After the slavery abolition in 1888 and throughout the 20th century, Africa figured relatively low in Brazil’s foreign policy agenda, which have mostly focused in the relations with the global powers such as the United States and European countries. This configuration started to change significantly in the early 2000s, when the improved macroeconomic situation of Brazil coincided with Africa’s economic revival. The turning point was, with no doubt, under former President Lula’s mandate (2003-2010).
Revoking historical ties and cultural similarities, Lula’s discourse was frequently based in frames such as: “paying back the solidarity debt with the African continent, due to centuries of slavery relied on the sweat and blood of millions of Africans” and the necessity to stop focusing in developed powers, in order to “unite the voices of the global south” (Veja, 2012).
Since Lula came into power, in 2003, the number of Brazilian embassies in Africa has doubled, jumping from 18 to 37, while African embassies in Brasilia have increased from 16 to 34. Furthermore, Lula made in total 28 presidential visits to the African continent, covering 21 countries and reaching record levels (Alves, 2013).
Although most of the Brazilian cooperation goes to Central and South America due to peacekeeping operations, in technical cooperation the focus in the African continent is visible, accounting for 57% of the total (ABC, 2011):
Source: ABC, 2011
As reported by the latest official information in 2011, there were technical cooperation projects either in the design or implementation phases in 38 out of 54 African countries (ABC, 2011). Regarding the top beneficiaries of the Brazilian cooperation in Africa, Portuguese-speaking African countri...
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...urplus with most of the African countries, with the exception of Nigeria, explained by the heavy oil imports (Alves, 2013).
At the same time, investment funds seek to raise funds to enable increased Brazilian investment in Africa. In this sense, the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV Projects) aims to raise funds of approximately $ 1 billion for the development of agricultural projects. DWS Investments, manager owned by the German Deutsche Bank, coordinate the fund. Moreover, in June 2012, BTG Pactual, the largest investment bank in Brazil, also announced plans to raise $ 1 billion and create a ’world’ investment fund to Africa, for areas such as infrastructure, energy and agriculture.
It is clear that economic ties between Brazil and Africa were also strengthened by the several presidential visits to the continent, resulting in creating business opportunities.
We must begin with Brazil’s history in order to understand the problem and how it came to exist. During the year 1500, Brazil was “discovered” by the Portuguese. The Portuguese saw the indigenous people as “savages” because they did not look or dress like Europeans. Hence, the idea that indigenous people are “savages” help influence the Portuguese that indigenous people need to be controlled and become more civilized. During the 16th century the Portuguese used “black” slaves to work in plantations to increase trading in Europe. After the year 1850 slave trade was abolished, but the Portuguese continued to bring slaves from Africa, illegally. Edward Eric Telles states, “Roughly three hundred years later, when the slave trade ended in 1850, 3.6 million African Americans had been brought to Brazil as slaves, ...
Brazil with a population around 201,032,714, is the largest South America’s country. Brazil’s most important components of its GDP are service revenues, wide industry sector and its successful agriculture.
Evidence of African roots are identifiable throughout Brazil. Brazil is the second most populated country of Blacks. Many different tones from mulatto to caboclo to black are present with culture that has flourished since African slaves first arrived to the country. The slaves that came to South America, brought their religion, gods, and music along with them, giving Brazil a cultural identity and a place among other nations. The profits of African slavery have allowed Brazil to gain capital and build a government based mainly on sugar exports. Although Brazil was the first to claim themselves free of racism, throughout history they often put slaves in even worse conditions than the US. Easy accessibility to import African slaves, meant that
Brazil is the largest economy in South America. Under the leadership of former president Henrique Cardoso in the 1990's, the country's macro economic situation stabilized significantly. As the new millennium began, the leadership of president Cardoso's successor, former president Lula da Silva saw the country's economy accelerate significantly such that the Lehman scandal effect failed to significantly affect its growth (The Economist). Brazil economy reported an economic growth rate of more than seven percent in 2010 which is considered as its best performance in 25 years. This trend saw the country awarded the lucrative rights to host this year's FIFA World Cup Finals. However, this has changes dramatically after former president Lula da Siva convinced Brazilian voters to elect Dilma Rousseff as their next president (The Economist). Currently, the country' macro economic status is in turmoil with economic growth in 2012 reported to have been at less than 1%. This essay seeks to analyze the contemporary macro economic conditions in Brazil and present a commentary on the...
Slavery in Brazil began long before the first Portuguese settlement was established in 1532. Because certain forms of slavery had existed for centuries on the continent of Africa, Brazilian historians used to say that us blacks imported from across the Atlantic, were ready to accept their new status as ''Slaves''. Slave labor was the driving force behind the growth of the sugar economy in Brazil. Gold and diamond deposits were discovered in Brazil in about 1690, which sparked an increase in the importation of African slaves to power this new market. According to many depressed characteristics, Brazil is identified as a developing country, nevertheless is occupies a special place on the list of these countries. Having a huge potential and a high level of economic development, Brazil has found a place on the list of the highest slavery rates. With that being said then you could already ready conclude that there where many slaves imported to the country, Brazil. Brazil had the largest slave population in the world, substantially larger than the United States. The Portuguese who settled Brazil needed labor to work the large estates and mines in their new Brazilian colony. They turned to slavery which became central to the colonial economy. It was particularly important in the mining and sugar cane sectors. Slavery was also the mainstay in the Caribbean islands with economies centered on sugar. Estimates suggest that about 35 percent of captured Africans involved in the Atlantic slave trade were transported to Brazil. Estimates suggest that more than 3 million Africans reached Brazil, although precise numbers do not exist. Brazil had begun to turn to slavery in the 15th century as explorers began moving along the coast of Africa.
In our class we learned a lot about the various military regimes that occurred throughout Latin America. However out of all the ones we discussed, Brazil’s dictatorship was never mentioned. I decided to write about it, but at the same time also compare it to the other military regimes in Latin America. Unlike most of the other governments, Brazil’s military one was not as brutal. It in no way measured up to the brutality of the Argentinian dictatorship or the ruthlessness of the dictatorship in Bolivia. However it was not an easy time either. Many Brazilians were exiled and many lost their lives because of this oppressive government.
Brazil, the largest country on the continent of South America, has historically been seen as the underdog socially, politically, and especially economically. Referred to as “the country of the future… and always will be” by many Brazilians and those who know the country best, the country has not always been a beacon of hope for Latin America as it is today (Weyland, pg 64). Brazil has many unique qualities when compared to many of its Latin American counterparts. While much of Latin America has wrestled with its Spanish colonial past, Brazil has been much more diplomatic and tolerant of its Portuguese colonial past. With such a vast amount of natural resources and territory, Brazil has had the advantage of being relatively self-sufficient when it needed to, but also being able to develop into one of the busiest and prosperous trading nations in Latin America. With frequent political transitions throughout its 500 year history, and experiencing periods of oppression and totalitarianism, Brazil has managed to overcome and move past the scars of its dictatorial past. This is in part due to its fortunate avoidance of ruthless and violent dictators in the style of Pinochet in Chile, Peron in Argentina, Castro in Cuba, and Fujimori in Peru, just to name a few. In this research paper, I will briefly describe an overview of Brazil’s present political circumstances while also touching on a few key factors that have aided its development, in addition to in-depth analyses of the country’s history through three main phases. I will also make philosophical connections to explain and put into proper perspective the events that have shaped Brazil into the country it is today.
Historically, this includes Brazil’s economic focus on extracting and exporting natural resources supported by slave labor, a system which benefitted the few landowners and created long lasting racial problems. With the waves of immigrants in the 20th century and the beginning of the modern era, economic successes and failures were more policy-related than societal as Brazil’s southeast industrialized. Leaders initiated import-substitution strategies that led to a protectionist and industry-heavy environment (as opposed to an agricultural past), with a relatively high amount of government involvement in the marketplace. In the last 20 years, the results of this past are reflected in modern income inequality that is high and persistent over time. Some examples include regressive public transfers like pensions for senior officials which makes up the major...
This concept of racial democracy would significantly impact how Brazil addressed inequalities between White and Black Brazilians. On the one hand, Brazil’s effort in exhibiting a strong sense of pride among its nationals by adopting the customs and traditions of Africans, promotes this notion of racial democracy as the endorsed philosophy. As a result, all Brazilians were thought to be considered equal no one group was of better quality then...
Conclusion: Brazil with the rest of the BRIC nations have a long way to go before their current economic development translates into benefits for the majority of the population. Fortunately, Brazil has great strengths. Thanks to its efficient and entrepreneurial farmers, it is the world’s third-biggest food exporter. Even if the government has made the process slower and costlier than it needed to be, Brazil will be a big oil exporter by 2020. It has several manufacturing jewels, and is developing a world-class research base in biotechnology, genetic sciences and deep-sea oil and gas technology. The consumer brands that have grown along with the country’s expanding middle class are ready to go abroad. Despite the recent protests, it does not have the social or ethnic divisions that blight other emerging economies, such as India or Turkey.
President Sarney response included a restructuring of the political and economic landscape beginning a series of plans that focused on controlling the domestic market but this meant reducing access to foreign markets and controlling their exchange rate. As the millenium began to come to a close, Brazil started engaging in free and preferential trade agreements organized by MERCOSUR (common market of the south). This is when globalisation began for Brazil.
Brazil is located in Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. It is slightly smaller than the U.S., with bordering countries Argentina, Bolivia, Columbia, French Guyana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela. It has many natural resources, including bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum, tin, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, and timber. The climate is tropical in the north, but temperate in the south. The terrain consists of mostly flat to rolling lowlands, with some plains, hills, mountains, and a narrow coastal belt. In recent years, environmentalists have become increasingly concerned over the future of the Amazon region, where human life has threatened the world's largest intact rain forest. Brasilia is the capital and main source of modern industry.
Brazil is both the largest and most populous country in South America. It is the 5th largest country worldwide in terms of both area (more than 8.5 Mio. km2 ) and habitants (appr. 190 million). The largest city is Sao Paulo which is simultaneously the country's capital; official language is Portuguese. According to the WorldBank classification for countries, Brazil - with a GDP of 1,5 bn. US $ in 2005 and a per capita GPD of appr. 8.500 US - can be considered as an upper middle income country and therefore classified as an industrializing country, aligned with the classification as one of the big emerging markets (BEM) next to Argentina and Mexico. Per capita income is constantly increasing as well as literacy rate (current illiteracy rate 8%). Due to its high population rate (large labour pool), its vast natural resources and its geographical position in the centre of South America, it bears enormous growth potential in the near future. Aligned with an increasing currency stability, international companies have heavily invested in Brazil during the past decade. According to CIA World Factbook, Brazil has the 11th largest PPP in 2004 worldwide and today has a well established middle income economy with wide variations in levels of development. Thus, today Brazil is South America's leading economic power and a regional leader.
In the current economic times the development and growth of any economy has come to a near stop or at least to a drastic slow down. The face of the global economic environment has changed and many new countries are starting to change the way their country and the rest of the world does business. One such nation is Brazil, who has turned around their own economic troubles and is becoming one of the fastest growing economies in the world (World Factbook). Brazil has started developing its economy and using the opportunity to achieve a level of respect in the world.
Brazil is a diverse and enormous country. There are large, medium and small sized aities that stretch from coast. From Brazilian cit...