Hardship Post

After he was kidnaped from his Cadillac in Rio and held captive for 77 hours last September, U.S. Ambassador to Brazil C. Burke Elbrick suggested that Washington might want to transfer him to another post. The ambassador argued that he was indebted to the Brazilian junta (which freed 15 political prisoners to obtain his release) and therefore could no longer be effective. The State Department decided otherwise. Recalling that Nelson Rockefeller had earned high marks for machismo by doggedly continuing his South American tour despite a violent reception, Foggy Bottom ordered Elbrick to stay on because it would be the gutsy thing to do. Maybe too gutsy.

In the old days, Elbrick, 61, had been known to drop in on local samba clubs and dance into the wee hours. Now his ebullient style has been severely cramped. A couple of Marines camp out in his Rio residence. As many as 30 Brazilian security men shadow him at times. So many guards follow him to Sunday Mass that he has to come late and leave early to avoid a commotion. Only once since the kidnaping have Elbrick and his wife ventured out for a private dinner with friends, and security precautions turned the evening into a shambles. The besieged ambassador cannot even risk using his limousine. He travels in a convoy of two or three nondescript sedans, choosing a different one each time to confound would-be abductors.

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