Brazil’s President Blames Whites for Crisis
Brazil’s president blamed “white people with blue eyes” for the world economic crisis and said it was wrong that developing countries should pay for mistakes made in richer countries, sparking accusations of racism.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has criticized the European Union and the US for tariffs on products from developing countries and has advocated a bigger say for developing countries in decisions on the world economy, pointed a finger to Western bankers.
“This crisis was caused by the irrational behavior of white people with blue eyes, who thought they knew everything and now show they know nothing,” Lula da Silva said after a meeting with the UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown in the country’s capital of Brasilia.
Lula da Silva’s comments were widely reported in the press drew charges of racism from message boards and CNBC viewers.
When challenged about his claims, Lula said: “I only record what I see in the press. I am not acquainted with a single black banker,” according the Guardian newspaper.
Brown appeared to distance himself from Lula da Silva’s comments, and the UK press reported that Downing Street said the Brazilian President’s remarks were meant “for domestic consumption.”
After the meeting, Brown urged the G20 to back a $100 billion expansion of trade finance to reverse a fall in exports and, with his Brazilian counterpart, called for a global trade agreement.
Leading industrial and developing nations, including Brazil, will attend the G20 summit Brown hosts in London on April 2.
http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/bbdp/brazil-president-blames-white-people-for/401178
Guess who! … “Before the crisis, looked like they knew everything and now know nothing”…
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said this Thursday that the world financial crisis was caused by “white people with blue eyes” and that it´s not fair that african-americans and native-americans pay the price. “It´s a crisis caused by irracional behaviours of white people with blue eyes who, before the crisis, looked like they knew everything and now know nothing”, he affirmed in front of the British prime-minister, Gordon Brown, and the British press –almost all of them with a profile similar to that described by the president.
Questioned by an English reporter, if he was adopting a ideological stance while fighting the crisis, Lula denied and said he was just “stating a fact”. “Since I don´t know any african-american or native-american banker, I can only say (it´s not possible) this part of humankind, who is the biggest victim in the world, pays for a crisis. What we notice, once more, is that the majority of the world poorest populations are its first victims”, he added.
Lula administration makes signs of improving relations with the “quilombolas” (african-americans descendants of runaway slaves)
[05/22/2003]
The main evidence of improving relations are the creation of a Work Group to re-analyze the legal regulation of quilombola (communities of descendants of runaway slaves) lands and the proposal for establishing a specific health infra-structure.
Recent initiatives by the Lula administration present prospects of better relations between the remaining communities of descendantes of runaway slaves and the Brazilian state, and effective respect for their constitutional rights. It is worth highlighting the publication of Decree no/#, on May 13, 2003, which creates a Work Group that will review the clauses contained in Decree # 3.912/01. This decree defines the guidelines for recognition, delimitation, demarcation, titling and real estate registry of the remaining quilombo lands, designating the Palmares Cultural Foundation as the institution responsible for these procedures.
“The Palmares Foundation has no infra-structure, staff or resources for taking care of the quilombola landholding question”, declared Ivo Fonseca, coordinator of the Association of the Quilombola Rural Black Communities of the state of (Aconeruq) and member of the National Coordinating Committee for Articulation of the Rural Quilombola Communities (Conaq). “Since 1993 we have demanded from the government the publication of rules and bylaws for Article 68 and we have proposals on this. But, to gain visibility, the government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso decided to launch Decree # 3.912/01 and pushed our discussion to the side”. Article 68 of the Act of Transitory Constitutional Provisions defines that “definitive ownership is recognized for the remaining members of the communities of quilombos who are occupying their lands, it being the obligation of the state to emit respective tiles for them”.
In proposing the creation of the Work Group, the Lula government defined its position. “Decree 3.912 must be revoked. The original mission of the Palmares Foundation, established by the Constitution of 1988, is to promote culture and not to regulate the landholding situation, which is the duty of the INCRA [National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform]”, declared Minister Matilde Ribeiro, of the recently-created Special Secretary of Policies for the Promotion of Racial Equality (Sepir). According to her, the work done up to now has been very little, given that of the nearly 2,000 quilombola communities existing in Brazil, only 29 have their lands titled.
With the new regulation that will be proposed by the Work Group, the process of recognition and titling of quilombola lands should go back to being done by the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra).
The Work Group
It is expected that by next week the names of the members of the Work Group will be defined; the Group will be formed by one senior representative and one substitute from the Civil House; from the Ministries of Justice, Defense, Education, Work and Employment, Health, Planning, Culture, Environment, Agrarian Development, and from Social Promotion and Assistance; from the Office of the Special State Minister on Food Security and Combat of Hunger; from the General Attorney of the Union; and the Special Secretary for Racial Equality Promotion Policies. Also three senior representatives and substitutes of the descendants of the quilombo communities, to be named by the Special Secretary for Racial Equality Promotion Policies will form part of the Work Group.
Besides reviewing Decree 3.912/01, the Work Group will have to suggest measures for the development of the areas already recognized and titled by the Palmares Foundation and by the INCRA, and for guaranteeing the cultural identity and sustainable development of the quilombola communities. The Work Group has a deadline of 60 days, from the time of its first meeting, to conclude its work, which will be coordinated by the Civil House of the Presidency and by the Special Secretary for Racial Equality Promotion Policies. “While the Work Group is conducting its activities, it will be possible to create forums for debate in order to hear the evaluations of parliamentarians, quilombola representatives, and organizations of civilian society, in such a way as to ensure a synthesis of already existing discussions”.
The Alcântara Military Base
Ivo Fonseca, of the National Coordinating Committee for Articulation of the Quilombola Rural Communities, recalled that the quilombola communities have another reason for commemorating: the initiative of the government in withdrawing from the National Congress the agreement that concedes to the United States the right to use the aerospace military base at Alcântara, in Maranhão. The decision, which still awaits a presidential declaration in order to become official, was announced by the leader of the government in the Chamber of Deputies, Aldo Rebelo (PC do B-SP) on April 24.
If approved, the project would lead to the forced removal of innumerable quilombola families who live in the vicinity of the base to other regions, in order to increase operational infra-structure and for reasons of security. The measure represented a threat to the very survival of the local communities, since their sustenance and cultural identity depend on the environment they occupy.
Despite that, the quilombola question did not get major attention in the discussion over Alcântara. The main resason for withdrawing the accord from the Congress’ agenda, according to the comuniqué of deputy Aldo Rebelo, was the existence of certain regulations, such as the requirement of North American authorization for access to the Alcântara Base by Brazilian military, scientists, and fiscal auditors; and the prohibition of investment of the financial resources obtained from the rent of the Base in the Brazilian space program.
Quilombola Health
The other news in the relation between the quilombolas and the Brazilian state has to do with health assistance to the communities. The Health Ministry, its executive branch – the National Health Foundation (Funasa) – , and the Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) Foundation are discussing the possibility of creating infra-structure for health assistance specifically for the quilombola communities.
The initiative took place after a team from Fiocruz conducted an expedition, in March, to the region of the Lower Amazon, in the state of Pará, where it visited six quilombola communities and verified the very serious health conditions among them. “The most alarming data has to do with malnutrition, which in some cases is similar to the situation of African tribes”, reported Luciano Toledo, one of the directors of Fiocruz in Manaus (AM). A report with the results of the expedition was sent to the Health Ministry, the National Health Foundation, and the National Council on Food Security (CNSA).
Consequently, the six communities were included in the program Fome Zero [Zero Hunger] and the Fiocruz sent emergency medicine to the region. For its part, the Health Ministry initiated discussions on the implementation of a system of health assistance for improving access to and the quality of health services for the quilombola communities. The first meeting on this question took place on April 30, when there was even some speculation of the possibility of creating Special Sanitary Districts, on the model of what already exists for indigenous populations, according to Luciano Toldeo’s report. The discussion is still in its initial phase, but in this first meeting it was already defined that the quilombola communities will get priority treatment from the Health Ministry and that all the quilombos of the Lower Amazon who were affected by dams will be automatically included in the federal government’s Zero Hunger program.
For more information:
To find out more about the remaining communities of quilombos in Brazil, access the site of the Palmares Foundation
Also read the letter sent by quilombolas of Pará, in November of last year, to the then President-elect Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, demanding their constitutional rights.
http://www.socioambiental.org/nsa/detalhe?id=683
“Quilombola” Communities
[11/08/2003]
The agreement signature ceremony to develop job and income generation projects in six “quilombola” communities will be held this Wednesday, August 17th. The event, which will take place at the Petrobras headquarters, will count on the participation of representatives of the Company itself, of the Racial Equality Policy and Promotion Department, of the Ministry of Social Development and Combating Hunger, and of the Brasília University Foundation.
The “quilombola” communities survive from farming and handcraft, maintaining the traditions of the Africans who came to Brazil alive, such as dances, celebrations, the culinary, and toy-making. The agreement is aimed at projects in the tourism, diversified agricultural production, fish farming, horticulture, and ceramics areas.
http://www2.petrobras.com.br/ResponsabilidadeSocial/ingles/social/08_11_2005.asp
http://www.cpisp.org.br/comunidades/html/i_brasil.html
Please, read the text above as the following:
“Another national crisis was caused by someone who really knows everything about business.” (The inside story of a Brazilian Banker) To be translated by a volunteer!
http://www.brasildefato.com.br/v01/agencia/nacional/o-banqueiro-por-tras-da-republica
Citigroup Fires CVC/Opportunity Manager Dantas
Preview:
Citigroup Inc., the world’s largest bank, fired Brazilian money manager Daniel Dantas after years of feuding with shareholders in companies controlled by the $651 million private equity fund he ran. Dantas, a 50-year-old Rio de Janeiro-based banker, was courted by Citigroup in 1997 after he helped lure millions of dollars to Brazil’s banking, iron ore and other industries. The bank put up the money and contracted with Dantas through his CVC/Opportunity Equity Partners Ltd. to manage the fund and the companies it bought.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Michael Smith in Rio de Janeiro at mssmith@bloomberg.net
Elzio Barreto in Sao Paulo at ebarreto@Bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Laura Zelenko in New York at lzelenko@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: March 10, 2005
http://www.lavca.org/lavca/allpress.nsf/pages/1285
Good post!