Social Development

Brazil



There is much progress to be had in social development in Brazil.

In Brazil the life expectancy for men is 69 and for women 76 years. This means that the availability of health care and food is worse than in other big countries. Brazil is actually quickly fixing this problem and some estimates show that it will reach an average age of 81 by 2040. Although having worse access to medicine, good food and having other accidents and disasters it is quickly getting better.

The education system is deeply flawed in Brazil. in 1995 The universities got paid twice as much as basic schools and that means that many did not get properly educated. Also illiteracy is widespread. Education however has become very important in the eyes of the families and the government funding is getting better as well. It is good that some progress is going on. This causes a lot of educated people but also a lot of people who dont even graduate. This is a problem with so-called two extremes, meaning that education is either very good or very bad.

Poverty exists in Brazil in big numbers. A good indicator would be the slums already, showing how many people can't afford a better home or food. Some reforms have been implemented to fix the hunger issue and giving out aid to poor people by giving them some money or food. One third of the population is considered poor and 13% extremely poor. Brazil has one of the biggest inequalities in wealth distribution.

Cuba



Cuba's biggest problem is poverty. Thanks to many factors like strict government control, the US embargo, the field in which people work(agriculture) and much more are contributing factors to the poverty of the nation. This means that people don't have money to properly eat, to be able to afford decent housing and the government does not do much to help it. There is a small range between wealthy and poor people in Cuba though. Since food is an issue in Cuba, the government is rationing food as well.

Education in Cuba is actually in a much better situation. The education is free through elementary school to college. Also healthcare is free in the country. That helps many people get educated, but the trouble with that is that even though it is not allowed to leave, the educated manage to often leave the country, so the intelligence goes abroad.

Cuba has one of the better life expectancies in the region thanks to the free healthcare provided. The average life expectancy is 77.6 years, compared to the American 78.1. This shows that the life expectancy, even though the food is scarce, is pretty high. The healthcare system in Cuba seems to be working really well. That also helps a lot with the country's situation by just keeping people alive and well, so they are able to make the place better.

Economy

Brazil



Being in Brazil, the biggest political issue discussed is corruption. The government is corrupt, the policemen are corrupt and all the branches are corrupt. The judical part is especially protected and whilst they have less corrupt people, the ones who are, cant be harmed. This ofcourse does not allow for almost any equality and is very harsh on the people. Also the trust for the government and other big organizations is fading then. This is a very bad thing to have in a country. This is mainly caused by greed...

A big economic issue is that Brazil has a humongous external debt of over 300 billion dollars. This impacts the economic growth of the country as a huge part of growth potential is paid back as interests. It can be a good thing to take loans, but if you do it too much, it hinders your growth. The cause of this is that people have not carefully planned their loans and this is a worldwide problem.


This is a picture of brazilian policemen after arresting a banker for bribery. This is a big issue in the country as it does not follow federal law and thus it is not in the interests of the people and the country. Bribery is a huge issue in especially 3rd world countries. Brazil is working on getting it smaller but it is only babysteps in a huge battle.


This shows a growing trend of external debt in brazil. The situation was the worst in 1999 but it is heading fast towards the same point again. This would hinder the economic growth of the country as explained before.

Here is a link about bribery and this explains more about the issue and why its a problem.
http://www.economist.com/node/15580390?story_id=15580390

Cuba


A big political issue in Cuba is the relationship with USA. This is an international problem. The US has put a blockade on Cuba. The Americans call it embargo, but the Cubans themselves call it a blockade. This problem is actually being discussed and slowly both sides try to solve it. This is a huge step as the two did not speak to eachother for a long time.

Cuban economy was severely damaged after the fall of the USSR. Now though they are recovering by receiving aid from Venezuela, whom they have good relations with. Cuba's biggest foregin income is tourism and they grow a lot of sugar. They are also famous for their cigars. The economy is based mostly on selling raw materials such as nickel and selling sugar. These are not huge sources of income though. Cuba's economy is state controlled and thus is not growing as fast as it could be.



This cartoon explains a lot about the problems with Cuba. America is being very harsh on them and they are hindering their country's growth a lot. They now are contacting eachother which is a step towards progress and maybe finally lifting the embargo. This is bad both economically and politically as US is very powerful in both. This impacts the people's life in Cuba a lot, by not having as many opportunities and so on.


This is a good picture showing the main productions in cuba and also showing where they are grown. As you can see most of the production is agricultural, which nowadays is not the biggest source of income. This impacts the Cuban economy heavily, as they lack the service sector in a big part. Their products are much needed, but they need to "industrialize" more.

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2011/01/13/relations-cuba-hobbled-detention-contractor/
Here is a link to a problem between the two countries. USA and Cuba just dont seem to get to an agreement.

Culture

Brazil



A couple weeks ago I went to Brazil and visited Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia. What a gorgeus place it is. It is so alive with life, music and people.

I met up with Luis and talked about the government a little. I had almost no knowledge about it before, but he told me that it is a federal republic with 26 states. There are 3 branches -  Executive, judical and legislative. The president can also hold office for 4 years + another 4 years if reelected.


This is Brasilia - Where the government resides. The government has a lot of power and is sadly corrupt and thus the country faces some huge problems.

On a much happier note though, I went to visit my old friend in the southern part of the country - Nataniel. We had dinner together and he made a famous Brazilian dish - Feijoada. It is a stew with beans, beef and pork. We also had oranges with the food which made it so, so delicious, I must have had 3 servings...

The food habits vary from region to region and is very dependant on what is locally available. For example next to the sea they have a lot of seafood, in the northern part, root vegetables like cassava are popular. In the south the agriculture is huge and dairy is popular along with beef.

I Was surprised how popular religion is in Brazil. The vast majority is Roman Catholic(74% - 130 mil people) and the Protestant religion makes up 15% with 25 mil people.

Brazil is the biggest Roman Catholic country in the world. It was introduced in the 16th century to the natives and came along with the immigrants from Europe. It had a strong impact and spread quickly. Religion is still an important part today. I asked Nataniel - how important in church here and he said very, all of his friends and relatives go to church every Sunday and live by the moral code.

This is the Sanctuario nacional. The second biggest basilica in the world. This demonstrates that religion plays a large role in their everyday life.

Also how to better show Brasilian life but with a clip about football that also incorporates some of their dance moves, music and massive skill. These are extremely important parts of their life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i5xdwVAt1k

Cuba

After Brazil, I went to Cuba.

Before 1959 Cuba had a very strict dictatorship but nowadays it has a so called democracy. In truth they still have a communist dictatorship and the freedom is like in North Korea - must be approved by the communist party. They dont have a free opposition.

This is Raul Castro - brother of famous Fidel Castro and the current leader of the country.

Cuban cuisine is not one of my favourites. My parents said it was nothing special, sadly I have to agree with them. I ate something called Ropa Vieja with Raul, my buddy, and it was just okay. It was shredded steak in tomato sauce with black beans, yellow rice, plantains and some beer. The beer did not taste awesome either, but I am not a huge fan of beer anyway.


Similar to Brazil, 70% of Cuba is Catholic.
They also have a syncretic belief called Santeria, which is popular in Cuba. This originates from Africa, originally. Cuba is officially atheist but the people are still religious. It is not as predominant as it is elsewhere but it still exists.


Also, a very important part about Cuban culture is the cigars.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8491264/Cuban-cigar-roller-sets-new-world-record.html
Here is a world record video.

Latin America

Brazil
In the beginning of the 1800s a small amount of people migrated to Brazil, but in the end of the 1800s to mid 1900s the immigration shot up by 1000%. After that however, a half of that immigrated to Brazil. There were many natives there before, but also a lot of slaves were moved into Brazil. Also many Europeans came here seeking for a new chance, similar to USA. Long term migration has been mostly in to the country from either Africa as slaves or from Europe.
Now though, Brazilians are moving out of the country, seeking for a better chance at life. They are usually moving to developed countries, such as USA, Canada, Japan and Portugal. Also people from neighbouring countries move into Brazil as many are poor or the situation in the country is bad.

Main causes for emigration is looking for education, healthcare or a less corrupt government.
Immigration is due to same reasons, but it is from neighbouring countries where the situation is even worse.

Immigration has good and bad effects. The positives would definitely be getting new workforce, getting more diverse in culture and giving homes to people.
Emigration also gives the chance for many people who did not have it back home. People often get educated abroad and move back or work for some time and come back with more money, or just send some money home.

There are also negative effects. Immigration is expensive for the government as they have to provide education to people, support them, give them medical aid and so on.
Emigration is also bad because the intelligent often leave the country searching for better opportunities. Also the workforce is leaving and some people live their families behind, so it is much harder for these people.Cuba

People first came to cuba from mainly Spain. They also came from the neighbouring islands, the US, China and so on. Also people from Cuba have immigrated to the US for a long time escaping their dictatorship and trying to get a better life. People at first came to Cuba to get new opportunities and start over.
Nowadays people are migrating to America to find jobs, education, medical care, political refuge and so on.

This has good effects by helping the people. For the country it is bad, but for the people who are leaving, it is often good. They manage to earn money, live longer, get better opportunities and much more. Many also send money back to Cuba that they earned abroad to help their families.

Negative would be that Cuba loses its intelligent and ambitious people.