Brazzil

The US presidential candidate, Barack Obama, has just made a triumphal tour of Europe during which he was feted by the region's political leaders and cheered on by crowds in Germany. Whether Obama becomes president will depend on American voters and not foreign fans and his race will undoubtedly play a part. It has taken a long time for a black presidential candidate to appear in the US. 

I have friends who feel proud that they were handcuffed because of their ideas. They would have liked it if, back in those days, the television had divulged the news of their arrest because they could have publicized their fight for democracy, and the record of their imprisonment would be a form of protection. 

Despite Brazil's NIMBY attitude about racism, while trying to convince itself of being a racial democracy, the statistics do not lie. Brazil is far from being a racial paradise. The last research published by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) in 2006 revealed that while the gross income of a white person in Brazil is around US$ 692,00 monthly, an Afro-Brazilian makes US$ 368,00. 

André Mehmari has a special gift of touch, coaxing from the piano both an emotion recollected in tranquility and the rash impact of experience.  Hamilton de Holanda is simply the most gifted 10-string bandolim player of his generation, the soul of sensitive drive.  This is evidenced on their latest creation, Contínua Amizade (released in the U. S. as Continuous Friendship). 

The international media is infatuated with the Brazilian economy. Almost every week there is a new article adulating the Brazilian economic 'miracle.' Although these newspapers make accurate claims they also tend to frequently embellish the truth.

On Tuesday, May 13, The Wall Street Journal published an article stating that after decades pursuing a convincing economic growth, Brazil has finally reached the other great emerging economies of the world. Until recently Brazil had been kind of looked down as the black sheep of the BRIC group (Brazil, Russia, India and China), to the point that some even suggested that the B should be dropped and the group should be named RIC.

The Financial Times did a six-page story on the development of Brazil, stating that the country may be reaching the level of the so-called superpowers. May reach, as they say, not quite there yet. They point out that the Brazilian society changes as the family income rises and the inequalities diminish, but they criticize Brazil's infrastructure system.

For five days in May, hundreds of tribal people from the far reaches of the Amazon Basin came together to protest plans for huge dams on the Xingu River, the largest tributary of the Amazon. It was like being at a United Nations of indigenous peoples. Representatives from the Kayapó, Parakanã, Assurini and other indigenous groups arrived ceremonially dressed with genipapo (black) and urucum (red) bodypaint, and feather adornments. Some traveled as far as 1,000 miles to attend the meeting.

In a region where there are virtually no terrorist groups seeking to attack the United States, or deployment or even development of nuclear arsenals, it is time for a civilian and not a military approach to define and lead U.S. foreign relations in Latin America.