2050 superpower

Chapter 21: The Rising Brazil (1)
§§§Section [-] The Neglected "New World"

Brazil, located in South America, was originally a paradise for Indians.Maybe indigenous peoples are always weak, so when foreign peoples come, they should be enslaved immediately. In 1500, the Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvarez Cabral sailed around the world and discovered the continent of South America. His discovery brought disaster to the residents of this land. In the 16s, the Portuguese expeditionary force came to Brazil in South America along the route traveled by Pedro.The purpose of the Portuguese coming this time was not for sightseeing, but to take Brazil as their own and become a colony of their own. In 30, France invaded Portugal, and the Portuguese royal family fled to Brazil with their families to escape the war.

More than ten years later, the Anti-French Alliance fought a decisive battle with France in Waterloo in Europe. The French army led by Napoleon suffered a crushing defeat, which soon ended the era of the French Empire in Europe.So, in 1821, the Portuguese royal family happily packed their bags and returned to Portugal after leaving Prince Pedro in Brazil.Unexpectedly, the prince was not willing to be the regent of Brazil. He declared independence the next year and established the Brazilian Empire to compete with his own motherland.At this time, in North America on the other side of the ocean, the spirit of "unity" in the United States was spreading everywhere, and Brazil smelled this refreshing atmosphere. Therefore, in 1889, under the leadership of General Fonseca, Brazil overthrew the monarchy and established the United States of Brazil.Since then, Brazil has been "diving" in the world for nearly 80 years and has been almost forgotten by the world.In 1964, a military coup succeeded and a military government was established, which was renamed the Federative Republic of Brazil in 1967. In January 1985, the army returned power to the people, and in November 1, the political system of direct election of the president by the whole people was implemented.

In the election, Fernando Collor won and was elected president.So far, Brazil has entered the ranks of democratic countries at the end of the 20th century.

Because Brazil has been "diving" for too long, when the world sees him again, they all feel a little strange.

Here, it is necessary to give a brief introduction to the overall situation in Brazil.Brazil is located in the southeastern part of South America, with the largest number of neighboring countries in the world.As the largest country in South America, it borders all South American countries except Chile and Ecuador.With an area of ​​85 square kilometers, Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world after Russia, Canada, China and the United States.Geographically, most of Brazil is in the tropics, and parts of the south are in the subtropics; the Amazon, Paraná and San Francisco three major river systems traverse Brazil; the Amazon plain, the Paraguay basin, the Brazilian plateau and the Guyana plateau make Brazil's landforms scattered. The plains account for 1/3 of the country's land.Brazil can be described in this way. It is a fertile land with mountains, rivers and plains, raising more than 1 million people.

Since the Indians were squeezed out of the mainstream of society, Brazilian culture has hung the "ten thousand flags".Since the Portuguese came to Brazil as colonists in 1532, immigrants from Italy, Germany, Poland, Spain, Ukraine and other countries have also followed.First of all, there is no "racial discrimination" between the Portuguese and the indigenous people, and then other Caucasians also joined in, making Brazil's race genes more and more complicated. At the beginning of the 20th century, Japanese, Syrians and Lebanese also immigrated here one after another, making Brazil a country of "all nations".According to statistics, during the period from 1884 to 1962 alone, 497 million immigrants came to Brazil, of which the Japanese accounted for the vast majority, reaching 130 million, and the Chinese settled second, reaching 25. .As we can imagine, Brazil's cultural diversity has reached the extreme.In the past, what most of us knew about Brazil was football and samba. What we saw was the victory of the Brazilians on the football field. Seeing the violent shaking of the buttocks, hearing the exciting sound of wooden drums, the sensational carnival came to mind.

The reason why Brazil attracts so many people to emigrate is because of its rich products, fertile land, and living conditions suitable for human beings.In terms of minerals, Brazil's proven iron ore reserves have reached 650 billion tons, ranking second in the world; uranium, bauxite, and manganese reserves rank third in the world; in addition, chromium, nickel, and gold deposits are also very rich .In terms of energy, Brazil's coal reserves reach 230 billion tons. Although the grade is low, "mosquitoes are meat no matter how small they are." Chengbao; oil reserves are about 36 billion barrels, and there are 15 billion barrels of oil shale reserves.

In terms of agriculture, Brazil's specialties are famous all over the world.Its coffee, sugar, and citrus production ranks first in the world; its cocoa and soybean production ranks second in the world; and its corn production ranks third in the world.In Brazil, food is not only self-sufficient, but also exported in large quantities.At the beginning of the 20th century, Brazil's coffee production accounted for more than 75% of the world's total production, known as the "Kingdom of Coffee".

There are natural conditions suitable for human survival, but also a political and economic environment suitable for human development.

Brazil's state system is a federal system. In terms of political system, the Federal Assembly is the highest authority in the country and consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives.The federal government is responsible to the parliament and exercises national sovereignty externally.The government is headed by the President and the cabinet consists of 25 ministries.Brazil has a complete national defense system of the armed forces, with a total force of more than 30, and its defense budget accounts for about 0.28% of its GDP. Its military strength ranks first in Latin America.

In the political field, Brazil has experienced a gradual and iterative process in modern times. In the 19s, a party composed of celebrities appeared in Brazil, and there were seven changes in the political system; in the long period of nearly 30 years of the empire, a two-party system was implemented; in the old republic, in the states A one-party system was implemented; the prototype of a multi-party government was formed in 60; the multi-party democracy was truly realized from 1930 to 1946; after that, it entered the period of the military government and returned to the two-party system; since 1964, the military government The government was returned to the people, and the transition from an authoritarian system to a multi-party system began; in 1979, the multi-party democracy was consolidated and has been maintained until now.In Brazil now, there are 1985 parties registered in the federal court. Among these many parties, the Labor Party has achieved a position that no one can match with its strong strength.

Brazil's economic level ranks first in Latin America and is the ninth largest economy in the world.The most glorious period of the Brazilian economy was from 1967 to 1974, when its economic growth rate reached 10%, much higher than other countries in the world, so it was called the "Brazilian Miracle".But in the 1s, Brazil's economy began to stagnate or even decline, and the high inflation rate made it a headache.If you are poor, you want to change. Since the 20s, the Brazilian economy has transformed from an inward-looking economy to an outward-looking economy. At the same time, it implemented the real currency stabilization plan, which effectively curbed inflation.However, the outbreak of the Asian financial crisis and the Russian financial crisis seriously affected Brazil's economy, which had just improved.After entering the 80st century, the Brazilian government has stepped up macroeconomic regulation and control, and the economy has picked up. However, the domestic power crisis and the world economic recession have made its economic development not optimistic.

In terms of international relations, the Brazilian government pursues a foreign policy of independence, non-interference in internal affairs, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, peaceful settlement of disputes and friendly coexistence.After the end of the Cold War, although there are still ideological differences among countries in the world, there are no clear-cut barriers.In such a good international environment, Brazil has formed good relationships with all countries in the world based on the attitude of "friends are invincible". So far, it has not been heard that Brazil has had a bad relationship with any country.There are now 158 countries in the world that have established diplomatic relations with Brazil.

Brazil "does good" in Latin America, lives in harmony with other countries, promotes the integration process of Latin America, resolves regional conflicts, and maintains regional stability. In August 2000, at the first South American Summit held in Brasilia, Brazil formally proposed the initiative of establishing a "South American Free Trade Area".

During the Cold War, countries around the world "clustered together" based on ideology, forming two opposing camps.Brazil and Cuba belong to different camps. Therefore, although both belong to the Latin American region, the two countries are under pressure and have not and dare not have any contact.After the end of the Cold War, the estrangement imposed by foreign forces in the past disappeared, so Brazil worked hard to improve relations with Cuba, which finally led to the first visit of the Brazilian president to Cuba, ending the nearly 40-year history of mutual incompatibility.

In Asia, Cuba actively promoted the establishment of the "East Asia-Latin America Cooperation Forum" and sent a delegation to participate in the first senior officials' meeting in August 1999. In 8, Brazil mended relations with Cambodia; in 1994, Brazil established diplomatic relations with North Korea.Through this series of friendly exchanges in Asia, Brazil has formed a good interactive relationship with Asia.

Brazil has a special affection for Africa.This is because Brazil and Africa have ethnic and cultural origins, and African countries belong to the Portuguese-speaking countries and have a common historical experience of being colonized, so the relationship between Brazil and African countries is even more different from the general ones.Because of this background, Brazil proposed the establishment of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries.

Brazil's relations with EU countries are "close" due to economic ties.The European Union is Brazil's largest trading partner and also Brazil's largest source of foreign investment.Brazil believes that the EU is an "irreplaceable part" of Brazil's diplomatic focus.Because of this extraordinary importance, at the first "EU-Latin America" ​​summit meeting held in Rio in June 1999, the two sides established a partnership for the 6st century and launched the European Union, the Southern Commonwealth market”, Chilean tripartite free trade negotiations.

Regarding the United States, whether you like it or not, you cannot escape having a relationship with it.So is Brazil.On the one hand, Brazil opposes the unipolar world and hegemony in a targeted manner, and opposes interference in other countries' internal affairs under the guise of human rights; on the other hand, it has to establish a "responsible partnership" with the United States, making the United States Brazil's main trading partner, And let the United States become Brazil's largest creditor country.

In 1972, after the iron curtain of the United States against China was torn apart, Brazil established diplomatic relations with China on August 1974, 8. Since then, the two countries have started cooperation and exchanges in the fields of politics, economy, trade, science and technology, culture and military. frequent visits.Due to the rapid development of China's economy, it has become the second largest economy in the world economy, so China, like the European Union, has become a strategic partner of Brazil.

In any case, this "new continent" that was once neglected by people has begun to show itself in the world, and has attracted the attention of all countries with the glory of "BRIC".Under the attention of the world, whether this country that is most similar to the United States among the countries in the world can become a powerful country like the United States in the future depends on its future development direction.

§§§ In the second quarter, the United States and Pakistan parted ways in the most similar

If there is a country in the world that is most similar to the United States, the answer is Brazil.Generally speaking, similarities between countries refer to three aspects: one is the similarity in history; the other is the similarity in geographical appearance; the third is the similarity in cultural connotation.But God's will tricks people, similarity is not the same, just the slightest difference will lead to an unrecognizable ending.

Brazil, like the United States, began with the discovery of the "New World".

In 1492, the Italian navigator Christopher Columbus signed the "Santa Fe Agreement" with the Spanish royal family. Under the sponsorship of Queen Isabella I, he had his own fleet and crew. On August 8, Columbus embarked on his first voyage. At 3 o'clock in the morning on October 10, Columbus discovered "land" in the waters of the Bahamas, and he named this land "San Salvador".

Almost at the same time as Columbus discovered the New World, in 1500, Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvarez Cabral was appointed as the commander of the expedition by King Manuel I, leading an expedition consisting of 13 ships, A total of 1200 people began their journey to conquer India. On April 4, Pedro's fleet arrived in Latin America and discovered another new continent.

Columbus and Pedro discovered places that were unknown to Europeans.At that time, Europeans believed that there were only three continents in the whole world: Europe, Asia and Africa, so they called the newly discovered land the "New World".With the discovery of the "New World", European powers swarmed and began to carve up and colonize the "New World".South America was mainly divided by old European colonial countries such as Spain and Portugal, while North America was divided by emerging colonial empires such as Britain and France.After the Partition, Brazil and the United States became colonies of Portugal and the United Kingdom, respectively.

After America became a colony, European powers began to conquer the indigenous people in their own colonies.In this bloody conquest, so many Indians were killed that it was as if "Latin America had its veins cut open" so that the blood flowed into a river called the "River Olintepe."Before the arrival of these conquerors, there were no less than 7000 million American Indians. After the slaughter of the conquerors, only 350 million Indians remained after one and a half centuries.This tragic atrocity is only for "gold and silver".As wealth was plundered, a large number of immigrants poured into the Americas, resulting in Brazil, like the United States, where immigrants accounted for the majority of the local population.

The people of North America could not bear the colonial rule. In 1775, the War of Independence broke out against the British colonists. On July 1776, 7, at the Second Continental Congress held in Philadelphia, the Declaration of Independence was passed and the "Declaration of Independence" was established. Continental Army", established the United States of America, and completely got rid of British rule in 4.Nearly 1812 years later, Brazil also declared its independence from Portugal on September 60, 1822, by Prince Pedro.

After the independence of the United States, different political systems were implemented in the north and the south. The slave system was implemented in the south, while the capitalist system was implemented in the north. In 1860, in order to maintain its slavery system, the Southern United States announced that 11 southern states would secede from the Union and form a separate government.In order to maintain the unity of the country, the North of the United States launched a war against the South. In 1865, the "Civil War" ended with the victory of the North, and slavery was eliminated in the United States.In Brazil, on November 1889, 11, under the leadership of General Fonseca, a coup was launched and the feudal monarchy was overthrown. Like the United States, the United States of Brazil was established.

From the above statement, we can see that both the United States and Pakistan emerged in the discovery of the "New World", and they opposed colonial rule and established the United States through a surprisingly similar process.Therefore, Brazil and the United States should be the closest in the world and share the same destiny.However, similarity is just similarity, not the same.Due to the differences, the fate of the United States and Pakistan will be very different in the future.There is an old Chinese saying: The dragon has nine sons, and the sons are different.This is just like humans and gorillas. Although their genetic profiles are 99% identical, it is the tiny 97% difference that makes them look like one another, and humans and gods are different.Brazil is the same as the United States, although the similarity is extremely high, but the path of future development is very different.

(End of this chapter)