A 23 000 kilometre ride for football and Human Rights
On Wednesday, 1 July in Ozoir la Ferrière, Antonio Carlos Oliveira enthusiastically watched the stars from BRAZIL as he leaned up against his bicycle. This 36 year-old Brazilian is not your run-of-the mill soccer fan. Alone with his bicycle, Antonio set off on a voyage that has taken him through America and Europe in order to educate populations about the Charter for Human Rights. He left Bahia, Brazil, on 28 December 1996, and since then, has travelled over 23,000 kilometres in 13 different countries. One of the stops along the road of this epic journey is France at the height of the World Cup.
Antonio’s voyage began in South America. After riding through twelve Brazilian states, Antonio traversed Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico, before making it to the United States. He then flew to Lisbon, Portugal, and started peddling once again toward France via Spain. Thanks to an invitation by Jacques Loyer, Mayor of Ozoir La Ferrière, Antonio was able to watch the opening match of the World Cup at the Stade de France (SAINT-DENIS) on 10 June.
“I came to France during the World Cup because it brings people from all over the world together as one family!”, he says happily, in the broken French he learned as an agricultural biology student in Montpellier. Back in Brazil, Antonio works to help street kids in Goiâna, 200 kilometres from the Brazilian capital, Brasilia. He misses his family and his homeland, and, unable to conceal his emotions, he adds: “I miss Brazil. The Amazonian forest is so beautiful! Luckily, my brother and sister are coming to see me tomorrow.”
In his bags, Antonio carries hundreds of copies of the Charter for Human Rights translated in seven different languages. He also carries a golden book in which he has collected over 4,600 signatures from people who support his cause. This fervent human rights supporter organises press conferences in every country that he goes to. His journey will come to an end on 10 December 1998. Until then, he will go through Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, southern France and Spain, before taking off from Lisbon to go to New York, where he will attend the 50th anniversary celebration of human rights at the United Nations headquarters.