LATIN AMERICA - BRAZIL (12 th May Lesson)

We are about to finish the course, the Latin America topic is one of the lattest...

1. What did I learn?

This presentation is based on the colonization process lived in latin America. It is important to say that the early civilizations took an important role in this process. The first one presented in the Maya. This civilization is one of the most densely populated and culturally dynaminc societies, and among its development are: Written Language of the pre-columbian americas, Monumental Architectual structures, Sophisticated mathematical and astronomical systems. It do exit strong roots from this society. Moreover, the causes known about its collapse, it is attributed to factors scuh as: overpopulation,foreign invasion, environmental disasters, changes in the weather and epidemic diseases. Moving to another civilization group, The Aztecs lived through the 14th, 15th and 16th century in central Mexico. they developed the Nahuatl language which still spoken today in some rural areas. Still remains their customs in Mexico. The Incas, from Peru, they were the largest empire in pre-columbian America. The architecture was very important for this group. They developed the Quechua and Aymara as languages, today, these languages remain the most widespread Amerindian languages. Finally, from Andes come the Muiscas, which is an agrarian and ceramic society belonging to the Andes of the north of South America.

The process of colonization in Latin America, was due to the presence of expeditions from Europe; concentrated first on the central and southern parts of the Americas, the Spanish and Portuguese built large colonial empires in Mexico, and Brazil. That is why Spanish and Portuguese are official languages in the Latin American countries.

On the other hand, the process of Post - Colonialism, was given after the US and French revolutions when most of the latin amercian coutries reached its independency in 1825. However, the influence of Europe and the US still remains in those territories.

Latin American is a region that has been growing degree by degree, for instance, by the end of 1991´s the FDI, was the mayor source of foreign capital in the region, also the liberalization of the regulation of the FDI has helped a lot to the process. As a positive results, we got a increase of the employment opportunity, the productivity and welfare of the economy is seen benefit as well. Despite of thsoe benefits, there are some disadvantages: the FDI can magnify the distortions and misallocate resources in the country, bringing with itself an environmental impact, negative impact on national producers, making them less competitive.

Nowadays most of the countries worldwide experience the human migration process. In the Latin America´s case, it has been closely related to the development of societies, more specifically, to economic, social and political imbalances.

The country chosen for this presentation was Brazil. Some facts:

• Strong portuguese roots.
• Total Area of : 8,511,965 sq km
• Population :191,908,598
• Ethnic Groups:
  white 53.7%,
  mulatto (mixed white and black) 38.5%
  black 6.2%
  other (includes Japanese, Arab, Amerindian) 0.9%
  unspecified 0.7%
  
• Religion:Religion: Roman Catholic (nominal) 73.6%, Protestant 15.4%, Spiritualist 1.3%, Bantu/voodoo 0.3%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.2%, none 7.4% (2000 census).
• Languages: Portuguese (official), Spanish, Italian, German, Japanese, English, and a large number of minor Amazonian languages.
• In the economy, among the agricultural products are:Coffee, Soybeans, Wheat, Rice, Corn, Sugarcane and so on. And the main industries, Textiles, Shoes, Chemicals, Cement and other machinery and equipment.

The most important issue in the presentation is DOING BUSINESS IN BRAZIL. The following aspects must be considered:

•Make appointments at least two weeks in advance. Never try to make imprompt calls at business or government offices
•Must be prepared beforehand.
•Be prepared to commit long term resources (both in time and money) toward establishing strong relationships in Brazil. .
•Never start into business discussions before your host does. Business meetings normally begin with casual 'chatting' first
•Business luch or dinners are very common.

And according to the business behaviour:

• Negociations must be done between peers.
• Visit and company cards should be exchanged.
• Some regions have a casualness about both time and work. However San Paulo is not one of those, and in Rio casual refers to the personal and social events, not business.

About communication:

• Handshaking, often for a long time, is common. Shake hands for hello and goodbye.
  Use eye contact.
  When leaving a small group, be sure to shake hands with everyone present the first encounter.
  In business they address people with (senhor (a)) or by the professional tittle.

2. Question: We have not talked about the Tourism in brazil. So, how is the Tourism Industry in this country?

3. Answer: (the information found, is very important, that is why I did not change any of the content of the article)

First of all, it is important to understand what comprises the Brazil´s Tourism. "Brazil's natural wonders include the Amazon; the wildlife-packed Pantanal wetlands; 8,850 kilometers of superb Atlantic coastline, including 3,200 kilometers of white sand beaches in the Northeast running from São Luís in the north to the Bahia Basin in the south; and the waterfalls at Foz do Iguaçu".

Brazil has one of the world's most spectacularly located cities, Rio de Janeiro, which hosts the annual Mardi Gras Carnaval (Carnival); one of the largest cities, São Paulo; one of the most modernistic, Brasília; and one of the most ecologically advanced, Curitiba. Other popular cities include Salvador, Ouro Prêto, and Manaus.

Traditionally, Brazilian politicians have regarded travel and tourism as elitist and an unnecessary luxury. This view has been changing, however, as politicians have begun to see travel and tourism as a major industry. In the early 1990s, about 6 million jobs were linked to Brazil's travel and tourism industry. The industry is one of the country's biggest employers, involving one in every eleven workers. It contributes an estimated 8 percent to the country's GDP. This figure compares favorably with Latin America's average of 5.1 percent, but it is well below the world average of 10.2 percent.

Since the United Nations-sponsored Rio Earth Summit (Eco-92) in 1992, the Brazilian government has targeted ecotourism as a priority. For example, the government is encouraging foreign investment in tourist facilities in Amazônia. The Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Tourism includes a cabinet-level official in charge of tourism policies. The National Secretary of Tourism and Services, the National Tourism Board, and the state and municipal tourist authorities are responsible for the day-to-day administration of the sector.

The development of tourism in the seven states that make up the impoverished Northeast has received special attention. More than 3 million Brazilian and foreign visitors boosted hotel occupancy in the Northeastern states from 43 percent in 1991 to 67 percent in 1993.

In 1992 some 2,235,000 passengers flew to Brazil, an increase of 14.5 percent from 1991, and the same number flew out of Brazil. About 513,000 of these visitors flew between Argentina and Brazil, and according to Brazil's Civil Aviation Department (Departamento de Aviação Civil--DAC), more than 541,000 passengers flew between the United States and Brazil, an increase of 10.4 percent from 1991. The Brazilian Tourism Agency (Empresa Brasileira de Turismo--Embratur) found that 72.6 percent of those who came to Brazil in 1992 came for tourism; the rest came for business, conferences, and conventions, including Eco-92. In 1993 about 1.6 million foreign visitors traveled to Brazil." http://www.country-studies.com/brazil/tourism.html

SOURCES:

• Latin America´s presentation
• http://www.country-studies.com/brazil/tourism.html