On November 5th, the SIS building held an exposition entitled Brazil: An Exhibition On South America's Emerging Powerhouse, created by AU senior/alum (even he can’t explain it) Mason Drastal. With Brazil making headlines more and more everyday, the country seems to be on track to becoming one of the 21st century's big global players. The exhibition presented various projects, both academic and cultural, and groups that are all centered around Brazil. Co-Sponsors included the AU Brazilian Club and the American University Honors Program. The exhibitors were: the Embassy of Brazil, Vita Coco Coconut Water, Amazon Watch, DC Chapter of DC/Brasilia Partners of the Americas, Zezeh Brazil Samba School, Capoeira Candeias VA & Barro Vermelho Capoeira of DC. UNICA Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association, the Brazilian Art Collection by Briana Watson, Kim Hayward, Johanna Hoffman & Gabrielle Iselius, the Brazilian Culture Project by Caroline Hausmann & Morar Carioca (loosely translates to "live as a resident of Rio de Janeiro’") Project Slideshow were among the projects and information tables present at the exhibition.
I feel the exhibition provided a very good look at Brazil as an emerging powerhouse. Brazil has had a 7.5% growth rate in the last year, a sound and booming economy, even amidst the current crisis, oil discoveries, a World Cup in 2014, the Olympics in 2016 and is not only seen as the most promising country in Latin America for investment, but is beginning to trade in the big leagues, with countries like China. Through the various tables and information sessions, it was obvious that Mason wanted to demonstrate how fast Brazil is moving, and how much influence it is gaining. I also think he did a great job showing a more cultural side of Brazil that is often overlooked. Brazil is a country rich in culture, and many do not know that it has, for example, the largest Japanese population outside of Japan. Thus, it is a cultural hub of different nationalities and culture.
However, I feel that Mason also left out a huge aspect that is currently tainting all of Brazil’s accomplishments: corruption. If there’s one thing Brazilians know, it’s greed and corruption. It is a country that has the capability to be great, however is held back by the poverty and hardship that affects the majority of its population. Nevertheless, instead of addressing these issues, politicians corrupt the government, taking away from the population the money, time and effort needed to bring them back to their feet.
A perfect example is current Federal Deputy of São Paulo (SP), Paulo Maluf. An ex State Governor of SP, Mayor of the City of SP, Congressman and Presidential candidate, Maluf has been convicted of fraud conspiracy, money laundering, and theft. Although he hasn’t served jail time, it is amongst common Brazilian knowledge that Maluf steals money from the government, and embezzles it into his private life, adding to his family’s wealth. Despite Maluf’s various crimes against the Brazilian population, not only has the government decided to drop all charges against him, claiming that the recent legislation “Lei Ficha Limpa” or “Clean Record Act” will only begin to apply after 2010 elections (when he was elected as Federal Deputy), but Maluf is constantly reelected into government positions, despite his history as a con-artist. There is even a verb inspired by the man himself, ‘malufar’ – to steal public money from the people.
Even former President Lula practiced corruption, by breaking Brazilian law during the 2010 election. It is illegal for a president to promote or show obvious preference to any type of candidate; however, Lula not only promoted current president Dilma Rousseff on radio shows, but also during the ‘political hour’ dedicated to campaign ads on TV. The ex-President was often in commercials, promoting Dilma.
What I find most upsetting is not the fact that these politicians are so corrupt, but that Brazilians continue to let them participate in the government, and impede the country’s growth and progress. Maluf is reelected for four decades, even after being convicted of fraud. Lula basically picks the countries next president, due to his immense popularity amongst the population, and receives no form of punishment. Brazilians have no memory, but sadly, many of them also have no education. They are not taught to think critically, to notice bias, to think for themselves or even know the functions of different government officials. However, seeing as the government refuses to educate the people, it is up to the apathetic population to help the uneducated and poor population.
Overall, the exhibition showcased how much Brazil has to offer, and how much potential it has, but it ignored the very factor that is keeping success and first world status so out of reach.
P.S. This is an extra credit post :)
ReplyDeleteJulia this is really cool! With all this corruption, what can be done to try and stop this cycle or corruption? Is there anything being done in Brazil now to try and stop it?
ReplyDeleteYes! There is this new bill/law called the "Lei Ficha Limpa" (Clean Record Act) that basically looks at a politicians background, and if he has a 'dirty record' he cannot participate in elections/be in office. The problem is that the officials who are implementing it are mostly corrupt as well, so they're going through loopholes to try and protect corrupt politicians. I think ultimately the population will have to rise up and demand a corrupt-free government, seeing as the officials will never get it done.
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ReplyDeleteVery nice post! You talk about the Brazilian people knowingly allowing their elected official commit these crime. Do they fear persecution or do they accept it because there are no "clean" official that run? I think it is very interesting that Brazil is able to have this disconnect between it's people even though it is considered up and coming if you will. When we think of high developed states we envision a body of whistleblowers that protect people's rights. Granted no US officials records are clean, Hermain Cain, John Kerry, and if they were to be exposed in office or otherwise, you can bet they will not be reelected.
ReplyDeleteIs it blissful ignorance or the only option for the Brazilian people?
Haley - it's a lot of different factors. Fear is not one of them, the Brazilian dictatorship ended in the 80's, and that was a time of intense persecution, thus today that is no longer a common fear amongst citizens, plus it doesn't ever happen. Clean officials do run, however a majority of the Brazilian population is poor, and does not have access to education. Very few of them can write or read, and don't really know about politics. How it works, what each individuals job is, what they do, how they do it. Thus, they tend to just blindly vote for names they know. Also, probably the biggest factor that comes into play is Lula's popularity. I don't know if this is a certain fact because I am not checking it, however I would not doubt that Lula is the most popular president in the world, in regard to popularity amongst ones country. Thus, I think it is safe to say (but don't quote me) that he is the president with the largest approval rate ever. Because Lula has improved many aspects of life for the poor, they treat him like a god. What Lula says is golden, so when Lula publicly announced that he supported Dilma as a candidate, it was basically known amongst the population that she would win the elections. I agree with you that if John Kerry were exposed for smuggling money, he would NEVER be elected for any position in government again. However the difference is that in the US you have people who are educated and active in politics. I think that once our education system is improved, we will have citizens who will vote wisely. Also, if you want to go back, the US is a country that fought for its independence and freedom, and it's a uniquely American characteristic to be proud of democracy, and be proud of the US government. The same love and fight for ones government doesn't exist in Brazil, mostly due to the fact that we were a dictatorship for so long, and that the people who fought for democratic freedom were the elite, and not the majority of the population.
ReplyDeleteHey Julia,
ReplyDeleteI loved hearing about Brazil, in one of my earlier posts, I talked about the corruption in the British judiciary system, but I had no idea how much corruption there really was. You mentioned that education is the biggest factor stopping the people from changing the government, and I'm curious, with all this economic growth, is there a push to improve the educational system? Does the fact that so many Brazilians are uneducated stem from a lack of infrastructure and money? Or are there other factors contributing to the education problem? I know sometimes boys drop out of school to work because their future jobs will not require education, or girls drop out to get married or raise families. I don't know much about the culture of Latin America, so maybe none of those apply, but I was just curious.
Do you think a peoples revolt could happen anytime soon in the near future? I feel like the population won't really do anything in this situation with all the large international events coming to Brazil like the World Cup and the Olympics so soon.
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