Brazzil

lisa, this sounds very similar to most large US cities. also, fyi, in ppp terms, Brasil's gdp is #6 in the world. finally the rich/poor ratio is very similar to the US. the only difference - the US poor have access to cheap credit (thanks to the stupidity of the world's savers), although they have no health care coverage. all of this mumbo jumbo co-efficients are highly baised, out of context, non-applicable anglo-saxon metrics - very similar to s&p, moodys, etc. hocus-pocus ratiings.

This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Lisa Boscov-Ellen.

Yawn...Yawn... Yet another female from that notorious COHA complaining about everything Brazilian. I wonder if this woman has ever set her foot in Brazil. Another armchair researcher from COHA who gets her info on Rio from Google Earth.

to keep the illeagle alians out of the US .
to help stop the drugs & guns from mexico commiting crimes in the US
and having free ways to escape back home.

and as far as the comparing a brazilian Favela to public houseing shows just how stupid the writer is .

must never have been to a real Favela just seen them on the novelas!!!!
and to think the brasilians have a union of Favela living people.

inter-American relationship just maybe they should work on things like child kidnapings like the goldman boy , child prousition ,education

because we all know the less you know the more you belive.

Footnote: Favelado is the common Brazilian term for favela inhabitants, although it is important to note that it is sometimes used pejoratively; alternatively, they are called moradores de favela

Hey Forrest,the footnote is the most informative part of the article and meant to warn Gringos who may loosely use the terms mentioned and get into trouble while in Rio.

My wife has several familys members living in the slums of RIO

I do not understand them they come from the north have some land can work but wont get rich ,they make more money in Rio but it takes more to live so they only have a job .

and every other year they come home for a short visit and repair the homes they have there and no one lives in .

IS this a brasilian thing ???????????

even when i had my land in PB state they did not want to move back up and help there .they dont even send money to there parents unless something is bad like no food for the cows.

Here is the link to the original article and another of interest.

http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14214011

http://www.economist.com/world/americas/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14229460

The above links are for the previous article.

My wife has several familys members living in the slums of RIO

I do not understand them they come from the north have some land can work but wont get rich ,they make more money in Rio but it takes more to live so they only have a job .

Forrest, the story of your wife´s family members is not very uncommon, especially in the North/ North Eastern part of the country. I am not a sociologist and so it is hard to explain. I know that in the late 60´s and 70´s, during the "Economic Miracle", the country underwent, the Industries in Rio/SP offered plenty of job opportunities to unskilled labor as well as the skilled ones and hundreds of thousands from that part of country migrated to these two cities, because of the steady jobs they could hold (instead of depending on climate dependent agriculture), better infrastructure, better schools, etc; Though they could afford to feed themselves, their income was not sufficient to buy decent homes and thus ended up in slums. Besides it has always been chic for these people to say that they live in Rio or SP instead of some boondocks in N/NE. After almost 40 years, the conditions in your part of the country has not improved and so for the unskilled labor, the only alternative is to migrate to larger cities in search of job opportunities. There has not been any government policy to encourage small farmers to remain where they are and cultivate their lands and sell their produce to larger cities. As you know, such incentives come by way of building adequate infrastructure, low cost loans, etc;

Some politicians in our state and PR (The state of Parana) have done some wonderful work to keep the rural population where it is and I admire them a lot.Almost all of them are well educated and regardless of their party affiliations, still they give hopes for a better country.As for your part of Brasil, I am afraid that it is politically very strong, but with leadership that is just self centered and takes care of its own kind.

As many of my friends and relatives like to say, in a globalized world,the three Southern states can survive without rest of the country!!

It's all in history:

slave owners became rich people who live in luxurious appartments and have carros blindados

slaves became poor souls living in slums (favelas)

there is no dialog in Brazil between rich and poor

if I were a favelado, I would also rob the rich to survive.

I never recommend any friends of mine to visit Brazil tho', they like taking photos, and having a large camera with various expensive lenses is a big big no no, they now go to places like Cape Verde, Cuba, or Seychelles, secure countries with no dangers of being robbed or having your professional camera stolen.

Brazil is not even in top40 list of most visited countries:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Tourism_rankings

there is no dialog in Brazil between rich and poor

An absolutely wrong statement. If there was no dialog, President Lula would have never ever been elected. Thanks God, he is personally involved in expanding the dialog further.

But there again, what do you expect from a woman who fled her country and lives in Holland,except to make pompous and idiotic statements like this? She should change her to "Brasileira CASSADA".

I recently visited Rio and the perception I had of this city before I went changed completely while there. After hearing much about its dangerous favellas, from Brazilian citizens currently living in the United States, I was partly skeptical about how realistic many of their warnings could actually be. The City itself, with its beaches and people, was beautiful. The evident juxtaposition existing between the “two distinct worlds” is a reality hard to grasp unless you are actually there. Some of the stats you provided are very alarming, considering it is already a very important problem that the government has failed to solve. To think that such vast amounts of places are becoming “slums” is very saddening. The wall proposal, I agree, does nothing more than underline the inattentiveness and lack of involvement from officials. If we are to improve such places, not only in Brazil but across the world, drastic steps must be taken. The “slums” are being built by those who live there without any consideration for local building codes, thus making it completely unsafe for any human to live there. The current citizens of the favellas have the right train of mind by building from local resources, but are limited by their lack of knowledge and economic means. President Lula plans to host the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup in the hopes of bringing about an economic boom to the nation, but is this really going to bring change to the people living under these conditions?

The safety in these neighborhoods has improved, according to what I have heard and also read in this post. Improvements, in terms of violence, can be seen throughout numerous statistics concerning Rio and other locations within Brazil. I am very glad on that note that at least some action is being taken for change. I really appreciate the scrutiny you gave to the social problems that may develop through the negativity that is portrayed by the media. The quote by Godfrey, in which he mentions that “n this context existing biases against favelas have been reconfigured according to the pressing problems dealt with in each historic era: policies have evolved, but favelas have consistently been diagnosed in negative terms that reinforced stereotypes and stigmatized residents,” further proves your point. On a happier note, I am glad the problem is becoming more evident if it may lead to a change in the urban planning of such communities. I certainly agree with much of what you wrote and I hope to soon be able to read more. Thanks.

You write: Brasileira casada na Holanda, September 11, 2009
if I were a favelado, I would also rob the rich to survive.

This above statement is so WRONG!!
I am the favelado but I do not need rob, steal or cheat. I am poor but have value
and can work. Life is dificult but not impossible. At least I live in a place where
I have comunity and people who care about me.

People need know, most people who live in favelas are honest, hardworking people
who make little money and have little oportunity!

Mas a vida continua!

Zezinho

I have never seen a favelado who has an internet connection and who can write English like that.

Zezinho, you are full of it. Stop lying and face reality.

It is not the favelados' fault they are stealing. It is the corrupt government's fault who doesn't do s*** about the poor, and the politicians who only care about how much money they are going to have in their pockets at the end of the month. I totally agree with Brasileira casada na Holanda, if I were poor, I would also steal. I am aware that there are decent and hard working people in the favelas and that there is a lack of oportunity, but those are the minority. If only the government could provide a better quality education...Brazil would be a completely different country. Education is the key to abolishing poverty.

I have personally moved out of Brazil 5 years ago and I see that Brazil can achieve what it wants. However, Lula needs to leave and let honest people fix Brazil.

"I have never seen a favelado who has an internet connection and who can write English like that.

Zezinho, you are full of it. Stop lying and face reality."

wow- if you are brazilian (unlikely) you must be a dweller from the "asfalto"- privileged high-rise apt. who never will set foot in a favela to know that they are thriving communities. i lived in rocinha for 5 months and can't tell you how wrong you are in your statement that decent and hard-working people in the favela are a minority. for shame.

you may be surprised to know also that they are not dumb monkeys. they study english and actually know how to use the internet, just like you.

of corse we have Lanhouses internet and now we have wireless..in Rocinha..you people who write such things never been a favela like Rocinha...you think all favelados are stupid? shame on you!

most brazilian think favela is the place of misery but we have ONG' here that teach English and other languages too..

The people who write bad things about favelas are brainwash into believing everything is bad about favelas..Rocinha is a nice place, I like it..

he let someone bit on that.

we are just confused with the idea.