Beautiful Horizons

Brazilian Immigrants in the US

Greg Weeks comments on Tyler Cowen's post about a perceived scarceness of Brazilian immgrants, especially when compared to Salvadoran immigrants.

Part of the reason is, of course, the civil war in El Salvador and geography can play a slight role (although the Bush DOJ believed that so many Brazilians in the early part of the last decade were coming into the US through Mexico that they pressured the Mexican government to require Brazilians to get visas to travel to Mexico and El Salvador is much more densely populated than Brazil), but there is a larger role and that is addressed in this article from 2007:

[Brazilian immigrants] generally come from more urban and educated classes than other major groups of illegal immigrants from Latin America, studies show. Many returning now have been investing their American earnings in Brazilian property.

I don't necessarily buy the language argument as broached by both Weeks and Tyler. Large Brazilian communities exist in many places and not merely where Portuguese immigrants preceded them in locations such as Newark, NJ and various communities in and around Boston. Austin, TX, Mt. Vernon, NY, Danbury, CT and many other locations have significant Brazilian populations. Mt. Vernon in particular has been transformed for the better by the Brazilian community there.

It's been my experience that growth in Brazilian immigrant communities is often endogenous: there are at least 8 Portuguese language masses taking place in the New York metro area, restaurants and stores serving the community grow and develop and influence the larger communities. In my first visit to Red Bull Arena in Harrison, NJ, I was surprised to see such traditonal Brazilian fare as pão de queijo (cheese bread) being sold at the stadium.

When Mércia and I married the plan was from the beginning to some day move (back in her case, to in mine) to Brazil. This has been the norm for some years, especially as I see more and more of our friends returning.

Nailed It

I believe that of all the analyses of Lula's career, this one may be the best and most judicious.

Hat tip to Matt Yglesias.

Disturbing, But Unsurprising Video

The following video shows a young (14 year old) boy being shot by police in Manaus, the capital of the state of Amazonas in Brazil.

 

 

I am not certain if live ammo was used or if rubber bullets were used. Ultimately it doesn't matter. This is so wrong for so may reasons, but it is also happens far too often. This is also disturbing:

The boy's family and the person in charge of the security camera, as well as the first reporter to see the footage, initially held the video back because they feared retaliation if it was made public, prosecutors said.

Amazonas state prosecutor Joao Bosco Sa Valente said the officers would face charges of attempted homicide.

"I have been fighting organised crime for 30 years, but every time I see those images I feel indignation and disgust," the prosecutor told the Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo.

I'm glad to see the outrage, but I'm in the least optimistic that this will make for any long-term change. These incidents happen far too often and they don't just involve children. I'm hoping that those responsible face significant jail time as impunity, sadly, has been the rule and not the exception in these incidents.

Nevertheless, public outrage appears to be high - and that's a good sign.

It's A Start

While I understand some of the snarkiness/cynicism at the end of this article, I happen to think that this is a good start:

The slums of Rio de Janeiro—the infamous favelas—pile onto and up and over the city’s iconic steep hillsides. Simply getting from point A to point B requires a sub-alphabet of zigzaggery up stairs, over switchbacks, and through alleyways that can be just a few feet wide. There’s nowhere for public transit to go. Nowhere, that is, but up.

That’s the direction for the newest transportation system in Rio, slated to open in March: a six-station gondola line running above a collection of favelas known as the Complexo do Alemão. The government says that 152 gondolas will carry 30,000 people a day along a 2.1-mile route over the neighborhood, transforming the hour-and-a-half trudge to a nearby commuter rail station into a 16-minute sky ride.

I'm for anything that gets people out of cars/buses and either above ground or below ground in Rio. Rio has a very, very limited, but comfortable subway system, but the nature of the city's topography makes it difficult to spread the subway beyond the neighborhood's that are closest to the water. There are currently two lines with a third under construction. Anything that helps keep cars and buses off the street in Rio is a plus, but I agree with the tone at the end of the article that it would be good to address more of the most critical basic needs of the favelados.

Floods in Brazil

My heart aches to see what is happening in the region of Rio de Janeiro known as the Serra Fluminense. I have visited the three cities most severely impacted, Petrópolis, Teresópolis and Nova Friburgo and note that these are relatively prosperous locations and major tourism destinations. They are popular refuges from the summer heat in Rio de Janeiro. Petrópolis was the summer location for the Emperor Dom Pedro II and his former residence is now Brazil's most visited museum. Teresópolis, in addition to its scenic charms is also the location for the Brazilian Football Federation's national training center, Granja Comary and adjacent to a lovely national park with scenic mountain views, Serra dos Órgãos. Nova Friburgo has some of the best preserved portions of the Atlantic Forest in the region.

I believe that this article is largely correct:

For much of its history, Brazil has been blessed like almost no other country of its size to be almost free of such calamities. Earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, erupting volcanoes — none have proved threats to Brazil.

Until recently, the most costly and best-known disasters were severe droughts, said Margareta Wahlstrom, the assistant secretary general for the United Nations’ International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.

“But in the last few years the increasing frequency of floods, high winds and storms has become part of the new normal of Brazil,” she said. “The political choice we have today is to not treat disasters as events that come and go, but decide that you plan for them and realize that they are very costly.”

I can tell you from my experience that rain tends to be very heavy in Brazil this time of year and floods are all too common. I can also tell you that there appears to be little if any effort being made  to prepare for the next one, a fact underscored by this from the same article:

The hillside areas around Rio lacked early warning systems or effective community organizations that might have helped residents to wake one another as the rains intensified last Tuesday night, disaster experts and residents said. Most people are believed to have died early Wednesday morning as they slept, when water-loosened earth swept their houses away.

The floods are going to happen. Better preparation for such disasters as well as strictly enforced building codes (these weren't favelas this time) to prevent building in locations prone to mudslides will only help.

Brazil on 60 Minutes

I'm truly stunned that the most popular news magazine program in this country would actually do a segment on Latin America that doesn't involve coups, natural disasters, drugs or disease, so I'm generally pleased to see this segment on 60 Minutes focusing on Brazil:

 

I largely agree with the report regarding the infrastructure and the issue on training workers, but disagree with Eduardo Bueno, the historian/journalist/commentator, who seemed eager to generate old stereotypes about Brazil that seem more rooted in a carioca mentality, than say, one from Parana, Minas Gerais or Sao Paulo (yes, I know Bueno is from Rio Grande do Sul). There are plenty of serious, hardworking, dedictaed Brazilians. Now may very well be their time.

Another Step in the Right Direction

In 1994, not terribly long after the Candelaria Massacre, Mercia and I were at a party in which one of her Brazilian friends commenting on the massacre said "They should kill them all. They're not children anymore."

She steered me out of the room so that I wouldn't confront this woman, but it gave me some insight into how many in the middle class in Brazil perceive the homeless and favelados (favela dwellers) in Brazil.

That being said, I'm cautiously optimistic about this:

Leonardo Bento longed for vengeance after a policeman killed his brother five years ago. So when he heard that the new “peace police” force in the City of God slum was offering free karate classes, Mr. Bento signed up, hoping he would at least get to beat up the karate instructor.

But the unexpected happened. Eduardo da Silva, the police instructor, won him over with humor and a handshake. “I began to realize that the policeman in front of me was just a human being and not the monster I had imagined in my head,” Mr. Bento, 22, said.

Years of hate and mistrust are thawing in some of Rio’s most violent slums. Pushed to alleviate security concerns before the city’s double-billing on the international stage — the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games — Rio officials have embarked on an ambitious plan to wrest control of the slums, or favelas, from ruthless drug gangs who ruled for years with big guns and abject terror.

The peace officers are central to that effort, flooding in after the military police clear the streets in gun battles that can last weeks. Their job is part traditional policing, part social work. They devote themselves to winning over residents scarred by decades of violence — some at the hands of the police. And the tips fed to them from those who support their efforts, officers say, help them keep the relative peace.

This is not a panacea by any means, but it's a good start. It's no secret that civilians - many of them innocent - have fallen victim to police violence in Rio de Janeiro. There is also no question that favelados have often been the subject of disdain and contempt by many - for the simple fact of being desperately poor. I truly hope that more projects such as this continue in the other favelas throughout Brazil. In a just society, only criminals should fear the police.

Education in Brazil

I was out of town last weekend and am just getting around to reading this article in last Saturday's  New York Times about education in Brazil. Some points worth mentioning:

• Public libraries are rare and underfunded. Indeed, while I have never looked for them in Brazil, the only places I can remember seeing them is in Rio de Janeiro and the famous Farois da Sabedoria (Lighthouses of Knowledge) in Curitiba. I'm sure that small towns such as Caetes (the town featured in the article probably have no library. The funding simply isn't there.
• So, why not buy books? Books are very expensive in Brazil; expensive to the point of being out of reach for those who need to read the most. In addition, television, just like in the US, offers a significantly cheaper entertainment alternative. Given the massive market penetration of a network such as Globo - some 70 to 80% of the nation's  television audience - it's virtually impossible for books to compete.
• In addition, and this is a particular problem in my opinion, when it comes to higher education, among the best universities are the State and Federal University systems. If a potential student scores well enough on tests known as vestibulares, they can attend one of these universities for free. There is no means testing for this, so if your family is wealthy, you still attend for free.
• The problem is exacerbated by a mini-industry that has developed of preparation for these tests. Of course if one has the means to prepare for the vestibular, the investment is worth it if one the qualifies for a free education. If you don't have the money for this sort of preparation, then you're already at a disadvantage as failure to qualify for a place in the free public universities, leaves a private school with expensive tuition as the only alternative to my knowledge.

I'm glad to see the issue getting attention. I'm looking forward to seeing some solutions.

Belo Horizonte From the Air

Some lovely views of Brazil's third largest city from the air. Hat tip to my nephew, Christiano Simões, enjoying life in Bologna, Emilia Romagna, Italy. Turn down the sound; the music is mawkish.

Good News From Brazil

The last of the defendants in the Dorothy Stang murder has been sentenced to thirty years in prison. While I'm glad that this has finally happened, here's the more disturbing aspect of all this:

Stang's murder became a symbol of the often-violent conflicts over natural resources in the vast Amazon region.

In the 10 years through 2008, 365 people were murdered in such disputes, according to the Pastoral Land Commission, a watchdog linked to the Roman Catholic church that monitors conflicts over land in Brazil.

I would be interested in knowing how many of these murders have been solved or even if they went to trial. Para is a horribly violent and corrupt state. Dorothy Stang's greatest legacy would be to have justice be anything but newsworthy for being consistent.