Rescue workers searching for victims after heavy rains in January 2011 caused mudslides in Teresópolis, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Photograph: Vanderlei Almeida/AFP/Getty Images
Urban planning has never been part of Brazil’s political agenda, so when heavy rains come cities are not able to cope
As I write, more than two weeks after the floods began in the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro state, many communities remain isolated due to landslides on the main access roads.
More than 800 people died and thousands of people have been displaced in the state, according to official figures. One of the worst affected towns is Santa Rita. Dozens of families still depend on helicopters to deliver food, water, and emergency healthcare. In the town of Teresópolis, people are starting to clear debris in the streets by hand, with shovels and brushes. And in Nova Friburgo, families watch, and cry, as their homes are demolished.
In the neighbouring state of São Paulo, the richest in the country, 25 people died because of the heavy rains. In Santa Catarina state, in the south, five people lost their lives and 17,000 had to flee their homes.
The January rains in Brazil are becoming more severe and floods are becoming a routine. But while specialists say it’s too early to confirm the heavy rains are caused by climate change, the fact is that Brazilian cities have never been ready for them.
Urban planning has never been part of the political agenda.
Governments react, rather than plan and prevent. The ministry in charge of monitoring urban planning, the Ministry of Cities, was only created in 2003. The Supreme Court is still deciding if all cities will have to set out and follow an urban plan as defined in 1988 in new federal constitution. (more…)
President Barack Obama
President Barack Obama‘s announcement that he will visit Brazil, Chile and El Salvador in March — in what will be his first trip to South America — could result in an improvement in Brazil-U.S. ties following a significant downturn over the past two years.
Obama announced in his State of the Union address to Congress Tuesday that he will visit the three countries as part of his efforts to strengthen ties with Latin America. The five-day visit is likely to take place in the second half of March.
There is little question that Brazil, the world’s eighth largest economy and an emerging global power, will be the most important leg of Obama’s trip. Tensions between Brazil and Washington rose during the last two years of former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration over, among other things, Brazil’s diplomatic support of Iran.
But now, after the Jan. 1 inauguration of Lula da Silva’s hand-picked successor, Dilma Rousseff, a former leftist guerrilla who served as his chief of staff, U.S. officials are hopeful that they will be able to rebuild bilateral ties.
In a telephone interview, Dan Restrepo, senior White House advisor on Western Hemisphere affairs, told me that Rousseff “has made quite clear in her public statements that she is looking forward to continuing and strengthening our ties. One of the reasons we are going to Brazil this early in her presidency is that we see an opportunity to continue and deepen the relationship at the highest level.” (more…)
Brazil‘s beachfront pearl Rio de Janeiro wants to issue $500 million in “Olympic Bonds” to get the host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics ready for the games.
Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes will ask President Dilma Rousseff and Finance Minister Guido Mantega to authorize the debt issue at a meeting next month, the mayor’s press office confirmed Tuesday. States and cities in Brazil must get federal approval for bond issues.
Proceeds from the city’s bond sale will be used to build out infrastructure and sports facilities for the summer games, the mayor’s press office said.
Brazil’s readiness to host high-profile sporting events such as the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics has been questioned by critics who point to the country’s outdated infrastructure, high crime rates and widespread poverty.
FIFA officials, for example, have said Brazil is behind schedule on stadium renovations and infrastructure projects key to a successful World Cup. Rio de Janeiro will host the opening and closing games at the world famous Maracana stadium.
Rio de Janeiro also received unwanted attention in November, when the government was forced to send in troops backed by armored personnel carriers to stifle drug-related violence in one of the city’s largest shantytowns.
By Jeff Fick, Dow Jones
Dilma Rousseff
Backlash In Brazil; Concern over flood of Chinese imports could trigger tax reforms, spending cuts
The label “Made in China” is stirring an ever-greater backlash in Brazil as cheap imports ravage manufacturers, putting pressure on new President Dilma Rousseff to fight back.
While Brazil boasts one of the world’s few pockets of robust growth, its emergence as an economic power masks deep, fundamental imbalances, especially in the manufacturing industry.
From car parts to shoes and textiles, imports are flooding Brazilian factory floors and supermarket shelves.
Finance Minister Guido Mantega says Brazilian industry is being hurt by a global “currency war” with China, the United States and others pushing down the value of their currencies to boost exports.
Brazil’s currency, the real, has gained more than one-third against the dollar in a little more than two years, and imports from China have surged, climbing 60 per cent last year.
“The government won’t remain passive or inert as our currency appreciates and harms our industry,” Trade and Industry Minister Fernando Pimentel said when he took office earlier this month.
Rousseff has said she will prioritize some kind of tax reform and adopt large spending cuts to reduce government borrowing needs and help lower interest rates.
However, with much of her political support linked to public-sector unions, Rousseff has expressed little interest in structural reforms such as cutting generous labour and pension benefits. She also defends a big state apparatus and is unlikely to lower the overall tax burden.
Brazil’s problems highlight how this week’s meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao — at which the issue of the yuan will be front and centre — has reverberations well beyond those two countries’ borders.
Worried by Chinese policies, Rousseff is moving away from the stance of her predecessor and mentor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who saw Beijing as more of an ally than an enemy in his effort to stem U.S. and European influence in Latin America. (more…)
The death toll from Brazil’s deadly floods, the worst disaster of its kind in the country’s history, keeps climbing as emergency operations step up efforts to quell the damage
The death toll from devastating floods and landslides in Brazil rose Monday to 640, as the military stepped up efforts to reach isolated communities near Rio.
The disaster, the worst of its type in Brazil’s history, was now mobilising more than 1,500 emergency personnel, including from the army, air force, and police and fire services.
Fears of disease spreading have added urgency to the search for decomposing bodies, and officials have told the local population to not use run-off water for drinking.
Rio de Janeiro state on Monday began seven days of mourning for the victims, adding to a three-day national mourning period declared by President Dilma Rousseff.
The toll looked certain to rise further as roads were cleared to finally allow bulldozers to reach mud-slimed debris in remote hamlets six days after sliding earth swallowed them up. (more…)
