Dear Future Child

Brazil, before we begin...

1. A bit of a cultural background

It can be very hard to empathise with and understand why people act the way they do - without understanding first the environment in which they were conditioned.

So, in order to show some of the key contexts and struggles that still play a role in the decisions of the people in this book (mainly me) and in some ways the country as a whole, I'm going to take a quick step back. Firstly, with a brief history of Brazil and then a quick note on my own upbringing to hopefully shed some light onto my thought processes.

Brazil was officially 'discovered' in the year 1500 by a Portuguese fleet that got lost on its way to India. The country was then colonised, and their Native Indian population essentially tricked and out manoeuvred by these settlers.

By 1532 the Portuguese were settled in the Salvador port where they arrived and with sugar cane plantations becoming more and more important, they also brought in slaves and crowned the Northeast town the capital of the country.

Fast forward 100 years or so and there were other European countries that also tried to get a piece of the pie such as the Dutch and French, but the Portuguese remained and are still the biggest influences we can see.

By the end of the 17th century, the capital was moved to Rio, invasions by other countries were successfully fought off, and gold and emerald mines had been discovered around Minas Gerais and promptly explored and exploited.

The royal family further arrived in 1808 initiating major changes in Rio including developing the city and instilling a focus on arts and universities. By this time, the royal family had children born and raised in Brazil and the king returned to Portugal leaving his 'native' son Pedro II behind to rule.

This status quo of struggles of the majority and oppressed population vs the elite remained until 1822 when Don Pedro II himself declared the country's independence. His granddaughter, Princess Isabel went on to officially abolish slavery in 1888.

The first republic was established in 1889 and disappointing and exploitative but democratically elected governments and presidencies ensued. The country's unrest continued until in 1930 when Getulio Vargas seized the country starting a 15-year military dictatorship that lasted until 1945.

Unspeakable atrocities were committed, and another coup had to be done to get him out of power.

He stepped away for a while and came back in 51' with an actual political platform and campaigned to officially become president. You'd think he'd be booed out right?

Wrong he was voted in! Halfway through his term, he was linked to the assassination attempt of a rival. He faced pressures to resign, and then his reign FINALLY ended when he sadly took his own life.

Brazil's modern democracy then officially finally actually began in 51' with Juscelino Kubitschek arguably the best president we've ever had.

And that's where I want to end this story because in the mid 60's we go on to not learn from our mistakes as a country and elect a vice president that would throw us into yet another crisis and one of the worst periods of dictatorship we ever had.

Even worst atrocities were committed. Barbarities, oppression, and sexism ensued.

Artists had to escape the country for fear of being killed due to opposition. Where in other countries societies sowed the seeds of liberation and acceptance, here the population were being bound and freedom of speech gagged.

Power was not to return to the civil hands until 85'. The president elected was 75 and needed surgery (and you may have guessed where this is going...), he died before he could take power. His VP assumed power and although he did tank the economy, he did instil our constitution to ensure no coups would return and we remain a democracy to this day.

Why this is important:

Search for a brief history of England, or America. Could you fit it into 600 words? NO. Cities and modern civilisation here in England were already being developed in 54 BC!!

Brazil's very recent history of deprivation and survival fights did very much (and still does in my non-qualified opinion) play a major role in key disparities we still have today for example:

- Because of the population's recent history of taking back the country many are still in a fight or flight mode.

- Old beliefs still remain where they have no place to be, sexism and racism were and still are an issue.

- City infrastructures didn't start being put in place until 1532 ish and mass populations in Brazil didn't even have access to education until the late 1800s/early 1900s. 

- I raise this point because we can't consider the rights of mass populations until slavery was abolished and obeyed by the rest of the population.

Sadly, the advent of technology, information and freedom of speech in the country has done little to help those on the fringe who most need it, sadly they remain those with the least access.

Poverty still roams. Import tax thanks to the country's huge independence debt still mean many imports are priced out of the range of average families who work hard and deserve it and lack of financial education means many falls victim to extortionate loans and taxes that will come to bite them anyway.

Many times, getting married ASAP is in still seen as the only way out of a parent's house and some kind of economic power and leverage to allow them to have a home of their own. Misinformation is still king, and misinformed voters still make democratic mistakes to this day - making decisions to elect leaders that will take away their money and or rights thanks to a lack of fundamental education often just for bags of rice.

** Main sources, NYTimes, UOL, English Heritage.