They had taken to the streets in reaction to the latest stringent conditions imposed on Brazil by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). While wages have been pegged, prices in the shops continue to rise and the cruzado has been devalued by 27 per cent. There are, says Dr Jones Santos Neves, one of Brazil's leading employers, some 500,000 children without adequate food.

Eorann arrived right in the middle of solemn celebrations held in London to mark the birth of the `five billionth baby'. But, naturally, nobody knows precisely when - or where - that epochmaking child was born.

The truth is that a civilization has been shattered, and is in need of rebuilding. This goes beyond the realms of politics and power. No leader, however enlightened, will be able to create a stable structure until new foundations have been laid.