The sleeping giant awakes?

Here's a great piece echoing my concerns here about Brazil finally awakening as a true global player. Thankfully, some still know this nation has a lot to overcome and warns Brazil to avoid getting too cocky too fast, especially given the nation's newest boost could go bust with a simple change in commodities markets.

To the north, Environment Minister Marina Silva has resigned. She was an honest defender of the Amazon and insiders say the battle was too much for her and that she was against all odd. There is a perfect storm brewing over the Amazon these days. New laws which will place the forest at greater peril, a new law to limit the movement of the forest's greatest defenders and now the only real political support the forest had, is stepping down.

We live in interesting times here.

Big economic gains, but little changes where it counts

It’s welcome news here, and of course because it’s a positive story about Brazil (for a change) the national media is all over it like a Rio pro over an American monger. “the sleeping giant is awakening” screams the headlines here in Brazil and it must be true, because a foreigner from England has said so.

I’m happy that the nation is doing better economically, and really this is what is at the heart of the article. All international economic indexes point out that the fourth largest country in the world, blessed with the best natural resources on the planet, has finally managed and learn how to make some cash off of its mineral, biological and agricultural inheritance. There’s no innovation here, or very little of it, the money is coming in through resource extraction and farming. This is not necessarily a problem, unless you’re an Indian in the Amazon. However, the world has long surpassed the agrarian age, and although we need food to eat and farmers to plant and cultivate, Brazil needs to diversify its economic portfolio and look more to R&D and technology. The country has been close to reaching it’s potential for greatness on myriad occasions, but it’s a country with a penchant for putting all its eggs in one basket. Any minor trip that affects that one sector or commodity produces disasters results as the centuries here have highlighted. The famous phrase: “Brazil is the country of the future, and always will be” was born from such historical close calls and fumbles.

But again, even with an expanded portfolio all we’re really celebrating here is that there is a few in the country getting extremely rich while for the rest of us, relatively little has changed. I guess the fact that nothing has really gotten worse for people financially, especially after decades of hyperinflation should be seen as an achievement. There is talk of a burgeoning middle class but it is still horribly eclipsed by the endemic poverty that plagues this nation. The president triumphantly bellows that millions are being lifted from poverty, and to ignore a marginal improvement here would be suspect. That said, with 50% of the nation, approximately 80 million people, living on slightly 2 dollars a day, I’d not want to stick my neck out and say “we’re winning the war on poverty”. When you figure you have this level of poverty in a nation that has more personal helicopters than any other and then you get to see the problem a bit more clearly. Brazil is only second to South Africa in term of income inequality.

Education is still in dire straights and academically Brazil, year after year, places in the lowest levels of international results when tested on the basics: literacy, math and science. Simple conversations with your more impoverished will provide you with anecdotal proof. For President Lula this is OK. He too is a simple man who uses simple logic and simple language; it’s his bailiwick as it is with most populists in this part of the world. “Stupid is those who didn’t think I can run a country” is a recent line of his which aptly reinforces my point.

Violence in the nation is on the rise (with the exception of Sao Paulo, where it is in fact getting marginally better) although the media is more infatuate with banality like throughout the rest of the world. In a country where over 40,000 are killed each year and in cities such as Rio where the young are 8 times more likely to be killed than in the Gaza strip in Palestine, this should be the Media’s war cry. There are respected news weeklies that do their best (readership is low, not surprisingly), but they are shunned by the President, politicians and by the masses because they “only focus on the negative”. Lula has long proven to be thin-skinned in terms of bad media coverage about Brazil or about him. He once personally tried to expel a New York Times reporter from Brazil because the journalist had the audacity to repeat what the national media was saying: Lula likes to drink. Not quite the "Watergateesque" revelation you'd think would shake and move the highest office in the land to act, but that's Brazil for you.

This may not last long. The government wishes to place greater restrictions on the media here as well as control the movement of foreigners in 61% of the Nation: the Amazon. International television, too, is in the government’s radar to reign in. As more and more celebrate the supposed new birth of a rich and prosperous land few are questioning the erosion of their personal rights and the rights of others. In fact in a recent poll about the restriction of foreigners in the Amazon, 97 percent of those responded actually agreed with the blatantly xenophobic and discriminatory move.

Arguably, with a better economy the rest of the problems I raised should solve themselves. So say “invisible hand” theorists. But this is Brazil. As long as corruption is allowed to continue without leaders (let me emphasis that LEADERS) being punished, and the rich continue to do what they like with impunity, we’ll just see more Brazilian flags on Yachts in Europe and not much of a difference made here back home.

I don’t want this to come across as a blatantly bitter attack on the country in which I currently reside (although I am thinking about making a move). I do cheer for the nation and I do have hopes and aspirations like others that Brazil can overcome some of its greatest hurtles and emerge more equitable, less violent, less corrupt and just a little bit smarter but..but…but…

I am happy to see some good news in the papers about Brazil for a change, I just wish I could see it here where it counts.

I'll write again on some of the things I cherish in the nation, soonest. Many in North America, regardless of some of the problems that Brazil faces, could learn a lot from this culture.

Farra do Boi - First the bull, then who ever crosses them!

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated...”

-- Mahatma Gandhi

Given Gandhi’s quip, this weekend’s “farra do boi” (or party of the oxen) will prove yet again that in terms of morality, many in Brazil still lag centuries behind much of the world.

Farra do boi is one of those archaic, justified under the banner of culture and tradition, events of barbarity and savagery that would make the seal hunters of Canada look like PETA volunteers.

Here’s what some in Brazil consider a good time. For weeks, local fisherman and community members from various small villages throughout Santa Catarina lock up an ox, starve it for days, usually with food just in view in an attempt to drive the animal insane and then unleash an unimaginable night of horror unto the poor creature. On the night of the “party” (usually during the Easter weekend – my how Jesus must be impressed) villagers shove broken glass up the creatures’ anuses, cut their tails off, light them on fire and break their legs; this is just a few of the shuddering things inflicted on the bull throughout the course of an evening. In the end, the ox usually ends up being driven into the sea and left for dead; the drunken revelers then go home and bask in their night of brutality.

“Farristas” as they are called, or “knuckle draggers” as I refer to them argue this is “all in good fun”, and of course use the mother of all scapegoats citing that, “it’s all about preserving Azorean culture” like culture is some sort of static concept that trumps all.

Santa Catarina was mostly populated with people from the islands of Azores where this ritual or torture supposedly originates. There is some controversy as to whether or not today’s farra do boi even remotely resembles anything from the islands, however conveying that to the toothless troglodytes that participate in it here is an exercise in futility, and could have you end up dead.

To the Federal Government’s credit, Farra do boi was made illegal in 1998 under Law 9605, however the State government thumbs its nose at the federal authorities and still refuses to officially acknowledge this “tradition” as being a “crime”. Governors have openly defended the blood-sport and this gives community members the impetus to “fight for their culture”. Some communities, Governador Celso Ramos for example, have renamed the event “Brincadeira do boi” or “playing with the bull” in the hopes that sweetening the name will somehow magically distill the cruelty and idignation.

Some progress is being made, and with more and more “outsiders” (and by this I mean people from other regions in Brazil) moving to Santa Catarina, there is less and less tolerance for out and out barbarity.

Many of those participating in Farra do boi – as it has been commented -- are actually using the bull and this tradition as an excuse to exercise cruelty over fellow human beings. It’s often been said that animal cruelty is a pathway to violence against people.

When and if Police are called to stop an episode of farra do boi (as required by law) the community and those participating turn on them. Every year the papers are filled with violent clashes between those participating and those appalled; few if any are ever prosecuted and so each year the army of blood thirsty thugs grows.

I had the not so great pleasure of finding myself trying to protect a women who had placed herself between the bull and the community last year. Although my concern was not over the bull but over the women’s safety which was obviously in jeopardy, I was still mobbed, brutalized and beaten for "interfering". Hit from behind, like most cowards tend to do. Actually, when it was clear that I was a “foreigner” the beating intensified (I’ve not talked about Brazil’s blatant xenophobia, but will in another blog).

A knife was wielded, and I am certain that if the police had not arrived in time, I’d be just another body in Brazil’s 50,000 plus annual murder stat. I wasn’t asked to file a report or make a complaint. The cop only ordered me into a car and out of the region for my own safety. Imagine this happening on a main tourism street in Canada? Yes, we’re not in Kansas anymore Toto!

Farra do boi will continue. Many in Brazil (I mean LOTS) have a tendency to cling blindly to meaningless rituals and participate in pointless violence. Let’s see if I’ll survive another Easter here.

It’s moments like this I’m truly proud to be Canadian. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a chest pounding rabid nationalist that throws his fists up the moment a comment or criticism is raised about the motherland, nor do I wander the globe complaining about my home. I’m simply proud that I was born and raised in a Nation that, although some may argue and bicker with the details here, takes issues pertaining to political corruption seriously.

I’m rather enjoying all the noise made over Tom Zytaruk’s book and allegations that the late MP Chuck Cadman was somehow bribed, or an attempt was made to bribe him. I spent a couple of hours lurking in the background of a few political forums, taking in the humorous but sad assortment of “political cheer leading” that usually goes on by folks who treat politics like a high school football game. You know the type; they route for their “team” regardless of what happens in the field and spend a disproportionate amount of time trash-talking their opponents as opposed to engaging in issues. Still, the Cadman affair seems to be a hot topic across the board.

As I read the details of this supposed scandal, and watched it blaze across the Canadian media I was given a sense of pride because of just how trivial and banal the allegation was. Don´t get me wrong, it needs to be ferreted out, no matter how small (corruption can not be tolerated nor a flase allegation of corruption) that´s why I´m proud. Because in Canada this type of corruption, or accusation, is not very common and when it is raised it is treated seriously.

Here in Brazil, you literally (and I’m not exaggerating here) cannot open up a daily newspaper or weekly magazine without reading about a new scandal. Corruption in Brazil is as engrained in politics as tattoo ink is in one’s skin. There is no escaping it, whether at the Federal, State or Municipal levels, whether corporate or public. It’s a nation awash in corruption and dirty dealings and worse of all, it’s basically accepted.

The current scandal in Canada is based on a bribe allegedly made to an MP in return for a vote. Here in Brazil, suitcases containing 20,000 dollars were routinely given to party members in return for their support on certain issues. It was called the Mensalão, or ‘Big monthly” in English. This, being one of the largest scandals to affect the nation in recent times did end with the impeachment of the president’s right hand man, José Dirceu (although the President knew nothing.. ahem).

Politicians have cleverly over the years designed laws to protect themselves from punishment for any crimes they may commit. With a secret vote (of course), Dirceu was surprisingly impeached meaning he can’t “officially” play politics for 8 years. No jail time, no fines, no community services; just a “go away for a while” sneer. But this being Brazil, of course he’s still well entrenched behind the scenes.

Corruption is allowed to flourish in Brazil because of impunity mixed with a generally short national affair's attention span and rampant apathy. In other words: there´s too much to keep track of, no one will be charged, why bother?"

One of Brazil’s most famous political thieves is a man named Paulo Maluf, who has apparently been charged over 40 times with scandals involving billions of dollars (that´s billllllliooooonnnsss), but he always manages to make his way back into politics. He’s been Sao Paulo’s mayor (Sao Paulo being one of the world´s largest cities), the State of SP's Governor and was rumored to have run on a platform that boasted “I may be a thief, but I get the job done”. He’s now a federal deputy, of course.

I could fill this blog with a million stories that would make your average Canadian’s head spin, but that is not my objective. I opened up the internet today and saw a series of articles on a tiny scandal in Canada, that will be analyzed and debated more than the IPCC´s 4th assessment, and we probably won’t hear about another political scandal in the Great White North for some time to come. It’s moments like these that I pine to live again in Canada when you know those working on your behalf are still "politicians" with all that word connotes, but honest ones at least. Maybe one day, we´ll move back.

Oh, but those winters!