Nation Background Report: Brazil

Nation Background Report: Brazil

Brazil is a beautiful country covered with a wide variety of terrain. Its capital is Brasilia, which is one of its major cities. Brazil has a population around 184 million. About 75% of its population is Roman Catholic and the other 25% consists of a variety of other religions. Brazil was claimed by Portugal in 1500 A.D. and was under their control until September 7, 1822, when it officially received independence from Portugal. September 7th is Brazils national holiday and their independence day (1).

Brazil, consisting of 26 states and one federal district, has been a victim of corruption and unethical practices since the time of the Portugal settlers, who believed in the extra-legal rule that "a gift makes room for a person" (2). This trend has lasted through the years and continues to be a problem. With the continuous trend of corruption, the citizens have become very relaxed about the current political situation. An example of this is with Adhemar de Barros, the governor of SÐ"Јo Paulo in the 1950s and 1960s (2). The people knew that he was stealing public funds and monies, but they did not seem to mind because they kept voting him into office. They considered him a 'generous' leader for some reason. His actual slogan during his political campaigns was, "He Steals but He Makes Things Happen" (2). If you had an official who had that as his slogan, one would hope the people would not keep voting a person like that in, but they did. It might be because he was stealing the least out of all the candidates and that is why his slogan was what it was.

This just being one past example of the corruption, it is still going strong in Brazil's politics today. This would lead one to question the legitimacy of the government. What are they trying to achieve by acting in such an immoral way? Who are the politicians who are stealing and receiving bribes trying to help besides themselves and their political campaigns? One will feel that if they do try to interfere and not allow this to happen and cause some disturbance in the practices of corruption which have happened in Brazil for hundreds of years, they will become a victim of crimes which will go over looked by those receiving the bribes in the first place, the ones in charge. So, the question is does the Brazilian government have some sort of backing or legitimacy? I believe the answer is yes and the reasoning is that it's been happening that way for so long, people will not question this. The generations of families being raised with such a corrupt political government have become immune if you will to the affects of this. By immune I mean the people are not truly affected or overly reactive to news of such corruption, because it has been that way for so long. Do I believe they are behind their government for the corruption which leads them, no I don't. I do believe though that the people do trust that the government will maintain and protect them to be able to live a satisfactory life.

The new "instrument of democratic" government, the Brazilian Partido dos Trabalhadores, or the Workers' Party or PT, was a way for the government to have some sovereignty over their government and move away from the corruption. This was their solution. They were finally trying to take charge and develop a new political party which would not be influenced by the corruption. But, like the other parties and political leaders the corruption crept in and slowly even took over their solution. "When there is such an overwhelming disaster and you see yourself as part of this disaster, you begin to question your whole life. Why so many years of sacrifice and struggle?" explains Congressman Fernando Gabeira (3). This was the overwhelming feeling of the people when they heard that the party they built and supported was being governed