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| Tucano
- Brazil |
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Brazil
(Federative Republic of Brazil - Capital
is Brasília - Largest city is São
Paulo - Official languages is Portuguese)
is the largest (Area:8,514,877 km²)
and most populous (Population:188,078,261)
country in South America. It is the fifth
largest in the world in both area and
population. It is the eastern most country
of America and borders every other South
American country (Uruguay, Argentina,
Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela,
Guyana, Suriname and the French department
of French Guiana) except Ecuador and Chile.
Brazil was colonized by Portugal and it
is the only Portuguese-speaking country
in the Americas. It is a multiracial country
with a population composed of European,
Amerindian, African and Asian elements,
more often mixed in the same individual
than separated into different communities.
It has the largest Roman Catholic population
in the world. |
A brief history: The Portuguese were the first
European settlers to arrive in the area, led
by adventurous Pedro Álvares Cabral,
who began the colonial period in April, 21,
1500.The Portuguese found native Indians around
seven million. Most tribes were peripatetic,
with only limited agriculture and temporary
dwellings, although villages often had as many
as 5000 inhabitants.Today, fewer than 200,000
of Brazil's indigenous people survive, most
of whom inhabit the jungle areas.
Other Portuguese explorers followed Cabral,
in search of valuable goods for European trade
but also for unsettled land and the opportunity
to escape poverty in Portugal itself. The only
item of value they discovered was the "Pau
Brasil" (brazil wood tree) from which they
created red dye. Unlike the colonizing philosophy
of the Spanish, the Portuguese in Brazil were
much less focused at first on conquering, controlling,
and developing the country. Most were impoverished
sailors, who were far more interested in profitable
trade and subsistence agriculture than in territorial
expansion. The country's interior remained unexplored.
Nonetheless, sugar soon came to Brazil, and
with it came imported slaves. To a degree unequaled
in most of the American colonies, the Portuguese
settlers frequently intermarried with both the
Indians and the African slaves, and there were
also mixed marriages between the Africans and
Indians. As a result, Brazil's population is
intermingled to a degree that is unseen elsewhere.
Most Brazilians possess some combination of
European, African, Amerindian, Asian, and Middle
Eastern lineage,and this multiplicity of cultural
legacies is a notable feature of current Brazilian
culture.
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| Mico
Leão Dourado - Brazil |
|
Slaves
and Quilombos: Another interesting fact
from this period was founding of the Quilombos
by slaves who escaped from the plantations.
The Quilombos were built in remote areas,
and could have hundreds of people living,
raising families, growing crops and fighting
to keep their independence. Of course
the former owners took a dim view of this,
but were usually defeated when sending
military expeditions against the ex-slaves.
What to do? Call in the Paulistas and
Bandeirantes from Sao Paulo in the south
of Brazil, even at that time known to
be the most efficient, hard working and
organized of Brazilians. The Paulistas
soon destroyed the Quilombos, including
the most famous one at Palmares, which
required cannon and a long seige. |
Dutch
and French Invaders: During this period the
Dutch and the French briefly settled in the
Northeast and Rio de Janeiro, building forts
and leaving blue-eyed brown-skinned Brazilians.
Under Estacio de Sa and others the Portuguese
and Brazilians expelled the invaders, who in
the case of many of the Dutch from Recife and
Sao Luis, moved to their new colony in a place
called New Amsterdam on the island of Manhattan.
That is how Brazil settled New York City.
The move to open the country's interior coincided
with the discovery in the 1690s of gold in the
south-central part of the country. The country's
gold deposits didn't pan out, however, and by
the close of the 18th century the country's
focus had returned to the coastal agricultural
regions. In 1807, as Napoleon Bonaparte closed
in on Portugal's capital city of Lisbon, the
Prince Regent shipped himself off to Brazil.
The only recorded transcontinental relocation
of a royal family occurred in 1808 when the
Portuguese royal family, headed by Queen Maria
I of Portugal and her son and regent, the future
João VI of Portugal, fled Napoleon's
armies and relocated to Rio de Janeiro, along
with the government and nobility. Although they
returned in 1821, the interlude led to the opening
of commercial ports to the United Kingdom —
at the time isolated from most European ports
by Napoleon — and to the elevation of Brazil
to the status of a United Kingdom under the
Portuguese Crown. Upon João VI's departure,
the remaining royal government in Rio moved
to dissolve the Kingdom of Brazil and return
it to the status of colony. This resulted in
the small scale conflicts known as the Brazilian
War of Independence. On 7 September 1822 Prince
regent Dom Pedro I (later Pedro IV of Portugal)
declared independence, establishing the independent
Empire of Brazil. A treaty recognizing the Empire's
independence was signed on 29 August 1825 with
Britain and Portugal. As the crown remained
in the hands of the House of Bragança,
this was more the severance of the Portuguese
empire in two, than an independence movement
as seen elsewhere in the Americas.
In the 19th century coffee took the place of
sugar as Brazil's most important product. The
boom in coffee production brought a wave of
almost one million European immigrants, mostly
Italians, and also brought about the Brazilian
republic. In 1889, the wealthy coffee magnates
backed a military coup, the emperor fled, and
Brazil was no more an imperial country. The
coffee planters virtually owned the country
and the government for the next thirty years,
until the worldwide depression evaporated coffee
demand. For the next half century Brazil struggled
with governmental instability, military coups,
and a fragile economy. In 1989, the country
enjoyed its first democratic election in almost
three decades. Unfortunately, the Brazilians
made the mistake of electing Fernando Collor
de Mello. Mello's corruption did nothing to
help the economy, but his peaceful removal from
office indicated at least that the country's
political and governmental structures are stable.
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| Catedral
Santa Cruz do Sul |
|
In
the 19th century coffee took the place
of sugar as Brazil's most important product.
The boom in coffee production brought
a wave of almost one million European
immigrants, mostly Italians, and also
brought about the Brazilian republic.
In 1889, the wealthy coffee magnates backed
a military coup, the emperor fled, and
Brazil was no more an imperial country.
The coffee planters virtually owned the
country and the government for the next
thirty years, until the worldwide depression
evaporated coffee demand. For the next
half century Brazil struggled with governmental
instability, military coups, and a fragile
economy. In 1989, the country enjoyed
its first democratic election in almost
three decades. Unfortunately, the Brazilians
made the mistake of electing Fernando
Collor de Mello. Mello's corruption did
nothing to help the economy, but his peaceful
removal from office indicated at least
that the country's political and governmental
structures are stable. |
Brazil has the fifth largest population in the
world--about 188 million people--which has doubled
in the past 30 years. Because of its size, there
are only 15 people per sq. km, concentrated
mainly along the coast and in the major cities,
where two-thirds of the people now live: over
19 million in greater Sao Paulo and 10 million
in greater Rio.
The immigrant Portuguese language was greatly
influenced by the numerous Indian and African
dialects they encountered, but it remains the
dominant language in Brazil today. In fact,
the Brazilian dialect has become the dominant
influence in the development of the Portuguese
language, for the simple reason that Brazil
has 15 times the population of Portugal and
a much more dynamic linguistic environment.
Crisis and World War II: This period was ended
by a little gaucho from the south of Brazil,
named Getulio Vargas. Unsuccessful in his bid
for the presidency in 1930, Vargas led a revolt
that overthrew the government. Over the next
15 years, he effected massive transformations
in the public and private sectors. His style
was authoritarian and his appeal populist: unionization,
industrialization, and social welfare programs
gained him the working - and middle-class backing.
Vargas gave support to the Allies during World
War II, but his popularity declined as democratic
sentiment grew. In 1945 he was ousted by the
army. Vargas returned to power in 1950, democratically
election as president, but his second tenure
was beset with scandals and economic difficulties.
Faced with growing opposition and expecting
a coup, he resigned and then committed suicide
in 1954. Vargas's tenure marked the start of
modern industrialization for Brazil.
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| Brazil's
indigenous |
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Getúlio
Vargas: Vargas was a strange guy - a mixture
of Mussolini and FDR. Today he is the
hero of all left wing activists and politicians,
but his secret police brutally tortured
communists in the 30s. The book OLGA paints
a good picture of this period (there is
an English translation). Olga was a German
communist jewess who met and married Luis
Carlos Prestes in Russia and returned
with him to bring the joys of Stalinism
to Brazil. Prestes -- who lived to be
a ripe old age and whom I once saw in
Rio -- is best known for a long march
undertaken in the 30s, traveling thousands
of kilometers and holding off government
forces and proving that most people did
not care for either Vargas or Prestes.
What happened to Olga? She was capyured
by Vargas' police and shipped back to
Nazi Germany -- not a good place for a
jew. She died in a concentration camp,
but not before delivering a baby girl,
now a university professor in Rio.
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Modernization and Military Regime: In 1960
a new capital was established at Brasilia
to encourage development of the interior,
but the concern of the military and business
leaders turned to the pressing problems of
social unrest and excessive inflation. In
1964 the military overthrew President Joao
Goulart, who was rapidly moving to the left.
For the next 21 years, Brazil was ruled by
a succession of military governments. Although
the country's economy prospered, the military
suspended constitutional guarantees and imposed
press censorship. Civilian government was
restored in 1985 when an electoral college
chose the very popular Tancredo de Almeida
Neves as president. He died before taking
office and was succeeded by Jose Sarney, a
well connected and powerful politician from
the North of Brazil.
Redemocratization: Brazil got a new constitution
in October 1988. A year lated Fernando Collor
de Mello was elected, after a close electoral
race with Luis Ignacio de Souza (always called
LULA) representing the always very vocal left.
Lula might have won, except for: Eastern Europe
deciding they had had enough of the very thing
Lula wanted for Brazil. This was very embarrassing
for Lula and his supporters, who went on TV
to try to convince the people that the PT's
(Worker's Party) had nothing to do with Communism
in Europe. Roberto Marinho, the owner of the
Globo network and most powerful man in Brazil,
was afraid that a left wing government would
nationize his property, so he backed Mello.Some
of the usual dirty tricks all politicians
do.
Mello was elected and soon launched a "shock"
program to reduce inflation and government spending
(these programs are called pacotes, meaning
packages, a term you must learn if living in
Brazil). People soon found that Collor was corrupt,
and so he lost all support, even that of Marinho.
Out went Collor, under a cloud of impeachment.
These last two presidents are representative
of everything that is bad in traditional Brazilian
politics, where nice words are used to cover
the the ugly face of power, priviledge, self-interest
and corruption.
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| Pelourinho
- Salvador - Bahia - Brazil |
|
This
may be changing with Fernando Henrique
Cardoso, elected in 1994, and whose pacote,
called the Real Plan, named after the
new currency, has held inflation under
control and generated growth. Currently
the President of Brazil is Luiz Inácio
Lula da Silva (Lula). He was re-elected
on 29 October 2006, extending his position
as President of Brazil until the end of
2010. One of the fundamental principles
of the politics in the Republic is the
multi-party system, as a guarantee of
political freedom. |
Amazon
Jungle: The Amazon Rainforest was awarded
World Natural Heritage by UNESCO status in
2000, and 2003. Next to the grandeur of the
Amazon's natural giants, prepare to be overwhelmed
by an unusual sense of smallness. You could
also try to mentally, emotionally, and physically
prepare yourself for any of the typical experiences
and encounters you will have in the Amazon…However,
try as you might, until, beneath the light
of the moon, you watch your guide swiftly
snatch an alligator our of the dark Rio Negro,
grin mischeviously, then pass it to you to
hold on to…no, coming from an average lifestyle,
there is simply no way to prepare for such
things. And that is only the beginning! Here
you will learn medicinal secrets of the endangered
and, in many cases, extinct indigenous tribes,
snuggle sloths, drink water from the insides
of trees, watch monkeys swing through the
magnificent branches of "the world's
lungs", marvel at lily-pads the size
of your kitchen table, eat fruits you never
would have imagined existed, canoe through
the endless waterworld of the amazon, stopping
to fish for piranhas and visit with local
river dwellers, capture dazzling sunsets,
and fall asleep at night hypnotized by the
symphonic hum of the ecosystem. Welcome to
the Amazon, your destination for adrenaline
and rejuvenation.
How
to Get There: Several options exist to enter
the rainforest. Daily flights from the majority
of Brazil's cities service Manaus, the premier
gateway to the Amazon. Manaus stands as the
living monument of the rubber boom. It is
definitely worth the visit, boasting delightful
restaurants, an incredible theatre, and a
relatively exciting nightlife. From that point
on, transfers are provided by most jungle
lodges and travel specialists. Access to the
forest is also feasible from Bélem,
the capital city of the state of Pará.
In fact, in the recent past Belém has
made exceptional strides in improving their
capacity for tourism. It is also conveniently
located more proximate to the Northeast of
Brazil. The Amazon Clipper Cruise offers several
short, simple and affordable packages to explore
the region by boat. Ecotour Expeditions operates
the Motor Yacht Tucano, which provides the
option of privately chartered trips, is more
lavish, and offers longer itineraries. Brazil
Adventure International (a São Paulo
based tour operator) offers hiking and trekking
tours through the Atlantic Rainforest. Numerous
other local companies are also available to
take you on similar adventures through the
region.
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