If there’s one thing that irritates me, it’s the arrogance with which some people regard Brazil. This arrogance (let’s not run away from words) can be seen in everyday life, in the way many people treat the largest immigrant community in Portugal and in the prejudices they insist on harboring.
There is, of course, a historical root to this feeling. What is needed, here, is to reckon with the past, to put away on the shelf the Lusotropicalism that persists in some narrow-minded minds and to inaugurate a new era in which we stop looking at Brazil with the tired talk of the “brother country” — an expression loaded with Eurocentrism — and start seeing it as the cultural and cultural thing that it is.
Brazil is not for beginners, Jobim said. It’s the perfect (in)definition. Brazil is intense, it’s crazy, it’s cyclothymic, it’s contradictory… Yes, it’s complex. But, in this immense complexity, in political matters it has a lot to teach Portugal and the world.
First of all, in the robustness that its democracy showed when it was under threat. In less than three years, Brazilian justice investigated, charged, tried and arrested. In Portugal, a case against the former prime minister has been going on for more than 11 years, including corruption, but the trial only began last year and it is almost certain that many crimes will be time-barred.
Firm and exemplary was also the way Brazil stood up to Trump, when he demanded the end of Bolsonaro’s trial. Without success. , headlined the New York Times.
The case against is another paradigmatic situation. The technopopulist refused to comply with Brazilian law, and the Court did not hesitate to suspend X for 39 days. Musk ended up paying the fines and complying. Already, entangled in its infernal bureaucracy, it has been trying to bring order to the platforms for years. Investigations against Musk have been going on since 2022, but only last month one of them resulted in a sum so ridiculous (around 0.02% of his fortune) that it’s not even noticeable.
Now, the historic EU agreement has been signed. Brazil, a fundamental driver, emerged as the big winner. Brazilian agribusiness and industry benefit from this free trade zone. The forecast is for gains of 0.46% in GDP by 2040, with increases in investments and a positive trade balance.
Europe, divided, stunned and without knowing its place in a tripolar world led by the USA, Russia and China, was not cheated because it would have more to lose if it stayed out. He will have to deal with strong internal protests, especially from farmers and sovereignists, but he has no alternative — Trump’s threats helped him fall into the arms of Latin America. Once again, Brazil pushed the envelope, without fear, and won. This is what Europe lacks, and even more so in this atavistic and encysted Portugal at the tip of the continent: firmness and boldness.
PS: This is my first column in Sheet. I demand responsibility and promise rigor, independence and unwavering commitment to democratic values. Thank you for having me aboard this huge aircraft carrier of good journalism!
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