Our "Snow Fall"?

Folha de S. Paulo launched yesterday a series of stories that try to grasp the whole magnitude of one of the most controversial infrastructure constructions in Brazil's history: the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant. That is the first example of news story that I could find in Brazilian media that is completely inspired in the Snow Fall project by the New York Times. Texts, amazing infographics and even a game help the reader to grasp the magnitude of the project that took 10 months and the work of five reporters to be completed.

Folha hasn't mentioned whether it is going to be also published as an e-book when the series of stories comes to an end, similarly to what happened to NYT's Snow Fall (the story of an avalanche on Washington state), but it is likely that the newspaper try to do that, since the both projects bare great similarity -- just compare Snow Fall's site (http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2012/snow-fall/#/?part=tunnel-creek) with a Batalha de Belo Monte (http://arte.folha.uol.com.br/especiais/2013/12/16/belo-monte/) and see it for yourself.

In the first text, Folha is basically stating some known figures about the project, starting with the amazing dimension of what it is about to be the third biggest hydroelectric plant, after The Three Gorges Dam in China and Itaipu in Brazil. The project of the plant was initiated in 1975 and was surrounded with conflict from the beginning. Located near an indian territory, the project was changed several times, until the main reservoir was reduced considerably and an additional dam was included.

The first energy generated from Belo Monte should be delivered to Brazil domestic market in the beginning of 2015. After incredibly just 44 months of construction under the Amazon tropical weather and its implications. The engineers believe the project can have a three month delay on account of a worker's strike, local indian protests, and a stoppage determined by the court. Let's see what is reserved for the next chapters.

The latest election survey from Datafolha

It seems that after a major setback from the bad economic news to the protests, president Dilma's popularity is on the rise again. The latest survey from Datafolha, a research company of the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, shows that the president would be successful among any candidate that is considered today. Dilma scores from 41% to 47% of the total votes' intentions. This means that she would defeat almost all of their opponents in the first round of the presidential elections with the exception of Marina Silva, that is currently being accounted most as a vice-president candidate for the Eduardo Campos candidacy.

Behind this more favorable scene are some recent change on the news, that were more optimists on later weeks. Finally the government concessions got out of the paper, with the airports and the first road segment (of BR-163)  being delivered to the private initiative. The inflation also seemed to be under control, with the market predictions falling down on the beginning of the week and the Central Bank raising interest rates to 10%, on another sign that the economic policy is searching for more credibility. 

In this scenario, the government authorized an increase of 2% on the gasoline prices by Petrobras, that was suffering with cash flow problems since it had to import the fuel with a higher price than consumers in Brazil pay for it. It is still not enough for the company's needs, market analysts said, but it is a sign that things are changing. 

Last but not least, the recent news that the statistics bureau IGBE is revising last year's growth from 0.9% to 1.5% also contributed to the change of humor this week. Let's hope that the country keeps on this track for the next year.

Mensalão - big politicians in jail

This past week the Brazil's superior court ordered the prison of 11 politicians, connected to the mensalão political scandal that came to public eight years ago. They are mainly from the Workers' Party, the same of president Dilma. Among the prisons there are important politics such as José Dirceu, the strong man at Lula's first term as a president.

After the final decision to order the arrests the week before, the Brazilian media was surprised at the beginning of the week with the information that one of the convicteds, Henrique Pizzolato, former director at Banco do Brazil, a state controlled bank, fled to Italy to escape the prison. He is nowon the Interpol wanted list.

Another topic about the arrests is that José Genoino, a congressman that should loose his seat after the conviction is trying a manover to avoid the scandal by asking an early retirement from congress. He also got the privilege of house arrest after stating that he had a hert condition. A medical committee is now analyzing his actual health to see if the privilege should be maitained.

From workers party supporters there was a lot of complaint against the arrests. A manifest signed by lawyers and judges was made public this week against the Supreme Court president, Joaquim Barbosa, questioning the arrest order before 48 hours after the court's final decision. Another argument used by the supporters is that the convicted politicians didn't have the option for a second instance court. This happened because there are privileges that impede politicians to be judged by a regular court in the first place. It is also one of the explanations why the case took so long to be ruled.

Today, O Globo announced that Banco do Brasil is going to seek to recover he 78 million reals that were spent in Mensalão to buy votes from congressmen between 2003 and 2005. 

The case should still be in the news during this week as the congress will vote on the loss of Genoino mandate. 

Concessions

Another important thing that took the attention of the Brazilian press was the concession of two of the most important airports to the private sector. After some protelation the airports of Confins, in Belo Horizonte, capital of the state of Minas Gerais, and Galeao, the biggest airport in Rio de Janeiro were finally passed to the private sector. Now more than half of  Brazilian passengers will use private controlled airports. The biggest winner was Odebrecht a big Brazilan contractor, that was benefited by the concession Edital that established a limit share of 15% of companies that already got the airports of Sao Paulo, Brasilia and Campinas.

Story about dictatorship crimes and photo on this year's protests are the main winners of the ExxonMobil Journalism Prize

Today the results of one of the most traditional journalism prizes in Brazil was released, the "Prêmio Esso", sponsored by ExxonMobil. The main news story prize was sent to the story about the secret files of the DOI-CODI (the department responsible for repressing people opposing the dictatorship in Brazil, that lasted from 1964 until 1985). The news story came in a very important moment in Brazil when the country is currently analyzing crimes committed during the tough period through the works of the Truth Commission (Comissão da Verdade). It worth mentioning that president Dilma herself is a victim of the dictatorship, having been tortured and arrested during the period.

Concerning that matter, the Truth Commission started today the process of exhumation of the body of former president João Goulart. Recent documents showed that the president (the last of the democratic period that preceded the dictatorship of 1964) was constantly monitored by the military. For those reasons, Goulart’s family asked in 2007 for an investigation to see if his premature death in 1976 (at the age of 57 years) supposedly from a heart attack was actually caused by poisoning.

The Prêmio Esso also recognized the picture (above) from Victor Dragonetti Tavares, that was the first one that actually put the mid year protests on the cover of the major Brazilian newspapers. The image shows a wounded cop trying to control a protester while defending himself from the crowd. The interesting thing about this picture is that it preceded the major repressing action from the police that ended with several protesters wounded. I remember clearly seeing editorials from major newspapers (I don’t recall now whether it was Folha de S. Paulo or O Estado de S. Paulo) actually calling for more police action on the protests that at that time were causing major traffic jams in São Paulo.

After that picture the police acted, but disproportionally, and images of ordinary people wounded gained the social networks and spread the protests concentrated in São Paulo and Rio to the whole country. This triggered a support for protesters that led to the government response and the reduction of the public transport fare (that were the main reasons for the initial protests).

Both stories are in the core of Brazil’s media attention right now. Today the main subject being analyzed by the press is the judgment of Mensalão (the corruption scheme denounced in 2006 during the 1st term of president Lula, that basically consisted in the purchase of congressmen votes) that involves several of the Worker’s Party (PT) important members.The corruption is clearly one of the motives of the protests. So far the news is that the supreme court maintained what was ruled before and is asking for the immediate arrest of several of the 27 convicted persons, but I’ll wait to see tomorrow’s newspapers to write more about the subject.

The general tone around Dilma Rousseff

Nobody yet knows at what extent this year’s protests will have an effect on the next year’s presidential elections. There were those who said it would impede Dilma from being reelected and I certainly believe it was one thing that gave Eduardo Campos and the its party the PSB the final push towards moving out of the government and launching a presidential candidacy for president.

One thing is for sure, the tone of the press around Dilma could certainly be one indicator that preceded the protests. Initially the press was very positive around Dilma. The president got compliments from O Estado de S. Paulo in her first interview. Dilma was somewhat protected by the press during her first year as a president, when she had to cut six ministers accused of corruption.

The honeymoon started to end throughout the second year and definitely ended in the end beginning of this year, when it became clear that the country’s economy stability had been thrown away by the president, in the name of maintaining (artificially) the unemployment low and the president’s popularity high. The main indicator that this was the case was the lost of the grip in inflation, that obliged Dilma to push back one of her main objectives in the economic policy (of bringing the Brazilian interest rates to international levels).

Today, Ricardo Noblat, columnist of O Globo, elevates even more the tone against the president, siding her with two other Brazilian contradictions already unmasked: the former senator Demóstenes Torres (that was a symbol of honesty until he was linked with Carlos Cachoeira, a criminal that run illegal gambling business across the Brazil’s center-west region) and Eike Batista (a Brazilian billionaire, featured as one of the richest men in the world, and now facing bankruptcy). Noblat says Dilma’s contradiction is her fame as a tough manager, highly promoted by Lula. Since none of the big infrastructure improvements were launched due to a lack of managerial and political abilities, Noblat says it is a big contradiction that Dilma still has a chance of being elected for a second term.

This certainly gives another glimpse of what will be the general tone against the president next year, and again can also indicate that the amount of effort, and money, that PT will have to spend for this reelection will be much more than expected two years ago.

Freedom of speech in Brazil: the biography law

Since the beginning of October, the Brazilian press is noticing the possible changes in the law that today permits that non-authorized biographies be taken out of the market by those whose lives are being portrayed in the books. A judgment about the constitutionality of the current law on Brazil’s superior court is scheduled to the end of November and could put an end to a law that has impeded several biographies of entering the Brazilian market. Examples of this are the history of Roberto Carlos a famous romantic singer, that removed his biography from the market in april 2007, and the biography of Lilly Safra, a billionaire that had four marriages, two of which ended with the tragically death of her husbands, which biography called “Gilded Lilly”, is available only in the English version, since 2010.

What called attention of the press was a statement published by a group of artists called “Procure saber” (“Look to know”, in a free translation) saying they were against any changes in the status quo. Among the artists that supported the statement were Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, famous for their leftist political opinions. The reaction of the public to the statement was negative and articles claiming for freedom of speech started appearing in the newspapers by the first week of October. Elio Gaspari wrote a beautiful article in Folha de S. Paulo showing the examples of embargoed biographies (that is the source for my examples above).

On Sunday, Roberto Carlos himself told “Fantástico” -- the premium news and entertainment program of Globo Television -- that he supported changes in the law, as long as there were some adjustments. He didn’t specified which adjustments he thought would be necessary, but he certainly backed from his former position after considering the repercussion of the public. The subject should be still on the news radar as long as the law stay under discussion and the judgment from the superior court isn’t over.

Oil and beagles

As predicted, the pre-salt oil auction had just one proposal, from a group headed by Petrobras. The other companies are the Chinese CNPC and Cnook, the anglo-dutch Shell and the French company Total. As Folha de S. Paulo revealed today the major companies ended up all together in the same group and that inhibited other competitors.

Despite lack of bids in the auction, president Dilma celebrated the result and rebuffed the critic to the model that puts a lot of responsibility on Petrobras (that is currently with a constrained budget). According to the president, the model has the merit of guaranteeing that 85% of the revenue from Libra oilfield will remain with the Brazilian state (which has 51% of Petrobras voting shares). The government also announced it will be with watching closely the oil exploration in the pre-salt, after O Globo denounced the subject was not covered by the auction summon.

Beagles

Enough with oil. I would like to comment a piece of news that is trending in the social media among Brazilian users. It’s the invasion of a research laboratory last Friday by a group of animal rights activists. They removed 178 beagles from the institution at dawn on Friday, saying they were victims of maltreatment.

Immediately after the news broke, on the weekend, hundreds of animal lovers shared their thoughts on the cruelty with animals. The scientific community responded saying there are few alternatives for research in some cases and condemned the invasion. Today O Globo says the federal deputy Ricardo Tripoli is holding a couple of beagles in his house and is advising the other 15 to 20 members of the group on legal matters. They will be indicted for the invasion of the laboratory. The police is also investigating the complaint of animal maltreatment.

Folha de S. Paulo, on the other hand is reporting that a beagle dog breeder in São Paulo, that the activists think is the provider of the laboratory’s dogs is in constant fear of having his own property invaded. He has already hired private security to prevent possible protests.

The subject is trending in social networks and generating heated discussions in each post favorable or contrary to the activists. In my point of view, invading a private property is not the way to deal with the subject. The activists themselves told they had inside information about the abuses. The best way then would be to proceed with the formal criminal complaints.

Even though I’m obviously contrary to animal maltreatment I also support experiments in animals, when there are no other alternatives. I mean, if that is what it takes to develop medicine that will save human lives, than it’s all right with me. Humankind has been killing and using animals for survival purposes since ancient times, and that is not likely to change soon.

Economic stability as a big issue on next year's presidential elections

The pre-salt auction has again gained the main pages of Brazilian newspapers today, but I’ll leave the subject for tomorrow’s post. For now, it’s suffice to say that there are occurring some protests and that according to Folha de S. Paulo and Valor Econômico, this probably could be the first and last auction in which Petrobras will be obliged to participate with at least 30% of participation in each area. As mentioned in a previous post in this blog, the state controlled oil company is short on cash, crippled by the government’s policy.

What I would like to call attention to is the interview of Eduardo Giannetti, economic advisor of Marina Silva to Folha, saying that she would stand for a lower state presence in the economy. It does not mean that she will take the liberal path, but probably that she would be more market friendly.

The interview is also another way of saying that the economy is going to be a big topic in next year presidential election. Giannetti praised the last term of Fernando Henrique Cardoso as a president (1999-2002) and the first term of Lula (2003-2006). After that the macroeconomic tripod (fiscal responsibility, inflation control and floating currency) was somewhat abandoned, he said.

Petrobras and the inflation

Expected to be one of the biggest players on the Libra oilfield auction that will take place on Monday, Petrobras is in a difficult position. The state controlled company has been crippled by the government interventions in its management -- from having to invest in areas that are not of its core interest, as ethanol, for example, to being impeded to raise gasoline prices because of the authorities fear of inflation. 

Petrobras is also in a tough position because of the new rules for oil exploration in the pre-salt area. The company is legally obliged to have a minimum share of 30% in all the fields. Since there are a lot of commitments still to be made, analists thing this will slow down the investment on future fields.

For this reason the government is cooking a new legislation to give some fiscal relief to Petrobras, according to Folha de S. Paulo. The company will probably not be taxed for the profits obtained from its foreign subsidiaries in the rent for equipment destined to the oil development in Brazil. There has been also some talk about another gasoline price increase to be allowed this year, but this is stil to be confirmed. 

Introductions

For eight years, I worked at some of the most important Brazilian newspapers, writing business stories. Now, because of a scholarship from Instituto Ling to study a Master in Communication Course in IE School of Communication, in Madrid, I went back to being solely a reader of Brazil’s media.

Since I never liked to read the news without discussing, I decided to open up this blog, sharing some comments on what is on the main news in Brazil. I invite all visitors to join the conversation, post their comments and suggest themes for discussion on this page.

In this brief introduction, I would like to suggest some basic readings to understand Brazil in some depth. There are four classic books that explain the political, cultural and economic history of Brazil that I think give some basics about the country.

The first one of them would be "Roots of Brazil", from Sergio Buarque de Holanda, a Brazilian historian that happens to be the father of the famous Brazilian singer Chico Buarque de Holanda. Here you’ll find some important insights about the difference of the Portuguese and Spanish colonization in America, crucial to understand the differences in the region and also why Brazil has remained an united country while Spanish colonies divided into multiple countries. One of the reasons being the Portuguese directive of miscegenation, since the men were encouraged to marry Indians and their sons were recognized as Portuguese.

The other precious book to give some ground on Brazil is from Caio Prado Junior, called “Formation of contemporary Brazil”, with some more geographical analysis. The author explains, among other things, the difficulty of building ports on Brazil’s shallow shore and the determination of the gaucho culture on the south because of the wild cattle that started to appear there after the colonization, this book is crucial for those who are more interested in economic history.

From one of the most prominent Marxist authors in Brazil, Celso Furtado, we have the book called “The economic growth of Brazil”, another book with a big economic basis that has a great analysis of the importance of coffee production in the beginning of the 20th century. Finally, for those that would like to have some cultural background there is “The Brazilian People” from anthropologist, and a famous defender of the Indian population, Darcy Ribeiro.