Marshal Rondon
“Marshal Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon was a Brazilian military officer most famous for his telegraph commission and exploration of Mato Grosso and the Western Amazon Basin, as well as his lifelong support for indigenous Brazilians. He was the first director of Brazil’s Indian Protection Service or SPI (later FUNAI) and supported the creation of the Xingu National Park. The Brazilian state of Rondônia is named after him, it was a tribute, and he has even been called “the Gandhi of Brazil Biography”. Rondon was born in Mimoso, in Mato Grosso. After finishing high school at the age of 16, he taught elementary school for two years, and then joined the Brazilian Army. Among other studies, he studied Mathematics and Physical and Natural Sciences at the Superior School of War. He entered officer’s school and graduated in 1888 as a second lieutenant. In 1890, he was commissioned as an army engineer with the Telegraphic commission, and helped build the first telegraph line across the state of Mato Grosso. Afterwards, Rondon started construction on a road that led from Rio de Janeiro to Cuiabá. Until this roadway was complete, the only way between these two cities was by river transport. From 1900 to 1906, Rondon was in charge of laying telegraph lines from Brazil to Bolivia and Peru. During this time he opened up new territory, and was in contact with the Bororo Tribe of Western Brazil. He was so successful in pacifying the Bororo, that he completed the telegraph line with their help. Rondon laid over 4,000 miles of telegraph line through the jungles of Brazil. Marshall Rondon was honored with the title “Patron of the Communications Corps of the Brazilian Army”. On 5 May 1955, the date of his 90th birthday, he was awarded the title of Marshal of the Brazilian Army, granted by the National Congress. In 1957, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by the Explorers Club of New York. And decades earlier, Albert Einstein had recommended Rondon to the Nobel committee. He died in 1958 in Rio de Janeiro at the age of 92.
Vocabulary: Bororo = indígena pertencente ao grupo dos Bororos.
Adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candido_Rondon.
Write T for true or F for false. Then choose the alternative that corresponds to the correct sequence.
According to the text, we can infer that,
( ) Einstein and Rondon didn’t get along.
( ) Rondon had a good relationship with the Bororos.
( ) Rondon had more involvement on Rio de Janeiro ‐ Cuiabá roadway building than anything else.
( ) Rondon was responsible for laying telegraph lines at least in three different countries.