The following is a column from BarrieToday community advisory board member Peter Bursztyn about his trip south of the equator. This is Part 7 in a series. To read the others, click on the following: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 and Part 6.
Off the coast of Brazil, around the Tropic of Capricorn, I realized I had been “here” before.
In October 1939, my father, who was a captain in the Polish army, was captured by Russians invading Poland in support of the Nazi invasion, known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. He escaped the Russian POW camp, walked to Warsaw and fled Poland with a counterfeit passport to join a Polish unit under British command in North Africa.
Recently married, my parents made their way to Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), where I was born in 1942. In 1944, they embarked on a long journey to Canada, crossing the south Atlantic from Cape Town to Buenos Aires, up the South American coast to Miami and finally by train to Montreal.
Coincidentally, our recent cruise is tracing my family’s journey from Buenos Aires to Miami. Of course, I remember nothing of this because I was not yet two.
Today, I feel I’m on a pilgrimage following part of a refugee trek to Canada, eight decades ago. Mind you, the Brazil my parents saw was very different from the Brazil I am seeing. Its population is five times larger and its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew about twice as rapidly, making Brazilians wealthier.
In any case, I suspect not many people ever think about Brazil.
But they should.
Brazil is a founding member of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) nations, an organization loosely linking these countries. When the BRIC formed 15 years ago, these were the world’s largest fast-growing economies. (Since then, however, others have joined the BRIC group.)
Brazil has a population of 215 million, which is more than five times that of Canada. In land area, Brazil is larger than the continental United States. Brazil’s largest city, Sao Paulo, has more than 16 million people. Fifteen Brazilian cities number more than one million people. Brazil is huge, to put it lightly.
If people do think about Brazil, it’s probably about the marvellous rainforest wilderness with its myriad species of plants, insects, colourful birds and elusive mammals. But there is far more to Brazil.
While Colombia makes much of its coffee production, Brazil is actually the world’s largest producer and exporter of the world’s favourite “drug.” Some may know Brazil as a major exporter of corned beef (check the next can you buy). Fewer people know that Brazil is also the world’s largest producer of soy beans, sugar cane, and oranges.
It's also among the top five producers of maize (corn), beef poultry and cotton. But agricultural products amount to just 6.5 per cent of Brazil’s GDP.
When America mandated adding ethanol to gasoline in an effort to reduce carbon emissions, Brazil offered to sell them its ethanol. However, the U.S. favoured corn-derived ethanol over Brazil’s cheaper product.
Moreover, Brazilian ethanol production is almost carbon-free. After the sweet juice is pressed out of the cane, the remaining material, known as bagasse, is burned for energy, yielding the energy needed to run the ethanol production facility, plus a surplus adding a substantial amount of carbon-free power into Brazil’s electricity grid.
Brazil’s Embraer is the third largest manufacturer of passenger aircraft after Boeing and Airbus, and is flown by American, Air Canada, Austrian, Jazz, JetBlue, Porter, US Air and many others.
Brazil also exports various ores (nickel, tin, aluminum, manganese), manufactures motor vehicles (world’s eighth largest), chemicals, pulp, steel, precious stones, and many other products.
Walking around a few of Brazil’s very impressive cities, you can see some of their quirky and attractive architecture, huge murals, numerous cafes, and general liveliness of their streets. Most of the urban population lives in tower blocks, creating high-density neighbourhoods.
In North America, such density would create impossible traffic jams, but Brazil provides its people with good public transport. A monthly pass is around $60 Cdn., so the country needs to devote relatively little space for parking. The high-density, walkable neighbourhoods encourage the cafe and restaurant culture, plus small shops, helping to knit communities together.
The clearly visible prosperity hides the poverty in Brazil, according to a conversation had with an officer aboard the ship, who's a Brazilian national. Policies enacted by President Lula da Silva’s first government (2003-11) and his successor Dilma Roussef (2011-16) created a social safety net.
Unfortunately, President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-23) dismantled social supports — and encouraged Amazonian deforestation. Da Silva, who returned to power in 2023, has restored environmental protection and has also promised to rebuild the social safety net.
I found the number of police on the streets a little worrying. This might have been an indicator of high crime rates. Or perhaps the police presence ensures a low crime rate. I never felt even slightly threatened. Also, there seemed to be fewer homeless folk than we see in Barrie.
However, the bottom line is that Brazil appears to be thriving. Its prosperity is not based on a single limited resource, such as petroleum. Brazil’s factories make products which find buyers in export markets and its mineral resources are in demand everywhere.
The “bottom line” is that Brazil’s income is derived from a wide range of activities and resources, making it broad enough to cope with the uncertain future of the world’s economy.
From what I have seen, I feel Brazil is well placed to move up from the status of developing economy into the ranks of middle-income countries.
Peter Bursztyn is a self-proclaimed “recovering scientist” who has a passion for all things based in science and the environment. The now-retired former university academic has taught and carried out research at universities in Africa, Britain and Canada. As a member of BarrieToday’s community advisory board, he also writes a semi-regular column. If you have a question Peter might be able to answer or something you’re curious about, email us at [email protected].
