Brazil

Bird Park, Iguassu. Photo by Freyja Ellis

By Christopher Minster

Brazil is a land of contrasts. Here you will find great wealth and grinding poverty, beautiful beaches and filthy waterways fouled by industrial pollution, honest, open people and some of the most crooked politicians in Latin America. In a country where many of the national heroes are of African heritage – entertainers such as Gilberto Gil or soccer players such as Péle or Ronaldinho – racism is still a huge social problem. The favelas, or slums, of Rio and São Paulo are among the most dangerous in the world. It is as rich in natural resources as any country in the world, yet it cannot seem to escape its status as an underdeveloped nation. “Brazil is the country of tomorrow,” an Argentine friend of mine once told me. “And it always will be.”

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