Report seven: Brasil Novo

As Brazil gears up for presidential elections in October, BBC Brasil's Paulo Cabral travels through remote mountains, arid countryside and deep jungle to find out what 21st Century politics mean in the Brazil that normally goes unreported.

Follow the Transamazon Highway 46 kilometres (27 miles) west from the town of Altamira in the Brazilian state of Par� and you are greeted by a road sign which reads "Welcome to Brasil Novo [New Brazil]".

"The roads need asphalt desperately," said one resident

This small town of 15,000 inhabitants has sprung up in the nine years since it was founded in 1993.

The city lies next to one of the many unsurfaced stretches of the transamazon route, a 3,000 km road from Belem on Brazil's northern coast right through the heart of the Amazon rainforest to Bolivia.

In the dry summer the dusty road covers the town in a film of brown dust, visible from afar.

In the rainy season the road becomes impassable.

"The roads here are in desperate need of asphalt. Just look at all this dust," says Maria F�tima at the butcher's shop where she works.

Like many Brazilians, the citizens of Brasil Novo have a long list of problems they would like to see solved quickly.

Only 35% of the town's homes have running water

"We need electricity here. And everything is just so expensive," pensioner Ananias Santos complains.

Brasil Novo is close to the hydroelectric plant of Tucuru�, one of the big suppliers to the Brazilian energy network.

But the power lines supplying electricity to nearby Altamira were only built in 1998.

Many remote districts are still dependent on generators or small home-made turbines that exploit the region's plentiful water resources.

Scarce jobs

According to the Brazilian Geographical Institute for Statistics, of the approximately 3,600 homes in the town, a mere 35% have running water.

Presidential election

First round: 6 October Run-off: 27 October

Key candidates

Jose Serra - ruling centrist coalition Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva - Workers' Party Ciro Gomes - centre-left Labour Front coalition Anthony Garotinho - Socialist Party candidate

Another basic problem typical to this agricultural region - which depends on coffee, cocoa and pepper plantations for much of its income - is the seasonal variations in the job market.

During the harvest and sowing seasons jobs are plentiful. But employment is scarce at other times.

"People here need to be given more opportunities," says Jo�o Paulo who moved to Brasil Novo one year ago and is from state Bahia in the north-east of Brazil.

"There are not enough jobs for us."

Shopkeeper Jai Alves expresses a feeling that common to many Brazilians:

"Things must improve. Brasil Novo deserves it. The people of Brasil Novo deserve a lot," he said.