Exploitation of Brazilians

A Quick Overview

Brazil was colonized by Portugal in the 1500s.  Since colonization began, there have always been problems for people living in the region.  Millions of Native Americans lived in the region, many of which lived along the edge of what is now known as the Amazon Rainforest.  “In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Portuguese began a determined push into the Brazilian interior.”  Brazilians resented this and set forth to gain their own independence, which they eventually did, although there was internal turmoil.  “The first two decades of Brazilian independence were marked by considerable instability.  In the 1830’s, ambitious local politicians and disenchanted military commanders joined forces in a series of bloody rebellions against central authority.” Brazil soon consisted of multiple states, similar to that of the United States; however, states still had their own agendas.  To become a power world nation, Brazil needed to unite and begin to industrialize and become involved in the international market.  During the WWI, Brazil did not join a side until the very end, thus keeping ties open to all aspects of the international industry.  Although they survived WWI, Brazil was not so lucky soon after.  “At the end of the 1920’s, the Great Depression arrived in Brazil. Brazil suffered particularly, due to its dangerous combination of a young and vulnerable industrial sector with a large population of peasant farmers in the Northeast.  Almost two million Northeastern farmers abandoned their drought-stricken fields for favelas elsewhere in Brazil, while unemployment in Brazil’s industrial cities reached almost 30% in two years.”  After suffering from the Great Depression, Brazil began to pull its self out of the hole it had fallen into.  Civil rights movements and “protests from Brazilian liberals and foreign observers” have helped to once again industrialize and modernize.  “Over the past two generations, Brazil had managed the difficult transition from a poor, underpopulated, and unstable colonial hinterland into a rich and well-integrated modern state.”

 **A link to the report quoted above can be found on the “Links & References” page titled “A Short History of Brazil”

Biofuels & Cattle: How they are leading to the end of the Amazon Rain Forest

This video is about Operation Arc of Fire, which is Brazil’s latest effort to crack down on illegal logging in the Amazon forest. Although it is making an impact there is still a lot that needs to be done to prevent deforestation.

Costs and Benefits of Emerald mining and marketing in the mining town of Campos Verde, Brazil.  While there are negative environmental impacts from the mines, modernization and research have revealed positive practices and a cascade of sustainable development effects from the emerald business in Campos Verde and other market towns.