The security barrier swung slowly skywards, clearing the way for another glistening four-wheel drive to glide past, its occupants obscured by black-tinted, bulletproof windows.
Nearby, under the shade of a towering jackfruit tree, a cluster of dusty construction workers took a break from their morning's work - erecting yet another luxury, palm-flanked fortress in Jardim Pernambuco, a cocoon of 140 millionaires' mansions nestled on a hillside above southern Rio de Janeiro, the heartland of Brazilian high society.
While the credit crunch wreaks havoc elsewhere, Brazil's super-rich have so far emerged relatively unscathed. Glossy lifestyle magazines are filled with full-page adverts for spa resorts, designer handbags and diamond bracelets that cost more than many Brazilians earn in a lifetime. High-end estate agents say they are as busy as ever, while a new wave of so-called "extra-class" hotels are packed to the rafters each weekend.
A recent study conducted by MFC Consultoria e Conhecimento, a Brazilian research group specialising in luxury goods, claimed that Brazil's luxury sector, known by some here as the Mercardo AAA - Triple-A Market - grew by 17% last year with a similar rise expected for 2008.
Brazil is a world leader when it comes to growth in numbers of high net-worth individuals. In the last two years its number of millionaires jumped from 130,000 to 220,000 and for now at least, the economic slump has not stopped them shopping. "The main players [in Brazil] are Louis Vuitton, Dior, Versace, Armani, Valentino, Gucci and Prada," said Carlos Ferreirinha, director of MFC.
From the Amazon city of Manaus to the southern metropolises of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, a growing number of luxury shopping centres and condominiums are opening their security gates, pools and tennis courts to the country's wealthy.
Brazil's president, Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva came to power in 2003 promising to haul millions of his compatriots out of poverty. But his time in power has also coincided with an unprecedented boom for the rich. Lula currently enjoys an historic approval rating of 57% among Brazil's wealthiest citizens.
"From an economic point of view Lula is not a leftist, he is not a revolutionary. He is a conservative," said Lucia Hippolito, a well-known political commentator. "He feels very at home around businessmen."
However, there are increasing signs that the financial crisis is starting to rear its head in Brazil. Falling commodity prices have eaten away at the advance of Brazil's currency, the real, and a series of major infrastructure projects are expected to suffer delays as a result. The middle and lower classes are also starting to feel the pinch as credit dries up. Ferreirinha believes Brazil's luxury boom will start to slow in 2009.
For now, however, the crisis seems a distant prospect in places like Jardim Pernambuco, where the afternoon silence is broken only by the chirping of birds and the thwack of tennis balls.
"The bankers are happier here than ever before," said Hippolito. "In Brazil we joke that Lula is the father of the poor and the mother of the rich."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/29/brazil-credit-crunch
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