Saturday, August 27, 2011
Rio 2016 unveils Olympic Park masterplan
The Organising Committee for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games has unveiled the masterplan for the city’s Olympic Park, following an international competition to find the best design. The winning project was chosen ahead of 60 entries from companies in 18 countries and outlines both the park’s Games-time usage and the long-term legacy it will leave for Rio.
It shows how the different areas of the Olympic Park will be used, such as where the public spaces, squares and parks will be located, and also outlines the location of the permanent and temporary venues and the future real estate developments to be built at the site.
In 2016, the Olympic Park will be at the heart of the Games, hosting the competitions for 10 Olympic sports (basketball, judo, taekwondo, wrestling, handball, hockey, tennis, cycling, aquatics and gymnastics). The Main Press Centre (MPC) and the International Broadcasting Centre (IBC) will also be built on the site.
The new permanent sports venues in the Olympic Park will be built around the existing facilities, such as the Maria Lenk Aquatic Centre, the Olympic Velodrome and the Olympic Arena. After the Games, this group of venues will form South America’s first Olympic Training Centre, helping to discover and develop sporting talent, while at least 60 per cent of the Olympic Park will be freed up for future developments.
“This is yet another step taken towards building the Rio 2016 Games legacy,” said Carlos Arthur Nuzman, President of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee. “The Olympic Park legacy for Brazilian sports will be a training centre modelled after the successful experiences of the world’s greatest sporting powers.”
Read more:
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Brazil: An intriguing battle of No 10s
As Brazil brace up to host the 2014 WC, fans’ expectations reach a feverish pitch
Sooner than we know it, and it seems sooner than Brazil needs to prepare for it, the most successful soccer country on Earth will hold the 2014 World Cup.
FIFA and the Brazilian authorities are at odds about the pace of building not just stadiums, but the airports, roads and hotels needed for such a gargantuan event.
Those spats are very familiar. Remember the doubts about Athens being ready on time for the 2004 Olympic Games? Remember what was said about South Africa being fit to stage the 2010 World Cup? They got there, though both are still counting the cost.
Right now, however, Brazil’s burden is greater. It expects not just to play host to the World Cup, but to win it. Its emerging economy might cope with the bills, but its players will not be allowed to forget that soccer is not simply Brazil’s game, it is The Beautiful Game.
They can either blame Pele for that or be inspired by the way he and his generation played it. Pele could never have been the great performer he was without men like Tostao and Gerson to read his intent and create his openings; those two remain respected, and demanding, commentators on the game in Brazil.
They played, 40 years ago, when a team could field more than one “playmaker.” Yet it is the No. 10 jersey that Pele wore that is so synonymous with Brazilian expectations. There are three tournaments that matter going on around the world at this moment: The Copa America in Argentina, the Women’s World Cup in Germany, and the World Under-17 event in Mexico.
So there are three No. 10s – Paulo Henrique Ganso on the senior Brazil men’s side, the incomparable Marta in women’s soccer, and a boy called Adryan Oliveira Tavares in the juniors.
Brazilian media expects great things from each of them, and it puts a heavy boot into any wearer of that jersey who falls below the levels set for them. It is often said that there are 203 million soccer experts in Brazil, all of them either supporters or critics, and all supposedly better judges at picking the national squads – the Selecao – than the incumbents.
When Brazil’s senior men’s team was held to a scoreless draw by Venezuela on Sunday, the experts damned the coach, Mano Menezes, for choosing the lineup he did, damned the field in La Plata for being below par for beautiful play, and damned the players’ lack of cohesion and finishing ability.
Menezes did not, could not, hide his own frustrations. He is charged with returning the Selecao to its proper, creative, Brazilian style. His predecessor, Dunga, had tried to make Brazil hard to beat by acknowledging that most decent Latin Americans these days are hired in their youth by European clubs, and thus conditioned to play a more pragmatic style.
It doesn’t work, and never has with Brazil. Joao Saldanha, the builder of the 1970 Brazil team, once complained bitterly that his successors studied in Europe and “imprisoned” players who should be free spirits into systems that repressed them. Menezes tries to reverse the trend. He selects younger players.
He trusts Neymar, the teenager of Santos, to express his talents. He tells Pato, the striker of AC Milan, that he is good enough to be the new Ronaldo. And Menezes builds the team around Ganso, another player developed at Santos, the club of Pele. Ganso is 21, by which time Pele was winning his second World Cup. But different players, especially Latins and especially the pivotal playmakers, grow into their skills at different ages.
Ganso has come through major knee surgery, and at 1.84 meters, or a little over 6 feet, he is taller than expressive, twisting, turning and inventive midfielders tend to be. He has an exquisite left foot and vision to match, but in La Plata on Sunday, he was the butt of the critics. He shouldered too much blame for Brazil running around like a bunch of individuals. And some who have not seen him shape matches for Santos do not see him as the No. 10 of the new Brazil.
Menezes does. With Kaka resting after severe injuries of his own, the next in line to be the playmaker is a wonderfully gifted Sao Paulo youngster – the 18-year-old Lucas Rodrigues Moura.
They keep on coming. Adryan is doing delightful things for the Under-17 side playing in Mexico at the moment. Then there is Marta. She might be the best, the most complete No. 10 Brazil currently possesses. Five times the world women’s player at the age of 25, her speed of movement and of thought this week were too much for Norway.
The Scandinavians are good athletes, but Norway’s defenders were bamboozled by Marta. Two goals from the No. 10, each struck with eye-of-the-needle precision, and a third created by her, confirmed that one player might not make a team, but can transcend it.
Marta’s message to all comers is that Brazilians think this is their time. Brazil has been decades behind the women’s movement in soccer, which is why Marta, the female Pele, has had to play abroad to win recognition. Her purpose now is to bring home a World Cup, and throw down the gauntlet on the men.
Read more:
Sooner than we know it, and it seems sooner than Brazil needs to prepare for it, the most successful soccer country on Earth will hold the 2014 World Cup.
FIFA and the Brazilian authorities are at odds about the pace of building not just stadiums, but the airports, roads and hotels needed for such a gargantuan event.
Those spats are very familiar. Remember the doubts about Athens being ready on time for the 2004 Olympic Games? Remember what was said about South Africa being fit to stage the 2010 World Cup? They got there, though both are still counting the cost.
Right now, however, Brazil’s burden is greater. It expects not just to play host to the World Cup, but to win it. Its emerging economy might cope with the bills, but its players will not be allowed to forget that soccer is not simply Brazil’s game, it is The Beautiful Game.
They can either blame Pele for that or be inspired by the way he and his generation played it. Pele could never have been the great performer he was without men like Tostao and Gerson to read his intent and create his openings; those two remain respected, and demanding, commentators on the game in Brazil.
They played, 40 years ago, when a team could field more than one “playmaker.” Yet it is the No. 10 jersey that Pele wore that is so synonymous with Brazilian expectations. There are three tournaments that matter going on around the world at this moment: The Copa America in Argentina, the Women’s World Cup in Germany, and the World Under-17 event in Mexico.
So there are three No. 10s – Paulo Henrique Ganso on the senior Brazil men’s side, the incomparable Marta in women’s soccer, and a boy called Adryan Oliveira Tavares in the juniors.
Brazilian media expects great things from each of them, and it puts a heavy boot into any wearer of that jersey who falls below the levels set for them. It is often said that there are 203 million soccer experts in Brazil, all of them either supporters or critics, and all supposedly better judges at picking the national squads – the Selecao – than the incumbents.
When Brazil’s senior men’s team was held to a scoreless draw by Venezuela on Sunday, the experts damned the coach, Mano Menezes, for choosing the lineup he did, damned the field in La Plata for being below par for beautiful play, and damned the players’ lack of cohesion and finishing ability.
Menezes did not, could not, hide his own frustrations. He is charged with returning the Selecao to its proper, creative, Brazilian style. His predecessor, Dunga, had tried to make Brazil hard to beat by acknowledging that most decent Latin Americans these days are hired in their youth by European clubs, and thus conditioned to play a more pragmatic style.
It doesn’t work, and never has with Brazil. Joao Saldanha, the builder of the 1970 Brazil team, once complained bitterly that his successors studied in Europe and “imprisoned” players who should be free spirits into systems that repressed them. Menezes tries to reverse the trend. He selects younger players.
He trusts Neymar, the teenager of Santos, to express his talents. He tells Pato, the striker of AC Milan, that he is good enough to be the new Ronaldo. And Menezes builds the team around Ganso, another player developed at Santos, the club of Pele. Ganso is 21, by which time Pele was winning his second World Cup. But different players, especially Latins and especially the pivotal playmakers, grow into their skills at different ages.
Ganso has come through major knee surgery, and at 1.84 meters, or a little over 6 feet, he is taller than expressive, twisting, turning and inventive midfielders tend to be. He has an exquisite left foot and vision to match, but in La Plata on Sunday, he was the butt of the critics. He shouldered too much blame for Brazil running around like a bunch of individuals. And some who have not seen him shape matches for Santos do not see him as the No. 10 of the new Brazil.
Menezes does. With Kaka resting after severe injuries of his own, the next in line to be the playmaker is a wonderfully gifted Sao Paulo youngster – the 18-year-old Lucas Rodrigues Moura.
They keep on coming. Adryan is doing delightful things for the Under-17 side playing in Mexico at the moment. Then there is Marta. She might be the best, the most complete No. 10 Brazil currently possesses. Five times the world women’s player at the age of 25, her speed of movement and of thought this week were too much for Norway.
The Scandinavians are good athletes, but Norway’s defenders were bamboozled by Marta. Two goals from the No. 10, each struck with eye-of-the-needle precision, and a third created by her, confirmed that one player might not make a team, but can transcend it.
Marta’s message to all comers is that Brazilians think this is their time. Brazil has been decades behind the women’s movement in soccer, which is why Marta, the female Pele, has had to play abroad to win recognition. Her purpose now is to bring home a World Cup, and throw down the gauntlet on the men.
Read more:
Friday, July 8, 2011
Rio unveils cable car in notorious favela
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff inaugurated Thursday the first cable car of the notoriously crime-ridden Complexo do Alemao, as Rio prepares to revamp the slums ahead of world sport meets.
Since 2008, Brazil's second-largest city has been racing against the clock to improve security and infrastructure in its shantytowns before hosting the 2014 World Cup and the Olympic Games in 2016.
Far from the Bondinho tramway that carries tourists to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain, the new rail car forms the backbone of a project to overhaul transport in the impoverished neighborhoods that are elevated and cut off from one another.
Drug traffickers wield control over several such favelas.
"The Alemao cable car symbolizes the fact that we are investing not only in our main streets and hydroelectric plants, but also in people to change their daily lives because with the station, people living here will enjoy public services they didn't have before," Rousseff said at the inauguration ceremony.
Each station will be equipped with a post office, bank and library.
"Before, people used to consider leaving the neighborhood because of drug trafficking and insecurity, but now that will change," said the president, adding she was proud of her role in the "pacification" of the Alemao favelas during a major November 2010 military operation.
The authorities hope the cable car, currently stretching across 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) and six stations, will become an alternative means of transportation for nearly 70 percent of the people living in the Alemao, home to 85,000 inhabitants.
Read More
Since 2008, Brazil's second-largest city has been racing against the clock to improve security and infrastructure in its shantytowns before hosting the 2014 World Cup and the Olympic Games in 2016.
Far from the Bondinho tramway that carries tourists to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain, the new rail car forms the backbone of a project to overhaul transport in the impoverished neighborhoods that are elevated and cut off from one another.
Drug traffickers wield control over several such favelas.
"The Alemao cable car symbolizes the fact that we are investing not only in our main streets and hydroelectric plants, but also in people to change their daily lives because with the station, people living here will enjoy public services they didn't have before," Rousseff said at the inauguration ceremony.
Each station will be equipped with a post office, bank and library.
"Before, people used to consider leaving the neighborhood because of drug trafficking and insecurity, but now that will change," said the president, adding she was proud of her role in the "pacification" of the Alemao favelas during a major November 2010 military operation.
The authorities hope the cable car, currently stretching across 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) and six stations, will become an alternative means of transportation for nearly 70 percent of the people living in the Alemao, home to 85,000 inhabitants.
Read More
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Rio Launches Pre World Cup Facelift
Rio Pre-World Cup Facelift
For Its Infamous Favelas
With an eye on the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, both to take place in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro plans to improve its image with an extreme makeover of its notorious hillside slums.
Already known as the Cidade Maravilhosa (Marvelous City,) Rio de Janeiro is getting ready to become more fabulous still. South America’s “sleeping giant,” Brazil has finally woken up and is quickly becoming an international power. And Rio, the country’s second largest city, is hoping to cut a profile worthy of that status by hiding its darkest sides: the favelas, its infamous hillside slums.
The housing department of the city has launched a program called Morar Carioca (Living Carioca Style) to reshape 215 of the city’s 600 favelas. In recent months, the police have struggled to pacify the slums. Now architecture will do its part to fix the many social issues that plague these troublesome areas, which together cover an area of about 12 million square meters. The Inter-American Development Bank has helped raise roughly 4 billion euros worth of funding for the project, and authorities have already selected 40 projects by some of Brazil’s best architecture firms to carry out the transformation.
The 2014 Football World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games have together played a large part in hastening the projects and spurring fundraising efforts. But more importantly, according to sociologists, the Brazilian society is finally feeling the need to address long lasting social injustices.
Read More:
For Its Infamous Favelas
With an eye on the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, both to take place in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro plans to improve its image with an extreme makeover of its notorious hillside slums.
Already known as the Cidade Maravilhosa (Marvelous City,) Rio de Janeiro is getting ready to become more fabulous still. South America’s “sleeping giant,” Brazil has finally woken up and is quickly becoming an international power. And Rio, the country’s second largest city, is hoping to cut a profile worthy of that status by hiding its darkest sides: the favelas, its infamous hillside slums.
The housing department of the city has launched a program called Morar Carioca (Living Carioca Style) to reshape 215 of the city’s 600 favelas. In recent months, the police have struggled to pacify the slums. Now architecture will do its part to fix the many social issues that plague these troublesome areas, which together cover an area of about 12 million square meters. The Inter-American Development Bank has helped raise roughly 4 billion euros worth of funding for the project, and authorities have already selected 40 projects by some of Brazil’s best architecture firms to carry out the transformation.
The 2014 Football World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games have together played a large part in hastening the projects and spurring fundraising efforts. But more importantly, according to sociologists, the Brazilian society is finally feeling the need to address long lasting social injustices.
Read More:
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Richest Man Brazil
Richest Men of the World
Eike Batista (No. 8)
Source: Mining, oil
Citizenship: Brazil
Brazil's richest man is gearing up to take over the world. Making a play for foreign investors, Batista announced this year the opening of an office in New York and his intention to list some of his companies on the London Stock Exchange.
Through his holding company, EBX, Batista controls businesses spanning mining, shipbuilding, energy, logistics, tourism and entertainment. After months of discussions, he was triumphant in February in taking control of Canadian gold outfit Ventana. Two-thirds of his fortune comes from OGX, the oil and gas exploration company he founded in 2007 and took public a year later. He says the company will start producing oil this year. In rare recent setback, his planned IPO for his shipbuilding business (OSX), meant to be the world's largest IPO in 2010, was a disappointment and has had a lukewarm reception in the Brazilian market.
The son of Brazil's revered former mining minister, who presided over mining giant Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, got his start in gold trading and mining. Onetime champion offshore powerboat racer; formerly married to Playboy cover girl. In media interviews he's been warning Carlos Slim Helú that he'll soon take his spot as the world's richest man, but he still has a ways to go.
Richest Man Brazil
Eike Batista (No. 8)
Source: Mining, oil
Citizenship: Brazil
Brazil's richest man is gearing up to take over the world. Making a play for foreign investors, Batista announced this year the opening of an office in New York and his intention to list some of his companies on the London Stock Exchange.
Through his holding company, EBX, Batista controls businesses spanning mining, shipbuilding, energy, logistics, tourism and entertainment. After months of discussions, he was triumphant in February in taking control of Canadian gold outfit Ventana. Two-thirds of his fortune comes from OGX, the oil and gas exploration company he founded in 2007 and took public a year later. He says the company will start producing oil this year. In rare recent setback, his planned IPO for his shipbuilding business (OSX), meant to be the world's largest IPO in 2010, was a disappointment and has had a lukewarm reception in the Brazilian market.
The son of Brazil's revered former mining minister, who presided over mining giant Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, got his start in gold trading and mining. Onetime champion offshore powerboat racer; formerly married to Playboy cover girl. In media interviews he's been warning Carlos Slim Helú that he'll soon take his spot as the world's richest man, but he still has a ways to go.
Richest Man Brazil
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Anti aging rainforest fruits
You may think that the wondrous plants of the Amazon rainforest remain hidden from modern science, but their medicinal and energizing properties have not gone completely unnoticed.
The rainforest’s original inhabitants, the indigenous Indians, have been using the raw ingredients found in nature to heal, energize and improve their health and well-being. It may even have prolonged life.
The Western world is largely unaware of these rainforest treasures and their scientific benefits. But you are on the threshold of finding out what such discoveries can mean to you.
It will give you an advantage over others that are eating high-fat, high-carb diets that lead to obesity and a shortened lifespan. The life-giving juices and teas of the Amazon rainforest will make clear what the indigenous people of the Amazon have always known.
Anti aging rainforest fruits - Scientific background
The common factor in all the fruits, juices and teas of the Amazon is their content of antioxidants. Antioxidants are nature’s way of defending against chemicals and pollutants that threaten healthy cells every minute of the day. It is true of all living things, plants, animals and human beings.
Your body produces some antioxidants/enzymes quite naturally, but some can only be obtained from healthy foods.
Anti aging rainforest fruits - Antioxidant Enzymes
Naturally occurring enzymes perform billions of cell-saving operations in your body without exhausting themselves. Although your body will produce incredible amounts of antioxidant enzymes over your lifetime, it can be very slow to create new ones if your body is under siege. If your body is exposed to more pollutants than your antioxidant enzymes can destroy, your cells may be in trouble.
Certain fruits and plant-based foods contain antioxidants that your body can use over and above the body’s own antioxidant enzymes. For that reason it makes sense to consume a variety of the antioxidant rich botanicals every day. It is your body’s best defense against premature aging.
In addition to the antioxidant plants that you already know, grapes, blueberries, and green tea, here you will learn about some amazing rainforest plants poised to take the antioxidant world by storm.
There are fruits and teas that will give you energy and longer life - the ones from the rainforest. It is strange that they are not already well known in the Western world - why isn’t this already common knowledge? People in South America have used these plants for centuries, but the knowledge has been passed down from generation to generation orally - rather than in writing. This is particularly true among the people of the Amazon basin. Westerners simply have not had the opportunity to hear the stories.
Researchers who have made it a point to learn about and listen to the traditional healers have had their research priorities laid out for them.
As more and more about the wondrous fruits and plants have become known, they have set about the task of analyzing their active components and examining them in ways that is credible to modern science.
In case after case it has been established that the oral stories of indigenous Indians are correct and that the fruits and teas indeed have properties that energize and help them lead a longer and healthier life.
Let’s focus on three: açai, cupuaçu, and yearba mate. They are not yet household names in the West, the Indians of South America have been using them for centuries. Once you learn about their real qualities you’ll want a chance to take advantage of their amazing properties too.Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Rio Olympics 2016 Logo
New Year’s Eve in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is always a big party, but this year it was even bigger than usual, with an estimated two million people showing up for celebrations around the Copacabana Beach.
The focus for this year’s celebrations was firmly on the Olympics, with the games scheduled to be held in the city in 2016. Celebrations included the unveiling of the official 2016 Olympic Games logo.
At 10pm, on large screens set up around the beach area, and amid a fanfare of music and fireworks the Olympics logo was revealed. The new emblem was designed by Rio agency Tatil and is based on four pillars that reflect both the spirit of Brazil and of the Olympic Games themselves - contagious energy; harmonious diversity; exuberant nature and Olympic spirit.
The new Olympics logo resembles three figures dancing hand-in-hand in yellow, green and blue, in which the famous form of Sugarloaf Mountain can also be seen. According to International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge
“The new Olympics logo really reflects the vision of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil for these games”. One thing is for certain, Rio de Janeiro is sure to be putting on one serious opening ceremony.
Original Story:
The focus for this year’s celebrations was firmly on the Olympics, with the games scheduled to be held in the city in 2016. Celebrations included the unveiling of the official 2016 Olympic Games logo.
At 10pm, on large screens set up around the beach area, and amid a fanfare of music and fireworks the Olympics logo was revealed. The new emblem was designed by Rio agency Tatil and is based on four pillars that reflect both the spirit of Brazil and of the Olympic Games themselves - contagious energy; harmonious diversity; exuberant nature and Olympic spirit.
The new Olympics logo resembles three figures dancing hand-in-hand in yellow, green and blue, in which the famous form of Sugarloaf Mountain can also be seen. According to International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge
“The new Olympics logo really reflects the vision of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil for these games”. One thing is for certain, Rio de Janeiro is sure to be putting on one serious opening ceremony.
Original Story:
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Logo of Rio Summer Olympics Games 2016
Three people holding Each others Hands…
The logo of any international sporting event has to have such elements which reflect the colors of the particular event and the host city.
The final logo of Rio Summer Olympics 2016 has embedded within itself both these colors quite beautifully. Just a little deep and close look at the logo can make you understand the embedded theme and here we present to you this closer look in descriptive form.
* Three People: Three people colored as Green, Blue and Orange in the logo present a stylized version of the circles of Olympic Games Logo which represent the people of different continents participating in the Olympic Games.
* Holding Hands in Hands: This symbolizes unity among different nations of the world brought through sports which is one of the slogans of Olympic Games.
* Dancing Mode: All the three people are shown to be dancing which portrays the fun and enthusiasm of Carioca (Rio de Janeiro’s citizens) and Brazilians for sports. It also aims at reflecting the excitement of the Rio’s citizens for the transformation that SUMMER OLYMPICS GAMES 2016 are going to bring to Rio de Janeiro and in turn to Brazil.
* Shape of the Illustration: The shape formed by the internal space between the three dancing people in the illustration is made to resemble the SUGARLOAF MOUNTAIN in Rio de Janeiro. This landmark has been taken as a symbol for the city. The vertical shape between green and orange and the horizontal shape between green, orange and blue, both make up the shape of the Sugarloaf Mountain.
* Four Pillars of the Logo: It has been announced that the logo design is based on four pillars namely contagious energy, Harmonious Diversity, Exuberant nature and Olympic spirit.
The final logo of the Summer Olympics games 2016 is in complete affirmation with the culture and colors of Rio de Janeiro, the host city and the spirit of Olympics Games.
Read original here:
The logo of any international sporting event has to have such elements which reflect the colors of the particular event and the host city.
 |
The final logo of Rio Summer Olympics 2016 has embedded within itself both these colors quite beautifully. Just a little deep and close look at the logo can make you understand the embedded theme and here we present to you this closer look in descriptive form.
* Three People: Three people colored as Green, Blue and Orange in the logo present a stylized version of the circles of Olympic Games Logo which represent the people of different continents participating in the Olympic Games.
* Holding Hands in Hands: This symbolizes unity among different nations of the world brought through sports which is one of the slogans of Olympic Games.
* Dancing Mode: All the three people are shown to be dancing which portrays the fun and enthusiasm of Carioca (Rio de Janeiro’s citizens) and Brazilians for sports. It also aims at reflecting the excitement of the Rio’s citizens for the transformation that SUMMER OLYMPICS GAMES 2016 are going to bring to Rio de Janeiro and in turn to Brazil.
* Shape of the Illustration: The shape formed by the internal space between the three dancing people in the illustration is made to resemble the SUGARLOAF MOUNTAIN in Rio de Janeiro. This landmark has been taken as a symbol for the city. The vertical shape between green and orange and the horizontal shape between green, orange and blue, both make up the shape of the Sugarloaf Mountain.
* Four Pillars of the Logo: It has been announced that the logo design is based on four pillars namely contagious energy, Harmonious Diversity, Exuberant nature and Olympic spirit.
The final logo of the Summer Olympics games 2016 is in complete affirmation with the culture and colors of Rio de Janeiro, the host city and the spirit of Olympics Games.
Read original here:
Monday, January 3, 2011
Brazil is booming
Brazil is the world's fifth largest car producer, and according to its national automakers' association:
• Auto sales are soaring and should total 3.5 million units for 2010, a 9.8 percent increase over the prior year.
• New cars are coming off assembly lines at an even faster pace. Automobile production in Brazil is forecast to grow 13.1 percent this year, more than the 6.5 percent expansion previously predicted.
• But the supply is not keeping up. Brazil still needs to import 20 percent of its demand for autos.
Next, take a closer look at this auto production picture from a regional viewpoint ...
Brazil is Argentina's biggest trade partner. And Brazil's auto demand is leading to a parts shortage in Argentina.
Brazil's factories can't keep up with demand.
Integration has become a focus for the regional auto makers who have plants in both countries. Any moves toward this should help the producers. In this case, the two large American companies, General Motors Corp (NYSE:GM) and Ford Motor Co (NYSE:F), have significant operations in Brazil and Argentina.
Fortunately, through the MERCOSUR agreements, Brazil and Argentina have virtually eliminated tariff and non-tariff barriers on most trade between them, creating a strong economic bond and spirit of cooperation.
The key solution now has to do with direct investment. In response, the Brazilian Development Bank and Argentina's Banco de La Nacion, are creating a debt-backed $200 million fund that will be available for the auto sector of both nations.
However, accommodating all the new vehicles creates another problem ...
It Will Take Billions to Get the Roads Back In Shape
According to President Rousseff,
"Brazil has gone for more than 30 years without investing in infrastructure in a sufficient amount. President Lula's administration started to change that. I have to solve the road issues in Brazil, the railroads, the highways, the ports, and the airports."
Brazil's highways need massive updating to accommodate all the new cars.
Consequently, the Brazilian government announced plans to spend more than $500 billion on infrastructure over the next four years, which should benefit the whole economy.
Sectors, such as utilities, telecommunications and industrial materials should see strong growth. An exchange traded fund (ETF), like EGShares Brazil Infrastructure (BRXX), is one way to get in on the action.
Brazil is in great shape. It has amassed a robust currency reserve of $287 billion, the eighth largest in the world, and is experiencing an economic boom never seen before. What's more, Brazil has one of the lowest debt-to-GDP ratios in the world. Its budget deficit is only three percent of GDP, compared to over 10 percent in the U.S.
Read Original:
• Auto sales are soaring and should total 3.5 million units for 2010, a 9.8 percent increase over the prior year.
• New cars are coming off assembly lines at an even faster pace. Automobile production in Brazil is forecast to grow 13.1 percent this year, more than the 6.5 percent expansion previously predicted.
• But the supply is not keeping up. Brazil still needs to import 20 percent of its demand for autos.
Next, take a closer look at this auto production picture from a regional viewpoint ...
Brazil is Argentina's biggest trade partner. And Brazil's auto demand is leading to a parts shortage in Argentina.
Brazil's factories can't keep up with demand.
Integration has become a focus for the regional auto makers who have plants in both countries. Any moves toward this should help the producers. In this case, the two large American companies, General Motors Corp (NYSE:GM) and Ford Motor Co (NYSE:F), have significant operations in Brazil and Argentina.
Fortunately, through the MERCOSUR agreements, Brazil and Argentina have virtually eliminated tariff and non-tariff barriers on most trade between them, creating a strong economic bond and spirit of cooperation.
The key solution now has to do with direct investment. In response, the Brazilian Development Bank and Argentina's Banco de La Nacion, are creating a debt-backed $200 million fund that will be available for the auto sector of both nations.
However, accommodating all the new vehicles creates another problem ...
It Will Take Billions to Get the Roads Back In Shape
According to President Rousseff,
"Brazil has gone for more than 30 years without investing in infrastructure in a sufficient amount. President Lula's administration started to change that. I have to solve the road issues in Brazil, the railroads, the highways, the ports, and the airports."
Brazil's highways need massive updating to accommodate all the new cars.
Consequently, the Brazilian government announced plans to spend more than $500 billion on infrastructure over the next four years, which should benefit the whole economy.
Sectors, such as utilities, telecommunications and industrial materials should see strong growth. An exchange traded fund (ETF), like EGShares Brazil Infrastructure (BRXX), is one way to get in on the action.
Brazil is in great shape. It has amassed a robust currency reserve of $287 billion, the eighth largest in the world, and is experiencing an economic boom never seen before. What's more, Brazil has one of the lowest debt-to-GDP ratios in the world. Its budget deficit is only three percent of GDP, compared to over 10 percent in the U.S.
Read Original:
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Rousseff sworn in as Brazil's new president
Dilma Rousseff was sworn in as Brazil's first female president Saturday, capping a rapid political trajectory for the career technocrat and former Marxist rebel who was imprisoned and tortured during the nation's long military dictatorship.
Rousseff, 63, takes the helm of Latin America's largest nation, which has risen both financially and politically on the world stage under outgoing leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
"I am going to consolidate the transformative work done by President Lula," Rousseff said during a 40-minute inaugural address. "He changed the way the government is run, and led the people to trust in themselves."
Silva leaves office as the nation's most popular president with an approval rating that hit 87 percent in his last week in office. Rousseff was his hand-chosen successor — and served as his chief of staff, helping shape his policies.
Brazil has made significant progress since Silva was elected. His social programs and wealth redistribution helped pull 20 million people out of poverty. On the brink of a sovereign default in 2002, it now lends money to the International Monetary Fund. Unemployment is at a record low, its currency has more than doubled against the dollar and the nation will host the 2016 Olympics.
While proud of those gains, Rousseff said now was no time for her nation to relax.
"There is still poverty shaming our country," she said. "I will not rest while there are Brazilians without food on their table, homeless in the streets, and poor children abandoned to their luck."
Rousseff referenced those of her generation who fought and died at the hands of Brazil's 1964-85 military dictatorship. Rousseff was part of an armed rebel group for three years before being arrested and imprisoned in early 1970. She spent three years in jail, during which time she was brutally tortured.
"That at-times tough path made me value and love life much more," Rousseff said during her speech, choking back tears. "It gave me, more than anything else, courage to confront even bigger challenges. It is with this courage that I'm going to govern Brazil."
Rousseff, wearing a white skirt and matching jacket, took the oath of office alongside Vice President Michel Temer in the national Congress. A heavy rain swept over Brazil's capital, Brasilia, as Rousseff arrived at the Congress in a 1953 Rolls Royce, her hand waving out the window to the thousands of cheering onlookers. Her security detail comprised six young women, clad in black and running alongside the car through the downpour.
Rousseff takes on the formidable task of maintaining Brazil's momentum.
In the eight years under Silva, Brazil sharply cut poverty while its economy boomed, and it has increased its political clout on the global stage. Brazil will host the 2014 World Cup and is expected to be the world's fifth-largest economy by the time the 2016 Olympics come to the nation.
Huge challenges also await Rousseff, who served as Silva's energy minister before becoming his chief of staff, where her tough managerial manner earned her the moniker "Iron Lady."
In addition to sweeping improvements Brazil needs in its infrastructure, security and education, she confronts the danger of following the charismatic Silva, who leaves office with an 87 percent approval rating.
"Dilma will have to meet high expectations that the country is on an upward trajectory and life will continue to get better for the average Brazilian," said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue. "That will not be an easy challenge."
Shifter said it could prove difficult for Brazil to maintain the pace of success it saw under Silva.
The external economic scenario could worsen, cutting into strong demand for Brazil's agricultural and industrial exports, particularly if anything should dampen China's growing appetite for Brazil's goods. The Asian nation this year passed the U.S. as Brazil's biggest trading partner.
And Rousseff will need a strong economy to improve the nation's woeful airports, ports, and roads — all vital in transporting Brazil's raw goods to market and in hosting the World Cup and the Olympics — events Brazilians hope will bolster their newfound image as a nation that gets things done.
Rousseff also will have to handle the unwieldy political coalitions required to govern Brazil. Silva, with his vast experience, his unique popularity and by sheer force of will was able to satisfy the leftist elements in his Workers Party, while at the same time employing orthodox economic policies to calm the business community that fretted early on about his socialist roots.
Rousseff lacks Silva's political acumen and charisma and it is not yet known if she will be able to command the far-flung components of the Workers Party while also keeping other factions happy in a coalition government.
But as Silva's hand-chosen successor, and a Cabinet member of his government from its start in 2003, Rousseff has the power of continuity going for her.
"Dilma represents a great novelty in Brazil," said Alexandre Barros, a political analyst with the Early Warning political risk group in Brasilia. "Before, every new government brought with it huge uncertainty. Everybody would shout about how Brazil was going to ruins. But now, with Rousseff, no. She represents what we've already seen."
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Rousseff, 63, takes the helm of Latin America's largest nation, which has risen both financially and politically on the world stage under outgoing leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
"I am going to consolidate the transformative work done by President Lula," Rousseff said during a 40-minute inaugural address. "He changed the way the government is run, and led the people to trust in themselves."
Silva leaves office as the nation's most popular president with an approval rating that hit 87 percent in his last week in office. Rousseff was his hand-chosen successor — and served as his chief of staff, helping shape his policies.
Brazil has made significant progress since Silva was elected. His social programs and wealth redistribution helped pull 20 million people out of poverty. On the brink of a sovereign default in 2002, it now lends money to the International Monetary Fund. Unemployment is at a record low, its currency has more than doubled against the dollar and the nation will host the 2016 Olympics.
While proud of those gains, Rousseff said now was no time for her nation to relax.
"There is still poverty shaming our country," she said. "I will not rest while there are Brazilians without food on their table, homeless in the streets, and poor children abandoned to their luck."
Rousseff referenced those of her generation who fought and died at the hands of Brazil's 1964-85 military dictatorship. Rousseff was part of an armed rebel group for three years before being arrested and imprisoned in early 1970. She spent three years in jail, during which time she was brutally tortured.
"That at-times tough path made me value and love life much more," Rousseff said during her speech, choking back tears. "It gave me, more than anything else, courage to confront even bigger challenges. It is with this courage that I'm going to govern Brazil."
Rousseff, wearing a white skirt and matching jacket, took the oath of office alongside Vice President Michel Temer in the national Congress. A heavy rain swept over Brazil's capital, Brasilia, as Rousseff arrived at the Congress in a 1953 Rolls Royce, her hand waving out the window to the thousands of cheering onlookers. Her security detail comprised six young women, clad in black and running alongside the car through the downpour.
Rousseff takes on the formidable task of maintaining Brazil's momentum.
In the eight years under Silva, Brazil sharply cut poverty while its economy boomed, and it has increased its political clout on the global stage. Brazil will host the 2014 World Cup and is expected to be the world's fifth-largest economy by the time the 2016 Olympics come to the nation.
Huge challenges also await Rousseff, who served as Silva's energy minister before becoming his chief of staff, where her tough managerial manner earned her the moniker "Iron Lady."
In addition to sweeping improvements Brazil needs in its infrastructure, security and education, she confronts the danger of following the charismatic Silva, who leaves office with an 87 percent approval rating.
"Dilma will have to meet high expectations that the country is on an upward trajectory and life will continue to get better for the average Brazilian," said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue. "That will not be an easy challenge."
Shifter said it could prove difficult for Brazil to maintain the pace of success it saw under Silva.
The external economic scenario could worsen, cutting into strong demand for Brazil's agricultural and industrial exports, particularly if anything should dampen China's growing appetite for Brazil's goods. The Asian nation this year passed the U.S. as Brazil's biggest trading partner.
And Rousseff will need a strong economy to improve the nation's woeful airports, ports, and roads — all vital in transporting Brazil's raw goods to market and in hosting the World Cup and the Olympics — events Brazilians hope will bolster their newfound image as a nation that gets things done.
Rousseff also will have to handle the unwieldy political coalitions required to govern Brazil. Silva, with his vast experience, his unique popularity and by sheer force of will was able to satisfy the leftist elements in his Workers Party, while at the same time employing orthodox economic policies to calm the business community that fretted early on about his socialist roots.
Rousseff lacks Silva's political acumen and charisma and it is not yet known if she will be able to command the far-flung components of the Workers Party while also keeping other factions happy in a coalition government.
But as Silva's hand-chosen successor, and a Cabinet member of his government from its start in 2003, Rousseff has the power of continuity going for her.
"Dilma represents a great novelty in Brazil," said Alexandre Barros, a political analyst with the Early Warning political risk group in Brasilia. "Before, every new government brought with it huge uncertainty. Everybody would shout about how Brazil was going to ruins. But now, with Rousseff, no. She represents what we've already seen."
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