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Summary
Housing – According to an alarming report by the UN, Brazil faces a huge challenge: if the country does not mobilize efforts to rapidly increase house construction, by the end of
the upcoming decade more than 50 million of its inhabitants will be living in slums. A lack of coordination between the countless housing programs presently being developed in the country further worsens the situation of a sector which suffers from the inexistence of a consistent investment policy.
Space program – Three years after the occurrence of a serious accident at the Alcântara Launching Center, the Brazilian airspace program regains momentum. Investments in a project toward the development of a national rocket to put satellites into orbit keep
growing, driven not only by strategic reasons but also by the competition for a share of this billionaire market.
Infrastructure – The decision by the government of the State of São Paulo to duplicate the Tamoios Highway in an attempt to improve access to the port of São Sebastião has been met with strong resistance from environmentalists. If, on the one hand, the work will make it easier to distribute the production of the Paraíba Valley and the Campinas region, on the other, it will further aggravate the already precarious situation of many cities along the northern coast of the state.
Health – Brazil’s public organ transplant program is the largest in the world, but is flawed in many areas, such as a lack of coordination between the various donation centers –making it difficult to take advantage of organ donation opportunities–, the still limited number of donors, and the unpreparedness of many doctors with regard to this practice’s procedures.
Information technology – The world’s dependence on information technology seems endless. Since the advent of the internet, new personal communication equipment –fitted with amazing resources– just keeps cropping up at shorter intervals. In Brazil the challenge remains to promote the inclusion of the larger part of the population into the information society era.
Brazil – Created in 1999 by the government of the state of Minas Gerais, the Estrada Real Program aims at transforming the colonial roads that once led to the mining region into a tourist itinerary, and with that contribute to develop the economy of its region of influence.
Popular culture – The art of storytelling continues to fascinate people everywhere. In Brazil, this practice has been gaining the support of groups of young artists who, alongside with traditional storytellers, help to keep alive the fantasy of children and adults.
Transportation – Built to transport the production of the world’s largest iron ore mine, the Carajás Railroad runs through a poor area of the states of Maranhão and Pará. Owned by powerful Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, the railway nurtures the hopes of those seeking for jobs in the steel mills set up along the rails, and interferes in the life of the indigenous groups living in the region, forcing them to abandon traditional customs.
Environment – By 2010, according to an estimate by the United Nations University, 50 million people will have been forced to leave their homes, on either a temporary or permanent basis, due to environment-related problems. According to the Red Cross, nowadays there are more displaced people on account of environmental disasters
than of wars. Brazil, where the number of degraded areas is increasing, is not immune
to these hardships.
Migration – São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, continues to attract people from other regions
of the country, particularly from the north and northeast. Until not long ago, given the availability of jobs, all those who challenged life in the metropolis managed to make their dreams come true. Yet, today, with living conditions in the city often worse than in
their hometowns, many end up returning.
Literature – Caio Fernando Abreu, driven by passion and a Bohemian lifestyle, and José Guilherme Merquior, whose life dedicated to work and cultural enhancement was considered by many rather uneventful, seem not to share anything in common. Yet both have left a literary production of great value, and had untimely deaths.
Interview – Known for the free thinking that places him above ideologies and partisanship, philosopher Roberto Romano, a professor of ethics and political philosophy at the State University of Campinas, talks on education and politics.
Thematic panels – Two talks of a political nature were presented at the Council of Economics, Sociology and Politics of Federação do Comércio do Estado de São Paulo. The first one, on the country’s institutional weaknesses, was given by engineer Sérgio Quintella, who stated that, if the system does not undergo a profound reform, Brazil will suffer the consequences of total political discredit.
The second, by jurist Ney Prado, addressed the constitutional revision, a process some consider urgent in light of the mistakes, incongruities and exaggerations committed by the constitutional deputies who approved the 1988 Charter, imperfections which have left the country practically ungovernable and help explain the many blights afflicting Brazilians.
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