Eduardo Cicarelli, of Jornal de Lavras, receives the Osvaldo Aranha Medal and the Ambassador of Peace diploma

There are people who tell the story of a city. And there are those who spend their whole lives writing that story, day after day. The journalist Eduardo Cicarelli, editor-in-chief of the Jornal de Lavras, is one of them. And on Friday (6th), in Belo Horizonte, that work earned recognition worthy of it.

Cicarelli received the Mérito Embaixador da Paz Osvaldo Aranha, Cidadão do Mundo medal (Ambassador of Peace Osvaldo Aranha Merit Medal, Citizen of the World) and the Ambassador of Peace diploma, both awarded by the Academia de Medalhística Cívico-Militar do Brasil. The diploma recognizes "the relevant services rendered to society, to the promotion of peace, justice, fraternity and harmony among peoples".

The ceremony took place at the Academia de Polícia Militar in the state capital, with senator and former Minister of Science and Technology Marcos Pontes, the first Brazilian astronaut, as honorary speaker.

A medal named after a statesman

The honor bears the name of Osvaldo Aranha (1894 to 1960), a diplomat and politician from Rio Grande do Sul who presided over the 1947 session of the UN General Assembly that approved the partition of Palestine and paved the way for the creation of the State of Israel. That role on the world stage earned him the title of "citizen of the world". In 2020, his name was inscribed in the Livro dos Heróis e Heroínas da Pátria (Book of Heroes and Heroines of the Homeland).

Decades of journalism

Jornal de Lavras is only the most recent chapter of a much longer story. Cicarelli has been a journalist for decades and helped build the city's media landscape: he was one of the founders of the Fundação Abraham Lincoln in Lavras and of Rádio Dimensão, which went on air on March 24, 2002. He is also a member of the Academia Lavrense de Letras.

Jornal de Lavras, since 2010

Today he runs Jornal de Lavras alongside his wife, the journalist, lawyer and administrator Sabrina Cicarelli. Founded in June 2010, the portal became the most-visited news site in the city and one of the largest digital newspapers in southern Minas Gerais.

The trophy case tells the story of that journey. Jornal de Lavras was voted the best online newspaper in Lavras by Sales Pesquisa every year from 2015 to 2025, and the best news site in the city in the UFLA Jr./Revista Elitte survey. Cicarelli was named journalist of the year in Lavras in 2020. Sabrina won the same title in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, as well as best interviewer in the city. And in 2026, Jornal de Lavras was once again honored by Sales Pesquisa.

Cicarelli's career in Lavras journalism began much earlier. He was the owner of Lavras News, a weekly newspaper linked to the Fundação Abraham Lincoln and one of the print publications that shaped the city's press. In that paper, he wrote historical pieces, such as the article A escravidão em Lavras (Slavery in Lavras), published in 2002 and still cited by researchers of the city's past, along with reports and photographs that also circulated in the state capital's press.

But what sets Cicarelli apart cannot be captured in a list of trophies. Few know the history of Lavras as he does: its streets, its characters, the dates and events that shaped the city. That knowledge shows up both in day-to-day coverage and in the work of preserving Lavras's memory, which Jornal de Lavras carries out with rigor and care. It is no coincidence that, in the book Lavras, sua história, sua gente, by José Alves de Andrade, he is cited among the sources as "historian Eduardo Cicarelli". The explanation of a street name that many people read without knowing why is his, for example.

The mystery of 21 de Outubro Street

Anyone passing along Rua 21 de Outubro (21 de Outubro Street) in Vila Murad may not realize it, but that date holds a special chapter in the city's history. It was Cicarelli who documented the origin of the name: the City Council (Câmara Municipal) named the street to commemorate the day the Lavras tram (bonde de Lavras) began operating, on October 21, 1911.

Lavras was one of the few cities in the Brazilian interior to have electric trams. The cars ran through the city's streets for more than half a century, until 1967, and the system was among the last in the country to stop operating. It is a story that, like so many others, lives on because someone made a point of telling it.

Partners of Rádio Cultura

Eduardo and Sabrina Cicarelli are longtime partners of the Rádio Cultura de Lavras. The station congratulates the couple and the entire Jornal de Lavras team on this honor, which recognizes what Lavras has long known: journalism done with seriousness, a commitment to truth, and love for the city.

Congratulations, Cicarelli. Lavras thanks you.