ARTICLE BY HÉLIO MENDES
What is actually happening is really clear: some NGOs, certain world leaders and even pseudo Brazilians are trying to erode the image of Brazil in connection with the environment and social matters in every possible way on both social and traditional media mainly by means of delusional claims or just according to their own convenience.
It is therefore a huge paradox that, at the same time, international bodies and the big media agree that Brazil provides food to a significant part of the world. Among many examples of such food, we can mention beef: every four steaks consumed in the world, one comes from the Brazilian herd. Moreover, Agribusiness will have to increase the national production by 40% to be able to satisfy global demand in the coming years.
On the opposite side, there are people working to jeopardise Brazil’s Agribusiness, treating those who produce as villains when they should, in fact, be treated as world heroes. We cannot deny that there is room for improvement. Many of the countries criticising Brazil do so in order to divert the focus from their own domestic problems such as the war against drugs – that, so far, no nation has been able to win, the Middle East conflicts, the US-China trade war, the French president’s leadership crisis, the flow of immigrants in Germany…each country has its own problems that will be solved in due course but have not been solved yet.
Brazil has options. It may either alter its economic model giving up its responsibility to feed the world, to supply minerals and many other essential products and opting for becoming (just)!? a country focused on tourism showing the natural beauties that have been preserved for a long time, its historical cities, its beautiful beaches, Carnival and good football as well as applying an educational model focused on technology in the same way India, Korea, Taiwan and Japan have done. If Brazilians were to follow this road many in the world would die. This is one of the biggest paradoxes in history.
Hélio Mendes Government and Business Consultant – www.institutolatino.com.br
