Caco Barcellos: the profile of one of the most respected journalists in Brazil

It may seem like a lie, but the owner of the beautiful blue eyes in the photo above just turned 63. And this is just one of the intriguing points in the history of Caco Barcellos. His nearly 40-year career as an investigative reporter has earned him a place among the most respected journalists on Brazilian television., but this gaucho was once a hippie and a taxi driver. Born into a family of truck drivers, he started driving a taxi as soon as he turned 18. He only became a reporter years later, at Folha da Manhã, in Porto Alegre. It was when he signed the first article that Cláudio Barcelos de Barcelos – thus, with repetition, since his father and mother have the same last name – became Caco Barcellos. On TV, he made his debut in 1981, on the Globo Repórter team. And this after traveling around Latin America writing about popular struggles for the alternative press.

With a career marked by coverage of thorny issues, between wars, armed conflicts in general and all sorts of social injustice, Caco knows well what it is to be afraid. “I think fear is a very important feeling because it helps to have judgment and common sense”, he says. But he’s not the type driven by adrenaline floods brought on by dangerous situations. “If I could choose, I’d prefer not to take risks, but I think it’s fundamental to touch on the most delicate national issues”, he says, convinced. And he adds: “I get indignant with certain situations and I can’t pass by them”.

THE DANGERS

The wasps nests he usually gets his hands on have already put him in situations beyond delicate. During the report that gave rise to his first book, Nicaragua – The Children’s Revolution (Mercado Aberto), in 1979, he was kidnapped by a group of local guerrillas. Their executioners were, on average, 13 years old. “They caught me thinking I was an American, a spy for the CIA,” he says. The misunderstanding cleared up, he was released hours later. He ended up staying with the guerrilla boys until the end of the conflict to experience the other side of the revolution.

Caco tells that, after publishing the second book, Route 66 – The Story of the Police That Kill (Record), in 1993, he received anonymous threats and preferred to leave the country “until tempers calmed down”. So as not to worry his mother, Antoninha Barcelos de Barcelos, Caco usually, until today, omits his true destination when he leaves for reports in dangerous areas. It’s not for less. Once, she found out on the news that her son had been kidnapped in Colombia. “It was a shock,” recalls Caco.

The reporter became profoundly knowledgeable about the complex gear that drives drug trafficking in Rio’s favelas during the seven years of research for another book, Abused – The Owner of Morro Dona Marta (Record), which, launched in 2003, became a bestseller. “It was the reporting job that most impressed me from a personal point of view”, he chooses. “I spent a lot of time involved with those people and learned a lot about how things work there.” Abusado received important awards, such as the Jabuti.

YOUNG BLOOD

Currently, the journalist and writer runs the Profissão Repórter program, on TV Globo, in which young reporters show the backstage of the news, that is, the production process of each report that airs. “Young people are surprised much more than veterans by everything and will want to tell those stories with more emphasis”, he argues. “I think it’s important to maintain that intellectual restlessness, which is a characteristic more of the beginning of professional life.” In addition to being a presenter, Caco is the creator of the program, which has been a hit with the public since 2006, when it went on air as a part of Fantástico. In 2012, the attraction was even a finalist for the Emmy, the Oscar of television, in the current affairs category.

LASTING MARRIAGE

With calm speech, the gaucho talks confidently about all these passages. He only hints at a certain shyness when asked about his reputation as a good-looking journalist, acquired from the female audience against his will – Caco values ​​discretion. “Yes, women admire my work”, tries to dismiss the now owner of gray hair. Then, however, he admits that he has already been the target of sung by his admirers. During a report in Amapá, the daughter of a prospector even offered him gold nuggets. The plan backfired: “I felt offended, it was as if she wanted to buy me”.

As if the clumsy attack were not enough, Caco seems to only have eyes for one woman: he has been married for 22 years to fashion designer Beatriz Fragelli, mother of his two youngest children, Alice, 14, and Iuri, 21 – he is also a father of Ian, 35, from first marriage. One of his theories to explain the lasting relationship is the dynamic life that both lead. “I think it’s important to have independent stories. The routine of the two is very intense and we live in separate houses. When we meet, it’s really meant to be together.”

HEALTH CARE

The secret to looking younger may be taking care of your health, which you cultivate since your youth. Inherited from his hippie life, he has been a follower of macrobiotic nutrition since 1971. Other habits from that time persist: he didn’t use shampoo until he was 25 and, even today, he dispenses with deodorant. “I don’t see the need,” he argues. “Depending on the foods you eat, your body odor changes.” Caco does not consider himself a big consumerist nor is he on social media. “It’s due to lack of time, I can barely check my emails.” On rare days off, he plays football, reads a lot and walks, as he loves to walk.

Body care is, according to him, less out of vanity than “so as not to die before the time🇧🇷 The topic is cause for concern. “Aging doesn’t bother me; it’s the dying part that worries,” she says. The concern is such that Caco developed the peculiar habit of checking the age whenever he reads the news of someone’s death. He tries to soften. “I often repeat a sentence I heard from Chico Anysio: ‘I’m not afraid of dying, what makes me feel sorry for abandoning the journey’.”

PRESENT FATHER

Caco transmitted the notion of healthy eating to his three children, with whom he says he has a great relationship. “Even with all my absence, I manage to make myself present”, he evaluates. “With Ian, for example, I talk on the phone about ten times a day.” Talking is one of the journalist’s favorite activities – and interviewing different people is the part that gives him the most pleasure in his job. After doing numerous award-winning reports, writing successful books and raising a legion of admirers, what more could Caco Barcellos want? Many things. To begin with, without abandoning even a bit his Profession Reporter, he is dying to, in some way, experience cinema. He even sold the adaptation rights for Route 66 to become a movie. “But since it didn’t work out and there was a validity period, the rights are now mine again”, he says. “Recently, two production companies got in touch interested in both Rota 66 and Abusado. Due to lack of time, we still haven’t talked about it in depth.” He still thinks about one day venturing out as a novel writer. And, of course, dodging death for a long time is also in his plans.