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Summary
Agribusiness – Pressure from environmentalist entities, from Brazil and abroad, seeks to stop the advance of the soy agriculture over the Amazon region, which today accounts for 5% of the grain’s national production. As a result, large-scale buyers imposed a two-year moratorium on crops grown in the region after October 2006, a measure critics, however, deem as ineffective.
Fishing – Although Brazil’s coastline extends over 8.6 thousand kilometers, the country only occupies a modest 27th position in the world ranking of fish producers. As the country does not have a fleet equipped to fish in high seas, Brazil concentrates the activity near the coast, which has been causing a depletion in fish stocks and even the threat of extinction of some of the species in the area, on account of super-exploitation.
Citizenship – The crisis triggered by denunciations of irregularities involving non-governmental organizations is, nevertheless, seen with good eyes by some of the sector’s representatives, who believe that the establishment of more stringent criteria and more transparent practices would benefit those really serious entities.
Cities – Lack of maintenance, poor city oversight, flawed projects, and improper use are constant threats to edifices, in Brazil. There are countless accidents, many of which with fatal casualties, yet in very few cases those responsible received the punishment they deserved.
Brazil – There is consensus among the various sectors of the Brazilian society on the necessity of making changes to the official social security, whose ever-increasing deficit is a constant threat to the structure of the system. Yet, there is no consensus on the roadmap for the reform agenda.
Indian question – In northern Espírito Santo, Tupiniquim and Guarani Indians claim possession of part of the area occupied by Aracruz, the world’s largest cellulose producer. The delay in finding a solution to the problem has already prompted the Indians to invade the company’s port terminal to call the attention of the authorities and public opinion.
Beverages – Usually seen as an unappealing beverage of inferior quality, today cachaça is tasted in refined ambiences, at prices rivaling those of other long-acclaimed spirits. With the government’s support, producers have been investing in the promotion of the Brazilian spirit abroad and, as a result, the caipirinha is already one of the most famous drinks in the world.
Memory – The restoration of a fighter plane that combated in the Second World War touches its old pilot. The aircraft, a P-47D Thunderbolt , which was part of the squadron known as Senta a Pua (a possible translation being "Metal to the Pedal"), is being exhibited at the Asas de um Sonho museum, in the city of São Carlos.
Labour market – Every year thousands of new lawyers graduate in Brazil. To practice the profession, however, one must pass a rigorous exam, which has truly become a funnel. Failure is at the 80% ratio, which allows us to ponder whether students are unprepared or the country’s existing courses are of poor quality.
Culture – A tradition that arrived in Brazil with the African slaves, jongo –a cultural manifestation involving music, dance and poetic challenges– regains momentum and conquers space even on TV. Several groups of Afro-descendants give life to this heritage in the southeast of the country, especially in those places through which the coffee and sugar cane plantations passed by.
Interview – Aged 81, Ewaldo Dantas, the journalist who managed to interview Klaus Barbie, the "butcher of Lyon", in his hideout in Bolivia, talks of this and other important news reports he did throughout his career.
History – Dom Pedro II, emperor of Brazil, was always, in his physique, manners, education and culture, a truly European monarch transplanted to the tropic. Oftentimes a sensible ruler, he, however, exerted over his subjects, on several occasions, an authoritarian power, of a moralist censor.
Juridical studies – Brazil’s public safety problems prompted a parliamentarian to submit a motion for a constitutional amendment to the purpose of granting superpowers to the federal police. Members of the Juridical Studies Council of the Federação do Comércio do Estado de São Paulo debated the subject and discharged the bill, considered deeply harmful to democracy.
Thematic panel – M.D. Pedro Salomão José Kassab took important offices in the areas of education and health, as the presidency of the World and the Brazilian Medical Associations and of the State’s Education Council. At the talk he delivered at the Economics, Sociology and Politics Council of the Federação do Comércio do Estado de São Paulo, entitled "Life, health and what is expected of medicine", he spoke on the breakthroughs in the medical activities, pointing out that they must always be an expression of human solidarity.
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