| Brazil |
By Erwin van Dijkman
Brazil is the largest South American country by far. Every figure on Brazil is impressive: the size (8.456.510 square km), the population (about 170 million), the variation in its population (180 indigenous languages), the number of animal species (almost one new primate is found each year) and the many natural resources. A cultural melting pot famous for its Carnival festivities, beaches and vast jungle territory it is a country one should definitely visit.
Now a federal republic, Brazil's modern history starts with the colonial period in the sixteenth century. After initial disinterest from the Portuguese colonisation gradually took shape. The original Indian tribes were enslaved and bandeirantes hunted them down for trade exploring the Amazon basin all the way to the Andes mountain range in the process. Trading Indian slaves and sugar cane were the most important economic exploits in the seventeenth century. In the second halve of the seventeenth century the influx of African slaves replaced many Indian slaves on the plantations. The end of that century is famous for the discovery of gold, triggering a gold-rush in search of El Dorado. The wealth did not stick for long (and only to the happy few) and only left a transfer of the population from the Northeast to the Southeast as a lasting effect.
In the early eighteenth century the Portuguese Prince regent fled form Napoleon's European onslaught thus forming a united kingdom of Brazil and Portugal. His son became regent, crowned himself as Dom Pedro I and declared independence of Portugal in the process. Portugal did not have the resources to regain its former colony and the independent state of Brazil was a fact. His son, Dom Pedro II, had a more lasting influence on Brazil as he abolished slavery and the monarchy encouraged immigration and formed parliamentary institutions. A military coup, backed by the rich owners of coffee plantations, let to his demise and for a couple of decades various presidents ruled Brazil backed by the military. However, an American type constitution was adopted and Brazil floated mainly on the economic influence of the coffee trade. The economic instability of the 1930s dismantled the influence of the coffee traders, but military influence was still abundant. They intervened when Vargas lost the elections in 1930 and installed him as president anyhow.
It took several decades before the military influence was finally subdued in the eighties. A more liberal constitution was made, opposition was allowed to rule and the 1989 elections can be seen as the first truly free nation-wide elections. Collor de Melo won but was forced to resign accused of fraud, Vice-president Itamar Franco taking over in 1992. From the nineties Brazil blossomed, the new president Cardoso introduced a new currency in 1994 and foreign investments towered. Although many health and education programmes were started, the fact remains that poverty is still widespread among the Brazilian population, but Brazil's current president Luiz 'Lula' da Silva has vowed to take on all these problems.
Source
www.lonelyplanet.nl
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Photo: Cees-Jan van der Ende
Photo: Anno Gravemaker
Photo: Chris Lofting
Photo: Edward van Altena/Bas 't Hart
Photo: Stephan Klos Pagutch
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Força Aérea Brasileira (FAB)
