Brazil Presentation

Submitted by Kara

Business Climate: Brazil Remains Laggard

RIO DE JANEIRO – Despite its success at attracting foreign direct investment, Brazil remains a laggard when it comes to overall business climate.

The country’s economy last year grew by 7.5 percent, its best result in 24 years and a strong enough result to replace Italy as the seventh-largest economy in the world. Meanwhile, FDI reached a record $48.5 billion last year, an 86.8 percent increase from 2009.

Link (submitted by Kara)

Slum Dwellers Are Defying Brazil’s Grand Design for Olympics

RIO DE JANEIRO — It was supposed to be a triumphant moment for Brazil. 

Gearing up for the 2016 Olympic Games to be held here, officials celebrated plans for a futuristic “Olympic Park,” replete with a waterside park and athlete villages, promoting it as “a new piece of the city.” 

There was just one problem: the 4,000 people who already live in that part of Rio de Janeiro, in a decades-old squatter settlement that the city wants to tear down. Refusing to go quietly and taking their fight to the courts and the streets, they have been a thorn in the side of the government for months.

Link (submitted by Kara)

Brazil Bars Oil Workers From Leaving After Spill

RIO DE JANEIRO — A Brazilian court has ordered 17 employees from two American companies, the oil giant Chevron and the rig operator Transocean, to surrender their passports, barring them from leaving Brazil as authorities prepare to file criminal charges in days in connection with an offshore oil spill involving the companies. 

The ruling by Judge Vlamir Costa Magalhães, issued late Friday night, adds to Chevron’s woes in Brazil, which began last November when oil was found to be leaking from an offshore field controlled by Chevron. Prosecutors have already filed a civil lawsuit seeking damages of 20 billion reais, or about $11.2 billion, from the company.

Link (submitted by Kara)

Brazil's farming pioneers fight to maintain way of life

In recent years, Brazil has been at the frontline of a battle to curb deforestation, but in the 1980s it saw the land as fertile for development. The reversal in policy has angered some of the early pioneers who turned forest into farmland. 

"There was nothing when we came here 25 years ago, nothing at all," Gilmar Burnier told me, his eyes twinkling with pride as he led me through Querencia, a small town in northern Brazil.

Link (submitted by Kara)

Cuba trade focus as Brazil's President Rousseff visits

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is making her first official visit to Cuba with the emphasis on fostering business ties. 

Communist-run Cuba, under US trade sanctions for 50 years, has seen some economic reforms under Raul Castro.

Link (submitted by Kara)

Brazil to Grant Work Visas to Haitians

"BRASÍLIA (AP) — Justice Minister José Eduardo Cardozo said Tuesday that Brazil would grant visas to thousands of Haitians who arrived recently in remote areas of the Amazon seeking work.

The government said it would propose allowing a limited number of additional Haitians to come to Brazil — as many as 100 a month — by granting them temporary visas. But the government also made clear that it would step up the policing of Brazil’s borders with Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, where the Haitians are crossing."

Link (submitted by Kara)

Beer 'must be sold' at Brazil World Cup, says Fifa

Beer must be sold at all venues hosting matches in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, football's world governing body, Fifa, has insisted. 

Fifa General Secretary Jerome Valcke said the right to sell beer must be enshrined in a World Cup law the Brazilian Congress is considering. 

Alcoholic drinks are currently banned at Brazilian stadiums and the country's health minister has urged Congress to maintain the ban in the new law. 

Brewer Budweiser is a big Fifa sponsor.

Link (submitted by Kara)