As Rio awoke from a night of celebration after being awarded the 2016 Olympics, Brazil was already looking ahead to years of hard work in what will be a historic time in Latin America's biggest nation.
The world's two biggest sporting events will take place in Brazil a few years from now — the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics — and the country has little time to spare.
"We know the IOC decision has increased our responsibility," Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said. "We know what we need to do. The word from now on is work, work and work."
Critics have questioned whether Brazil's infrastructure can handle such large events, and whether the country is safe enough to welcome the participants and tens of thousands of visitors into the country. Others say the events will help Brazil's emerging status as a world power — with the country predicted as the world's fifth-largest economy by 2016 — and serve as a catalyst for change and improvement to more than 190 million people.
"Brazil needed the Olympics. We needed this challenge," Silva said in Copenhagen just hours after Rio beat Madrid, Tokyo and Chicago. "We only needed one chance to prove that we are a great nation and that we have the capacity to do well just like any other country in the world."
Soccer's governing body FIFA awarded Brazil the World Cup in 2007 for the first time since 1950, and the International Olympic Committee on Friday decided to bring the games to South America for the first time.
It will be the fourth time the same nation hosts the Olympics and World Cup consecutively — Mexico did it in 1968 and 1970, Germany in 1972 and 1974 and the United States in 1994 and 1996.
"That's something I didn't think I would see one day in Brazil," 78-year-old retiree Claudio Correa said Saturday while strolling on Ipanema beach. "Two big events like these right here. It certainly puts Brazil's name right up there."
Silva said that in addition to giving Brazil the status of a "first-class nation," the high-profile competitions also give Brazil a boost in pride and self-esteem.
"No one is happier than Brazil's people," Silva said. "But maybe because we were a colony for such a long time, we always had this sense of inferiority, of not being important. We always thought that we couldn't do what the others could."
With a sound technical project and a lot of passion, the Brazilians and Rio de Janeiro convinced the IOC they were finally ready to host the Olympics, after failed attempts in 1936, 2004 and 2012.
But there is a lot to do before Brazil is ready to stage the two major competitions.
Despite natural beauties and fun-loving people, the nation also has to deal with poverty, violence and other problems inherent to a developing country. Among the problems that will have to be addressed ahead of 2016 are security and transportation.
"We'll have to sleep less and do more," Silva said.
Officials are already getting to work, and members of the new Rio 2016 Organizing Committee met with IOC officials on Saturday in Copenhagen to discuss future actions. Committee President Carlos Arthur Nuzman said several meetings in the next few days will be needed to begin organizing the city's plans.
Back home, media praised Rio's achievement with front-page headlines across the nation.
"Rio deserves it," the O Dia daily said.
The sports daily Lance wrote that the "The dream became reality."
Some analysts, however, pointed to the challenges and possible drawbacks the country will have by organizing two major competitions in a short period of time.
"This decision is great and we have to celebrate," columnist and TV commentator Antero Greco said. "But we know there will be a lot of public money involved in these competitions and we have the responsibility to make sure this money is going to be well used."
There was a lot of criticism because of a budget overrun following the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio, and there are concerns the same may happen with the Olympics, which will cost Brazil $14.4 billion.
A study by Brazil's sports ministry said the games are expected to create 120,000 jobs each year across Brazil until 2016, plus 130,000 jobs per year the following 10 years. Tourism also likely will get a boost, as will the hotel industry.
In addition, funding to crime-fighting programs has already been granted to Rio and more is on the way. The city will likely host the World Cup's main media center and FIFA's headquarters in 2014.
The Cariocas, as Rio citizens are known, celebrated wildly on Copacabana when IOC President Jacques Rogge announced Rio as the winner Friday. The party then moved to the beachside bars for the traditional choppe (draft beer) and caipirinha — a Brazilian cocktail made from sugarcane liquor, fresh fruit, sugar and ice.
"There is a lot of reason for Brazilians to be celebrating," said 25-year-old Ecuadorean Gabriela Baroja. "Brazil will become a better country."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jSXt7bbhIZKMmDyPvAZ-dTP_B2hQD9B3NOV81
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Rio de Janeiro woos Woody Allen movie project
The Brazilian city, host of the 2016 Olympics, is courting film productions to gain jobs and polish its image as a tourist destination.
The Brazilian city has formed a new film commission, hired a longtime movie industry pro to head it and set an ambitious first goal: landing the next Woody Allen flick.
Taking a cue from Barcelona, the Spanish city that was the principal setting for Allen's last film, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," Rio is dangling $2 million in subsidies to attract the director's as-yet-untitled next movie.
This month, Rio was named the site for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, and city fathers hope it's on a roll. It will also be one of several Brazilian cities hosting the 2014 World Cup soccer match.
Although nothing is signed, Allen's production company sent two top producers -- Stephen Tenenbaum and the director's sister Letty Aronson -- to Rio this month to scout locations. They made stops at landmarks including Sugar Loaf Mountain, the Botanical Garden and a park near the hilltop Christ the Redeemer statue.
Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes and Rio de Janeiro state governor Sergio Cabral agreed last month to merge the city and state film commissions. The new Rio Film Commission has been given a $45-million three-year budget that includes promotion and incentives.
The political allies see movies as a way of boosting tourism, creating jobs and polishing the city's image, which has been besmirched in recent years by rampant crime.
Steve Solot, the longtime Latin America chief for the Motion Picture Assn., was named to head the new commission. Although Solot said Rio is competing with "all the film commissions of the world" to attract Allen, he expressed confidence that the New York-based director's next movie would happen in Rio.
"It will be a postcard for the city and state and a step toward making Rio a real destination not just for filming but for tourists leading up to the World Cup and Olympics," Solot said.
Despite its exotic scenery and festive spirit, Rio's major film productions have been few and far between. They include Alfred Hitchcock's "Notorious" (1946); a James Bond film, "Moonraker" (1979); "Blame It on Rio" (1984), starring Michael Caine; "Moon Over Parador" (1988), with Richard Dreyfuss; and "The Expendables," a Sylvester Stallone vehicle slated to open next year.
Many businesses, including film production services, have fled Rio in recent years because of the crime rate. Although the city dominates in the production of soap operas, most commercial films and videos are shot in Sao Paulo, the country's business hub, said Bruno Barreto, an Oscar-nominated director and son of Brazilian producer Luiz Carlos Barreto.
Bruno Barreto said his native city had not been a "production-friendly town" and had done little to promote itself in recent years. That may be changing with the new political leadership and the increase in royalties that the city and state are receiving from offshore oil production.
Solot said Rio has adequate film production services to accommodate Allen and other filmmakers. One of the Rio-based production houses negotiating with Allen to help produce his next film is Conspiracy Productions.
In the U.S., most states decided long ago that hosting movie productions was good business. Forty-three states now offer subsidies covering up to 40% of a film's costs, with Michigan, New Mexico and Louisiana among the most generous.
Solot said studies have established that a typical U.S. film production pumps $200,000 a day into a local economy through spending on hotels, restaurants and technical and other services.
Spain gave Allen $2 million, or 10% of his budget, to attract "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." The movie's positive effect on tourism in Barcelona and Oviedo, the two primary cities used as locations, caught the attention of other cities in Europe and Latin America, Solot said.
"My job is to put the city and state of Rio on the map of the world of audiovisual communications," he said. "That includes film but is much, much more, from reality shows and video games to pay-per-view and video on demand. . . . Rio has been on the map for a few important films historically, but it's not on the map of the production community presently."
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-woody-rio13-2009oct13,0,3264136.story
The Brazilian city has formed a new film commission, hired a longtime movie industry pro to head it and set an ambitious first goal: landing the next Woody Allen flick.
Taking a cue from Barcelona, the Spanish city that was the principal setting for Allen's last film, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," Rio is dangling $2 million in subsidies to attract the director's as-yet-untitled next movie.
This month, Rio was named the site for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, and city fathers hope it's on a roll. It will also be one of several Brazilian cities hosting the 2014 World Cup soccer match.
Although nothing is signed, Allen's production company sent two top producers -- Stephen Tenenbaum and the director's sister Letty Aronson -- to Rio this month to scout locations. They made stops at landmarks including Sugar Loaf Mountain, the Botanical Garden and a park near the hilltop Christ the Redeemer statue.
Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes and Rio de Janeiro state governor Sergio Cabral agreed last month to merge the city and state film commissions. The new Rio Film Commission has been given a $45-million three-year budget that includes promotion and incentives.
The political allies see movies as a way of boosting tourism, creating jobs and polishing the city's image, which has been besmirched in recent years by rampant crime.
Steve Solot, the longtime Latin America chief for the Motion Picture Assn., was named to head the new commission. Although Solot said Rio is competing with "all the film commissions of the world" to attract Allen, he expressed confidence that the New York-based director's next movie would happen in Rio.
"It will be a postcard for the city and state and a step toward making Rio a real destination not just for filming but for tourists leading up to the World Cup and Olympics," Solot said.
Despite its exotic scenery and festive spirit, Rio's major film productions have been few and far between. They include Alfred Hitchcock's "Notorious" (1946); a James Bond film, "Moonraker" (1979); "Blame It on Rio" (1984), starring Michael Caine; "Moon Over Parador" (1988), with Richard Dreyfuss; and "The Expendables," a Sylvester Stallone vehicle slated to open next year.
Many businesses, including film production services, have fled Rio in recent years because of the crime rate. Although the city dominates in the production of soap operas, most commercial films and videos are shot in Sao Paulo, the country's business hub, said Bruno Barreto, an Oscar-nominated director and son of Brazilian producer Luiz Carlos Barreto.
Bruno Barreto said his native city had not been a "production-friendly town" and had done little to promote itself in recent years. That may be changing with the new political leadership and the increase in royalties that the city and state are receiving from offshore oil production.
Solot said Rio has adequate film production services to accommodate Allen and other filmmakers. One of the Rio-based production houses negotiating with Allen to help produce his next film is Conspiracy Productions.
In the U.S., most states decided long ago that hosting movie productions was good business. Forty-three states now offer subsidies covering up to 40% of a film's costs, with Michigan, New Mexico and Louisiana among the most generous.
Solot said studies have established that a typical U.S. film production pumps $200,000 a day into a local economy through spending on hotels, restaurants and technical and other services.
Spain gave Allen $2 million, or 10% of his budget, to attract "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." The movie's positive effect on tourism in Barcelona and Oviedo, the two primary cities used as locations, caught the attention of other cities in Europe and Latin America, Solot said.
"My job is to put the city and state of Rio on the map of the world of audiovisual communications," he said. "That includes film but is much, much more, from reality shows and video games to pay-per-view and video on demand. . . . Rio has been on the map for a few important films historically, but it's not on the map of the production community presently."
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-woody-rio13-2009oct13,0,3264136.story
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Rio's new Olympic rings are expensive
Played by heads of state, marketing jocks and heavyweight lobbyists, the game of winning the Olympic Games has become just as fierce as any contest on the track or in the pool.
To win the 2016 games for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil spent some $50 million. It fielded the likes of Pele, Paulo Coelho, a best-selling author and the entire Brazilian diplomatic corps. Whereas U.S. President Barack Obama, on behalf of Chicago, breezed into the meeting of the International Olympic Committee in Copenhagen minutes before the decision was made on Oct. 2, Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, spent two days there, having earlier written personal letters to the 106 voting members and had each hand-delivered by an ambassador. Why did Rio win? "We wanted it more," said Carlos Roberto Osorio, of Brazil's Olympic committee.
That was the easy bit. Holding the games will require effort and expense on a scale that Rio, a problem-studded metropolis of 12 million (half of whom live in the city itself), has never seen. Apart from new stadiums and other sports facilities of all kinds, the plans call for new bridges and roads, and a doubling in the number of hotel rooms. To revamp a chaotic transportation system, engineers will blast through granite mountains to extend the metro from Ipanema to Barra da Tijuca, 13.5 kilometres away. Tens of thousands of athletes must be escorted to scattered events through some of the worst traffic in the Americas.
The police, already overstretched, must keep the Olympians safe from some of Latin America's most brazen criminals -- they committed over 2,000 murders in the city itself last year. Where padding public works contracts and sticky-fingered politicians are the norm, who will make sure the $14.4 billion budgeted for the games will be put to good use -- to say nothing of up to $50 billion in indirect investment?
There are plenty of skeptics, not least in Sao Paulo, Brazil's financial and industrial centre, where Rio is often dismissed as a party town. (With Brazil scheduled to host the soccer World Cup in 2014, Paulistas joke that Cariocas, as Rio's residents are called, are planning to take 2015 off.) The Pan American Games held in Rio in 2007 reportedly cost 10 times the official budget, and left behind underused arenas.
But there are reasons for hoping that Rio might just succeed, where other places have failed, in imitating the achievement of Barcelona, which used 1992's games to reinvent a city. Rio has been declining for half a century, since it lost its status as the national capital to Brasilia. For most of this time, the city and surrounding state have been poorly governed and brutally and badly policed. Manufacturing and banks moved to Sao Paulo; favelas, or slums, multiplied and the only growth industries seemed to be drug trafficking and gang warfare. One in six Cariocas is poor.
Some things are improving, partly as a result of Brazil's stronger economy. Offshore oil is injecting revenue to the state. Poverty is falling and property is booming. Often at odds in the past, the city, state and federal governments united for the Olympic bid. The new transportation lines promised for the World Cup and the Olympics are sorely needed. The white elephants of the Pan American Games will find a new use.
But will the games regenerate Rio, or distort its priorities? The prospectus talks of redeveloping the decaying port area, and of at last cleansing Guanabara Bay of sewage and industrial pollution. But whereas Barcelona built its Olympic village in a derelict part of its port, in Rio it will be sited, along with many events, in Barra da Tijuca, a nouveau-riche neighbourhood at the wealthiest end of the city.
During the Pan American Games, police and army troops flooded the streets, smothering crime. More useful would be to use the next seven years to coax the violent young men of the favelas to take up sport, or to get construction jobs. "Why don't we make eliminating poverty in Rio and pacifying all the violent slums our goal for 2016?" says Andre Urani of the Institute for Studies on Labour and Society, a think-tank in the city. But there are no policies in place to achieve this.
For Brazil, the award of the games, hard on the heels of the World Cup, is yet another symbol of its growing status in the world. As Lula put it in Copenhagen, Brazil is no longer a "second-class country." That may bring intangible benefits. It is now the job of Brazil's politicians to ensure that they outweigh the costs.
By: The Economist
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/rios-new-olympic-rings-are-expensive-63954812.html
To win the 2016 games for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil spent some $50 million. It fielded the likes of Pele, Paulo Coelho, a best-selling author and the entire Brazilian diplomatic corps. Whereas U.S. President Barack Obama, on behalf of Chicago, breezed into the meeting of the International Olympic Committee in Copenhagen minutes before the decision was made on Oct. 2, Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, spent two days there, having earlier written personal letters to the 106 voting members and had each hand-delivered by an ambassador. Why did Rio win? "We wanted it more," said Carlos Roberto Osorio, of Brazil's Olympic committee.
That was the easy bit. Holding the games will require effort and expense on a scale that Rio, a problem-studded metropolis of 12 million (half of whom live in the city itself), has never seen. Apart from new stadiums and other sports facilities of all kinds, the plans call for new bridges and roads, and a doubling in the number of hotel rooms. To revamp a chaotic transportation system, engineers will blast through granite mountains to extend the metro from Ipanema to Barra da Tijuca, 13.5 kilometres away. Tens of thousands of athletes must be escorted to scattered events through some of the worst traffic in the Americas.
The police, already overstretched, must keep the Olympians safe from some of Latin America's most brazen criminals -- they committed over 2,000 murders in the city itself last year. Where padding public works contracts and sticky-fingered politicians are the norm, who will make sure the $14.4 billion budgeted for the games will be put to good use -- to say nothing of up to $50 billion in indirect investment?
There are plenty of skeptics, not least in Sao Paulo, Brazil's financial and industrial centre, where Rio is often dismissed as a party town. (With Brazil scheduled to host the soccer World Cup in 2014, Paulistas joke that Cariocas, as Rio's residents are called, are planning to take 2015 off.) The Pan American Games held in Rio in 2007 reportedly cost 10 times the official budget, and left behind underused arenas.
But there are reasons for hoping that Rio might just succeed, where other places have failed, in imitating the achievement of Barcelona, which used 1992's games to reinvent a city. Rio has been declining for half a century, since it lost its status as the national capital to Brasilia. For most of this time, the city and surrounding state have been poorly governed and brutally and badly policed. Manufacturing and banks moved to Sao Paulo; favelas, or slums, multiplied and the only growth industries seemed to be drug trafficking and gang warfare. One in six Cariocas is poor.
Some things are improving, partly as a result of Brazil's stronger economy. Offshore oil is injecting revenue to the state. Poverty is falling and property is booming. Often at odds in the past, the city, state and federal governments united for the Olympic bid. The new transportation lines promised for the World Cup and the Olympics are sorely needed. The white elephants of the Pan American Games will find a new use.
But will the games regenerate Rio, or distort its priorities? The prospectus talks of redeveloping the decaying port area, and of at last cleansing Guanabara Bay of sewage and industrial pollution. But whereas Barcelona built its Olympic village in a derelict part of its port, in Rio it will be sited, along with many events, in Barra da Tijuca, a nouveau-riche neighbourhood at the wealthiest end of the city.
During the Pan American Games, police and army troops flooded the streets, smothering crime. More useful would be to use the next seven years to coax the violent young men of the favelas to take up sport, or to get construction jobs. "Why don't we make eliminating poverty in Rio and pacifying all the violent slums our goal for 2016?" says Andre Urani of the Institute for Studies on Labour and Society, a think-tank in the city. But there are no policies in place to achieve this.
For Brazil, the award of the games, hard on the heels of the World Cup, is yet another symbol of its growing status in the world. As Lula put it in Copenhagen, Brazil is no longer a "second-class country." That may bring intangible benefits. It is now the job of Brazil's politicians to ensure that they outweigh the costs.
By: The Economist
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/rios-new-olympic-rings-are-expensive-63954812.html
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Brazil looks to transform sporting greatness into gold on world stage
Samba nation ready to build on success in winning right to host 2016 Olympics by becoming a leading economic power.
In Lapa, the fashionable centre of Rio de Janeiro nightlife, the partying was long and memorable. On Copacabana beach, the sand was packed with revellers. Pelé cried, and his compatriots celebrated the latest evidence that for one of the world's most glamorous, charismatic countries the good times are starting to roll. So often described as belonging to a "country of the future", Brazilians found themselves living in the present this weekend.
Minutes after Rio de Janeiro was announced on Friday as the venue for the 2016 Olympics, the South American city's sprightly 39-year-old mayor, Eduardo Paes, logged on to his Twitter account and summed up the feelings of all of Rio's six million residents. "Our city deserves this present," he trumpeted. "Viva Rio".
Across Brazil, even in the remote towns of the Amazon rainforest, the same sentiment was being expressed. For Brazilians this was a victory that both Rio and Brazil richly merited – not simply because South America has never hosted the Games before, nor because Rio's residents, weary of violent crime and the city's crumbling infrastructure, were in need of a distraction from their often difficult day-to-day lives.
Above all, they say, this victory was deserved because, for Brazilians, winning the race to host the 2016 Olympics was confirmation that their country was at last acquiring a swagger and an influence beyond the football pitch, which Pele and so many others have graced with distinction. "It is difficult to believe that a third world country has reached this point," declared Brazil's president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, after the decision was announced, with his tongue firmly in his cheek.
"We have left behind being a second-rate country to become a first-rate one. Respect is good and we are happy to receive it," he added.
Brazil, as President Lula has frequently commented of late, is living through a "special moment". Rising exports, a commodities price boom and the government's investment in social policies have helped millions of impoverished Brazilians rise from poverty since the leftwing leader came to power in 2003. The IMF says that Brazil, and other countries in the region, have weathered the global financial crisis "rather well".
In the second quarter of this year, the Brazilian economy grew by 1.9% and is forecast to expand by 5.3% in 2010 – numbers that Britain's chancellor, Alistair Darling, would kill for. The games will bring hard cash as well as prestige to the Latin American nation, which has the biggest economy in the region and the ninth largest in the world. A government-commissioned study by the Fundação Instituto de Administração estimates there will be a $24.5bn boost between now and 2027, thanks to increased spending by tourists, growth in employment and construction, and higher tax revenues.
Many believe that Rio, too, is on the rise. After years of neglect and urban violence, investments are gradually returning to Brazil's former capital, bolstering an economic and cultural boom that has already seen dilapidated areas of the city centre redeveloped with many others expected to follow suit. For the ambassadors of Brazil's cultural capital, the International Olympic Committee's decision was a boon beyond measure.
"From the business point of view this is one of the best pieces of news imaginable," said Isnard Manso, a cultural impresario and dancer from the Centro Cultural Carioca, one of Rio's top samba clubs. Manso said the "double-whammy" of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics could help transform Rio's historic centre, fuelling a cultural "turnaround" that has been under way since the beginning of the decade.
Rio's fledgling renaissance mirrors a national boom that the Brazilian government hopes will transform the country into one of the world's leading political, economic and oil powers. In 2007 its fortunes received a potentially vast boost with the discovery of huge offshore oil reserves that could help turn the country into an even bigger hitter on the international stage.
"We are certain that there is an immense quantity of oil that could turn Brazil into one of the world's great oil powers," Dilma Rousseff, President Lula's chief of staff, said last week. "While the entire world is facing immense difficulties… we are discussing abundance," she added, boasting: "We went into the [economic] crisis last and are coming out of it first and on top of this we have one of the greatest patrimonies to administrate."
Diplomatically, too, Brazil, a member of the G20, which has eclipsed the power of the G8, is starting to flex its increasingly toned muscles. During a recent meeting with foreign correspondents in Rio, the foreign minister, Celso Amorim, said: "Obviously, Brazil was always one of the world's biggest countries in terms of size and population. Today Brazil is one of the biggest and most stable economies. Our currency is one of the most stable on earth. Our democracy is totally consolidated… Today, I think, we have an international attitude which corresponds to our true greatness."
Much of this new "attitude" is down to President Lula, who has led the way for a number of increasingly prominent South American presidents who are helping to put the so-called "forgotten continent" back on the map.
Recent years have seen Lula, a one-time shoeshine boy and firebrand union leader, transformed into a respected international statesman who is now considered a future contender for the presidency of the World Bank and was recently referred to as "my man" by US President Barack Obama as a result of his continued domestic popularity.
"At this moment… what is happening again in the world is that there is no longer one single owner of the truth," Lula told his weekly radio show Breakfast with the President, after last month's G20 meeting.
John Hawksworth, head of macro-economics at PricewaterhouseCoopers, says that the so-called E7 – or Emerging Seven – nations of Brazil, China, India, Russia, Turkey, Indonesia and Mexico could overtake the G7 in the next two decades.
The rise of climate change on the international agenda has also turned Brazil, home to the Amazon, the world's largest tropical rainforest, into a key diplomatic player.
"A Copenhagen agreement without Brazil would be like Kyoto without the United States," Ed Miliband, Britain's secretary for energy and climate change, said during a recent visit to Brazil, referring to December's summit on climate change in the Danish capital.
Brazil still has its vast armies of the poor. Despite Lula's efforts to alleviate the suffering of the poor, Brazil's favelas still exist alongside wealthy enclaves. The country has one of the highest levels of inequality on the planet, with the richest 10% in possession of half the nation's income while less than 1% trickles down to the poorest 10% of households. But such questions were pushed into the background yesterday as Rio continued to celebrate its "deserved" victory.
"From an artistic point of view, as a dancer and a cultural producer, this will… give us a unique chance to show the entire world that samba is not just about the bottoms of half-naked ladies parading through the sambadrome," said Manso, one of Rio's leading samba businessmen and dance instructors. "It is great news."
He will not be the only Brazilian dancing.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/04/brazil-2016-olympics-economy
In Lapa, the fashionable centre of Rio de Janeiro nightlife, the partying was long and memorable. On Copacabana beach, the sand was packed with revellers. Pelé cried, and his compatriots celebrated the latest evidence that for one of the world's most glamorous, charismatic countries the good times are starting to roll. So often described as belonging to a "country of the future", Brazilians found themselves living in the present this weekend.
Minutes after Rio de Janeiro was announced on Friday as the venue for the 2016 Olympics, the South American city's sprightly 39-year-old mayor, Eduardo Paes, logged on to his Twitter account and summed up the feelings of all of Rio's six million residents. "Our city deserves this present," he trumpeted. "Viva Rio".
Across Brazil, even in the remote towns of the Amazon rainforest, the same sentiment was being expressed. For Brazilians this was a victory that both Rio and Brazil richly merited – not simply because South America has never hosted the Games before, nor because Rio's residents, weary of violent crime and the city's crumbling infrastructure, were in need of a distraction from their often difficult day-to-day lives.
Above all, they say, this victory was deserved because, for Brazilians, winning the race to host the 2016 Olympics was confirmation that their country was at last acquiring a swagger and an influence beyond the football pitch, which Pele and so many others have graced with distinction. "It is difficult to believe that a third world country has reached this point," declared Brazil's president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, after the decision was announced, with his tongue firmly in his cheek.
"We have left behind being a second-rate country to become a first-rate one. Respect is good and we are happy to receive it," he added.
Brazil, as President Lula has frequently commented of late, is living through a "special moment". Rising exports, a commodities price boom and the government's investment in social policies have helped millions of impoverished Brazilians rise from poverty since the leftwing leader came to power in 2003. The IMF says that Brazil, and other countries in the region, have weathered the global financial crisis "rather well".
In the second quarter of this year, the Brazilian economy grew by 1.9% and is forecast to expand by 5.3% in 2010 – numbers that Britain's chancellor, Alistair Darling, would kill for. The games will bring hard cash as well as prestige to the Latin American nation, which has the biggest economy in the region and the ninth largest in the world. A government-commissioned study by the Fundação Instituto de Administração estimates there will be a $24.5bn boost between now and 2027, thanks to increased spending by tourists, growth in employment and construction, and higher tax revenues.
Many believe that Rio, too, is on the rise. After years of neglect and urban violence, investments are gradually returning to Brazil's former capital, bolstering an economic and cultural boom that has already seen dilapidated areas of the city centre redeveloped with many others expected to follow suit. For the ambassadors of Brazil's cultural capital, the International Olympic Committee's decision was a boon beyond measure.
"From the business point of view this is one of the best pieces of news imaginable," said Isnard Manso, a cultural impresario and dancer from the Centro Cultural Carioca, one of Rio's top samba clubs. Manso said the "double-whammy" of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics could help transform Rio's historic centre, fuelling a cultural "turnaround" that has been under way since the beginning of the decade.
Rio's fledgling renaissance mirrors a national boom that the Brazilian government hopes will transform the country into one of the world's leading political, economic and oil powers. In 2007 its fortunes received a potentially vast boost with the discovery of huge offshore oil reserves that could help turn the country into an even bigger hitter on the international stage.
"We are certain that there is an immense quantity of oil that could turn Brazil into one of the world's great oil powers," Dilma Rousseff, President Lula's chief of staff, said last week. "While the entire world is facing immense difficulties… we are discussing abundance," she added, boasting: "We went into the [economic] crisis last and are coming out of it first and on top of this we have one of the greatest patrimonies to administrate."
Diplomatically, too, Brazil, a member of the G20, which has eclipsed the power of the G8, is starting to flex its increasingly toned muscles. During a recent meeting with foreign correspondents in Rio, the foreign minister, Celso Amorim, said: "Obviously, Brazil was always one of the world's biggest countries in terms of size and population. Today Brazil is one of the biggest and most stable economies. Our currency is one of the most stable on earth. Our democracy is totally consolidated… Today, I think, we have an international attitude which corresponds to our true greatness."
Much of this new "attitude" is down to President Lula, who has led the way for a number of increasingly prominent South American presidents who are helping to put the so-called "forgotten continent" back on the map.
Recent years have seen Lula, a one-time shoeshine boy and firebrand union leader, transformed into a respected international statesman who is now considered a future contender for the presidency of the World Bank and was recently referred to as "my man" by US President Barack Obama as a result of his continued domestic popularity.
"At this moment… what is happening again in the world is that there is no longer one single owner of the truth," Lula told his weekly radio show Breakfast with the President, after last month's G20 meeting.
John Hawksworth, head of macro-economics at PricewaterhouseCoopers, says that the so-called E7 – or Emerging Seven – nations of Brazil, China, India, Russia, Turkey, Indonesia and Mexico could overtake the G7 in the next two decades.
The rise of climate change on the international agenda has also turned Brazil, home to the Amazon, the world's largest tropical rainforest, into a key diplomatic player.
"A Copenhagen agreement without Brazil would be like Kyoto without the United States," Ed Miliband, Britain's secretary for energy and climate change, said during a recent visit to Brazil, referring to December's summit on climate change in the Danish capital.
Brazil still has its vast armies of the poor. Despite Lula's efforts to alleviate the suffering of the poor, Brazil's favelas still exist alongside wealthy enclaves. The country has one of the highest levels of inequality on the planet, with the richest 10% in possession of half the nation's income while less than 1% trickles down to the poorest 10% of households. But such questions were pushed into the background yesterday as Rio continued to celebrate its "deserved" victory.
"From an artistic point of view, as a dancer and a cultural producer, this will… give us a unique chance to show the entire world that samba is not just about the bottoms of half-naked ladies parading through the sambadrome," said Manso, one of Rio's leading samba businessmen and dance instructors. "It is great news."
He will not be the only Brazilian dancing.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/04/brazil-2016-olympics-economy
Friday, October 2, 2009
Rio De Janeiro Olympics 2016: A Big Astonishing Development
Many People Assumed Chicago Would Win the 2016 Olympic Games Bid, but it was Rio De Janeiro that Won!
The Rio de Janeiro Olympics 2016 games are sure to be a great time for everyone involved. When the Rio de Janeiro Olympics 2016 games were announced, there was celebration all over the streets of this Brazilian city.
The Rio de Janeiro Olympics 2016 games come as a surprise to many that assumed that President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama and Oprah would be able to sway the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to select Chicago as the 2016 Olympic Games venue.
I, for one, am glad that the 2016 Olympics will take place in Rio de Janeiro. Not that I have anything against Chicago - I have been there several times. However, just last week honors student Derrion Albert was beaten to death with wooden planks. Crime in Chicago is just too prevalent for the city to receive a blessing such as the Olympics.
The Rio de Janeiro Olympics 2016 games will take place 7 years from now. However time will fly by and in the meantime, Rio de Janeiro has a lot of work to do to prepare for the events. This Brazilian City is the first South American country to host an Olympic event, according to ABC news.
ABC News reports how the President felt when the Rio de Janeiro Olympics 2016 games were announced: "The president was watching television when the news came across, and I think obviously the president is disappointed, as you might imagine," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters on Air Force One.
"I think he continues to believe -- and we heard this from a number of people -- that Chicago had a very strong if not the best bid. ... I think he feels obviously proud of his wife for the presentation that she made and he doesn't shy away from promoting America in this event or in any other venue as a way to showcase this country."
While many people are surprised that Chicago and Tokyo did not get the Olympics in 2016, many people are pleasantly surprised that Rio de Janeiro did.
For instance, imagine you have the opportunity to travel and attend the Olympics in 2016. Where do you want to go? Rio de Janeiro has a lot to offer tourists already. There will be plenty of sightseeing and shopping to partake in. Chicago boasts great shopping opportunities - but not much else.
Although many people think that the Rio de Janeiro Olympics 2016 games are a disappointment. I think people need to be happy for the South American town as they host their first Olympic games in 2016.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2242597/rio_de_janeiro_olympics_2016_a_big.html?cat=9
The Rio de Janeiro Olympics 2016 games are sure to be a great time for everyone involved. When the Rio de Janeiro Olympics 2016 games were announced, there was celebration all over the streets of this Brazilian city.
The Rio de Janeiro Olympics 2016 games come as a surprise to many that assumed that President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama and Oprah would be able to sway the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to select Chicago as the 2016 Olympic Games venue.
I, for one, am glad that the 2016 Olympics will take place in Rio de Janeiro. Not that I have anything against Chicago - I have been there several times. However, just last week honors student Derrion Albert was beaten to death with wooden planks. Crime in Chicago is just too prevalent for the city to receive a blessing such as the Olympics.
The Rio de Janeiro Olympics 2016 games will take place 7 years from now. However time will fly by and in the meantime, Rio de Janeiro has a lot of work to do to prepare for the events. This Brazilian City is the first South American country to host an Olympic event, according to ABC news.
ABC News reports how the President felt when the Rio de Janeiro Olympics 2016 games were announced: "The president was watching television when the news came across, and I think obviously the president is disappointed, as you might imagine," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters on Air Force One.
"I think he continues to believe -- and we heard this from a number of people -- that Chicago had a very strong if not the best bid. ... I think he feels obviously proud of his wife for the presentation that she made and he doesn't shy away from promoting America in this event or in any other venue as a way to showcase this country."
While many people are surprised that Chicago and Tokyo did not get the Olympics in 2016, many people are pleasantly surprised that Rio de Janeiro did.
For instance, imagine you have the opportunity to travel and attend the Olympics in 2016. Where do you want to go? Rio de Janeiro has a lot to offer tourists already. There will be plenty of sightseeing and shopping to partake in. Chicago boasts great shopping opportunities - but not much else.
Although many people think that the Rio de Janeiro Olympics 2016 games are a disappointment. I think people need to be happy for the South American town as they host their first Olympic games in 2016.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2242597/rio_de_janeiro_olympics_2016_a_big.html?cat=9
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Rio optimistic about chance to host historic 2016 Olympics
Rio de Janeiro's bid to host in 2016 the first edition of the Olympics ever held in South America is most optimistic, less than two months before the crucial decision on the Games.
'We get to the home stretch as a very competitive bid,' Rio 2016 executive secretary Carlos Roberto Osorio told German Press Agency dpa.
In the interview, Osorio stressed as crucial the success of the strategy of presenting to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) a high-quality technical project and strong political arguments to back the Brazilian city's bid.
Some experts predict that Rio will get to the key meeting October 2 in Copenhagen as the favourite to host the Games, ahead of Madrid, Chicago and Tokyo.
Osorio did not explicitly acknowledge such predictions, but he did admit that the 'carioca' bid was the one that made the most of the chance to present its project to IOC voters in June in Lausanne.
Rio 2016 is convinced that they made a strong impact when they put forward a map with all the cities that had hosted Olympic Games - in summer or winter - to this day. The blank in South America appeared to impress the 93 IOC members who attended the presentation, over 90 per cent of the total number of voters.
'Rio was the city that made the most of the technical briefing in Lausanne. For Rio that was a strategic and fundamental opportunity, because of all four countries Brazil is the only one that never held Olympic Games, and that is why it generated greater curiosity and interest for IOC members,' Osorio said.
Through the map, the bid official hopes to have convinced several voters that 'it is time' for the Games to reach South America, a region with 180 million people under the age of 18.
'We do not ask for this as a favour, but because we have what it takes to host those Games, both in technical and in financial terms. Brazil still has solid finances despite the crisis, it is still growing,' he said.
'In 2016, Brazil will stand on the international stage at a singular and historic moment, similar to Spain's in Barcelona 1992 and Japan's in 1964, when it presented itself to the world as a nation that had recovered from the war. The time for the historic transformation of Spain, the United States and Japan has already been left behind,' Osorio told dpa.
Besides, he noted that the complete support given to the bid by the three levels of government - federal, state and city - are an 'integral, absolute and unrestricted' financial guarantee that all commitments in the ambitious bid portfolio will be fulfilled.
According to some analysts, the fact that Brazil has been picked by FIFA to host the 2014 football World Cup could be the 'carioca' bid's main problem. Those experts argue that the IOC would not like to 'fight' with FIFA to attract sponsors as late as two years before the Olympics.
Osorio, however, rejects that argument.
'The 2014 World Cup is not a problem, but one of the Rio bid's great strengths. And the president of the IOC (Jacques Rogge) and the members of the evaluating commission have already said that.'
Osorio argues that the World Cup gives the IOC an added guarantee that 'key infrastructures - technology, telecommunications, accommodation, airports - will be ready, complete and tested two years earlier.'
This week, the race for IOC votes is moving to Germany, where according to Osorio the athletics world championships in Berlin will be the last major battleground for support.
Besides the top officials of the Rio 2016 bid, led by Carlos Nuzman, Berlin will host Rio de Janeiro state Governor Sergio Cabral, Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes and the High Performance Sports secretary at the Brazilian Sports Ministry, Ricardo Leyser.
'Athletics is regarded by many as the basic sport in the Olympic Games, and many of the IOC voters will be there. That will be the last major battle before the October 2 election,' Osorio said.
For all his optimism, however, he refused to name favourites in the race.
'The four cities are working very hard. This is a very competitive race, and we will all be fighting 24 hours a day until the date of the election.'
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/sport/olympics2008/features/article_1494971.php/Rio-optimistic-about-chance-to-host-historic-2016-Olympics-Feature
'We get to the home stretch as a very competitive bid,' Rio 2016 executive secretary Carlos Roberto Osorio told German Press Agency dpa.
In the interview, Osorio stressed as crucial the success of the strategy of presenting to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) a high-quality technical project and strong political arguments to back the Brazilian city's bid.
Some experts predict that Rio will get to the key meeting October 2 in Copenhagen as the favourite to host the Games, ahead of Madrid, Chicago and Tokyo.
Osorio did not explicitly acknowledge such predictions, but he did admit that the 'carioca' bid was the one that made the most of the chance to present its project to IOC voters in June in Lausanne.
Rio 2016 is convinced that they made a strong impact when they put forward a map with all the cities that had hosted Olympic Games - in summer or winter - to this day. The blank in South America appeared to impress the 93 IOC members who attended the presentation, over 90 per cent of the total number of voters.
'Rio was the city that made the most of the technical briefing in Lausanne. For Rio that was a strategic and fundamental opportunity, because of all four countries Brazil is the only one that never held Olympic Games, and that is why it generated greater curiosity and interest for IOC members,' Osorio said.
Through the map, the bid official hopes to have convinced several voters that 'it is time' for the Games to reach South America, a region with 180 million people under the age of 18.
'We do not ask for this as a favour, but because we have what it takes to host those Games, both in technical and in financial terms. Brazil still has solid finances despite the crisis, it is still growing,' he said.
'In 2016, Brazil will stand on the international stage at a singular and historic moment, similar to Spain's in Barcelona 1992 and Japan's in 1964, when it presented itself to the world as a nation that had recovered from the war. The time for the historic transformation of Spain, the United States and Japan has already been left behind,' Osorio told dpa.
Besides, he noted that the complete support given to the bid by the three levels of government - federal, state and city - are an 'integral, absolute and unrestricted' financial guarantee that all commitments in the ambitious bid portfolio will be fulfilled.
According to some analysts, the fact that Brazil has been picked by FIFA to host the 2014 football World Cup could be the 'carioca' bid's main problem. Those experts argue that the IOC would not like to 'fight' with FIFA to attract sponsors as late as two years before the Olympics.
Osorio, however, rejects that argument.
'The 2014 World Cup is not a problem, but one of the Rio bid's great strengths. And the president of the IOC (Jacques Rogge) and the members of the evaluating commission have already said that.'
Osorio argues that the World Cup gives the IOC an added guarantee that 'key infrastructures - technology, telecommunications, accommodation, airports - will be ready, complete and tested two years earlier.'
This week, the race for IOC votes is moving to Germany, where according to Osorio the athletics world championships in Berlin will be the last major battleground for support.
Besides the top officials of the Rio 2016 bid, led by Carlos Nuzman, Berlin will host Rio de Janeiro state Governor Sergio Cabral, Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes and the High Performance Sports secretary at the Brazilian Sports Ministry, Ricardo Leyser.
'Athletics is regarded by many as the basic sport in the Olympic Games, and many of the IOC voters will be there. That will be the last major battle before the October 2 election,' Osorio said.
For all his optimism, however, he refused to name favourites in the race.
'The four cities are working very hard. This is a very competitive race, and we will all be fighting 24 hours a day until the date of the election.'
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/sport/olympics2008/features/article_1494971.php/Rio-optimistic-about-chance-to-host-historic-2016-Olympics-Feature
Monday, August 10, 2009
Boom Times for Rio, Brazil: US$ 70 Billion to Be Invested in 3 Years
Exploration of oil in Campos Basin, the Petrobras investment, the construction of the Angra 3 nuclear power plant and of Açu Port, all of this together means a total of 126.3 billion reais (US$ 69.5 billion) in investment scheduled in the state of Rio de Janeiro over the next three years.
The figure is included in the Rio Decision document, which refers to the period from 2010 to 2012, disclosed yesterday by the Federation of Industries of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Firjan). In the prior edition of the study, the investment forecasted in the previous edition of the study, for the 2008/2010 period, totaled 107 billion reais (US$ 59 billion).
Petrobras alone should be responsible for the 77.1 billion reais (US$ 42.4 billion) over the next three years. Firjan president Eduardo Eugênio Gouvêa Vieira pointed out, however, that even excluding the energy sector state-owned company, investment should total 50 billion reais (US$ 27.5 billion) in the period.
Of the total, 28.6 billion reais (US$ 15.7 billion) should be invested in the infrastructure area, with special attention to energy (8.6 billion) and logistics (US$ 5.8 billion). For the transformation industry the total forecasted is US$ 11.2 billion. The Rio de Janeiro Petrochemical Complex (Comperj), which is being built in the city of Itaboraí, is leading the ranking of main investment announced, reaching a total of US$ 8 billion.
The Infrastructure and New Investment director at Firjan, Cristiano Prado, stated that "there is a process of interiorization of investment in progress," of which 79.4 billion should benefit several regions in the state. The study identified four axes to be the engines of the economy of Rio de Janeiro in coming years.
The first is the south axis, which involves Angra 3 mill, in the city of Angra dos Reis. Angra 3 started to be built in 1984, but work there was interrupted two years later.
In the Sepetiba axis, the highlights are investment in the port and ironworks area, as well as the metropolitan arc. In the eastern axis, the priority is the construction of Comperj which forecasts, starting in 2015, the generation of 168,000 direct and indirect jobs and also income. In the North axis, Açu Port and pre-salt oil are the great highlights.
The president at Firjan stated that the opportunities do not end with mapped investment, as the state of Rio de Janeiro presents investment opportunities in the pre-salt layer, in the high-speed train to connect Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo and in the construction of the ports of Sepetiba and Petrobras, Gerdau and the National Ironworks Company, among other projects.
He added that Rio de Janeiro currently answers to 13% of the Brazilian Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In the long run, he believes that the state may grow to 20% of GDP.
http://www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/11078/1/
The figure is included in the Rio Decision document, which refers to the period from 2010 to 2012, disclosed yesterday by the Federation of Industries of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Firjan). In the prior edition of the study, the investment forecasted in the previous edition of the study, for the 2008/2010 period, totaled 107 billion reais (US$ 59 billion).
Petrobras alone should be responsible for the 77.1 billion reais (US$ 42.4 billion) over the next three years. Firjan president Eduardo Eugênio Gouvêa Vieira pointed out, however, that even excluding the energy sector state-owned company, investment should total 50 billion reais (US$ 27.5 billion) in the period.
Of the total, 28.6 billion reais (US$ 15.7 billion) should be invested in the infrastructure area, with special attention to energy (8.6 billion) and logistics (US$ 5.8 billion). For the transformation industry the total forecasted is US$ 11.2 billion. The Rio de Janeiro Petrochemical Complex (Comperj), which is being built in the city of Itaboraí, is leading the ranking of main investment announced, reaching a total of US$ 8 billion.
The Infrastructure and New Investment director at Firjan, Cristiano Prado, stated that "there is a process of interiorization of investment in progress," of which 79.4 billion should benefit several regions in the state. The study identified four axes to be the engines of the economy of Rio de Janeiro in coming years.
The first is the south axis, which involves Angra 3 mill, in the city of Angra dos Reis. Angra 3 started to be built in 1984, but work there was interrupted two years later.
In the Sepetiba axis, the highlights are investment in the port and ironworks area, as well as the metropolitan arc. In the eastern axis, the priority is the construction of Comperj which forecasts, starting in 2015, the generation of 168,000 direct and indirect jobs and also income. In the North axis, Açu Port and pre-salt oil are the great highlights.
The president at Firjan stated that the opportunities do not end with mapped investment, as the state of Rio de Janeiro presents investment opportunities in the pre-salt layer, in the high-speed train to connect Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo and in the construction of the ports of Sepetiba and Petrobras, Gerdau and the National Ironworks Company, among other projects.
He added that Rio de Janeiro currently answers to 13% of the Brazilian Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In the long run, he believes that the state may grow to 20% of GDP.
http://www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/11078/1/
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Brazil's growing middle class powers rebound
Brazil is beginning to pull out of an economic dive triggered by the global financial crisis, but it's not the country's vaunted soybean, meat and iron ore exports that are powering the turnaround of the world's ninth-largest economy.
Instead, more than 20 million Brazilians who have joined the consumer economy in recent years and now have money to spend are playing a key role in Brazil's recovery.
"Investments and exports are down, but consumer spending is still growing, although slower than before," said Juan Pablo Fuentes, who tracks Latin American economies at Moody's Economy.com in West Chester, Pa. "People are still willing to buy durable goods like electronics and cars. It shows optimism, which is important."
Brazilians who formerly eked out a living are leading the way.
From 2001 to 2007, the poorest 10 percent of the population enjoyed a 49 percent increase in real income, said Brazilian economist Marcelo Neri, or what he called "Chinese-like growth."
Some 27.8 million Brazilians - out of a population of nearly 200 million - joined the consumer economy from October 2003 to October 2008, said Neri, who is based at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Rio. "They could now buy durable goods like computers, maybe even a car, and get access to credit," Neri said.
Spurred in part by a federal sales tax break, Brazil's auto industry sold more cars in a single month in June than ever - 300,157. This topped the previous monthly record in July 2008 by 12,047 vehicles.
Neri credited the expansion of the consumer class to an activist government that has increased direct payments to the poor and raised the minimum wage, which is also indexed to benefit retired public workers.
After growing for five years, however, Brazil's economy contracted by 1.8 percent during the first quarter, and Neri estimated the tough economic times have caused about 2.8 million Brazilians to fall back into poverty.
"It's not a big loss," Neri said, amounting to about only 10 percent of those who joined the consumer society during the boom years. "The average Brazilian today still has money in his pocket."
Moody's Economy.com is projecting Brazil's economy to grow by 0.5 percent in 2009 thanks to a second-half rebound that's expected to offset a difficult first six months. The firm expects Brazil's economy to grow by 4.2 percent in 2010 and lead Latin America out of recession.
"The worst is over," said Paulo Levy, an economist at the Rio-based Institute for Applied Research, adding Brazil is in better shape to weather the global economic mess than it was a decade ago.
Successive governments have tamed inflation, boosted foreign currency reserves, cut foreign debt, turned budget deficits into surpluses and "sent signals to investors that they could rely on Brazil," Levy said.
Tapping into the country's currency reserves has permitted the government to boost spending on new roads and ports and direct more money to the poor.
Still, even a fortified Brazil was no match for the economic disaster that hit in October when bank loans disappeared and demand for its export products withered.
Investors pulled back, with the electronics, construction and aircraft manufacturing sectors taking a beating. Foreign investment dropped by 20 percent during the first five months of 2009, and imports plummeted by 28.9 percent during the first six months of 2009, compared with the first six months of 2008. Exports dropped by 22.2 percent.
The only bright spot for Brazil's trade: China's continuing thirst for Brazilian soybeans, iron ore and oil.
China accounted for 8.2 percent of Brazil's exports in the first six months of 2008 but 14.9 percent in 2009 - becoming a bigger market than the U.S.
"I don't know where we'd be without China," said Jose Augusto de Castro, a vice president of the Rio-based Brazilian Foreign Trade Association.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/AP/story/1170421.html
Instead, more than 20 million Brazilians who have joined the consumer economy in recent years and now have money to spend are playing a key role in Brazil's recovery.
"Investments and exports are down, but consumer spending is still growing, although slower than before," said Juan Pablo Fuentes, who tracks Latin American economies at Moody's Economy.com in West Chester, Pa. "People are still willing to buy durable goods like electronics and cars. It shows optimism, which is important."
Brazilians who formerly eked out a living are leading the way.
From 2001 to 2007, the poorest 10 percent of the population enjoyed a 49 percent increase in real income, said Brazilian economist Marcelo Neri, or what he called "Chinese-like growth."
Some 27.8 million Brazilians - out of a population of nearly 200 million - joined the consumer economy from October 2003 to October 2008, said Neri, who is based at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Rio. "They could now buy durable goods like computers, maybe even a car, and get access to credit," Neri said.
Spurred in part by a federal sales tax break, Brazil's auto industry sold more cars in a single month in June than ever - 300,157. This topped the previous monthly record in July 2008 by 12,047 vehicles.
Neri credited the expansion of the consumer class to an activist government that has increased direct payments to the poor and raised the minimum wage, which is also indexed to benefit retired public workers.
After growing for five years, however, Brazil's economy contracted by 1.8 percent during the first quarter, and Neri estimated the tough economic times have caused about 2.8 million Brazilians to fall back into poverty.
"It's not a big loss," Neri said, amounting to about only 10 percent of those who joined the consumer society during the boom years. "The average Brazilian today still has money in his pocket."
Moody's Economy.com is projecting Brazil's economy to grow by 0.5 percent in 2009 thanks to a second-half rebound that's expected to offset a difficult first six months. The firm expects Brazil's economy to grow by 4.2 percent in 2010 and lead Latin America out of recession.
"The worst is over," said Paulo Levy, an economist at the Rio-based Institute for Applied Research, adding Brazil is in better shape to weather the global economic mess than it was a decade ago.
Successive governments have tamed inflation, boosted foreign currency reserves, cut foreign debt, turned budget deficits into surpluses and "sent signals to investors that they could rely on Brazil," Levy said.
Tapping into the country's currency reserves has permitted the government to boost spending on new roads and ports and direct more money to the poor.
Still, even a fortified Brazil was no match for the economic disaster that hit in October when bank loans disappeared and demand for its export products withered.
Investors pulled back, with the electronics, construction and aircraft manufacturing sectors taking a beating. Foreign investment dropped by 20 percent during the first five months of 2009, and imports plummeted by 28.9 percent during the first six months of 2009, compared with the first six months of 2008. Exports dropped by 22.2 percent.
The only bright spot for Brazil's trade: China's continuing thirst for Brazilian soybeans, iron ore and oil.
China accounted for 8.2 percent of Brazil's exports in the first six months of 2008 but 14.9 percent in 2009 - becoming a bigger market than the U.S.
"I don't know where we'd be without China," said Jose Augusto de Castro, a vice president of the Rio-based Brazilian Foreign Trade Association.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/AP/story/1170421.html
Friday, July 31, 2009
Living in the 'real' Rio de Janeiro
For whoever has seen the 2002 movie "City of God" -- based on real stories set in the eponymous slum in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro -- a favela can be a scary place, plagued by violent crime.
The unpretentious Pousada Favelinha, a modest guest house and hostel located at the top of Rio de Janeiro's favela Pereira da Silva, is one notable exception to the city's criminal reputation.
Originally inaugurated in January 2005 by a Brazilian woman and her German husband, it is now run solely by its "carioca" (Rio-native) owner, Andreia da Silva Martins, whose family is both at home and on friendly terms with everyone in the neighborhood -- as well as the police.
The little "Pereirão," a favela that a modest few thousand call home, was just as dangerous as any other until one fine spring day in 1999, when the local police cracked down on the whole favela and killed all its drug dealers, the Pousada Favelinha claims on its Web site.
Since then, the "morro" (hill) has cleaned up the crime, with a police post permanently located at the top entrance of the favela in Santa Teresa, while the bottom entrance leads out to a gentrified neighborhood in Rio's Zona Sud.
During the five days and nights that I stayed at the Favelinha, safety in and around the favela was never an issue. I saw no automatic rifles, and residents greeted me as I passed them in the narrow alleys, while dogs and cats lounged on cement platforms and rooftops.
One girl even walked me to the door of the hostel upon my first arrival, and showed me where she lived in case I needed any help later.
"They're proud to live in a favela that hosts visitors from all over the world," says Carlos, who welcomed me inside. Indeed, it's in everybody's interest to keep the neighborhood safe and friendly.
Meanwhile, I was constantly admiring the extraordinary view of the city from atop the hill, as were the other guests -- predominantly round-the-world twentysomething backpackers from Western Europe and Australia -- during those hot summer days of Carnaval 2009.
And as our leisurely breakfasts and evening brought together both the dorm-room dwellers and the private-room couples around balcony chats, we quickly developed a natural complicity -- not only of those who dared to bunk in a favela, but of those who climbed the steep uphill trek at least once a day.
In recent years, "slum tourism" -- seeking out the shantytowns of developing nations for a more authentic holiday experience -- in Brazil has gained in popularity, and a handful of other establishments open to foreign patronage (if not community volunteers) have sprung up in peaceful favelas around the country.
Among the most prominent is The Maze, a more upscale bed & breakfast -- which also hosts jazz gigs, original artwork for sale, and even the occasional film shoot -- inaugurated in Rio de Janeiro's Tavares Bastos favela in late 2005 by the Brit Bob Nadkarni and his Brazilian wife.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/07/30/brazil.favelinha/#cnnSTCText
The unpretentious Pousada Favelinha, a modest guest house and hostel located at the top of Rio de Janeiro's favela Pereira da Silva, is one notable exception to the city's criminal reputation.
Originally inaugurated in January 2005 by a Brazilian woman and her German husband, it is now run solely by its "carioca" (Rio-native) owner, Andreia da Silva Martins, whose family is both at home and on friendly terms with everyone in the neighborhood -- as well as the police.
The little "Pereirão," a favela that a modest few thousand call home, was just as dangerous as any other until one fine spring day in 1999, when the local police cracked down on the whole favela and killed all its drug dealers, the Pousada Favelinha claims on its Web site.
Since then, the "morro" (hill) has cleaned up the crime, with a police post permanently located at the top entrance of the favela in Santa Teresa, while the bottom entrance leads out to a gentrified neighborhood in Rio's Zona Sud.
During the five days and nights that I stayed at the Favelinha, safety in and around the favela was never an issue. I saw no automatic rifles, and residents greeted me as I passed them in the narrow alleys, while dogs and cats lounged on cement platforms and rooftops.
One girl even walked me to the door of the hostel upon my first arrival, and showed me where she lived in case I needed any help later.
"They're proud to live in a favela that hosts visitors from all over the world," says Carlos, who welcomed me inside. Indeed, it's in everybody's interest to keep the neighborhood safe and friendly.
Meanwhile, I was constantly admiring the extraordinary view of the city from atop the hill, as were the other guests -- predominantly round-the-world twentysomething backpackers from Western Europe and Australia -- during those hot summer days of Carnaval 2009.
And as our leisurely breakfasts and evening brought together both the dorm-room dwellers and the private-room couples around balcony chats, we quickly developed a natural complicity -- not only of those who dared to bunk in a favela, but of those who climbed the steep uphill trek at least once a day.
In recent years, "slum tourism" -- seeking out the shantytowns of developing nations for a more authentic holiday experience -- in Brazil has gained in popularity, and a handful of other establishments open to foreign patronage (if not community volunteers) have sprung up in peaceful favelas around the country.
Among the most prominent is The Maze, a more upscale bed & breakfast -- which also hosts jazz gigs, original artwork for sale, and even the occasional film shoot -- inaugurated in Rio de Janeiro's Tavares Bastos favela in late 2005 by the Brit Bob Nadkarni and his Brazilian wife.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/07/30/brazil.favelinha/#cnnSTCText
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Brazil's Ronaldo gets part in film in Middle East
Brazilian soccer player Ronaldo will take part in a film about a Palestinian girl who hoped to meet him but was killed by a land mine before she could fulfill her dream, his club said Sunday.
"(Ronaldo) confirmed that he made an agreement with the Iranian director to make the film in the Palestinian territories," a spokesman for the Brazilian club Corinthians told Reuters.
The three times FIFA World Player of the Year's part will be filmed when Corinthians plays a friendly "Peace match" against fellow Brazilian team Flamengo at a Palestinian venue on September 15.
Corinthians have authorized Ronaldo, a World Cup winner with Brazil 2002, to stay on for a few days after the friendly to film his scenes.
The film is based on the true story of a young girl who was good at soccer and idolized Ronaldo. She died after losing a leg when she stepped on a land mine in southern Lebanon.
Ronaldo, a United Nations ambassador, visited handicapped children on a day trip to Ramallah on the West Bank and to Tel Aviv in 2005.
The film, produced by Iranians Mansur Sohrabpour and Mohammad Latif, will be shot in Lebanon.
http://www.reuters.com/article/filmNews/idUSTRE56P2FY20090726
"(Ronaldo) confirmed that he made an agreement with the Iranian director to make the film in the Palestinian territories," a spokesman for the Brazilian club Corinthians told Reuters.
The three times FIFA World Player of the Year's part will be filmed when Corinthians plays a friendly "Peace match" against fellow Brazilian team Flamengo at a Palestinian venue on September 15.
Corinthians have authorized Ronaldo, a World Cup winner with Brazil 2002, to stay on for a few days after the friendly to film his scenes.
The film is based on the true story of a young girl who was good at soccer and idolized Ronaldo. She died after losing a leg when she stepped on a land mine in southern Lebanon.
Ronaldo, a United Nations ambassador, visited handicapped children on a day trip to Ramallah on the West Bank and to Tel Aviv in 2005.
The film, produced by Iranians Mansur Sohrabpour and Mohammad Latif, will be shot in Lebanon.
http://www.reuters.com/article/filmNews/idUSTRE56P2FY20090726
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Top Secrets in South America
Brazil, Argentina and Chile offer the intrepid visitor stunning treasures—and at little or no cost.
When I first visited Rio De Janeiro back in the early '80s, I did all the touristy things my friends and my Fodor's suggested. I checked out Sugar Loaf, that granite plinth that surges like a diva from the jade curtain of the Atlantic. I danced through a pair of flip-flops at Carnaval and at daybreak soothed my feet in the storied sands of Ipanema, under the gaze of the great art-deco Cristo Redentor, blessing us all from the heights of Corcovado.
But Brazil grows on you. Now that I have lived in the country for 26 years, I've come to appreciate that the most rewarding attractions often are not the ones starred in the guidebooks. The best news about Brazil—and much of South America, in fact—is its wealth of quieter, less obvious pleasures. Not all of them cost a fortune; many can be enjoyed for free, or nearly so. Past the heralded beaches and tony resorts, on to where the tire tracks stop and the noise and neon fade, a world of parks, conservation areas and wilderness awaits. And with pocketbooks pinched and nerves frayed, there is no better time to get out and appreciate the great outdoors.
With jungle-clad hills that tumble into the sea and forests spun in a thousand shades of ocher, green and dun, Brazil has a lot to offer the intrepid, the restless or the merely curious. The biggest dilemma is where to start. Brazil can easily induce traveler's overload. The country's national parks alone cover 28,000 kilometers, the size of Portugal and England together. But with a little guidance from this outdoorsy insider, any tourist can revel in the hidden treasures of Brazil—as well as those of its two southerly neighbors, Argentina and Chile.
Click here to find out more!
The Amazon rainforest, with 720 conservation areas—including parks, national forests, and nature preserves—is a wanderer's horn of plenty. Yet for those on a budget, minding the clock or looking for instant gratification, an Amazon excursion can be tiring and frustrating. Instead I recommend the Pantanal, easily the most spectacular wetlands region in the Western Hemisphere, and possibly the world. A system of marshes, lakes and rivers forms an open-air steam bath that sustains an unbelievable concentration of wildlife: the giant anteater, with its tail as feathery as a boa; the electric-blue hyacinth macaw; and the capybara, a hamster on steroids. During the rainy season, from October to February, this landlocked sea covers 210,000 square kilometers. Getting there requires a two-hour flight from Rio or São Paulo, which isn't cheap, or a cross-country bus, which isn't comfortable. But once you're there, the food and lodging are honest and cheap (except at the odd megastar resort), and exploring the filigree of rivers is a bargain. The sights are unequaled.
There are many ways to tackle the Pantanal. I favor renting a car and heading down the Transpantaneira, a dirt track "highway" that is impassable in many stretches. Starting at the edge of Pocone, a tidy cattle town in southern Mato Grosso, this 145-kilometer track is punctuated by 125 precarious wooden bridges, with sylvan theater at every bend. There sits a cortege of majestic white herons, making thrones of trees and fence posts. Here is a brace of jabiru storks, done up like businessmen in their black collars and white tailcoats. Tiptoe out on a wooden bridge and watch the river caiman, South America's smaller cousin to the alligator, as it lies on a stream bottom, maw agape, waiting for lunch to swim by.
It's an old wetlands tradition for cowhands to sit by the campfire at night and tell jaguar tales. Did you hear about the one that dragged a full-grown steer into the swamp? Do you know they eat caimans'' tails? "Ahn, anh, anh" and "Ssssssss!" the cowpokes mimic the jaguar in a wetlands karaoke. How much of this is true and how much fantasy for gringo ears is hard to say. Either way, it only adds to the mythic pull of the Pantanal.
But it's not necessary to go that far. The Tijuca National Forest is a 15-minute cab ride from Ipanema. This 3,200-hectare expanse of dense rainforest, crosshatched by foot trails and waterfalls, may be the only national forest in the world set in the heart of a megacity. Braided by lianas, colonnades of trees with the musical names ipé, ingá and abricó-de-macaco rise 40 meters from the forest floor. Here and there, bright orange and red bromeliads nestle in their crooks. To the untrained eye, it's a pristine millennial forest, but that's an optical illusion. A century and a half ago, Tijuca was an ailing massif. The original Atlantic rainforest that once draped Rio's shoulder had been stripped away for coffee plantations. But with no roots to hold the soil, every rainy season brought calamity, as tons of soil, stone and debris slid down to silt the riverbeds and drown Rio's streets.
It took a future-minded emperor with a soft spot for tropical flora to rescue the city from itself. Dom Pedro II ordered that seeds be taken from tropical plants and trees from all over the world to replant Rio's balding pate, creating one of Latin America's first mass reforestation campaigns. Reinventing Tijuca took 30 years and 100,000 trees. In time, wildlife came back. Now humming birds, wildcats, armadillos and dozens of species of monkeys make their home in the center of the park. Tourists can wander the many footpaths and sit by waterfalls. Here and there, through the dense brush, a glimpse of the stone and steel skyline of Rio pokes through, a jolting reminder of how flimsy the frontier between the sublime and the hectic can be.
The frontier between countries, of course, is just as flimsy, and perhaps more arbitrary. Argentina is the world's eighth- largest nation and is blessed with a wonderfully diverse geography that includes deserts, forests and waterfalls, as well as glaciers and snowcaps. The strength of the dollar and euro against the peso in recent years has made Argentina one of the globe's most popular travel destinations, allowing many adventure seekers to visit for the first time. Airfare within the country can be pricey, but fortunately Argentina has an excellent bus system that can transport travelers on the cheap, and accommodations run from swank hotels to hostels and campsites. The country's 25 national parks are well maintained and staffed, and admission costs next to nothing when it isn't free.
I suggest starting at the northern border, which is home to the stunning Iguazú Falls, a series of 275 falls that jut into Brazil and are surrounded by a rainforest teeming with hummingbirds, toucans and monkeys. The Brazilians have the panoramic views, but the Argentine side offers a more intimate experience, with a latticework of walkways and observation decks that allow a view of the falls from above and below. The most awesome is the Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat), an 82-meter-high free fall that whips up a sea-white mist with a deafening thunder. Don't miss the zodiac boats that pass in and under the falls, delivering a thrilling soak. The park's only lodging, the Sheraton Iguazú Resort & Spa, offers direct views of the falls—for a price. But the sleepy nearby town of Puerto Iguazú provides a variety of inexpensive overnight options, plus plenty of great family-style restaurants that serve tasty local river fish and juicy Argentine steaks and chops.
From Iguazú, head south down the long spine of Argentina to busy San Carlos de Bariloche, the gateway to Patagonia. This bustling city is the jumping-off point for the Lake District, a famous draw for skiers, hikers and boaters. Here the 710,000-hectare Nahuel Huapi National Park—dubbed the "Switzerland of South America"—soars from deep valleys to Andean cliffs peering over the bluest lakes. Some of the best fly-fishing in the world can be found around Nahuel Huapi, and in some spots anglers are even allowed to keep their catch. In-the-know Argentines go a little farther, to San Martin de los Andes and Villa la Angostura, low-key Patagonian villages that have so far eluded the year-round tourist crush of Bariloche.
Farther south is land's end. Ushuaia, located on the island province of Tierra del Fuego, is the southernmost city in the world. Its population and fame have boomed over the past decade as the principal casting-off point for the growing fleet of cruise ships to Antarctica. The pristine Tierra Del Fuego National Park, 21 kilometers west of Ushuaia, offers a wealth of trails for exploring its dense green forests, valleys, streams and lakes, like Lago Roca, surrounded by jagged snowcapped mountain peaks. Tierra del Fuego also offers world-class trout fishing, hunting and mountain biking, and is South America's preeminent region for cross-country skiing.
If the road south runs out, turn west to Chile. Five years ago, Alberto Gana and his partners at the Chilean outdoor tour operator Latitud 90 had an idea. For several years, they had organized camping trips for tourists in Torres del Paine National Park. Located in southern Patagonia, it's one of the best places in the world to see enormous glaciers up close while taking in breathtaking landscapes that abound with exotic wildlife, like the fast-moving camel known as the guanaco, and the flightless South American ostrich, the nandu. But there were never any accommodations suitable for keen nature aficionados who cared about thread count.
Until now. Borrowing from the high-end safari camps common to east and southern Africa, Gana's company created Patagonia Camp. The first of its kind in South America, it's an ecologically minded complex situated just outside the park that is centered around 18 yurts, Mongolian-styled tents made from cloth and wood that come with all the amenities of a five-star hotel room—most important, heat and a stocked modern bathroom. They allow guests to enjoy the royal treatment without being completely removed from the region's legendary gale-force winds and frequent rains. "This has always been one of the continent's best parks," says Gana. "Now its possible to experience the park with all the comforts."
Over the past decade, the flow of visitors to the park has increased by 10 percent per year, the majority coming from all over Europe and North America. Devoted hikers are drawn to the rigorous eight- to 10-day treks that wind through the entire park. In the inverted summer of South America, from December through March, the days are warm and treks can stretch on until midnight, through the light of a glorious Patagonian sunset. But most hikers opt for a shorter—though no less spectacular—five-day trek called the "W." Along the 250 kilometers of well-kept trails, hikers weary of tents and howling winds can find campsites with bathrooms and refugios, or huts. And for those whose pockets aren't deep enough for Patagonia Camp—where a single costs $2,110 for three nights, including meals, transfers and tours—there are plenty of lower priced lodging options within or just outside the park. From there, hikers can take day trips to the main sites, like the Paine massif, the famous spires known as the torres, or towers, that typically crown postcard views of the park. "It's possible to see the park by car, by boat, by foot," says Rodrigo Condeza, owner of the Miralejos tour company. "The best way, without doubt, is by foot." Then there are no barriers between the traveler and the open land.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/195705
When I first visited Rio De Janeiro back in the early '80s, I did all the touristy things my friends and my Fodor's suggested. I checked out Sugar Loaf, that granite plinth that surges like a diva from the jade curtain of the Atlantic. I danced through a pair of flip-flops at Carnaval and at daybreak soothed my feet in the storied sands of Ipanema, under the gaze of the great art-deco Cristo Redentor, blessing us all from the heights of Corcovado.
But Brazil grows on you. Now that I have lived in the country for 26 years, I've come to appreciate that the most rewarding attractions often are not the ones starred in the guidebooks. The best news about Brazil—and much of South America, in fact—is its wealth of quieter, less obvious pleasures. Not all of them cost a fortune; many can be enjoyed for free, or nearly so. Past the heralded beaches and tony resorts, on to where the tire tracks stop and the noise and neon fade, a world of parks, conservation areas and wilderness awaits. And with pocketbooks pinched and nerves frayed, there is no better time to get out and appreciate the great outdoors.
With jungle-clad hills that tumble into the sea and forests spun in a thousand shades of ocher, green and dun, Brazil has a lot to offer the intrepid, the restless or the merely curious. The biggest dilemma is where to start. Brazil can easily induce traveler's overload. The country's national parks alone cover 28,000 kilometers, the size of Portugal and England together. But with a little guidance from this outdoorsy insider, any tourist can revel in the hidden treasures of Brazil—as well as those of its two southerly neighbors, Argentina and Chile.
Click here to find out more!
The Amazon rainforest, with 720 conservation areas—including parks, national forests, and nature preserves—is a wanderer's horn of plenty. Yet for those on a budget, minding the clock or looking for instant gratification, an Amazon excursion can be tiring and frustrating. Instead I recommend the Pantanal, easily the most spectacular wetlands region in the Western Hemisphere, and possibly the world. A system of marshes, lakes and rivers forms an open-air steam bath that sustains an unbelievable concentration of wildlife: the giant anteater, with its tail as feathery as a boa; the electric-blue hyacinth macaw; and the capybara, a hamster on steroids. During the rainy season, from October to February, this landlocked sea covers 210,000 square kilometers. Getting there requires a two-hour flight from Rio or São Paulo, which isn't cheap, or a cross-country bus, which isn't comfortable. But once you're there, the food and lodging are honest and cheap (except at the odd megastar resort), and exploring the filigree of rivers is a bargain. The sights are unequaled.
There are many ways to tackle the Pantanal. I favor renting a car and heading down the Transpantaneira, a dirt track "highway" that is impassable in many stretches. Starting at the edge of Pocone, a tidy cattle town in southern Mato Grosso, this 145-kilometer track is punctuated by 125 precarious wooden bridges, with sylvan theater at every bend. There sits a cortege of majestic white herons, making thrones of trees and fence posts. Here is a brace of jabiru storks, done up like businessmen in their black collars and white tailcoats. Tiptoe out on a wooden bridge and watch the river caiman, South America's smaller cousin to the alligator, as it lies on a stream bottom, maw agape, waiting for lunch to swim by.
It's an old wetlands tradition for cowhands to sit by the campfire at night and tell jaguar tales. Did you hear about the one that dragged a full-grown steer into the swamp? Do you know they eat caimans'' tails? "Ahn, anh, anh" and "Ssssssss!" the cowpokes mimic the jaguar in a wetlands karaoke. How much of this is true and how much fantasy for gringo ears is hard to say. Either way, it only adds to the mythic pull of the Pantanal.
But it's not necessary to go that far. The Tijuca National Forest is a 15-minute cab ride from Ipanema. This 3,200-hectare expanse of dense rainforest, crosshatched by foot trails and waterfalls, may be the only national forest in the world set in the heart of a megacity. Braided by lianas, colonnades of trees with the musical names ipé, ingá and abricó-de-macaco rise 40 meters from the forest floor. Here and there, bright orange and red bromeliads nestle in their crooks. To the untrained eye, it's a pristine millennial forest, but that's an optical illusion. A century and a half ago, Tijuca was an ailing massif. The original Atlantic rainforest that once draped Rio's shoulder had been stripped away for coffee plantations. But with no roots to hold the soil, every rainy season brought calamity, as tons of soil, stone and debris slid down to silt the riverbeds and drown Rio's streets.
It took a future-minded emperor with a soft spot for tropical flora to rescue the city from itself. Dom Pedro II ordered that seeds be taken from tropical plants and trees from all over the world to replant Rio's balding pate, creating one of Latin America's first mass reforestation campaigns. Reinventing Tijuca took 30 years and 100,000 trees. In time, wildlife came back. Now humming birds, wildcats, armadillos and dozens of species of monkeys make their home in the center of the park. Tourists can wander the many footpaths and sit by waterfalls. Here and there, through the dense brush, a glimpse of the stone and steel skyline of Rio pokes through, a jolting reminder of how flimsy the frontier between the sublime and the hectic can be.
The frontier between countries, of course, is just as flimsy, and perhaps more arbitrary. Argentina is the world's eighth- largest nation and is blessed with a wonderfully diverse geography that includes deserts, forests and waterfalls, as well as glaciers and snowcaps. The strength of the dollar and euro against the peso in recent years has made Argentina one of the globe's most popular travel destinations, allowing many adventure seekers to visit for the first time. Airfare within the country can be pricey, but fortunately Argentina has an excellent bus system that can transport travelers on the cheap, and accommodations run from swank hotels to hostels and campsites. The country's 25 national parks are well maintained and staffed, and admission costs next to nothing when it isn't free.
I suggest starting at the northern border, which is home to the stunning Iguazú Falls, a series of 275 falls that jut into Brazil and are surrounded by a rainforest teeming with hummingbirds, toucans and monkeys. The Brazilians have the panoramic views, but the Argentine side offers a more intimate experience, with a latticework of walkways and observation decks that allow a view of the falls from above and below. The most awesome is the Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat), an 82-meter-high free fall that whips up a sea-white mist with a deafening thunder. Don't miss the zodiac boats that pass in and under the falls, delivering a thrilling soak. The park's only lodging, the Sheraton Iguazú Resort & Spa, offers direct views of the falls—for a price. But the sleepy nearby town of Puerto Iguazú provides a variety of inexpensive overnight options, plus plenty of great family-style restaurants that serve tasty local river fish and juicy Argentine steaks and chops.
From Iguazú, head south down the long spine of Argentina to busy San Carlos de Bariloche, the gateway to Patagonia. This bustling city is the jumping-off point for the Lake District, a famous draw for skiers, hikers and boaters. Here the 710,000-hectare Nahuel Huapi National Park—dubbed the "Switzerland of South America"—soars from deep valleys to Andean cliffs peering over the bluest lakes. Some of the best fly-fishing in the world can be found around Nahuel Huapi, and in some spots anglers are even allowed to keep their catch. In-the-know Argentines go a little farther, to San Martin de los Andes and Villa la Angostura, low-key Patagonian villages that have so far eluded the year-round tourist crush of Bariloche.
Farther south is land's end. Ushuaia, located on the island province of Tierra del Fuego, is the southernmost city in the world. Its population and fame have boomed over the past decade as the principal casting-off point for the growing fleet of cruise ships to Antarctica. The pristine Tierra Del Fuego National Park, 21 kilometers west of Ushuaia, offers a wealth of trails for exploring its dense green forests, valleys, streams and lakes, like Lago Roca, surrounded by jagged snowcapped mountain peaks. Tierra del Fuego also offers world-class trout fishing, hunting and mountain biking, and is South America's preeminent region for cross-country skiing.
If the road south runs out, turn west to Chile. Five years ago, Alberto Gana and his partners at the Chilean outdoor tour operator Latitud 90 had an idea. For several years, they had organized camping trips for tourists in Torres del Paine National Park. Located in southern Patagonia, it's one of the best places in the world to see enormous glaciers up close while taking in breathtaking landscapes that abound with exotic wildlife, like the fast-moving camel known as the guanaco, and the flightless South American ostrich, the nandu. But there were never any accommodations suitable for keen nature aficionados who cared about thread count.
Until now. Borrowing from the high-end safari camps common to east and southern Africa, Gana's company created Patagonia Camp. The first of its kind in South America, it's an ecologically minded complex situated just outside the park that is centered around 18 yurts, Mongolian-styled tents made from cloth and wood that come with all the amenities of a five-star hotel room—most important, heat and a stocked modern bathroom. They allow guests to enjoy the royal treatment without being completely removed from the region's legendary gale-force winds and frequent rains. "This has always been one of the continent's best parks," says Gana. "Now its possible to experience the park with all the comforts."
Over the past decade, the flow of visitors to the park has increased by 10 percent per year, the majority coming from all over Europe and North America. Devoted hikers are drawn to the rigorous eight- to 10-day treks that wind through the entire park. In the inverted summer of South America, from December through March, the days are warm and treks can stretch on until midnight, through the light of a glorious Patagonian sunset. But most hikers opt for a shorter—though no less spectacular—five-day trek called the "W." Along the 250 kilometers of well-kept trails, hikers weary of tents and howling winds can find campsites with bathrooms and refugios, or huts. And for those whose pockets aren't deep enough for Patagonia Camp—where a single costs $2,110 for three nights, including meals, transfers and tours—there are plenty of lower priced lodging options within or just outside the park. From there, hikers can take day trips to the main sites, like the Paine massif, the famous spires known as the torres, or towers, that typically crown postcard views of the park. "It's possible to see the park by car, by boat, by foot," says Rodrigo Condeza, owner of the Miralejos tour company. "The best way, without doubt, is by foot." Then there are no barriers between the traveler and the open land.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/195705
Monday, April 20, 2009
Brazil: Satellites to monitor deforestation
Brazil is expanding satellite monitoring of deforestation to the entire nation.
Environment Minister Carlos Minc says that until now, such monitoring was a "one-note" song about the Amazon. He says other flora-rich areas such as the Patanal and the Atlantic rain forest will soon come under satellite protection.
Minc announced the measure Thursday at the World Economic Forum on Latin America in Rio de Janeiro.
Satellite coverage helps officials track deforestation and send more agents into areas at risk.
Officials hope the system will be fully functional within a year.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hx6Vt_YLJZwPW0y_w6U2jS5ywYcQD97JRHFG2
Environment Minister Carlos Minc says that until now, such monitoring was a "one-note" song about the Amazon. He says other flora-rich areas such as the Patanal and the Atlantic rain forest will soon come under satellite protection.
Minc announced the measure Thursday at the World Economic Forum on Latin America in Rio de Janeiro.
Satellite coverage helps officials track deforestation and send more agents into areas at risk.
Officials hope the system will be fully functional within a year.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hx6Vt_YLJZwPW0y_w6U2jS5ywYcQD97JRHFG2
Friday, April 17, 2009
LATIN AMERICAN SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS OF THE YEAR 2009 AWARDED IN RIO
The Schwab Foundation announces the new selection of leading Latin American Social Entrepreneurs 2009 at the Opening Plenary of the World Economic Forum on Latin America, in the presence of President Lula and President Uribe
- One Brazilian, one Chilean and two Colombians recognized for their innovative models and path-breaking achievements in land rights, education and rainforest conservation
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Four social entrepreneurs have been recognized as Latin American Regional Social Entrepreneurs 2009 during the opening plenary session of the World Economic Forum on Latin America, held in Rio de Janeiro on 15 April. Andre Cavalcanti de Albuquerque, Founder of Terra Nova, had previously been recognized as Social Entrepreneur of the Year Brazil. The other three winners are Veronica Abud from Chile, and Marta Arango and Martin von Hildebrand from Colombia. They received their awards in the presence of President Lula of Brazil and President Uribe of Colombia.
“This crisis teaches us that we need to refocus the economy on serving society. It is these social entrepreneurs that show us the way to a sustainable future,” said Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum and Founder of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurs emphasize long-term sustainability instead of short-term gains. Their primary focus is to maximize benefits for society and the environment by implementing innovative approaches to the key challenges the world is facing. They operate social businesses or organizations that are a mixture of non-profits and for-profits.
The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, an affiliate organization of the World Economic Forum, conducts the search and selection of social entrepreneurs in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, India and South-East Asia. It selects 3-5 social entrepreneurs per year from each region. Selected social entrepreneurs are connected to the world’s business, political and media leaders through the events and initiatives of the World Economic Forum.
http://www.exchangemagazine.com/morningpost/2009/week16/Thursday/041603.htm
- One Brazilian, one Chilean and two Colombians recognized for their innovative models and path-breaking achievements in land rights, education and rainforest conservation
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Four social entrepreneurs have been recognized as Latin American Regional Social Entrepreneurs 2009 during the opening plenary session of the World Economic Forum on Latin America, held in Rio de Janeiro on 15 April. Andre Cavalcanti de Albuquerque, Founder of Terra Nova, had previously been recognized as Social Entrepreneur of the Year Brazil. The other three winners are Veronica Abud from Chile, and Marta Arango and Martin von Hildebrand from Colombia. They received their awards in the presence of President Lula of Brazil and President Uribe of Colombia.
“This crisis teaches us that we need to refocus the economy on serving society. It is these social entrepreneurs that show us the way to a sustainable future,” said Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum and Founder of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurs emphasize long-term sustainability instead of short-term gains. Their primary focus is to maximize benefits for society and the environment by implementing innovative approaches to the key challenges the world is facing. They operate social businesses or organizations that are a mixture of non-profits and for-profits.
The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, an affiliate organization of the World Economic Forum, conducts the search and selection of social entrepreneurs in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, India and South-East Asia. It selects 3-5 social entrepreneurs per year from each region. Selected social entrepreneurs are connected to the world’s business, political and media leaders through the events and initiatives of the World Economic Forum.
http://www.exchangemagazine.com/morningpost/2009/week16/Thursday/041603.htm
Monday, April 13, 2009
Rio: Volvo Race heads to Boston, the cold and whales
The seven yachts taking part in the Volvo Ocean Race around the world left the heat of Rio de Janeiro on Saturday for Boston where they will once again find colder weather and will have to watch out for whales along the way.
The teams departed on the sixth stage of the world's most gruelling offshore yacht race, a distance of 4,900 nautical miles, which is expected to last 15 days, at 3:00 pm (1800 GMT), aided by the moderate winds blowing in Rio's Guanabara Bay.
"Watch out, it's a whale breathing zone and there is a lot of stuff in the water. Also, it's possibly very cold up there," said the skipper of US team Puma, Ken Read, before the departure as the fleet was blessed to guard against "stormy waves".
Sweden's Ericsson 4, the winner of the first two stages, will be looking to defend its comfortable lead in the overall classification against its nearest rivals Puma and Telefonica Blue of Spain.
"Will we have a defensive strategy? No, we can't be too conservative if we want to win the race," Ericsson 4's Brazilian skipper Torben Grael before the sixth stage departed.
The yachts will go around the island of Fernando de Noronha located some 350 kilometres (220 miles) northeast of Brazil, with the first to arrive to collect four points.
After that it is virtually a straight line towards Boston, with the first to arrive to pick up eight points.
"We have to arrive first, both in Boston and at the scoring gate (at Fernando de Noronha) otherwise we will not make up for our delay," Telefonica Blue's Dutch skipper Bouwe Bekking said Friday.
As they close in on the finish line of the sixth stage, they will have to deal with low pressure systems sweeping across North America on their own trip across the Atlantic.
From Boston, the race, which is looking to reduce costs to attract more entrants for its next edition in 2011, will head to Ireland.
The event began in Alicante in Spain in October and involves a total of 10 stages covering over 37,000 nautical miles.
Standings at the start of the sixth stage
1. Ericsson 4 (SWE)/Torben Grael (BRA) 66 points
2. Puma Ocean Racing (USA)/Ken Read (USA) 56.5 points
3. Telefonica Blue (ESP)/Bouwe Bekking/NED) 54.5 points
4. Ericsson 3 (SWE)/Magnus Olsson (SWE) 44.5 points
5. Green Dragon (CHN/IRL)/Ian Walker (GBR) 41 points
6. Telefonica Black (ESP)/Fernando Echavarri (ESP) 23 points
7. Delta Lloyd (NED)/Roberto Bermdez (ESP) 15 points
8. Team Russia (RUS)/Andreas Hanakamp (AUT) 10.5 points (Has withdrawn for the time being from the race)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ghTKg-1t9Hp386DbraSwxOZ0Z9Gw
The teams departed on the sixth stage of the world's most gruelling offshore yacht race, a distance of 4,900 nautical miles, which is expected to last 15 days, at 3:00 pm (1800 GMT), aided by the moderate winds blowing in Rio's Guanabara Bay.
"Watch out, it's a whale breathing zone and there is a lot of stuff in the water. Also, it's possibly very cold up there," said the skipper of US team Puma, Ken Read, before the departure as the fleet was blessed to guard against "stormy waves".
Sweden's Ericsson 4, the winner of the first two stages, will be looking to defend its comfortable lead in the overall classification against its nearest rivals Puma and Telefonica Blue of Spain.
"Will we have a defensive strategy? No, we can't be too conservative if we want to win the race," Ericsson 4's Brazilian skipper Torben Grael before the sixth stage departed.
The yachts will go around the island of Fernando de Noronha located some 350 kilometres (220 miles) northeast of Brazil, with the first to arrive to collect four points.
After that it is virtually a straight line towards Boston, with the first to arrive to pick up eight points.
"We have to arrive first, both in Boston and at the scoring gate (at Fernando de Noronha) otherwise we will not make up for our delay," Telefonica Blue's Dutch skipper Bouwe Bekking said Friday.
As they close in on the finish line of the sixth stage, they will have to deal with low pressure systems sweeping across North America on their own trip across the Atlantic.
From Boston, the race, which is looking to reduce costs to attract more entrants for its next edition in 2011, will head to Ireland.
The event began in Alicante in Spain in October and involves a total of 10 stages covering over 37,000 nautical miles.
Standings at the start of the sixth stage
1. Ericsson 4 (SWE)/Torben Grael (BRA) 66 points
2. Puma Ocean Racing (USA)/Ken Read (USA) 56.5 points
3. Telefonica Blue (ESP)/Bouwe Bekking/NED) 54.5 points
4. Ericsson 3 (SWE)/Magnus Olsson (SWE) 44.5 points
5. Green Dragon (CHN/IRL)/Ian Walker (GBR) 41 points
6. Telefonica Black (ESP)/Fernando Echavarri (ESP) 23 points
7. Delta Lloyd (NED)/Roberto Bermdez (ESP) 15 points
8. Team Russia (RUS)/Andreas Hanakamp (AUT) 10.5 points (Has withdrawn for the time being from the race)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ghTKg-1t9Hp386DbraSwxOZ0Z9Gw
Can't blame it on Rio
I have always wanted to visit Rio de Janeiro. Even though the late Jade Goody thought Rio de Janeiro was a man, it hasn't diminished my desire. I am not making that up.
During her time at the Big Brother reality show, she had asked someone, 'Rio de Janeiro, a bloke innit?'.
She might be right actually. Rio does seem to have masculine qualities. I've heard so much about the city, seen so much of it on television, and all of it is so appealing. It's brutally sensual, like the Brad Pitt of Troy. There's so much to lust and love in Rio -- its naturally beautiful setting -- the city boasts the largest urban forests in the world:
Floresta da Tijuca, mountains almost rising out of the sea and one of the most famous beaches in the world -- the Copacobana. Mix that with the hedonism of the
carnival and the samba.
Such riches stand in stark contrast to its dark side. Rio israted one of the most violent cities in the world and its favelas or shanty towns highlight the disparities between the rich and the poor.
Then there's the football and the Maracana. Some of Brazil's most famous footballers have kicked leather on its sandy beaches and dusty by-lanes. Garrincha, Zico, Romario, Ronaldo and Adriano are all products of Rio's favelas.
Interestingly, there's another common thread that runs through the names that I have listed. With the exception of Zico, who was known for his determination and discipline, others, all incredible footballers, have struggled in their personal lives. Alcohol, drug abuse, women, torrid marriages have eventually wrecked their careers.
Garrincha, considered by many in Brazil as Pele's equal, died of a liver failure after a lifetime of alcohol abuse. Brazil never lost a match in which Pele and Garrincha played together. The 'little bird' was a mental and emotional wreck by the time of his death.
Romario, Brazil's hero of the 1994 World Cup and one of the most prolific strikers the game has ever seen, was often dropped from the team for indiscipline and missing training sessions after nights of partying.
Ronaldo, the highest goalscorer in World Cup with 15 goals, has had his own problems with fame. His much-publicised broken relationships, encounters with transvestites, alcoholism and weight issues have adversely affected his on-field performances.
The latest in the list of troubled Brazil football stars is Adriano. The Inter Milan striker went missing on April 4 after international duty. He was not on his scheduled flight back from South America to Italy. Neither the club nor the Brazil football federation had any contact with the forward.
After an intense week of speculation, where rumours of his death also circulated, Adriano came out of hiding and informed that he had been in the favelas of Rio with his mother and friends after an emotional break-up with his girlfriend. Adriano then said that he wanted to take a break from football and think about his career. Alcohol and drug abuse were also cited as reasons for his mental state.
What is it with the footballers from Rio de Janeiro? How do you explain such beauty and misery, such mastery and frailty? Maybe it's to do with the city that nurtured them. Dichotomous Rio de Janeiro, just as beautiful as it is ugly. I can't wait to head there.
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1247091
During her time at the Big Brother reality show, she had asked someone, 'Rio de Janeiro, a bloke innit?'.
She might be right actually. Rio does seem to have masculine qualities. I've heard so much about the city, seen so much of it on television, and all of it is so appealing. It's brutally sensual, like the Brad Pitt of Troy. There's so much to lust and love in Rio -- its naturally beautiful setting -- the city boasts the largest urban forests in the world:
Floresta da Tijuca, mountains almost rising out of the sea and one of the most famous beaches in the world -- the Copacobana. Mix that with the hedonism of the
carnival and the samba.
Such riches stand in stark contrast to its dark side. Rio israted one of the most violent cities in the world and its favelas or shanty towns highlight the disparities between the rich and the poor.
Then there's the football and the Maracana. Some of Brazil's most famous footballers have kicked leather on its sandy beaches and dusty by-lanes. Garrincha, Zico, Romario, Ronaldo and Adriano are all products of Rio's favelas.
Interestingly, there's another common thread that runs through the names that I have listed. With the exception of Zico, who was known for his determination and discipline, others, all incredible footballers, have struggled in their personal lives. Alcohol, drug abuse, women, torrid marriages have eventually wrecked their careers.
Garrincha, considered by many in Brazil as Pele's equal, died of a liver failure after a lifetime of alcohol abuse. Brazil never lost a match in which Pele and Garrincha played together. The 'little bird' was a mental and emotional wreck by the time of his death.
Romario, Brazil's hero of the 1994 World Cup and one of the most prolific strikers the game has ever seen, was often dropped from the team for indiscipline and missing training sessions after nights of partying.
Ronaldo, the highest goalscorer in World Cup with 15 goals, has had his own problems with fame. His much-publicised broken relationships, encounters with transvestites, alcoholism and weight issues have adversely affected his on-field performances.
The latest in the list of troubled Brazil football stars is Adriano. The Inter Milan striker went missing on April 4 after international duty. He was not on his scheduled flight back from South America to Italy. Neither the club nor the Brazil football federation had any contact with the forward.
After an intense week of speculation, where rumours of his death also circulated, Adriano came out of hiding and informed that he had been in the favelas of Rio with his mother and friends after an emotional break-up with his girlfriend. Adriano then said that he wanted to take a break from football and think about his career. Alcohol and drug abuse were also cited as reasons for his mental state.
What is it with the footballers from Rio de Janeiro? How do you explain such beauty and misery, such mastery and frailty? Maybe it's to do with the city that nurtured them. Dichotomous Rio de Janeiro, just as beautiful as it is ugly. I can't wait to head there.
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1247091
Brazil calls for Cuba membership of OAS
Brazil said on Monday that Cuba should be allowed to join the Organisation of American States but that it is not seeking a standoff with the United States over the issue at a regional summit this week.
The call by Latin America's main diplomatic power to bring Cuba in from the cold adds weight to growing demands for U.S. President Barack Obama to go further in unravelling Washington's decades-old policy of isolating Cuba's communist government.
Obama eased the 47-year-old U.S. embargo against Cuba on Monday by allowing U.S. telecommunications companies to do business there and lifting limits on family travel and money transfers to the island by Cuban Americans. [ID:nN13331508]
At a Summit of the Americas meeting that starts on Friday, several Latin American leaders will push for a broader re-integration of Cuba into the OAS regional group.
"Cuba being absent from the inter-American system, including the OAS, is an anomaly and needs to be corrected," Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim told reporters in Rio de Janeiro.
The Obama administration has made it clear it will not completely lift the embargo as it aims to keep up pressure for reforms in Cuba. It also does not want the April 17-19 Summit of the Americas to be dominated by the Cuba issue.
OAS chief Jose Miguel Insulza also expressed caution, saying Cuba needed to show clearly it was committed to democracy to be readmitted to the group.
"We need to know if Cuba is interested in returning to multilateral organizations or if it is thinking only about the end of the embargo and economic growth," Insulza told Brazilian daily newspaper O Globo.
"This is a summit of countries with good will but good will alone is not enough to cause change."
All 34 leaders at the Summit, from which Cuba is barred, are from democratic countries, said Insulza, a former Chilean foreign minister.
"The general assembly of the OAS decided that all member countries must adhere to democratic principles," he said when asked about Cuba, a one-party state that has been ruled by Fidel Castro and his younger brother Raul since they took power in a 1959 revolution.
Despite its support for Cuba, Brazil is unlikely to push the issue too hard at this week's summit.
"I think neither the Cubans nor we want to transform the summit into a confrontation between the United States and Latin America," Amorim said.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/UKNews1/idUKTRE53C3Q220090413?sp=true
The call by Latin America's main diplomatic power to bring Cuba in from the cold adds weight to growing demands for U.S. President Barack Obama to go further in unravelling Washington's decades-old policy of isolating Cuba's communist government.
Obama eased the 47-year-old U.S. embargo against Cuba on Monday by allowing U.S. telecommunications companies to do business there and lifting limits on family travel and money transfers to the island by Cuban Americans. [ID:nN13331508]
At a Summit of the Americas meeting that starts on Friday, several Latin American leaders will push for a broader re-integration of Cuba into the OAS regional group.
"Cuba being absent from the inter-American system, including the OAS, is an anomaly and needs to be corrected," Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim told reporters in Rio de Janeiro.
The Obama administration has made it clear it will not completely lift the embargo as it aims to keep up pressure for reforms in Cuba. It also does not want the April 17-19 Summit of the Americas to be dominated by the Cuba issue.
OAS chief Jose Miguel Insulza also expressed caution, saying Cuba needed to show clearly it was committed to democracy to be readmitted to the group.
"We need to know if Cuba is interested in returning to multilateral organizations or if it is thinking only about the end of the embargo and economic growth," Insulza told Brazilian daily newspaper O Globo.
"This is a summit of countries with good will but good will alone is not enough to cause change."
All 34 leaders at the Summit, from which Cuba is barred, are from democratic countries, said Insulza, a former Chilean foreign minister.
"The general assembly of the OAS decided that all member countries must adhere to democratic principles," he said when asked about Cuba, a one-party state that has been ruled by Fidel Castro and his younger brother Raul since they took power in a 1959 revolution.
Despite its support for Cuba, Brazil is unlikely to push the issue too hard at this week's summit.
"I think neither the Cubans nor we want to transform the summit into a confrontation between the United States and Latin America," Amorim said.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/UKNews1/idUKTRE53C3Q220090413?sp=true
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Rio de Janeiro – one cruise passenger’s opinion - Brazil
Rio de Janeiro (River of January, named by the Portuguese who founded the city on Jan. 1, 1502). Ah, Rio, "The Marvelous City," home of the Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, the Christ the Redeemer statue and, sadly, the crime capital of Brazil.
We were a month early for Carnaval, but the beaches offered sun, sand and surf -- it's summer in the Southern Hemisphere -- while the statue awaited our arrival with, literally, outstretched arms. Visible from just about everywhere in the city, Christ the Redeemer is, in a word, imposing. He has been watching stoically from atop 2,300-foot Corcovado Mountain since 1931, remaining impassive even when hit by lightning a year ago.
Two cable car rides took us to the 120-foot, 700-ton statue where crowds mingled in awe, stepping, occasionally, on those who lie flat on their backs at the base to get a better perspective for their photos.
If the statue could see, it may be disappointed with its subjects. It would be happy, certainly, with a modern, vibrant city of 6.1 million people, some of them among the richest in the world. But it would certainly be unhappy with the wretched poverty of many more. Interestingly, the poor live on the hillsides and have the best view of the ocean and the beaches.
Because of this poverty, the city's drug traffic is rampant, contributing heavily to a recent average of about 30 homicides a week. But tourists are relatively safe, except for the time they spend in a taxi. Intent on speed and apparently having taken a vow to never let another car pass, taxi drivers are, well, homicidal.
Read complete story here:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09102/961808-37.stm
We were a month early for Carnaval, but the beaches offered sun, sand and surf -- it's summer in the Southern Hemisphere -- while the statue awaited our arrival with, literally, outstretched arms. Visible from just about everywhere in the city, Christ the Redeemer is, in a word, imposing. He has been watching stoically from atop 2,300-foot Corcovado Mountain since 1931, remaining impassive even when hit by lightning a year ago.
Two cable car rides took us to the 120-foot, 700-ton statue where crowds mingled in awe, stepping, occasionally, on those who lie flat on their backs at the base to get a better perspective for their photos.
If the statue could see, it may be disappointed with its subjects. It would be happy, certainly, with a modern, vibrant city of 6.1 million people, some of them among the richest in the world. But it would certainly be unhappy with the wretched poverty of many more. Interestingly, the poor live on the hillsides and have the best view of the ocean and the beaches.
Because of this poverty, the city's drug traffic is rampant, contributing heavily to a recent average of about 30 homicides a week. But tourists are relatively safe, except for the time they spend in a taxi. Intent on speed and apparently having taken a vow to never let another car pass, taxi drivers are, well, homicidal.
Read complete story here:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09102/961808-37.stm
Monday, April 6, 2009
Rio de Janeiro: Alternative - a trip through the city's hinterland
Thanks to the Copacabana, carnival and Sugarloaf Mountain, Rio de Janeiro attracts millions of holidaymakers every year. But most of them hardly ever venture beyond the outskirts of the city even though the surrounding area has plenty of picturesque colonial towns, coffee plantations, islands, national parks and verdant jungle to offer.
Serra da Bocaina National Park is just a few hours by car to the south of Rio, but the atmosphere is similar to the Amazon with orchids and fern-bedecked trees lining the stone path that winds through the rainforest.
The air is humid and tropical and the path is covered with moss, making it advisable to carefully consider every step.
It is hard to imagine how smugglers made their way 250 years ago to the historic town of Parati on the Atlantic coast.
Even more difficult to understand is how thousands of slaves walked through the dense forest along that same path. Today, it is one of the most attractive routes in the park.
Luciano Freie suddenly draws to a halt. "Can you hear that? We are almost there," says the trekking guide. At first, the noise is swallowed up by the bellowing of lemurs who live high in the trees' crowns. Then, the dim sound of Veadeiros waterfalls can be heard.
The ground becomes moister and the roar of the water gets louder until the falls can be seen. The waterfalls are among the most beautiful in Brazilwith the water falling 100 metres.
The next stage of the journey is 18 kilometres long. Along the way you see cross mountain streams, accompanied by the calls of parrots and toucans. But you can also marvel at apes, tapirs, sloths and giant anteaters in the park which lies between the states of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
The Serra da Bocaina park stretches as far as Parati which lies on a fjord-like bay.
"Oh God, if there is a paradise on earth, then it would look like this place," said the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci after seeing the small fishing village of the indigenous Guaiana people. Today, the town is one of the best-preserved, colonial settlements in Brazil.
In the 16th century, Parati became a busy urban centre at the end of the Caminho do Ouro or Gold Trail. But as the goldmines ran out, Parati declined and not until the 1950s was its historic character rediscovered.
The UNESCO has placed Parati on its tentative list of World Heritage Sites and cars are banned from its cobblestone alleys. Its white-tiled houses are decorated with colourfully painted window frames and doors.
From the town's port, you can take a boat to one of the islands in the bay. Ilha Grande is the largest of the hundreds of islands south of Rio. The long beaches of Lopes Mendes are among the most beautiful in the world.
Many holidaymakers are also attracted to the small bays where pirates used to hide in the past. A rather more touristy spot can be found in the north of the state, the peninsula of Buzios.
With its nightclubs, restaurants and up-market boutiques it has been dubbed the St. Tropez of Brazil.
If you want to experience more Brazilian culture, you would be advised to travel inland. Close to the small town of Vassouras, you can visit the colonial coffee bean estates where the coffee is fit for a king.
Another royal theme can be found 65 kilometres from Rio de Janeiro in the town of Petropolis where the Brazilian imperial family lived in the summer months.
The royal palace was built in the 1840s and is open to the public. Thanks to the town's colonial-style architecture and French-Gothic cathedral, you would hardly know you are in South America.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/263367,alternative-rio-de-janeiro-a-trip-through-the-citys-hinterland.html
Serra da Bocaina National Park is just a few hours by car to the south of Rio, but the atmosphere is similar to the Amazon with orchids and fern-bedecked trees lining the stone path that winds through the rainforest.
The air is humid and tropical and the path is covered with moss, making it advisable to carefully consider every step.
It is hard to imagine how smugglers made their way 250 years ago to the historic town of Parati on the Atlantic coast.
Even more difficult to understand is how thousands of slaves walked through the dense forest along that same path. Today, it is one of the most attractive routes in the park.
Luciano Freie suddenly draws to a halt. "Can you hear that? We are almost there," says the trekking guide. At first, the noise is swallowed up by the bellowing of lemurs who live high in the trees' crowns. Then, the dim sound of Veadeiros waterfalls can be heard.
The ground becomes moister and the roar of the water gets louder until the falls can be seen. The waterfalls are among the most beautiful in Brazilwith the water falling 100 metres.
The next stage of the journey is 18 kilometres long. Along the way you see cross mountain streams, accompanied by the calls of parrots and toucans. But you can also marvel at apes, tapirs, sloths and giant anteaters in the park which lies between the states of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
The Serra da Bocaina park stretches as far as Parati which lies on a fjord-like bay.
"Oh God, if there is a paradise on earth, then it would look like this place," said the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci after seeing the small fishing village of the indigenous Guaiana people. Today, the town is one of the best-preserved, colonial settlements in Brazil.
In the 16th century, Parati became a busy urban centre at the end of the Caminho do Ouro or Gold Trail. But as the goldmines ran out, Parati declined and not until the 1950s was its historic character rediscovered.
The UNESCO has placed Parati on its tentative list of World Heritage Sites and cars are banned from its cobblestone alleys. Its white-tiled houses are decorated with colourfully painted window frames and doors.
From the town's port, you can take a boat to one of the islands in the bay. Ilha Grande is the largest of the hundreds of islands south of Rio. The long beaches of Lopes Mendes are among the most beautiful in the world.
Many holidaymakers are also attracted to the small bays where pirates used to hide in the past. A rather more touristy spot can be found in the north of the state, the peninsula of Buzios.
With its nightclubs, restaurants and up-market boutiques it has been dubbed the St. Tropez of Brazil.
If you want to experience more Brazilian culture, you would be advised to travel inland. Close to the small town of Vassouras, you can visit the colonial coffee bean estates where the coffee is fit for a king.
Another royal theme can be found 65 kilometres from Rio de Janeiro in the town of Petropolis where the Brazilian imperial family lived in the summer months.
The royal palace was built in the 1840s and is open to the public. Thanks to the town's colonial-style architecture and French-Gothic cathedral, you would hardly know you are in South America.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/263367,alternative-rio-de-janeiro-a-trip-through-the-citys-hinterland.html
Friday, April 3, 2009
Lula da Silva: Brazil’s ‘Teflon’ Leader
He has been called the Teflon president, the most popular president in the world, a leader who has survived scandal after scandal only to see his approval ratings rise to new heights.
But with industrial production slowing badly and unemployment climbing, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil may be showing some chinks in his seemingly impregnable armor, analysts say.
As he took the world stage at the Group of 20 summit meeting in London on Thursday, he faces mounting challenges to his domestic popularity and perhaps to his status as one of the developing world’s most forceful advocates.
At least three polls showing a recent drop in his stellar approval ratings and a rush of controversy over comments he made last week, in which he blamed “white people with blue eyes” for the economic crisis, could be signs that Mr. da Silva, known as Lula, is mortal after all, analysts said.
“The prospect that Brazil’s economic and social gains could be undercut by the global crisis could well dampen an enormously successful two-term presidency,” said Julia E. Sweig, director for Latin American studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Mr. da Silva still has an enviable following at home, but if the economic storm continues, it could erode that support much further and hamper his ability to pass the presidency in 2010 to his chosen successor, Dilma Rousseff, his chief of staff, analysts said.
At the economic summit this week, Mr. da Silva sought to establish Brazil as a global power, but “the trick in London will be to hit the right substantive notes establishing Brazilian leadership without heaping too much scorn on those around him,” Ms. Sweig said.
Last week, Mr. da Silva heaped plenty of it. The economic crisis, he said, was caused by “the irrational behavior of white people with blue eyes, who before seemed to know everything, and now have shown they don’t know anything.”
The comments might have caused only a mild stir in the presence of other Latin American leaders, who have roundly criticized bankers in the United States and Europe. But said in Brasília with Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain at his side, Mr. da Silva’s comments raised hackles both at home and abroad.
“This was to be Lula’s big chance to show that he was the voice of reasonable, considered leadership,” said Amaury de Souza, a political analyst who heads MCM Consultants in Rio de Janeiro. “Now he can be accused of racism, which greatly weakens Brazil’s claims in foreign policy.”
Some analysts suggested that the Brazilian president, as he often does, may have been making his comments for the working poor, the core of his support. But the comments touched an open wound among Brazil’s elites, who resent the popularity of Mr. da Silva, a former metal worker with a fourth-grade education.
It was not the first time he had flashed his anger about the crisis. After spending the better part of a decade growing its economy, taming inflation and saving more than $200 billion during a commodities boom, Brazil was seen as a model in the world economy.
“Brazil’s desire to be considered one of the major economic powers is part of this frustration that Lula has,” said Johanna Mendelson-Forman, senior associate of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “It’s as if he is saying, ‘Here I have made it as an economic power, and the world crashes.’”
As the economic crisis unfolded in the United States and Europe last fall, Mr. da Silva played down the possibility of contagion in his country.
“There, the crisis is a tsunami,” he said in October. “Here, if it hits, it’s going to be a little wave, not even big enough to surf on.”
But now Brazil’s economy is suffering. Its gross domestic product fell by 3.6 percent in the last quarter of 2008 from the third quarter, the worst drop of any Latin American nation. The country lost 654,946 jobs in December 2008, and 101,748 more jobs in January, according to the Labor Ministry.
The impact is exacting a political price. In March, Mr. da Silva suffered his first drop in popularity in over a year.
His approval ratings in some polls are still impressive, hovering above 70 percent, but they could fall below 50 percent if the economic slide continued, said David Fleischer, a political science professor at the University of Brasília.
Mr. da Silva’s team has impressed some economists with its efforts to try to stop the economic boat from leaking further. And despite the recent drop in popularity, few are counting out Mr. da Silva, one of Brazil’s most resilient politicians. In 2006 he rebounded from scandal to win a runoff and secure his second term. Then the Supreme Court charged two top aides with corruption in 2007, but it failed to affect the president’s popularity, which continued to rise.
Even at the summit meeting in London, his stature seemed to follow him.
One Brazilian news organization showed video of President Obama reaching over to shake Mr. da Silva’s hand. “Here’s my man, right here,” Mr. Obama said. “I love this guy. He’s the most popular politician on earth.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/03/world/americas/03lula.html?em
But with industrial production slowing badly and unemployment climbing, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil may be showing some chinks in his seemingly impregnable armor, analysts say.
As he took the world stage at the Group of 20 summit meeting in London on Thursday, he faces mounting challenges to his domestic popularity and perhaps to his status as one of the developing world’s most forceful advocates.
At least three polls showing a recent drop in his stellar approval ratings and a rush of controversy over comments he made last week, in which he blamed “white people with blue eyes” for the economic crisis, could be signs that Mr. da Silva, known as Lula, is mortal after all, analysts said.
“The prospect that Brazil’s economic and social gains could be undercut by the global crisis could well dampen an enormously successful two-term presidency,” said Julia E. Sweig, director for Latin American studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Mr. da Silva still has an enviable following at home, but if the economic storm continues, it could erode that support much further and hamper his ability to pass the presidency in 2010 to his chosen successor, Dilma Rousseff, his chief of staff, analysts said.
At the economic summit this week, Mr. da Silva sought to establish Brazil as a global power, but “the trick in London will be to hit the right substantive notes establishing Brazilian leadership without heaping too much scorn on those around him,” Ms. Sweig said.
Last week, Mr. da Silva heaped plenty of it. The economic crisis, he said, was caused by “the irrational behavior of white people with blue eyes, who before seemed to know everything, and now have shown they don’t know anything.”
The comments might have caused only a mild stir in the presence of other Latin American leaders, who have roundly criticized bankers in the United States and Europe. But said in Brasília with Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain at his side, Mr. da Silva’s comments raised hackles both at home and abroad.
“This was to be Lula’s big chance to show that he was the voice of reasonable, considered leadership,” said Amaury de Souza, a political analyst who heads MCM Consultants in Rio de Janeiro. “Now he can be accused of racism, which greatly weakens Brazil’s claims in foreign policy.”
Some analysts suggested that the Brazilian president, as he often does, may have been making his comments for the working poor, the core of his support. But the comments touched an open wound among Brazil’s elites, who resent the popularity of Mr. da Silva, a former metal worker with a fourth-grade education.
It was not the first time he had flashed his anger about the crisis. After spending the better part of a decade growing its economy, taming inflation and saving more than $200 billion during a commodities boom, Brazil was seen as a model in the world economy.
“Brazil’s desire to be considered one of the major economic powers is part of this frustration that Lula has,” said Johanna Mendelson-Forman, senior associate of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “It’s as if he is saying, ‘Here I have made it as an economic power, and the world crashes.’”
As the economic crisis unfolded in the United States and Europe last fall, Mr. da Silva played down the possibility of contagion in his country.
“There, the crisis is a tsunami,” he said in October. “Here, if it hits, it’s going to be a little wave, not even big enough to surf on.”
But now Brazil’s economy is suffering. Its gross domestic product fell by 3.6 percent in the last quarter of 2008 from the third quarter, the worst drop of any Latin American nation. The country lost 654,946 jobs in December 2008, and 101,748 more jobs in January, according to the Labor Ministry.
The impact is exacting a political price. In March, Mr. da Silva suffered his first drop in popularity in over a year.
His approval ratings in some polls are still impressive, hovering above 70 percent, but they could fall below 50 percent if the economic slide continued, said David Fleischer, a political science professor at the University of Brasília.
Mr. da Silva’s team has impressed some economists with its efforts to try to stop the economic boat from leaking further. And despite the recent drop in popularity, few are counting out Mr. da Silva, one of Brazil’s most resilient politicians. In 2006 he rebounded from scandal to win a runoff and secure his second term. Then the Supreme Court charged two top aides with corruption in 2007, but it failed to affect the president’s popularity, which continued to rise.
Even at the summit meeting in London, his stature seemed to follow him.
One Brazilian news organization showed video of President Obama reaching over to shake Mr. da Silva’s hand. “Here’s my man, right here,” Mr. Obama said. “I love this guy. He’s the most popular politician on earth.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/03/world/americas/03lula.html?em
TOBOC's Newest Branch- Brazil- Rio De Janeiro
TOBOC is excited to inform our members we have now opened another branch in Brazil- Rio De Janeiro, famous for one of the seven wonders of the world.
Brazil, Rio De Janeiro (PRWEB) April 3, 2009 -- TOBOC is excited to inform our members we have now opened another branch in Brazil- Rio De Janeiro, famous for one of the seven wonders of the world which is 'Christ the Redeemer' Statue apart from our Head Office based in Montreal- Canada with branches in Paris- France, Florida- U.S.A, Bangalore- India and Beijing- China.
Brazil the glamorous land of Carnivals, football, churches, foffee, dance (the samba) and of course rich in natural resources, TOBOC decided to venture into this beautiful country to help exporters and importers gain more visibility worldwide.
Known for its agriculture in soybeans, coffee, meat, sugar cane, citric, cocoa and industrial products like chemical, shoes products, cement, iron, steel, airplanes, engines and automobiles, buses and machines, it is rich in resources as well as manpower.
The Brazilian operations will be headed by Walter Hindenoch. Brazil has many associations pertaining to various sectors and after much research TOBOC could not turn away from the fact that though Brazil is rich in culture and resources, the poverty level cannot go unnoticed.
Having said this we intend to extend a helping hand to all sectors in Brazil by increasing their business growth through us worldwide under the constant supervision of Walter Hindenoch. Brazil continues to pursue industrial and agricultural growth and development of its interior. Exploiting vast natural resources and a large labor pool, it is today South America's leading economic power and a regional leader and TOBOC is proud to have firmly planted its 5th branch in this untapped land high in industrial and agricultural products.
http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2009/4/prweb2289914.htm
Brazil, Rio De Janeiro (PRWEB) April 3, 2009 -- TOBOC is excited to inform our members we have now opened another branch in Brazil- Rio De Janeiro, famous for one of the seven wonders of the world which is 'Christ the Redeemer' Statue apart from our Head Office based in Montreal- Canada with branches in Paris- France, Florida- U.S.A, Bangalore- India and Beijing- China.
Brazil the glamorous land of Carnivals, football, churches, foffee, dance (the samba) and of course rich in natural resources, TOBOC decided to venture into this beautiful country to help exporters and importers gain more visibility worldwide.
Known for its agriculture in soybeans, coffee, meat, sugar cane, citric, cocoa and industrial products like chemical, shoes products, cement, iron, steel, airplanes, engines and automobiles, buses and machines, it is rich in resources as well as manpower.
The Brazilian operations will be headed by Walter Hindenoch. Brazil has many associations pertaining to various sectors and after much research TOBOC could not turn away from the fact that though Brazil is rich in culture and resources, the poverty level cannot go unnoticed.
Having said this we intend to extend a helping hand to all sectors in Brazil by increasing their business growth through us worldwide under the constant supervision of Walter Hindenoch. Brazil continues to pursue industrial and agricultural growth and development of its interior. Exploiting vast natural resources and a large labor pool, it is today South America's leading economic power and a regional leader and TOBOC is proud to have firmly planted its 5th branch in this untapped land high in industrial and agricultural products.
http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2009/4/prweb2289914.htm
Friday, March 20, 2009
US Airways nonstop Charlotte-Rio flights OK'd
Pending final spring approval, daily trips start in October with seating for 204 passengers.
No word if the cheesy '70s song will be part of the marketing, but – my-oh, me-oh – US Airways is flying to Rio.
Yes, de Janeiro.
Federal officials on Friday approved US Airways' nonstop Charlotte-Rio de Janeiro flight. Pending final approval this spring, the carrier will start daily flights in October, using a Boeing 767 that seats 204 passengers.
The route would be the first nonstop service from Charlotte to South America, although US Airways expects at least 90 percent of passengers to connect in Charlotte from other airports.
For Charlotte travelers, though, the Rio flight provides another option for vacationers who have seen Europe become more expensive because of the dollar's exchange rate, said Nancy Cutter, president of Court Travel in uptown Charlotte.
“South America is very, very overlooked for a lot of people,” Cutter said. “It's been a great value for 15 years.”
Charlotte is US Airways largest hub, and the airline operates more than 80 percent of flights at the airport. US Airways applied for the Rio flight in January, and the U.S. Department of Transportation officials on Friday also approved a Houston-Rio route by Continental Airlines.
Other nonstop international flights in Charlotte include US Airways to Frankfurt, London and – starting April 21 – Paris, and Lufthansa to Munich. US Airways also flies to nearly two dozen destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America. The carrier asked the U.S. government in 2007 for permission to fly from Charlotte to Bogota, Colombia, but officials awarded flights to other airlines.
US Airways' international expansion comes as major airlines have seen softer demand for flights in recent months. After cutting domestic service last fall and this year, some carriers now are looking at reducing service to other countries.
US Airways won't start selling tickets for Rio flights or set a date for the first flight until it gets final approval from federal officials, airline spokeswoman Michelle Mohr said. A check of travel Web sites today showed that round-trip fares for Charlotte-Rio flights in October – connecting at other airports – cost about $1,000.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/business/story/612204.html
No word if the cheesy '70s song will be part of the marketing, but – my-oh, me-oh – US Airways is flying to Rio.
Yes, de Janeiro.
Federal officials on Friday approved US Airways' nonstop Charlotte-Rio de Janeiro flight. Pending final approval this spring, the carrier will start daily flights in October, using a Boeing 767 that seats 204 passengers.
The route would be the first nonstop service from Charlotte to South America, although US Airways expects at least 90 percent of passengers to connect in Charlotte from other airports.
For Charlotte travelers, though, the Rio flight provides another option for vacationers who have seen Europe become more expensive because of the dollar's exchange rate, said Nancy Cutter, president of Court Travel in uptown Charlotte.
“South America is very, very overlooked for a lot of people,” Cutter said. “It's been a great value for 15 years.”
Charlotte is US Airways largest hub, and the airline operates more than 80 percent of flights at the airport. US Airways applied for the Rio flight in January, and the U.S. Department of Transportation officials on Friday also approved a Houston-Rio route by Continental Airlines.
Other nonstop international flights in Charlotte include US Airways to Frankfurt, London and – starting April 21 – Paris, and Lufthansa to Munich. US Airways also flies to nearly two dozen destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America. The carrier asked the U.S. government in 2007 for permission to fly from Charlotte to Bogota, Colombia, but officials awarded flights to other airlines.
US Airways' international expansion comes as major airlines have seen softer demand for flights in recent months. After cutting domestic service last fall and this year, some carriers now are looking at reducing service to other countries.
US Airways won't start selling tickets for Rio flights or set a date for the first flight until it gets final approval from federal officials, airline spokeswoman Michelle Mohr said. A check of travel Web sites today showed that round-trip fares for Charlotte-Rio flights in October – connecting at other airports – cost about $1,000.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/business/story/612204.html
Sunday, March 8, 2009
The South of Brazil - Rio Grande do Sul
More North Americans and Europeans visit the South of Brazil than is often imagined. Currently the vast majority are heading for the spectacular waterfalls at Foz do Iguacu and sadly miss the opportunity to take the time to explore the southernmost region of Brazil.
Sub-tropical, both the landscape and the climatic conditions in the south are markedly different to the rest of tropical Brazil. For starters, the south has four distinct seasons including a winter when between July and August, the temperatures dip noticeably.
The southern states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Parana are full of contrasts and surprises. It is the region responsible for Brazil’s fine wines and most of the country’s outstanding beef. It is the region where European influences mix with those of the “gauchos” and the rest of Brazil. It is the region where in the 17th century the Jesuits built their missions alongside the settlements of the Guarani Indians.
The south is home to Curtiba, a town considered to be near perfect by urban planners; to Blumenau, with its distinct Bavarian architecture and Germanic influences, including its own Oktoberfest; to Florianopolis and its outstanding beaches; to Porto Alegre, the largest and best developed city of the southern states and the gateway to the mountain resorts of Gramado and Canela and the Brazilian wine country.
Attractions in the south are equally varied and rewarding and range from the spectacular falls at Foz do Iguacu to the equally breathtaking Itaimbezinho Canyon, the largest in Latin America, from the picturesque railway journey between Curitiba and Paranagua to whale watching off the coast of Santa Catarina; from the mystical rock formations at Vila Velha to the historic missions in Sao Miguel, and from the sought after teaches of Santa Catarina to the majestic highlands.
There is the “Green Coast” of the south, the colonial charms of Parati situated in a setting so beautiful and with colonial architecture so well preserved that it has been referred to as the “baroque pearl of the tropics” in Brazil.
http://www.excitingbrazil.com/riograndedosul.html
Sub-tropical, both the landscape and the climatic conditions in the south are markedly different to the rest of tropical Brazil. For starters, the south has four distinct seasons including a winter when between July and August, the temperatures dip noticeably.
The southern states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Parana are full of contrasts and surprises. It is the region responsible for Brazil’s fine wines and most of the country’s outstanding beef. It is the region where European influences mix with those of the “gauchos” and the rest of Brazil. It is the region where in the 17th century the Jesuits built their missions alongside the settlements of the Guarani Indians.
The south is home to Curtiba, a town considered to be near perfect by urban planners; to Blumenau, with its distinct Bavarian architecture and Germanic influences, including its own Oktoberfest; to Florianopolis and its outstanding beaches; to Porto Alegre, the largest and best developed city of the southern states and the gateway to the mountain resorts of Gramado and Canela and the Brazilian wine country.
Attractions in the south are equally varied and rewarding and range from the spectacular falls at Foz do Iguacu to the equally breathtaking Itaimbezinho Canyon, the largest in Latin America, from the picturesque railway journey between Curitiba and Paranagua to whale watching off the coast of Santa Catarina; from the mystical rock formations at Vila Velha to the historic missions in Sao Miguel, and from the sought after teaches of Santa Catarina to the majestic highlands.
There is the “Green Coast” of the south, the colonial charms of Parati situated in a setting so beautiful and with colonial architecture so well preserved that it has been referred to as the “baroque pearl of the tropics” in Brazil.
http://www.excitingbrazil.com/riograndedosul.html
Black and white and so colorful
About three years ago, Brazilian dance troupe Grupo Corpo stunned a Mondavi Center audience with its sensual, provocative dance "Onqotô."
The theme of the dance was "loneliness, brought on by metaphysical questions like 'Who am I?' or 'Where am I?' " explains choreographer Rodrigo Pederneiras, one of six siblings who founded the company in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in 1975.
This Friday, Pederneiras' company returns to the Mondavi Center with another dance that is sure to thrill, delight – and challenge.
Pederneiras describes the work, titled "Breu," as "a poetic translation of the violent, barbarous times we live in."
"Breu" debuted at the troupe's home theater, the 1,700-seat Palácio das Artes in Belo Horizonte, in 2007 and was performed on the East Coast of the United States and in Canada last year.
Joel Lobenthal of the New York Sun described its New York premiere as "a dazzling display of punishing virtuosity" and John Rockwell of the New York Times called "Breu" "a brilliant physical display."
Belo Horizonte, a city of 3 million roughly 300 miles north of Rio De Janeiro and the South Atlantic Ocean, has embraced Grupo Corpo. Indeed, the troupe is the most successful dance company in Brazil – and well-regarded internationally.
Pederneiras has choreographed for the Municipal Ballet Theater of Rio de Janeiro, the City Ballet of Sao Paulo, Les Ballets Jazz Montreal, the Deutch Opera Berlin and the Opera du Rhin in France.
Mixing genres that show the varied influences of Brazilian culture, Pederneiras creates dances that, though grounded in ballet techniques, are basically modern dance, performed barefoot or in regular shoes, and with allusions to such popular dance as Brazilian street dance, ballroom and African dance.
Jeremy Ganter, associate executive director and director of programming at the Mondavi Center, was responsible for bringing the troupe here in 2006 – and in booking its return as quickly as schedules would allow.
"To me, they are the unsung heroes of modern dance," he said. "... They are in the same league as Alvin Ailey in terms of being a group we want to continue a relationship with and bring back. The quality of their dancers is definitely comparable."
In an e-mail exchange, choreographer Pederneiras discussed the dance, his approach to creating and arranging dance and the "Brazilness" of what he does.
"Breu," he says, "is my most radical dance movement in 30 years as a choreographer. In order to express in movement the complex, piercing score by singer and composer Lenine, the dancers and I had to leave behind the sensuality, lyricism and joy that had characterized the group's work since 1992 and initiate new forms of movement."
Asked how that movement differs from his previous works, the choreographer responds: "The forms are harsher, more angular and more powerful than predecessors. The abrupt falls and the painfully slow upward movements of the dancers appear to condemn their bodies to the ground, where they move with the aid of the pelvis, wrists, elbows, knees, ankles and heels."
The accompanying music is "a stimulating babel of sound," Pederneiras says. The original score ranges from hard rock to traditional Brazilian genres. The scenery (by brother Paulo Pederneiras) features huge, cold plaques of shining black tiles.
"The costumes (by Freusa Zechmeister) feature black-and-white leotards that divide the body in half, front to back – the back being solid black so that under the lights, "for split seconds, they seem to become one with the scenery," the choreographer says.
(You can see a short excerpt from "Breu" by clicking on the video link on the Grupo Corpo entry at www.mondaviarts.org.)
Grupo Corpo dance, Pederneiras says, explores a private world, where dynamics and balance have more meaning than movement.
"Our body learned how to dance on the street, and my language is a modern one," he says, "using peculiar forms of Brazilian popular dances in order to create a rhythm vocabulary all my own."
Classical ballet techniques were the basis of his choreography, Pederneiras says, and daily classical training still is woven into his dancers' workout routines.
Pederneiras has largely chosen to use the work of Brazilian composers since 1992. (The only exceptions are Ernesto Lecuono ("the Cuban Gershwin") whose work accompanied the 2006 Mondavi program and Philip Glass whose music accompanies "Seven or Eight Pieces for a Ballet" on this year's program.)
Grupo Corpo tours with a troupe of about 30, and while the economy is affecting the arts in Brazil as it is in the United States, "We didn't change anything because of the economic crisis," he says. "This tour was planned a long time ago."
In Brazil, in addition to performing in Belo Horizonte, Grupo Corpo regularly performs to sold-out crowds at the 2,240-seat Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro and at the 1,130-seat Teatro Alfa in Sao Paulo.
The company had an invitation to perform at the Moscow Dance Festival this year, but the event was canceled because of lack of funding.
The troupe, instead, will "take this opportunity to tour more in Brazil, where we have a big demand," Pederneiras says. "It's a big country and usually we don't have enough time to tour (everywhere we'd like)."
http://www.sacbee.com/entertainment/v-print/story/1676490.html
The theme of the dance was "loneliness, brought on by metaphysical questions like 'Who am I?' or 'Where am I?' " explains choreographer Rodrigo Pederneiras, one of six siblings who founded the company in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in 1975.
This Friday, Pederneiras' company returns to the Mondavi Center with another dance that is sure to thrill, delight – and challenge.
Pederneiras describes the work, titled "Breu," as "a poetic translation of the violent, barbarous times we live in."
"Breu" debuted at the troupe's home theater, the 1,700-seat Palácio das Artes in Belo Horizonte, in 2007 and was performed on the East Coast of the United States and in Canada last year.
Joel Lobenthal of the New York Sun described its New York premiere as "a dazzling display of punishing virtuosity" and John Rockwell of the New York Times called "Breu" "a brilliant physical display."
Belo Horizonte, a city of 3 million roughly 300 miles north of Rio De Janeiro and the South Atlantic Ocean, has embraced Grupo Corpo. Indeed, the troupe is the most successful dance company in Brazil – and well-regarded internationally.
Pederneiras has choreographed for the Municipal Ballet Theater of Rio de Janeiro, the City Ballet of Sao Paulo, Les Ballets Jazz Montreal, the Deutch Opera Berlin and the Opera du Rhin in France.
Mixing genres that show the varied influences of Brazilian culture, Pederneiras creates dances that, though grounded in ballet techniques, are basically modern dance, performed barefoot or in regular shoes, and with allusions to such popular dance as Brazilian street dance, ballroom and African dance.
Jeremy Ganter, associate executive director and director of programming at the Mondavi Center, was responsible for bringing the troupe here in 2006 – and in booking its return as quickly as schedules would allow.
"To me, they are the unsung heroes of modern dance," he said. "... They are in the same league as Alvin Ailey in terms of being a group we want to continue a relationship with and bring back. The quality of their dancers is definitely comparable."
In an e-mail exchange, choreographer Pederneiras discussed the dance, his approach to creating and arranging dance and the "Brazilness" of what he does.
"Breu," he says, "is my most radical dance movement in 30 years as a choreographer. In order to express in movement the complex, piercing score by singer and composer Lenine, the dancers and I had to leave behind the sensuality, lyricism and joy that had characterized the group's work since 1992 and initiate new forms of movement."
Asked how that movement differs from his previous works, the choreographer responds: "The forms are harsher, more angular and more powerful than predecessors. The abrupt falls and the painfully slow upward movements of the dancers appear to condemn their bodies to the ground, where they move with the aid of the pelvis, wrists, elbows, knees, ankles and heels."
The accompanying music is "a stimulating babel of sound," Pederneiras says. The original score ranges from hard rock to traditional Brazilian genres. The scenery (by brother Paulo Pederneiras) features huge, cold plaques of shining black tiles.
"The costumes (by Freusa Zechmeister) feature black-and-white leotards that divide the body in half, front to back – the back being solid black so that under the lights, "for split seconds, they seem to become one with the scenery," the choreographer says.
(You can see a short excerpt from "Breu" by clicking on the video link on the Grupo Corpo entry at www.mondaviarts.org.)
Grupo Corpo dance, Pederneiras says, explores a private world, where dynamics and balance have more meaning than movement.
"Our body learned how to dance on the street, and my language is a modern one," he says, "using peculiar forms of Brazilian popular dances in order to create a rhythm vocabulary all my own."
Classical ballet techniques were the basis of his choreography, Pederneiras says, and daily classical training still is woven into his dancers' workout routines.
Pederneiras has largely chosen to use the work of Brazilian composers since 1992. (The only exceptions are Ernesto Lecuono ("the Cuban Gershwin") whose work accompanied the 2006 Mondavi program and Philip Glass whose music accompanies "Seven or Eight Pieces for a Ballet" on this year's program.)
Grupo Corpo tours with a troupe of about 30, and while the economy is affecting the arts in Brazil as it is in the United States, "We didn't change anything because of the economic crisis," he says. "This tour was planned a long time ago."
In Brazil, in addition to performing in Belo Horizonte, Grupo Corpo regularly performs to sold-out crowds at the 2,240-seat Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro and at the 1,130-seat Teatro Alfa in Sao Paulo.
The company had an invitation to perform at the Moscow Dance Festival this year, but the event was canceled because of lack of funding.
The troupe, instead, will "take this opportunity to tour more in Brazil, where we have a big demand," Pederneiras says. "It's a big country and usually we don't have enough time to tour (everywhere we'd like)."
http://www.sacbee.com/entertainment/v-print/story/1676490.html
Friday, February 27, 2009
Salgueiro crowned Rio Carnival champs
Samba school Salgueiro was crowned champion of Rio's fiercely competitive Carnival parades on Wednesday, knocking off a powerhouse rival and overcoming a shooting that left three dead outside its headquarters just months ago.
Salgueiro's parade theme centered on the history of the drum and its importance to music in various cultures. An army of 4,100 marched alongside ornate floats featuring prehistoric beasts ridden by cavemen.
The school scored 399 points out of a possible 400 to win its ninth title and first since 1993. In second place with 398 points was Beija-Flor, which had won five of the previous six years and edged out Salgueiro in 2008.
"It's a huge win. Salgueiro really needed this victory," said a crying school president Regina Celia Duran. "Salgueiro is a family, and we are now all very happy."
Brazilians spent hours glued to their televisions, screaming in joy and groaning with disappointment, as judges announced scores for the schools' floats, costumes and how well they moved through the half-mile Sambadrome stadium.
Thousands jammed each school's headquarters, most of which are housed in Rio's hardscrabble outskirts. At Salgueiro in the Tijuca neighborhood, fans decked out in the school's red and white colors hugged, jumped up and down and cried in disbelief as their win became clear.
Schools spend upward of $2.5 million to create lavish 80-minute parades. A win brings a trophy, possible sponsorships and bragging rights — but no cash.
Authorities were on the alert for any violence, after three people were injured in a shooting last year during celebrations in front of Beija-Flor's headquarters.
Violence has in the past hit samba schools, whose funding is often suspected of being tied to illegal lotteries.
In December, a gunfight outside Salgueiro ended with two security guards and a bystander dead. No suspects were caught, and the motive for the attack is unknown. During Carnival 2007, a vice president of the school was shot dead outside headquarters.
Last week, more than 40 young tourists were robbed by armed men who invaded two hostels. There were scattered reports of at least 15 other foreigners being mugged.
Rio's Carnival officially ended Wednesday, but several large parties are still scheduled through the weekend. The top six finishing samba schools get to march again on Saturday in a champions' parade.
Officials had expected nearly 720,000 tourists to flock to the city's Carnival and pump $521 million into the local economy.
The top six finishing samba schools get to march again on Saturday in a champions' parade.
In Brazil's business capital of Sao Paulo, which holds a less celebrated parade, the Mocidade Alegre school was announced as the winner on Tuesday.
Military police used pepper spray to break up a rambunctious party outside the school's headquarters in northern Sao Paulo. Three people were hurt, none seriously.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ircGw24KLMeC_o2boCr0e961aOFgD96ISB580
Salgueiro's parade theme centered on the history of the drum and its importance to music in various cultures. An army of 4,100 marched alongside ornate floats featuring prehistoric beasts ridden by cavemen.
The school scored 399 points out of a possible 400 to win its ninth title and first since 1993. In second place with 398 points was Beija-Flor, which had won five of the previous six years and edged out Salgueiro in 2008.
"It's a huge win. Salgueiro really needed this victory," said a crying school president Regina Celia Duran. "Salgueiro is a family, and we are now all very happy."
Brazilians spent hours glued to their televisions, screaming in joy and groaning with disappointment, as judges announced scores for the schools' floats, costumes and how well they moved through the half-mile Sambadrome stadium.
Thousands jammed each school's headquarters, most of which are housed in Rio's hardscrabble outskirts. At Salgueiro in the Tijuca neighborhood, fans decked out in the school's red and white colors hugged, jumped up and down and cried in disbelief as their win became clear.
Schools spend upward of $2.5 million to create lavish 80-minute parades. A win brings a trophy, possible sponsorships and bragging rights — but no cash.
Authorities were on the alert for any violence, after three people were injured in a shooting last year during celebrations in front of Beija-Flor's headquarters.
Violence has in the past hit samba schools, whose funding is often suspected of being tied to illegal lotteries.
In December, a gunfight outside Salgueiro ended with two security guards and a bystander dead. No suspects were caught, and the motive for the attack is unknown. During Carnival 2007, a vice president of the school was shot dead outside headquarters.
Last week, more than 40 young tourists were robbed by armed men who invaded two hostels. There were scattered reports of at least 15 other foreigners being mugged.
Rio's Carnival officially ended Wednesday, but several large parties are still scheduled through the weekend. The top six finishing samba schools get to march again on Saturday in a champions' parade.
Officials had expected nearly 720,000 tourists to flock to the city's Carnival and pump $521 million into the local economy.
The top six finishing samba schools get to march again on Saturday in a champions' parade.
In Brazil's business capital of Sao Paulo, which holds a less celebrated parade, the Mocidade Alegre school was announced as the winner on Tuesday.
Military police used pepper spray to break up a rambunctious party outside the school's headquarters in northern Sao Paulo. Three people were hurt, none seriously.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ircGw24KLMeC_o2boCr0e961aOFgD96ISB580
Monday, February 23, 2009
Brazil's Carnival Kicks Off in Rio de Janeiro
King Momo, the character considered the owner of Carnival, received Friday the key to Rio de Janeiro from Mayor Eduardo Paes at a ceremony where he officially declared the pre-Lenten festival open.
The figure of King Momo, who has reigned since the year 1933, was on this occasion represented by bank employee Milton Junior, 29, who took the honor after almost 10 years in which practically without exception the same person played the monarch.
At the ceremony held at the Copacabana fort, Milton was accompanied by Carnival queen Jessica Maia, who was escorted by princesses Shayene Cesario Vieira and Charlene Valnice da Costa.
Together they awaited the arrival of the mayor as samba rhythms played and other traditional festival characters made an appearance, including representatives of the samba schools' old guard.
King Momo was welcomed with honors, amid the music of trumpets and drums and a shower of flower petals, to be given a replica of the key made be relatives of Candonga, an artisan of yesteryear renowned for his contribution to the festival.
Paes, attending his first Carnival as mayor, said during his speech that this is "the happiest day of my 50 days in the government."
The mayor also joked about ceding power to Momo and said that if during the next four days there should be any traffic problems in the city, "look for King Momo and not for Eduardo Paes."
Once the Carnival king was handed the key and the festival was officially open, the delegation wrapped up the ceremony by taking a ride on the gigantic ferris wheel installed in the fort to promote Rio de Janeiro's candidacy for the 2016 Olympic Games, as the crowd gathered there looked on.
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=328139&CategoryId=13003
The figure of King Momo, who has reigned since the year 1933, was on this occasion represented by bank employee Milton Junior, 29, who took the honor after almost 10 years in which practically without exception the same person played the monarch.
At the ceremony held at the Copacabana fort, Milton was accompanied by Carnival queen Jessica Maia, who was escorted by princesses Shayene Cesario Vieira and Charlene Valnice da Costa.
Together they awaited the arrival of the mayor as samba rhythms played and other traditional festival characters made an appearance, including representatives of the samba schools' old guard.
King Momo was welcomed with honors, amid the music of trumpets and drums and a shower of flower petals, to be given a replica of the key made be relatives of Candonga, an artisan of yesteryear renowned for his contribution to the festival.
Paes, attending his first Carnival as mayor, said during his speech that this is "the happiest day of my 50 days in the government."
The mayor also joked about ceding power to Momo and said that if during the next four days there should be any traffic problems in the city, "look for King Momo and not for Eduardo Paes."
Once the Carnival king was handed the key and the festival was officially open, the delegation wrapped up the ceremony by taking a ride on the gigantic ferris wheel installed in the fort to promote Rio de Janeiro's candidacy for the 2016 Olympic Games, as the crowd gathered there looked on.
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=328139&CategoryId=13003
Brazil's Carnival Kicks Off in Rio de Janeiro
King Momo, the character considered the owner of Carnival, received Friday the key to Rio de Janeiro from Mayor Eduardo Paes at a ceremony where he officially declared the pre-Lenten festival open.
The figure of King Momo, who has reigned since the year 1933, was on this occasion represented by bank employee Milton Junior, 29, who took the honor after almost 10 years in which practically without exception the same person played the monarch.
At the ceremony held at the Copacabana fort, Milton was accompanied by Carnival queen Jessica Maia, who was escorted by princesses Shayene Cesario Vieira and Charlene Valnice da Costa.
Together they awaited the arrival of the mayor as samba rhythms played and other traditional festival characters made an appearance, including representatives of the samba schools' old guard.
King Momo was welcomed with honors, amid the music of trumpets and drums and a shower of flower petals, to be given a replica of the key made be relatives of Candonga, an artisan of yesteryear renowned for his contribution to the festival.
Paes, attending his first Carnival as mayor, said during his speech that this is "the happiest day of my 50 days in the government."
The mayor also joked about ceding power to Momo and said that if during the next four days there should be any traffic problems in the city, "look for King Momo and not for Eduardo Paes."
Once the Carnival king was handed the key and the festival was officially open, the delegation wrapped up the ceremony by taking a ride on the gigantic ferris wheel installed in the fort to promote Rio de Janeiro's candidacy for the 2016 Olympic Games, as the crowd gathered there looked on.
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=328139&CategoryId=13003
The figure of King Momo, who has reigned since the year 1933, was on this occasion represented by bank employee Milton Junior, 29, who took the honor after almost 10 years in which practically without exception the same person played the monarch.
At the ceremony held at the Copacabana fort, Milton was accompanied by Carnival queen Jessica Maia, who was escorted by princesses Shayene Cesario Vieira and Charlene Valnice da Costa.
Together they awaited the arrival of the mayor as samba rhythms played and other traditional festival characters made an appearance, including representatives of the samba schools' old guard.
King Momo was welcomed with honors, amid the music of trumpets and drums and a shower of flower petals, to be given a replica of the key made be relatives of Candonga, an artisan of yesteryear renowned for his contribution to the festival.
Paes, attending his first Carnival as mayor, said during his speech that this is "the happiest day of my 50 days in the government."
The mayor also joked about ceding power to Momo and said that if during the next four days there should be any traffic problems in the city, "look for King Momo and not for Eduardo Paes."
Once the Carnival king was handed the key and the festival was officially open, the delegation wrapped up the ceremony by taking a ride on the gigantic ferris wheel installed in the fort to promote Rio de Janeiro's candidacy for the 2016 Olympic Games, as the crowd gathered there looked on.
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=328139&CategoryId=13003
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Carnival revelers promise grand party with less $
Samba schools competing for local glory vowed Sunday to throw a magnificent Carnival party — complete with colorful floats, masked and face-painted dancers, and intoxicating musical rhythms — despite having less money to invest amid the global financial crisis.
Two big sources of revenue for the Carnival parades have fallen this year: Sponsorships from corporations and foreign tourists who pay for the privilege of marching with the participants.
Countless news media reports have reported on samba schools which, lacking the money for raw materials, have scaled back their productions, incorporating plastic bottle and other recyclables into their floats.
But school members are putting on a brave face, replacing cash with creativity and enthusiasm.
"They say this is the year of the Carnival in crisis, but the party that lives inside us all has no price," said Miqueas Cherry, 30, a seamstress who helped create costumes for the Grande Rio samba school.
The $2.5 million samba-school parades are the centerpiece of the world's largest Carnival bash — and schools compete fiercely to dominate the show.
The parades, in which Brazilian celebrities and slum dwellers dance alongside each other, take place over two nights and pit the top 12 samba schools against each other. The winning school earns bragging rights and massive attention from the local news media.
Samba school Beija-Flor, last year's champion and the winner of five titles in the past six years, is again the favorite. The school will parade just before dawn Monday in front of 80,000 spectators at the Sambadrome stadium.
Hundreds of informal, around-the-clock street parties — celebrations that many describe as the soul of Brazil's Carnival — hummed along outside the stadium Sunday, with the largest gathering attracting more than a half-million people.
Samba schools also staged early parades Sunday in Sao Paulo, a business-oriented city that some Brazilians say is too straight-laced to throw a proper party.
But Swiss tourist Christoph Fischer, 42, seemed to appreciate the milder version of events, noting that in contrast to the anything-goes chaos of Rio's pre-Lent bash, "Carnival in Sao Paulo is very organized."
Fernando Angelo Reis, 35, a nurse from Sao Paulo, acknowledged that the city's celebrations lacked the exuberance of those in Rio, or even those in the cities of Salvador and Recife.
But "even though Carnival might be a little better in Rio, I wouldn't trade it for Carnival in Sao Paulo because of security issues," Reis said.
In Rio last week, armed men with guns and grenades invaded youth hostels, tying up scores of foreign tourists and then robbing them.
Police have since reinforced patrols in tourist areas.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h1MORJNEkoFFW212KtDumevq_cXwD96GOK681
Two big sources of revenue for the Carnival parades have fallen this year: Sponsorships from corporations and foreign tourists who pay for the privilege of marching with the participants.
Countless news media reports have reported on samba schools which, lacking the money for raw materials, have scaled back their productions, incorporating plastic bottle and other recyclables into their floats.
But school members are putting on a brave face, replacing cash with creativity and enthusiasm.
"They say this is the year of the Carnival in crisis, but the party that lives inside us all has no price," said Miqueas Cherry, 30, a seamstress who helped create costumes for the Grande Rio samba school.
The $2.5 million samba-school parades are the centerpiece of the world's largest Carnival bash — and schools compete fiercely to dominate the show.
The parades, in which Brazilian celebrities and slum dwellers dance alongside each other, take place over two nights and pit the top 12 samba schools against each other. The winning school earns bragging rights and massive attention from the local news media.
Samba school Beija-Flor, last year's champion and the winner of five titles in the past six years, is again the favorite. The school will parade just before dawn Monday in front of 80,000 spectators at the Sambadrome stadium.
Hundreds of informal, around-the-clock street parties — celebrations that many describe as the soul of Brazil's Carnival — hummed along outside the stadium Sunday, with the largest gathering attracting more than a half-million people.
Samba schools also staged early parades Sunday in Sao Paulo, a business-oriented city that some Brazilians say is too straight-laced to throw a proper party.
But Swiss tourist Christoph Fischer, 42, seemed to appreciate the milder version of events, noting that in contrast to the anything-goes chaos of Rio's pre-Lent bash, "Carnival in Sao Paulo is very organized."
Fernando Angelo Reis, 35, a nurse from Sao Paulo, acknowledged that the city's celebrations lacked the exuberance of those in Rio, or even those in the cities of Salvador and Recife.
But "even though Carnival might be a little better in Rio, I wouldn't trade it for Carnival in Sao Paulo because of security issues," Reis said.
In Rio last week, armed men with guns and grenades invaded youth hostels, tying up scores of foreign tourists and then robbing them.
Police have since reinforced patrols in tourist areas.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h1MORJNEkoFFW212KtDumevq_cXwD96GOK681
Carnival queen sambas with Obama's face on thigh
A Brazilian carnival queen famous for her skimpy attire is grabbing headlines again for painting President Barack Obama's face on her body.
Viviane Castro paraded nearly nude early Saturday with the U.S. leader's visage on her right thigh. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's face was on her left thigh.
Castro's stomach read "for sale" — a message she said represented the sale of Brazil's Amazon to the U.S. Many here fear the U.S. wants to control the resource-rich region.
Castro appeared in last year's Rio Carnival parade wearing nothing but a strategically placed piece of tape 1 1/2-inches (4-centimeters) long , violating a little-enforced nudity rule and drawing a penalty for her samba group.
She wore the same patch this year.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jMESWMrTm_1On-T3k0X5SyDQQ-GAD96G3NQG0
Viviane Castro paraded nearly nude early Saturday with the U.S. leader's visage on her right thigh. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's face was on her left thigh.
Castro's stomach read "for sale" — a message she said represented the sale of Brazil's Amazon to the U.S. Many here fear the U.S. wants to control the resource-rich region.
Castro appeared in last year's Rio Carnival parade wearing nothing but a strategically placed piece of tape 1 1/2-inches (4-centimeters) long , violating a little-enforced nudity rule and drawing a penalty for her samba group.
She wore the same patch this year.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jMESWMrTm_1On-T3k0X5SyDQQ-GAD96G3NQG0
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