Brazil and Politics

[Bueller]

I haven't read BP's posts below, but can guess more or less what he wrote based on past posts. He has posted in the past that when he first stepped off the plane in Brazil, he felt like Brazil was the culture into which he should have been born. That, and the beautiful women, were his impetus for learning the language as quickly as he did, and for looking for a wife there.

 A major aspect of the culture of Brazil is that it is somewhat isolated culturally and politically from the rest of Latin America, and from the United States. This is probably due to the language they speak, and to the massive population of Brazil, which gives it a political clout that other LA countries do not have. Brazil has elected a Marxist as president, because that is what most of them wanted; we have elected Bush, because that is what what most of us wanted (please indulge me in this; I waited four dang years to be able to say it). As in the U.S., the media of Brazil hates Bush; but unlike the U.S., there is no opposing voice, except for www.midiasemmascara.org . I have had many, many conversations with Brazilians that left me shaking my head at what I perceived as their ignorance and misinformation and the sorry, one-sided state of their media. But I had to remind myself, they only have one source, and their source hates Bush as much as ours does, only our news monopoly has been broken by alternative media, so we who disagree know how full of it the "pros" can be.

 Anyway, if you get involved with a brasileira, be prepared for this. This is just fine with BP, because it fits with his worldview. It may not fit with yours. Colombia, on the other hand, seems to be a generally pro-U.S. country (I'm not sure why; as my neighbor's bumper sticker says, "Drugs are bad. The war on drugs is WORSE)". So take this into account. Unless you are taking the "Just gimme a wife and let's get the hell out of here" approach, you will be having a lot of contact in your life with a foreign culture; ideally, your wife's culture should be one you can identify with.

[Avispa]

... in response to Brazil and Politics, posted by Bueller on Jul 7, 2005

Very true. I've met quite a few Brazilians here in the US. Every single one hates Bush. And I get the impression there is not a lot of love lost for the US either. They view this country as a place to work and make money to send home, period. They could just as well be in Japan, Portugal, or Kazahstan.

Unfortunately, this viewpoint may be spreading to Colombia. My last trip I ran into a few leftwing Latinas. One woman told me, "Bush is a terrorist. He just wants to kill everyone in the world." Guess what? She had gone to school in France! Anjother one told me, "9-11 wouldn't have happened if Gore had won", I explained that the 9-11 plot had been placed in motion before Bush's inauguration, and that Al Qaeda had already attacked the WTC already in 93. She flatly denied that there was an attack before 9-11-01. The conversation kind of petered out after that.

The problem is that the left dominates higher education throughout Latin America, just as it does here.

The moral of the story is, have these conversations earlier rather than later in the relationship.

[Heat]

... in response to Brazil and Politics, posted by Bueller on Jul 7, 2005

Excellent post!

The reason that Colombian are more Pro American is that they see we are really helping them fight the terrorists who have destroyed their country.  We help them with money and advisor's.  When you yourself have suffer terrorism you are more sympathetic to others who have also.

I remember during the Iraq war when the people torn down the statue of Hussein.  People I didn't even know gave me a thumbs up and a "Bush"

It made me feel proud.

[Bueller]

... in response to Re: Brazil and Politics, posted by Heat on Jul 8, 2005

"I remember during the Iraq war when the people torn down the statue of Hussein. People I didn't even know gave me a thumbs up and a 'Bush'"

 Ha. Lucky guy. I never got that once. There was about a year there in which almost every time people found out I was American, they would immediately ask, "What do you think about Bush?"-- and it wasn't because they were breathless to tell me how much they liked him, believe me. I always calmly explained my side of things; I certainly couldn't just say, "I like him," and leave it at that; that would be tantamount to announcing, "I step on puppies!".

 You know, Brazilians are simply lucky they have never been attacked so far-- I say so far, because is anyone not yet aware that the world's entire population is included in the Islamofascists' plans of restoring the ancient caliphate, by any means necessary?  They want to kill all "Infidels"-- anyone who doesn't think like them, anyone who doesn't, for example, insist that women cover themselves from head to toe. And they are not indiscriminate about who they attack: when they bombed that French freighter off Yemen, one of those responsible, when asked why they would attack a vessel belonging to a country that opposes U.S. policy in the Middle East, said, "They're all infidels". The same lack of discretion applied to their takeover of that theater in Moscow, and to their bombing of the Bali nightclub: how dare young people of the opposite sex drink and dance together? And who cares if we piss off a country whose government was decidedly noncooperative with the U.S. up to that point ("We laugh at [terrorism]", Indionesia's Foreign Minister had said.)?

 Brazilians have an infuriating smugness in their neutrality ("We're for peace", I was boasted to countless times; "And we're for a peace worth keeping, I replied). Brazil is probably the country most renowned for the amount of flesh women show at the beach, and it has a porous three-country border area where terrorists are reputed to have training camps. Sooner or later, IF the Islamofascists get their way, they'll go after the Brazilians as well-- we're ALL infidels, and infidels must convert or be killed. The Islamofascists are currently occupied, thank God and George Bush, with Bush's flypaper strategy of engaging them in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[doombug]

... in response to Brazil and Politics, posted by Bueller on Jul 7, 2005

Thank you very much for posting that link!

What a window into a closed world.

[utopiacowboy]

... in response to Brazil and Politics, posted by Bueller on Jul 7, 2005

Good post. I've noticed myself that Colombia is far more pro-US than our neighbor, Mexico. The views of most people that I've met in each country certainly reflect this.

[OkieMan]

... in response to Brazil and Politics, posted by Bueller on Jul 7, 2005

Bueller,

Thank you for those comments.  I have never been to Brazil, and I only had limited knowledge of their politics.
That would certainly be an important point to me, since I am a conservative Republican.  Marxism, communuism, and all those other isms are way off the mark, in my book.  But, I will also make a note that in recent years, there has been very strong inroads of evangelism in Brazil.  I am talking about Christian churches and ministries that would have a  much more conservative message than what you have described as the prevalent culture in Brazil-- and those churches are thriving!  So, I guess there is room for differing opinions within their culture; but I am sure it is a small percentage rather than the norm.  
Based on your experiences, it would seem that you are not that keen on Brazilian women, huh?  Well, thanks for your input.

                        OkieMan

[Bueller]

... in response to Re: Brazil and Politics, posted by OkieMan on Jul 8, 2005

Brazil has the third largest Evangelical population in the world, behind the U.S. and China. Last word I had, about 10,000 people a day were being converted in China, and the Brazilian state of Maranhao was considering/implementing an annual holiday because Evangelicals were in the majority. I wouldn't necessarily equate that with political conservatism, though; I saw movements supporting Marxist social policy, national gun confiscation, and opposition to the Iraq campaign, all within a large, very mainstream church I attended, with the approval of the leadership. If the Brazilian media were my only source of news, I'd hate Bush too. I have a good friend there, someone I consider to be a very sensible and trustworthy person, who spouts the line that Bush is Hitler...oh well. People can disagree with Bush and that is perfectly normal in a democracy, but equating him to Hitler means the person is simply not bothering to get out of his intellectual Barca-Lounger and burn a single thought calorie. With that particular friend, I just said, uh-huh and changed the subject as quickly as possible.

 Another thing I noticed is there is a lot more friction and rancor, a lot less cooperation, among churches in Brazil. FWIW.

[papi]

... in response to Brazil and Politics, posted by Bueller on Jul 7, 2005

It is one thing not to like Bush, but defending or trying to rationalize terrorism is unacceptable. Understand it yes, accept it – never!