Chevron Says It's Not Leaving Brazil

Chevron has had a rough time in Brazil the past year. First there was a large oil spill in November of 2011, then another smaller one in March, 2012.  The spills resulted in millions of dollars of fines. On top of that, charges were brought against Chevron executives in Brazil, and they were ordered not to leave the country.

Then, on August 1, a Brazilian court issued an order directing that Chevron and its drilling partner, Transocean, cease all drilling in Brazil. 

In spite of these setbacks, Chevron announced today that it has no plans to leave the country.  

In a report on Fox News Latino, confirmed in a shorter item on Forbes, Don Stelling, chief of Chevron's Latin American operations, said that the company will appeal the decision and will move forward on three other projects in Brazil.

Source: "Brazil Portal"

Brazil Increases Import Tariffs

Finance Minister Guido Mantega

Forbes reports that Brazil's Finance Minister Guido Mantega announced on Tuesday that there will be an increase of import tariffs on about 100 items. While the hikes must be approved by the other Mercosur countries, such an increase is allowed under Mercosur's rules.

Sectors that would benefit from the tariffs include steel, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and capital goods.

The article says that given the weak global economy, the government feels that it must take this measure in an attempt to protect Brazil's domestic industry.

Source: "Brazil Portal"

22 Murders Associated With Local Brazilian Campaigns

According to an ABC News report, there have been 22 murders in the past 60 days that are connected with local elections that will occur in Brazil this October.  Five percent of the candidates running for election have been the victims of threats or violence.   

410 towns have asked for help from the Brazilian Federal Police to combat the violence. The article says that most of the violence has occurred in the north and northeastern parts of the country, where disputes over land rights have been a recurring problem.

The following passage from the article gives more background about the problem:

"Ricardo Ismael of Rio de Janeiro's Catholic University agrees local elections in Brazil tend to be more violent than those for state or federal level office. 'Municipal elections introduce that local element, small towns with few police officers, where there are old political bosses who won't admit losing, and that go about defending their turf in an old fashioned way,' Ismael said."

In another story about elections in Brazil, there's a report that in more than 300 Brazilian towns, the number of voters exceeds the number of inhabitants. Apparently, this may be because a voter can be registered in a town in which he or she works or has some other strong bond, even if he or she does not live there.  

Dilma and FHC: War Of Words

FHC and Dilma:
Are they getting ready to shake, or arm wrestle?

In an article published on September 3, "O Globo" reports that President Dilma Rousseff wrote a response to an op-ed by ex-President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (FHC) that appeared in the September 2 issue of  "O Globo" and "O Estado de S. Paulo."  

Entitled "Herança Pesada," (Heavy Legacy) FHC's editorial says that Lula left Dilma a "legacy as heavy as lead." He includes a litany of charges that range from a "moral crisis" to alleged failures in fiscal and pension reform, and misguided energy policies.  

He opens by reminding readers of the eight ministers who left Dilma's government during the first year, seven of them for suspected corruption. He goes on to discuss the "mensalão" scandal, and while he makes no claim that either Lula or Dilma were directly involved, he clearly finds Lula to have been remiss in his handling of the scandal.

He then moves on to economic policies, accusing Lula of making decisions based on popular approval rather than fiscal responsibility.  Other issues that are mentioned are a failure to implement meaningful pension reform, as well as public works projects that were more costly than predicted. He ends with a critique of Lula's energy policies, which he says resulted in Brazil having to import ethanol from the United States.

Dilma, never one to sit by quietly, quickly replied to FHC's attack on her predecessor and mentor.  

The story was picked up by "O Globo" and "Folha de S. Paulo," among others.

Dilma opens her response this way: "Citada de modo incorreto pelo ex-presidente Fernando Henrique Cardoso, em artigo publicado neste domingo, nos jornais O Globo e O Estado de S. Paulo, creio ser necessário recolocar os fatos em seus devidos lugares." (My inexpert translation: "Incorrectly cited by former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso in an article published Sunday in the newspapers 'O Globo' and 'O Estado de S. Paulo,' I believe it is necessary to put the facts in their proper place").

Dilma continues by saying that she received from Lula "a blessed inheritance." She writes that Lula left her a country that did not require intervention from the International Monetary Fund, and was not under threat of a blackout, thus making thinly veiled references to the IMF monetary restrictions placed on Brazil during FHC's administration, and an energy crisis that occurred during his second term.

She calls Lula a "statesman" and "Um democrata que não caiu na tentação de uma mudança constitucional que o beneficiasse" ("a democrat who didn't fall under the temptation of a constitutional change that would have benefited him").  This is an obvious reference to the amendment to the Brazilian constitution allowing two consecutive presidential terms, an amendment which was supported by FHC, was passed during his first term, and which allowed him to run for a second term.  

Dilma writes about the 40 million people who were lifted from poverty into the middle class during Lula's time in office, she states that the country is more just, with less inequality, and that Brazil is more respected abroad as a result of his time in office.

She concludes by saying that the past should serve as a lesson, not a source of resentment.  She states that while she has learned both from the errors and successes of her predecessors, she governs with her eyes on the future.

I find this sort of open exchange between an ex-President and the current President fascinating and revealing. Based on my limited knowledge of modern Brazilian history and politics, the relationship between FHC, Lula, and by extension, Dilma, is complex to say the least.  

FHC and Lula began as political allies during the military dictatorship, but then went on to run against each other in two successive elections for President, with Cardoso winning both times. FHC, along with many impartial observers, believes that he laid the groundwork during his own administration for many of the successes that occurred during Lula's administration.  FHC's "plano real," which was implemented when he was Brazil's Finance Minister, was responsible for finally bringing Brazil's rampant inflation under control. As a victim of the military regime, FHC was also a strong advocate for human rights and social justice.

FHC has been reported to be resentful that he has not received sufficient credit from Lula for the work that he did as President.  Still, in a recent interview, FHC said that he and Lula continue to stay in contact by phone. It will be interesting to see if his editorial, which was so critical of Lula, will affect their relationship.  

It would be highly unusual for a former US President to publish an editorial in which he openly criticizes his successors. They generally reserve such commentaries for their memoirs, which are usually published after their immediate successor is no longer in office.  Former US Vice-Presidents have also observed this unwritten rule, with the notable exception of former Vice-President Dick Cheney, who has spoken openly and often in strong opposition to the policies of President Barack Obama.  

It's Official: "Brazuca" Is the Name of the 2014 World Cup Ball

An article in "O Globo" reports that "Brazuca" was the choice of 70% of Brazilians who took part in an online election to choose the name for the 2014 World Cup ball.  

More than a million fans took part in the voting, which was the first time that the public was directly involved in the choice.

The other two options were "Bossa Nova" and "Carnavalesca."  

According to an AP article on Sports Illustrated.Com, Brazuca "likely will be the first World Cup ball equipped with goal-line technology."  

Initial comments about the choice of "Brazuca" below the Facebook link to the "O Globo" article were largely negative, with several people saying that at the very least, the word should be spelled "Brasuca," with an "s" instead of a "z."  It's soccer, it's Brazil, so some controversy is normal.

Brazil's Strikes As Seen By "The World Socialist Web Site"

The World Socialist Web Site published a report on August 31, 2012, that confirms that most of the public employees on strike in Brazil have reached agreement with the government and will return to work.

The article offers a very different perspective on the strikes compared to what has appeared in most of the media coverage.  

The author sees the strikers' demands as reasonable and is critical of Dilma's response to the strikes.  He refers to the settlement by the unions as a "capitulation," and characterizes media coverage as attempting to "demonize" the strikers.

As an example of strike coverage by what the author calls the "big business media," he includes an excerpt from an editorial published in "Estadão" which praises Dilma's hard line in dealing with the strikers. 

The author reminds readers that Brazil's military dictatorship came about in part as a crack-down on labor unions, and goes on to say that "the PT (Partido dos Trabalhadores, or Workers Party) itself emerged largely on the back of a strike wave launched in defiance of military rule in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Given this history, Rousseff’s turn toward such measures has unmistakable significance."

He ends with this commentary: "The intensification of the world capitalist economic crisis is finding its expression in Brazil in the growth of class tensions that are exposing before ever larger sections of the working class the role played by the Workers Party and the unions that support it in defending capitalism." 

In spite of the author's sometimes polemical style, the article offers an interesting view that we don't often see.

Bloomberg News: Brazilian Stimulus Helping Its Economy

A recent story from Bloomberg News credits various stimulus measures taken by Dilma's government with helping the economy to come out of its slowdown. 

While growth has been gradual and not particularly strong, analysts are cautiously optimistic.

Industrial output and investment have continued to decline, but economists cite growth in agriculture, services, and consumer consumption.  

Stimulus measures that are mentioned in the story include reducing payroll taxes, cutting taxes on cars and appliances, implementing policies that have weakened the real, and a reduction in interest rates. 

Meanwhile, the consumer loan default rate is increasing, an indication that consumer spending alone can not sustain long-term economic growth.  

Source: "Brazil Portal"