Brazil of all Sports
Brazil of all Sports
Brazil of all Sports
Federative Republic of Brazil
Ministry of Sport
International Advisory
Brasília
2012
Box Cover
Soccer
Candido Portinari (1903-1962)
Oil on canvas; 1935; 97 x 130 cm
Copyright © Joao Candido Portinari
Contents
Book Cover
Futebol
Francisco Rebolo Gonzales (1902-1980)
Oil on canvas; 1936; 86 x 56 cm
Copyright © Rebolo Institute
Private Collection
Image credits
Pages 4/5. Collection Fundação Biblioteca Nacional – Brazil
Page 6. Flu-Memória Collection
Page 7. Museum Casa de Benjamin Constant Collection
Pages 8/9. Army Sport Museum Collection
Page 15. Lenk Family Collection
Page 21. Ayrton Senna Institute Collection
Page 23. Celebrity Tennis Limited Collection
Page 24. Photo: Hermes Bezerra/ GKP Release
Page 26. Flu-Memória Collection
Page 29. Lenk Family Collection
Page 30. Photo: Alexandre Battibugli
Page 89. IBGE
Pages 124/125. Embraer Collection
Opção Brasil, Thinkstock Photos, Getty Images, Gabriel Heusi, Ilustrativa,
Faquini Produção Fotográfica and Ministry of Sport gallery.
I - Brazil of all Sports - Aldo Rebelo ....................................................... 3
II - Brazilian Sport Highlights ........................................................... 16
III - Brazilian Sport Programs - Cássia Damiani ................................. 41
IV - Great numbers of Brazil today ................................................. 115
Ministry of Sport
International Advisory
Esplanada dos Ministérios
Bloco A – CEP: 70054-906 – Brasília DF – Brazil
Telephone: +55 - 61 - 3217-1800 / Fax: +55 - 61 - 3217-1707
Site: www.esporte.gov.br / E-mail: [email protected]
Cataloguing in Publication (CIP)
B823b
Brazil. Ministry of Sport.
Brazil of all Sports / Ministry of Sport. – Brasília :
Ministry of Sport, 2012.
/133p.: il.
ISBN
1. Sports. 2. Brazil. I. Title.
UDC 796(81)
I
Brazil of all Sports
Aldo Rebelo
Minister of Sport
S
port has an ancestral line with divinity and recreation long before acquiring the current primary characteristics of being fitness and competition oriented. In Ancient Greece the Olympic Games were held in honor of Zeus, and some of the sporting
disciplines that today are to be found in the modern Olympic Games
are evolutions of ancient ritual practices that accompany the evolution of mankind. In the early days of what would become Brazil
things were not very different. The Indians, first piece of Brazilian
people’s formative ethnic tripod, followed by white Europeans and
black Africans, already practiced activities that became sports such
as canoeing, swimming, archery, race and, of course, rowing – with
which was established the connection with the Portuguese settler
who arrived in the territory in 1500 paddling a skiff.
Brazil of all Sports
3
Brazil of all Sports
Cavalhadas (Tournaments). Lithography by Thierry Frères, 1839.
Caboclos or civilized indians. Lithography by C. Motte and E. Pierre, 1834.
The development of sports in Brazil followed the imported cultural model of the European elite. At the beginning of the
16th century the priests of Society of Jesus, which constituted the
cultural and religious arm of the Portuguese Crown, were the first
to teach Indian boys who frequented their colleges and churches
games such as the European games of hoops, originating in the
medieval tournaments in which Knights speared rings suspended
in the air. The children’s game was, of course, associated with an
aristocratic sport in Europe; in Brazil this game would become a
rite and entertainment rooted in the population, the “cavalhadas”, a
horse riding parade with civic-religious characteristics, with parades,
processions and competitions. The horse would turn out to be a
working tool also used for recreation and competition.
At that time it was in force in Brazil the ancient aphorism by the
Roman poet Juvenal: “sound mind in a sound body” (mens sana in corpore
sano). According to Mary Del Piore in História do Esporte no Brasil – do
Império aos Dias Atuais (Editora Unesp, 2009)i, the Colony’s aristocracy
reproduced the “art of horsemanship” and the “gentlemen games” of
medieval Europe. However, although the horse was little known among
the Indians, except for tribes who had contact with Spanish colonizers
of neighboring Nations, such as the Guaicurus of Mato Grosso, the
animal was also used by slaves, mainly those from the Gulf of Benin
who rode masterfully animals of Berber and Arab origin.
Gouaycourou cavalry charge. Lithography by C. Motte and E. Pierre, 1834.
4
Brazil of all Sports
5
Brazil of all Sports
This explains the religious, civic and recreational multiplicity
of activities with horses on the cultural functions of the colony and
in the Empire, especially in the “cavalhadas”, where battles between
Moors and Christians assumed sports characteristics in the form of
exhibitions and competitions. Friar Manuel Calado, chronicler of
the Dutch occupation in the Northeast, reveals the “cavalhadas” of
noblemen from Pernambuco accompanied proud horseman. More
than one historian of the War of Tatters (Farroupilhas) registers
General Bento Gonçalves’s taste for “cavalhadas”; this General was
described by Garibaldi as a Centaur by his mount ability. Being a
worldwide trend, horseback riding was introduced in the Stockholm
Olympic Games in 1912. At that time horse racing was already celebrated in Brazil as a sport of great popular interest.
Soon another sporting activity coming from Europe, already
practiced in Brazil in a functional way, won the popular preference:
the regattas originated from River Thames. Still called rowing, it spread
like a fever from the late 19th Century to World War I, during the belle
époque period. Undoubtedly, rowing was the first sporting discipline in
Brazil that concentrated features that together comprise the sport as
The Brazilian shooting team on the site where competitions were held, August 3rd, 1920.
From right to left: the 1st lieutenants Dermeval Peixoto and Mario Maurity, Sebastião Wolf,
Afranio A. da Costa, the first Brazilian Olympic medalist, Guilherme Paraense, Dario Barbosa
and Fernando Soledade.
Photography taken by Alfred Lane, the famous North American shooting champion.
6
fitness, recreation and competition activity. Its dissemination in the
country’s main cities, with a profusion of athletes, clubs and competitions, forged two novelties essential to the development of the sports
universe. Specific organizations aimed at regulating and promoting
the competitions were formed. And a new actor thirsty for fun and
interested appeared: the audience.
It was the era of sport as an instrument of physical shape and
civility improvement. The aristocratic aversion to manual work gives way
to the pursuit of physical strength and endurance, obtained by effort associated with leisure and health. João do Rio, one of the first chroniclers
to write the so called history of private life, wrote in newspapers from Rio
de Janeiro (the capital and main cultural center of Brazil at his time):
“To practice sports in Rio 20 years ago was still an extravagance. Mothers would tear their hairs out when one of her boys arranged a dumbbell.
A boy without a pince-nez, who could not discuss literature with others
and did not attend the academies – was a spoilt man.”
The Republic, proclaimed in 1889 with the decisive support
of men accustomed to physical exercises, the military, introduced
many reforms in the State apparatus and in regulating national society. The Army’s doctrine came from the French Positivist Auguste
Comte; with it came the pioneering
idea of sports as a way to keep the individual strong and healthy to exercise
its role as a citizen. Physical education
was, as still is for many philosophical
currents, a means of developing discipline and enhancing moral qualities. It
fell to a disciple of Comte, Minister of
Public Instruction General Benjamin
Constant of the provisional Government of the Republic, to promote an
Portrait of Benjamin Constant by Décio
Vilares, 1892.
Brazil of all Sports
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Brazil of all Sports
educational reform that would introduce military shaped exercises in
primary schools of the Federal District of Rio de Janeiro. According
to researches made by historian Adalson de Oliveira Nascimento for
Federal University of Minas Gerais, the matter came into the curriculum and from the age of seven students should practice physical
exercises oriented by military instructors.
Physical exercices in the military, c. 1940.
Physical exercices in the military, c. 1940.
Physical exercices in the military, c. 1940.
8
At that time the chronicler João do Rio observed that the
Capital of the Republic lived a time of body worship – mainly in
athletic practices used as spectacle, such as the regattas that led
crowds to beaches. The poet Olavo Bilac encouraged: “Young men,
that’s how the Greeks won in Salamis!” The success of rowing was
followed by swimming, not only as a defense technique against the
betrayals of the sea at a time when the baths were being recommended by doctors, as well as for the physical conditioning. In 1898
the first Brazilian swimming race was held in Rio. In this decade
were organized competitions with the first bicycles – vehicle, sport
(cycling) and word imported from France. Neologism purists tried
to fight the adoption of the word “diciclo” and the oldest insisted
on calling it “velocípede”. Soon after bicycle tracks were created in
Rio and São Paulo.
As recorded by historian Vítor Andrade de Melo in his
work “Corpos, Bicicletas e Automóveis”ii, also included in the book
“História do Esporte no Brasil ”iii, at the end of the century the fights
that excited Europe and the United States, especially boxing, arrived at the port of Rio de Janeiro. Practiced in arenas of circuses,
Brazil of all Sports
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Brazil of all Sports
on the street and later in clubs and other venues, the controversial
sport, admitted to the Olympic Games in St. Louis in 1904, shared
with Roman wrestling the attention of enthusiastic audiences. In
fact, audiences were so enthusiastic that women could be seen
striking each other during fights in the ring.
On the other hand, the police still tried to repress capoeira,
a fight created by slaves performed as a dance or game. Defense
choreography or attack, capoeira inspired fear in pre- and postSlavery Abolition, enacted in 1888. Practiced mainly by slaves or
freed slaves, as deadly as the martial fights of the East, capoeira was
banned in 1890 and its practitioners were subject to imprisonment
and, sometimes, worse punishments. Despite all that chronologists
presented the Consolidator of the Republic, Marshal Floriano Peixoto, as a distinguished capoeira player.
Nothing would compare, however, to the fever introduced by a Brazilian boy, son of a Scotsman and a Brazilian of
English ancestry who had been studying in England, and returned in 1894 with a novelty that would make a cultural revolution in Brazil. Young Charles Miller brought in his luggage two
balls and the soccer rules he had played at his school Banister
Court in Southampton, Hampshire. Miller was, by the standards
of the time, a skilled player and, just like the large British colony
that exploited factories and railroads in Brazil, also practiced
cricket, as stated by his biographer Aidan Hamilton in the book
Um Jogo Inteiramente Diferente! – Futebol: A Maestria Brasileira de
um Legado Britânico (Gryphus, 2001).iv But he became an apostle
of soccer in the new world, spreading it like a missionary embracing the book of rules as a Breviary. On April 14 th, 1895, he
promoted the first match of the unknown sport in a field in São
Paulo. The sport had already been played unpretentiously on
beaches, clubs and colleges, but the match organized by Miller
pioneered by following the rules of the sport that was becoming popular in Europe. In the grass and dirt fields of Brazil the
sport found its perfect habitat.
10
The news spread about a democratic and easy game, with
inexpensive costs unlike the sports practiced by the elite. In the immensity of the flat topography of the national territory, it only took
a dirt field, a narrow strip of beach, with rocks or sticks for the goal
posts, and a ball made of rubber, socks or ox bladder to transform
soccer into a national passion alongside samba.
Associations that were already popular in rowing, such as
Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, of Rio de Janeiro, soon created
soccer departments. No other sport enthused the public so much
as that of the ball played with the feet. Every city wanted their
own club, or more than one, to contend for a championship and
divide the population into groups of fanatical fans. Other sports
practices followed its trajectory, but soccer became dominant.
Yachtsmen exchanged rowing for the ball. Bicycle racing tracks
were used for games. Students of Universidade Mackenzie won
a different ball, of an unknown game called basketball, newly
invented in the United States. Rather than launching it into a basket they set it on the ground and kicked. From the green fields
emerged, in 1910, before the advent of the radio or popular music, the first mass idols such as mulatto Arthur Friedenreich, pioneer of a lineage of unparalleled talent. Until then Brazil played
soccer based on English brochures that taught rules and positions. He expressed what an interpreter of Brazil, the sociologist
Gilberto Freyre, called Dionysian football as opposed to British
Apollonian game. With a new way of playing, based on intuition and improvisation, dribbles, unpredictable movements, individual talent and tactical flexibility, the lineage of Friedenreich
founded the football-art.
If there was still resistance to blacks and mulattoes in a sport
dominated by the white elite, the half-breed Friedenreich – son of
a German trader and a black laundress – who began playing with
an ox bladder, strengthened in the soccer fields two ideas of major
importance offered by sport: racial integration and social mobility.
After him, any kid, even those born without a promising future be-
Brazil of all Sports
11
Brazil of all Sports
cause of poverty or skin color, might aspire to be rich, famous and
national hero. The peak of excellence of this trajectory of numerous protagonists is summarized in a poor black boy who became the
most known person in the world, whom the public still loves and
the kings ask for autograph: Pelé.
It is not necessary to highlight Brazil’s excellence in the
planet’s most popular sport. It is the only country that participated
in the past 19 World Cups, and has a place as host of the 20th edition of the games; Brazil has conquered five world championships
(1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, and 2002) and two vice-championships
(1950, 1998). The mastery of Brazilians in the ball game led the
British historian Eric Hobsbawm to observe in his book Age of
Extremes: “Who, having seen the Brazilian team in its glory days,
will deny soccer’s pretention to the condition of art.”
With a population close to 200 million inhabitants, sixth
world economy and with diverse social strata, it would be natural
for Brazil to continue and develop other sports. Brazilian athletes
have earned titles of best racers at racing tournaments (three: Emerson Fittipaldi, Nélson Piquet and Ayrton Senna won Formula 1),
boxing (Éder Jofre was declared the greatest bantamweight of all
times by the World Boxing Council), tennis (Maria Esther Bueno
was nº 1 in the world in 1959 and 1960, and Gustavo Kuerten in
2000), basketball (male world champion in 1959 and 1963 and female world champion in 1994), swimming (César Cielo is two-time
world champion in 50 m freestyle). The country has also excelled in
international Judo, table tennis and athletics competitions.
Brazil participates in the Olympics since 1920, in Antwerp,
with the single exception of Amsterdam in 1928. However, the country has no important participation on Winter Games, probably for
lack of identity with sports practiced on ice and snow, nonexistent
in this tropical climate. During the Summer Olympic Games Brazil
conquered 20 gold medals, 25 silver medals and 46 bronze medals
– 91 medals in total – ranking in the 37 place in the general country classification. The first three medals were won in the opening, in
12
Antwerp: we won shooting competitions with Guilherme Paraense
conquering the gold medal with the Rapid-Fire Pistol. Despite having won five times the World Cup, Brazil has never been Olympic
champion (twice vice champion). Yachting, which Brazilians worship
since the late nineteenth century, is the sport with more medals: 16,
of which six are gold, featuring yachtsman Robert Scheidt, two-time
Olympic gold medalist in Atlanta (1996) and Athens (2004), as well
as being ten times world champion. A medal that distinguished us, by
reminding us of the beginnings of sports with horses in Brazil was
the one conquered by Rodrigo Pessoa, who won a gold medal in the
men’s jumps, in Athens in 2004. Among team sports, Brazil won two
gold and two silver medals in male volleyball, as well as one gold and
two bronze medals in female volleyball.
Brazil’s participation has grown substantially in Olympic
Games. From 21 male athletes selected to five sporting disciplines in
1920, we have progressed to 277 athletes in 2008, playing 32 sports
in Beijing. Still making a parallel with Antwerp, in Beijing we conquered, besides the three gold medals (women’s long jump, swimming 50 m and women’s volleyball), four silver medals and eight
bronze medals – a total of 15 medals that, as happened in Atlanta,
in 1996, shows our improved participation in Olympic Games.
The presence of women has grown in proportion with
their participation in sports. Only in 1932 in Los Angeles, we had
our first Olympic athlete, swimmer Maria Lenk, after whom was
named a complex in Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games. But
they represented 48% (133 athletes) of the delegation sent to Beijing. In 2008, the jumper Maurren Maggi reached the 7.04 mark
and won the first Olympic gold medal for women’s singles. Judoka
Ketleyn Quadros won a bronze medal in the lightweight class. The
volleyball team won three medals, including the gold in Beijing.
Since the gold medal won by Guilherme Paraense in 1920, the
participation of the country came to prominence with victories that
moved the nation, such as Adhemar Ferreira da Silva’s victory, twice
champion in triple jump in Helsinki (1952) and Melbourne (1956). In
Brazil of all Sports
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Brazil of all Sports
Finland, Adhemar won the unprecedented feat of beating the world
record four times in a competition (16.05m, 16.09m, 16.12m and
16.22m), being awarded a ritual that would be institutionalized in the
games: he was the first athlete to receive the public’s consecration in a
celebration that became known as the Olympic Round.
The Government fosters and encourages sports in Brazil
since the Empire, especially with school curricula of physical education and construction of sports equipment such as the Maracanã,
the largest stadium in the world opened in 1950. Since 1990 businesses related to sports are treated within the sphere of the Cabinet,
first as Secretary of the Presidency of the Republic, and then as an
autonomous Ministry, with the mission to develop the National Policy on Sports, encourage high performance practices, and develop
projects promoting universal and free access for the practice of all
sports for children and adolescents.
From left to right: Zenny de Azevedo (Algodão), world basketball champion; Hilderaldo Luiz Bellini,
world soccer champion; Maria Esther Bueno; Guilherme Paraense; Maria Lenk and Adhemar Ferreira
da Silva. Rio de Janeiro, July 16th, 1959.
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Brazil of all Sports
15
Arthur Friedenreich
A tiger in soccer
C
II
Brazilian Sport
Highlights
an you imagine a player greater than Pelé, as elegant as Di Stéfano
and yet as bohemian as Heleno? It is no exaggeration to say that
the first big Brazilian soccer star became a legend.
Friedenreich – or Fried – was born in 1892, the son of a German immigrant and a black laundress. He was a tall mulatto, with bristly
hair and green eyes, a creative player, with short and quick dribbles and
strong kicks with both feet. He was the biggest idol during soccer’s amateur era, before it became a professional sport in 1933.
During the 1919 South American Championship – now known
as America’s Cup – the attacker scored a goal against Uruguay that won
Brazil’s first important soccer title. The idolatry around Fried was born
then, and he was dubbed “El Tigre” by the Uruguayans.
Because of the championship, he was acclaimed in the streets of
Rio de Janeiro and his soccer shoes were exhibited at a jeweler’s. It was
the first mass manifestation around a player, at a time when soccer was
beginning to be popularized.
Another fact that became legend was the interruption of his career, in 1932. For four months he commanded a division of 800 soldiers
of the São Paulo forces during the Constitutionalist Revolution, leaving
the front as a lieutenant.
Some say that the attacker had scored 1329 goals in only 1239
plays, which would place him as the highest scorer in the world, even
above Pelé. But the documented goals added up to 554 in 561 matches.
Even so, it is an impressive number.
El Tigre played for a number of Brazilian clubs, with a distinguished performance at Paulistano, São Paulo and Flamengo. He ended
his career at 43, in 1935. He died in São Paulo, in 1969
Brazil of all Sports
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Pelé
Emerson Fittipaldi
Arriving first
The eternal King, got it?
W
hen the talk is about Pelé everything is hyperbolic. After all,
what to say about a player who scored 1292 goals in 1367
matches, was able to stop a civil war in the Belgian Congo,
just to see him play in 1969, and was elected the “Athlete of the Century”
in an election promoted by the French newspaper “l´Équipe” ?
Pelé was born as Edson Arantes do Nascimento in the town of
Três Corações in the state of Minas Gerais in 1940, and, since his early
days wanted to become a soccer player like his father, Mr. Dondinho, who
played in clubs in the South of Minas. The nickname appeared when he,
a boy, screamed to the goalkeeper of the club Vasco de São Lourenço,
“hold it Bilé”. The kids understood “Pelé” and the nickname stuck.
He started to play at the age of 11 in the club Atlético Baurú.
Then he went to Vila Belmiro with the promise to become “the best
player in the world”. So spoken and done. The acclaim came in the
World Cup of 1958 in Sweden, when Brazil, for the first time, became
the world champion. He scored six goals! And already in 1961 at the age
of 21 was called “King” by the foreign press.
After that, with the incredible team of 1970, he brought to Brazil the Jules Rimet Cup. He closed his career in 1977 playing for the New
York Cosmos where he presented the football of the Brazilians to the
North Americans, and as always, enchanted everybody.
Pelé even started an adventure in politics when he became Minister of Sport from 1995 to 1996, during the government of Fernando
Henrique Cardoso. In 2000 in the turbulent election for the “Best Player
of the Century” he was acclaimed as the absolute number one, in front
of the Argentine Diego Maradona.
18
Brazilian Sport Highlights
I
f car racing is one of the most popular sports in Brazil today,
much of it is owed to Emerson Fittipaldi. He was the first
Brazilian to win the Indy 500 and the Formula Indy, as well as,
of course, being the first Brazilian Formula 1 champion.
Fittipaldi was born in São Paulo in 1946 and was dedicated
to racing from an early age. After racing karts and being part of
the Willys team in 1967, he became Brazil’s Formula Vee champion. After winning in Formula Ford and England’s Formula 3,
the pilot went to Formula 1 in 1970. He won the United States
Grand Prix racing for Lotus, and two years later he became the
world champion, winning five Grands Prix and accumulating a
total of 61 points against Jackie Steward’s 45 as the runner-up. He
was vice-champion in 1973 and in 1974 he won the world championship for the second time, only this time with McLaren.
In the following year, he was vice-champion with the same
team. He started his own Formula 1 team, but had few results and
the team dissolved in 1980. Four years later, Fittipaldi went back
to racing, only now in Formula Indy and in 1989 he won the Indy
500, becoming the first foreigner to win the title. He won the Indy
500 again in 1993 and retired in 1996.
Brazil of all Sports
19
Nelson Piquet
Ayrton Senna
A tradition of victories
I
t was a difficult mission: to be the best Brazilian driver and maintain the country as a Formula 1 champion. And that´s what he did,
achieving his third championship and going into history as the second Brazilian to win a world championship.
Nelson Piquet Souto Maior was born in Rio de Janeiro, and at
the age of seven goes with his family to Brasília. He starts to race karts
at age 15 and already shows great talent. Studies in three colleges – philosophy, engineering and business administration –, but doesn´t graduate in neither, preferring to follow a career in car racing.
As soon as he started to race, Piquet was pressured by his father, who wanted his son to be a tennis pro and didn´t approve the
career of a driver. At times, the Brazilian raced undercover with a pseudonym. The pilot was a self-made, hands-on mechanic, always improving his performance.
Piquet competed in the Formula 1 from 1978 to 1991. with 204
GPs under his belt, he won 23 times and conquered the world titles of
1981, 1983 and 1987, the first two with Brabham and the last with the
Williams team.
After his last year in the Formula 1, the Brazilian tries to compete in the Indianapolis 500 race of 1992, but suffers a serious crash
during training and doesn´t compete anymore in worldwide car races,
returning to the tracks only in some long duration events (such as the
Brazilian Thousand Miles) and some races in the South American F3.
Nowadays, Piquet manages his son´s career, Nelsinho Piquet,
who follows his father’s steps competing in the Formula 1.
20
Brazilian Sport Highlights
Track hero
I
t was a time when waking up on Sunday morning had a special flavor: the victory theme music, the Brazilian flag waving
in the car, and Ayrton Senna being sprayed champagne high
in the podium.
Senna was born in 1960 in São Paulo and was given his first
kart at four. At eight years of age, he was taking part in a race. After
many victories in kart, Formula Ford and England’s Formula 3, he
went to Formula 1 in 1984 to drive for the Toleman team.
One year later he was driving for Lotus, competing for three
seasons and winning his first Grand Prix. In 1988, he was hired by
McLaren and won his first world championship. In the following
year, he was the vice-champion, after a controversial disqualification
in the Japanese GP; however, he was back to winning in the following two seasons, and three times world champion.
He was a relentless pilot; he visited factories, talked with
the engineers, kept fit and was always disseminating his work. He
used to say that the runner-up was the “first among losers” and
with that philosophy he had 41 wins, 65 pole positions, and 19
best laps in Formula 1. But idols do not live by numbers alone.
Outside the car, the three times Formula 1 champion had charisma
and was kind to the people.
In 1994, the same year he was hired by Williams, his car hit a
security barrier at 190 mph at the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola,
Italy. A few hours later he was declared dead and Brazil lost its idol.
Brazil of all Sports
21
Éder Jofre
Maria Esther Bueno
Tough fighting rooster
H
e pounded with both fists, had great reflexes and was able to
adapt to the style of his adversaries. This was enough to turn
Éder Jofre into the greatest bantamweight in boxing history.
Of the 81 fights in his curriculum, the “Golden Rooster”,
as he became known, won 75 (including 53 knockouts) and only 4
were a draw. An impressive number, which made American magazine “The Ring” point him out as one of the 10 best fighters in
history, placing him side by side with the greatest, such as Sugar Ray
Robinson and Muhammad Ali.
Éder was born in 1936 in São Paulo, the son of Argentinean
“Kid Jofre”, who had been a respectable pugilist and soon passed the
boxing tricks on to his son. Éder competed as an amateur in the 1956
Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia. Two years later, and then a professional, he became the Brazilian champion in his category; and already
in 1960 he won the South American championship and the world title.
He kept the belt until 1965 when he was defeated by Japanese “Fighting” Harada in a controversial result. In a rematch the
following year, Éder was defeated and again contested the jury’s
decision. He abandoned boxing in disappointment.
Four years later, when nobody expected, the “Golden
Rooster” went back to the ring. He competed in another category –
featherweight – and won Cuban José Legra in 1973, winning once
again the world title.
But in 1976, his father – and chief professional mentor – and
his brother died, and Éder, again disillusioned, abandoned boxing for
good. Today, the “Golden Rooster” teaches box at a São Paulo gym.
22
Brazilian Sport Highlights
Tennis Queen
A
bsolute on the courts. One of the biggest tennis players of
all time. Winner of more than 585 titles, including Wimbledon three times, the US Open four times and 19 Grand Slam
tournaments. And as if not enough, she stayed for 10 years in the “top
ten” of tennis and was elected in 2000 as the biggest tennis player of
the Americas.
This is Maria Esther Bueno, a São Paulo native, born in
1939. With the age of 6 she started to play tennis and at age 11 already disputed her first championship. In 1957, at age 18, she wins
her first international title, the Orange Bowl in the U.S. The year
after that, together with Althea Gibson, she wins the female duo
tournament in Wimbledon. One year later becomes the champion
in the Wimbledon and Forest Hills tournaments and is received in
Brazil as a heroess congratulated by president Juscelino Kubitschek,
parading in an open car and receiving ovations by the public
Her style was elegant and gracious, but, at the same time, her
shots were efficient and precise, a specialist in serve and volley, making her surpass limits and acumulate trophies. In 1960 for example,
she conquered the national tournament of Italy, even handicapped
by hepatitis, and a few years later lost a match to Billie Jean King
after playing 10 hours in a row and suffering several injuries.
In 1974, after a long absence, Bueno comes back to the courts
and wins the Japanese Open, at the age of 35. Four years later enters the
Hall of Fame of worldwide tennis.
Brazil of all Sports
23
César Cielo
Gustavo Kuerten
A new hero
Tennis myth
T
all, shaggy hair, incredible backhand drives and lots of charisma. This is Gustavo Kuerten, or “Guga”, who won 20
titles, including three Roland Garros in 1997, 2000 and 2001,
and one Masters Cup – today’s ATP Finals – in 2000, and is chiefly
responsible for the popularization of tennis in Brazil.
He was born in Florianopolis to a middle class family in
1976. He lost his father – with whom he learned to play tennis – at
an early age. At 14, he began playing tennis with coach Larri Passos,
who he would stick with for the next fifteen years.
He made his professional debut in 1996 and in the following
year, won the Roland Garros Grand Slam, in France. From there on,
Guga had immense prestige, and won fans throughout the world.
Between 2000 and 2001 he ranked “number one” in the
world, winning Roland Garros for the third time and many other
tournaments such as the Stuttgart ATP Tour, in Germany, the Master Series in Cincinnati, USA, and the Indianapolis ATP Tour, also
in the United States.
Physical problems led him to undergo the first of two surgeries to the right hip; he had to stand back from the circuit for a
long time, when only three wins stood between him and another
number one title.
He bid farewell to tennis in 2008, playing a few tournaments
which left him good memories. “It is not that I don’t really want to
play anymore, I apologize but I really cannot play any longer”, he said.
24
Brazilian Sport Highlights
W
hen César Cielo begins his ritual before jumping in the pool
– making the sign of the cross, slightly slapping his body
and spitting out a little pool water – only one thing can be
expected: victory. Well, these victories, together with his charisma, attracted Brazil’s attention to swimming again.
Cielo was born in 1987, in the city of Santa Bárbara do Oeste,
in São Paulo. As a child, he practiced judo and volleyball, and at eight,
being a great fan of Gustavo Borges, he began swimming.
In 2006 he went to the United States and broke the South
American 100 meters freestyle record, which belonged to Fernando
Scherer, his manager today. In the 2007 world championship, he came
fourth in the same 100 meters competition, sixth in the 50 meters and
eighth in the 4 x 100.
In the same year, he won three gold medals and one silver
medal in the Rio de Janeiro Pan-American Games. In the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, he won the 50 meters freestyle and took the gold
medal, having also won the 100 meters bronze medal. In the Swimming
World Championship, a year later, he broke the world record winning
the 50 meters and 100 meters freestyle competitions.
In the 2011 Guadalajara Pan-American Games, Cielo won four
golds in the 50 and 100 meters freestyle, in the 4 x 100 meters freestyle
relay-race and the 4 x 100 medley, beating the Pan-American record in
the first three trials.
He is one of Brazil’s highest hopes of gold in the London
Olympic Games.
Brazil of all Sports
25
Guilherme Paraense
Robert Scheidt
Two decades on top
Accurate aim
G
uilherme Paraense’s good aim put him in sporting history
as the first Brazilian to win Olympic gold. And did he suffer to win that gold!
Paraense was born in Belém, Pará, in 1884; he pursued a
military career and made it to lieutenant-colonel in the Army. He
was so in love with sport shooting that he used his own money to go
to the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium. It was a long way
to get there: a 27-day trip on boat and trains through Europe, where
he even starved. When he arrived at his destination, he discovered
that during the trip his equipment had been stolen!
The American delegation was so moved that they let the
Brazilians have some ammunition and a few Colt pistols for the
competition. And Paraense scored 274 points in the “quick-fire”
competition – two more than his American “rival” – thus winning
the Olympic gold. He also won the team bronze medal in the “free
pistol” competition.
In 1922, the Brazilian also won gold in the South American
Athletic Games. Along his career, Paraense won six Brazilian championships as well. He retired in the 1930s.
He died of a heart attack in 1968 in Rio de Janeiro, at 83,
a great national sports hero. Today, the shooting facilities of the
Agulhas Negras Military Academy in Resende, Rio de Janeiro, are
named after him.
26
Brazilian Sport Highlights
H
e is a “medal eater,” and, in the Olympic Games in London, may reach a position as the biggest Brazilian olympic
athlete, surpassing Torben Grael, who also counts with
two gold medals. He comes as a favorite. Again.
Scheidt is the biggest Brazilian skipper and the two olympic
golds, two silvers and 11 world yachting championships (eight in the
Laser class alone and three in the Star class) put him on the top of
the sport in the last two decades.
The skipper is from São Paulo and was born in 1973, youngest of the three children of a couple of German ascendancy. He
started to sail at the age of 9 in the Guarapiranga reservoir in São
Paulo with a boat given to him by his father. At the age of 11 he
wins, for the first time, an important title, the South American Cup
of the Optimist class which he would win twice more in the eighties,
starting to dedicate himself entirely to the sport.
From there on, he became the world´s biggest skipper in his
category, completely dominating the Laser class. He started his big
conquests in 1995 with the gold medal in the Pan-American games
in Mar del Plata, and the first world title on the island of Teneriffa
in Spain, up to the great golden consecration in 1996 in Atlanta.
From then onwards he didn´t stop: there were two more
Pan-American titles (in Winnipeg in 1999 and in Santo Domingo
in 2003), the second olympic gold in Athens 2004, and two silvers:
one in Sidney in 2000 and another in Beijing 2008. He comes to the
Olympic Games in London as the great favorite.
Brazil of all Sports
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Maria Lenk
Rodrigo Pessoa
The Brazilian knight
R
odrigo Pessoa is a born champion. He won the majority of
the great international horse riding prizes that he disputed
and is appointed as the best rider in the history of the Brazilian sport.
A Brazilian who in fact was born in Paris, France, in 1972.
He´s the son of Nelson Pessoa Filho, “Neco”, the jockey from
Rio de Janeiro who won more than 100 international prizes, teaching his son to ride when he was only 5 years old. At the age of
12, he goes with his family to Belgium and, in 1984, becomes the
Belgian pony champion. From there onwards he dedicates himself
exclusively to horsemanship.
He´s the youngest jockey in the Olympic Games of Barcelona in 1992, achieving the ninth place in the individual classification. That same year, he conquers his first great prize in the World
Championship in Malines, Belgium. In 1995 he wins the gold medal
by teams in the Pan-American Games in Mar del Plata. The next
year he wins the German Grand Prix, receives the title of best rider
in Paris and Zurich and takes the bronze by teams in the Olympic
Games in Atlanta.
In 1998 he conquers the World Cup in Helsinki in Finland,
and the World Championship in Rome. In 1999, he wins for the
second time the World Cup in Göteborg in Sweden and reaches the
second place in worldwide equestrian ranking in the Senior category.
At the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008, he reached the 5th place
in individual jumping. But the anti-doping test of his horse resulted
positive and he was disqualified from the contest.
28
Brazilian Sport Highlights
From the Tietê to Olympic pools
I
t was another era, and the greatest Brazilian swimmer, aged 10,
made her first strokes in the Tietê river since there were no pools. It
was another time also because women didn´t participate in Olympic
games. And Maria Lenk, at the age of 17, was the first South American
woman to compete in an Olympic games tournament, in Los Angeles
in 1932, reaching the semi-finals of the 200m breast stroke.
Daughter of German immigrants, the athlete was born in São
Paulo in 1915 and was encouraged into sports by her relatives to get
cured from a double pneumonia. After the Olympic Games in Los
Angeles, Lenk stood-out in the Berlin Games in 1936 as the female
forerunner in the butterfly style, reaching again the 200m semi finals.
In 1939 she breaks the world records in the 200 and 400 m
breaststroke. At the height of her performance she´s the most serious candidate for Olympic gold in 1940, but the event never happened because of World War II. In 1942, she finishes her career and
helps found the national school for physical education of the University of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro. In 1988, Lenk enters the Hall of
Fame for swimming and is honored by the International Federation
with the “Top Ten” title given to the 10 best worldwide swimmers
in the “master” category.
The swimmer continued to participate in tournaments
through all her life and, in 2000, she goes to the world championship
in Munich, coming back with five gold medals in the category 85-90
years! Maria Lenk passed away due to a cardiopulmonary failure at the
age of 92 after a swim in the pool of the Flamengo Club.
Brazil of all Sports
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Maurren Maggi
Ketleyn Quadros
Into history
Jumping over problems
T
he biggest name of our female athletics, Maurren Maggi
knows quite well how to jump over problems and face challenges. And that´s what she did when she won Olympic gold
in distance jumping in Beijing. A triumphant comeback after years
away from sports.
The jumper from the state of São Paulo was born in the city
of São Carlos in 1976 and started her professional career at the age
of 20. In 1999, she surprises in Bogotá achieving the score of 7.26
meters in the long jump, the ninth best in history at that time, making her finish the year as the number one in this contest.
She wins the bronze medal in the long jump in the World
Athletics Championship on covered track in 2003 in the United
Kingdom. In the same year achieves the score of 7.06 meters, which
places Maurren again as the world´s number one in long jumping. In
2003, she is displaced due to doping and stays away from Athens in
2004. But she comes back with full power in the Olympic Games of
Beijing in 2008, winning the gold medal.
The athlete is the Brazilian and South American long jump
record-breaker and three times champion of the Pan-American
games in Winnipeg 1999, in Rio 2007 and in Guadalajara 2011.
Today, Maurren trains hard to get the gold in the next Olympic
Games in London.
30
Brazilian Sport Highlights
A
fter 5 combats, the judoka Ketleyn Quadros entered the
history of Brazilian sports conquering the bronze medal in
the Olympic Games of Beijing in 2008, becoming our first
woman to win an Olympic medal in individual sports.
Ketleyn was born in 1987 in Ceilândia, a satellite town
of Brasilia. She started in sports aged 8 in the Sesi of her hometown, always assuring that one day she would represent Brazil in
the Olympics.
In 2006, due to lack of conditions to train and compete in Brasília,
the judoka is invited by the Minas Tennis Club from Belo Horizonte
to train in its facilities.
Two years later in Beijing she would enter history with her
bronze medal, unprecedented in individual female modalities. The
female medals up to then happened only in collective sports.
Ketleyn still competes in championships but is out of the Olympic
Games in London.
Brazil of all Sports
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Adhemar F. da Silva
Didi
The Brazilian kangaroo
T
o Adhemar Ferreira da Silva, there was no such thing as “impossible”. During the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia, he jumped 16.36 meters, breaking his own world record,
and was dubbed the “Brazilian Kangaroo”. And for 48 years he was the
only Brazilian to have been twice an Olympic champion.
The “Kangaroo” was born in São Paulo in 1927 and had always
liked athletics very much, however, he had to work and study, and could
only train twice or three times a week during his lunch hour. He competed for São Paulo for almost two decades. In 1955, he went to Rio de
Janeiro to compete for Vasco, motivated by an invitation from Samuel
Wainer to write a column for the periodical “Última Hora”.
Something difficult to imagine for a sportsman, right? But not
for polyglot Adhemar, who had graduated in Law, Fine Arts, Public Relations and Physical Education. Furthermore, he was Brazil’s Cultural
Attaché in Nigeria and an actor, having acted in “Orfeu Negro”, winner
of the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1959.
Adhemar brought two Olympic gold medals to Brazil: the first
from the 1952 Helsinki Games in Finland and the second from the 1956
Melbourne Games. He was also the first Brazilian athlete to have won
the Pan-American Games three times, a feat that took 40 years to be
matched. It was in the Mexico City Pan-American Games that Adhemar
achieved his best mark, 16.56 meters, establishing the world record for
the fifth time.
The athlete died in São Paulo, in 2001. Eleven years later, the
International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) put Adhemar
in the “Hall of Fame”, one of the first athletes in his modality, together
with the best athletes of all time.
32
Brazilian Sport Highlights
“Mr. Football”
I
t was like magic: he kicked the ball with effect, and it went up, up, and
then fell into the goal like a “dry leaf ”, to the surprise of his adversaries. His precise passes with the outside of his boot caused writer Nelson Rodrigues to nickname him “mother of all lousy players”, because
he turned common attackers into unforgiving scorers. He was also called
“Ethiopian Prince” for his dribbles, which were as sinuous as dance steps.
To the international press, one nickname sufficed: “Mr. Football”.
Waldir Pereira, or “Didi”, was born in Campos dos Goytacazes.
He began playing for Fluminense, where he remained for almost 10
years, when in 1956 he exchanged the Larajeiras district for Botafogo, in
one of the biggest transactions in Brazilian soccer. In the next season,
he was Rio de Janeiro’s champion.
As part of the Brazilian soccer team, he became a national idol
when in a match against Peru – which would define a place in the 1958
Cup – he scored a goal with a “dry leaf ” style free kick, securing a place for
Brazil in Sweden, becoming the world champion. And Didi was elected the
best Cup player, amidst top footballers such as Pelé, Garrincha and Zito.
In 1959 he went to Real Madrid to compose the dream midfield with Di Stefano and Puskas, however, disagreements caused his
return to Brazil. But he soon recovered his post: he was twice champion
in the Rio de Janeiro tournaments of 1961 and 1962, and excelled at the
1962 Chile World Cup.
In 1970, he classified Peru for the Mexico World Cup as their
coach. However, he was eliminated during the quarter finals, precisely
against the Brazilian team. Didi passed away in 2001, following complications from surgery on his digestive system. His dream was to teach a
boy his “dry leaf ” secret.
Brazil of all Sports
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Marta
Hortência
Soccer shirt N. 10
T
o Marta, the great ace of the new Brazilian female soccer
generation, the shirt n. 10 is never heavy. Skillful and an excellent finisher with moves that astound for their plasticity,
she was elected five times as the best female player in the world and
makes any opponent shake in their shoes.
Marta was born in the town of Dois Riachos, state of
Alagoas, in 1986 and before entering any club, already shone in the
national team. In 2002, at the age of 16, she took Brazil to the
fourth place in the Sub-20 world championship in Canada.
After losing in the quarter finals of the World Cup in the
U.S.A. in 2003, in the year after Marta was then with the discredited
Brazilian team in the Olympic Games in Athens, when they won the
silver medal.
The evolution of soccer presented by the player called the
attention of the Swedes, who have a very strong female soccer
league, inviting her to play there. At the Olympic Games of Beijing
in 2008, she again got the silver medal being surpassed by United
States. She is also a double champion of the Pan-American games
of Santo Domingo 2003 and of Rio 2007. Whereas for the Olympic
Games in London, Marta´s Brazil is rated as one of the favorites for
the gold medal.
34
Brazilian Sport Highlights
“Hortência scores a point”
I
n the golden age of women’s basketball, one phrase was constantly repeated: “Hortência scores a point”. It is not surprising:
she is the highest scorer in the history of the Brazilian basketball squad, with 3160 points in 127 official plays, an amazing average of 24.9 points per play. And in 2007, she entered the basketball
“Hall of Fame”.
Hortência de Fátima Marcari was born in 1959 in the city of
Potirendaba, São Paulo. At 14, she began playing basketball at school,
in São Caetano do Sul, and at 16 she was called to the Brazilian squad.
Together with Paula and Janeth, the athlete commanded the
historical Brazilian squad that made it to the top of the world by winning the 1994 world championship in Australia. The championship
result had been invariable: it was either the United States or Russia.
However, in the semifinals, Brazil beat the United States 110 to 107,
and then China 96 to 87. Hortência was chosen the best championship player and was the highest scorer with 221 points.
After the world championship she left the sport, but came
back in 1996 to play the Atlanta Olympic Games and bring the silver
medal to Brazil, a unique feat in the country’s basketball history.
Apart from these titles, Hortência won two South American
championships in 1986 and 1989; won medals at three Pan-American
games (bronze in Caracas in 1983, silver in Indianapolis in 1987, and
gold in Havana in 1991) and held the world record by scoring 121
points in one single play. Today, she is the director of female squads
of the Brazilian Basketball Confederation.
Brazil of all Sports
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Magic Paula
Michael Jackson
A magic athlete
S
imply a magic athlete. With expertise and ball technique as well
as an incredible overview of the court, Paula received the nickname of “Magic” and entered Brazilian basketball history.
She was born in the small town Oswaldo Cruz in the interior of the state of São Paulo in 1962. With only 14 years of age she
is called to the Brazilian adult team, and at the age of 15 becomes
the absolute holder of her position in the team. At the age of 18
Paula receives an offer to defend the UNIMEP while attending the
physical education course.
In 1991, during the Pan-American Games in Cuba, Paula
commands the victory of Brasilian basketball not only over the United States but also over the Cubans, the hosts, and also conquering the
admiration of Fidel Castro. Before that, she had already conquered
silver in Indianapolis in 1987 and bronze in Caracas in 1983.
In 1994, she leads our national team in the conquest of the
historic world championship when the discredited Brazilian team
broke the Russian and American hegemony. But it was in the Olympic Games of 1996 in Atlanta that the consecration came to the
generation of Magic Paula and Hortência. And the team did a brilliant campaign and, even losing the final match, the silver medal was
worth gold.
In 2000, she decides to leave the courts after a career of
twenty eight years alone in the Brazilian team. In 2006 she enters the
“Hall of Fame” of womens basketball as one of the biggest point
guards of all times.
36
Brazilian Sport Highlights
The pioneer
S
he opened the doors of women´s soccer in Brazil and reached
impressive marks: she played up to the age of 46, completing a
career of more than 30 years, and reached the score of 1.574
goals, a score higher than the one of Pelé. Mariléia dos Santos, nicknamed Michael Jackson, reigned in the fields.
She was born in the town of Valença, state of Rio de Janeiro
in 1963. She started to play in the local fields and made a big jump
in 1983 when she commanded her team, the Tupy, in the conquest
of the first female soccer cup of the state of São Paulo. She was
successful and was hired by the Radar team, achieving a score of
800 goals only for that club. In 1990, she moved to the Saad team
and conquered six consecutive titles of the São Paulo Cup and the
Mundialito of 1995.
Michael Jackson was part of the first Brazilian female soccer
team to dispute the World Cup in 1991. She also participated in the
Olympic Games of Atlanta in 1996, when Brazil reached the fourth
place. She was one of the main athletes of the sport in the eighties
and nineties helping to popularize female soccer. Nowadays she lives
in Brasilia and is the General Coordinator of Female Soccer and of
Fans Rights of the Ministry of Sport.
Brazil of all Sports
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Terezinha Gilhermina
Jacqueline Silva
Running in the dark
T
erezinha Guilhermina is proof that sport overcomes obstacles. The sprinter is one of the great Paralympics stars, specialized in 100, 200 and 400 meters.
The athlete from the state of Minas Gerais was born in the
town of Betim in 1978. A congenital deficiency made her gradually lose
vision. Along with her, five of her brothers have vision impairment.
Due to her full blindness, Terezinha is rated in the class T1T2 and is trained by Amauri Veríssimo, the same trainer of sprinter
Lucas Prado. Her guide, Guilherme Santana, helps her in trainings
and contests. In 2006, she is elected Paralympic Athlete of the Year
by the Brazilian Olympic Committee and, the next year, takes the
oath of the Olympic athlete at the opening of the Parapan in Rio.
In the Paralympics Games of Athens in 2004 she conquers
bronze in the 800 meters and, at the World Championship 2006 in
Assen, Holland, takes the gold in the 200 and two silvers in the 100
and 400 meters. In the Parapan in Rio, more gold medals for the
Brazilian sprinter, in the 200, 100 and 400 meters.
She arrives in Beijing in 2008 as the favorite and didn´t do
less: gold in the 200 meters, silver in the 100 meters and bronze in
the 400 meters. Last year she took the gold in the 200 meters in the
World Championship in Christchurch, New Zealand. That year in
Mexico City, Terezinha broke the world record for 200 meters and
arrives with confidence at the Paralympic Games of London.
38
Brazilian Sport Highlights
The pioneer
J
acqueline’s fracture was presented at an orthopedics congress
and some specialists affirmed it would be impossible for her to
ever walk properly again. She later became the first Brazilian
woman to win an Olympic gold.
Jacqueline, or simply “Jackie”, was born in 1962 in Rio de
Janeiro. During the 1980s she went to play abroad, when beach volleyball became a fever. She became the best beach player in the United
States and ranked first in the world. In the beginning of the 1990s, she
struck a partnership with Sandra Pires and together they won virtually
every tournament they played in Brazil and the United States.
But the definitive fame came with the 1996 Atlanta Olympic
Games. Beach volleyball was making its debut as an Olympic sport
and Jackie and Sandra took our first female gold in history. She was
elected the best volleyball player in the world by the International Volleyball Federation in the 1990s. A born leader and always a fighter for
her rights as a woman and athlete, Jacqueline got involved in a number of disputes with heads of the Brazilian Volleyball Confederation.
She retired as a player and today coaches women volleyball teams.
In 2009 she received the title “Intelligent Athlete”, granted
by UNESCO – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization – to top athletes who promote values in education and
sports activities as a way of building a better future for young people.
It is a selected list that includes only 10 athletes, among them Pelé and
Michael Schumacher.
Brazil of all Sports
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III
Brazilian Sport
Programs
S
ports enable human development and citizenship
The Brazilian Constitution defines sports as a social right
and determines that the state offer it as part of its public
policy. Since 2003, the Brazilian government has developed programs that reflect this guideline.
The Ministry of Sport promotes social inclusion through
the structuring of sports education initiatives. Programs like the
‘Segundo Tempo’ (Second Half) and ‘Esporte e Lazer da Cidade’
(Sports and Leisure in the City), contribute to children and young
people’s knowledge, experience and practice of sports. Millions
of children, adolescents, adults and vulnerable elderly citizens
have begun to partake in physical activity in schools, parks, plazas, sports centers, grass and earthen playing fields as well as
several other private, public and community-owned spaces.
Brazil of all Sports
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Brazilian Sport Programs
This wide-reaching approach towards sports broadens the
educational and cultural horizons of the population by providing
a healthy occupation for their free time. Sports education seeks to
provide learning, thought, pleasure and relaxation.
These unprecedented policies have been gaining supporters
and partners. The programs have gained more financial and human
resources and consolidated their operations nationwide.
On this premise, the “Programa Segundo Tempo”(Second
Half Program, PST) was created, aimed at democratizing access to
culture and the practice of sports as a way of promoting the integral
development of children, adolescents and youth, providing good
citizenship training and improving the quality of life, especially in
areas of social vulnerability.
The Centers for Sports Education are deployed in all
units of the Federation in more than two thousand municipalities. These are centers that employ 10,646 teachers and 30,000
monitors and serve 1.6 million children and teenagers throughout the country.
A strategic move towards achieving this result is cooperation with the Ministry of Education, which allows for the enlarging
of the Second Half Program within the More Education Program,
integrating the national sports policy to the education policy, so
as to encourage sports in schools. With this, the program’s focus
turned to the schools in order to ensure continuity of the policy and
the achievement of universal access to sports education.
The “Second Half” Program Democratizes
Access to Sports
Brazil follows a policy for sports education which, according to the Pelé Law, “is that which is practiced within the
educational systems and in other forms of education outside
these systems, avoiding selectivity and hyper competitiveness of
its practitioners.”
42
Brazil of all Sports
43
Brazilian Sport Programs
In 2011, the program was introduced in 4.624 public
schools in 757 municipalities, reaching about 1 million grade
school students.
The Ministry of Sport only selects public entities to develop
the program, so as to apply the sports education policy. In 2011, after the renewal of cooperation with the Ministry of Defense, it was
decided that partnerships would only be established with state and
municipal governments and public universities. To expand special
projects such as the University PST and the adapted PST for disabled people, partnerships were created with 33 federal universities.
The Navigation PST was also established, offering access to nautical
sports.
More sports for children on Holiday breaks
The “Recreational Activities During Vacations” project offers sports to children and adolescents during the school holidays in
January and July. Recreation During Vacations has made it possible
for approximately 12,800 children and adolescents to participate in
one of the 128 “Second Half ” units.
In 2012, PST seeks to raise the average annual attendance to three million beneficiaries, continuing partnerships with
municipal and state schools as well as universities through the
inclusion of sports education in 10.000 of the More Education
Program schools.
The expectation is to reach 4 million grade school students, aiming at comprehensive education. The aim is also
to diversify the program, with special projects, expansion of
support for school participation in national and international
events, the creation of national and international educational
initiatives. This expansion will take place through partnerships
with the Brazilian School Sports (CBDE) and University Sports
(CBDU) confederations.
44
Healthier life with Sports and Leisure in the City
The Sports and Leisure in the City program (PELC) broadens and democratizes access to the practice and learning of sports,
integrating their actions to other public policies, promoting human
development and social inclusion.
The PELC develops initiatives in partnership with state governments, municipalities and universities to ensure access to social
rights by operating its centers and offering training.
In 2011, the All Ages and Healthy Life centers made it possible to establish 19 agreements, providing estimated benefits to
over 218.000 people within the sports centers. In addition to the
direct participants of these initiatives, 400 managers, engineers and
social workers will be trained. The program currently has 69 project
agreements running, benefiting approximately 625.000 people in
five of the country’s regions.
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Brazilian Sport Programs
Social inclusion through sports
Brazil to host the World School Olympics
Brazil was chosen to host the next South American School
Games, taking place in December 2012. This choice was made by
a unanimous decision of the ten countries that make up the South
American Council of Sports (Consude).
It was also confirmed that Brazil will host the World School
Olympic Games – Gymnasiade in 2013. These Olympic Games,
which have never been hosted in the Americas, will bring together
countries affiliated to the International School Sport Federation (ISF)
in terms of athletics, swimming, rhythmic and artistic gymnastics.
The Gymnasiade is the most important event of the ISF
and takes place every four years.
46
The Painting Freedom and Painting Citizenship programs aim
to enable social inclusion through sports. Prisoners, adolescents in conflict with the law and socially vulnerable portions of the population
are able to seek social inclusion through the manufacturing of sports
equipment used in programs administered by the Ministry of Sport.
In 2011, the program produced 275.000 different sporting
goods, which benefited about 4.3 million people linked to social
programs and public school sports.
The estimated production for 2012 is of 900.000 sport
items, which will permit 15 million separate services to be provided.
These sporting goods also reached more than one hundred
countries, including England, Japan, Argentina, Angola, Canada,
Spain and France.
The mechanism for the participation of interns in the
Painting Freedom program is simple, but essential for the stimulation of productivity. They earn a fee in accordance with the production, and every three working days, one day is reduced from
their penalty. In one year of work, the inmate can reduce his sentence by nearly three months. In addition to bringing their own
freedom quicker, prisoners gain qualification and work experience.
The program also reduced the recidivism of its participants, allowing them to leave prison with a profession and often working in
the Painting Citizenship units.
The Painting Citizenship program follows the same principles. The difference is that these units are located within needy
communities. The production moves the economy of these communities, creates jobs and income, and has led to the qualification
of more than three thousand people.
This program diversifies the production of sporting goods.
Aside from manufacturing balls and clothes, partnerships enable the
construction of athletic fields with used rubber from tire factories
and the manufacturing of chess pieces with recycled plastic.
Brazil of all Sports
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Brazilian Sport Programs
city. Three hundred young former inmates and 200 inmates also participated in the manufacturing of the rattle balls in the Bahia Unit.
Rattle Balls for Paralympic Sports
In the Feira de Santana (BA) unit, rattle balls are produced
for the visually impaired. Each ball is made with internal bells that
produce sound effects, essential for the sport because the sound attracts and guides players with varying degrees of visual impairment.
The quality of the ball ensured that the product was officially used
in the International Blind Sports (IBSA) Federation’s competitions.
Since then, the Brazilian rattle balls roll on the lawns of 108 countries.
In 2005, the balls gained the seal of the National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality (Inmetro).
In 2008, five player soccer for the blind, at the Paralympic
Games in Beijing, used 100 of these balls produced by the factory in
Feira de Santana, where 700 women worked on the outskirts of the
48
Rattle balls are used by the visually impaired for sport practices.
Social technology made in Brazil
The success of the Painting Freedom and Painting Citizenship programs attracted interest from other countries in this genuinely Brazilian social technology. Angola and Mozambique, in Africa,
already have factories. The deployment reduces costs with imported
sports equipment and helps popularize sports in those countries.
In Angola, the factory was implemented between 2005 and
2006, the Viana prison, 40 km from the capital, Luanda. The Mozambique factory was opened in 2009 in the capital Maputo and is part of
a cooperation agreement between the two countries.
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Moreover, Brazil offers an example of international solidarity
by donating articles produced by these two programs to nations that
undergo acute social crises or natural disasters, such as São Tomé and
Príncipe, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau and Haiti.
Athlete Scholarship, the largest direct athlete
incentive program in the world
The Brazilian government has, since 2005, maintained the
largest individual athlete sponsorship program in the world. The
program is aimed at high performance athletes and para-athletes
achieving good results in national and international competitions
within their modalities. The program ensures the conditions necessary for them to dedicate themselves exclusively and unworriedly to their training, improving their performance and participating
in local South American, Pan American, World, Olympic and Paralympic competitions.
Currently, there are five scholarship categories offered by
the Ministry of Sport: Base, Student, National, International and
Olympic/Paralympic Athlete. Soon, the Podium Athlete category
will become effective, which is also a new program for the Ministry
of Sport. Designed to accommodate elite sport athletes with real
capacity to compete for end-titles and medals, the Podium program
will serve athletes in the top 20 list of the world ranking for individual Olympic and Paralympic sports. The benefits may reach up
to $ 15,000 per month.
For athletes to optimize their performance to reach a higher
preparation level, there will be support providing stable training in
necessary structures. The Podium program – alongside the upcoming
Technical Scholarship – will allow hiring technical and/or professional staff members (physiotherapists, nutritionists, psychologists, etc.),
assisting in the acquisition of first rate materials and equipment for
training and ensuring support for international exchanges, allowing
athletes to participate in the major competitions.
50
Program data
Scholarship
category
Value in (R$)
Number
of Scholarship
Athletes in 2012
Student
370
233
Base
370
206
National
925
2.712
International
1.850
816
Olympic /
Paralympic
3.100
276
Podium
Up to 15 thousand
In implementation
Total
–
4.243
Scholarship Athletes will receive a monthly allowance
for one year. The money is deposited on a monthly basis into
the athlete’s account in the state-owned Caixa Econômica Federal bank.
The priority is for athletes competing in sports included in
the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Next, the support will go to
athletes that will compete in the Pan American Games and other
sports that are not part of these competitions.
The Athlete Scholarship program serves athletes who
have achieved good results regardless of their economic conditions and the help of intermediaries. It is only necessary for
them to meet the requirements, continue training, competing
and obtaining good results. The athlete will answer to the government and society primarily by obtaining significant results
in competitions.
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The federal program has inspired some states and municipalities to establish their own similar projects, from which Brazilian sports in general have profited. The program goes through
ongoing evaluation and continuous improvement to satisfactorily meet the objectives of stakeholders and high performance
sports in the country.
Scholarship Athlete Stats since 2005
Scholarship Category
Amount of
Scholarship
Athletes in 2012
Scholarships in 2012 (Olympic and
Paralympic sports only)
4.243 *
Total Scholarships since 2005 (including 2012)
18.140
Resources in 2012
R$ 60,2 Million
Total Resources since 2005 (including 2012)
R$ 284,4 Million
Total Paralympic and Olympic
sports modalities in 2012
53
Total modalities in the Pan American
games and others
Around 25
* This amount will soon increase with the inclusion of contemplated Pan American modalities among others.
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Scholarship Athlete Medals – Guadalajara 2011
54
Year
Total athletes
covered
Women
%
2006
924
306
33,1
2007
846
275
32,5
2008
2.160
779
36,0
2009
3.370
1.162
34,5
2010
2.954
1.044
35,3
2011
3.643
1.349
37,0
2012
4.243
1.744
41,1
Parapan
American
Games
Pan American
Games
Gold
56
11
Silver
52
17
Bronze
48
30
106
102
156
58
Total medals won by Brazil
197
141
Total Scholarship Particpating
Scholarship Athletes
162
198
Total Scholarship Athletes
to Win Medals
Total medals won by
Scholarship Athletes
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Beijing 2008
Paralympics
Olympics
Gold
2
–
Silver
3
1
Bronze
7
–
Total Scholarship Athletes
to Win Medals
19
7
Total medals won by
Scholarship Athletes
12
1
Total Scholarship Particpating Scholarship Athletes
47
15
Prevention of violence in stadiums
Of the total beneficiaries this year, 1.744 are women (41%)
and 1.184 (28%) are athletes with disabilities. In 2012, the Ministry
almost doubled the investment in Brazilian sports scholarships. In
2012, the country invested the largest amount of funds directly in
the performance of Brazilian athletes, a result that is fully aligned
with the objective of transforming Brazil into a sporting superpower, from 2016 onwards.
Sports Incentive Act
In Brazil the Sports Incentive Act has gone into effect, a
law responsible for significantly expanding the amount of money
invested in sport across the country.
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The bill, from the 29th of December 2006, has established itself as an effective tool for funding sports projects. It is
a public policy that joins society, government and entrepreneurs
in the development of national sports. With the funds deducted from the income tax, more than 1700 companies sponsored
around 800 projects in sports education, based on participation
or high yields. By the end of December, the month with the
highest concentration of funding, resources gathered in 2011
reached an approximate R$ 218 million, which means a 21%
growth in comparison to 2010.
For 2012, the projection based on the annual growth curve
is to raise more than R$ 250 million, which will increase the number
of the 800.000 Brazilians directly benefited by the Sports Incentive
Law, most of whom are socially vulnerable, and stand out increasingly as athletes and citizens.
Brazil has also prepared itself to receive the mega sporting event by legalizing the rights of fans. The implementation of
national policy for preventing violence in soccer-related sporting
events aims to provide comfort and security for the fans.
Estatuto do Torcedor (Law governing the conduct
and rights of fans)
The Estatuto do Torcedor is a set of rules that establish the
basis for government, public security, club managers, official
fan clubs and Justice, so as to ensure that fans will be at ease in
the stadiums.
The law is strict in punishing acts of fan violence.
All official fan clubs will have their members registered on a
national record connected to the National Network of Public Security Information, Justice and Surveillance, at the Ministry of Justice.
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In this register, the Federal Government will fund the installation
of a standardized system of security cameras, LCD screens and monitors, electronic turnstiles and ticket control, monitoring information in all
of the country’s stadiums with capacity for 10.000 or more persons.
Safety and Comfort in Stadiums
Arena Amazônia – Manaus/AM
Arena das Dunas – Natal/RN
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To encourage the safe return of fans to stadiums. This is the
objective of this initiative: a series of legal, political and administrative
actions by the Brazilian Government so as to ensure the safety and
welfare of the football audience in the stands and around the stadiums.
Since 2009, this proposal is the result of an intense debate led by the
Ministry of Sport with the participation of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), the Ministry of Justice and the National Council of
General Attorneys for the Public Ministry of States and Union.
In 2011, the National Secretariat for Football and Fan
Rights was created. The Ministry of Sport has established terms of
conduct with the states of Paraná, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, São
Paulo, Goias and the Official soccer fan-clubs.
The following activities are planned for 2012:
• Latin American Seminar on football violence.
• Survey of engineering, safety and comfort in football stadiums
(ABNT norms for stadium construction).
• Registration of Official Fan Clubs.
In 2012, the National Seminar on Official Soccer Fan-clubs
took place successfully, with representatives from the main Brazilian
fan-clubs attending, where the Declaration was approved (this reference will be complemented by the area Director).
Maracanã – Rio de Janeiro/RJ
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Brazil wants to become a sporting superpower
from 2016 onwards
In 2010, the Third National Conference on Sports adopted
the resolution “For A Team Called Brazil: 10 points in 10 years
to project Brazil into the top 10”, aiming to put Brazil among the
top ten world sporting superpowers starting at the 2016 Olympic
Games in Rio de Janeiro. From then on, government initiatives and
sports organizations have been aligned to this idea, keeping in mind
that 2016 is the official starting point, not the final deadline, for Brazil to reach a new level of organization and, consequently, of results
on the international scene.
The goal includes competing for the largest amount of
medals and reaching the greatest number of Olympic finals, playing for the greatest amount of world and continental titles, maintaining a plurality of different sports modalities, providing highly
qualified coaches, referees and multidisciplinary teams to ensure
professional administration of sports entities, carry-out intensive
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sports groundwork and structuring a network of training centers
in line with central policy.
A superpower in soccer, Brazil has emerged among the top
nations of the Paralympic Games in Beijing in 2008, reaching ninth
place in the overall ranking. For London 2012, the goal is to make
the top seven – and the top five in the 2016 Paralympic Games.
On the other hand, Brazilian Olympic sports must overcome more
barriers in order to reach the top ten in 2016. The best position
Brazil has achieved so far was the 16th place in the Athens Olympic
Games in 2004.
Since 2010, the Brazilian government has been working
on organizing sports in different modalities, taking into consideration its history, peculiarities, entities, structure and national potential. From there, it is possible to visualize a complete picture of
the needs and development of sports in the country. This new approach gained momentum when Brazil won the right to host the
Olympic and Paralympic Games, which established new challenges
for Brazilian sports.
In 2009, the Ministry of Sport has defined a set of measures
for this new moment in Brazilian sports. Signed into law in 2011,
measures comprise the creation of the Sporting City program, the
establishment of the National Training Network, creation of Podium Athlete program, improving the Athlete Assistance Program
and adoption of performance-oriented contracts for entities that
apply to receive public funding.
The National Training Network will integrate the existing or
planned training structures, from the simplest to the most complex,
be they public or privately owned. It will consist of various levels
and branches in different spheres, with its primary base in Rio de
Janeiro, in the Barra da Tijuca and Deodoro neighborhoods, with
high standard facilities built for the Pan American Games in 2016
and those to be built for the Rio 2016 Olympics. In concert, they
will constitute the future Olympic Training Center (OTC).
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The OTC is the most significant sporting project and will
be a legacy of the 2016 Rio Games: it will be a center for excellence
in Brazilian sports. There, after 2016, 22 Olympic and Paralympic
sports will be practiced, combining the preparation of athletes and
teams with the development and exchange for multidisciplinary
teams, coaches, referees, administrators and other sport professionals, as well as investing in science and sports management. It is intended to be the Brazilian and continental reference in training.
In another part of the network will be the Sporting City
Program, with new or existing structures to form the Local and
Regional Training Centers, providing space for athlete training in
Brazilian cities, focusing on Paralympic and Olympic sports, so as
to broaden the base for competitive sports. The goal is to foster the
involvement of cities in targeted projects, based on the country’s
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need to strengthen certain sport modalities. The program will be
linked with educational, social and sports projects, such as the Second Half program, from the Ministry of Sport, where talents may
arise and may later be developed in the Sporting City Program and,
consequently, in the National Training Network.
On another level of the National Training Network will be
Training Centers for specific modalities, many already in existence
and some under construction with federal funding. At the base of
the pyramid, the Sports Initiation Project, designed to develop and
improve athletes from base categories of high performance sports.
The project will be connected to Second Half program centers, the
Ministry of Sport, sports education centers in public schools and
centers for socially oriented sports development in many municipalities. The purpose is to establish a chain structure for every level
of the athlete’s training and development, so that by the time he or
she reaches the top of his sporting modality, the best infrastructure
will be available.
By the end of 2013, for example, Brazil will have 15 athletic
training centers with the structure needed for national and international competitions. A handball center will be built to match the
best in the world. Shooting sports and horseback riding inherited
high standard centers from the Pan-American games. Badminton
has a point of reference in a needy community in Rio de Janeiro.
Volleyball already has its infrastructure in Saquarema, which has
been a world reference for years.
While building this structure, Brazil invests in the preparation of athletes and teams. The main sources of funding are public.
Beyond the Athlete Scholarship, which invested R$ 284.4 million
since 2005, there is the Agnelo-Piva Law, established in 2001, which
allocates 2% of the total income raised by lotteries to Olympic, Paralympic, school and university sports. Of the total resources, 85%
goes to the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) and 15% in the
Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB). Of the 85% accruing to the
COB, 10% is allocated to school sports and 5% to college sports.
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Agnelo/Piva Law – Transfers, in millions of Brazilian Real
Year
COB
CPB
Ministry
of Sport
2007
84,67
15,32
219,21
2008
93,82
16,84
241,23
2009
119,85
21,30
307,28
2010
143,55
25,47
369,13
2011
157,65
28,29
410,34
Total
599,54
107,22
1.547,19
Source: Caixa http://www1.caixa.gov.br/loterias/repasses_sociais/rep_esportes.asp
State enterprises also invest in national sports. Between 2008
and 2012, eight public companies invested R$ 476 million in various
modalities, especially Olympic and Paralympic sports. The Sports
Incentive Law (LEL), which allows for the deduction of a percentage of income tax, effective since 2007, is another key source of
funding. The projects approved specifically for athletes and teams
preparing for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012 and 2016
amount to R$ 67 million, R$ 10 million of which had already been
raised in the market in January 2012.
There is still the funding the Ministry of Sport offers
through agreements with professional sports administration entities, clubs, town halls and other federal entities such as the Armed
Forces. Over the past two years, this type of support has passed on
more than $ 200 million to high performance sports. The funds are
for the construction and modernization of training centers, preparation of base and main teams, athlete training, exchanges, participation in competitions in Brazil and abroad, the purchase of materials and equipment, as well as other initiatives.
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Saquarema Training Center – Rio de Janeiro/RJ
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Brazil stands-out all the more through its major
sporting events
Placing Brazil in the route of the major world sporting
events was a government strategy to consolidate the country’s presence in the international scene. Now the world’s sixth economy, Brazil takes advantage of the fact that it will be hosting the 2014 FIFA
World Cup, the 2013 Confederations Cup, and the 2016 Olympic
and Paralympic Games to display its capacity for organization, modernization, strength and competence in several areas such as culture,
tourism, environment, telecommunications, technology and other
national highlights. The great economic and social transformations
that Brazil has undergone in the last decade will be on display during
these large-scale sporting events.
These sporting events were an apt coincidence to stimulate
efforts and investments that were already planned for the improvement of the lives of Brazilians in the large cities and surrounding
neighborhoods where competitions will be hosted. The public and
private investments being made in the cities that are set to host the
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2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games and in dozens of
cities that will serve as headquarters for training and acclimatization
of athletes and teams will reflect onto hundreds or even thousands
of Brazilian municipalities. And will therefore benefit most of the
national territory and population.
Brazil has prepared itself for this moment. In 2003 the
Federal Government created the Ministry of Sport, a job assigned
uniquely to this sector, which already began in the rhythm of
preparation for the 2007 Pan American Games, hosted in Rio de
Janeiro, a litmus test for the country to show its competence. It
passed the test. The largest multisport event in the Americas that
had been hosted only once in Brazil, in 1963, in São Paulo, the
2007 Pan took 5623 athletes from 42 countries on the continent
to Rio de Janeiro. Following the Pan American Games, the 2007
Parapan American games gathered 1115 athletes from 25 other
countries in Rio. All with absolute safety and organization in modern and comfortable facilities that housed thousands of fans from
the country and abroad.
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Even during the preparations for the Pan American Games,
and already anticipating the success it would be, Brazil won the right
to be the headquarters of the 5th Military World Games in 2011.
Organized by the International Military Sports Council (CISM, its
acronym in French) and first carried out in the Americas, the Military Games took another 6.000 athletes from 111 countries to the
city of Rio de Janeiro.
In closing the Parapan American Games in 2007, Brazil was
announced as host of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. This scenario of
ever-more important achievements in the organization of sporting
events within the country accredited the nation in the international
Olympic movement to win the most difficult dispute: the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the summer of 2016, leaving behind
competitors like Chicago (United States), Tokyo (Japan) and Madrid
(Spain). For the first time a city in South America was chosen to
receive the largest multisport event in the world.
The nation responsible for creating art-soccer, winner of
five World Cups, a country of continental dimensions, with thousands of miles of beaches, fast and strong economic development,
the friendly, easygoing people and a cosmopolitan culture, Brazil became the most recent focus of attention related to sporting events.
With 190 million inhabitants, Brazil has the fifth largest population
in the world, of which 80% is urban. Like most countries, Brazil
faces problems in land concentration. But within the last decade and
a half, the areas expropriated to meet the historical demand for land
reform, together, form a state the size of Portugal.
Another remarkable social transformation between 2003 and
2011 was the rise of 39 million Brazilians to the C class, or the so-called
middle class, which now includes half the population – or nearly 100
million people. Of these, 13 million have ascended to middle class within the last 30 months. Economic growth on one hand, and reduction
of inequality on the other. The State maintains the largest guaranteed
minimum income program in the world. The ‘Bolsa Familia’ (Family
funding) program, a direct income transfer program that as for 2012
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serves 13.5 million poor families, thanks to monthly investments of R$
1.6 billion, has been supported by the UN as a model social mechanism,
and has already been transferred to other nations. The resources transferred to the poorest of the population move the economy of small
towns and the suburbs of large cities. These funds are invested primarily in food, school supplies and medicine.
It is not possible to attain leadership in areas of extreme
global competition or to reach a position of prominence in social
policies without a vision for the future and a great deal of organization and technological and managerial capacity. This is the Brazil
that will be shown to the world during the sporting competitions of
the upcoming years.
Brazil under construction
Foundations of Brasilia´s National Stadium – Brasília/DF
In 2007, the Brazilian government launched the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC) to ensure heavy investment in the country’s
infrastructure with a set of efforts to improve roads, railways, ports
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and subways, build dams and install sewage collection and treatment
plants, among other items. The PAC has become vital to improving
the country’s competitiveness, an important pillar for the sustainable
growth of the Brazilian economy and, at the same time, for confronting
the fragility of the global economic environment. It has increased the
internal market, employment, income and consolidated the agenda for
economic and social development. Public and private investments have
again taken up the planning and scheduling of long-term projects. With
the PAC, Brazil once again learned to think to the future.
With the program´s success, the PAC has been deployed
in versions tailor-made to certain sensitive areas. Many of the construction projects are fundamental to the cities that will host matches in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and particularly Rio de Janeiro,
which will host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2016.
PAC 1 – 2007 to 2010 Period
Infrastructural
Axes
• Transport
logistics
• Energy
• Social and Urban
Infrastucture
70
Amount of Implemented
investments by the end of
planned
2010
R$ 657,4
Billion
94,1%
Construction
Type
Urbanizing favelas
(Brazilian slums),
duplication and restoration of roads and
railways, expansion
and improvement of
Ports and Airports;
plant construction,
housing construction, construction
and expansion of the
sewerage network,
reduction of taxes
for items such as
building materials
(cement, tile, brick
etc), computers and
electronic equipment
PAC 2 – 2011 to 2014 Period
Total
Value spent Resources for
Infrastructural amount of
until March more complex
Axes
investments
2012
projects
in the period
• Water and Light
for all
• “Better City”
program
• Transport
• “My House, My
Life” program
• Energy
• “Citizen
Community”
program
R$ 955 Billion
R$ 204,4 Billion
$ 247 Billion
(e.g. Belo Monte
Hydroelectric
Plant; Midwest
Integration
Railroad, and the
Petrochemical
Complex of Rio
de Janeiro)
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PAC Mobility in Large Cities
Construction
Type
Subway, Light Rail
Vehicle (LRV) and
bus lanes
Infrastructure for the 2014 FIFA World Cup*
Total
Resources
Funded
Projects
R$ 32 Billion
Construction of
600 kilometers
of exclusive
lanes for buses,
380 stations and
terminals and
200 miles of
subway lines,
acquisition of
more than a
thousand vehicles on rails
Beneficiaries
51 municipalities
with populations
of over 700.000
inhabitants in 18
states, encompassing
more than 53
Million Brazilians
Source: Ministry of Planning
Area
Number of
Construction Sites**
Investment(R$)
Urben Mobility
51
12 Billion
Stadiums
12
6,8 Billion
Airports
31 works in 13 Airports
7,4 Billion
Ports
7
900 Million
Total
101
27,1 Billion
* Defined in the Responsibility Matrix
** In effect or planned, May 2012
A World Cup Uniting the Country
Another government decision for sporting events to bring benefits to the whole country was to distribute the games in the
FIFA World Cup 2014 in 12 capitals located in all regions of Brazil. Brasilia, the nation’s capital, São Paulo, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Cuiabá, Porto Alegre, Recife, Fortaleza, Curitiba, Natal,
Manaus and Rio de Janeiro, which will also host the Olympic
and Paralympic Games in 2016. Twelve cities that represent the
geographical, sporting, cultural, tourist and economic diversity
of the country and which are preparing the best infrastructure to
receive fans that will be visiting either to accompany their teams
or just for an up-close opportunity to get to know the riches that
Brazil produces.
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Brasília´s National Stadium – Brasília/DF
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74
Arena Pantanal – Cuiabá/MT
Itaquera Arena – São Paulo/SP
The construction projects geared towards improving urban
mobility include the installation of medium and high capacity speed
and urban public transport systems, such as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
a model developed by Brazil, with articulated vehicles that travel in
exclusive lanes. Curitiba, capital of Paraná state and one of the hosting cities of the 2014 World Cup, pioneered the deployment of the
system in the world, in the late 1970s. The model, which has since
spread to many countries, is being adopted by some of the World
Cup hosting cities. In others, the VLT (light rail) is in construction,
a kind of surface subway. There is also the monorail train, set on
tires to run on a single high rail. The mobility effort also includes
opening, widening or extending highways and the construction of
terminals and stations.
Out of the total investments, only the constructions in ports
and airports are part of the new PAC developments for the 2014
World Cup. The others rely on other forms of financing, mostly
federal funding of financing.
There are also infrastructure projects and support services –
such as security, telecommunications, information technology, energy,
tourism infrastructure, health and the promotion of the country –
which will soon be incorporated into the Responsibility Matrix – to
be signed by the federal government, state governments and local
governments of the hosting cities. They will be developed to meet the
needs not only of the World Cup, but of the growth of Brazil.
The organization of the Cup has different decision-making and monitoring bodies. There are managerial committees
under the Federal Government, coordinated by the Ministry of
Sport, and working groups that integrate all federative spheres
(federal, state and municipal) in charge of the preparations with
the Local Organizing Committee and the service providers. In
addition, FIFA has its own groups at work. The spirit is of harmony and dedication in overcoming the challenges and offering
viewers a Cup with characteristics of a Brazil that grows, changes, modernizes and reinvents itself.
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Congress has given valuable assistance to the organization of
the event by approving, on May 9th, 2012, the General Law for the
World Cup, a set of rules that establish the country’s commitment
to topics such as the protection of industrial property rights, image
rights, exclusive stock trading to FIFA in Brazil, visas for members
of the entity’s delegation, representatives of the press and spectators
who have tickets or confirmation of the purchase of game tickets,
public safety, health, sanitation, customs and immigration, among
other services guaranteed by the government . The law also establishes a quota of 1% of income for people with disabilities and a special
category of popular tickets to be sold at half price to senior citizens,
students and recipients of federal government income transfer programs such as the Bolsa Família (e.g. the Family Funding Program.) It
also guarantees the right of people over age 60 to purchase tickets for
all the other three categories at half-price.
To ensure that the labor market has well-trained professionals
to meet the needs of tourists and the Brazilian population during and
after sporting events, the federal government created the Sector Qualification Plan (Planseq) for the World Cup, which will prepare 150,000
workers by 2014 for vacancies arising in sectors such as tourism and
transportation. The World Cup Planseq is aimed at the 12 hosting
cities of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Another professional qualification program, the World Cup Pronatec, the result of a partnership
between the Ministry of Tourism with the Ministry of Education, is
designed to train professionals in 32 areas related to incoming tourism. The vacancies are for the twelve hosting cities of the 2014 World
Cup, the surrounding municipalities and destinations of international
visibility. The goal is to train 240.000 students by 2014. The government’s objective is that the program will change the tourism production chain in Brazil for the better.
In terms of economic and social impact, it is estimated that
for the 2010 to 2019 period, with increased demand for goods and
services, growth in the tourism sector and the increase in infrastructure, the hosting of the Cup will cause a direct impact of R$ 47.5
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billion in the national economy, or 0.4% of GDP. The reflections in
indirect investments, which includes stimulus to any economic activity, will total R$ 135.7 billion. Beyond the expectation of moving
R$ 183.2 billion in the Brazilian economy, the hosting of the World
Cup may generate more than 600.000 jobs. Of this total, 300.000
jobs have already been created.
Rio 2016: Brazil joins the select Olympic club
Brazil entered the race for the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics to win. Anchored on experience with the organization of the PanAmerican and Parapan-American Games 2007, on the support of three
levels of government, the proper positioning of Brazil in the global
economic and political map, the governments teamwork the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB), on an efficient technical project and
in a “excellent legacy plan,” as the International Olympic Committee
(IOC) emphasized, Rio de Janeiro, faced the challenge of convincing
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the Olympic movement that, for first time, a South American city met
all requirements to host the largest multi-sport event in the world.
Rio has built an Olympic project in sync with public policies
that will create lasting legacies for the city and for Brazil, in synergy
with the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC), with the city planning
and the efforts for the 2014 World Cup, optimizing resources and
maximizing profits in the long run. The country was careful to establish an application that fits into the Rio strategy and strengthens the
goals for Olympic sports in Brazil. The benefits will be materialized
in different areas: Sports, Urban Regeneration and the Environment,
Transportation, Safety, Social Inclusion, Youth and Education.
One of the most important legacies provided for in the application package is the provision of athletic-educational program called
“Second Half ”, by the Ministry of Sport, for all public school students
in the city of Rio, reaching 1 million beneficiaries by 2016. Parallel to
preparations for the World Cup and the Olympics, is an ongoing plan
for environmental recovery, urban renewal, modernization of infrastructure, combating crime and addressing the issues of mobility.
Rio de Janeiro has as its strengths a natural beauty and a vocation for leisure, sports, tourism and entertainment. The revitalization
of the harbor area of the city, the greatest legacy project of urban Rio
in 2016, with an investment of more than R$ 8 billion, is in full swing.
The first stage of the Wonder Port will be ready in July 2012. That region, along with the central area, will again be an important tourist and
commercial hub of the city and has attracted the hotel industry, which
has begun to build new hotels for various profiles. There will also be an
important facility built for the Games, the Arbitrators Villa.
During a period of five to six years, Rio de Janeiro will receive investments in public transport that would normally take 30
years to make. With Investments that will exceed R$ 10 billion, Rio
will receive 200 km of public transportation lines. The hosting of
the sporting events has accelerated investments. Rio will gain four
express bus lanes (BRT) by 2016, which will interconnect the sectors where the Olympic competitions will take place wit the suburbs
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and also with the Brazil Avenue, the main route for metropolitan
traffic linking the capital to the Fluminense suburbs.
The BRT TransOeste is in trial operation in the main stretch.
In total, the route will have 53 stations in a 56 kilometers range, linking
Barra da Tijuca, the heart of the Olympic Games, the neighborhoods
of Campo Grande, Guaratiba and Santa Cruz, in the extreme west
of the city. Another corridor, BRT TransCarioca, which will connect
the Barra da Tijuca, in the West Side of Rio de Janeiro, to Penha and
the Galeão International Airport, will have 45 stations in 39 kilometers. Meanwhile TransOlympic via, considered the greatest construction project in the city over the past 30 years, will have 18 stations in
26 kilometers extensions, linking the Barra da Tijuca to the Deodoro
neighborhood, one of the main centers of the 2016 games. Unlike
TransOeste and TransCarioca, this corridor also serves as a highway
for cars. Finally, BRT TransBrasil will traverse the Brazil Avenue linking Deodoro to the Santos Dumont Airport and going to the Via Dutra and Washington Luiz Highway, will be 31 kilometers long, joining
with the TransCarioca and the TransOlympic BRTs. The TransBrazil
line will be an added legacy to the city, since it was not in the original
plan for the Olympic bid. All BRT buses use sustainable fuel.
Rio will also gain a Light Rail Vehicle (LRT) line that will
be the backbone of the new tourist hub in the city center. At first,
the vehicle will go through the new Port Area, the Santos Dumont
Airport, Cinelândia, the Praça Quinze and the Marina da Glória.
The subway also entered the design legacy of Rio 2016. The new
Line 4 under construction will connect the Barra da Tijuca to the south
of the city, passing through the districts of São Conrado, Gávea, Leblon and Ipanema, and will be connected to the BRT system through the
Transoeste route. This line was not foreseen in the initial commitments
to the IOC, but the state government considered it important to build it
for the local inhabitants. And the Rio Metro acquired 19 new trains from
China, an increase of 63% in the subway fleet, which begin circulating in
August 2012 and will be fully operational in March 2013.
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Brazilian Sport Programs
The application followed the government’s strategy of attracting major sporting events to Brazil that would put the country
into an unprecedented sequence of achievements, beginning with the
Pan American Games, in 2007, on through the Military World Games
of 2011, the Confederations Cup in 2013, the FIFA World Cup in
2014, up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2016.
The project distributes the competitions into four centers in
the city of Rio (Barra da Tijuca, Deodoro, Maracanã and Copacabana), which means that in all these neighborhoods there will be
urban interventions and sporting infrastructures that will remain as
improvements. With the completion of the Pan American Games in
2007, 56% of the facilities required for the Olympic Games already
exist, because they were built or improved on at the time. Another
32% will be built and 12% have temporary set-ups. Two-thirds of the
Olympic projects correspond to constructions that were in execution
or investments already planned before Brazil earned the right to host
the 2016 Games, a large amount of which came from the Federal
Governments PAC program.
Congress was crucial in ensuring that the Games would
take place in Brazil, by approving the bill that created the Olympic
Act, converted into Law No. 2035 of October 1, 2009, ratifying
the many guarantees that the federal government, and the state
and city of Rio de Janeiro gave the International Olympic Committee during the bid.
Good governance of the Games will be ensured by a Responsibility Matrix to be formalized between the parties, as it has
been with the efforts for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Three levels of
government will participate in the organization, with many subdivisions responsible for different sectors, the Olympic Public Authority, tasked with coordinating government work, the Rio 2016 organizing committee and sports and business entities, providing support
in their respective areas.
The public and private investments and those of the Organizing Committee in the Games will result in multiplying ample and
diversified effects on the nation’s economy and will reflect positively
on a variety of economic sectors during the coming years. It is a
long-term impact. The jobs created will reach 120 thousand annually during the preparation and hosting of the event, and 130.000
per year thereafter. The economy will move R$ 102.2 billion. For
every dollar invested in the Games the private sector will inject U.S.
$ 3.26 into the supply chains associated with the event.
Rio 2016 will provide marvelous weeks of sports, and
many years of social change and development in sports, economy, culture and tourism, making a difference for many generations of Cariocas and Brazilians.
What does 2016 have to do with the Rio 2007 and
Rio 2011 games?
The successful hosting of the Pan American Games in 2007
was the first major test and one of the drivers in a positive cycle
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Brazilian Sport Programs
that Brazil is undergoing in terms of sporting events. It provided
a sports infrastructure that Brazil had not built or remodeled for
decades, guaranteed credibility to the country for new ventures, and
prepared a successful model of governance that strengthened the
policy of attracting continuous and strategic mega sporting events
recognized by the International Olympic Committee during the dispute for the 2016 Games. The sports facilities are the most visible
legacies, and all will be used in the 2016 Games. The economic drive
was another important item.
The public safety project adopted for Pan games, with its
centralized and coordinated action of all federal, state and municipal forces, was another important legacy. Although Rio de Janeiro
had, abroad and within Brazil itself, a reputation as a violent city,
even portrayed as such in Brazilian film, the application dossier
for the Pan American games did not include a project to face this
problem. The Ministry of Justice took over the safety of the Pan
American Games and developed a proposal that became a large
project for public security in Rio de Janeiro, so successful that it
became the embryo of the future Pronasci, the National Public
Security and Citizenship Program, combining law enforcement
and crime prevention measures with far-reaching social inclusion
in communities vulnerable to violence. Released shortly after the
end of the Pan, in August 2007, the plan was materialized in Rio
by the current Police Pacification Units (UPP). This model of
public safety was one of the strengths that the IOC mentioned
during the evaluation of the Olympic bid, and is the basis of the
security plan for the next big event that Rio de Janeiro will host.
The commitment to leave a mark of social transformation
in Rio gained strength during the preparations for the Pan American
Games, which recorded the experience to formulate a concept of
social legacy combined with major sporting events. At the time, the
Ministry of Sport commissioned a broad diagnosis on the reality of
53 favelas of Rio from the Observatório de Favelas (Favela Moni-
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toring program), which identified the demand for programs related
to sports, culture, leisure and recreation associated with education
and citizenship.
Mineirão – Belo Horizonte/MG
The main objective was that the Games were the starting point for the adoption of social actions in a broad spectrum
of different institutions and with different objectives, aimed at
improving the living conditions of the population belonging to
Rio’s poor communities, particularly those surrounding sports
facilities. This initiative, vital to forming closer ties between the
Rio citizens and the Pan games, was incorporated into the Rio
2016 when the municipal government created the Carioca Dwell-
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ing, a municipal plan for the integration of informal settlements
in precarious conditions.
The plan is part of the legacy for the Olympic Games
and aims to promote urban and social integration of all Rio’s
slums by the year 2020. With investments of R$ 8 billion,
including R$ 2 billion by the end of 2012, and in tune with
the program My House, My Life, Carioca Dwelling is a set of
measures to urbanize favelas, deploying water supply, sewage,
storm drainage and street lighting networks, paving streets and
sidewalks, building schools, kindergartens, hospitals, sports and
cultural centers, bring public transportation, ensuring security
to the population, while respecting the culture and history of
its inhabitants in all new social, educational, cultural and sports
associated projects.
In Rio de Janeiro, the government and sporting bodies
have been working with the idea of connecting legacies, which
will have improved from one event to another and have connections with each other. As an example, in the neighborhood
of Deodoro, in the western side of the city, the federal government made long-term planning for the creation of facilities that have been built in the region since the Pan American
Games in 2007, when the Ministry of Sport built the Deodoro Sports Complex, including facilities for shooting sports,
equestrianism, field hockey and modern pentathlon – and later
judo. These complexes have hosted several competitions of the
2011 World Military Games, an event for which the Ministry of
Defence built the Green Villa in Deodoro, one of three condominiums erected for the accommodation of the delegations
of the 111 participating countries and will be a legacy left by
the military games for the housing of delegations in the 2016
Olympics. Also designed for military competitions, next to the
Villa the federal government built a multisport gymnasium that
can be used as a training site in 2016.
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Brazilian Sport Programs
Brasil created the Brazilian Anti-Doping Agency
One of the commitments Brazil assumed during Rio de Janeiro’s
application to host the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games in
2016 was the creation of the Brazilian Anti-Doping Agency (ABCD).
This commitment was fulfilled by the Presidency of the Republic on November 30th, 2011. The authority is bound to the Ministry of Sport and,
following a recommendation given by the World Anti-Doping Agency
(WADA), it maintains autonomy in relation to sports entities. WADA also
recommends that countries have specific agencies for doping control.
ABCD aims at “equality, justice and the health of athletes,
being responsible for implementing the anti-doping national policy,
in accordance with the rules and relevant international conventions
on the subject matter”.
Brazil was the first country to sign the World Anti-Doping Code, created at the World Conference on Doping in Sport in
March, 2003, in Copenhagen (Denmark), where the Copenhagen
Declaration was approved. The International Convention against
Doping in Sport, presented during the 33rd General Conference
of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in 2005, was ratified by the Brazilian National
Congress in October, 2007.
The Country also has a laboratory accredited by the Global
Agency for anti-doping tests. Ladetec is one of the 34 laboratories
accredited by WADA in the world and is linked to the Chemistry
Institute of Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. It is in charge of
performing anti-doping tests for the FIFA World Cup 2014, and the
2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Brazil is committed to doping control to ensure the fairness
of sports disputes, so that sports are free of doping.
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IV
Great Numbers of
Brazil Today
F
ederative Republic of Brazil is multi-party political system.
Brazil holds democratic elections for president, senators, representatives, state governors and legislators, mayors and municipal counsels. Brazil is the world leader in electronic online voting
(100 million voters).
The largest Latin American country, occupying an area of 3,286,470
sq. miles (8,511,965 sq. km) and covering nearly half of the South
American landmass. It is the fifth largest country in the world after
the Russian Federation, Canada, China and the United States.
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Great numbers of Brazil today
Population: 196 million
6th largest economy in the world
Per capita GDP: US$ 10,960
(Source: Central Bank of Brazil and IBGE - 2010)
GDP: US$ 2 trillion
GPD growth in 2010: 7,5%
Unemployment rate: 5,7%
Inflation (2010): 5,9%
Exports (2010): US$ 201,9 billion
Imports (2010): US4 181,6 billion
Land frontier: 15.719 km
The Atlantic Ocean extends along the
entire eastern side of the country, which
has 4,578 miles (7,367 km) of coastline.
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Great numbers of Brazil today
Cities
Capital: Brasília, Federal District (officially inaugurated in 1960, Brasilia is located near the geographical center of the Country.
(GMT – 3 hours).
Most populated metropolitan regions: São Paulo (19.9 million), Rio de Janeiro (11.9 million), Belo Horizonte (5.4 million),
Porto Alegre (4.1 million), Salvador (3.9 million), Recife (3.8 million),
Fortaleza (3.6 million), Brasília (3.5 million), Curitiba (3.2 million) and
Campinas (2.6million).
5 regions, 26 and the federal district
North
amapá
Roraima
Northeast
AMAZONAS
Pará
maranhão
paraíba
piauí
ACRE
rio grande
do norte
ceará
pernambuco
Alagoas
RONDÔNIA
sergipe
Tocantins
BAHIA
MATO GROSSO
DISTRITO FEDERAL
GOIÁS
Central-West
MINAS GERAIS
ESPÍRITO SANTO
MATO GROSSO
DO SUL
SÃO PAULO
RIO DE JANEIRO
Paraná
South
SANTA CATARINA
Southeast
RIO GRANDE
DO SUL
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São Paulo/SP
• More than 80% of Brazilians live in urban areas. São Paulo is the
biggest and most populous city in South America. With a population of 11 million, and with the adjacent metropolitan area making
it around 18 million, the São Paulo metropolitan area is the fifth
most populous urban agglomeration in the world, after Tokyo,
New York, Mexico City and Mumbai.
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Great numbers of Brazil today
• The annual carnival in Salvador, capital of the state of Bahia, is the
world’s biggest street party, attracting around 2 million people (including an average of 800,000 Brazilian and foreign tourists). The
music is provided by mobile sound systems (trios elétricos) and over
a hundred parade groups (blocos).
• The city of Rio de Janeiro throws a New Year’s Eve party
that is probably the biggest – and arguably the most spectacular – in the world. Around two million people, all of them
dressed at least partly in white (a popular tradition adopted
from Afro-Brazilian religion), congregate on the huge crescent-shaped expanse of Copacabana beach to watch a midnight firework display.
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Great numbers of Brazil today
Population
Urban/Rural: 81% urban, 19% rural
Gender Distribution: 48.8% male, 51.2% female
Age Breakdown: 27.6% under 15/ 27.9% 15 to 29/ 21.1%
30 to 44/ 13.3% 45 to 59/ 7.4% 60 to 74/ 2.7% 75 and over
Life expectancy: 73.7 years (overall population); 70 years (men)
and 77.5 years (women) Source: IBGE – 2011 – estimate
With more than 190 million people, Brazil is the world’s 5th
most populous country after China, India, the United States and Indonesia. The population is growing by approximately 1% per year, a
lower rate than in most other developing countries.
The three basic racial matrixes of the Brazilian people are
the native indigenous population, Europeans, starting with the Portuguese, and Africans.
Between the 19th and 20th centuries, Brazil welcomed millions
of immigrants from Europe: Italians, Portuguese and Spaniards, as
well as a reasonable contingent of Germans and Japanese. As a result
of this variety, studies show that most of the Brazilian population is
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genetically mixed, and even some of the population that is officially
considered to be white has some African and Native Brazilian genetic
lineage, as well as the European element.
That is why Brazil is the country of racial, cultural, religious
and social tolerance. Various ethnic groups coexist in the Brazilian
territory without hostility, an environment for exchange and respect
for differences, contributing to the beauty and diversity of the Brazilian people.
Brazil has the world’s second biggest black population after
Nigeria, the largest number of people of Japanese ancestry outside
Japan, and more people of Lebanese or Syrian extraction than the
combined populations of Lebanon and Syria.
The African origin is part of the Brazilian DNA, and is visible
in all parts of Brazilian culture: from Afro-Brazilian religions such as
Candomblé and Umbanda, to influences in music and dance, originating samba, chorinho, axé, Brazilian soul and funk, an the AfroBrazilian martial art, Capoeira.
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Great numbers of Brazil today
Brazil has an indigenous population of around
750.000, comprising more than 220 groups who speak
more than 180 different languages. According to the
National Indian Foundation (FUNAI), a governmental
agency protecting the indigenous population´s interests
and culture, the indigenous population has been growing at a rate of more than 3.5% per year and is now four
times greater than in 1950.
Source: http://www.brasil.gov.br/sobre/geography/population
Great numbers of Brazil today
climate
Equatorial
The equatorial climate covers a substantial part of the Brazilian territory, especially the Amazon forest. These areas average
high temperatures between 15 to 27°C, raining almost every day.
Temperate
The temperate climate is predominant in the south, being
the coldest in the country. Temperatures, usually around 18°C, can
drop below zero during winter. It rains irregularly year-round and,
even if rare, snow does fall in some mountainous regions.
Source: http://www.brasil.gov.br/sobre/geography/climate/regional-diversity-3
Brazilian biomes
Brazil has a vast territorial area of 8.5 million km2, comprising many different conditions of altitude, pressure, wind and
proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. Due to this vast territorial area, the
country has three types of climate: tropical, equatorial and temperate. About 92% of the Brazilian territory is located between the
equator and the tropic of Capricorn, and has an average annual temperature above 20°C.
Tropical Climate
The predominant climate in Brazil is tropical. It has average
temperatures above 20°C and a high rainfall index in the northeast,
southeast and midwest. It alternates between humid in summer and
spring, and dry in winter and fall.
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Great numbers of Brazil today
A biome is a set of vegetation types that covers large contiguous areas on a regional scale, with similar flora and fauna, as defined
by the physical conditions prevailing in those regions. These climatic,
geographical and lithological (pertaining to rocks) aspects result in
biomes endowed with a natural, peculiar biological diversity.
There are six main biomes in Brazil: Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Caatinga, Pampa and Pantanal.
Amazon
Approximate size: 4,196,943 km2.
Amazon is the largest biodiversity reserve in the world and
the largest biome in Brazil, occupying almost half (49.29%) of the
country. This biome completely covers five states (Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Pará and Roraima), almost all of Rondônia (98.8%) and large
parts of Mato Grosso (54%), Maranhão (34%) and Tocantins (9%).
It is dominated by a hot and humid climate (average temperature
25°C) and forests. It has well-distributed rainfall during the year and rivers
with permanent heavy flow.
The Brazilian Amazon is marked by the Amazon basin,
which drains 20% of the volume of freshwater in the world. Brazil
holds 60% of the basin, which occupies 40% of South America
and 5% of the Earth’s surface, with an area of approximately 6.5
million square kilometers. The interaction of various geographical
and climatic conditions that prevail in the Amazon results in a vast
variety and wealth in terms of fauna and flora. It is estimated that
this biome is home to more than half of all living species in Brazil.
Characteristic vegetation is the tropical rain forest. In the
plains accompanying the Amazon River and its tributaries are the
lowland forests (periodically flooded) and the igapó forests (permanently flooded). Aspects of the savanna, the campinarana, pioneering
formations and ecological sanctuaries are also present in this biome.
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Cerrado (Savanna)
Approximate size: 2,036,448 km2.
Cerrado is the second largest biome in South America and
covers 22% of the Brazilian territory. It completely covers the Federal District and most of Goiás (97%), Tocantins (91%), Maranhão
(65%), Mato Grosso do Sul (61%), Minas Gerais (57%) and smaller
areas of six other states. The Cerrado holds the source of three major basins in South America (Amazon/Tocantins, São Francisco and
Prata), which results in high water potential and rich biodiversity.
This biome is home to more than 6,500 catalogued plant species,
accounting for one third of the country´s plant and animal species.
In the Cerrado there is a predominance of savanna formations and a hot sub-humid tropical climate, a dry season and a rainy
season, with an average annual temperature between 22°C and 27°C.
In the highlands, with extensive plains, are gallery forests, known as
riverside and riparian forests, along the watercourse and evergreen
foliage all year round; the lowlands, in wet valleys, consist of groups
of buriti palms on a layer of grass.
Atlantic Forest
Approximate size: 1,110,182 km2.
The Atlantic Forest is an environmental complex that includes mountain ranges, valleys, plateaus and level lands throughout the east Atlantic continental range of Brazil, and continues on
over the Meridiano Plateau to the state of Rio Grande do Sul. It
completely covers the states of Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro and
Santa Catarina, 98% of Paraná, and parts of over 11 other states.
Great numbers of Brazil today
This biome is a large combination of extra-Amazonian forest. Its main type of vegetation is tropical rain forest, usually consisting of tall trees and related to a hot and humid climate. The
Atlantic has been one of the richest and most varied groups of rain
forest in South America, but is now recognized as the most uncharacteristic biome, due to the early episodes of colonization and the
development cycles of the country. Today, more than 70% of the
population and the country´s major cities are located in these areas.
International researchers have found a record-breaking 458
tree species in a single hectare of the Atlantic forest (usually, in the
U.S., a hectare only contains 10 species).
Caatinga (Dryland)
Approximate size: 844,453 km2.
Also known as “Sertão,” the Caatinga (indigenous name),
meaning “clear and open forest”, is uniquely Brazilian and occupies
about 11% of the country. It is the main biome of the northeastern
region, occupying the whole of Ceará, and parts of Rio Grande do
Norte (95%), Paraíba (92%), Pernambuco (83%), Piauí (63%), Bahia (54% ), Sergipe (49%), Alagoas (48%) and Maranhão (1%). The
Caatinga also covers 2% of Minas Gerais.
Drought, heat and a light characteristic of tropical areas result in a steppe-like, thorny and deciduous (when the leaves fall at
a given time) savanna vegetation. There are also mountain ranges,
swamps and pockets with warmer climates.
This biome is subject to two dry seasons per year: a long period of drought, followed by intermittent rain and a short drought
followed by torrential rains (with intervals that can last years). These
two seasons highlight the contrasts of the Caatinga: the biome is at
times barren, gray and thorny; at other times it is greener, covered
by a significant amount of small leaves.
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Great numbers of Brazil today
Pampa
Approximate size: 176,496 km2.
Source:
http://www.brasil.gov.br/sobre/geography/biome-and-vegetation/brazilian-biomes-1/br_model1?set_language=en
The Pampa biome is present only in Rio Grande do Sul,
occupying 63% of the territory of the state. It comprises the South
American pampas, stretching through Uruguay and Argentina, and
is internationally classified as steppe. The Pampa is marked by rainy
weather, without a dry season, and with regular polar fronts with
freezing temperatures in winter.
The vegetation consists of pampa grass and shrubs, covering a slightly undulating leveled relief. Forests are not common
in this biome and where they occur, consist of tropical rain forest
(tall trees) and deciduous forest (trees that shed their leaves during
the dry season).
Pantanal (Wetlands)
Approximate size: 150,355 km2.
Pantanal biome covers 25% of Mato Grosso do Sul and 7%
of Mato Grosso, and its limits coincide with those of the plain of
the Pantanal – also known as Pantanal. The Pantanal is a biome all
but unique to Brazil, as only a small part of it enters other countries
(Paraguay and Bolivia).
It is characterized by long-term flooding of the Paraguay
Basin rivers (due to the low permeability of the soil) that occurs annually in the plain, and causes changes in the environment, wildlife
and the daily life of locals. The predominant vegetation is savanna,
but there are formations of savanna steppe and small areas of semideciduous and deciduous forests.
Almost all of the Brazilian fauna is represented in the Brazilian
Pantanal. During the flood, some species such as birds and mammals
move to the nearby high ground. The original vegetation of areas surrounding Pantanal has been largely replaced by crops and pastures, a
process that has repercussions for the plain of the Pantanal.
It is the world´s largest wetland, recognized by the UNESCO as
a “World Biosphere Reserve” and as a “World Natural Heritage Site”.
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Energy
The Brazilian energy matrix is recognized as the cleanest
and most renewable in the world. Over 86% of the electricity generated comes from renewable energy, hydropower supplying 81% of
electricity in the country.
Against a backdrop of rising concerns about climate change
and declining oil reserves, Brazil has become a pioneer in the production of ethanol, being the world´s leading exporter. Produced in
the country since 1974 from sugarcane, ethanol generates 90% less
emission of greenhouse gases than gasoline.
Brazil is the sixth largest car manufacturer in the world, and
more than three-quarters of the automobiles sold here have flexfuel engines, capable of running on gasoline, ethanol, or a mixture
of the two. Since 2003, car companies working in Brazil produce
nearly 100 different models of flex-fuel cars, making it the largest
fleet of such cars ever.
Home to modern petrochemical complexes in Bahia, Rio
Grande do Sul and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is at the forefront of technological production and exploitation of oil and natural gas in deep waters: 2008 was marked by the discovery of large reserves in sedimentary
basins, about 6,000 feet below sea surface. Known as the “pre-salt”, the
area provides investment opportunities for oil companies interested in
one of the largest deposits of light oil and gas in the world. This multiplies Brazilian reserves by three. Led by Petrobras, the biggest energy
company in Brazil, and also the world´s largest deep sea operator, R&D
has helped put the nation among the 6 major oil producers worldwide.
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Economy & business
Consistent and sustainable growth
The development model in Brazil is one of
investment in public policies: increasing productive efficiency, diminishing external vulnerability and stimulating the investment rate
and savings as a fraction of GDP. By the end
of 2010, the result was a consistent and stable economy. Adopted measures allowed for
constant, sustainable growth generating formal employment, allowing a better income
distribution and the capacity to absorb external and internal shocks.
Civil Construction in 2010
Sinapi (National Index of Civil Construction), closed with a rise of 7.36% compared to the previous year.
Source: IBGE
Annual Final Domestic Consumption
GDP in 2010
CI (Import Coefficient) of Brazilian industry in 2010 was 21.8%, the highest
level since 2003, representing total imports in relation to national industry’s
consumption.
Brazilian industry’s CE (Export Coefficient), which corresponds to total exports
regarding national production, reached
18.9% last year.
R$ 937.2 billion in the third quarter of 2010.
Source: Federação das Indústrias do Estado de São Paulo (Fiesp) –
Brazilian industrial production has
grown 10.5% between 2010 and 2009
Industrial GDP in 2010
R$ 206 billion in the second quarter of 2010.
Retail Sales in 2010
10.9% growth.
Federation of the Industries of the State of São Paulo.
Employment in 2010
2.52 million formal jobs, a new record.
Source: Caged – Cadastro Geral de Empregados e Desempregados
General Roll of Employment and Unemployment.
Industrial Production in 2010
10.5% growth in comparison to 2009
Source: IBGE
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Industrial Employment in 2010
3.4% growth in comparison to 2009.
Exports
US$ 197.999 billion.
Source: Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade.
Imports
US$ 179.139 billion.
Source: Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade.
Interest Trade (Selic) in 2010
10.75% per year.
Source: Banco Central do Brasil.
Official Inflation (IPCA - Índice Nacional de
Preços ao Consumidor Amplo – National Price
to the Consumer Index) in 2010
5.91%
Source: IBGE
Dollar in 2010
R$ 1.66 with a devaluation of 4.42%
Source: Banco Central do Brasil.
Minimum wage in 2010
R$ 510.00
Source: http://www.brasil.gov.br/sobre/brazil/brazil-in-numbers/economy-business
Labor, Employment and Income
Increase in job creation
Brazil achieved a new record in formal jobs
creation in 2010. 2.52 million formal jobs were
recorded in that year, topping the 2007 record of
1.617 million jobs created.
Creation of jobs per sector in 2010
Services: 1,008,587
Commerce: 601,846
Manufacturing Industry: 536,073
Civil Construction: 329,195 Public Utility Indus-
IGP-M (Índice Geral de Preços do Mercado –
General Market Prices Index) in 2010
trial Services: 20,722
Mining: 17,875
11.32%
Source: FGV
Public Administration: 12,960
Agribusiness: 2,580 positions
International Reserve in 2010
Source: http://www.brasil.gov.br/sobre/brazil/brazil-in-numbers/laboremployment-and-income
US$ 288.6 billion.
Source: Banco Central do Brasil.
Balance of Trade in 2010
Economically active
Population: 101.1 million (Source: IBGE - PNAD - 2009)
Currency: Real (symbol: R$)
Surplus of US$ 20.3 billion.
Source: Banco Central do Brasil.
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Agribusiness accounts for
26% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and 37.9% of exports.
65% of the food production is consumed domestically and the rest is
exported to more than 211 markets,
rising from US$ 30.6 billion in 2003
to US$ 76.4 billion in 2010.
Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of sugar, coffee, orange juice, soy beans, beef and
chicken. In terms of agriculture
the Financial Times describes the
country as “a powerhouse whose
size and efficiency few competitors can match”.
With the assistance of the
Brazilian agricultural Research Corporation (Empresa Brasileira de
Pesquisa Agropecuária – Embrapa),
linked to the Ministry of Agriculture, livestock and Supply, Brazilian agriculture has become one of
the most competitive in the world.
Embrapa also transfers production
technology to Latin America, Africa
and the Caribbean, having offices in
Ghana and Panama, and being present through cooperation programs
in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso,
Chad, El Salvador, Haiti, Mali, Mozambique and Senegal.
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One of the main reasons for Brazil´s recent success is a
policy of social inclusion. Millions of Brazilians left extreme poverty thanks to government wealth redistribution programs. 30 million Brazilians entered middle-class, helping to drive consumption
and growth.
Some of the main factors of this victory include increased family income, employment generation, restoration of purchasing power
of the minimum wage, greater access to credit and an already mentioned set of public policies of income transfer and citizenship value.
One of these programs, the Bolsa Família (Family Grant), is
considered the largest cash transfer program in the world. The UN
has rated it as one of the most effective poverty-eradication programs.
Continuing with this policy, the government launched in
2011 a poverty alleviation plan named “Brasil sem Miséria” a plan
to lift 16.2 million Brazilians out of extreme poverty by concentrating efforts on cash transfer iniciatives, incrased access to eduction,
health, welfare, sanitation, electricity and public inclusion.
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Brazil has a consolidated democracy, based on sound institutions, with a stable political environment that guarantees individual
rights. With more than five centuries of history, the country combines a high degree of institutional, political and economic maturity
with an immense potential for growth and investment.
Over the past 20 years, since the promulgation of the Constitution of 1988, democratic stability has prevailed: the country has
gone through six regular presidential elections. In 2010, the country
elected a woman president, Her Excellency Mrs. Dilma Rousseff,
for the first time in its history. Government accounts are in good
order, inflation is under control, public debt has been substantially
reduced and credit to consumers and businesses have increased significantly. There has been a virtuous cycle in the last decade, with an
improvement in income distribution and a reduction in social exclusion and poverty that boosted economic competitiveness as well as
employment, income and wealth generation. Since 2007 Brazil has
gone from debtor to nominal creditor in the international market.
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Brazil is governed by a presidential
system with three indenpendent powers:
Executive, Legislative and Judiciary.
It is a federal republic composed of 26 states and one federal
district where Brasília, the country´s
capital, is located. Each state has its
own government, with a structure
mirroring the federal level, enjoying all the powers defined by its own
Constitution. The executive head of
the state is the Governor, elected by
direct popular vote under the Federal Constitution, who runs the state
along with a State Assembly, providing the State Legislature. The state
judiciary follows the federal pattern
and has its jurisdiction defined so as
to avoid any conflict or super-imposition with the federal courts.
There are also over 5,500
municipalities, which are governed
by mayors and have Municipal
Councils autonomous in local affairs. The Municipal Councils operate under the provisions of the
Basic Law of Municipalities.
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Elections
Elections in Brazil are conducted under a system of universal suffrage and secret ballot. Electoral enrolment and voting are
mandatory for all literate citizens between the ages of 18 and 70,
and voluntary for the illiterate, those aged 16-17 and over 70.
Any person wishing to run for public office in Brazil must
belong to a political party. Parties have to be formally registered
with the Superior Electoral Court. They are guaranteed the freedom
to define their own internal structure, organization and operation,
including rules regarding party loyalty and discipline.
Votes are registered electronically, even in the most remote
parts of the country, thereby reducing potential for fraud and decreasing the time taken for results to be declared.
Executive
Executive power is exercised by the President of the Republic, who appoints Ministers of State, helping to govern the country.
The President and Vice-President are elected for four-year terms.
Legislative
Legislative power is exercised by the National Congress,
which consists of two houses: the Chamber of Deputies (lower
house) and the Federal Senate (upper house).
National Congress
The Chamber of Deputies is composed of 513 federal deputies, each state represented by an number of deputies proportional
to its population. Deputies serve four-year terms and are elected by
direct secret ballot under universal suffrage.
The Senate is composed of 81 senators – three for each
of the 26 States (and another three for Federal District). Senators are elected for eight-year terms, elections being organized to
take place every four years, coinciding with those for the Chamber of Deputies.
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Federal deputies and senators are entitled to stand for reelection without restriction.
Judiciary
Judicial powers are vested in the Federal Supreme Court, Superior Court of Justice, regional courts, and the specific courts for
electoral, labor, the military, and so on. Judges in all courts, at both
federal and state level, are appointed for life.
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The new Industrial, Technological
and Foreign Exchange Policy elects innovation as the basis to increase the country’s
economic efficiency and competitiveness in
the international market. Four sectors are
of specific strategic interest: software; drugs
and medicines; semiconductors and microelectronics; and capital goods, essential for
conquering and preserving markets.
Direct investment in research and
development (R&D) in 2010 reached R$
44.4 billion, an actual increase of 75%
when compared to 2000. This value represents 1.25% of the overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP), being 0.66% from
government resources and 0.59% from
private companies.
Source: http://www.brasil.gov.br/sobre/brazil/brazil-in-numbers/
science-and-technology
Research
As a result of increased investment
in the training of scientists and researchers, Brazil is exploring new fields of knowledge. Brazil´s share in world scientific output rose from 1.62% in 2002 to 2.69% in
2009, enabling the country to rank 13th
among the nations with the highest production volumes. Brazil is a global benchmark in aerospace industry, telecommunications and software design.
Support for research over the
years has resulted in centers of excellence
in human health, with research institu-
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tions of international standing such as Fiocruz, in Rio de Janeiro,
and the Butantã Institute, in São Paulo. Today, we are breaking
new grounds in research on the use of human stem cells.
Public investment in research and development has grown
substantially in recent years. It is estimated that 1.25% of GDP
was invested in R&D in 2010. The country counts today on more
than 80,000 researchers and scholars working in universities and
private companies. The Brazilian government has also increased
scholarships grants to researchers.
Aerospace Excellence
Recognized for its technological capacity and creativity, the Brazilian aerospace industry is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere and
competes in several segments of the global market. Embraer, an aircraft
manufacturer, is a leading producer of regional commercial jets up to
120 seats. With over 17,000 employees, the company´s order portfolio
totaled US$ 16.6 billion in March 2011, delivering 246 aircrafts.
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The Brazilian aerospace industry produces military equipment, executive jets, satellites and crop-monitoring equipment. The
Brazilian space program generates satellite images critical to the
preservation of the Amazon.
Software and services
In information technology, entrepreneurs enjoy facilitated
credit such as the Program for the Development of the National Industry of Software and Information Technology Services (Prosoft
in the Portuguese acronym). Increasingly requested to provide support to multinational companies, the sector offers opportunities in
services and software development.
Brazilian market for software services and information technology
holds the 12th position in the world ranking. The sector generated US$ 30
billion in 2010. To expand markets and gain ground in the provision of services abroad, the information technology sector has undergone a process
of mergers and acquisitions, attracting foreign clients and investors.
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Education
Education being one of the pillars in overcoming poverty,
promoting citizenship and social inclusion, increased levels of access, school permanence, and quality standards are some of the biggest challenges facing Brazilian society. The country seeks significant
advances in quality standards of public schools through structuring
public policies such as the Education Development Plan (Plano de
Desenvolvimento da Educação – PDE).
Aware of the need to prioritize rural and semi-rural areas,
the Brazilian government has provided new stimulus to technical
education. In 2009, there were 280 federal technical schools in the
country, jumping to 342 in 2010. In 2011, the government launched
the National Program for Access to Technical Education and Employment (Pronatec), offering learning opportunities to 8 million
high school students and workers until 2014.
Pronatec aims to expand and democratize the offer of technical
courses and mid-level professionals. One of the initiatives of the program is the Fellowship Training, amplifying professional education to
public high school students and workers. In addition, the Fund for High
School Students (Fies) will be extended to technical education and may
benefit companies wishing to raise funds to invest in technical courses.
The fund will also provide a specific credit line to facilitate the access of
students and employed workers to technical and vocational education.
In the last decade, the number of University students more
than doubled, reaching 6.5 million in 2012. In 2012, the number of
higher education instructors reached 315.535. In the last decade,
there has been a rise of 123 % of professors with doctorate degrees.
Federal Universities grew from 45 in 2003 to 59 in 2010, representing a leap of 113,200 places offered, reaching a total of 222,400.
The goal is to reach 243,500 places in 2012. The expansion and improvement of federal universities focuses on the inland, where 126
new campuses and units have been established since 2003.
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In 2010, 12,000 doctors and 41,000 masters graduated
from Brazilian universities. The goal is to reach the annual figure
of 25,000 doctors and 60,000 masters in the next 10 years. 75
thousand new international scholarships will be granted until 2014
to improve the qualification of Brazilian post-graduates.
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Interesting facts:
• Brazil is participating in the biggest ever scientific project
entailing cooperation between different countries – the International Space Station (ISS). In March 2006 the astronaut
Marcos Pontes became the first Brazilian (and the first native
Portuguese speaker) to go into space when he embarked on a
mission to the ISS.
• Brazil has the only source of synchrotron light in the
Southern Hemisphere, which permits the study of atoms
and molecules. The equipment – developed, built and operated entirely by Brazilians – belongs to the National Synchrotron Light Laboratory in Campinas, São Paulo state.
• Brazil has become the world’s leading source of satellite images, due to the government’s policy of providing users in
Brazil and neighboring countries with free access to the images produced by the Sino-Brazilian Earth Resources Satellite.
• In 2000, a team of scientists based in São Paulo achieved
the first ever sequencing, or ‘decoding,’ of the genome of a
plant pathogen. The bacterium in question was the insectborne Xylella fastidiosa, which infects citrus fruit and other
commercially important produce.
• Brazil’s Aids program is widely seen as a model for other
developing countries. In the early 1990s the World Bank
predicted that in 2000 the number of Brazilians with HIV
would be 1.2 million and rising. The current number, however, is around 630,000. The government puts great emphasis on prevention, with education and publicity campaigns
actively and openly promoting safe sex among high-risk and
vulnerable groups. Brazil was also the first developing country to commit to providing free anti-retroviral medicines to
people with HIV, and the government has put pressure on
international pharmaceutical companies to reduce prices at
which it buys anti-retroviral drugs.
Interesting facts:
• Oscar Niemeyer is universally considered one of the most
important figures in international modern architecture. As
well as being the major influence on the construction of
Brasília, Brazil’s new capital, in the late 1950s, he has also
designed numerous important buildings in other countries
– including the United Nations headquarters in New York.
• The most famous of the gentle bossa nova melodies of
the 1950s and 60s, The Girl from Ipanema by Antonio Carlos
(‘Tom’) Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes is generally thought
to be among the five most-played pieces of music, either live
or on the radio in the world.
• Brazil has a rich architectural heritage, ranging from colonial baroque to the modernism of, Brasília.
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Brazil has 18 cultural and natural properties listed by
UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here are some of the Brazilian
contributions to the World’s Cultural Heritage:
São Francisco Square, São Cristóvão/SE
One of the oldest cities in Brazil, São Cristóvão was the
first capital of Sergipe, founded in 1590. Among the riches of
the city, you can find the architectural style of the São Francisco
Square, which conserves the colonial style of buildings related to
the Franciscan Order of the Catholic Church. The site also houses
the Museum of Sacred Art, the third most important collection of
its kind in the country.
The complex also includes the historic Convent of São Francisco, whose architectural features show a mixture of Spanish and
Portuguese influences during the formation of colonial urban centers.
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The Historic City of Ouro Preto/MG
Former capital of the State of
Minas Gerais, Ouro Preto was founded
in 1698. The city is considered to be a
historic heritage for its original architectural collection. Located 513 kilometers
from Rio de Janeiro, it was the major
center of the Brazilian Gold Cycle.
The Historic Center of Olinda/PE
Olinda was founded in 1537 by the first Colonial District
Lord of Pernambuco, Duarte Coelho Pereira. The historic center
of the city preserves the original landscape, and the site of the villa
was founded in the first half of the sixteenth century. The urban
layout is informal, characteristic of the Portuguese settlements of
medieval origin, and the entire group is surrounded by vegetation.
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The Guarani Jesuit Missions, Ruínas de São Miguel das Missões/RS
Pilot Plan of Brasília/DF
Remnants of the ancient people of Archangel Saint Michael are located in the city of São Miguel das Missões, in the state
of Rio Grande do Sul, a former Spanish region, the Jesuit Province of Paraguay. The remnants of the Church of Saint Michael,
and the erection of the Mission Museum, were written into the
Book of Certified Arts in 1938, and considered as World Heritage
by the UNESCO in December 1983.
The city was inaugurated in 1960, built after a tender process ordered by President Juscelino Kubitschek in 1957. The capital combines spatial shapes and varied historic periods, represented by old ranches and cities of Goiás, and pioneer settlements,
which reinterpret modernist principles. It is the first modern city
to be considered as World Heritage.
The Historic Center of Salvador/BA
Founded by Thomé de Souza in 1549, Salvador is located
between the sea and the hills of Baía de Todos os Santos (All Saints
Bay). The structure is similar to that of the cities of Porto and Lisbon, with a strong defensive character, typical of the seventeenth
century. At sea level, Cidade Baixa (Low City) forms a straight stretch
between the coast and a cliff, delimiting the Cidade Alta (High City).
The Sanctuary of Senhor Bom Jesus de Matosinhos,
in Congonhas do Campo/MG
The Sanctuary Bom Jesus de Matosinhos is the masterpiece
Antônio Francisco Lisboa, a.k.a. Aleijadinho, began in 1757. The
ensemble is comprised of the Bom Jesus Chapel, including an impressive foyer, stairways, walls and parapets of the churchyard, and
other six chapels located along the route that leads to the Sanctuary,
at the top of the hill. Images of the chapels were sculpted in wood
by Aleijadinho, and painted by Manuel da Costa Athayde.
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