From Metallurgical to President of Brazil

With elections approaching in the United Kingdom and the preparations in Brazil being in full development, I found it interesting to talk a little bit about the current president of Brazil, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, better known as Lula.

Lula came to power in January 2003, and in December 2010 completes his second term as President of Brazil. Lula was the first Brazilian president from left-wing and he proved that what you want and fight for it, you can get it.

Lula ran for the higher position in the Brazilian politics for years, since 1989 and despite having received numerous critics during his two mandates, he proved to be great when it comes to Public Relations. Although the population have never seen a government with so many corruption scandals as during the Lula government, his image and appreciation remains as high as in the beginning of his mandate.

Luis Inácio Lula da Silva was far from being the best president we ever had, but it was the first after Getúlio Vargas, who managed to talk with the public and make it feel valued. Lula used popular language and behaved as a simple person, making those who voted for him feel that a representative of the people was finally in power. He managed to win the heart of his electorate.

The current president of Brazil has shown that if you know your audience, you can get anywhere, and even not having the best past as a politician he leaves Brasília with one of the highest acceptance in the Brazilian history.

Diplomacy

As a Brazilian citizen and student of Public Relations I have diplomacy as one of the best talents the man can have. Brazilian diplomacy is considered one of the best in the world, and despite being quite elitist it values diversity, something that is rooted in all Brazilian people.

I have chosen to study PR because I believe is through conversation that we solve our problems. I can be seen as a pacifist, but I believe there is no weapon or defence better than words.

Diplomacy should be learned from early age, and applied at all stages of life, whether professional or personal. Today we live in a world of uncertainty and if we could count that people around us would consider their attitudes before taking any decision; the world would certainly be a better place.

All Carnival has its end!!

As they say all Carnival has its end, and this year has finally ended, as did all the debates around the Brazilian party. The girl Julia Lira (discussion of 2010) paraded, not only paraded as wept. Julia cried with the media attention upon her person and only after being caressed by her mother, like any child, was that she managed to recover and sambar.

But why expose a child of 7 years old and crown her as the queen of Viradouro Samba School, the sexiest position of the Brazilian Carnival? Her father, Marco Lira, who is the current president of the school, probably seeing the talent of his daughter dancing, did not think twice about putting her in the spotlight, and maybe get some media attention. Mr. Lira got it right; the name Viradouro was read and heard in all corners of the world. However, I ask myself, what was the reason that made Julia desire to dance in a position occupied by adult women, usually half-naked? Probably the media again.

In Brazil, there is a rule, if you are pretty and famous, you will end up as the queen of some samba school, and Julia, probably seeing this situation wanted to be as famous as such women. She probably dreamed to become a celebrity and her father used the girl's dream to his own benefit.

The whole thing made me wonder if the Brazilians are not reaching a limit, a limit where we expose our women too much, a limit of manners and respect. Is it OK to expose our bodies, just to get the media attention? At any moment, those women feel overused? And further, why the Brazilian people agree with all this? After all are our daughters, wives and sisters being exposed as a piece of meat.

We are a nation, we are the same.

Janete Rocha Pietá, Congresswoman and founder of the Workers' Party (PT) suffers racism by a member of the Ministry of Justice’s staff. When she appeared before the launch of the Bolsa Copa and Bolsa Olímpica, Ms Pieta was barred from the event for being black and dressed in afro style clothes. When she tried to get the pin to access the event, a employee looked at her, up and down and said, "You Mrs, a Congresswoman?? !!!... I never saw you in presidential events.

Even after speaking with a responsible person for the event and have to somehow resolve the situation, Ms Pieta cried. On January 26th, 2010 a Brazilian citizen cried for being "different”, cried for not being part of the Brazilian politicians clan, (white, male and middle class), cried for accept who she is, cried for being proud of her race.

The slavery in Brazil ended in 1888 but not the racial difference. In a country which is said to be blessed by God it is incomprehensible to think that racism still exists.

Since when in a place with so many races and cultures there is room for differences?

For a while I believed racism did not exist in Brazil, I believed that people lived peacefully among themselves. With their differences but treated as equals. However my utopia ended when I moved to Europe and sadly realized that racism is a fact in Brazil. The difference is that this feeling comes accompanied with a joke, a word in the diminutive, and we white people pretend that's okay, that is only a joke, a way to connect us. What we don’t realise is that there is no format of racism, but racism, no matter how it is presented.

Zilda Arns died in Haiti

Zilda Arns, creator of the Pastoral da Criança (Children's Pastoral), died yesterday at the earthquake that hit Haiti. Zilda was in a humanitarian aid in Haiti where she was part of the UN mission of peace. Arns's death represents a great loss for the entire country (Brazil), but especially to Curitiba, where she held several jobs in order to help the community. It is with great sadness that I put this news in my blog.

News from Thailand

The best way to know if a product is a success is to see a fake copy of it. Clearly the financial loss must be enormous, but the brand‘s recognition is certain. The Havaianas sandals are the Brazilian citizen’s flip-flop. There is no person in Brazil, whether poor or rich who do not have a Havainas.
For some time the Brazilian flip-flop became known around the world, making a huge success whether in Europe, Asia or Americas, but to me the story stopped there. Once in Thailand I saw that things are a little different from what I have previously thought, I could not believe the number of fake Havaianas for sale in this place. They are all together, fakes LVs, Tiffany, Gucci and Havaianas. It is great to see a Brazilian company doing so well to the point of being copied. And although I am completely against fake copies, I felt very proud of it. It is great to know that a Brazilian product is as successful as the European’s and American’s!

The Brazilian footprint in Thailand continues with the presence of Caipirinha, and Caiporovska (vodka version) in every corner. It is possible to buy the Brazilian drink anywhere in Phuket, with the same taste as in Brazil. Well done Brazil!

TAM SA buys Pantanal Linhas Areas

TAM buys Pantanal for R$ 13 million (about £4.3 millions)
TAM SA announced on Monday, 21st December that has agreed to buy the small Pantanal Linhas Areas. To be completed the operation must be approved by the National Agency of Civil Aviation.
TAM SA is continually expanding its business. Not only has become the largest airway company in the country as is strongly competing with other international airlines. For the past months, I have had the opportunity to see ads of the company in many British newspapers. It is very gratifying to see a Brazilian company growing as TAM is. Congratulations!