Brazzil

Brazil's newspapers were surprised by the Brazilian government's decision to import 4000 doctors from Cuba to fill critical positions in places where there is no public or private health care. The first 400 should arrive next week and will be sent to cities or neighborhoods for which Brazilian or foreign doctors didn't show any interest in the first phase of the More Doctors program enrollment.

One of the most noteworthy examples of neoclassical architecture in Brazil, the Teatro de Santa Isabel (1850), extended a very large welcome mat to musicians from both Brazil and the United States last week for the first Festival Moacir Santos, a celebration of the Maestro's work and a perspective of its impact in the United States.

In late March, the brutal gang rape of an American tourist in a transit van in Rio de Janeiro garnered worldwide attention. Brazilian authorities responded by quickly arresting three suspects as well as banning vans being driven through the South Zone of the city. However, just two weeks earlier a Brazilian woman from the North Zone of Rio, which consists largely of a favela district, was raped by the same men in the same van, and the Brazilian government took no action.

It is widely believed that the countries which best manage their energy needs today will have the most productive economic futures. Until now, Brazil has been among an elite group of countries facing an optimistic energy future. For most of the past decade, Brazil has been "energy independent", limiting its total consumption of energy to what it could produce. (In fact, Brazil has imported some oil and gas, but at approximately the same levels it was exporting.)

"It is time for the government to ally with the people or pay the bill in the future." This is one of the evaluations of João Pedro Stédile, from the national coordination of the MST (Landless Movement) on demonstrations across the country. According to him, there is an urban crisis installed in Brazilian cities, provoked by this stage of finance capitalism.

"Young people of Brazil, young men and women:

"We were wrong. Forgetting your dreams, we all made mistakes, all of us who received your mandate to govern Brazil well. All of us, we politicians and our parties, made mistakes. But, I must admit that those who erred the most were those of us who have been governing Brazil for the last 10 years. As your president, I myself was even more in error.

In what has been deemed Brazil's largest political mobilization in over two decades, protesters took to the country's streets during the last several weeks to demonstrate  deep dissatisfaction with the billions of public dollars being spent on World Cup preparations and a growing rejection of the country's endemically corrupt political system. While protests initially focused on rising transportation costs caused by spiraling inflation and a quickly devaluing currency, they soon encompassed a wider range of issues.

Rio de Janeiro-based Scott Feiner, like many independent artists of late, is reaching out to his fans to help finance the production of his fourth release, A View From Below, which is the first to feature solely music penned by the bandleader.

It was, is, a political earthquake. Suddenly, on 17 June 2013, more than 150,000 people appeared on the streets to protest in eleven major Brazilian cities. The day will be remembered as the biggest political demonstration in the country since 1992, when the young caras pintadas ("painted-faces") pushed for the impeachment of the president, Fernando Collor de Mello.

Brazil isn't for beginners. No matter if you are a Brazilian or not, it takes a long time to understand how such a self-centered country works. I can't say I do, but as a former student in a state school who had his mother working as a maid, I have explored a part of the Brazilian society which is not popular among the middle class I now belong to.

I don't understand why on June 13, it's not a national holiday in Brazil to commemorate José Bonifácio's birthday. José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva was born on June 13, 1763. In June 2013, Brazil is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the birth date of the greatest man in Brazilian history.

Cesare Battisti, a member of Italy's Armed Proletarians for Communism (PAC), lives comfortably in Brazil, thanks to former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.  The iconic former head of state signed a decree on his last day as president in December 2010, which stated that Battisti could not be extradited to Italy, where he would face life imprisonment. 

In Rondonópolis, in the interior of Mato Grosso state, in Brazil, a woman called Cristiane Rabaioli is responsible for processing the meat of 1,200 lamb and 3,000 heads of cattle a month. In the city of São João da Boa Vista, São Paulo state, Silvia Morgulis produces oranges, rubber and corn and raises cattle on six farms. In Londrina, Paraná, Mariângela Hungria creates solutions for nutrition of the soil for soy and bean crops, and in Piracicaba, in the state of São Paulo, Julia Martella de Almeida, studies to follow a similar route as that of these three women: agribusiness.

There is a sad expression about Brazil that roughly translates: "Brazil is the land of the future, but we're still waiting for the future to arrive." Brazil's destiny is often debated among politicians and journalists and everyday Brazilians, who are eager to begin the future now. What does Brazil need to start now?

In recent years Brazil has taken its ambitions of becoming a global power to the next level. The Portuguese-speaking giant has experienced major economic and social development over the past decade. As a result, it enjoys a strong military and growing influence both in the geographically defined Western Hemisphere and other regions of the economically defined Global South.

I have written a lot about traditional Brazilian dishes like moqueca, feijoada or churrasco (Brazilian barbecue), but the fact is that people there don't really eat these dishes on a daily basis. Feijoada  and churrasco are party food made for a large number of people who get together for a day's worth of eating and drinking (often to excess), while moqueca is mostly served on special occasions - though in Bahia it is reportedly consumed on a daily basis.

When someone speaks about theater in Brazil, it is inevitable to mention the name of Bibi Ferreira, who is undoubtedly the Grande dame of the country's theatrical scene since she first stepped on a stage under the direction of her father, the legendary Procopio Ferreira.

A little over a year before the opening, 2014 FIFA World Cup projects are delayed and have irregularities pending solution. Urban mobility works have already been canceled or stripped down, stadium budgets have been blown, and the main rationale for hosting the Cup is threatened: the legacy. On the other hand, stadiums and road works already are starting to induce growth in some of the 12 host-cities' surroundings. 

Brazil now has its name on olive oil labels that are sold in some of the main supermarkets in the country. The federal government has now decided to make an effort to transform Brazilian agriculture in a producer of olive trees, olives and olive oil and several initiatives are already being developed all over the country, mainly in Rio Grande do Sul.

Venezuela's president Hugo Chávez has just died after a prolonged battle with cancer. While his death certainly raises questions about the longevity and sustainability of his Bolivarian revolution, it also stands as a significant test of the democracy promoting credentials of Brazil and the two important regional clubs it runs: the South American political grouping UNASUR and the trade bloc Mercosur.