Brazil

Geography

By far the biggest country in Latin America, Brazil includes a wide variety of terrain. The Amazon rain forest provides a unique habitat for a huge array of plant and animal species, but is suffering from rapid deforestation. Road construction is disrupting the lives of native Indians, and land barons are squeezing those who make their living off the forest, such as rubber tree tappers. The northeast is home to sugar plantations and other agriculture, but is subject to frequent droughts. It is also the poorest region of Brazil. The central plateau is relatively temperate, where the semi-tropical forests in southeast are usually hot and humid. The far south has many cattle ranches and farms, like neighboring Uruguay and Argentina.

History

The country's official motto (as shown on the flag) is "Order and Progress" (Ordem e Progresso), but most of the country's history has been turbulent and/or stagnant. For many decades Brazil pursued a state-led import-substituting industrialization (ISI) strategy that achieved mixed success but contributed to the debt crisis of the 1980s. Brazil began shifting toward free-market capital-friendly policies under former President Fernando Collor de Mello (1990-1992), about the same time as Argentina did but without the element of "shock" surprise. He fought a determined battle against congressional opponents of budget reform. (Brazil's pork barrel politics would make an American congressman blush.) Collor de Mello was charged with corruption and, in spite of vehement protests of innocence on his part, impeached in 1992. For three years Brazil meandered aimlessly.

Though few people realized it at the time, the electoral victory of Fernando Henrique Cardoso in 1995 really changed everything. A leading scholar and former advocate of "Dependency Theory" (which blames Third World underdevelopment on the unequal trade and financial relationships between rich and poor countries), he had served as Finance Secretary and had become known as a pragmatist who advocated free-market reforms. After taking office he succeeded where Collor de Mello and won wide respect for taking decisive action as necessary for Brazil's long-term interests. Thanks to his financial expertise, Brazil overcame the dire threat posed by the Asian economic "flu" in 1998. In spite of these troubles, Cardoso easily won re-election in 1998.

Culture

If you like to party and don't mind seeing hordes of scantily-clad beach dwellers all year round, then you'll love Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's cultural heart and former capital. The massive, spectacular celebrations at Carnaval (the days just before Lent) probably account for ten percent of the nation's entire economic output. Brazil's racial diversity gives rise to a (literally) colorful, exotic, quasi-pagan ritual known as Carnaval, the equivalent of Mardi Gras, the last day (or DAYS plural) before Lent. Men and women wear glittery costumes that put Las Vegas to shame, and Samba music is played constantly for days on end. Brazil is the biggest and most populous Portuguese-speaking country on Earth, and Portugal's sea-faring past imbued Brazil with a more open-minded, liberal attitude than is prevalent in Spanish-speaking world. The Catholic church has much less influence on personal behavior than in Spanish-speaking countries, but the Latin machismo is as strong here as anywhere else. Courts often let husbands who murder their wives for infidelty go scot free.

Rio de Janeiro, the cultural heart of Brazil, and former capital. Sugarloaf Mountain is visible at the upper left. Behind the hills on the right are the incomparable beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema. (Photo by Remey L. Clem)

Politics

Brazil's federal system is the saving grace that probably saved it from the fate of recurrent instability and chaos that has plagued Argentina and other neighbors. Power is distributed between the national and state level, so elections don't necessarily yield an "all-or-nothing" outcome. For a country with so much pride and economic potential, the lagging character of political development is striking. The populist style of politics is somewhat less pronounced than in the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America, and the armed forces have generally refrained from involvement in politics. The military coup of 1964 marked a major shift in Brazil's historical pattern, and the successful transition back to democracy in 1985 suggests that it was not permanent.

The January 2003 inauguration of Worker's Party leader Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva as president marked the first time in forty years that a leftist has occupied the highest office in Brazil. (The last such leader, Joao Goulart, was deposed by the armed forces in 1964.) As a lifelong committed radical, he made conservatives and property owners very nervous. He decided to advance his socialist agenda within the bounds of pragmatism, opting for the "Mitterrand" path, as opposed to the headstrong "Alan Garcia" path. Overall, Lula lived up to his pledge to meet Brazil's debt obligations and abide by the conditions Cardoso's government agreed to in exchange for getting IMF credits. Lula chose competent technocrats rather than political loyalists for the top economic policy positions. This led to rumblings of dissent within his Workers' party, which had a hard time learning how to actually govern for the first time. Keeping his governing coalition together has proved very difficult.

Scott Mainwaring (1995) classifies the political party system in Brazil as "inchoate," meaning undeveloped and disorganized. Party labels are quite misleading, policy agendas are not well defined, and party discipline is very loose. Brazil's electoral system contributes to this lack of order, because candidates can run under a party affiliation without any obligation to the party.

NOTE: Width of each column shows each party's approximate strength. Colors and positions (left to right) represent ideological leanings, which are often vague. Numbers show how many seats each party has in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Minor parties are not shown.

SOURCES: CIA World Factbook, U.S. State Dept.