Considered to be Brazil ‘s greatest writer, Machado de Assis’ s work is Rio de Janeiro ‘s cultural heritage. Beyond his literary works, the “Wizard of Cosme Velho” was also a chronicler, contributing to various newspapers in Rio between 1859 and 1900. During his time in the press, he often wrote anonymously or under pseudonyms—such as in the “A Semana” column of the Gazeta de Notícias.

In the edition reproduced here, the novelist highlights a major national debate: a new proposal that week had reignited Brazil’s “capital question.” He refers to a bill introduced by Deputy Belizário Augusto, which sought to make Rio de Janeiro the capital of the Republic—going against the 1891 Constitution, which had designated the plateau of Goiás as the site for the new capital.

Machado discusses the debates in Congress, and as a public servant and keen observer of society, he already foresaw changes in the city:

“Anything can happen. One day, who knows? We may build a bridge between this city and Nictheroy—a political bridge, that is—though nothing prevents us from also constructing an iron bridge. The political bridge will unite the two states, for we are all Fluminenses, and this city will go from being the capital of itself to the capital of a single large state, which will be called Guanabara.. The Fluminenses from across the water will return Petrópolis to the vacationers and their retreats. United, we will be greater than we are apart, and, without diminishing the others, our capital will be strong and magnificent.”

It is worth noting how the author identified the construction of the bridge between the two cities as a way of integrating Rio de Janeiro into the state, which would be renamed Guanabara. To him, the bridge represented a metaphorical transformation, forcing both cities to redefine their identities under the new political regime. Something that, although it didn’t happen in the early years of the Republic, was present at different times in the periodical press until the inauguration of the Rio-Niterói Bridge in the 1970s.

Note: The original spelling from the June 7, 1896 publication has been preserved.