Rio Gringa

TEDx Brazil

You're probably familiar with TED Talks, but did you know they're now international, with independent events held worldwide? There was recently a TED Talk in Rio (TEDx Rio), and there was another one held last year, also in Rio, called TEDx Sudeste. There have also been talks in São Paulo, Manaus and Porto Alegre. Here are some highlights from both Rio talks.

Vik Muniz

 

Rodrigo Pimentel

 

Pedro Franceschi - One of the world's youngest hackers

 

More videos - TEDx Sudeste 2010

2011 videos after the jump.

Inflation and Demand in Brazil

I've written about consumer debt and the high cost of living in Brazil before, and it's popping up in the news again as prices rice higher and Brazilians continue to spend. Despite the fact that São Paulo is still the financial hub of the country, Rio is on the rise as a business destination, and with new businesses in town, costs are increasing even more.

The Financial Times reported this week that the cost of office rental space has drastically increased in Rio de Janeiro, and is now more expensive than in New York, Paris, and Milan. Rio office rental prices increased 47 percent in 2010, and now cost $1,321 per square meter, compared to $1,260 per square meter in Midtown Manhattan. The FT also published a story this week warning that Brazil is showing similar signs to the US before the crash, and that there are signs of a potential subprime crisis. Between inflation, credit growth, high consumer debt, and poor consumer credit protection, some economists believe Brazil's credit bubble could burst if there is any blip in the economy, be it a slower growth rate or a decrease in employment.

Meanwhile, inflation is increasing, a cause for concern for some. Inflation in 2011 has hit the poor and middle class in particular, hitting the highest rate for middle income earners in eight years. Inflation has made food more expensive, putting a strain on low income families but also worrying business leaders, who fear consumers spending more at the supermarket will spend less on larger purchases. Speaking of food, Estadão recently reported that Rio de Janeiro is the most expensive city in Brazil for eating out in restaurants, with an average cost of R$26.57 for a meal (including a main course, non-alcoholic beverage, dessert, and coffee).

With a larger pool of consumers buying products like washing machines, air conditioners, TVs, and computers, energy use per capita is increasing and infrastructure deficiencies are becoming more apparent. There was a major blackout across the Northeast a few weeks ago, and blackouts have hit Rio and São Paulo several times recently during the hottest summer months. While occasional summer blackouts have been a reality for years, the government is grappling with how to tackle energy issues as more and more Brazilians "enter the grid" or require more and more electricity.

Inflation and taxes continue to keep the cost of living and consumer goods extremely high in Brazil, but sometimes, there are other elements at play. While inflation is always a worry, I believe that in certain, specific situations, prices may not only come from larger macroeconomic forces but from a simpler concept: demand. Brazilians, like Americans, are opportunists, and savvy businesspeople know how to take advantage of higher demand. It's a bit like Carnival: with Brazilians on vacation and lots of tourists in town, Rio's prices skyrocket, especially for accomodations but also in other areas. Businesses know they can change the prices without question, since it's high season. So the same idea can apply to a booming economy. More multinationals flocking to Rio and need offices? Jack up the prices! More jobs, so more office workers eating out for lunch? Charge more! Where there's demand, there's opportunity, and when people are willing to pay, the only thing to lose is potential revenue. However, lack of competition goes hand in hand with demand, and only makes it easier to manipulate prices, which is a whole other concept worth investigating, especially in sectors like telecommunications and internet services.

In Rio, though, pricing can take on a whole other dimension. Sometimes, prices are used as a deliberate barrier to keep people out, like expensive covers at nightclubs or membership fees at ritzy gyms. In the same vein, prices sometimes are meant to reflect quality: the more you paid for something, the higher its perceived worth, even if the actual quality is not terribly different from a nearly identical, cheaper item or service. Value is attributed to having the ability to pay high prices, and social position and ascension derive in part from the willingness and pride to shell out the big bucks. While people are more than willing to spend less on certain overpriced items - say, on computers and iPods while on vacation in the US - having the ability to travel denotes financial resources and the willingness to pay in some capacity. I'd say this idea of higher pricing is more true of consumer goods, vacations, dining, and leisure than of basic living costs, like rent or groceries, and that this idea is based on my own observation and speculation. But it seems to me that in Rio, if you want to attract a certain type of consumer for a certain type of purchase, just sometimes, a slightly higher price may work more in your favor - especially now, with a growing middle class and a booming economy.

Haitians in the Amazon

Last week, a curious story appeared in the Brazilian media about a displaced group of people in the Amazon, specifically in Tabatinga, a frontier town on the border with Peru and Colombia. But they weren't from an indigenous tribe, or migrant workers from the Northeast. They're Haitian immigrants, who have paid between US$2,500 and $3,500 for a long journey to Brazil in the hopes they can get jobs to send money back home to their families.

The trek begins in Haiti, where would-be migrants take a bus to the Dominican Republic, where they pay a free to an agency that promises them work in Brazil. From Santo Domingo, they fly to Panama City, and then take another flight to Quito, Ecuador. From there, they take a bus to Lima, Peru, and then yet another bus to Iquitos, in the Peruvian Amazon. They then take a boat to Tabatinga, which they hope to use a springboard to Manaus or even further to major cities like São Paulo.

But the Haitian immigrants face major obstacles once they even reach Brazil. Recently, the Brazilian government announced that it would no longer grant refugee visas to Haitians, claiming they don't fit the profile for this particular visa (persecution due to race, religion, politics, or human rights violations). This means that the Haitians run the risk of being deported.

According to the Federal Police, 294 Haitians have entered Brazil since January 2010, but apparently the visa issue will affect more than 300 Haitians currently living in Tabatinga, and that closer to 475 Haitians entered Brazil through the Amazon port in 2010. Meanwhile, local sources estimate up to 600 Haitians are currently living in Tabatinga. While the federal government has expressed concern about the dispossessed foreigners, it's also very considered about public health risks, specifically cholera.

 

The immigrants live in squalid conditions, with barely enough to eat. While the local Church and Catholic leaders are helping the migrants, they are forced to share tiny, leaky shacks. Some manage to eke out a living selling popsicles or working in construction. Some aren't even that lucky, and end up begging for food. The language barrier is yet another problem, since few speak Portuguese. Many hope to head to Manaus, where there are more jobs, but saving up R$170 for the ticket is difficult.

 There are a number of reasons immigrants claim to have decided to go to Brazil. They hope to find jobs because of the strong economy, and ruled out closer countries like Peru due to poor economic conditions, Colombia due to violence, and Ecuador due to racism. Some have dreams of becoming soccer players. Some have gotten lucky and managed to get a work visa, and enough money to get to Manaus, where they hope to earn money to go home again. But others aren't so lucky. One immigrant, a photographer from Port-au-Princem told Globo that he was expecting a child, so he sold all of his photography equipment to pay for the trip to Brazil. He now lives in Tabatinga, where he shares a six square meter room with seven other immigrants that costs R$150 a month to rent. He doesn't know how his family is doing at home, since he doesn't have enough to call.

Haitians in Tabatinga claim to have been welcomed by the locals, and to have been treated much better than in other countries on their journey. Some locals have been frustrated by the Haitians asking for low wages, which in turn force locals to accept lower wages, but some have helped the newcomers to negotiate the right prices. But now, many Haitians in Tabatinga are stuck in limbo, and depend on the kindness of local Brazilians to get by. The National Immigration Council, part of the Brazilian Department of Labor, will ultimately determine the fates of the Haitians so far from home.

Waste Land Updates

The Oscars are next week, and as it turns out, one of the Brazilian stars of Waste Land, Tião, will be attending the ceremony with Vik Muniz after all. Vik discussed this and the film Waste Land on WYNC this week. Have a listen here:

Speaking of Tião, here's a recent interview with him talking about recycling in Brazil and the movie (in Portuguese):

 

Also, it was reported today that Jardim Gramacho, the landfill where the film takes place, will actually close by the end of this year, which I think is sooner than expected. It's unclear what will happen to the 5,000 catadores working there; supposedly, they will be compensated with unemployment insurance, but the city government is also buying four trucks for the trackpickers collectives and funding is being set aside for the workers. A reported R$2 million is being invested, in part to allegedly give the catadores a new job. In the meantime, the government also plans to exploit gas from the landfill, which may not be an area they can train the catadores to work in. On the upside, local industry leaders are now interested in the business potential for recycling, and recently visited the cooperatives to discuss opportunities.

Operation Guillotine

Last week, there was a massive police operation in Rio to arrest nearly 40 police officers in public officials to purge the city's public security forces of corruption. It was one of the largest operations of its kind in Carioca history, led by Jose Beltrame, the state security chief. Nicknamed Operation Guillotine, the suspects were accused colluding with drug traffickers, protecting illegal gambling operations, being part of militia groups, and taking bribes.

 

One of the highest profile arrests was that of Carlos de Oliveira, a former civil police commander fired in 2010 who was most recently working for the city government for a department called the Special Secretary of Public Order. It turns out that he had turned his cabinet into his own personal mafia, and he's accused of running a milicia, arms trafficking, and charging drug lords R$100,000 a pop for information about police operations. Though the arrests took place on Friday, it looks like there are still more operations taking place: on Sunday night, the Civil Police chief shut down an entire police station from the Draco unit, responsible for investigating organized crime.

The sweep comes as city officials boost security measures as the Olympics and World Cup draw closer, which also includes establishing police pacification units in favelas around the city. Whether it's só para inglês ver is up for debate, but some seem hopeful; over at Rio Real blog, the analysis was positive, and writer Julia commented that "nothing seems impossible now, not even reducing police corruption."

Cariocas, though, are cautious when it comes to matters like these, and with good reason. The question now is, what happens to those arrested? Will they actually go to jail? If in jail, will they be isolated to the point that they can no longer run operations from their cells? Or, will they wind up with little to no jail time, returning home to rejoin militias and collude with drug traffickers again? Or worse yet, will they end up working for the government again? There's unfortunately more than one precedent for the last scenario. Corruption is incredibly difficult to root out, especially in a place where it goes all the way to the top. You do have to start somewhere, so it's definitely an encouraging sign. But impunity goes hand in hand with corruption, and unless the suspects are sufficiently brought to justice, there's reason for skepticism.

Don't Hate on Me Argentina

Some will say that the contentious relationship between Brazil and Argentina is all about soccer rivalries. That certainly plays a role - try asking a Brazilian who's the best soccer player of all time, and then ask an Argentine. And even though there's often a begrudging respect for the other country's star players, it's not often admitted. On both sides of the border, there are often mean-spirited jokes and even open hostility in regards to the other country. On the Argentine side, the antagonism sometimes takes a racist tone. But soccer is one of the more obvious components of a very complicated relationship, one that actually goes back hundreds of years and has reached a turning point as Brazil continues to rise and Argentina continues to struggle.

Here's a very brief background on their history. Argentina and Brazil have actually gone to war, both against each other and united. They fought each other in the Cisplatine War from 1825 to 1828. Brazil lost an entire territory it had annexed, which later became the country of Uruguay. But Argentina and Brazil fought together with Uruguay in the War of the Triple Alliance against Paraguay from 1864 to 1870, and won; the death toll in Paraguay was estimated between 300,000 and 525,000. While both economies grew at the beginning of the 20th century, Argentina enjoyed a golden age; in the 1920s, it was the wealthiest country per capita in Latin America and was amongst the top ten wealthiest countries in the world. That changed after the Great Depression, and both countries shared some similar struggles in the following decades, including populist leaders, military dictatorships, debt, and inflation, amongst other things. In 2001, Argentina's economy crashed, and while things have stabilized, the economy still has not quite recovered, while Brazil's economy booms. Despite all this, the stereotypical Argentine "attitude" is that Argentina is still the most superior country in Latin America, and despite economic hardships, they're still the best -- even better than Brazil.

It must be hard then to deal with some very difficult realities in recent months. President Dilma made her first international visit in office to Argentina, which underscores the importance of the two countries' relationship but also of its power parity. Dilma and Cristina Kirchner signed bilateral agreements, including a nuclear agreement and an agreement to build two hydroelectric plants on the border. While both countries do a large amount of trade, Argentina is more dependent on Brazil. Argentina is Brazil's #3 trading partner after China and the US, while Brazil is Argentina's #1 trading partner. Plus, Argentina's trade deficit is large and growing; Brazilian exports are on the rise while Argentine exports are shrinking. Some Argentine sectors are especially dependent on the Brazilian market, like the auto industry, which exports 85 percent of locally-produced cars to Brazil.

But it gets worse - to add insult to injury, Brazil will actually start printing Argentine money. Brazil is expected to create 16 billion pesos for its neighbor this year, as Argentina again fights an old enemy: soaring inflation, which is hurting the country's poorest. And if that wasn't enough, President Obama has decided to skip Argentina during his brief upcoming Latin American tour, his first ever in the region. This has caused quite a stir, as spurned politicians and diplomats called the decision "unfair." In short, Argentina is essentially living in Brazil's shadow, which looms bigger every day.

And there's that final component that will forever drive a wedge between the two countries: culture. So sure, southern Brazil is in many ways similar to parts of Argentina, what with the gauchos and descendants of German and Italian immigrants. There's the mutual love of barbecue and red meat, of soccer and beer, and close-knit families. But you can't underestimate the influence of the original colonizers and how different it has made both cultures, and how their histories have been shaped apart, despite bordering one another. One of the main elements is the lack of African influences in Argentine culture, and the belief that Argentina is far more European than any Latin American country, as well as the racial implications of considering itself one of the region's "whitest" countries. When living in Buenos Aires, I had the sense that while parts of the culture were considered uniquely Argentine, a lot of the culture seemed to be an adoration or imitiation of European culture, while Brazil has such an eclectic mishmash of cultures from all over the world. While Argentina is very culturally insular, Brazil is wide open, like a blank canvas.

I'm not sure what conclusions to draw here, but one thing is for sure: Argentines will have to learn to get along better with Brazilians, and to better understand them. Apparently, the economic and political future of their country depends on it.

Carlos Saldanha Talks Rio

I'm on a movie kick this week, partially because I haven't been motivated to work on some of the other draft posts I have waiting, including one on recent hate crimes and another about Argentina. So movies it is!

Carlos Saldanha, the Carioca creator of Rio: The Movie, recently appeared on Fantastico, a Brazilian news program, to discuss the new film:

For the non-Portuguese speakers, Saldanha explained he wanted to share what it's like to visit Brazil for the first time, to experience the colors, music, diversity, and natural beauty. "The mixtures and contrasts that Brazil has," he said, "are hard to find elsewhere in the world." To bring Rio to life on screen, he brought a team to Brazil and gave them a Rio crash course, visiting different parts of the city and even performing with a samba school. He got Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown to do the music, along with Will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas, who loves Brazil.

Saldanha went on to explain that there's only been one other animated film about Brazil, made decades ago by Disney, and he wanted to make a new film that showed Brazil from a Brazilian point of view. He also said something that of course, I loved: "You have to have a bit of a foreigner's perspective. Sometimes, you forget the good things, but you have to make the most of Rio and to fall in love with the city to be able to better care for it and make it the way it should be."

The world premiere of the movie will be in Rio de Janeiro on March 22nd with the full cast, and the Brazil release is on April 8th. The US release is April 15th, and it can't come soon enough!