Brazil on the Rise
The Story of a Country Transformed
Larry Rohter was a journalist in Brazil for 14 years and from his experiences he offers in this book some unique insights into Brazilian history, politics, culture and more. In 10 topical chapters Rohter’s easy-to-read book provides a look at Brazilian history and the extraordinary changes the country has undergone -- and is still undergoing. Rother covers many significant issues, but several stand out more than others. Namely: the country’s history, culture, politics, and finally its economy/natural wealth.
The first chapter focuses on Brazil’s founding and history up until present. When the Portuguese were blown off course to Asia onto the coasts of Brazil in 1500, the Portuguese knew they had found a land filled with opportunities. The main attraction was the abundance of brazilwood which could be used for manufacturing luxurious fabrics in Europe. Over the centuries, exploration led to the discovery of more resources such as sugar, coffee, and precious metals that had made it a sought after country for colonization. Even to this day, Brazil maintains the image of a land with limitless resources since the recent discovery of oil and gas reserves and other commodities.
Because of the vast amount of Brazil’s resources, its history is veiled in European powers struggling to colonize the country. The last few centuries have been filled with the Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch fighting over the control of the land. However in the early 1700 the threat of outside European powers vanished and the colonization of the Portuguese was prominent. However, it wasn’t until the early 1800s that would lead to the nation of Brazil. As Napoeleon’s power spread across Europe, the Portu...
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...ed the economy ended and allowed the economy to grow. FHC became president in January 1995 and was able to initiate more changes. During his eight years in office, education and healthcare dramatically improved. Students attending high school and colleges increased while the drop out rate decreased. Infant mortality rate decreased as well as the number of deaths from AIDS reduced. On January 1, 2003 FHC passed his power over to his successor, Lula. Lula’s eight years in office have been called the most corrupt in Brazil’s history as a republic. His excessive drinking and abuse of power (almost like a dictator) has led to some criticism but as far as most Brazilians are concerned, most fault lies with Congress and cabinet ministers. Overall, during Lula’s term income grew, distribution of wealth improved significantly, and the hyperinflation was completely rid of.
Brazil is the largest country in South America and in Latin America, fifth largest in the world. It is one of the more diverse countries in the world, with different cultures and ethnicities. Brazil’s type of government is a Federal Republic. Brazil is on its way to growing out of its emerging market status and becoming one of the richest and most developed countries on earth. Brazil’s human, mineral, and agricultural resources are on par with those of the United States and Canada, and it has a few great opportunities to take advantage of in order to continue the growth it’s been experiencing over the past 20 years. Brazil, known for its natural resources, find in energy one of the country’s main ways of resources, being either oil and natural gas or biofuels and solar/wind power.
Globalisation has been crucial to the economic and social development of Brazil. In the late twentieth century Brazil face years of economic, political and social instability experiencing high inflation, high income inequality and rapidly growing poverty. However after a change of government in the 1990s and large structural changes in both the economic and social landscapes, the brazilian economy has been experiencing a growing middle class and reduced income gap. Since the start of the 21st century, brazil has benefitted from the move to a more global economy.
... K. Manchester is an authority on the history of Brazil and its relations with Great Britain. In an article entitled, “The Recognition of Brazilian Independence”, Manchester argues, “the struggle for independence in Brazil was influenced decisively by the intimate and unique ties which bound Portuguese America to Europe.”; independence was ultimately won by diplomacy. In his letter to John Jay, Thomas Jefferson cautiously explores the possibilities of engaging in a war with Portugal for the independence of Brazil and recognizes that the colony cannot conduct a revolution without the help of a powerful nation. Brazil considered the North American revolution a precedent for theirs. Jefferson maintained that the United States was not in any condition to engage in war. Jefferson's letter helps discredit the United States as Brazil’s primary benefactor during this time.
Tompkins, C., 2009. The paradoxical effect of the documentary in Walter Salles’s “Central do Brasil”. Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature 33 no1 p9-27
The purpose of this paper is to recognize, study and analyze the race relations in Brazil. Race relations are relations between two groups of different races; it is how these two different races connect to each other in their environment. Since Brazil is racially diverse, this study is focused on how Brazilians relate to each other. Throughout the essay, it will become clear that there exists a conflict between two race groups. Afro-Brazilians and White-Brazilians are not connected and though these two groups converse with each other, discrimination still lies within the society. This discrimination has created inequality within the society for Afro-Brazilians. Thus, this paper will not only focus on racism and discrimination that Afro-Brazilians experience because of White-Brazilian, but also on the history of Brazil, the types if discrimination that Afro-Brazilian must endure today and how the media creates discrimination.
Like many Latin American countries, Brazil was originally inhabited by over two thousand distinct Native American tribes who’s history goes back over 10,000 years. However, they left scarce written records, hence little is know about them. Even so, today, Brazil is home to the largest population of un-contacted people in the world. During the age of colonization, Portugal flourished as it expanded its territories in both Africa and India. Yet, competition among colonizers increased as Portugal continued to zero-sum vie for territory against Spain. Pope Alexander VI fearing trade wars between two Catholic countries, declared in the Treaty of Tordesillas that newly discovered land, outside of Europe, to the west of the antemeridian* line to be considered Spanish and east Portuguese. Yet, unbeknownst to Pope Alexander VI, Brazil jettisoned into the Atlantic well beyond the antemeridian. In 1500 CE Portuguese’s explorers made first contact in Brazil and claimed it for Portugal.
Racial identity is a complicated thing to examine when looking at the social politics of Brazil. The film Brazil in Black and White and Benedita da Silva’s book both tackle the issues of racial identity in similar manners. Brazil has the second highest black population in the world, following only Nigeria, yet Afro-Brazilians are heavily unrepresented in Brazilian education, government, and media. Benedita da Silva, being an Afro-Brazilian congresswoman faced these issues on a personal level and her criticisms are integral in understanding the marginalization of blacks in Brazil.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Rio’s population exceeded one million, a quarter of the inhabitants foreign-born. The years between 1920 and 1960 are considered by many to be Rio de Janeiro’s “golden years”. Reasons for this include the sudden population boom, overall increased trade with the U.S. and Europe, Brazil’s participation in the 1920 summer olympics, as
De Lourdes Rollemberg Mollo, Maria and Alfredo Saad-Filho. "Neoliberal Economic Policies in Brazil (1994 – 2005): Cardoso, Lula and the Need for a Democratic Alternative." New Political Economy March 2006: 99-123.
Introduction Brazil is the largest and most populous country in South America. It is the 5th largest country worldwide in terms of both areas (more than 8.5 Mio. km2) and inhabitants (appr. 190 million).
In 1822, Brazil became a nation independent from Portugal. By far the largest and most populous country in South America, Brazil has overcome more than half a century of military government to pursue industrial and agricultural growth and development. With an abundance of natural resources and a large labor pool, Brazil became Latin America's leading economic power by the 1970’s.
“A formal public commitment to legal racial equality, for example, had been the price of mass support for Latin American’s independence movements. In the generation following independence, the various mixed-race classifications typical of the caste system were optimistically banished from census forms and parish record keeping.” This was meant to make all slaves citizens, equal to all other citizens. Slavery receded in Latin America, except in non-republican Brazil, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. However, Brazil’s pursuit of independence was the least violent and provoked the least amount of change. The case of Brazil suggests that retention of colonial institutions such as monarchies lent to stability. “Brazil had retained a European dynasty; a nobility of dukes, counts, and barons sporting coats of arms; a tight relationship between church and state; and a full commitment to the institution of chattel slavery, in which some people worked others to death.”
Little is known about Brazil’s earliest occupants because there is not much written history or the existence of buildings that would reveal more details. It
Colonization of Brazil dates back to the 15th century. Brazil was fertile and was mainly used for plantations. The Europeans relied on cheap labor from slaves, who were forcefully imported into the country. Some of the slaves came from Brazil but more than half were imported from Africa (Morn and Alicea, 2004). The forced migration of African slaves to Brazil is attributed to the expansion of the export sector in Brazil and the growth of Trans-Atlantic butter trade. The Africans were exchanged for other commodities and shipped to Brazil as laborers. The Portuguese merchants made this migration possible by opening up the Atlantic markets and organizing a slave-trading fleet (Klein and Luna, 2010). The slaves were mainly the Western Africans and the Bantus.
Pinheiro P. S., 2002, The Paradox of Democracy in Brazil vol. III, issue 1, University of Sao Paulo