Yearbook 2006
Brazil. According to
CountryAAH, President Lula da Silva, who, according to
opinion polls, emerged as the clear favorite to win the
first round of the October 1 presidential election, failed
to achieve his own majority. Lula still won clearly with
over 60% of the vote over his opponent Geraldo Alckmin in
the second round on October 29. President Lula criticized a
lot for neglecting his political opponents during the
election campaign. Among other things, he refused to
participate in the last live TV debate. Some corruption
scandals within his own party PT (Partido dos Trabalhadores)
also contributed. The scandals came to an end and at the end
of March, Finance Minister Antonio Palocci was forced to
resign after accusations of thumbing on the Bankruptcy Act
in connection with a legal process he was involved in. He
was succeeded by Guido Mantega, one of President Lula's most
faithful economic employees for many years. Despite the
scandals, it was ultimately the support of Brazil's poor,
especially in the Northeast, that made the decision in the
presidential election, not least thanks to the government's
popular cash support to poor families.
In May, a wave of violence of unprecedented type occurred
in São Paulo when a criminal league, Primeiro Comando da
Capital (PCC), launched a legitimate war against the police.
At least 170 people were shot to death for a few days, most
of the league members but also 33 police officers and 4
civilians. Several deaths were considered to have been
committed by so-called death squads, ie. cops who conduct
off-duty clean-up activities among criminals. The trigger
for the wave of violence seems to have been that PCC's
imprisoned leader Marcos "Marcola" Camacho would be moved to
a special security department, but PCC is also considered to
have a political role. They are fighting for better
conditions for interns in Brazil's infamous and overcrowded
prisons.
In February 2004, Juan Miguel Petit of the United Nations
published a report criticizing the fact that sex tourism is
one of the most frequent forms of sexual exploitation of
minors in Brazil. The report also included a study on
trafficking in children, prostitution and child pornography.
It also noted that the 500,000 children working in private
homes may be subject to sexual exploitation. Petit noted
after his visit to i.a. Rio de Janeiro that "child
prostitution is open". Acc. The UN is due to the problems of
marginalization, lack of respect for fundamental rights,
poverty and the lack of mechanisms for safeguarding
children.
In March, Brazil's southern coast was hit by a cyclone.
Government sources died 2 during the powerful and unusual
storm and several disappeared. The bathing beaches had to be
evacuated, more than 500 houses were destroyed and many more
damaged. The electricity supply also extended in the
southern part of the country. Two fishing boats sank and 10
sailors disappeared. The cyclone was formed 440 km out in
the Atlantic Ocean and particularly hit the coastal cities
of Santa Catarina and Río Grande do Sul. The US Hurricane
Alert Center in Miami declared it was the first time they
had detected such a meteorological phenomenon in the South
Atlantic off Brazil.
During a visit to Sao Caetano do Sul south of Sao Paolo,
Lula da Silva declared the same month that the popular
dissatisfaction with his governance had not thrown the
government into crisis. A poll had recorded that the
president's popularity had dropped from 39.9% in February to
34.6% in March. Another study pointed to the backing of the
government from 66% in December to 54% in March. The
government was heavily criticized by both the opposition,
the government's own support parties and by PT itself
because of the government's right turn in the economic
sphere and its lack of results in the social sector. Added
to this was a corruption scandal, which also involved the
head of government, José Dirceu. He appeared in a video
asking for money for himself and for funding the PT's
campaigns in 2002. Lula assured, that the criticism of his
government was due to the upcoming municipal elections in
October. Brazil's economy declined by 0.2% in 2003, but
according to. government would grow at 3.5% in 2004.
In August 2004, Brazil signed an agreement with Ecuador
granting the state-owned oil company Petrobras the right to
build infrastructure in one of the Amazon's most
ecologically important areas. Through the agreement, Brazil
was also able to assist and restructure the Ecuadorian oil
company, Petroecuador. Petrobras will build a road, a pier
and a bridge in the Yasuní National Park in Ecuador. At the
same time, Brazil must assist Ecuador in modernizing the
country's two state telecommunications companies. Lula
stated in Quito that the agreement was an expression of
truly economic integration between the two countries.
Environmental groups objected to the agreement not
providing environmental guarantees to the national park.
Yasuní is recognized by UNESCO as a biosphere, covers 982
hectares of rainforest, and is home to 90 species of
reptiles and 500 species of birds. The environmental
organization Ecological Action demanded a judge's order
issued to stop Petrobras. The organization argued that the
area's animals and the native population are threatened with
extinction.
In October, Amnesty International announced that the
clashes of gangs in the Ciudad de Dios favela in western Rio
de Janeiro will end in a massacre if the government does not
intervene. The human rights organization pointed out that
the fighting between drug gangs in Vigario Geral and Parada
de Lucas could cost a large number of innocent lives.
That same month, a delegation from the International
Atomic Energy Commission (IAEA) visited the new fuel
reprocessing plant Resende in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
The IAEA experts verified that the techniques used were not
used to remove material for military purposes. The
government insisted that the country's nuclear program only
has energy purposes, but at the same time allowed only the
experts a limited visual inspection of the centrifuges, thus
protecting the plant's technological secrets. Minister of
Science and Technology Eduardo Campos stated that Brazil had
invested almost $ 1 billion. US $ and several years of work
in developing new uranium reprocessing techniques. He added
that Brazilian centrifuge methods are 30% more effective
than those used in other countries.
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