Over spring break, two important killings occurred in Rio de Janeiro. One, the death of Matheus Melo, 23, a poor black man whose death received moderate coverage. His death is one of many for the city and many caused from police brutality. However, his death was taken note by councilwoman Marielle Franco, who in the past month was placed in charge of monitoring the current military intervention. President Michel Temer signed a decree giving the military power to restore order in Rio de Janeiro State. This action is notable because it’s the first time a Brazilian leader has used a constitutional provision to grant the military primary responsibility for providing security to a state since the 1980s. Franco, one of seven women on the 51 seat council and the only black female representative, was elected to the City council in 2016 breaking barriers in Brazilian culture. She was a human rights activist and outspoken advocate against police brutality.

Councilwoman Marielle Franco, 36

On the eve of her killing, Franco had suggested that the death of Matheus Melo was in fact caused by police brutality, and in turn the State’s fault. Leaving a meeting about empowering black women after 9pm, councilwoman Marielle Franco, 38, and her driver, Anderson Pedro Gomes, were spayed in her car with bullets and killed. Her death, has received much coverage in Brazil and globally as a clear execution of the part of the state.

Brazil is portrayed in this article from a state-crisis and as less of a democracy. It is important to note that Rio de Janeiro State does not represent all of Brazil but does represent a large and populated part. President Temer is using his constitutional power to maintain military power over the cities which reinforces police brutality and violence. Additionally, the State comes into question with the involvement in Franco’s death, especially since she has been wildly popular and one that was outspoken against some of the State’s actions.

Protest in Rio de Janeiro, March 15

In class we have learned about the Vargas dictatorship and the ways military intervention has been used. Additionally, during this course period the election of Temer was followed and frequently discussed. Brazil in history has been a country of many forms of government and different styles of leadership, something foreign to America. This article is important and hopefully something we follow throughout the rest of our course, with the hopes that this brings attention and change to the State and justice to those killed in police brutality as well as Franco’s family.

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/15/world/americas/killing-of-rio-de-janeiro-councilwoman-critical-of-police-rattles-brazil.html

Even though Brazil has a predominantly black and colored population, Black features and culture are often looked down upon and stigmatized. In this article by Zoe Sullivan and Ana Terra Athayde, the current trend of black women and women of color accepting and embracing their natural hair is explored. The article begins with a reference to the Brazilian Blowout technique which has gained international fame because of many famous American stars. This technique was widely used by women of color to conform to social norms and standards of beauty; but today, many young black and mixed raced women are choosing to wear their hair in its natural form to “reclaim their identity.” This has created a market for natural hair salons and hair product lines in Brazilian.

Like many other movements involving hair throughout history, this is about more than just defying fashion norms, but it also brings to light many of the problems and oppressions people of color face in Brazil. Black women earn 28% of what non-black males earn and 80% of employed black females work as maids or in manual labor.  This is coupled by a lack of representation of black women in Brazilian media. By embracing their natural hair these black women are challenging the notion of black culture and black people as inferior.

40 Incredible Photos from Brazil’s First Natural Hair Empowerment March

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/04/brazilian-women-natural-hair-techniques

Economy in Brazil has been a huge issue that has raised public attention and hostility. “Retire at 55? In Brazil, It’s the Norm. But Can the Good Times Last?” by Shasta Darlington from the New York Times addressed the problem of pension in Brazil. Even though the new pension policy has not been renewed in Brazil, the controversies and unsatisfactory have already started among the Brazilians. In Brazil, the average retirement age is 55 and “earning 70% of their final salary for the rest of their lives.” Most Brazilians work before their retirement and pay the pension tax for some amount based on their individual willingness. The Brazilian government spent 8.2% on pension. Despite the fact that this early retirement age has been a norm in Brazil, pension takes up to a third of government spending, which created a budget deficit. Therefore, the pension system in Brazil was no longer sustainable, as Brazil also has low credit rating and low investment grade. Many Brazilians who have worked half of their lives noticed this problem as well because what they have earned and saved was not enough for their retirement life.
Current Brazilian President Michel Temer and Congress in response planned to pass new pension legislation by having the public and private sector workers to retire at 65 for men and 62 for women, which it could prevent bankruptcy . However, this renewal would not be passed by the end of this February as President Temer had military to rein in violent crimes in Rio de Janeiro. According to the Constitution, lawmakers were prevented from making broad legal changes during any military intervention. As a result, President Temer was inhibited to make any proposal on pension this month. The new retirement age has brought a huge hostility in Brazil as some Brazilians thought that the retirement age would make them work longer. Moreover, political elites and governments have always been the one with corruption scandals, and huge amount of money has gone to the group of well-off people. Some Brazilians claimed that the government stole the money they accumulated. Strikes and protests took places to express the anger towards the new potential policy, while Brazilians also used carnivals to show their anger. The purpose of this new pension plan for President Temer was to protect the poor people who have earned a large amount of money in the public sector as large portion of well-off people were subsidized by the working poor. For the time being, the pension vote was postponed to the end of December, and President Temer also aimed to broaden corruption scandal and charged in two criminal cases.
Brazil in the media coverage has always been portrayed as a poor, unsafe, unequal, hostile and corruptive country. So did the new article. The article has addressed the pension problem with dissatisfaction toward the president and congress; protests from Brazilians, as they believed that the government took huge amount of money for their own interests; and the economy was bringing the citizens down. The media coverage gave readers an impression of Brazil was a chaotic country as people and government were not in harmony, while it is easy to ignore the splendid culture and other aspects of Brazil.
The news article addressed one of the most controversial issues on economy and politics. Many Brazilians have worked hard to save for their retirement, but the existing policy could not guarantee their lives after they ended their career. Pension is also related to Brazilians’ socioeconomic status, as money represents wealth and mobility. However, majority of the Brazilian population still struggle to live, while only a few percent are the group of well-off people. Moreover, 35% of the pension subsidies go to the richest group of people, but only 4% go to the poorest group of people. The pension system does not guarantee Brazilians’ social security. Brazil is a country that stresses racial democracy with the portrayal of Brazil grants equal opportunities to all groups of people regardless of race. Race in relation to socioeconomic status are concerns in Brazil. From the book Racism in Racial Democracy, the book presented racial issues in Vasalia, Rio de Janeiro, and some reflections of socioeconomic status. Vasalians in the book regardless of Euro-Brazilians or Afro-Brazilians, they think of their social welfare and mobility based on their socioeconomic status over the problem of race. They think of their raise in social status and power in terms of the money they have .

1 Shasta Darlington, “ Retire at 55? In Brazil, It’s the Norm. But Can the Good Times Last?” The New York Times, February 25 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/25/world/americas/brazil-pension-michel-temer.html?rref=collection%252Fsectioncollection%252Famericas.

4 Ibid
5 France Winddance Twine, Racism in a Racial Democracy (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1998), 70.

Bibliography

Darlington, Shasta. “Retire at 55? In Brazil, It’s the Norm. But Can the Good Times Last?”
The New York Times, February 25, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/25/world/americas/brazil-pension-michel-temer.html?rref=collection%252Fsectioncollection%252Famericas.
Twine, France Winddance. Racism in a Racial Democracy. New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers
University Press, 1998.

Before the fall semester, Brazil’s UERJ closed classes indefinitely due to a lack of funding to the college. UERJ is Rio de Janeiro’s state school, like Ohio’s Ohio State University. The school had approximately 25,000 students and had 30 undergraduate programs as well as 40 graduate programs (“Rio”). Previously one of the top universities in Rio de Janeiro, the college has been falling behind in recent years. This past year, registration for entrance exams were the lowest that they had been in eighteen years: below half of the previous year’s, 80,000 students (Alves).

The lack of funding affected not only the ability to open classes due to campus safety, but also due to the inability to pay professors, many of whom had worked the previous semester without pay in order to help their students finish classes for that school year. Third-party food service vendors were also unwilling to bid for the university’s restaurant contracts as they worried that they may not get paid for their service (Alves).

 (Forte)

A related article discussed Rio de Janeiro’s and the country’s current economic crisis which plays a big part in state education, especially as the Senate voted last January to heavily curb the country’s spending for the next twenty years (Forte). However, the end of the education article stated the university leaders’ optimism for the reopening of the school very soon, which I believe reflects an optimism that we have discussed quite often in class (Alves).

The article is short but discusses the problems that the university had been facing. Portrayal of Brazilians is as portrayal of Americans are in America: neutral bias. With this, I mean that the protests and school closings have all of the information, but with a slight bias, specifically in the financial crisis article. However, the articles both had optimism of Brazil’s future. The targeted audience is Brazilians which makes it difficult for outsiders to understand the problems. However, the author cites other Rio Times articles in order to allow foreign readers to quickly find related articles.

Although this does not have much to do with our discussions of art and history that we have been discussing thus far, my research and interest in this class is education. Education is very telling for how a country is doing at that period. This state university’s failings, I believe, is indicative of larger problems in the country, and I believe that the optimism that they feel is indicative of the country as well. Throughout our readings, we have read about hope and this idealistic view that elite Brazilians have. While often it is not helpful for solving problems, it is very important to remain hopeful towards our children and their education.

Works Cited

Alves, Lise. “Rio’s State University UERJ Suspends Classes Indefinitely Due to Funding.” The Rio       Times, The Rio Times, 2 Aug. 2017, riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-politics/local-politics-rio-   politics/financially-troubled-rios-uerj-suspends-classes-indefinitely/.

Forte, Jay. “Brazil Finance Minister Announces Recovery Agreement for Rio de Janeiro.” The Rio     Times, The Rio Times, 12 Jan. 2017, riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-politics/brazil-finance-   minister-announces-recover-plan-for-rio-de-janeiro/.

“Rio de Janeiro State University.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia     Foundation, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_de_Janeiro_State_University.

In this Carnival, there was a surprise headliner. Samantha Mortner is a British woman who was one of the main dancers for the Imperio da Tijuca samba school during this year’s Carnival. Mortner has lived in Brazil since the end of her first marriage in 2006. She was working as a director for a PR firm but knew she was not made for the British weather. She is a huge lover of Brazilian culture and wore an outfit inspired by Yemanja, Goddess of the Sea.

Mortner last year

When she first came to Brazil to vacation, she knew she belonged there. She settled in one of the largest favelas in the country and started to teach the English through an NGO. Later, she got a deal with the locals; if they taught her how to samba, she would teach tourist lessons on Brazil.

Being the first non-Brazilian dancer to lead at Carnival is a huge deal. Mortner is considered the “musa gringa” in the Imperio da Tijuca samba school. This shows how welcoming Brazil is and how they want to share their culture with the entire world. Samba is extremely labor demanding and for Mortner to become a main dancer shows her dedication to the place she lives in and the appreciation of a beautiful culture.

Throughout the article it makes Mortner seem like some sort of Goddess, but that can be attributed to the news article being from the UK. However, when we discuss themes like whitewashing and cultural appreciation, it is hard to not think this is what this white woman is doing. However, the local people of the area feel as if she is coming from an appreciative stance and respect.

Video

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43005300

Brazil Begins Effort to Plant 73 Million Trees in the Amazon
written by Jason Daley for the Smithsonian

In order to support their weak economy, Brazil began cutting down trees from the Amazon Rain Forest in the 1970’s to provide land for cattle and Agriculture. Though this may have increased Brazil’s export of beef, soybeans, and coffee it also resulted in major Environmental concerns such as losses in Biodiversity, and increases in Carbon emission (Fearnside).

However, recently new efforts have been proposed to help protect the Amazon, and allow it to expand to it previous extents. Last Fall Brazil announced a plan which included the planting of 73 million trees in the Amazon, which is the most extensive tropical replantation effort in history (Daley). The main issue at hand when formulating this plan was the amount of money it would cost to buy, and plant so many trees. The solution is a new technique called Muvuca, which involves the collection of seeds from native trees and depositing them in dense networks (Daley). Although the use of Muvuca is completely experimental the vice president of Conservation International’s Brazil program, Rodrigo Medeiros, states, “With plant-by-plant reforestation techniques, you get a typical density of about 160 plants per hectare. With Muvuca, the initial outcome is 2,500 trees per hectare”(Daley). This Proposes Muvuca as a very effective technique; however, those 2,500 trees are in reality just seeds with the potential to become trees. This is where the risk lies, within the Muvuca technique. Additionally, resulting from objectives of the Paris Accord Brazil has announced its efforts to restore 12 million hectares of the Amazon. Due to its position as the initial step of Brazil’s massive proposal, much importance has been placed on the Muvuca experiment.

Studies have shown Second-Growth Forests (younger than 60 years) to have remarkable abilities to consume vast abundances of Carbon. With Brazil as one of the planet’s leaders in deforestation, a successful implementation of their recent proposal could drop global carbon emission’s significantly. The discontinuing of deforestation alone could decrease carbon emissions by up to 37%, with even larger decreases with the regrowth of forests (Daley). Unfortunately, results such as this are unlikely because Brazil hasn’t taken enough action in stopping deforestation with 25 million acres of deforestation occurring annually.

Time-lapse of deforestation in Brazil

The proposal has resulted in a lot of hype within environmental media that is, for the most part, encouraging in this Article. Muvuca is proposed as a cheaper and more effective technique than the conventional replanting of previously grown saplings. The article displays this by not only providing Muvuca’s promising potential from credible sources but also exposes some of the weaknesses of conventional replanting. One way Daley did this was by explaining how not all previously grown saplings survive the process of being replanted. The only negative response to Brazil’s conservation efforts was the experimental design of the usage of Muvuca, and the nature of experiments to have uncertain results.

It appears as though a political battle is waging in Brazil between its President, Michel Temer and Conservational organizations such as the Brazilian Ministry of Environment. President Temer has found economic success by building dams and increasing the nations mining efforts, but at what cost (Staff). The land in which mining and dam construction are occurring used to be part of the Amazon Rain Forest. Additionally, last August Temer issued a decree to dissolve a 4.6 million hectare national reserve for mining. Fortunately, the decree was so unpopular throughout the country that it was revoked.

Work Cited

Daley, Jason. “Brazil Begins Effort to Plant 73 Million Trees in the Amazon.” Smithsonian,      https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/brazil-begins-effort-plant-73-million-trees-amazon-180967086/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2018.

Fearnside, Philip M. “Deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia: History, Rates, and Consequences.” Conservation Biology, vol. 19, no. 3, June 2005, pp. 680–88. Wiley Online Library, doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00697.x.

Marguerita, Choy. “Brazil Opens Vast National Reserve to Mining.” Reuters, 23 Aug. 2017. Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-mining/brazil-opens-vast-national-reserve-to-mining-idUSKCN1B32A5.

Capoeira Performance at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 2017

Capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial art, played a central role in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 2017. Through combining musical elements and dancing skills, Capoeira practitioners compose various choreographic techniques that are comprised of constant flows of offensive and defensive movements between two combatants who explore and exploit their opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. After the exchange of movements, they patiently seek the perfect moment to strike a decisive blow. According to the Smithsonian Magazine, an online platform that publishes academic research and studies conducted by the Smithsonian institution, Capoeira contains a rich background that emphasizes both its cultural and historical values. Today, fans perceive Capoeira as an art form, rather than a traditional combat practice. However, Capoeira has a deep historical root that traces back to the colonial period.

Capoeira performance by African Slaves in Colonial Brazil

Enslaved Africans in Brazil developed Capoeira to resist European oppression. According to an article published by the Smithsonian magazine, historians surmise that Capoeira originated from quilombos, small communities organized by escaped African slaves and their descendants. The article argues Capoeira emerged as a defensive tool against the Portuguese and was under the influence of African cultural system within quilombos. In the mid-1800s, the Paraguayan War fueled a massive influx of slave population to urban areas in which the African immigrants utilized Capoeira as a mean for protection and survival. However, Capoeira conveyed both aggressive and inoffensive images in the twentieth century. Professions such as mercenaries and bodyguards that require physical protection services trained in Capoeira, whereas urban residents performed Capoeira with musical instruments at bars. During the 1930s, Capoeira underwent various transitions. For example, Master Bimba institutionalized Capoeira as an educational discipline through legitimizing Capoeira in the form of self-defense and athletics, which later contributed to presenting Capoeira as an official cultural practice in Brazil that emphasized “paramount fighting techniques but [an] innovative [and] spectacular visual show.”

On the road to the Worldwide Festival of Black Arts in Dakar, Senegal, 1966. From Left: Mestre Camafeu de Oxossi, Mestre Gato Preto, Mestre Roberto Satanas, Mestre João Grande, Mestre Gildo Alifnete, and Mestre Pastinha. (Courtesy of velhosmestres.com)

Capoeira continued to evolve as an art form during the late twentieth century. According to the Smithsonian magazine, Capoeira experienced a major success in expanding its presence across the nation. In 1964, Master Acordeon promoted Capoeira through touring, hosting seminars, and teaching in local schools of Brazil. His influence later spread throughout the world. He founded the World Capoeira Association, an organization that promoted Capoeira through “workshops, educational trips, publications, and codifying a body of rules for the understanding and respect for the history, rituals, traditions, and philosophy.” Acordeon further propagated Capoeira across Brazil, the Caribbean, and Europe. Moreover, Capoeira was initially introduced to Americans in 1975, where educational institutions such as Columbia, Yale, Harvard, and New York universities implemented Capoeira as their program. In 1990, two Capoeira masters launched an institution that taught Capoeira in United States; their commitment was recognized with the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship. Although many Capoeira masters in Brazil disapproved of the sport’s globalization, Capoeira became an official national sport in 1972.

An Illustrative Design of Eddy Gordo in Tekken

Capoeira possesses both artistic and cultural values. Capoeira practitioners redefined the sport as an aesthetic work in the twentieth century. For example, Master Joao Grande believes “Capoeira is nature.” His inspirations in creating techniques have derived from observing nature. However, Tekken, a Japanese video game franchise, interprets Capoeira as a combative tool through applying Capoeira techniques in combat. Eddy Gordo, an affluent Brazilian male fighter, plays an important role in Tekken. After his father’s death, Gordo was wrongfully imprisoned, which motivated him to train Capoeira for taking revenge on his father’s killer. Although his ethnicity was not specified in his biography, Tekken designed him as a Brazilian who wears a green and yellow colored outfit, speaks Portuguese, and has a dark skin tone. Recent updates within the game added new features to Gordo’s outfit such as a tiger coat. Furthermore, Gordo manages an orphanage in Brazil in which the children view him as a hero with indestructible combat skills. Overall, Gordo’s characteristics resemble popular representation of Brazil as well as Capoeira. The character requires a consistent control of chain commands to invoke attacks and his skills show a constant flow of various physical movements, which reflects the fighting structure and style in Capoeira. Without the musical components, Tekken portrayed Capoeira as a combat weapon.

Capoeira serves as significant historical evidence of how African slaves in Brazil reacted against European oppression during the colonial period. Stuart Schwartz, a history professor at Yale University, argues various forms of resistance existed throughout the colonial era, in which palmares functioned as a social protection for African slaves. According to the Smithsonian magazine, the African slaves considered Capoeira as a defensive tool to protect themselves from the European brutality, and they practiced Capoeira to break “the bonds of slavery in both physically and mentally.” Furthermore, although the European perspectives categorized the slave resistance as unlawful, the core identity of Capoeira conveys “cleanliness and articulation” that reflect African slaves’ “burning desire for freedom.” Today, the key ideology behind Capoeira transformed yet the sport continues to remain as a representative cultural figure in Afro-Brazilian heritage. For example, in the PBS series “Black in Latin America,” a Brazilian Capoeira master shares that he supervises Capoeira sessions for the youths in Salvador to discipline their minds and prevent young Brazilians being involved in potential criminal activities.

Romulo Barral (bottom) at the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Long Beach, California, attempts a Triangle Choke.

The Smithsonian article argues Capoeira “is a result of the phenomenon of people migrating to new lands…Capoeira was conceived in Africa and born in Brazil.” In class, we discussed the cultural diversity in Brazil. Numerous immigrants with various ethnic backgrounds constitute the Brazilian cultural identity of which Capoeira serves as a popular component. Similarly, Brazilian jiu-jitsu is another example. In 1909, Geo Omori, a Japanese immigrant in Brazil, founded the first jiu-jitsu school. Compared to Capoeira, both sports focus on building individual’s character and physical fitness. In the early 1990s, Brazilian jiu-jitsu became a nationally prominent sport with many practitioners in Brazil and international tournaments. In a broader historical theme, Capoeira alongside Brazilian jiu-jitsu indicates the cultural diversity in Brazil and suggests that the readers fully take account of contextualizing this aspect in understanding the Brazilian cultural identity.

Works Cited

Brazil. Directed by Ricardo Pollack. PBS, 2011. Accessed February 6, 2018.

“Brazilian jiu-jitsu.” Wikipedia. February 05, 2018. Accessed February 07, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_jiu-jitsu.

“Eddy Gordo.” Tekken Wiki. Accessed February 07, 2018. http://tekken.wikia.com/wiki/Eddy_Gordo.

Goncalves-Borrega, Juan . “How Brazilian Capoeira Evolved From a Martial Art to an International Dance Craze.” Smithsonian.com. September 21, 2017. Accessed February 07, 2018. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/capoeira-occult-martial-art-international-dance-180964924/.

Schwartz, Stuart B. Slaves, peasants, and rebels: reconsidering Brazilian slavery. Vol. 82. University of Illinois Press, 1996.

For this Brazil Culture and History Post, I wanted to talk about a population in Brazil that is considered one of the more recent groups of people that immigrated to Brazil. That being, the Japanese (specifically from Okinawa). Marina had mentioned that in Brazil, there was a population of people of Asian descent that live there. I wanted to find more information because the topic is interesting and I could relate it to another class (Intro to East Asia with Professor Bonk) and find out why it had occurred

• Brazilian Samba and Japanese dance traditions interacting in Sao Paulo.

This led me to a BBC article called “A Little Corner of Brazil that is forever Okinawa” and it talks about the Japanese population in the Liberdale district of Sao Paulo. In the article, it discusses how this “Brazilian-Japanese” culture formed when the settlers had been living in Brazil for about 50 or so years. Another interesting thing is they managed to preserve their original language of Okinawan, even after their original homeland (Okinawa/Ryukyu) was annexed and culturally/linguistically forever changed during the 1870s by the Japanese Empire. Other cultural things were mentioned in the article such as Japanese Food becoming popular and Shintoist symbols being present on some streets in Sao Paulo.

• Japanese restaurant in Sao Paulo

• “Torii” or Shinto Archway in Sao Paulo.

This can relate to the class by the ideas that Brazil is pretty much this super diverse country. It has a large number of different kinds of people that all come from different stages of history. From Africans and Europeans to Asians, Brazil is home to all kinds of people. The topic is really in-depth and there is an interesting history between Brazil and Japan.

Article Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42859249

Today, February 2, some Brazilians celebrate the festival of Iemanjá (also spelled Yemanja), one of the most important Candomblé goddesses.  Candomblé, a Brazilian expression of several African faith traditions (especially Yoruba) combined with some elements of Catholicism, is a great example of the kinds of cultural resistance and exchange we started to talk about in class yesterday.  It is also a very visible link between West Africa and the larger African diaspora.

Iemanjá is a female water goddess, a protector of fishermen and pregnant women.  In Bahia, devotees honor her on the official Catholic festival day for Our Lady of Navigators (Feb 2).  Followers make offerings of flowers and other objects that they throw into the sea, or set adrift on small rafts.

It was hard to find a subtitled/English video of the Bahian celebration, but I’m sharing one here.  You’ll her the music, see the blue and white clothing of many devotees, and see a few people entering into religious trances.  (You can find a lot more of videos if you just want to see the celebration).

A supporter of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva holds up a banner expressing his support at a campaign event

The 2018 Presidential election in Brazil will occur in the context of the impeachment of the previous President, Dilma Rousseff, the corruption charges against her successor Michel Temer, the conviction of popular ex-president Luiz Incacio Lula da Silva who is seeking a third term, and the shocking rise of the Brazilian far right in the form of Representative Jair Bolsonaro. Underscoring these complicated and messy recent turn of events is the economic downturn in Brazil, widespread corruption charges, and an extremely low faith in democracy, with approximentaly 13% of Brazilians expressing satisfaction with democracy, and 97% expressing the feeling that the Brazilian government exists to cater to a “small, powerful elite” (Londono and Darlington).

The leading candidate, and the former President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Da Silva’s ability to win the election has been challenged by a court ruling upholding a corruption charge against him.

Da Silva and Bolsonaro represent a response to these factors, as they both offer more radical solutions to the some of the issues that Brazil is facing. Voters in Brazil remember da Silva as the president who presided over the country during a time of new prosperity, where new social programs helped many people in poorer parts of Brazil afford basic necessities of life. This memory and his vision gives him broad support across Brazil. However, his ability to be president is tempered by a recent court decision to uphold his conviction for bribery charges, which could result in a 12 year prison sentence (Londano). Da Silva is also a member of former President Rousseff’s party, the Workers’ Party, which at points comprised the largest political party by representation in the parliament (Londono and Darlington).

The second primary candidate, Representative Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro has made shocking and derogatory comments throughout his career as a representative.

On the other side of the race is Representative Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right representative whose claim to fame is a long history of incendiary remarks aimed at women, blacks, and members of the LGTBQ community. Much of his support comes from those who see his brash statements and radical viewpoints as the necessary solution to many of the issues that Brazil faces currently. For instance, Representative Bolsonaro touts his military background as relevant experience for tackling the growing violent crime and corruption issues. As many other viable leaders have been toppled by massive corruption scandals, the radically different approach of Bolsonaro becomes more appealing, as some Brazilians see the current political institutions as failing them, especially those wealthier landowners who the policies of a da Silva administration would disproportionately affect, or young men who have some distance from the relative prosperity and stability of the da Silva administration and who now can project their economic frustrations onto vulnerable peoples (Londono and Darlington).

This article about the political institutions of Brazil presents a largely negative view of the political situation in Brazil that is not necessarily unmerited, but its narrow presentation of Brazil’s political situation does not explore the common factors that contribute to similar political situations in other liberal democracies. For instance, Bolsonaro is not unique, he is merely an example of the type of authoritarian bigots that have become more common in liberal democracies like the United States and European countries that have experienced some degree of economic stagnation.

This graph shows the rise of far right parties that share Bolsonaro’s views in European democracies.

Therefore, given some of the negative stereotypes that exist about Brazil or Latin American countries already, the lack of context in this article could contribute to that negative view. This is further exasperated by some of the quotes they draw from. For instance one of the people they interview for the piece is introduced as someone who lives in an adobe house on a dirt road, and she says that “all politicians are thieves, but at least when they [WP] stole they also gave us back something” (Londono and Darlington). While this may be accurate, its usage in the article could enable readers to extrapolate this individuals situation to be broadly representative, which again, would not give the whole picture.

Interestingly, the way this article describes the political situation in Brazil reminds me of how the indigenous Brazilians were described in some of the primary source readings, especially the Jean de Leary reading about the nature and ways of the indigenous people. In both instances, the Western “developed” viewpoint stands out and shapes how the respective authors “report” on their subjects. Now this perspective is inherent, as the two readings are not written by the people being reported on, but rather by an outside writer looking in. However, this perspective creates a narrow view of the subjects, and distorts reality by applying a different culture’s ideals to the subject. For instance, in the de Lery piece, he juxtaposes the indigenous peoples against the customs of the Europeans to make his point about their appearances (de Lery). In a similar fashion, this article presents the relative dysfunctions of the Brazilian political system with the U.S. system as a reference for most readers, meaning that the U.S.’s dysfunctions are both minimized and the Brazilian dysfunction is presented without the benefit of much historical knowledge of the system for most readers. This example connects to the larger class theme of context, as the ways that the article contextualizes the current political system in Brazil leaves the reader with certain takeaways about Brazil as a whole. Therefore, a better version of this article would benefit from more contextualization of the appeal of Bolsonaro and how his campaign relates to other far right leaders. It could also draw from more direct Brazilian perspectives to paint a broader picture of the country, not one limited to the few interviewed persons.

Sources:  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/20/world/americas/brazil-lula-bolsonaro-election.html

www.nytimes.com/2018/01/24/world/americas/brazil-presidential-electionluiz-inacio-lula-da-silva.html

Jean de Lery: History of a Voyage to the Land of Brazil, Also Called America.