Klaus Hart Brasilientexte

Now that the elections are over and Dilma Rousseff has won, it is time to face Brazil’s reality. There is much to be done. The numbers below are official.

In spite of the Lula government’s social advancements, a House to House National Survey – PNAD 2009 –  IBGE (National Institute for Geography and Statistics) published on 8th September, showed that Brazilian average income calculated at R$1106 in 2009, was 2.2% lower than 2008.

http://www.hart-brasilientexte.de/2010/11/17/lula-ignorierte-eingekerkerte-gewerkschafter-wahrend-seines-iran-besuchs-bei-ahmadinedschad-irans-friedensnobelpreistragerin-shirin-ebadi-appelliert-an-dilma-rousseff/

UNO verurteilt Steinigen: http://www.hart-brasilientexte.de/2010/11/20/uno-verurteilt-steinigen-im-iran-brasilia-enthalt-sich-steinigen-in-brasilien-menschenrechtsbilanz-der-lula-rousseff-regierung/

http://www.hart-brasilientexte.de/2008/10/10/taglich-ausergerichtliche-exekutionen-in-brasilien-menschenrechts-minister-paulo-vannuchi/

http://www.adital.com.br/site/noticia.asp?boletim=1&lang=PT&cod=52412

Although the real average employment income increased from R$1082 (2008) to R$1106 (2009) – an increase of 2.2% – this variation is still lower than the 1990s when it increased, between 1995 and 1998, from R$1113 to R$1121. In 2009 the per capita income of the poorest 10% grew only 1.5% while the national level was 2.4%.

In 2009 there were 101.1 million persons employed in Brazil. Half of them in the informal market therefore not registered. Compared with the previous year there was an increase in registered employment: from 58.8% (2008) to 59.6% (2009).

However, unemployment increased by 18.5%. In 2008 the index was 7.1 million unemployed. In 2009 8.4 million, an increase of 1.3 million unemployed.

The number of children in the labour market was significantly reduced by one million. In 2009 there were 4.25 million Brazilians between 5 and 17 years of age in the work force. 202,000 fewer children and adolescents compared to 2008. However the Northeast had a small increase of young people between 14 and 15 years of age.

The rate of illiteracy for 2009 is still high: 8.9% of the population. The number of illiterates over the age of 15 was reduced: from 10% of the population (2008) it went down to 9.7% (2009). One in five Brazilians is a functional illiterate, not capable of writing a letter without serious grammatical errors and incapable of interpreting a text.

With the Lula government Brazil advanced in the reduction of poverty and social inequality. Close to 20 million persons moved out of extreme poverty. However during the last few years there was a fall in the rhythm of increasing income for 10% of the poorest.

In 2009 8.4% of Brazilians (15.96 million out of a population of 190 million) lived in extreme poverty. Extreme poverty fell 0.4% in 2008. Between 2007 and 2008 it had decreased 1.5%, three times as much. Therefore the number of Brazilians coming out of poverty was reduced.

It is true that thanks to easier credit (the volume reached R$1 trillion) and the global financial crisis which obliged many exporters to sell their products on the internal market, there was a significant increase in the consumption of durable goods such as washing machines, clothing, televisions, computers, mobile phones and DVD players.

Today 72% of homes possess such equipment. What is interesting is the following contradiction: 59.1% of Brazilian homes have no access to sewers – this means 34.6 million homes.

During the Lula government there was an increase in the number of houses with running water, garbage collection and electricity. But the number of houses on sewers (sanitation) decreased: from 59.3% (2008) to 59.1% (2009). 68% of all disease is attributed to lack of sanitation.

After falling for seven years, the fertility rate started to rise again in Brazil. From 1.89 children per woman (2008) to 1.94 (2009).

Brazil tends to have a large population of elderly people. In 2009 11.3% of Brazilians were 60 years of age or over. This means an increase in Welfare costs (one way of distributing wealth) as well as costs in public health.

The banks did very well during the Lula regime. The profits of the three largest banks – Banco do Brasil, Itau and Bradesco – add up to R$167 billion in Lula’s time, an increase of 420% compared to Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s time (when the profits were R$32.262 billion).

Brazil’s failings are structural. Since 1985 not a single post dictatorship government has dared promote reforms such as agrarian, tax, political, or the health and education systems. As long as these structures and services are not dealt with the country will be, as Jesus said, mending old garments with unshrunken cloth.

We hope that Dilma Rousseff will put order into the structure of Brazil’s house, especially the land and tax structure. The former is necessary so as to put an end to the huge amount of land which lies idle, to poverty and to rural exodus. The latter in order to avoid the heaviest weight of taxes continuing to fall to those who are most poor.

*Frei Betto is a writer, author of “A mosca azul – reflexao sobre o poder” (The Blue Fly – a reflection on power) (Rocco)  www.freibetto.org Twitter: @freibetto.

http://www.hart-brasilientexte.de/2009/06/13/hans-magnus-enzensberger-sao-paulo-goethe-institut/