Damned if you do

摘要

Laurentino meurer, a migrant from southern Brazil, arrived in Jaciparana about four years ago. He was sure he had made the right choice when he read in a magazine that the dirt-track settlement alongside a river of the same name would be "the fastest-growing place in Brazil". He hopes that the Drogaria Bom Jesus, the chemist's shop he runs on the main road, will play a prominent role in the coming boom. Along with remedies, it sells plots of land-77 in a month he boasts. But that was a while ago. "There is not much demand right now," he admits.