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Summary
Agriculture
• Cacao crops in the southern state of Bahia, which in the past made the wealth of farmers and turned Brazil into the world’s top producer of cacao, have been blighted by successive crises since the crash of the New York Stock Exchange in 1929. In the late 1980s, the appearance of a fungus coincided with a breathtaking slump of the product’s quotations, with devastating consequences to the production and the subsequent loss of capital of cacao growers.
• Direct planting, a technique that dispenses with plowing, is growing at an unprecedented rate in Brazil. The system, while contributing to the preservation of the soil by preventing erosion, relies on the application of pesticides that may contaminate ground water.
Transportation - The ring road project, designed to improve traffic conditions in the Sao Paulo Metropolitan Region and speed up cargo shipping, has been met with enormous resistance by different sectors of the society. Apart from jeopardizing water sources and thus threatening water supply to the capital of the state of Sao Paulo, the work, according to specialists, will not resolve the problems it was intended to.
Environment
• In the international market, companies are obliged to report environmental liabilities to stock exchanges. In Brazil, since there is no such regulation, society is often unaware of the origin of serious contaminations, as were the cases involving two important multinational groups, Rhodia and Shell.
• With the largest cattle herd in the world, Brazil also makes leather on a significant scale. In the city of Bocaina, state of Sao Paulo, where tanneries are the main labor employers, the activity poses enormous environmental risks, compounded by the fact that this is the region where the Guarani Aquifer, the largest subterranean water reservoir on the planet, is unconfined.
Medicine - The Brazilian scientific community commemorates this year the 150th anniversary of the birth of Adolpho Lutz, medical doctor and scientist, who won international renown. His researches represented an important contribution to the country, particularly those in the field of epidemiology.
Women - Feminization of poverty, a phenomenon the UN is seeking to curb on a global scale, affects developing countries mainly. The social importance of women’s non-remunerated housekeeping work is now beginning to draw the attention of public policymakers.
Health - Boasting one of the world’s largest plant diversity, Brazil’s use of medicinal plants has increased even among fervent champions of allopathy. But while growing areas expand, research resents a lack of investments and the official bureaucracy, with scientists’ work virtually at a standstill.
Security - In search for solutions to the problem of growing violence in Brazil, the Disarmament Statute was sanctioned in December 2003, prohibiting the bearing of firearms. A ban on arms sales, however, depends on a referendum due to occur in October, and which has motivated many discussions.
Personality - On July 9, 1980 died poet and composer Vinicius de Moraes, whose partnerships with several musicians yielded songs that fascinated more than one generation. His life was marked by numerous amorous conquests and by alcoholism.
Constitution - José Bernardo Cabral is a former senator of the Republic and was the rapporteur of the National Constituent Assembly, in office to vote the Brazilian Constitution of 1988. The latter was the theme of his speech at the Federacao do Comercio do Estado de Sao Paulo’s Council of Economy, Sociology and Politics. Bernardo Cabral spoke on the difficulties to pass the Charter and on the origin of a number of exaggerations it contains, which have made the everyday life of Brazilian politics complex and difficult.
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