Bush must confront brazen Brazilians BY JAMES K. GLASSMAN

[EC]

This piece was in our local paper yesterday, and it's been bothering me since. Now today it's in the Sun-Times and it still bothers me, help me figure out why...I think it's because of his description of a prosperous economy in South America (as he sees it) compared to what we see on the news and read, is what they (the non-workers)want our America to look like, a very robust (stock and investment)economy, while the workers live in poverty - without much of a way out...

http://www.suntimes.com/output/otherviews/cst-edt-ref04x.html

<snip>

Latin America has been enjoying good times, with stock markets hitting record highs. But there have been severe problems as well. Democratic reformers are struggling, and Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, a Castro with oil, has been making trouble.

As Roger Noriega, former assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs and now a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, points out, ''Differences over President Bush's foreign policy -- exploited by Chavez's aggressive international campaign -- have damaged the U.S. image in a region that has traditionally liked and admired the United States.''

But Brazil is the key. It is Latin America's powerhouse, the largest country in the region by far, with a population of 186 million (the size of Mexico, Argentina and Colombia combined) and a gross domestic product ranked 11th in the world.

While much of Brazil is desperately poor, the country has many characteristics of a thriving, modern society, including low birthrates, a relatively small agricultural sector, strong economic growth and burgeoning high technology. Brazil's Embraer is a top global producer of regional jets, with shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange

<snip>

[Bob3]

1. Typical RW mush the Casto with Oil comment about Chavez

It completely ignores that Chavez has survived a coup attempt and won the last several elections. And his glossing over the poverty in Brazil. His positive points are that companies are listed on the NYSE and that not a lot people farm. Sound like paradise. If you're rich that is.

[ET Awful]

4. Chavez has been reelected with more open elections than Bush has.

The elections occurred with fewer complaints of voter suppression and the like.

Chavez is a more honestly elected official than Bush ever was, let alone Castro.

[Sandpiper]

2. Mr. Glassman's ignorance drips off the page

"A relatively small agricultural sector"

Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer and has the world's largest commercial cattle herd.



And as with most Latin American countries, economic prosperity is generally confined to a small number of wealthy elites. But the people in the Favelas don't count, do they Mr. Glassman?

[EC]

3. That's what I got out of it too,

that no one counts unless they ARE the elite...

[bemildred]

5. Noriega has done enough damage as it is.

We don't need more of his propaganda.

[Say_What]

6. "Brazil has been blackmailing global drug companies..."

That is total bullsh*t!! Brazil's constitution "right to life" article states that in a medical emergency they can clone drugs (regardless of patents) and this is exactly what they did when AIDS was running rampant in their country. It was too expensive to buy the drugs so they cloned them. The pharmas are whining that they couldn't f*ck Brazil like they did Africa where AIDS is now completely out of hand. Here's something from PBS about Brazil's response to AIDS.

<clips>



In the mid-nineties, the World Bank estimated 1.2 million Brazilians would be infected with HIV by the year 2000. Today, the number of those estimated to be infected with the virus is half that amount.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/aids/brazil/