The list of countries where Russians can travel without visas has become longer. The agreement about non-visa travel between the citizens of Russia and Brazil came into effect on June 7.

Russian diplomacy has taken a lot of efforts during the recent years to make the list of visa-free destinations for Russian travelers as long as possible. Russia and Brazil signed the adequate agreement on November 26, 2008 during Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Rio.

“On June 7th we are opening the visa-free communication between our countries. We agreed about that in 2008. This will definitely expand our opportunities for communication,” the Russian president said on May 14.

Russia, South Ossetia introduce visa-free travel

Officials of the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry later clarified the details of the visa-free regime.

“In accordance with the agreement, the citizens of the Russian Federation and the citizens of Brazil holding valid passports will be relieved of the requirement for obtaining entry visas on the territory of the state of destination for up to 90 days during every 180-day period starting from the day of the first entry,” officials said.

However, it turns out that Russians and Brazilians will have to obtain the Brazilian visas in their passports in certain instances.

“Citizens of one state will be obliged to receive adequate visas if they enter the other state for conducting commercial, work, religious, educational and charitable activities or if they enter for internship or scientific work,” officials of the Russian foreign affairs ministry said.

A flight from Russia to Brazil is not a direct one. Passengers have to make a stop either in Senegal or in Portugal. It is not safe in the first case and quite problematic in the second one because travelers have to receive a transit Schengen visa.

On May 14th, Medvedev and Lula decided to set up a workgroup to elaborate the conditions for creating direct air communication between the two countries.

It is worthy of note that the Russian-Brazilian relations have been developing steadily during the recent years. The two countries cooperate closely within the scope of the BRIC organization (Brazil, Russia, India, China), as well as the G20 and the UN. Russia and Brazil have not had any considerable discrepancies regarding key international issues such as the Iranian nuclear program or the recognition of Kosovo’s independence. The abolishment of visas was another step to prove the friendly relations between the two countries.

Russia has come to an agreement to cancel visas with several other countries recently: Turkey, Serbia, Croatia (for summer period), Israel, South Korea and Argentina.

At present moment, Russian citizens can visit many countries without visas. Many of them are located in Latin America and on the Caribbean Islands. They are Antigua, Barbuda, Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, Venezuela, Guatemala, Honduras, Grenada, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Peru and Ecuador. Chile is expected to join them soon.

No visas are required for Russian citizens traveling to Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia (up to 30 days with the presentation of a tourist voucher or an invitation), Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Tunis, Morocco as well as several countries of Tropical Africa and Oceania. No visa is required for visiting the majority of republics of the former USSR, except for Turkmenistan, Georgia and the three Baltic States.

Citizens of Brazil can travel freely nearly all over the world and they do not need to have visas to visit the countries of the European Union, which is still a dream for all Russians.

via

Mexico is the twelfth largest economy on the globe, with a GDP exceeding one trillion dollars. It has the highest per-capita income and the highest purchasing power parity out of all the countries in Latin America. Mexico is also the only South American member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Mexico has been experiencing constant economic growth over the past years. It is estimated, in one of Goldman Sachs' studies, that the country will be one of the world's economic leaders by 2050, along with Brazil, Japan, China and the US. Mexico's economy is quite mature and stable, although the gap between the rich and the poor is continuously growing.

1994 was a rough year for Mexico's economy. The administration has been trying since then to ameliorate the country's macroeconomic situation. In 2002 South Africa suffered an economic crisis, but this didn't have a considerable effect on Mexico's economic state. In the present day, Mexico is affected, like many other countries, by the run up in food and oil. The levels of inflation and the interest rates are very low, especially since the Mexican government has been making sure of it.

Recent studies have shown that, in spite of its economic growth, Mexican economy has plenty of fundamental problems. There is an economic discrepancy between one region of the country and another, especially between the south and the north. Rural areas are being left way behind the urban areas, from not only the economic point of view, and the gap between the rich and the poor has increased over the past few years.

A certain level of inequality exists also as far as incomes are concerned. This inequality needs to be decreased in order to improve Mexico's economy and to minimize the chances of social and political instability. Mexico's infrastructure also needs to be improved. The tax system has to be modernized and labor laws have to be amended.

An important role in the Mexico Economy is played by agriculture. The private sector has begun to get more and more involved both in the industrial and in the agricultural sector. Competition exists in certain sectors such as generation and distribution of power, airports, railroads, seaports, and telecommunications. This is due to the measures taken by the government, hoping to improve the Mexican economy by building infrastructure while clamping down on its black economy.
Juan Abdel Nasser is a writer with the economic reports site Economy Watch , an extensive resource on economics, finance, investing and business worldwide.

Enjoy your Brazil Vacations. The Country that gave birth to carnival, the dazzling costumes and glorious beaches of Brazil, will allure you to the rhythm of the Samba. The mix of colors shows Brazil's great diversity. It has a hospitable spirit unequaled anywhere else in the world. The country of Soccer, good food, exotic beaches, rain forest, waterfalls, and many other topics make Brazil come together and the ideal destination for those who wish to be well received and treated as if at home. This is a place where many people leave their hearts, so look for some of the best Brazil Travel Deals.

Indubitably it is an ideal destination for travelers that look for a very luxury custom program or just a getaway from work and routine life for a great time of relaxation and fun. You will find here the perfect spot at any occasion for amazing Brazil vacations. Many tourists arrive home already dreaming of returning. Rio de Janeiro Brazil is the principal entrance of the Country for tourists. People from all over the world looking for the life style, gorgeous beaches, friendly and smile people, and the unforgettable tours sites to visit like Corcovado mountain, Sugar Loaf and the Botanical Garden in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil travel deals offer a variety of activities for different tastes and budgets and an exciting and worldwide know night life.

Brazil is a unique mix of nationalities, rich cultures, breath-taking mountains and gorgeous landscapes, amazing wild life, and rhythms. Come and get a glimpse of Brazil rich biodiversity. Those who come, fall in love. Your Brazil vacations will provide you with excellent opportunities to see an amazing Country and have exotic experiences.
Large International Hotels and good quality of service, unique way of life. From Amazon to Iguassu Falls you will experience fantastic scenes and a happy people with a laid-back way of living that enchant every visitor. From the big cities to the little ones, you are always going to find many magic spots and a reason to come back to a paradise named Brazil. Do not forget to check if you need visa to travel to Brazil, for more information speak with your travel guide or visit specialized web sites and enjoy the variety of beautiful places that Brazil travel deals offer to you. See You in Brazil and have fun!

Brazil is an amazing Country! To learn more click Brazil vacations

I have been talking extensively here about the disruption that has been caused by the Brazilian Air Traffic Controllers white strike. They do not go on strike completely, but they do delay operations so much that the whole system goes through a lot of pain. Well, as if we really needed it, the Federal Police wen on strike for 24 hours today adding insult to injury.

The Federal Police takes care of Immigration procedures at International Airports. Their way of going of strike is the same, they delay the processes of checking passengers documents so much that it becomes painful. Inspection times raise from 2 minutes under regular operation to about 15 minutes under what is called "operacao padrao". As a result lines swell and delays start to take place.

The strike is supposed to be trying to claim a salary raise that the PF Union leaders say was agreed upon previously. However, the strike is coming on a day that doubts about a Minister of the Brazilian Supreme court is being mentioned as having an involvement with the gaming mafia. This is raising suspicion about the strike itself, as the police work around the crime is on hold for now.

If you are coming to Brazil or coming back, please arm yourself with patience. Your line might take a few hours and not a few minutes. If you are going out internationally you might have to go to the airport four hours before your flight is due.

According to the Associated Press, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday received a prototype version of the laptop, which has been billed as a durable low-cost PC for children in developing countries. 50 of the laptops are expected to be tested in Brazilian schools beginning today.

Nicholas Negroponte, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and founder of the One Laptop Per Child (LOPC) project, said that about 1,000 laptops should be available for distribution as early as January. He noted that "all computer servers" will be built in Brazil.

According to MIT, the Linux-based, full-color, full-screen laptop will use innovative power sources -- including batteries or hand crank -- and aims to do most everything that a standard laptop can do except store large amounts of data. The rugged laptops will be WiFi- and cell phone-enabled, and have USB ports, a 500MHz processor, and 1 gigabyte of storage capacity using flash memory instead of a hard disk. It is designed to be used under the harsh conditions of rural areas in developing countries.

OLPC says it will begin full-scale production once it has orders (one million units is the minimum order) for 5-10 million machines.

"We are working on this project in at least three continents," Mr Negroponte said in Brazil. He named Argentina, Nigeria and Thailand as likely customers, though press reports indicate that Libya and Israel have also expressed interest in the affordable computers.

Currently the laptop runs about $150 each, but the cost is expected to fall as production ramps up. The PCs are being built in Shanghai by Quanta, a Taiwanese firm. Google, AMD, Brightstar, News Corporation, and Red Hat are among the companies involved in the development of the machine. Notably absent from the project is Microsoft. Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and the world's most generous philanthropist, criticized the computer this past March.

The $100 laptop initiative follows in the spirit of C.K. Prahalad's The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits, a book that looks at the world's masses as potential customers instead of victims of poverty. In his book, Prahalad argues that by regarding the 80% of humanity living on less than $2 a day -- whom he terms "the bottom of the pyramid" -- as potential customers, businesses and the poor will be better off. Prahalad suggests that the private sector may do a better job eradicating poverty, building dignity and respect, encouraging entrepreneurship, and reducing dependency than handouts under traditional aid programs.

Brazil has taken into Federal custody a British man who has lived in the country for the past ten years. The man, whose name will remain undisclosed, is married to a Brazilian woman and they are raising their two Brazilian born children together. The British citizen's lawyer failed to deliver important paperwork to Brasilia, and the Brasilian federal police picked him up at his house for violating immigration laws. This was in 2002. Three years later the man was still being held in federal prison. Since no progress had been made with his case, the man decided to take things into his own hands by going on a hunger strike. Twenty-four days into the strike, the report of his case was published on AOL of Brasil. Shortly after that, the federal police framed his case with new charges. They charged the man with child molestation.

This is a huge test case for the world to see just how justice is upheld in the most powerful nation in South America. The outcome is in great doubt as this man's family's future remains in jeopardy.

If the man truly wanted to hide from federal police and violate Brazilian immigration laws, he could have easily done so simply by moving to another part of his city, setting up home with a new address. Could it be that Brazil is retaliating against Great Britain for the London Police's mistaken shooting on the London City Metro of an innocent Brazilian earlier this year?

Much remains to be seen as this story unravels and develops to its climax.

This article can be republished as long as my bio info is included.

Ronald Nordquist is an American and a language expert living in Brazil, operating a small business together with his Brazilian wife. They have a 2 year old son. He has an MBA from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan and a web site at http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/bttu3570/. He wants to return to the USA.

The news from Brasil as we head into the holiday break:

Statute of Disarmament - calling it a Christmas present for the millions of Brazilians who fight against violence, President Lula signed into law the Estatuto de Desarmamento, which greatly restricts legal access to firearms, increases penalties for illegal possession or use of them, and mandates the immediate destruction of all seized firearms as soon as they are no longer needed for evidence.

The Central Bank cut interest rates by another percent, to 16.5%, their lowest rate since 2001. This represents a reduction in real interest rates - (rate - inflation) from 15% to 9.25% in the past year. Despite this boost to Brazil's economy, retail interest rates are not keeping pace - credit card interest still hovers around 10% per month.

Brazil's 2004 harvest is expected to exceed 2003's record levels by up to 6%, promising another year of strong foreign exchange earnings from the sale of its soya crop.

Brazil's unemployment rate dropped significantly in November for the first time in a year, dropping from 12.9% down to 12.2% in the past month. The rate had risen from 10.9% last November. However, the average worker's take-home pay has fallen by 13% over the same period, suggesting that the new jobs are lower-paying, possibly seasonal work ahead of Christmas. The weekly research "Focus" shows a final prediction for 2003 GDP growth in Brazil of just 0.13%, although the forecast improves to 3.52% for calendar 2004.

A bus travelling from Sуo Paulo to Fortaleza crashed in Minas Gerais state killing 21 passengers. What makes this case tragic is that the bus company was not certified for inter-city travel and the driver was attempting to flee fiscalizaчуo - monitoring - at the time of the accident. The driver survived the accident.

A dozen armed men dressed as medical workers carried out a daring rescue of a kingpin traficante from his hospital bed in Leblon, one of Rio's poshest neighbourhoods. The traficante had been injured at the weekend in an auto accident, and was guarded by only one MP.

The Staheli case is slipping from the news, although there are some new developments from time to time. Police report they were able to extract DNA from "a man, not the husband" from under Michele Staheli's fingernails. This corroborates the earlier report of her putting up a struggle, and may be the most significant clue yet to the identity of the assailant. The most significant line of enquiry is still with the family's driver. Blood found on his car showed DNA from several persons, consistent with his report that he had helped two women who had suffered domestic accidents in recent weeks. The driver was called to the scene of the incident and was reported to have touched Todd Staheli to check if he was still breathing.

Brazil's Under-20s won their championship match against Spain, giving Brazil simultaneous possession of all three football world titles - the World Cup, the Under-20s and the Under-17s. Brazil's CBD confidently predicts victory in the 2006 World Cup - the "hexa", for Brazil, currently the only country ever to win the Cup five times.

The week's news from Brazil

"Lulawrence of Arabia" returned from his Middle Eastern journeys and announced that his travels weren't over, with trips planned next year to China and India. He also announced that Brazil is expecting a visit of Vladimir Putin, as the four cornerstone nations of the G20 work to form a new economic bloc to counter the power of the EU and the US.

Brazil's Senate finally approved the state pension reform legislation. The legislation will take effect immediately, with the first big change being a 30% reduction in all pensions over R$2400 (about US$800). Merry Christmas, middle class Brazil! Lula has been quoted as saying he wasn't thrilled with the structure of the reforms, but satisfied that at least some progress had been made.

Brazil's Minister of the Fazenda, Antonio Palocci, said that for 2004 the economy's priorities must change from a too-close focus on the interest rates to a focus principally on development. Minister of Labour Jaques Wagner said that Brazil will create 2m jobs in 2004.

The PT (Workers' Party) cracked its whip this week and expelled four of its congressional party members, three for voting against the party on pension reform and one for releasing an old recording of Lula criticising one of his present-day allies.

At least 39 PMs (policemen) were arrested on contraband charges, accused of helping cross-border smugglers import large quantities of illegal and contraband items such as alcohol and bootleg CDs. A typical crime was noted - accepting a R$500 payment to allow a bus full of contraband goods to enter Brazil through customs.

O Caso Staheli - police announced yesterday that the results of the blood analyses conducted on both Todd and Michele showed there were no drugs or alcohol in either of their bodies. The Staheli children were allowed to leave Brazil, along with the bodies of their parents. This suggests all suspicion has been removed from that line of enquiry. The family lawyer is still pressing for a further exploration of Todd's business dealings, both in his current work on the Brazil-Bolivia pipeline and on his former dealings (Shell employees are demanding answers, too). Police announced the discovery of a "secret passage" in the house, but gave no further details. They are currently investigating traces of blood found on the family car, although the driver was called to the scene by the neighbours and had a legitimate reason to have blood on his hands, having helped to move the Stahelis before police arrived. Police continue to search the lake behind the house for a weapon. Images from a neighbour's closed-circuit video camera revealed someone moving toward the lake about 2:30AM; police are working to enhance the images.

Futebol - the regular football season came to a close this weekend after a series of matches that decided which teams would be relegated to the Second Division (Segundona). Bahia showed its Second Division potential by losing at home 0-7 to Cruzeiro (the champions) in a match that cannot have been fun for Bahia's goalkeeper (if he even bothered to show up!). Fortaleza fell three slots into the relegation zone by losing to Ponte Preta, who secured their own safety with the win. Fluminense and Grъmio also secured their positions in the First Division for another season. In a sense, it's a shame to see the Premiership lose two Northeast teams, gaining one more from Sampa and one from Rio. The next two years' Brasileirѕes will see four teams relegated each season as the CBN tries to undo the silliness they concocted by expanding the premiership to 24 teams to prevent big-market teams from being relegated. Brazil's Under-20s beat Argentina (sorry, Marcelo) 1-0 and will play Spain for the Under-20 championship.

The Short Version:

• Lula: Maybe we should just make a free trade area between ourselves...


• Lula's advisers: ..But what we ultimately want are still the consumist, overspending, developed markets.


• The G-20, in chorus: Free trade - good. Protectionist barriers - bad. At least for the stuff we want to export.


• The WTO: We're with you in this one, guys.

The Really Short Version: Everybody said pretty much what they have been saying for the last years.

Probably the only strategic goal of this meeting was the showing of an united front to the rest of the world. Both elementary game theory and plain common sense tell you that the bargaining position of a group is higher when the rest of the negotiators are convinced that the group is going to work together.

Thanks to one of the most, shall we say, untactful foreign policy-wise US administrations in a long while, for the time being it looks like the G-20 group is actually doing so. That's, I think, the real news here.

JOHANNESBURG The police here and in Brazil say they have arrested 14 people in a trans-Atlantic scheme to buy human organs from impoverished Brazilians for sale to desperate and ailing recipients in South African hospitals...

... According to the police in Brazil, the operators of the ring canvassed poor neighborhoods for people willing to sell one of their kidneys. Those who volunteered were then flown to South Africa, where the transplants were performed.

One blogger, though, Lenin Guerra, posts a lament, lest we be too quick to blame the general state of violence in Rio (emphasis added).

Deu no New York Times: a morte do casal de executivos da Shell, Michelle e Zera Todd Staheli, está totalmente vinculada a violencia no Rio de Janeiro. O jornal americano classificou o Rio como uma das cidades mais violentas do mundo. Casos como esse contribuem cada vez mais para a estagnacao do nosso turismo internacional. Um pais com mais de 8 milhoes de quilometros quadrados, que tem em territorio Amazonia, Pantanal e praias das mais belas do mundo, recebe apenas 5 milhões de pessoas por ano. Naum aproveitamos nem o eco-turismo. O Brasil responde a apenas 10% desse tipo de turismo. Ou seja, dos que querem ver natureza no mundo, só 10% escolhem o Brasil. Nossos 5 milhoes sao pouco se comparado a França (75 milhões), Espanha (52 milhões) e os Estados Unidos (48 milhões). Acontecimentos como o assassinato desse casal tendem a nos deixar estagnados, senao caindo, no ranking mundial do turismo ¿ atualmente estamos em 29º. O turismo é uma forma interessante de ingresso de capital a um país. É uma pena que continuaremos perdendo esse filao. Agora responda com sinceridade: depois de ler quase semanalmente notícias como essa, se voce fosse estrangeiro, voce viria passar férias no Brasil ou no México?

Lenin decries the automatic connection between the case and Rio's violent side, and the connection between high-profile cases like this one and Rio's stagnant tourism industry. "After reading almost weekly news like this, if you were a foreigner, would you spend your holidays in Brazil or in Mexico?"

This crime has few clues, and detectives are pointing inside the household (although, to be fair, the family's lawyer today told police they need to "put a foot outside the house", indicating that he suspected a professional hit rather than someone close to the family).

Lenin directs his concern to the bigger picture - this can only hurt Brazil's tourism, and at a time when it should be at peak (yes, 90 degrees here today). He worries that Brazil - the 5th largest country in the world, and a country including the Amazon, the Pantanal and the most beautiful beaches in the world - is only 29th in world tourism. 5 million tourists in Brazil don't compare very well with 75 million in France, or 48 million in the US.

Of the Staheli case, I tend to think that after the initial shock and outrage it remains for the police to put together the evidence and make the best conclusion they can, and to take the pressure off of random Rio violence as the automatic culprit. Rio has its violent hot-spots, but they tend to be places where no foreigner would find himself. Still, no doubt the case is high profile (as our referrer logs continue to attest). So without wishing to sound overmuch like a cheerleader, I can merely remind you, Brazil is a beautiful country, Rio is a wonderful city, and Cariocas are the friendliest people in the world.. Brazil is still "my beach".

Since taking office, President Lula has spent an extraordinary amount of time outside Brazil, ostensibly attempting to establish a new political and economic alliance of developing countries. While the people broadly support Lula's travels (52% support them, 30% oppose them), local critics are beginning to suggest that he ought to spend more time at home, minding the store; making sure his government is delivering on the promises he's made. Lula has visited 23 countries in his first year in office.

A persistent criticism is that the government cannot even spend the money that has been budgeted. I've noted before that a little caution here might be worthwhile (there's no point in pouring it down the same sinkholes as the predecessors). [aside: Perhaps they're spending it on travel - already R$500m spent on travel and per diems by the government this year.]

Claudio Shikida over at Economia Everywhere tackles this theme, and raises an important question about Lula's objectives in undertaking his most recent visit to the Middle East. He proposes:

Mais vale um frango brasileiro exportado na Sэria do que uma eleiчуo democrсtica no paraэso de Assad: "o Brasil que exporta, alimentando a ditadura que nуo se importa" [English].

The quote is a lovely play on words with export/import and "importa" meaning "to matter". The Brazil that exports, feeding a dictatorship that doesn't matter.

He goes on to challenge the Lula agenda in the Middle East:

Coisas que devem incomodar muita gente:

1. Qual o custo e qual щ o benefэcio de se fazer um discurso na Liga ┴rabe sem pedir mais democracia no Oriente Mщdio?

2. Como a resposta politicamente correta - do ponto de vista do governo - р questуo anterior deve domar a lєgica para se compatibilizar com o discurso comum (e mais comum em 2002, durante a campanha eleitoral) de щtica na polэtica?

Meu palpite: o cсlculo econЇmico dos diplomatas estс correto. Vale mais um frango exportado do que um opositor livre na Lэbia...para o governo brasileiro. Revoltante? Talvez. Mas hс sempre aquele argumento de que dar mercados gera maior retorno do que dar democracia, pelo menos no curto prazo. Serс este dilema algo empiricamente testсvel? [English].

His conclusion: business as usual. The short-term gain of exporting is worth more to Brazil than the political gain of increased democracy in the region. And this may be true, but it's a challenge to the ethical stance that Lula maintained in opposition.

Yesterday it was announced that here in Brazil, two large supermarket chains, Pуo de Aч·car (currently Brazil's largest) and Sendas, the largest in Rio de Janeiro state, where Pуo is not very well-established yet, are planning a merger. The details were fuzzy, but it looks like some kind of a share swap and joint operation will be taking place.

Pуo de Aч·car (which is the trading name of its parent, Companhia Brasileira de Distribuiчуo, a public company traded in New York [quote]) currently has 446 stores in Brazil; family-held Sendas has 79. Combined operations will give the new company 525 stores, more than twice as many as their nearest competitor (French Carrefour, which, however, has about similar turnover to Pуo at present).

Enter Wal-mart. At present, Wal-Mart has a toe in the door here, with 22 shops and R$1.75bn in turnover (Pуo R$10.8bn, Sendas R$2.52bn). But Wal-Mart is considered front-runner in acquiring No. 3 retailer Bompreчo from troubled Dutch group Ahold. CBD would like to have Bompreчo, but the market considers it too much of a debt burden on CBD for them to buy the chain outright from Ahold, who need the cash. Wal-Mart presumably doesn't have the same liquidity issues. Buying Bompreчo would give Wal-Mart 138 stores and over R$5bn in turnover.

There's a very interesting piece on BBC Brasil today about "little Pуo, little Sendas and big Wal-Mart". The author, Lucas Mendes, points out some facts about Wal-Mart in Mexico:

A gigante americana entrou no Mщxico hс doze anos. Hoje tem mais de 600 pontos de vendas e emprega 101 mil pessoas, mais do que qualquer outra empresa no paэs. Fatura mais do que toda a ind·stria de turismo.

Suas vendas representam 2% do PIB mexicano, 30% das vendas de todos os supermercados e 6% das vendas no varejo. Ela nуo sufoca sє a concorrъncia mexicana. Nos Estados Unidos, os n·meros sуo semelhantes. [English]

He then asks the key question:

Serс que o que щ bom para o Mщxico serс bom para o Brasil ou, no Rio, o pуozinho e a sendinhas vуo bater no walzуo? [English]

Lucas points out that the Mexicans and Americans are happy with Wal-Mart, but to me it rather begs the question as to exactly how good this is for Mexico. For now, it looks like Pуo/Sendas may be one move ahead of Wal-Mart. Myself, I am surprised that Wal-Mart is moving so slowly (it may be that they are just having trouble growing themselves quickly in Brazil, but that hasn't stopped Wal-Mart before).

[Full disclosure: I am a CBD shareholder]
Where credit is due: the sales / stores figures came from O Globo 8 December 2003

The week's news from Brazil

Last week the government agreed to extend the top tax rate at 27.5% for the next two years without concessions to higher-rate tax payers. The move extends an earlier temporary amendment, first approved under the previous government, which shows signs of becoming more or less permanent.

Otherwise it's been a fairly quiet week on the political front, with Lula and his entourage making a tour of Middle Eastern states, the first such tour by a Brazilian leader since the 1870s (in the imperial era). Lula visited Syria, where he called on Israel to give back the Golan Heights and for progress on Palestinian statehood, followed by a stop in Lebanon. His visit then took him to the United Arab Emirates, then Egypt. He will call in on Libya on his way back to Brazil later this week. The object of the visit has been to increase Brazil's prominence on the world stage and to re-order world economic relations - an ambitious agenda, which was at least supported by the signing of some new bilateral trade deals in the region.

Brazil's industrial output shrank in October following three months of growth. The slowdown is attributed to the economy catching up with itself, and further growth is expected in the months to come as interest rates and inflation are forecast to continue their downward trend. A survey of Brazilians shows that 44% reckon unemployment is worse under Lula, while 52% of Brazilians are not expecting to receive their cherished "13th salary" this month. In spite of the unemployment figures and the lack of money, 73% believe that 2004 will be better for them. A good sign.

In Sуo Paulo this week, neo-nazi skinheads forced two youths to jump from a moving train. The two youths were dressed in punk clothing and wore mohawks. One remains in a profound coma at risk of losing his life, while the other had his arm amputated above the elbow.

And in central Rio, the continuing dispute between police and camelЇs (street vendors, often selling pirated CDs and software) claimed its first life, as a policeman was shot in the face while attempting to scatter the vendors on the street. In spite of the campaign, which is supported by established merchants, it seems pretty much 'business-as-usual' on the streets, from my own observations.

The Staheli case is still in the news, although the lack of new information has slowed down the reportage. A new study of the weapon found in the house - actually a kind of war axe (with no blade) - showed no evidence of blood, leading police to think it was not used. This axe was a souvenir the 10-year-old boy had bought in Scotland during a family holiday. It is curious that he had showed the axe to young friends of the family who had been over the night before, and that it was found in the daughter's room despite the boy saying it had been secured in his wardrobe the night before. The state Secretary of Public Safety said he found it strange that there were no signs of entrance or exit from the house and yet the weapon had not been found. It may be that the axe belonged to a "crossed-axe" display and that another axe is missing. Police are interested in interviewing more of the children's friends, including their daughter's "boyfriend", now reported as being 14 and having been present in the house the night before. Today police will be conducting a reconstruction at the crime scene. The older children are still prohibited from leaving Brazil.

Futebol - the race for the bottom continues hotly contested. By losing while the others tied for last position at least managed a draw, Bahia claimed the lanterna from Ponte Preta (who drew 1-1 with Flamengo at a match I attended). There are still five teams in contention for relegation, including local side Fluminense, who lost 5-2 to champions Cruzeiro in Belo Horizonte, much to the joy of the handful of Flamengo supporters in attendance at the cavernous Maracanу. Next weekend's matches will be decisive.

Tuesday, December 2, 2003

The Brazilian Committee for the Implementation of Free Software will release code under the Free Software Foundation's General Public License, with Creative Commons providing new human- and machine-readable packaging

Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL, and Tokyo, JAPAN - The government of Brazil today announced its adoption of the CC-GPL, an innovation on the Free Software Foundation's (FSF) General Public License, for the release of publicly funded software. Brazil is the first adopter of the new CC-GPL, which combines the proven utility and popularity of the GPL with Creative Commons' innovative user interface.

"Brazil's adoption of the CC-GPL is extremely significant," said Lawrence Lessig, Creative Commons' chairman and professor of law at Stanford University, from Tokyo, where Creative Commons is presenting its projects in Japan this week. "Brazil has recognized that code produced and funded by the people should be made available to the people, and it has pioneered a tool that provides the best of both the Free Software Foundation and Creative Commons."

"Brazilian government adoption of the GPL is an enormous step forward in the cause of software freedom," said Professor Eben Moglen of Columbia Law School and General Counsel of the Free Software Foundation. "We welcome the chance to work together with Creative Commons to make the GNU GPL even more attractive to governments, which are recognizing that the principle of 'share and share alike' is the most efficient, most equitable, and most pro-development licensing strategy for software the public pays to create or to acquire."

http://creativecommons.org/press-releases/entry/3919

The BBC Brasil site is reporting this morning about a large march on the streets of Mexico City. Thousands of trade unionists, peasants and activists were marching against the Fox government's proposed reforms, including the planned privatisation of the electricity sector and the imposition of a value-added tax (IVA). The report suggests the march, which came off peacefully, had the support of opposition politicians.

One farmer is quoted by the Associated Press as saying, "We have an abandoned field. No one is making money, now the production is paralysed and many farmers are emigrating. We want national sovereignty in food and only to consume Mexican corn, beans, wheat and meat."

Considering the agenda is broadly similar, I suppose the successes of peasant protestors in Bolivia might strengthen the hand of the Mexican protestors and be some cause for concern in the government. The protestors called for a national strike if their demands were not met.

Brasil's Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil, has been involved in developing a new standard Creative Commons "some-rights-reserved" license to encourage the sampling of original works by others:

The Sampling Licenses

Inspired by world-famous musician and composer Gilberto Gil and developed with the help of the veteran found-art group Negativland, Creative Commons will launch our new Sampling Licenses on December 16, 2003.

The new licenses, which will encourage the creative transformation of existing works, will kick-off in Brazil тАФ home of Gil, who now serves as the nation's Minister of Culture, and the FGV Law School, which coordinates Creative Commons' activities in Brazil. Gil and FGV Law School will collaborate on a release of the first Sampling-licensed creative works, which will then serve as the model for the adoption of the Sampling licenses around the world.

I came across the Houston Chronicle's lengthy summary of Brazil's current domestic situation via Danny Yee's Pathologically Polymathic weblog. It's a pretty thorough laundry list of the difficulties facing Lula as he nears the one-year point of his presidency.

I thought I'd add that in my own experiences, while people are starting to ask hard questions about how much of the government's programmes are talk vs. action, he does still command a lot of respect for even daring to act in some of the areas he's tackling. He's had a relatively lengthy honeymoon. Without a majority in the congress, he has to build consensus for major policies outside his relatively narrow spending mandates. His comments about the cowardice of his predecessors have a ring of truth about them.

He must personally shake with frustration that the situation that he inherited leaves him relatively little room to manoeuver despite his mandate, but he's still out there horse-trading, practicing the art of the possible. The government is criticised for its inability to spend even the money it has allocated to it, but one might attribute this to cautious first steps. There are a lot of holes to plug, and I suspect the government wants to act prudently rather than follow on without reviewing what they've inherited. Given time, and given a stable economy in which to work (big "givens"), I still think there's a lot of promise in the Lula agenda.

Lula has recently been making more "promises" to the likes of the landless (MST) movement. Patience and loyalty, he asks, and deliveries he promises. He has only seated 30,000 families in his first year of power. He promises to seat another 500,000 by the end of his mandate. It can't be bad politics to ramp up to some big targets toward the end of his first term. It remains to be seen if these back-end-loaded promises can be delivered, but a lot of Brazilians will be a lot better off if he succeeds.

Brazil's Environmentalists Crying Foul
By LARRY ROHTER

New York Times, November 21, 2003


BRASILIA - The environmental movement celebrated when Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was elected Brazil's president in October last year. More than a year later, though, that relationship is in danger of falling apart, with environmentalists talking of betrayal.

On virtually every major issue - from Amazon deforestation and genetically modified food to nuclear power and squatter invasions of national parks - Mr. da Silva has turned his back on them, environmentalists say, in many cases abandoning campaign pledges.

...

"The idea of an integrated policy is something new and has never been done before," Marina Silva, the environmental minister, said in an interview. "You can't expect to have a new paradigm fully in place after barely nine months in power."

...

Luz para todos - The Brazilian government announced last Tuesday the launch of a new program designed to bring electricity to the 2.5 million Brazilian homes (5% of all homes) currently without. The ambitious goal is to complete this task by 2008. I say ambitious because the majority of these households are in the very rural Amazon and Northeast regions, with a half million in Bahia state alone. The minister of Mines and Energy, Dilma Rousseff, put some scale to the task by noting that this was bringing electricity to a population the size of Chile.

Pension Fraud - The government put some numbers to its contention of benefit claim fraud amongst the oldest segments of the population (I noted last week the uproar the initial decision to suspend payments pending verification had created). The census estimates 24,579 pensioners over 100, but pays 99,986 claims. From 95-99 the difference is 56,198 in the population and 123,294 pensions paid, and from 90-94, 180,426 citizens and 323,759 claims. It seems like a pretty open secret that if you didn't tell the social security office, they would have no idea that the claimant had died.

Favela Living - An editorial in O Globo condemned the steady rise in the number of people living in favelas throughout Brazil over the period from 1991 to 2001. The article points out that, far from being a "trademark of Rio", where they are more prominent for their location on the city's hillsides, every major city in Brazil has its own favelas or irregular housing units. 23% of all municipalities have favelas, and nationwide there are about 16,000 such neighbourhoods. The number of favela homes increased from 921,000 in 1991 to 2,362,000 in 2001. Rio itself has about 700 favela neighbourhoods, with 149 of these identified within the last four years. Many of these new favelas are sprouting up alongside settled lower-income areas, which already have transport links and some infrastructure. The government's attempt to regularise the favelas, Favela-Bairro targets reaching 550,000 people in 141 communities by the end of 2004.

More Punishment, Please! - Two judges who were convicted of selling reduced sentences for drug dealers were "sentenced to retirement", gaining criticisms from the government and the people over the Brazilian judiciary's soft treatment of their own in matters of corruption. The judges, husband and wife, were compelled to retire with their pensions of R$15000 and R$6800 intact, causing some to wonder what kind of punishment this represents.

Sao Paulo Shorts - Sao Paulo was found by a survey to be more violent than Colombia. In the past year, 20% of paulistanos will have suffered some kind of violence. One in two can expect to be the victim of some violence during their lifetimes. The week's news was dominated by the murder of a teenage couple who had gone camping at a remote sitio in Sao Paulo state without telling their parents. Sao Paulo's archbishop added his name to the growing calls to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16.

And in Rio - the chief of the region's Superintendencia Municipal de Transportes Urbanos was gunned down by a pair of assassins on a motorbike. The crime was being blamed on Rio's "transport mafias," understood to be upset with a recent crackdown on illegal transport practices, such as using tourism buses for urban transport. It is estimated that there are 12,000 illegal public transport vehicles (buses, vans) in Rio and that the practice is worth about US$1 million per day in illegal profits.

In the Money - Brazil's biggest companies are having their best financial results since 1998. A study of 181 banks and non-financial institutions conducted by Economatica showed that for the 9 months ending in September, these firms reported net profits of nearly R$30 billion, the best-ever result since the survey started in 1998. The strong performance was credited to a lowering of Brazil's central bank interest rate (which may be lowered further this week), and the recovery of the national currency, the real, versus the dollar. The real, which currently trades at about R$2.9 to the US$, traded as high as 4.0 in the uncertainty leading up to last year's presidential election.

Bureaucracy and business growth - the International Finance Corporation released a study called Doing Business comparing the ease of doing business in many countries around the world. Brazil fared poorly in the results, owing to its complex laws and bureaucracy. Average time to complete a contract was cited as 380 days (the US was cited as 363, which surprised me). To open a business takes 152 days in Brazil (Latin American average was 72 days, USA 4). The only place where Brazil was reported to have shone was in the cost of completing a contract, at 2.4% of per capita income (the article doesn't explain exactly what this means), versus US of 0.4% and a Latin American average of 38%.

Futebol - club football took a break this week while the Brazilian national selection competed in the South American eliminations for the next World Cup. Brazil started the weekend at the top of the league, but after a 1-1 draw with Peru in Lima on Sunday, they now have an identical record with Argentina, who lead the region on goal difference. Brazil's next match is on Thursday versus Uruguay in my former stomping grounds of Curitiba. President Lula criticised the team's performance on Sunday and was respectfully advised by the team's coach to mind his own business.

(note: giving credit where it is due, most of this information is digested from the hardcopy daily O Globo, although I add to it from what I've heard or read elsewhere, including the radio, the BBC Brasil website and Yahoo News).