I’ve left the bitterness of São Paulo on a brief vacation outside of Brazil, but I wanted to share insights into the country’s current situation from two excellent commentators that generally hold the “pro-market” viewpoint. The first is from Tony Volpon of Nomura Securities: Structurally, the end of the commodity boom can now be dated(…)
Brazil’s campaign finance problem
Brazil’s hugely expensive election campaigns have focused on corruption, as they always do. But the same companies implicated in the Petrobras scandal are paying for the whole thing – as they always do – and the skyrocketing election costs are what put pressure on politicians to practice corruption in the first place. Some 95% of(…)
Note from Amapá – Sarney’s last stand?
After giving up his Sente seat and watching his candidate lose in his home state of Maranhão, José Sarney, former President and one of the last political barons from the dictatorship era, needs his man to win to hold on to influence in Brazil’s Guiana. Above, a gallery of photos from around the state. Gavin Andrews(…)
Brazil’s five election surprises
Sunday was full of surprises, and most of them dispiriting for the groups that thought they’d made gains during last year’s protests. Here’s the five biggest. By Mauricio Savarese 1 – Marina Silva out of the run-off From presidential front-runner to the falling star of Brazil’s politics. The former environment minister was a bad player from(…)
São Paulo to Acre, by bus – photos
As is the case in many countries of this size, the citizens of Brazil don’t know their own nation very well. I mean that geographically – someone from the Southeast may have visited the Northeast, but is unlikely to have been to the Center-West or the North, too. Someone from Recife may have visited Rio,(…)
The northeast and Brazil’s internal divide
Brazil is divided economically, socially and politically between its two major population centers, the wealthier Southeast and the historically richer Northeast, so much so that prejudice still exists. Far too few appreciate the ways in which the fiercely proud, culturally rich Northeast revels in its uniqueness. by James Young A week after Brazilian football was rocked by the(…)
In politics, is Brazil less sexist than the US?
If Brazil is such a macho, backwards country, how has it managed to put on a major presidential race between two progressive women*, with barely a sexist protest in the national media? It may take decades before something like that could happen in the United States. By Anna Jean Kaiser On the heels of Chile’s Presidential election(…)
How did Brazil’s protests change the 2014 elections?
If there is anyone who has benefited directly from the energy that exploded in Brazil last year, it is likely wildcard environmentalist candidate Marina Silva, who was seen as an outsider. But the complicated ‘protest movement’ changed much more than that, even as it remains to be seen whether any of its slogans can be(…)
O pior aspecto do Brasil
A brutal desigualdade brasileira é tão onipresente que os que vivem aqui simplesmente param de notá-la. Uma mensagem inesperada do exterior serve como lembrete de um tema tão pouco discutido tanto na sociedade quanto na mídia e na eleição atual. * Moro no Brasil há mais de(…)
The worst thing about Brazil
Brazil’s brutal inequality is so ubiquitous that those who live here simply stop noticing it. An unexpected message from abroad serves as a reminder of the topic that is so rarely discussed here, in society, the media, or the current election. I’ve been living in Brazil for over four years now, which has been incredible in almost(…)
