The Fundação Cacique Cobra Coral (FCCC; in English, Cacique Cobra Coral Foundation) is a Brazilian esoteric organization based in Guarulhos, in the state of São Paulo. The foundation says that it was established in 1931 by the medium Ângelo Scritori and that its purpose is to intervene in natural phenomena in order to "minimize catastrophes" associated with human-caused imbalances in nature. The organization is principally known for claims that the medium Adelaide Scritori can communicate with a spirit called Cacique Cobra Coral and, through it, influence weather conditions. The foundation and its representatives have been associated with municipal and other public bodies in Brazil, as well as with organizers of major public events, including Rock in Rio. Writer Paulo Coelho served as a vice-president of the foundation between 2004 and 2006. The foundation's website identifies Adelaide Scritori as its president.
Beliefs and claimed activities According to the foundation, Adelaide Scritori began communicating as a child with an entity known as Cacique Cobra Coral. The organization says that the spirit had previously been incarnated as Galileo Galilei and Abraham Lincoln. Scritori's father, Ângelo Scritori, who was himself a medium, founded the organization and died in 2002 at the age of 104. El País has described Cacique Cobra Coral as a spirit associated with Umbanda, an Afro-Brazilian religious tradition, and reported that Scritori's husband, Osmar Santos, has acted as a spokesperson and intermediary between the foundation and governments or private companies seeking its services. Anthropologist Renzo Taddei of the Federal University of São Paulo, who has studied relationships between meteorology, religion and traditional beliefs in Brazil, has placed the figure of Cacique Cobra Coral within a broader Brazilian tradition of interaction with spiritual entities associated with natural phenomena. The organization refers to its attempts to influence weather as "climate operations". According to Santos, meteorological information is provided to Scritori before such an operation. The foundation has at various times worked with people having backgrounds in meteorology or atmospheric science. The foundation's supernatural explanations for changes in weather are claims made by the organization and its adherents; reports of favourable weather following an intervention do not establish that the foundation caused the meteorological conditions.
History The foundation traces its origins to 1931. Its official account states that, around the time of Adelaide Scritori's birth in northern Paraná, her father claimed to receive a message from the spirit of Padre Cícero predicting that his daughter would later communicate with another spirit capable of influencing natural phenomena. According to this account, Adelaide first began receiving messages attributed to Cacique Cobra Coral at the age of seven. During the early 1980s, Adelaide Scritori and Osmar Santos began contacting politicians and public figures in Brazil and abroad, offering what they described as assistance with weather and natural disasters. Santos also promoted accounts of the foundation's activities to Brazilian and international news organizations. In 1985, the foundation entered into an agreement in Santa Catarina, a state that had experienced recurrent flooding. A contemporaneous notice published in the state's official gazette described the FCCC as an organization based in Guarulhos providing assistance and advice to affiliated public or private entities. In the late 1980s, the Brazilian Meteorological Society challenged the foundation over what it considered the illegal practice of meteorology. The proceedings were eventually dismissed. Scritori and Santos subsequently established a meteorological agency called La Niña, which was registered with the appropriate professional council and could formally enter into meteorological service agreements. Paulo Coelho became a vice-president of the organization in the 2000s and helped increase its international public profile. He left the position in 2006.
Relationships with public authorities and events
Rio de Janeiro The foundation has had a particularly visible relationship with public authorities in Rio de Janeiro. Former mayor César Maia began working with the organization during his terms in office in the 2000s and publicly credited it with helping to prevent severe weather from disrupting events in the city. The city and the foundation entered into an agreement during Maia's administration. The relationship continued under his successor, Eduardo Paes. In December 2009, Scritori was asked to participate in efforts intended to prevent rain from disrupting New Year's Eve celebrations at Copacabana. The foundation has also been associated with attempts to secure favourable weather for Carnival and other large events. Its relationship with event organizers has included Rock in Rio, whose founder Roberto Medina has been reported as having worked with the organization. Representatives of the foundation say that its agreements with public bodies do not involve payments of public money. Santos has said that, instead, governments are expected to provide information on flood prevention, water-resource recovery, reforestation and other environmental work.
São Paulo The municipal government of São Paulo has also had an agreement with the foundation. During the administration of mayor Gilberto Kassab, the FCCC was consulted around public events, including the 2007 visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the city. According to Veja São Paulo, the foundation claimed that Scritori had intervened to alter atmospheric conditions so that rain would not disrupt the papal visit. The publication reported the claim as a supernatural explanation offered by Scritori rather than as an established meteorological cause.
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