President Richard Nixon solicited the help of Brazil's notorious leader Emilio Medici in early talks of overthrowing Chile's President Salvador Allende, according to a secret memo from 1971 released to the public for the first time on Sunday. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger wrote up the meeting, and was asked to act as a back channel between Medici and Nixon.

Two years later Allende was killed in a US-backed coup which put Gen. Augusto Pinochet into power. Pinochet's name would later become synonymous with brutal human rights abuses and "disappearances" in the thousands.

The actions of Brazil's leadership, who were no strangers to torture and assassination, are detailed by the victims themselves in the astonishing contemporaneous documentary Brazil: A Report on Torture [watch here]. The young students and professionals who appear in the film were living in Chile as political refugees when Pinochet came into power, throwing them again into a world of detention and pain. In this interview, filmmakers Haskell Wexler (Medium Cool, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) and Saul Landau (Fidel) talk about their time in Chile interviewing the Brazilian victims, as well as US involvement in South American politics. Wexler and Landau were in Chile working on a documentary about Allende when they met the victims.

Link TV also broadcasts the documentary The Trials of Henry Kissinger. Check here for airdates and a clip from the film.

This week we are showing director Mika Kaurismaki's love letter to Brazilian choro, Brasileirinho. Choro is an endearing form of acoustic urban folk music with a soft, sweet sound. Its roots go back to 19th century Rio, when musicians started to blend indigenous, Afro-Brazilian and European music into a new genre. In this film you are going to meet some amazing players: guitarists, mandolinists, singers, and more. You'll get a terrific insight into this music, where it has been, and where it is going.

By the way, if you are wondering why there is a scene with a manicurist that opens the film, consider this: many guitarists rely on their fingernails to get just the right sound on their instruments. If a nail breaks, it's almost as bad as breaking a string. Thankfully, nail salons these days are adept at creating strong nail extensions, and finding a good place can generate quite a buzz amongst a surprising number of guitar virtuosos. So no, those men were not getting a manicure!

You aren’t going to find "Brasileirinho" on any mainstream channels -- it's only here on Link TV. So I hope that during this month's mini-pledge you'll show your support for the "World of Creativity" that Music and Culture brings you every day. Just lift your gaze to the "Pledge Now" button at the top of the page, click on it, and show your support. Thanks!

We recently had the great Brazilian singer-songwriter Chico Cesar in our studios for an interview. When we asked him who were some of his favorite interpetors of his songs, he immediately mentioned Maria Bethania, saying every time she sings one of his songs, it becomes a classic.  This was not exactly a surprse for us since the documentary we are showing th is week The Voice of Brazil - Maria Bethania shows very clearly the process by which Bethania makes a song her very own.

From her emotional involvement with any song she approaches, her dissection of its musical structure and potentials, and her relationship with the musicians who are accompanying her, the documentary allows us unusual access to this iconic singer, and sister of Caetano Veloso.