Nothing that is happening, has happened, or will happen in the immediate future in Brazil gives Brazil observers the warm fuzzies. Brazil’s president-elect, Dilma Rousseff, named as her chief of staff a former aide to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who was forced to resign as finance minister in 2006 amid a corruption scandal.… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: December 2010
Brazil: Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea? No, Rio!
Elite police units in borrowed navy tanks rumbled through a heavily fortified slum last week in an effort to apprehend drug gang leaders they blame for five days of widespread violence even as scores of armed youths fled the shantytown for a neighboring area. Sound like Pakistan, Iraq, no, it’s Rio, home of the 2016… Continue Reading
Brazil: UPS: Latin America looks poised to deliver
Latin American small and midsize companies feel that the region’s economy has improved in the past year and see 2011, according to a survey done by TNS Gallup for United Parcel Service. UPS Business Monitor Latin America IV is the result of more than 800 interviews of small and midsize companies in seven Latin American… Continue Reading
Brazil: Rio’s Reputation as a Gay Mecca Damaged
The shooting of a gay youth by men in military uniforms after a mammoth gay pride parade is raising alarm about continuing homophobic violence in a city widely seen as a global oasis of tolerance. The shooting created particular attention because it came at a moment when Brazil’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual community was… Continue Reading
Brazil: Lessons to Learn
Not very long ago, South Korea’s per capita income was a fraction of Brazil’s. Today it is nearly three times as high. The Koreans changed their economy through strategic and heavy investments in education, science, technology and innovation. It was not merely a matter of government spending, it was calculated investment coupled with incredibly high… Continue Reading
Brazil: Rousseff Still Ahead in Polls
Dilma Rousseff, the hand-picked successor of President LuÃz Inácio Lula da Silva, is holding onto her lead with just about a week to go before Brazil’s decisive presidential runoff, according to a string of Brazilian polls. … Continue Reading