(It has been widely commented that Marshal Hermes [de Fonseca, the president of Brazil] did not go to Italy.)
Italian King Victor Emmanuel (holding document behind his back that reads “Italian emigration to Brazil is prohibited”): “Hey! Marshal, my dear! So you’re embarking without having visited la bella Italia! What does this mean?”
The Pope: “Darn! The President of Brazil, the world’s most clerical republic, doesn’t want to see the Pope?”
The Marshal: “Oh, gentlemen! It is a simple matter of courtesy… Your immigrants cannot come to my land for a reason that I can’t explain? … I can’t go to yours either, because of… cholera… Love is repaid with love.”
(O Malho, Rio de Janeiro, 1910)
Sic Transit Pestilentia 