The Curmudgeon celebrates “A Cachaça é Nossa!”
Opinion, by Michael Royster RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A few generations ago, the rallying cry for granting Petrobrás a monopoly in Brazilian oil production was “O Petróleo é Nosso!” Last week the U.S. and Brazil signed Letters of Intent designed to do much the same for the sale and marketing of each country’s typical [...]
Expatriation
Opinion, by Pia Granjon Lecerf RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Here I am with my brother in law, on a beautiful sunny Carioca day, in Santa Catarina, near downtown Rio, with a couple who lives there and to whom I was asking my way. We chat a bit while I help them carry their daily [...]
Brazil’s Military Modernization
Opinion, by Mona Sukkarieh RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The recent visit by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to India is more than a mere exercise in diplomatic exchange. Her participation at the BRICS summit on March 29th in New Delhi was followed by an official state visit during which she held bilateral talks with India’s [...]
Commitment
Editorial RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Commitment like all human concepts is subject to wide swings of interpretation and consistency, and even in the most fortified of intentions, can stumble or stop. The city of Rio de Janerio is facing the biggest setback to the UPP policy yet, and people of Rocinha have everything on [...]
The Curmudgeon on Outrage
Opinion, by Michael Royster RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – It’s been a good week for outrage, in Brazil and abroad. A Brazilian higher court held that two defendants could not be convicted of the rape of two 12-year old girls who were prostitutes. Outrageous! On Maundy Thursday, the Pope issued a roundhouse condemnation of women [...]
The Curmudgeon on The Falklands
Opinion, By Michael Royster RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Thirty years ago, the reigning Junta in Brazil’s largest neighbor to the south, feeling in need of a little popular succor, decided upon a course to divert public opinion away from the evil it had been perpetrating over the past couple of decades. In the time-honored [...]
Working Abroad
Opinion, by Pia RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Here are the results of a study of ECA International (management and assignment of Employees around the world) conducted in 2006 in over 270 companies: • 72 percent of the companies which answered the study said they had offered more long-term missions abroad during the last three [...]
The Road to Change
Editorial RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – This week we had some great news about the Rio 2016 programs moving forward. There has been so much talk about the state of the 2014 World Cup preparations, the Olympics – happening 2 years later – is naturally getting less press/pressure. But with the PAC funding starting to [...]
How Lucky We Are in Rio!
Opinion, by Pia Granjon Lecerf RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – We live near people who reached the first rank on the index for future happiness! And it is the fourth time that Brazilian people dominate this ranking. So it has nothing to do with chance. It is constant! The etymology of the word comes from [...]
Latin Trade, Investment Prospects and the U.S. Election
Opinion, by Michael Kalavritinos RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In the CNN debate prior to the Florida primary, the Republican front-runner called for a hemispheric focus on free trade by calling for the implementation of the Panama and Colombia Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). There is a realization that the U.S. needs to become more active [...]
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