How much credit should Brazil’s presidents get for its remarkable progress since the return to democracy in 1985? Elections have been conducted smoothly, the economy has grown, poverty and inequality have declined and social indicators are improving. Did Brazil succeed because of its presidents or in spite of them? Or because of some and in [...]

  A narrow strip of sand that seems like it may be submersed any second, marks the meeting between Baía de Camamu’s (Camamu Bay) peaceful waters and the stronger waves of the Atlantic Ocean. A framework of wood and straw beams is the only sign of human occupation at Coroa Vermelha (Portuguese for Red Crown), [...]

If you were ambling along the Copacabana beach, in Rio, in recent months, you could hear it many a time: The melody of “Who is ready to jump” by Suriname-born Dutch DJ Chuckie. Finest funk, mixed with raw bass beats and staccato sounds and at the top of the Brazil dance charts. The rough sound [...]

  On December 5, 2010 I published a piece in Brazzil (1) highlighting five steps the Obama administration could take to improve bilateral relations with Brazil under the newly elected government of President Dilma Rousseff. I concluded, “It is no longer prudent to treat Brazil as only a regional power in South America. It deserves [...]

  Harmonica player, vibraphonist and composer Hendrik Meurkens may have been born in Germany, but listening to his work you realize that he definitely has a Brazilian soul. Over his career, he has not only contributed original music to the canon of Samba Jazz, but he has also helped take the music of Brazil to [...]

Younger people find it strange that the Vietnam War has so much importance in the consciousness of those who are now more than 60 years old. During that war, however, many of us knew more about the geography of that small, distant, exotic country than that of our own. Even stranger, it appears that that [...]