Brasil Observer #25 - English Version

WWW.BRASILOBSERVER.CO.UKLONDON EDITION ISSN 2055-4826 # 0 0 2 5MARCH/2015GUILHERME ARANEGA / ESTÚDIO RUFUS (WWW.RUFUS.ART.BR)

STATE OF THE ARTTOP BRAZILIAN BUSINESSES VISIT ADVANCED RESEARCH CENTRE

IN THE UK WHERE PARTNERSHIP POSSIBILITIES EXIST

BRAZIL’S PUZZLE On the streets, people react to austerity and corruption

BEAUTIFUL GAME A humorous vision for the Brazil vs. Chile friendly in London

ELZA FIÚZA/AGÊNCIA BRASIL RAFAEL RIBEIRO/CBF

B R A S I LO B S E R V E R

STATE OF THE ART

2 brasilobserver.co.uk | March 2015

SUMMARY4

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IN FOCUS London focuses on Latin America

BR-UK CONNECTION Restored movies of Hitchcock are exhibited in Sao Paulo

PROFILESebastian Ramos and the London Fashion Week’s catwalk

CONECTANDOFrom Foz do Iaguçu, a university that inspires Latin America

GUEST COLUMNIST Vassiliki Constantinidou on Brazil and Greece

BRASILIANCEDissatisfaction and agitation: the pieces of the puzzle Brazil

GLOBAL BRAZILA new “Industrial Revolution” is on its way in the UK

GUIDESeleção plays against Chile in London... so what?

CULTURAL TIPS

COLUMNISTS

TRAVEL

LONDON EDITION

Is a monthly publication of ANAGU UK UN LIMITED founded by:

ANA TOLEDOOperational Director

[email protected]

GUILHERME REISEditorial Director

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ROBERTA SCHWAMBACHFinancial Director

[email protected]

ENGLISH EDITORKate Rintoul

[email protected] Shaun Cumming

[email protected]

LAYOUT AND GRAPHIC DESIGNJean Peixe

[email protected]

CONTRIBUTORSCati Calixto, Francisco Denis, Franko

Figueiredo, Gabriela Lobianco, Juliana Resende, Leticia Faddul, Michael

Landon, Ricardo Somera, Rômulo Seitenfus, Vassiliki Constantinidou,

Wagner de Alcântara Aragão

PRINTERSt Clements press (1988 ) Ltd,

Stratford, London [email protected]

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E D I T O R I A L

This edition of Brasil Observer will circulate in London from Friday 13 March. A day of bad luck, some people would say. The focus, howe-ver, is on what could happen on Sunday 15, the day on which several Brazilian cities will like-ly experience protests, with people asking for the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff (Workers Party).

It’s difficult to predict what could happen. In a country like Brazil, where the narrative of events remains in the hands of a few, the po-litical and economic interests of a minority usually overlap facts – regardless of ideological position. Thus, it is safe to say that while some will use the demonstrations to destabilise the government, others will try to delegitimise the protests. Here, the two sides fail.

The Brasil Observer considers the right of protest and expression as a fundamental pillar of democracy – because of that we support a democratic reform of the media, so that radio and television public concessions meet the cri-teria set out in the 1988 Constitution. We belie-ve, therefore, that the protests against the cur-rent government – and any other government – are legitimate.

We do not shy away. But it should be said, there is currently no legal basis for impea-chment. The removal of the President is laid down in Article 85 of the Constitution and can happen in cases of crimes of responsibility, among which are crimes against the existence of the Union, the exercise of political, social and individual rights and against administrati-ve probity. Until proven otherwise, no eviden-ce links Dilma Rousseff to any criminal action (when there is intention).

Moreover, Brazil does not live an institutio-nal crisis – the Operation Car Wash, which is investigating irregularities in Petrobras, proves that democratic institutions are functioning. The political turmoil is mainly caused by the economic stagnation – as well as the corrup-tion scandals and the lack of ability of Rousseff to deal with Congress.

After Rousseff’s re-election, Brasil Observer pointed out that in defining the strategy for the resumption of growth was the main trap for the government. As predicted, adopting measures were fought during the election campaign – fiscal adjustment – to gain cre-dibility with the market and the opposition. Rousseff lost political capital. Worse: she lost the support of those who voted for her.

It was naive to believe that by doing what her opponents wanted, she could appea-se the spirits of those who did not give her the vote. Result: widespread dissatisfaction (read Wagner Aragão’s report on page 16).

This climate of political instability is bad for the central and immediate problem fa-cing the country: economic stagnation. If the government cannot articulate in Congress the fiscal adjustment measures that almost all agree are necessary, what is there to say about other key initiatives to unlock the eco-nomic growth, such as labour and tax refor-ms. An impeachment would aggravate this, with more damaging consequences to the achievements of the last decade.

On corruption, an ancient and chro-nic problem in the country, Brasil Observer does not detract: in power, the Workers Par-ty proves itself as unable to follow different path from the one adopted traditionally by all other parties. The trial and possible con-viction of politicians and executives of large companies indicted by the Operation Car Wash fills the country with hope. By itself, however, this is not enough.

Companies investigated for irregularities in contracts with Petrobras are among the lar-gest donors to political campaigns. Almost all parties receive donations from companies that obviously aim to ensure future benefits. This is one of the greatest evils of our young democra-tic system, as it distorts the basic concept of one person, one vote, and still generates endless possibilities of corruption. To seriously address the problem, is necessary a political reform that at least prohibits donations to political cam-paigns by private companies.

Finally, it is worth to say that the Worke-rs Party is wrong to say the movements for Rousseff’s impeachment is a manifestation of white elite driven by class hatred. Unde-niably, it does exist, but this does not fully explain the friction of the party in power since 2002. It’s not just the elite who are dis-satisfied with the current government.

The social and economic advances of the last decade have not been accompanied by gre-ater political and democratic awareness among citizens – and not among the parties as well. The reflection of this is what we see today: a tormented country that, months after the elec-tions, still does not know what the outcome of the polls meant.

A TORMENTED COUNTRY


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IN FOCUS

In a country like Brazil, where the majority of the population, including the hegemonic media, prefers the comfort of dependency, active foreign policy is seen as a problem

By Guilherme Reis

Some can argue that Latin America no longer attracts as much international attention as before. After a decade of economic growth (boosted mainly by the boom in the raw materials market), some economies in the region are fa-cing the risk of stagnation. Therefore, international investors are wondering: is it worth being there?

First point, is to understand exactly which Latin America we are talking about. There seems to be a consensus that, in each of the region’s countries, there exists at least two different coun-tries. Not only because of their cultural diversity, but mainly the social inequality that causes deep societal divisions that can be bad for local people - and also for international investors.

Were Latin America a more homoge-neous, integrated and aligned in relation to political and economic strategies, su-rely the task of understanding and parti-cipating in regional development would be easier. But in the same way that, when you create an atmosphere of excitement, many problems are hidden, opportuni-ties also become more difficult to be cap-tured and utilised when the reality is so divided. In an environment where very often perception is worth more than rea-lity, what is real is not seen.

In this sense, two events held in Fe-bruary in London, with completely diffe-rent approaches, set out to foster a more comprehensive understanding of what is happening in Latin America.

The first, held by the Institute of Latin American Studies of the Univer-sity of London, tried to analyse the ten years of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA), established in 2004 by the then presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Fidel Castro of Cuba. Currently with 11 members (Brazil is not one of them) the intergovernmen-tal organisation was born under the ideal of building the 21st Century So-cialism, opposing the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Its actions are aimed at increasing economic, political and social integration of the region through the concepts of solida-rity, cooperation and complementarity between the nations.

Of the experiences presented at the conference, two stood out. One regarding the Sucre, the common virtual currency of ALBA, and the other on the attempts to build a Communal Economic System.

For Stephanie Pearce, a doctoral can-didate at Queen Mary College, Universi-ty of London, although the complemen-tary currency has been created to reduce the influence of the dollar in the region and eliminate the financial costs of eco-nomic transactions between the ALBA countries, “Sucre has not reached its full potential,” being used almost exclusively between Venezuela and Ecuador.

After pointing out the positive aspects that she witnessed in Venezuela with the operation of the Social Production Enter-prises and Family Production Units, He-len Yaffe, of the University of Leicester, a questioned the transition to socialism in a context of economic dependence. For her, “the Bolivarian government avoided conflict with the capitalist elite” and fai-led in the conduct of public spending not diversifying national production.

This point was also emphasised by Jose Manuel Pontes, from the Universi-ty of Oxford, for whom the ALBA will only continue to develop if not more de-pendent on Venezuela, which has alwa-ys been the great financier of the group, but now faces a serious economic crisis made worse by the falling rice of oil.

The second event also dealt with the economic development in Latin Ameri-ca, but from a more liberal perspective. Organised by the London Business Scho-ol, the tenth edition of the Latin Ameri-can Business Forum revolved around two main panels, one on competitiveness and the other, looking at the polarisation between free market and state control and looking for a possible middle grou-nd for countries in the region to achieve equitable growth.

In general, everyone seemed to agree that Latin American countries need to become more efficient in public spending, reducing corruption, increasing the per-centage of investment to GDP and focus on infrastructure and education, so that there is a relevant impact on productivity.

“Productivity in Latin America was 20% in the 1960s and 1970s in compari-son with the developed countries. Today it is 40% to 50%,” said the Head Econo-

mist of Patria Investment, Luis Fernando Lopes. “The more the country grows, the more productive it is,” he added.

Leonardo Uehara, Managing Partner of management consultants Visagio, poin-ted out the need to modernise labour laws in Brazil. “Today every state has its own re-gulations. How can a company expand?”. Uehara said that “if Brazil wants to be competitive, its companies must to invest abroad.” For him, Brazilian companies have great a advantage in other emerging markets: “we understand better.”

Wenceslao Bunge, Managing Direc-tor at Credit Suisse, said that “the only way to be competitive exporting raw ma-terial is by reducing the cost of produc-tion”, adding value to the application of technological resources. On the effects of corruption, Bunge argued that “when the institutions are more important than pe-ople, the country has the means to achie-ve economic success.”

In the second panel, there were a lot of talks about the role of the private sector in the Latin American economy. Alejandro Puente, Chief Relationship Officer at Banco Comportamos, said the region offered “many opportunities be-cause there are many needs.” And that “free trade agreements are good starting points, but not enough.”

A similar view was shared by Francisco Gordillo Pírez, Ambassador of Uruguay in the World Trade Organisation, for whom “before the agreement, we must do the ho-mework”, otherwise the national economy can be severely hampered.

Before closing the forum, the former Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Herre-ra addressed the audience. He recalled the creation of Mercosur in the early 1990s, and said he no longer recognised the or-ganisation because it had lost focus of free trade and now has political objectives. Herrera said he thinks an agreement be-tween Mercosur and the European Union is unlikely, showing more sympathetic to a pact between Latin American countries and the United States.

Overcoming the alleged dichotomy of the “free market vs. state control” is the great challenge of almost all Latin American countries. Something so naive as to believe that one of these ideologies, alone, can lead Latin America to the full development.

LONDON FOCUSES ON LATIN AMERICA

Brazil’s Former Minister of Defence and Foreign Affairs, Celso Amorim, during a presentation at the London School of Economics

g 17 March Energy Geopolitics and the New World Order - the Implications for Brazil - Given the fall in oil prices and the agreement between the US and China on climate change, the Brazilian Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain hosts event that will analyse the new geopolitics around energy resources and the implica-tions for Brazil. Taylor Wessing, 5 New Street Squa-re. £10 members / £30 for non-members.

g 18 March The Americanization of Brazil Foreign Relations, 1889-1914 - King’s College’s Brazil Institute and Canning House receive Leslie Bethell for a lecture on Brazil’s relations with the United States and Spanish America republics between in the period from 1889 - the year of the Brazilian Repu-blic Proclamation - to the First World War. The talk will include the ideas of Barão de Rio Branco, Joaquim Nabuco and Manoel de Oliveira Lima. King’s College Strand Building (S -1.06). The lecture is open to the public, with no need for prior registration.

g 24 MarchThe Future of Energy in Latin America - bright prospects? - A conference held by Canning Hou-se analyses the renewable energy sector in Latin America, highligh-ting the opportunities for UK in-vestments and the possibilities to diversify the energy production in the region. Canning House, 14/15 Belgrave Square. Price: £20 for members / £40 for non-members.

g 25 MarchDrugs Policy in Latin America - Can-ning House anticipates the debates of the UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs, on 19-21 April in New York with a focus on Latin American policy.Canning House, 14/15 Belgrave Square. Price: £10 for members / £15 for non-members.

Upcoming Latin American Events


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GUEST COLUMNIST

By Vassiliki Constantinidou g

AAlthough it may seem strange, I’ll tell you about a recent dre-am. I was walking in a crowded street: people coming and going immersed in their thoughts, certainties and doubts. The day was clear and the sun shining. But gradually, a grey cloud took over the sky, capping sunlight, although it was possible to see luminosities around it.

This picture illustrates the moment we are living since the crisis of 2008. When my thou-ghts fly to Greece, I know that people are seeing the rays and light the shadows try to hide. It is the light of hope that they see. Here in Brazil, we see the same sun, but what people look are the shadows ahead. Sha-dows of an economic elite boi-ling hatred against a party and a president, as it does not ac-cept losing its privileges.

Apparently, the two coun-tries are treading opposite paths. Greece is negotiating with the European Union the way out of the economic depression. Brazil, which until last year avoided the crisis, maintaining good levels of income and employment, is per-forming some adjustments, whi-ch in fact are austerity measures. Leave the economic intricacies to the experts. The leaders of the two countries now face an uphill battle in the economic and social field, but also live a very delicate political moment. Only popular support could provide stability to their actions.

I have followed and lived the trajectory of these two countries that are part of my life story. In Greece are my ancestral roots; in Brazil, the land that formed and welcomed my immigrant parents and me. How could can such di-fferent countries from an econo-mic and historic point of view have something in common?

Let’s remember that the two governments were elected demo-cratically in a tight race between conservative and progressive for-ces. I was in Greece last year, befo-re the elections. The results of the elections confirmed the climate of simply unsustainable situations that ran through squares, homes and streets of Athens. The victory of Syriza opened new possibilities to modify the depression table fa-cing the country, caused by the economic crisis that began in 2008. It is also an encouragement to the European countries experiencing

the same situation. To assist the government in its endeavour, the-re are the popular support and the majority of Congress.

The re-election of Dilma Rou-sseff in Brazil was a clear response to the need of increasing social achievements that the PT (Worke-rs Party) government and its allies developed since 2002, when Lula was elected. This translates into social inclusion programs that serve as an example for all deve-loping countries. It is also a sign of the urgency of policy and tax reforms to the country following the growth track. However, the in-tensification of conservative and progressive forces during the elec-tions and the election of a conser-vative Congress hinders the achie-vement of these goals.

In 2012, Alexis Tsipras and some of the Syriza members were in Brazil and other countries in South America. I attended a meeting with him, organized by the Greek community in Brazil. There were a number of other meetings with representatives of various parties, one of them in the Lula Institute, with the former president. Tsipras and his party wanted to know the alternatives adopted by Brazil to maintain the level of growth despite the crisis.

At the time, in an informal conversation, Lula explained that the Brazilian economy was structured and conjectural con-ditions allowed, even in the cri-sis, raised the minimum wage, maintaining the level of income and wages, not to fall into reces-sion. Humbly, Lula said it was Brazil that should ask for alter-natives to Europe on the issue of social welfare, because we were at least 30 years late on this issue.

What do these two leaders have in common? Probably it is the rescue of the dignity of their people. In Greece, Tsipras elec-tion rescued the Greek dignity that during these years of de-pression was stifled by economic power, which led the population to a hopeless situation, humilia-tion and suffering. Lula, for the sociologist Emir Sader, “was the one who rescued the dignity of the Brazilian people, its poorest, particularly in the northeast. He recognized their rights, develo-ped policies that favoured their li-ving conditions and a spectacular recovery of the economy, social conditions and educational sys-tem in the northeast”.

Watching from a distance or experiencing the day-to-day, it is perceived in both countries a movement, powered by the ri-ght-wing thinking on policy, bu-siness and religious factions, to destabilise the government. In Greece, the media tries to disqua-lify Alexis Tsipras and his party holding up the bail-out. They worry more about the lack of tie than with the results of negotia-tions with the European Union.

In Brazil, the major news cor-porations spread hatred, manipu-lating and omitting information. The garbage that is being taken under the carpet, with accusations of corruption in various segments of Brazilian society, is bringing up a state structure in the service of the privileged classes (business and political). And that is only being possible because there is a demo-cratic government with political will to modify the existing structu-res, in defence of the most vulnera-ble. This is something unforgivable to the Brazilian elites.

The desire for justice and to improve the conditions of the disadvantaged may be the com-mon point between Tsipras and Rousseff. Although from diffe-rent backgrounds, in this world where economic power calls the shots, shadows investing in the destabilization of the two gover-nments are the same. It is known that each new crisis of capitalism, someone has to pay the bill.

Usually the onus is on the po-orer classes of society. And it is against this practice that the two fights taking into account the rea-lity, peculiarities and characteris-tics of their countries.

Our daily life is populated with certainty without knowledge, wi-thout memory; handling and non-conformity of conservative forces that lost the elections; a hegemo-nic journalism committed to the ruling classes, failing on historical information. We are losing track of each other, tolerance and diversity. There is an on-going “evil coarse-ness” as wrote Eliane Brum in his column in El País.

This fight may be swimming against the current, as many say that “the world is like that” to justify inequalities and perpe-tuate privileges. The polls of the two countries have shown the will to build a more just, frater-nal and democratic world. If we really live in a democracy, it ne-eds to be respected.

What do the current go-vernments of Brazil and

Greece have in common? And who is interested in

destabilising them?

THE APPARENT AND THE HIDDEN

g Vassiliki Constantinidou is a journalist and wrote a book,

in Portuguese, on the story of Greek immigrants in Brazil



PROFILE

ALove is a bit of a combination of romance and sensuality. Which designer could have a the-me like this, unless we’re talking about Sebas-tian Ramos? The Brazilian designer returned to London Fashion Week in February to present his new collection, showing that his style lives up to the motto of the season.

In his show, Sebastian showed transparencies, lace and flowers to inspire women to squander his eternally romantic side, with a touch of sensuality. French lace and fabric flower-shaped were combi-ned to represent this sensual and romantic duality of the most anticipated season of the year.

The designer was inspired by the parks of London in those days when the flowers are being born and the smell of spring is in the air. “I am delighted by the flowers of London and like to analyse every detail. This collection brin-gs all my floral inspiration. Flowers in London are in my dresses subtly, as part of the details. I tried to reproduce the delicacy and sophistica-tion of buttons and petals, especially the Cherry Blossom”, said Sebastian to Brasil Observer.

On the choice of colours, Sebastian stressed the importance of well-being while wearing. Colours and fabrics appropriate to remember the moment of creation. “The colours have great influence on the temperature. Also can stimu-late the humour, the daily life of each person,” argued the designer. The dresses from the col-lection “Spring Feelings” can be defined in three words: lace, embroidery and transparency. Fea-turing long and short dresses, the palette ranges from black, ivory, red and soft pink.

Sebastian revealed the secrets of creation and said to be based on the dress contact with the skin of the model. “I seek always choose fabrics that enhance the cut of the dress and women’s bodies. I’ve been around the world studying the tissues that have the perfect trim that accentuate the silhouette. My trick is to always put the cloth on the body of a model, before cutting. Thus the cut is perfect, and in a sophisticated shape.”

For the designer, each step flows naturally in the creation process. “After the inspiration pha-se and project outline with sketches, shot the measures and then do the cuts. I will create the basis for each measure on the dummy and then I cover the base with jewels and details. The re-sult is what you see on the catwalk.”

Asked about the preparation leading up to the London Fashion Week, the designer said work full time to influence the well-dressed wo-men. He understands that his creations impact on female behaviour and know how to deal with this very well. “The preparation for London Fashion Week is intense. Hours of work and de-dication. It is the week in which the designers have the dedication of more than half a year of work. The week shows that fashion is ever more present in daily life, especially in the streets of London, where people are not afraid to use what is being released on the catwalks.”

Brazilian designer returns to London Fashion Week and presents a collection based on sensuality and romance

By Rômulo Seitenfus

AND THE CATWALK

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Entrance of AMRC

A NEW

INDUSTRIALREVOLUTION


During Open Innovation Week, top Brazilian busi-

nesses visit the ‘state-of-the-art’ manufacturing

research facility operated by Sheffield University

and Boeing rising part-nerships possibilities

g By Juliana Resende, from Sheffield, special for Brasil Observer

TThose who associate Sheffield to the bleak and amusing scenes of the unemployed steelworkers who become strippers in the British film The Full Monty are not entirely wrong. High unemployment and a fragile local economy are part of the ci-ty’s not so distant past.

But the traces of these hard times of the Steel City, well portrayed in the Os-car winning cult movie, are thankfully becoming memories as Sheffield enters a new phase sheltering one of the world’s most modern centres of innovation in advanced manufacturing research: the AMRC (Advanced Manufacturing Rese-arch Centre).

I was lucky enough to be part of a Brazilian delegation formed by represen-tatives from SENAI (National Service of Industrial Apprentice), CNI-MEI (Busi-ness Mobilisation for Innovation of the National Confederation of Industries) and Smyowl, a startup from the Faculty of Engineering of Sorocaba (Facens), who were making their first trip to the site.

The Brazilian delegation visited AMRC during Open Innovation Week, an event organised by the Science and Innovation Network of UK Trade & In-

vestment (UKTI), the British govern-ment agency that promotes partnerships between Britain and the world. It’s fair to say the Brazilians seemed very impres-sed by their trip to Sheffield. After all, the success of AMRC is hopefully a model that could be adopted in Brazil.

Located in the Advanced Manufactu-ring Park, the AMRC is a high-tech com-plex of 420 thousand square meters, which encompasses five institutions researching everything from components for the ae-rospace industry to human prostheses made of ultra-advanced materials, throu-gh to turbines, drones and robots.

It was in a virtual reality session showing the assembly of a type of ‘next generation’ engine that Alberto Xavier Pavim, an expert in Industrial Deve-lopment of SENAI, had most joy. “My colleagues Marcelo Prim and André Nascimento, also experts of Industrial Development, led the SENAI team to visit the potential international partners in Britain. Our trip aimed to identify re-search, development and partners, who have an interest in working alongside SE-NAI, an innovation institute from Brasil, as part of a special public call for innova-

tion from SENAI in cooperation with the Newton Fund”, said Pavim.

“We’ve been quite impressed with AMRC due to its dimension and rese-arch results. From the outset of our visit we could see the positive and impactful effect of collaborative action between business, academia and other actors of Britain’s innovation ecosystem.

“The infrastructure available at AMRC reflects the very best in the are-as in applied research, including a cle-ar commitment from the partners that make up this innovation environment, as well as investment in the buildings, and purchase of specialist equipment”, Pavim added, noting that the centre is also financed in part by strategic gover-nment initiatives.

“During the visit, we saw integrated actions between Boeing, Rolls Royce and Sheffield University. The obtained results of this environment are significant and positively impact the university’s acade-mic curriculum, showing that the actions of the different actors in this ecosystem result in mutual benefit, and ultimately to the benefit of the British society itself ” concluded Pavim.

CITY OF STEEL

While the rest of the delegation was happy immersing themselves in augmen-ted reality, a question begged: why Shef-field? The city who’s sky was once leaden with the heavy smoke of steel furnaces that led George Orwell to say it should claim the rank of “the ugliest city in the Old World”, in 1937, conquered a much better status since becoming one of the Core Cities, a collaboration group of the eight biggest UK cities outside London established in 1995.

Founded in the Bronze Age, the bir-thplace of the Industrial Revolution, home of Arctic Monkeys and of the world’s very first football team, among

other things, Sheffield’s real claim to fame worldwide came from the quality of the knives produced in the city since Saxon times when the then village was created as a strategic commercial point on the banks of the river Sheaf became a leader in the manufacture of cutlery. In the 19th century, Sheffield made history when it was the backdrop for the steel produc-tion process. In the 20th century, this city revolutionised the international steel industry with many innovations, such as stainless steel invention.

By the 1970s, grey days haunted the city, with high unemployment, due to the decline of the coal-dependent traditional industry, following the miner’s strikes du-ring Margaret Thatcher’s terms in office.

But thankfully the end of the 20th century saw a Phoenix-like Sheffield emerge from the ashes to the forefront of innovation in advanced manufac-turing of high added value. Thanks to a consistent national policy of rede-velopment of the major British cities in the 90’s. The miners-strikers-stri-ppers Sheffield saw, by 2000, its then shrunken economy increasing circa 5% per year due to fundamental partner-ships with the universities of Sheffield and Hallam, from¬ which came out researches for the evolution of modern low-alloy and high strength steels so essential in the 21st century.

Richard Caborn and John Baragwanath chat with Brazilian delegation at AMRC

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EXEMPLARY MODEL

Sheffield and Hallam Universities also began utilising the local reputation and knowledge of steel, building important industry partnerships and leading resear-ch into modern steel and manufacturing.

AMRC is an example of how the UK – which jumped from tenth to the second most innovative country in the world, according to the Global Innovation In-dex 2014 – is reinventing its industriali-sation, focusing mainly on the potential of regions outside Greater London. This decentralisation model of knowledge and production centres, linking resear-ch (university) and market application (industry) is being replicated in other regions and continues to inspire govern-ments, businesses and insights from se-veral countries – including Brazil.

The AMRC is now “the most com-plete advanced research translation of high value manufacturing” said the vice-chancellor of the University of Sheffield, Sir Keith Burnett. “The centre is like an ‘independent department’ of the univer-sity”. And AMRC is preparing an impres-sive expansion of its ‘Factory of the Futu-re’ for the end of 2015 (read more in the info BOX).

AMRC was appointed as the driving force of economic recovery and cited in the main report UniverCities: The Know-ledge to Power UK as a reference to pro-vide components of high value manu-facturing to multinationals which foster two local clusters on innovation fields: Advanced Manufacturing and Nuclear Manufacturing. The Catapults, as they are called, are financed by the British go-vernment through the Innovate UK (the agency for innovation promotion and also name of one of the world’s largest in-novation conferences that takes place in November in London).

The AMRC also houses a training centre which is a leader in the education of advanced learners into the study of engineering and metallurgy - two are-as in which the University of Sheffield was elected first in student satisfaction in 2014 by the Times Higher Education ranking. Interested in exchanging expe-riences, the AMRC has the Knowledge Transfer Centre that, since 2012, shares discoveries and innovative materials with affiliates and supporters that will be the basis of a new industrial revolution.

According to SENAI engineers, “a si-milar applied research model and coope-ration for innovation” interests the Brazi-lian institution, which currently focuses on a sustainable strategy to introduce new business models to support innovation in Brazil. “To the extent that the organisa-tion is implementing 26 Innovation Ins-titutes entered into a national innovation ecosystem, we aim to build such strategic partnerships with industry, universities, entrepreneurial communities and other stakeholders in the ecosystem.”

Through its institutes, SENAI seeks to benefit society, contributing to the neces-sary change in the technological level of the Brazilian economy. Created in 1942 by the then president Getulio Vargas, SE-

NAI was built to meet a pressing need: the training of qualified professionals required by the incipient industrial base. Already at that time, it was clear that wi-thout professional education there would be no industrial development for Brazil.

AMRC was born in 2001, as result of collaborations between Professor Keith Ri-dgway (CBE), who is still the centre’s lead researcher nowadays) and the local busi-nessman Adrian Allen, who began working with Boeing to redirect applied research for new materials for the aviation industry to Sheffield University. Initial funding of £15 million from the European Fund for Regio-nal Development was invested. In 2004, the centre started to expand.

Today, more than 200 engineers and several researchers occupy the bold ar-chitecture of buildings, prototyping and testing high-tech equipment for the ae-rospace, medical and high value general manufacturing industries.

To integrate academic expertise with the local economy and industry the RISE program was created, including a multi-disciplinary committee to promote the growth of the city and the region. Throu-gh this scheme, the university works clo-sely with the city of Sheffield to create jobs and attract and retain the best re-searchers (the campus is home to 26,000 students and staff from 120 countries, five of whom are Nobel Prize winners).

No wonder AMRC is seen as a ca-tapult for innovation in the UK and its links to business, in a chain fed by the partnership with technology companies. Side by side with the aerospace giant Bo-eing, global powers such as Rolls-Royce, Unilever, AstraZeneca, Glaxo SmithKli-ne, Siemens and Airbus are among the 30 British and transnational corporations, along with foreign government agencies and foundations, contributing to the cen-tre’s operation.

“Here we are extremely privileged to put visionary work in advanced manufacturing in place, joining academia, government and the market, not only with national covera-ge, but as a way to keep the British economy competitive in a global stage”, said Richard Wright, executive-director of the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce.

This public-private effort is something that the Brazilian government intends to replicate through Inova Empresa, chan-nelling investments of R$ 32.9 billion over the next two years towards innovation. For the economist Igor Siqueira Cortez, In-dustrial Development expert at CNI-MEI, one of the delegates of the Open Innova-tion Week, working with AMRC would be amazing: “There is a world of opportuni-ties here to be explored”.

INNOVATION IN BRAZIL

In Brazil, innovation is supposed to be a priority for Dilma Rousseff ’s go-vernment, who want to increase com-petitiveness and unite the market and research for a generation of new bu-sinesses in the areas of health, energy, sustainability and aerospace.

Inova Aerodefesa was one of the pillars of the Brazilian innovation pro-

gram that received more praise from Rousseff in 2014. The program aims to encourage innovation in companies of defence, security, aerospace and spe-cialty materials through public calls administered by FINEP (Financier of Studies and Projects), a public company linked to the Ministry of Science and Technology and established to promote and finance innovation.

“The support we give to innovati-ve activities is justified by the fact that the country needs more and more in-novation, technology and knowledge”, said the President at the opening of the hangar for the production of KC-390 freighter by Embraer, a successful project that generated jobs. However, the road to the top is long and depends on patience and political commitment, regardless of which party is in the go-vernment. The report of competitive-ness from CNI Competitiveness Brazil showed the country as the second last among the world’s 15 most competitive in 2014.

A world of opportunities are here to be exploredIgor Siqueira Cortez, economist, specialist in Industrial Development

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There are talks between the Te-chnological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA) and Embraer to develop a re-search and technological production park inspired by the AMRC experien-ce. Familiar with negotiations with potential Brazilian partners, Richard Carbon, the Labour MP for Sheffield and strategic consultant to the AMRC, gave a presentation to the Brazilian delegation, and seemed eager to get “straight down to business”.

“By now, as it is known that ITA has been selected to form the EM-BRAPII Unit (Brazilian Enterprise for Industrial Research and Innovation) Aeronautical Manufacturing for Su-pply Chain in Defence Air Force, the actual chances of partnership with the AMRC do increase considering finan-cing funds from the Brazilian govern-ment”, Caborn said, though nothing is yet officially confirmed.

The UE-ITA will provide synergy with various divisions of the institution that feature a core unit for Research ini-tiatives, development and innovation with the effective participation of com-panies and will include the technical coordination of Prof. Dr. Luis Gonzaga Trabasso. For him, “the UE-ITA is an opportunity to increase academic-busi-ness integration through agile contrac-ting mechanisms, implementation and verification of Research and Develop-ment projects”.

It is good to remember that the ITA, as well as the University of São Paulo (USP) have formalised staff exchanges with the University of Sheffield. Tim Cricks, International Partnership di-rector of the University of Sheffield, is already awaiting “a visit from Embraer Vice President to AMRC soon”. In her speech at Embraer, President Rousseff listed the integrated system for moni-toring Brazilian land borders, the cons-truction of the geostationary satellite for communications strategies and the program of conventional and nuclear submarines as priorities for innovation.

The construction of a Brazilian nu-clear submarine, for example, “suffers from the inconsistency in receiving funds”, recalls Prof. Dr. Tharcisio Bier-renbach de Souza Santos, FAAP-MBA the teacher responsible for Globaliza-tion and Competitiveness, Economic Scenarios, Corporate Governance and Compliance and Strategic Crisis Ma-nagement courses, and coordinator of Agenda Brasil, an specific course for journalists in the institute. Accor-ding to Santos, “focus is necessary and much more investment in education so that innovation can develop in Brazil”.

g Juliana Resende is a journalist, executive-director of content and PR agency BR Press, operating in Sao Paulo and London. She visited AMRC as intern communication manager from the British Consulate in Sao Paulo, invited by the Brazilian Network for Science and Innovation from UKTI. E-mail: [email protected]

Construction of Factory 2050, the ‘Factory of the Future’ and the presentation of what the project will look like

FACTORY OF THE FUTURE

The Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) has grown rapidly in scale and scope and is now preparing to expand the so called “Factory of the Future”. The space has been operating since 2010 and with Rolls-Royce as a key partner. The revised and expanded edition of the Factory of the Future will be AMRC Fac-tory 2050, “a big laboratory for produc-tion encompassing various technologies and integrated with various universities”, explained John Baragwanath, OBE, former Royal Airforce communications engine-er who when heading up the Innovation Unit of Yorkshire County had an impor-tant role in the AMRC’s foundation, which he joined as project director in 2005.In the age of biocomposites and new in-dustrial paradigms made possible by te-chnology, AMRC is focused on the “con-vergence of all areas”, said Baragwanath, to reinvent itself with the Factory 2050, which should be completed this year and

will give former Sheffield City Airport a new revolutionary purpose.In March, AMRC will host an internatio-nal convention about the project. Jud-ging by the model available in a video, it is a building of impressive dimen-sions, with large windows, shaped like a flying saucer, which will be the first all-digital factory in the UK to produce different components of high value at alternating on the periods, production of which will be entirely automated, through robotics and virtual reality.With a cost of £43 million, Factory 2050 will be a milestone in advanced manu-facturing industry and follows the con-cept of a “reconfigurable factory”, which provides high levels of flexibility in rela-tion to what can be produced and when. The goal is to meet the growing demand to enable rapid changes in both product design and effective production techni-ques. The “Factory of the Future” is de-

signed to allow machines and operating modules to move around in the facili-ties. Sophisticated monitoring systems will catalog all the processes, generating a high volume of information, which will be compiled and used to maximise re-sults minimising production time while maintaining high quality.The whole operation will use green te-chnology, as its main source of energy is renewable. The new project will also create employment opportunities. Al-ready in the construction phase, Fac-tory 2050 generated 160 jobs and is expected to hire about 75 technicians to operate it upon completion. Not to mention the jobs and indirect invest-ments generated by companies that will settle in the Sheffield region, brin-ging an estimated £6.4 million to the local economy and contributing with around £2 million annually in Genera-tion of Added Value (GVA).

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BR-UK CONNECTION

HITCHCOCK ON DISPLAY EMBASSY OF BRAZIL PROMOTES ARTS AWARDS

NUMBER OF BRAZILIAN TOURISTS IN THE UK GROWS

A partnership between the British Council Brazil, British Film Institute, Festival of Rio and SESC São Paulo offers a rare opportunity for Hitchcock fans in Brazil

IIn 2012, the British Council Brazil, the British Film Institute (BFI) and the Festival of Rio screened a silent film by Alfred Hitchcock with live soundtrack for the first time in Bra-zil. In the following years, the Brazi-lian public have enjoyed other silent films that the eternal master of sus-pense made in his early career.

Now, SESC São Paulo is conti-nuing the project with Hitchcock in Concert, offering the opportunity for film buffs to discover four movies: Blackmail, The Farmer’s Wife, Easy Virtue and The Manxman - all dis-played at SESC Santana during the first two weekends of March.

The films were restored by the BFI, which houses the first and most important existing copies of the great filmmaker’s work. The project was the largest restoration project undertaken by the institute, who have employed various technologies to reveal, layer by layer, new textures, facets and hidden meanings in every movie.

“The BFI team reviewed more than 9 million individual frames to bring these films back to life, using seven archival materials from three continents. The result is a fasci-nating and valuable collection of Hitchcock’s early work, offering a sample of the first fates of his fu-

The Embassy of Brazil, in partnership with Itaú BBA and People’s Palace Projects (Queen Mary University of London) is hosting the first edition of the Visual Arts Award.

The 2015 inaugural Visual Arts Award is now open for submis-sions from all UK-based artists. The Award is focused on the cities of London and Rio de Janeiro, the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games hosts, and the thematic links and connections between the two.

Various formats of creative works will be accepted, including paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, ceramic and prints (except video installations). The closing date for submissions is 5pm on 17 April 2015.

A pre-selection of works cho-sen by a jury will go on display between 4 – 22 May 2015 at the Embassy, giving the general pu-blic the chance to view the works and vote for their favourite pie-ce. Cash prizes, provided by Itaú BBA, will be awarded to the three finalists who will be announced on 22 May. The prize for 1st place is £3,000, and £1,000 for both 2nd and 3rd place.

For more information, please visit www.culturalbrazil.org

British filmmaker on the rise in Brazil

ture mastery. The British Coun-cil has been working with the BFI to bring these jewels to audiences around the globe, with screenings accompanied by live music,” said Will Massa, film consultant to the British Council in London.

It is hoped that this project will give a new Brazilian public the chan-ce to follow the birth of a unique sty-le, marked by the insight and artistic

and technical accomplishments of the young man who would become one of the biggest names in cinema.

The partnership, is one of the many fruits of the Transform pro-gram (www.transform.britishcou-ncil.org.br) which has supported cultural and artistic collaboration between Brazil and the United King-dom between 2012 and 2016 as part of the Olympic legacy.

Speaking at the Explore GB tou-rism event in February, Sally Balcom-be (photo), the CEO of Visit Britain, announced the provisional data for UK tourism in 2014 and highlighted rising number of Brazilian visitors.

According to Balcome, final statis-tics for last year should show the cou-ntry welcomed 34.8 million foreign visitors, a 6% increase from 2013, who contributed £21.7 billion, the UK eco-nomy, which also was an increase of 3% from the previous year.

Regarding the number of Bra-zillians, the country sent 245,000 vi-sitors, a large 15% increase on 2013. Although the stronger pound seemed to influence spending as Brazilian tourists spent 8% less then the pre-vious year with £215 million spent during their stays.

In terms of visitor numbers, the main nationalities to visit were the French (3.93 million), Germans (3.1 million), Americans (2.7 million) and Irish (2.3 million), according to provisional data for January to September 2014.

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ISSUU.COM/BRASILOBSERVER

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BRASILIANCE

DISSATISFACTION AND AGITATIONStatistics and economic projections do not justify alarmism of the pessimists, but brake euphoria of optimists. On the streets, people react to

austerity measures and accusations of corruption

By Wagner de Alcântara Aragão

IIn political and economic terms, Bra-zil faces one of the most complex mo-ments of the last decade. But despite the daily bombardment of news and information about corruption scan-dals and unfavourable projections of economic indicators, it’s an exagge-ration to say that the country is in a deep, unfixable crisis. There are also satisfactory results in some sectors of the economy. And if the corruption accusations come to the fore more of-ten these days, it does not mean that the deviations by politicians are lar-ger than before; it indicates that fewer misconducts go unnoticed nowadays and are subject to scrutiny.

However, there is an almost ge-neral feeling that, in relation to the recent social and economic achieve-ments, there are imminent threats. The labour market remains warm and incomes remain high, but the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could re-tract in 2015, with higher inflation (see indicators in the box).

In addition, there is an on going series of unpopular measures, taken mostly by the federal government but also by state and municipal govern-ments. They are basically increases in taxes that mainly penalise workers with restrictions on welfare benefits, cuts in public services like health and education budgets and tariffs read-justment of urban transport, energy, water and fuel. A set of actions label-led as “fiscal adjustment” that aims to ensure the government’s primary surplus target (economy to pay pu-blic debt interests) in 2015, which is 1.2% of GDP – 110 billion reais. In practice, this contributes to feed the climate of dissatisfaction, shortening the path to the crisis.

“The fiscal adjustment only deepens the economic, social and political pro-blems in Brazil. The so-called austerity will fall, as always, on the workers, the middle class and the productive sector, reducing the growth margins,” warns Professor of Economics Luciano Wexell Severo, from the Federal University of Latin American Integration (UNILA). “The supposed austerity only serves to further benefit the financial market, which requires high interest rates and the faithful payment of public debt. The spending cuts hits staff, investments and social infrastructure. Expenditure for debt is untouchable”.

CORRECTION WAY

President Dilma Rousseff (Worke-rs Party), on the rare appearances and public statements since she began her second term, has argued that the so-called fiscal adjustment is essential to put the country back on the path of economic growth. “We are now ente-ring a new phase of confrontation of the international crisis, in which steps are necessary for a new path to grow,” she said earlier this month during de-livery of 1,472 houses in Arauguaria, Minas Gerais. “We want to further improve what we have achieved. So we are making corrections and adjust-ments,” she added.

Mainly due to the increases in electricity bills and gasoline prices, there is widespread discontent with the beginning of Rousseff ’s second term. The latest research on the po-pularity of the president available at the time of writing, made by Da-tafolha and published in February, showed that 44% of respondents consider the government bad and very bad – almost double that of the month earlier, in December, when the percentage was 24%. The rate of those who consider the Rousseff ’s government excellent or good, in turn, dropped from 42% to 23%.

The drop in popularity is not af-fecting President Dilma Rousseff. The same survey identified dissatisfaction with the São Paulo state governor Ge-raldo Alckmin (Social Democrats) – the percentage of assessing his admi-nistration as poor and very poor also nearly doubled, reaching 24% – and the mayor of São Paulo city, Fernan-do Haddad (Workers Party) – 44% of poor and very poor.

On February 26, Alckmin expe-rienced at Bandeirantes Palace, the seat of state government and official residence of the governor, a demons-tration led by the Homeless Workers Movement (MTST, in Portuguese) against the lack of water that affects the state. Thousands of people par-ticipated in the protest (up to 10,000 protesters).

UPRISING IN PARANÁ

The greatest demonstration of popular dissatisfaction in 2015 so far came from Paraná State. On stri-

ke, state public servants – mostly teachers and school officials –pro-moted an uprising against resources cuts for basic and higher education and against a fiscal adjustment pa-ckage announced by Governor Beto Richa (Social Democrats) to the Le-gislative. The package included the elimination of the social security fund, extinguishing mechanisms of career progression for educators and drastic reduction in benefits such as transportation.

On 10 February, anticipating that the proposals sent by the governor would be approved by a majority of state legislators, public service workers occupied the plenary of the Legislative Assembly in Curitiba, in-terrupting the package appreciation session. The protesters remained camped all night and the next day, inside and outside the legislature, forcing the deputies, on 11 Febru-ary, to resume consideration at a meeting in the House cafeteria. On 12 February, when there would be a final voting session of the governor of projects, thousands of protesters surrounded the Assembly to block the entry of parliamentarians and thus prevent a vote session.

Transported by an armoured minibus from the military police shock battalion and isolated by a police cordon in the soil, the depu-ties were able to break through the siege of the protesters, and entered the Legislative Assembly through an improvised passage. They went up to the cafeteria to begin the ses-sion, but as soon as the meeting was open, outside, indignant and angry, the crowd breached the po-lice cordon (which did not impose the usual resistance), took down fences and fully occupy the Legisla-tive Assembly. Cornered, fearing a tragedy, state deputies managed to convince the governor Beto Richa to withdrawal the package.

The retreat of the governor was not enough to end the demonstra-tions. The teachers and staff of both schools and state universities kept the strike, demanding the state go-vernment to resume the transfer of funds for the maintenance of scho-ols and the cancellation of adminis-trative measures that had been taken by the state since the end of 2014.

Educators promoted two other lar-ge marches on the central streets of Curitiba, on 25 February (40 thou-sand to 50 thousand people) and on 4 March (20,000 people).

Dissatisfaction with Beto Ri-cha’s management in Paraná is not only by public servants. Re-elected in October 2014 in the first round, with 56% of the votes, the governor saw his popularity plummet. A sur-vey conducted by Paraná Pesquisa institute released this month shows that 76% of respondents disapprove Paraná’s current government.

ON THE ROADS

Also in Paraná and at least ten other Brazilian states, the last week of February and first of March were marked by protests by truck drivers who blocked dozens of federal and state highways. Among the reasons, two were key: the recent increase in diesel prices and high toll tariffs. The truckers’ strike came to harm the supply industries and supermarkets and the flow of agricultural crops. The federal government invited the leaders to negotiate – the sanction of a law regulating the industry, appro-ved last year by Congress, attended part of the claims. The reduction in fuel prices was discarded.

For the first half of March, two other demonstrations were antici-pated. One, scheduled for 13 Mar-ch, promised to bring together in various cities, unionists, members of social movements and leftist po-litical leaders. The mobilisation had a heavyweight ally, former President Lula. The movement supports Pe-trobras (worn down by Operation Car Wash) and the fight against cor-ruption, “against the right-wing bias given to the facts”.

This protest came in response to calls made, especially by social ne-tworks, for demonstrations on 15 March, asking for the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff. Since losing the presidential elections in October, sectors of the Brazilian ri-ght outlines movements in order to remove Rousseff from power. In the face of unpopular measures made by the president, the advocates of the impeachment bet on popular dissa-tisfaction to achieve success.


g Gross Domestic Product (GDP):The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects an increase of 0.3% of Brazil’s GDP. Internally, the market predicts a downturn of up to 0.5% for the country. Even the finance minister, Joaquim Levy, ad-mitted the possibility of recession. The GDP for 2014 will be annou-nced on 27 March – accumulated from 12 months to last September, growth was 0.7%.

g Labour market and income:National unemployment en-ded 2014 with an average rate of 6.8%, lower than the 7.1% of 2013 and the 7.4% of 2012. Last year, the formal labour market generated a positive balance of 397 thousand jobs, a 1% increa-se over 2013. In the same com-parison, the average salary rose 7%, reaching 1,181.56 reais per

month. The current minimum wage (788 reais per month) has the highest purchasing power since 1965.

g Industry, trade and services:In 2014, the Brazilian industry and production fell 3.2% com-pared to 2013. But trade saw revenue rise in the same period, 8.5%; in sales volume, growth was 2.2%. The service sector en-ded 2014 with 6% nominal grow-th over 2013.

g Inflation:Inflation in 2014 was 6.1% and was within the target limit (6.5%) stipulated by the Central Bank. In the 12 months ending last Febru-ary, the index was 7.7%, driven mainly by higher fuel, electricity and bus fares for the first two months of 2015.

Sources: IBGE, Ministry of Labour and Central Bank

FISCAL ADJUSTMENT IS NOT THE ONLY SOLUTION, ECONOMISTS SAY

To further discuss the

Brazilian economy, Brasil

Observer consulted two

economic professors: Fer-

nando Ferrari Filho, from

the Federal University of

Rio Grande do Sul (UFR-

GS), and Luciano Wexell

Severo, from the Federal

University of Latin Ameri-

can Integration (UNILA).

Will the fiscal adjustment bring Brazil back to growth?c FERRARI FILHO - The fiscal adjust-

ment is necessary, but it is not the only way. We left a relatively com-fortable fiscal position before the crisis to a primary deficit situation in 2014, but the public debt has not become more intense. Focussing on the adjustment seems to be ignoring that the country has deindustrialisa-tion problems, external imbalance, infrastructure bottlenecks, and other factors that contribute to the poor dynamics of the Brazilian economy.

c SEVERO - The adjustment is the most expensive alternative for Brazilians and the most cowardly for the govern-ment. During the second government of Lula, even with mitigation measu-res, there were positive impacts in an economy that was stagnant. The prevailing concern, with the return of industrialisation and strengthening of the internal market. However, after 2011, there was a change of course, with an economic policy of liberal, orthodox and conventional character that conspires against growth and development.

What other economic measures could be taken?c FERRARI FILHO -Monetary and ex-

change rate policies that induce private investment; public-private partnerships that expand the coun-

try’s infrastructure; industrial policy and tax, social security and labour reforms; these and other measures should be in the government’s agen-da. Moreover, we have to hope that the international scene gets better, because then not only net exports can reverse the trade deficit of the country, as international investments can be streamlined. If we insist only on fiscal adjustment (such as in Ger-many), we will not get that far.

c SEVERO - The neoliberal adjustment proposed by minister Joaquim Levy is not the only option. The problem is that the main concern of the ru-ling coalition is not with the natio-nal economy or the development of domestic productive forces. So far, the government proposal expressed a vague idea of growth with income transfer in which all won. In fact, the improvement of social indicators and the expansion of opportunities for the poorest via palliative actions of transferring resources coming from a growing process of denationalisa-tion are sought. But this strategy is unsustainable. The BNDES (Natio-nal Bank of Social Development) fi-nancing could promote a sovereign industrialisation, with state-owned enterprises or domestic private capi-tal small and medium sized.

What is the position of foreign investors in this scenario?

c FERRARI FILHO - If there was a total lack of public accounts, with high primary and nominal deficits and worsening of public debt - the result is a higher pricing in interest rates by the applicants of government securi-ties (and therefore the market itself) - surely the fiscal austerity could res-tore confidence of investors. We are not in this situation, but we have a critical problem: between 2008 and 2014 accumulated a deficit in cur-rent account of US$ 390 billion. This is the point. If not reversed, this situ-ation, in the near or distant future, will spark a currency crisis. What in-vestors want is institutional stability.

c SEVERO - Claiming that the adjust-ment measures redeem investor confidence is equivalent to blackmail done primarily by the financial market. The adjustment inevitabili-ty’s argument is false and is intended to expand the extortion of banks and share of exporters of Brazilian socie-ty. Foreign investors should come to help and not to hinder. Contribute means invest, produce, add value, pay taxes, create jobs, export and re-invest capital here. Everything wi-thin the law and the Brazilian state standards, as every respected coun-try does. The resumption of growth depends on countercyclical policies. It depends on state planning, pro-motion of industrialisation and the expansion of the internal market.

Impeachment of whom? So far, the largest demonstration took place in Curitiba: 50,000 in favour of the teachers’ strike and against the governor of Paraná, Beto Richa.

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INDICATORS


CONECTANDO

A UNIVERSITY THAT INSPIRES LATIN AMERICA

Bordering Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, UNILA is a hub for the development of Latin American integration

By Francisco Denis – de Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná g

II am one of the first Brazilian stu-dents going to the Federal Univer-sity of Latin American Integration (UNILA) to study a degree in Inter-national Relations and Integration, starting in August 2010. I am from the small town of Quixelo within the State of Ceará. A son of rural worke-rs, I accepted the challenge to parti-cipate in the construction of a new university because of its features, which from the beginning caught my attention. This made me cross the country (over 5000km) towards the city of Foz do Iguaçu, to follow the career I dreamed of.

As UNILA is quite young – only 5 years old – and is not located in a lar-ge Brazilian centre, few know about its characteristics. Why, then, is this uni-versity is so special?

First of all, it could not be in a better place: Foz do Iguaçu, in Pa-raná state, is in the tri-national bor-der between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Besides being the most significant border in population, economic and strategic importance for the continent, it also has one of the largest natural beauties on Earth - the Iguaçu Falls - which makes the city the second most visited tourist

destination in Brazil. The attraction receives more than one million visi-tors per year on the Brazilian side, and about the same on the Argen-tinian side. The region has a varied ethnic composition, housing more than 72 nationalities – with particu-lar attention to the Arab community. The region has been through a rapid process of economical, cultural and demographic integration over the past decades, in a unique phenome-non on the continent. In this new scenario, the place is more relevant. The local asymmetries in economic, social and politics, which are a true

reflection of Latin America’s reality, make Foz do Iguaçu a laboratory for the study and formulation of poli-cies for regional integration.

UNILA is not in this location by ac-cident. This is the first federal (public) institution in the region, which shows the importance of this process of cons-truction of new knowledge and appli-cation of this for local development. With various challenges that involve a border area, the university has the duty to act in favour of scientific and technological development of society, through the production of knowledge and the cooperation between different

Foz do Iguaçu


fields of study, leading to build a true regional citizenship.

One of the features that caught my attention when starting my studies at the university was the interdisci-plinary nature of its courses. UNILA now has 29 undergraduate courses in different areas of knowledge and will inaugurate 12 new courses in the se-cond half of 2015. The courses have different characteristics compared to the traditional from other universities, with strong emphasis towards Latin American societies. The university offer courses in Anthropology - Latin American Cultural Diversity; Political

Science and Sociology - Society, State and Politics in Latin America; Biologic Sciences - Ecology and Biodiversity; Natural Science - Biology, Physics and Chemistry; Economics - Economics, Integration and Development; Cinema and Audio-visual; Rural Development and Food Security; Renewable Energy Engineering; Geography - Territory and Society in Latin America; History - Latin America; Music, International Relations and Integration; Medicine; Biotechnology; Public Administration and Public Policy; among others.

It also offers six lato sensu specia-lization courses, and in scricto sensu

offers Masters in Contemporary Inte-gration of Latin America and an in-terdisciplinary course in Latin Ame-rican Studies. With the expansion process, the institution will have 41 undergraduate courses by the end of 2015. This amount of courses - in a fe-deral institution that does not have its own campus - concerns the different university class organizations, and the lack of infrastructure has been a major challenge from the beginning. Most of the students, teachers and te-chnicians were against the creation of new courses, understanding that this expansion would jeopardize the qua-

lity of teaching and learning in the university. This is the most important challenge that UNILA will have to face in the coming years.

I entered UNILA via the Uni-fied Selection System (SiSU), a test that is based on the grades obtained at the National Examination of Se-condary Education (ENEM). This is the selection system for all Brazilian students. For other students from Latin America and Caribbean cou-ntries the selection is made in their own country by the respective Mi-

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UNILA has students from all Brazilian regions and from 11 other countries in Latin America


nistry of Education. Today, UNILA has more than 2,300 students from all over Brazil and 11 other countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, Para-guay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

The arrival of students from nei-ghbouring countries to UNILA is also a key challenge. Most are so-cially vulnerable and cannot afford to stay in Brazil without student aid (housing, food and transportation) offered by the university. It turns out that the provision of benefits is limited, depending on the resources allocated by the Ministry of Educa-tion from Brazil. As not all students are entitled to the aid, it is a decisive factor for many who are considering choosing UNILA for starting a ca-reer. In this year’s selection process, the number of foreign students has decreased. Beyond the exposed fac-tors, there are also political reasons in the countries themselves, motiva-ted by elections and changes in bure-aucratic staff. This slowly makes the institution lose its Latin American feature, moving away from its mis-sion, and it has to seek strategic coo-peration with other institutions and bodies of the neighbouring countries to fund more scholarships - as it al-ready does with Paraguay through an agreement between UNILA and Itaipu Hydroelectric, which provides scholarships for students from the neighbouring country.

Another important feature that dif-ferentiates the institution from other Latin American universities is the existing internal democratic pro-cess that comes from the conquest of the university. When I was a stu-dent representative on the University Council, the students’ organisation was essential to achieve of parity not only for university elections for Head Master, but also for the Uni-versity Council, the greater decision-making body of the institution. The proportionality for the three catego-ries (students, teachers and technical and administrative body) is a victory on behalf of university autonomy and the result of a process that aims to democratize the universities. The understanding is that UNILA must be co-constructed between all classes in a democratic way, with equal voice and vote. After a year of parity expe-rience, the result proved that no sub-ject or project was harmed, as predic-

ted many of those who were against the proposal. On the contrary, de-mocratic participation increased, all categories had more engagement and therefore, more debate around the direction of the institution.

I can say that bilingualism in UNILA is also one of the main fea-tures that differentiate it from other existing higher education institu-tions. Portuguese and Spanish are spoken in classrooms and in the student housing, mixed with the indigenous languages spoken by students from various regions, such as Guarani (Paraguay), the Aymara and Quechua (Bolivia and Peru) and the Chaná (Uruguay). This linguis-tic diversity shows that the design of Latin America is not restricted to a continent born of the Iberian colonization (Spain and Portugal),

but includes all the countries of the Americas that speak Spanish, Portu-guese or French as well as languages of native population. What is sought in UNILA is that everyone respects this diversity and takes into account the interaction of different areas of knowledge as an important tool of the learning process. The so-called Joint Study Cycle, which includes languages (Portuguese or Spanish), epistemology and methodology, as well as the fundamental study of Latin America, are the institution’s differential. During the first four se-mesters, the subjects for all students of all the institution’s courses, being offered in modules are compulsory. The idea is to introduce students to the main issues related to the region, collaborating in the construction of Latin American knowledge.

In my case, I lived with a Uru-guayan colleague for more than two years in the same student residence, where I had my first contact with Spanish language, and he with Por-tuguese. This experience of living in the same space with young peo-ple from other countries enriches the educational process as we learn about the culture and the way the other persons sees the world, which contributes to build respect among us and leads to understanding the problems and solutions of each so-ciety in our continent.

UNILA is the first public bilin-gual institution of higher education in Latin America and has many chal-lenges, but we can already see some good assets of a university project that is revolutionising public educa-tion in Latin America.

gThis content was produced by Francisco Denis, newly graduated in International Relations and Integration at Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana (UNILA), in partnership with the Project CONECTANDO, developed by Brasil Observer together with universities in Brasil, Europe and Latin America. To take part and see your own production published in this newspaper contact at [email protected]

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Itaipu Technological Park, where the majority of courses from UNILA take place

With daily usage of Portuguese and Spanish in classrooms, bilingualism is a differential



BRAZIL VS. CHILEFOR FANS STILL HAUNTED BY BRAZIL’S WORLD CUP DEFEAT, WE HAVE A GUIDE TO SEEING THE BRIGHTER SIDE OF THE UPCOMING FRIENDLY TO BE HELD IN LONDON AT THE END OF THE MONTH >> PGS. 22 & 23

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FOR FANS STILL HAUNTED BY BRAZIL’S WORLD CUP DEFEAT, WE HAVE A GUIDE TO SEEING THE BRIGHTER SIDE OF THE UPCOMING FRIENDLY TO BE HELD IN LONDON AT THE END OF THE MONTH >> PGS. 22 & 23


GUIDE

A GUIDE TO SEEING THE BRIGHTER SIDE OF THE SELEÇAO’S FRIENDLY AGAINST CHILE

After Brazil’s unforgettable 7-1 defeat to Germany, it’s better not to take football seriously when the South American teams roll into London for a friendly later this month

By Guilherme Reis

Arriving in London this month, the gre-atest, the most awarded, most talented, most spectacular all singing, all dancing national football squad: the feared and loved Seleçao Brasileira! Just imagine the World Cup…

Oh wait a minute, the World Cup has been and gone and no one seems to be very enchan-ted with the Brazilian national team. After all, if that semi-final against Germany were still going on, the scoreboard would mark some-thing around 700,000 in favour of the Ger-mans. In fact some fans still have the chants of “Gol da Alemanha!” echoing in their ears.

For those who are not very enthusiastic about football, this may all seem very silly. But the sad truth is that after that dramatic match at the Mineirao (a tear forms in my eyes...) it has become more difficult to stri-ke up good conversations and make friends abroad. The first conversation between a Brazilian and other nationality usually was about football: “Are you Brazilian? Oh I love Brazilian football!”. Who with a heal-thy brain would say such a thing nowadays? OK, there are those who still love our ‘beau-tiful’ game, but before it was much easier to find them, as easy as our team found win-ning a game against England in the World Cup (sorry guys, I love you all).

But let’s try and see things from a positi-ve perspective... After that massacre (actu-ally, after the 3x0 against Netherland we had to swallow in the dispute for the third pla-ce), Brazilian football changed for the best! In a groundbreaking turning point of bold-ness, the new commandant chosen to make the Seleçao reborn was - the unquestionable Dunga a man who had already done the job between 2006-12 until he was forced to re-sign. Oh and coincidentally ‘Dunga’ is the name of one of the seven dwarfs in Portu-guese... let’s hope it’s not another bad omen.

But let’s not be unfair. In his second ou-ting coaching Brazil Dunga has accumula-ted an unbeatable mark: 100% success rate. We had six wins in six friendly matches, against Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, Ja-pan, Turkey and Austria.

In 2015, the first two appearances of the Seleçao occur in this month: first against France (oh, Good...), in Paris, on the 26th, and after against Chile (easy?), in London, on the 29th.

Those who want to watch the match need to run to get tickets. The friendly is taking place at the Emirates Stadium. At the time of writing, tickets were on sale from £35 via the Arsenal website www.arsenal.com.

If you, dear reader, have already bought your tickets, or if you don’t even like foo-tball and for some inexplicable reason has read this article so far, I would like to share some tips I have been giving to my Brazilian fellows so they can see the funnier side of things going wrong on the pitch.

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REMATCH

ENGLISH BRAZILIANS

THE HURRICANE

AFTER CHILE, CHILE

‘GOL DA ALEMANHA’

CHINA’S STAR

ALEXIS AT HOME

Before the 7x1 loss, the world was different. The Brazilian crowd really believed that we would be world champions again (the En-glish team was already on vacation, just to mention). But who could forget that pain-ful penalty decision against Chile that sent them out took Brazil to face the Germans? Well, the Chileans must remember it bet-ter than us (as we have another wonder-

ful day to remember, haven’t we?). So I think it is fair that, we Brazilians humiliate our opponents imitating Julio Cesar de-fending a penalty. Not so funny, I know. But just in case: if Brazil loses the game, we can say “when it was for good you didn’t win!” and repe-at it incessantly. After all, for Chile this is kind of a rematch.

In total there are five Brazilian players called for the game who play in the English Premier League: Filipe Luis, Oscar and William, from Chelsea, Fernandinho, from Manchester

City, and Philippe Coutinho, from Liverpool.So we can ally with English supporters of those teams to make jokes about the Chile-ans – if it becomes necessary, of course.

This is my favourite. And has nothing to do with jokes against our brothers from Chile. After all, they are not guilty for our disastrous moment in the World Cup. On the bench, as a special assistant, is a sacred monster of Brazilian football: Jairzinho, “The Hur-ricane” of the World Cup of 1970, when Brazil won its third championship. Until today he is the

only player who scored in every match of a World Cup: there were seven goals in that year. Friendly matches use to be monotonous, with many passes to the sides, lazy runs and sleepy crowd. If that happens, we can ask Dunga to put Jairzinho on the pitch – if he stands on the techni-cal area for few seconds, it could be the best mo-ment of the match!

After the friendly match against Chile, the Seleçao will face Chile again in June and July, when Chile host the the Copa América. So maybe it’s worth giving some advices to our hermanos on how to host a major

football competition. “Relax, mate, you will not necessarily will win a competi-tion just because it is in your home”. Or: “Don’t panic, Germany does not play the America Cup!”

After all this, if you see the Brazilian crowd sad, don’t worry. We know that it cannot become worse. After all, our last World Cup

title was in this century and we are almost reaching the target of one year without suf-fering any goal from Germany!

For the very first time in the centenary history of the Seleçao, a footballer who plays in China was called: Diego Tardelli, who plays for Sha-

dong Luneng. If he scores a goal, we can make stupid jokes that even the Chinese can score a goal against them.

On the flip side of that however, we need to remember that the ace Chilean at-tacker Alexis Sháncez plays for Arsenal, and is English mate definitely not on our side. The player is very pleased with the draw: “We welcome the Seleçao to our

stadium”, he has already told the Arsenal website. OK, he seems to be a nice guy, but if Sanchéz starts to make problems for our defence, we can organise a big “booo” to him together with Arsenal’s rival supporters.

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CULTURAL TIPS

CINEMA CONCERTSReview: Fictional Third World By Gabriela Lobianco

EMICIDAWhen: 24 AprilWhere: Rich Mix (35-47 Bethnal Green Road) Tickets: £15 | Info: www.comono.co.uk

FLÁVIA COELHOWhen: 18 MayWhere: Rich Mix (35-47 Bethnal Green Road) Tickets: £15 | Info: www.richmix.org.uk

ELIANE ELIAS & ED MOTTA When: 4 MayWhere: Barbican Hall Tickets: £20–35 | Info: www.barbican.org.uk

CAETANO VELOSO & GILBERTO GILWhen: 1 JulyWhere: Eventim Apollo (45 Queen Caroline Street) Tickets: £45.75–£67.75 | Info: www.eventim.co.uk

Trash reveals the political vi-sion of a Britain in the Third World, its leaders and its pover-ty. The Brazil of Stephen Daldry, however, is unreal – even though the director has lived in the coun-try for the past two years to adapt the eponymous Andy Mulligan’ novel for cinema.

The bestseller was based on the writer’s experiences of teaching English and theatre in four places: India, Philippines, Vietnam and Brazil. For logistical issues, Daldry and screenwriter Richard Curtis, in partnership with O2 producer, opted for the Brazilian scenario to narrate the saga of friends Rafael, Gardo and Rato on the big screen.

The story covers the adventures and misadventures of three boys from the favela who find a wallet at the dump in which they work, and become involved in a hunting trea-sure plot, with actions of a corrupt police and divine help in the form of a gringo priest.

As the director had his four pre-vious films nominated to the Oscar (Billy Elliot, The Hours, The Reader and Extremely Loud and Incredi-bly Close), there were high hopes for the project in Brazil, spoken in Portuguese and with the presence

of American actors Martin Sheen and Rooney Mara in the cast. But the plan backfired.

In Billy Elliot, the cameras cap-ture with wit the awkward discom-fort that Billy had with his father – nuisance inherent in the behaviour of the British and their culture. It is precisely this perspective of who is part and not of the audience that is missing in Trash.

Stephen Daldry hasn’t got cul-tural background to show a less ste-reotyped Brazil. It lacks conviction, with ease and intimacy, to portray the poverty of marginalized boys who want to be the hope of a bet-ter future as opposed to a country full of cops and corrupt politicians. Even Sheen’s competence as an ac-tor is insufficient to interpret the priest, Juilliard – his efforts to spe-ak Portuguese turns out to be me-chanical and the feeling of indigna-tion that the character requires is lost on the screen.

In the end, the mise-en-scène of the film comes down to a mixture of articles on emerging countries such as Slumdog Millionaire or City of God, by Fernando Meirel-les. Despite the high budget, Trash was made for English to see – as people say in Brazil.

From the MC’s battles on the outskirts of São Paulo to the renowned festival Coachella in the United States, Emicida has accumula-ted a relevant path in music. Alongside with the rapper Criolo, he is now probably the main voice of Brazilian rap, mixing themes, rhythms and forming partnerships with va-rious names of the new generation.

In 2012, Emicida was in London for the Back2Black festival. Next month, he returns to the British capital for the La Linea, a festi-val organized by Como No group, between 21 and 30 of April. It is an excellent oppor-tunity to see what Brazilian rap produces, with space for other rhythms such as sam-ba, funk, soul and maracatu.

Created in the traditions of samba and bossa nova, Flavia Coelho is a versatile Bra-zilian singer who walks lightly by rhythms that mix from reggae to hip-hop. Outside Brazil since 2006, when she moved to Pa-ris, Flavia charmed the critics with her first album, ‘Bossa Muffin’, which gave her great impact in the UK, with the right to partici-pate in the London Jazz Festival and Womad

Festival in 2013.In 2015, Flavia Coelho came back to

London to open the Serious Space Shoredit-ch festival. The presentation came a week af-ter the release of her new album, ‘Meu Mun-do’, produced by Victor-Attila Vagh. The new work reveals a vision of a comprehensive world, with the mixture of diverse rhythms such as funk, afrobeat, forró and samba.

Two sides of contemporary Brazilian music come together for a unique presenta-tion at the Barbican. Jazz pianist and voca-list Eliane Elias will be joined by soul singer and multi-instrumentalist Ed Motta.

Elias’ latest album was a tribute to her friend and jazz legend Chet Baker

called ‘I Thought About You’. Ed Motta released his latest album ‘AOR’ in both English and Portuguese. The concert will feature music from their respective careers, including material from Eliane Elias’ new album ‘Made in Brazil’ to be released on 31 March.

Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil need no introduction: they are established na-mes of Brazilian Popular Music. In July, the two take to the stage in very rare appe-arance in London.

The city, in fact, is part of the personal and artistic trajectory of the two. At the turn of the 1960s to 1970s, after the peak of the

musical movement known as Tropicália, Caetano and Gil spent a period of exile in the British capital – Brazil was on the most difficult years of the civil-military dictator-ship. From that time, both hold memories that will surely be remembered in the form of stories and songs. The public should ask Caetano to sing “London, London”.


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EXHIBITIONSIRIS DELLA ROCA When: 14-21 MarchWhere: The Little Black Gallery (13A Park Walk)Info: www.thelittleblackgallery.com

RAFAEL SILVEIRAWhen: 19 March – 11 AprilWhere: Atomica Gallery (7 Greens Court) Info: www.atomicagallery.com

ADVENTURES OF THE BLACK SQUAREWhen: Until 6 April Where: Whitechapel GalleryInfo: www.whitechapelgallery.org

LUCAS SIMÕESWhen: Until 11 April Where: Space in Between (8 Andrews Road)Info: www.spaceinbetween.co.uk

In 2009, photographer Iris Della Roca moved to Rio and started living in the favela of Rocinha. As she considers photography a collaborative art, she began a project whe-re the children could express their unique personality and show who they really were. These are portraits of children as dictated by them, proud and full of promise.

“Mind’s Eye Funfair” is an exhibition of new paintings by Brazilian artist Rafael Sil-veira, whose imaginative work combines fi-gurative classical painting, comic-inspired imagery and surreal subject matter. Like por-tals into an alternate dimension, his paintings invite the viewer to abandon everyday para-digms and embrace the unknown.

This show takes Kazimir Malevich’s ra-dical painting of a black square as the em-blem of a new art and a new society. The exhibition features over 100 artists who took up its legacy. Their paintings, photographs and sculptures symbolise Modernism’s uto-pian aspirations and breakdowns, including works of Hélio Oiticica.

“Perpetual Instability” is the artist’s first solo exhibition in London, and sees Simões present an installation of new works in con-crete responding to the current situation of Brutalist architecture. This exhibition is part of a wider artistic exchange. The second half is a solo show by London-based Simon Li-nington in Sao Paulo.


COLUMNISTS

FRANKO FIGUEIREDO

ON SUCCESS

Money, fame and material possessions offer fleeting

satisfactions. They might help you towards success, but it is

not the be all and end all

g Franko Figueiredo is artistic director and associate producer

of StoneCrabs Theatre Company

Success, according to the Oxford English dictionary, is the accomplish-ment of an aim or purpose, also seen as the attainment of fame, wealth or social status and in the most archaic of meanings the good or bad outcome of an undertaking.

Success is a very subjective topic, but one thing is certain: success do-esn’t necessarily equate to quality of life. How we go about creating or making use of our success can make all the difference.

Over the past year a number of plays both in the fringe circuit and in the west-end celebrated the lack of success, forcing us to look at our own humanity in the face. How to hold your breath at the Royal Court sees a woman spiralling down towards her own personal financial crisis. Plays for the Write Now Festival, which will be on at the Brockley Jack in May, deal with subjects such as a new worldwide generation that feels lost and power-less, mainly whose undertakings lead them to failure. Almodovar’s new mu-sical Women on a verge of a nervous breakdown is also built on failure: the despair, rejection, heartbreak that co-mes with love that has been betrayed. All of them however, are tributes of the characters’ capacity for survival. Some people have the determination to never give up in the face of adversi-ty, and therein lay their success.

Theatre as well as all art forms is always trying to get us to think, to question our actions, holding a mir-ror to our flaws in the hope to pro-voke positive change in our society. Take the recent unveiling of the plin-th in Trafalgar Square, for example, where now sits the skeleton of a horse being dragged by the bows of the sto-ck exchange. This is a symbol of the austerity measures that the current government forced upon us. I hope this will shake the nation and make people think about their votes in the next election. The majority of the po-

pulation was left like that horse on the plinth: skeletal and mal-nourished. Even Boris Johnson said something on the lines that the sculpture repre-sented the Tory rule flogging the dead horse of George Osborne’s economic policy. This is a courageous piece of art that provoke us hugely and an example of what success can do.

In his book Seven Paths to Global Harmony Daisaku Ikeda, a chapter on self-mastery, dialogue, tolerance and the “Path of Culture” which talks about human revolution in terms of self-mastery. Simply put, this means winning control over oneself, over-coming the small self that is domina-ted by narrow self-interest and awa-kening to the larger self that works for the good of all humanity. From this standpoint a major obstacle to developing ourselves is to pursue a way of life bound by our small ego or self. Expanding from the lesser self to the greater self is the path of human revolution. Daisaku Ikeda affirms “success is not a matter of accumu-lating more of this or that, success is not measured in quantity, it me-ans changing the quality of your life. Wealth, power, fame and knowledge alone cannot make you happy, no matter how much of these you acqui-re. Nor you can you take them when you die. But by improving the quality of your life you will at last approach true happiness”.

Things such as money, fame and material possessions offer fleeting satisfactions, they might help you towards success, but it is not the be all and end all. Success lies in the pur-suit of happiness; it is not a one-way street. It is a constant journey. We stop trying, we fail. As Samuel Be-ckett wrote in Worstward Ho: “All of old. Nothing ever else. Ever tried. Ever fai-led. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better”.

The majority of the population was left like that horse on the plinth in Trafalgar Square: skele-tal and mal-nourished

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£10 Standard£8 Students

LAPA INLONDON

DOIS POR QUATROThe Forge3-7 Delancey Street, Camden NW1 7NL

28th MARCH 7pm

3-7 Delancey St, NW1 7NLwww.forgevenue.org

An entire day of authentic Brazilian activities celebrating

the music and culture of Rio De Janeiro and culminating

in an evening of live Brazilian music

LAST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH

LAUNCH: 28th MARCH 2015

AUTHENTIC BRAZILIAN CULTURE

10am - Instrumental Workshops

2.45pm - Live Bossa Nova

Perfect for a relaxing Saturday afternoon

4pm - Film / Talk

5pm - Dance Class

Suitable for all ages and abilities

7pm - Clube do Choro UK

Showcasing choro music in a traditional roda (circle)

Fusion between choro and Samba de Raiz

Midnight - Samba de Raiz

Finish the night in Brazilian samba style!

Lapa in London is supported by The BrazilianEmbassy, The Forge and Clube do Choro UK

3-7 Delancey St, NW1 7NLwww.forgevenue.org


COLUMNISTS

SHAUN CUMMING

LOSE-LOSE SITUATION FOR BRAZILIn October, the day after Dilma’s re

-election as Brazil’s President, I wrote the following:

“Dilma’s next moves will determine how quickly confidence returns to her government’s critics. The final weeks of the debates between the two sides focussed on corruption, which was an absurd spectacle to observe. Dilma, as an individual, appears clean and wants to take a tough line on corruption. Un-fortunately for her, PT (Workers Party) – the party she represents – was and is involved in numerous scandals of a severe nature. Aécio, meanwhile, can boast a number of troubling personal incidents and questionable dealings of his own that he failed to clearly answer. The bottom line on these arguments is that both have skeletons in the closet. People debated ‘which is worse?’ – with many concluding that, on this particu-lar point, both were similar.

“Reconciling the divisions will be a difficult task for Dilma, but is essential if

she is to avoid social unrest of the type seen in 2013. Dilma must recognise that a substantial percentage of the electorate disagree with some of her policies, and must now work to make changes for all Brazilians. This includes the continua-tion of the good work done to benefit of the poor, stabilising the economy, encou-raging growth, cutting bureaucracy, and absolutely stamping out corruption whe-rever it exists – whether that is within her party or others.”

Unfortunately for Dilma, she has failed to get to grips with all the most serious problems facing Brazil quickly enough, meaning that those who want her out have jumped on the chance to call for her impeachment. They have ample fuel; the Petrobras scandal has not only caused anger, but has now also caused thousands of workers to be wi-thout a salary for several months as the contracting firms they work for lost their contracts. The economy, meanwhile, is disappointing.

On Sunday 15 March, an enormous protest is due to call for impeachment.

This sounds serious, but is of course ab-surd. As an individual, Dilma is not to bla-me. The President is literally powerless. The Petrobras investigation has implicated not only members of her own party, but also the opposition – her much-need voting co-alition in Congress. Without their support – which she has more-or-less already lost – the government cannot move forward pro-perly with any new legislation. What is nee-ded is widespread reform of the way Brazils’ government works. This ‘doing deals’ to get people to vote favourably, even without the passing of money, is a dirty game.

Let’s say in some wild imaginary situa-tion Dilma is impeached. The next Presi-dent faces the exact same problems. This will never change unless Brazil’s Congres-sional system is completely reformed.

Something else quite scary has popped into my head. For Brazil’s government to properly deal with the Petrobras scandal, many people and organisations should

be punished so seriously that they would struggle to operate in future. Thousands of workers would loose their jobs perma-nently. Not only will Petrobras be severely damaged financially, but many of Brazil’s biggest construction companies will be as well and may not survive. If you think the economy is bad now, wait to see what ha-ppens if they are all dealt with as the gover-nment keeps promising.

So here is the dangerous position. De-aling with all of those involved in this cor-ruption scandal will damage the Brazilian economy more than it can handle at the moment. However, not dealing with those responsible is completely unacceptable to the Brazilian public, and rightly so.

This is a lose-lose situation for Brazil and, as Dilma said when it was first revea-led, could change the country forever.

Let’s say in some wild imaginary situation Dilma Rousseff is impeached. The next

President faces the exact same problems

EASTER HANDWORK1 day £30.00 - Include all materials

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Fabric Bunny26/03 - Thursday 4 to 8pm28/03 - Saturday 2 to 6pm

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* Entries can be made by phone (020 7792 2931) or directly at Casa Brasil, in a minimum advance time of a week to prepare the material.* Payment upon registration for the purchase of material.

* All courses can be taken as individual lessons for £15.00/hour.

g To see more of my travels from around Brazil, please find me on instagram

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TRAVEL

BONITO LIVES UP TO ITS NAMEAwarded as the best destination for eco-tourism at the World Travel Market in London, Bonito in Brazil’s Centre-Western

state of Mato Grosso do Sul enchants visitors with great natural beauty and plenty of leisure options

By Cati Calixto

The person who created the stereotype that Brazil is a country where everyone lives in a paradise, bathes in crystal cle-ar rivers, eats fish and regional fruits and lives alongside incredibly colourful birds and monkeys must have visited Bonito for such inspiration.

With nearly 21,000 inhabitants, the small town is located in the Serra da Bo-doquena, on the south-western edge of the Pantanal Complex. Bonito - which after all is Portuguese for ‘beautiful’ is a place of wonderful natural beauty which has been celebrated and protected with sympathetic yet comprehensive tourist infrastructure. It is not uncommon to see gringos circling the main street, going from store to store to buy local handicrafts, or enjoying them-selves in the city’s bars and fine restaurants. Then there are the many Brazilians from different regions who arrive with only one purpose: to experience the city magical city of Bonito.

There are a number of special tours available, all focussed on ecotourism. These tours are well organised, easy to book and offered exclusively by proper-ly regulated agencies in accordance with the laws of tourism and environmental preservation. As the city is very busy and places limited, it is important to book in advance, which also applies to the various lodges and hotels.

CRYSTAL WATER

My time in Bonito was relatively short. In one morning, I visited the incre-dible Gruta do Lago Azul, or Blue Lake Grotto, one of the city’s ‘picture perfect’ locations. At around 9am each day the sun’s rays directly penetrate the cave, illu-minating the underground lake. Sunlight combined with the unique composition of the water, rich in calcareous and mag-nesium, makes the lake shine in an indes-cribable shade of blue.

You can only visit the cave in small groups and accompanied by a guide and all safety equipment required for the des-cent are available. Except the trail used to the lakeside, the rest of the cave remains virtually untouched - only researchers who study the site are allowed to explore other areas of the breathtaking cave.

On the same day, I visited the Natural Aquarium of Bonita Bay. The main attrac-tion is having the chance to snorkel in the source of the Formoso, Bonit’s main river. All equipment, such as bathing suits and

masks, are provided and the tour is also held in groups, with a guide. In order not to contaminate the water source, visitors need to take a shower before to remove chlorine, sunscreen, insect repellent or any other chemicals.

Before snorkelling in the river, visi-tors undertake a short training session in a pool. During snorkel dive, you can see more than 30 species of fish. The feeling is of belonging: the shoals swim close to you and the underwater vegetation creates an alternative underwater world.

The water is so crystal clear that you can observe the underwater plants perfor-ming photosynthesis (releasing air bubbles out of their leaves). Seeing the bottom of the bubbling spring, reminds us of the res-torative power of nature and how it keeps everything in place.

ADVENTURE

Bonito, however, is not only a place to see beautiful scenery from afar. You can be part of it’s natural beauty through ad-venture. The Eco Park Porto da Ilha of-fers a combination of activities that can be done for a whole day, such as duck tours, boat rides, tubing and standup paddling. The complex borders the river of Rio Formoso, and also has an area for swimming, waterfalls and retreats to rest – to relax a bit after all the excitement.

The duck tour is done in pairs in a kind of inflatable kayak. The guides offer tips on how to paddle and then have to go a few meters downstream, including the decline of some waterfalls. The boat ride is similar but groups are larger and the route is longer.

The buoy-cross or ‘tubing’, is a fast and fun ride where visitors ride the river rapids on top of an inner tube. The park’s route includes three waterfalls and it is hard to stay on top of the ‘donut’ through all of them. Standup paddling is the practice of standing on a surfboard with a paddle so you can go further out depths. At first, trying to stand on the board is almost im-possible, but once you get the hang of the game it is fun and even a little relaxing.

Anyone who visits Bonito will be ins-pired to go for another snorkel session Rio Sucuri. The small river is among several that flows into the Rio Formoso and its wa-ter is among the clearest in the world. The water is very cold, but the feeling of having the light current of the river gently leading you is wonderful.

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WHEN TO GO

HOW TO GET THERE

WHERE TO STAY

The best time to enjoy the scenery is during the rainy season of Decem-ber to March, when the vegetation is lush, the rivers are high and the waterfalls, most powerful. During the winter, while the fields become drier, the waters are lighter, improving visibility for snorkelling.

The Azul air company (www.voeazul.com.br) schedules flights from Cam-pinas, in the State of Sao Paulo, to Bonito, departing on Wednesdays and returning on Sundays. Airport of Dourados, 254 km from Bonito also receives flights of Azul, from Campinas, twice a day. The airport of Cam-po Grande, capital of Mato Grosso do Sul, which operates flights from several companies, is 310 km from the city.You can also travel by bus. Gontijo (www.gontijo.com.br), Motta (www.motta.com.br) and Andorinha (www.andorinha.com) have buses leaving from various Brazilian capitals to Campo Grande. The Cruzeiro do Sul company operates the line from Campo Grande to Bonito.

There are lots of hotels in Bonito, for different tastes and budgets. In low season, out of the summer months and school holidays, you can find a place from 90 reais a day (around £20).

g For more information, visit www.turismo.bonito.ms.gov.br

Into the wild, Bonito is Brazil’s main destination for ecotourism


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B R A S I LO B S E R V E RBRUNO DIAS / ESTÚDIO RUFUS (WWW.RUFUS.ART.BR) WWW.BRASILOBSERVER.CO.UK

LONDON EDITION

ISSN 2055-4826 # 0 0 2 3

DECEMBER|JANUARY

NEW YEAR...…AND WHAT’S IN STORE FOR BRAZIL IN 2015

DIVULGATION

DIVULGATION

CRIOLO IN LONDONBrazilian rapper talks exclusively to Brasil ObserverHIDDEN PARADISES

Who isn’t dreaming of a holiday in the Brazilian sunshine?

Subscribe now and get it in your doorstep!

12 editions 6 editions

More information: [email protected]

Payment forms: Bank Deposit or Paypal

Documents

Brasil Observer #25 - English Version