BRAZIL - ABOVE OF THE SOCCER AND OF THE SAMBA

Em 2006 participando de um curso de DWP em Arusha, na Tanzânia, alguns colegas dinamarqueses perguntavam muito sobre o Brasil, sempre relacionando a futebol e samba, além das invariáveis "mulheres peladas na praia"...
Havia também um outro brasileiro na cidade, um idiota, que falava apenas da corrupção dos políticos, da seca nordestina, do tráfico de drogas no Rio de Janeiro e outras mazelas conhecidos do Brasil.
Para dirimir dúvidas e diminuir os preconceitos, redigimos este texto e entregamos a todos do curso:

BRASIL


ABOVE OF THE SOCCER AND OF THE SAMBA
By Geraldo Antón

Of course, telling by what is often spoken about BRAZIL by outsiders, one quickly thinks of Samba and Soccer. Samba is an important cultural expression for the Brazilian and soccer is the sport more practiced in the country. But it is not just that.
BRAZIL is the 12th economy of the world, with 200 million inhabitants, all Portuguese speakers.
Brazil has the 3 large Universities of Latin America (UNICAMP, USP and UNB) and they are producing hundreds of Master's Degrees and Doctorates annually, in Portuguese.
EMBRAPA (Brazilian Company of Agricultural Research) is recognized in the scientists’ world as the largest and better company dealing with agricultural researches of the world.
São Paulo, the largest city of Brazil and in Latin America has 15 million inhabitants. This means that, in comparative terms, the city of São Paulo, alone, shelters 3 times more people than Denmark (5 million inhabitants) and almost the same population with Mozambique (19 million).
Brazil has an area of 8.500.000 km2, being the 5th largest country in the world in terms of size. This compares to almost 200 Dinamarcas [Denmarks] or 11 Mocambiques.
BRAZIL has 138 Channel of Television, 1365 radios AM and 296 radios FM. They are 50 million lines of fixed telephones and about 60 million cellular telephones. BRAZIL has 20 million Internet’s users, 4.136 airports and the largest amount of commercial airplanes in the Southern Hemisphere.
PETROBRAS is the largest petroferous company in the Western world and BRAZIL is the only country, out of the Persian Golf, that is self-sufficient in Petroleum in the whole planet.
The DOCEVALE is the largest explorer of natural gas in the world. The world know-how in exploration of petroleum in marine platforms belongs to Brazil.
BRAZIL has the bigger river and the bigger forest of the world(Rio Amazonas and Floresta Amazônica). BRAZIL is a country in expansion, with perhaps the most hard working, honest and happy people.
The rest is folklore.

Geraldo Antón is Academical Professor in Brazil
and Development Worker in Afrika.