What’s going on in Brazil

And finally the World Cup in Brazil started! And there is a great possibility that many of you are trying to understand what is happening in Brazil. How can a Country known by its generosity and hospitality be facing such intense wave of protests and, even worst, how can a soccer stadium full of people sing a choir saying bad words to our National President?

Well, let’s put it straight: Brazilians are not, by any ways, opposing to the World Cup. If you see the news, visitors from overseas are being received with arms wide open; our people sings our National Anthem “a capela”, in a clear demonstration of our support to our national team.

However, the World Cup is working as a last drop on the glass. What is happening right now, is not about building stadiums or spending money to promote the world cup. It’s much more deeper than that. Indeed, it is about:

1.  corruption, that has reached outrageously high levels, being institutionalized by the actual national government;
2. the economy being ruined by incompetent ministers and wrong priorities;
3. missing the greatest historical opportunity for taking Brazil onto the “next level” in terms of economic development;
4. a government that only knows how to govern splitting everything between “us and then” – the old “divide to conquer” strategy;
5. billions and billions of dollars being deviated to the “party” in order to make possible to stay ruling the country forever;
6. one of the worst countries in the world in terms of education;
7. one of the worst countries in the world in terms of easiness for doing business;
8. one of the most complicated tax systems in the world, with the highest levels of taxation with the worst possible kind of service (roughly 40% of all the money a regular citizen like myself makes goes to the government and, yet, everybody has to pay for private health, private education, private security, private transportation, private everything!);
9. the successive efforts to control the media and to extinguish press freedom;
10. the defeat of meritocracy. Public positions are ALL occupied by “party’s friends”; illiteracy is glamorized by important leaders of “the Party”;
11. the alignment of Brazil with old and decrepit dictatorial regimes around the world;
12. social policies that are built to keep poor population (in terms not only of money, but also education) always poor, so they can be controlled and they can be always a hostage of the system. This keeps votes flowing in the direction of “the Party”;
13. the feeling that is growing in most of the population that we are perceived as clowns, as if the Party could control everything, could rob as much as they need, could do whatever they want, as if they own this Country;
14. thousands of talented people leaving the country (I must confess I personally got quite close to do it) simply because, despite their love for their homeland, their patience simply ended .

The list could keep going all day long, but I guess it is enough to give you a brief understanding of what we are facing here and the motivations behind what the International press is showing to the world regarding protests, riots and manifestations during the World Cup.

It is not a good thing to say bad words to a National President in a soccer stadium. I must confess I am ashamed of that, as a Brazilian. However, I cannot deny I am proud of the population of my country, who are finally awakening and trying to find ways to take their own destiny into their hands. This is not an easy path to follow. It takes a couple of mistakes to get there. However, what must be understood is that, much worse than what has been done at the opening of the World Cup in Brazil is what has been done to this country in the last years. What is happening is just a manifestation of a population that just cannot take it anymore.

This is not an opinion of someone connected by any ways to political parties or to the political scene in Brazil. I am just a regular citizen, trying to do business honestly and helping to create progress, opportunities, economic value and to make things better. Nevertheless, indeed, is the opinion of someone that, just like most of Brazilian people, also cannot take it anymore.

I hope this helps to clarify some facts behind the scenes! 🙂