Brazzil

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.

Helio Alves is not the kind of pianist that you can pigeonhole into any specific jazz genre. You can see him accompanying legends like Joyce or Rosa Passos at a large room and the next thing you know he is playing with his various instrumental projects in a smaller jazz club, where fans listen to every detail of the music while thinking when they can pick up their drinks and have a sip.

An interview with Leonardo Boff - The Church is without a spiritual leader who elicits hope and purpose. We need a different type of pope; more a pastor than a professor, not a man of the Church-institution, but a representative of Jesus of Nazareth who said: "and he that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out", (Gospel of John, 6,37), be he a homosexual, a prostitute, or a transsexual.

As Carnaval in Brazil kicked earlier this month, Brazilians were ready for a party. They have reasons to celebrate. Despite a lackluster GDP performance in the last two years, unemployment rates remain at record low levels. Poverty rates and income inequality have diminished steadily now for more than a decade.

In soccer country Brazil, religion usually stays off the playing field. The teams, their colors and their crowds clash, but the sacred seldom comes into play, except when it's time to give thanks for the victory. At Al Shabab, however, things work differently and religion, in this case Islam, plays a major role in the lives of the players in Brazil's first Muslim soccer team.

Passing the gate that leads into the city of Pirenópolis, one can get the impression that it's just another little municipality in countryside Goiás state, with fresh air, peace and calm. But a few blocks ahead, the city with shortly over 20,000 inhabitants begins to rear its charming historical head.

Brazil is highly known for its diverse and dynamic culture. This population is the product of a long-going "melting pot" that has combined ethnicities from all over the globe. This mixing of cultures resulted in a nation unlike any other. Here, they dance the majestic samba, they play beautiful soccer, and finally, the country's location in the tropics is one of pure privilege.

In a historic gathering in Salvador, Bahia, nearly 100 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Afro-Brazilian activists participated in the country's first-ever National Black LGBT Conference (Primeiro Seminário Nacional de Negras e Negros LGBT).

The late Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer was illuminated by that which we call talent. Were it not for his immense talent in imagining how to use an empty space to construct human dwellings, he would not have had the recognition that he received during his lifetime and that will continue throughout history.

Brazilian history begins with a gesture of inverted generosity: civilizing the native population, exploiting their labor and obliging them to convert their souls to a religion foreign to them. After four centuries, Brazil began to show generosity towards its African slaves: it enacted the Lei do Ventre Livre, stating that the newborn children of slaves would be free.

In Latin America's largest country, journalists, legislators, courts, street gangs, and political factions are waging a back-and-forth war over the status of the freedom of the press. Brazil has experienced a recent spate of threats and violence against journalists, including the slaying of seven journalists in the first half of 2012 alone.[1]