Brazzil

500 of America's largest companies "investing in Brazil", Indian tycoons building and buying huge steel mills to process OUR steel at slaves wages. Does NAFTA ring a bell? And Snow breaking bread with the PSDB, now that is really scary...I hate to talk about a conspirecy, but does this not all sound familiar, does the early 70's bring any memories? Could history repeat itself? I am sure there is an army of new CIA agents helping pave the way for the PSBD's return. And now with a wounded Lula what better time...I am sure he and Bush will have great drinking stories to tell each other...God Bush and Lula in November...that is really something to look forward too a combined 100 IQ plotting the direction of our country. Lula could take a lesson from his friend in Venezuela where nationalism has unemployment down, currency and economy up and things rapidly getting better for the middle class and poor. Just a reminder Mr President...we have oil too.

Unemployment in Venezuela is down...just because of the high oil price. Nothing else ! Oil represents something like 80 or 90 of their GDP
!!!
Yess...you have oil too ! Biofuel too ! But also so many other things (steel, grains, fruits, coffee, so many millions hectares of avalaible good land, etc etc)

Stupid question : with such a wealth why do you still have so much hunger, poverty, so many favelas, lack of education, lack of sanitation, just to name...a few ???????

Could it be that all the wealth go into a few hands ???? No ?

At least this is what the U.N statistics reveal :
Brazil has the world worst inequalities...after Sierra Leone !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No doubt that for good bad reasons you dont trust the UN statistics ! Hiding the truth is the name of the game in your country.....with corruptions to the roots ! It became and still is a lifestyle..a every day practice !

Is it not time, once and for all, regardless of who is/will be... in power, left or right who cares, that a fundamental change is made in your country...for a better future of all your society ?

You trusted Lula promises and ideology..and elected him ! This was just fine ! You realize by now, hopefully, that his words and facts are/were quite contradictory...!!!

HE LIED THEN AND NOW !!!! HE FAILED.

I agree with you. Our failure to capitalize on our resources and new economic growth for the good of all Brazilians is our shame, as is the failed efforts of Pres. Lula. It is so easy to be critical but we have difficult problems to solve. Here the rich get richer...and the masses get Carnival...it's pretty pathetic, it's why we have the long lines at foreign embassies.

...it is easy to be critical on Brazil as easy to be critical against the USA or whoever !!

But already agreeing on existing problems and recognizing them...could be the start of a change for the better.

Developped nations had their own problems with wars. Germany and Japan lost their wars, everything destroyed. They rebuilt from scratch...and in a very few decades, 2 for Germany and 3 for Japan, and they became almost the richest countries !!!!

It is hard work, long term investments not paying back right away in housing, infrastructures, basic and high educations, sanitation, health, social inclusions.It is with savings and good management, commitments, vision, that you will reach your goals.

All of the above create millions and millions of direct jobs. These direct jobs create millions of indirect jobs and so on !!!!

It seems to me that your country instead of trying to export ever more basic commodities should concentrate to add value to them, which create millions of jobs, and then only export an added value product, not just basic as you do now !!!

For instance I read recently that most of your coffee export is roasted in the imported countries !!!!!
Does that make sense ? No doubt you know how to roast coffee. What you must learn, and it should not be that difficult, is how others do enjoy their coffee tastes !!!! Dont sell how you like coffee but how they like it !!!

It should not be that difficult to buy in the supermarkets of the consuming countries a few kilos of different good selling brands, then copy for the different blends, roasting types and finally export at a lower price they are selling !!!! Your profit margins will not only expand substantially...but many jobs and taxes will be created in YOUR country and could be reused similar to a snowball effect !!!

Look at China, they buy your raw commodities, steel for examples they transform it and re-export with added value.
Same for cotton. They import from you, transform, and resell some of it....to your OWN country ! Is this not an auto goal ??????
And then you cry and complain about China textile invasion and threats into your country !!!

Is that not a joke...but even more a shame ???????

Millions and millions of poor Brazilians are willing, waiting, ready...to obtain jobs !
Heavy investments are necessary. To attract local and foreign investors...just make favorable tax deals with investors, give them help and support, reduce your heavy administration paper work ! Money could flow in you country as never before !!!!!!

Once again my north European friend, your arguments have weaknesses.
Brazil has not produced much soluble coffee in the past because developed countries restricted imports to protect their own soluble coffee industries. The EU allowed limited duty-free quotas to be imported from 2001, but just last week said these would be abandoned in 2006.

I agree that money should be invested in 'housing, infrastructures, basic and high educations, sanitation, health, social inclusions' - just the areas Chavez is focusing on in Venezuela in fact. Yes, it's made possible by high oil prices, but previous Venezuelan presidents just stuck most of the oil money in their own offshore bank accounts.

How eloquent and simple, now enlighten us with more 15 lines on why did it not happen yet.

1) I never said soluble coffee. I said...roasted coffee. Some small brazilian growers are also roasting.....and exporting with a much higher profit margin...compared to non roasted coffee !!!!
Short extract from Forbes magazine :

""Brazil has long been a leading exporter of bulk commodities such as green coffee, which is traditionally roasted or processed in richer nations and then sold at a premium.

But with historically poor raw commodity prices in the past decade, Brazil has begun to seek out value-added and specialty markets that promise higher returns such as branded coffees "".

And from what I know.....there is not only the EU but the....world !!!!

So why does/did it take you decades...to think...basic commerce...to add value ???????

The same can be said to your agreements that money should be invested in.....etc etc !!!!
My question, just as the other forum member, is quite simple :
Why did it not happen yet ?????????

My answer is simply because most of your wealth has been put in offshore bank accounts...not only by your previous presidents...but by ALL your wealthy people !

UNTRUE ?????? smile....
From 1996 to 2002, Reais 150 billions...yesss billions...have been laundered outside Brazil..a huge part through Banespa. That is why the money changer nicknnamed ...da Barcelona...has been put in jail for 25 years.
But why was he, with a few others, the only ones put in jail ? Why...were the beneficial owners of this huge mass of money...not even bothered ?????
Last year, in 2004, already with Lula as President, there was a report done by one of your politician on this subject. In the report 91 politicians were spelled...by their name !!!!
Well, on december 18, 2004, YOUR LAWMAKERS VOTED AND DECIDED NOT TO OPEN AN INVESTIGATION !!!!!!!!

Every brazilian citizen should understand why !!!!!!!

With such an amount you could have built most of what you agree that you should do...or more precisely...you already could have done .

The same could be said with the actual crisis :
IMPUNITY IS THE NAME OF THE GAME.
THIS IS WHAT YOU CALL..... A PIZZA...WELL COOKED !!!!!!!

Yesss...because it is very strange....that your Central Bank...who can easily monitor large entries and outflow of money.....HAVE DONE AND SAID NOTHING.....TO AVOID THE EVASION OF THIS ....HUGE FORTUNE....BY ANY STANDARD !!!!!!

You all know how deep corruption is in your country. But when you have "mass street demonstrations" this number is usually....between 6 to 12000.....only....and only.... in Brasilia.
Other South Amercian countries, Bolivia and Equator for instance, many times smaller in population....have far more street demonstrators...than Brazil...with their

..with their 175 millions of citizens !!!!

But to their defense (politicians, presidents)
YOU elected them...and do nothing when on all their wrongdoings.

Brazil land are the farms of these power people and citizens are their slaves....and treated as such.

That explains the dark and sad reality...of all the poverty and lack of the basic things..in your country !!!!

Words and promises by your politicians remain...words and promises again and again.
But reality is quite different....looking at many reports from the UN or even from your own stastistics !!!!!

Cheers

Because of tariffs in the EU and Japan, the trade share of the top 10 coffee-exporting developing countries in global roasted coffee fell from 7 to 2 percent between 1981-90 and 1991-2000.
check this link: http://www.fao.org/documents/s...852e02.htm

My point about coffee is just one example of many which show how difficult it has been for decades to sell value- added products to rich countries.
I could make a long list of examples from Europe, Japan and the US - of high tariffs on processed agricultural products - it is only recently that these have begun to come down and processed foods are now one of the fastest growing parts of the economy.

What you say about corruption etc. is all obviously true. But like other Latin American countries, when anyone tried to change things and spend on health and education, they were accused of being a communist and booted out.

I'm always amazed at this writer's talent to bring about polemics. Whatever she srites it seems to raise questions and trigger debates. Ms. Porto has fuel.