01-03 Brazil

Flying into Rio de Janeiro in 1989 we were warned not to take a cab. Call your hotel and they will pick you up. And if you want to go shopping call the store and they will pick you up.
What a beautiful but dangerous city. The famous Christ the Redeemer statue. The world famous beaches. But outside your hotel, no jewelry, no camera. Scary place with massive crime rates.
The population today is growing and will continue to grow until 2050, when it goes into decline. Half the population is white and of European descent. Spanish, Portuguese, German and Italy. Then there are mixes of native population and black slaves brought into the nation to harvest sugar cane.
During both my visits to Rio de Janeiro and San Paulo, I missed their famous carnival with everyone in costume. But their samba music was featured at the special dinners at the Congresses held in San Paulo.
But dangerous to wander outside the hotel at night. There is no nation that suffers as much as Brazil from income disparities. My Board colleague on the International Small Business Congress lived in a walled home in San Paulo, and had guards with automatic rifles patrolling his property 24 hours a day.
Hard to appreciate the changes in the economy and culture with a nation that at one time was experiencing massive immigration from Europe, and experiencing high birth rates of 6.3 children per female. But only 1.7 today.
Brazil, one of the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) predicted to be future growth leaders. But also a nation that takes down something like 7 billion trees a year in the Amazon Rainforest.
And, if it isn’t samba music that makes the nation bubble, it’s Brazilian football. They have one of the world’s best football teams.
Brazil, to me, is one of the nations that will cope with population changes. If it can focus on better governance, it will be a magnet for immigrants. Lots of room to grow in Brazil