDU recession and seen its political and corporate elite jailed in Latin America's largest FRUUXSWLRQ LQYHVWLJDWLRQ 7KH FRXQWU\ KDV EHHQ ULYHQ ZLWK GHHS SROLWLFDO GLYLVLRQV IROORZLQJ WKH LPSHDFKPHQW DQG UHPRYDO RI IRUPHU 3UHVLGHQW 'LOPD 5RXVVHII

/AP-Silvia Izquierdo Students and National Museum employees protest outside the institution after it was gutted by an overnight fire in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Monday. Recriminations flew over who was responsible for the loss of at least part of Latin America’s largest archive of historical artifacts, objects and documents.