980) Atividades sobre o Brasil na Universidade de York, em Toronto, Canada

Brazilian Studies Seminar
Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC)
York University
Presents:

1) Joel Outtes on January 21st 2009
Title of proposed talk: “Cities Representing the Nation: Planning and Nation Building in Brazil and Argentina (1894-1945)”
This presentation investigates the genesis of a discourse on urbanismo (city planning) in Brazil and Argentina between 1894 and 1945 using the ideas of Michel Foucault on discipline and his concept of bio-power. The demographic pattern of the major cities in both countries from 1890 onwards and the renewals of the centres of these cities are also discussed. The research looks at the use of planning as an element of nation building and ideas defining eugenics (race betterment) as an important aspect of city planning.
Other sections are dedicated to the plans proposed for the same cities in the 1920s and to urban representations, such as ideas about social reform, the role of hygiene as a point of departure for planning, and the relationship of ideas on Taylorism (scientific management) and the city. In addition, the paper discusses the planners opposition to elections, when they claimed that they were the only ones qualified to deal with urban problems and therefore they should be employed in the state apparatus. This discipline would affect the freedom of movement of human bodies, and is therefore approached through Foucault’s concepts of bio-power and discipline.

About Joel Outtes:
Prof. Joel Outtes is a Planner, Geographer, Architect and Historian with two Masters (Urban and Regional Development, Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil & Urban Studies, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris) and a Doctorate from the University of Oxford. He won several prizes and awards (Brazilian Ministry of Culture, Association of American Geographers, British Society for Latin American Studies, Latin American Studies Association) and has been a professor in several countries and institutions. Prof. Outtes is developing research projects on the so-called "Urban International" (The Critical Comparative Historical Geography of International Planning and Housing Institutions since the Late 19th Century), Crime and Illegal Territories in Brazil as well as comparative urban issues broadly speaking. He is currently a tenured Associate Professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre-RS, Brazil, where he is the Head of GEST- The Group for the Study of Societies and Territories. He is also a Visiting Faculty in several universities and a PhD Tutor in various disciplines in the Social Sciences at Warnborough University in the United Kingdom.

Location of the seminar:
Room 280 York Lanes
4700 Keele St.
Canada M3J 1P3
Toronto ON
Canada
time: 12:30 to 2:30pm
Contact
Coordinator Brigitte Grossmann Cairus

2) Sandro Miranda on February 04th 2009
Title of proposed talk: “Celebrating and reflecting on the first anniversary of Pan TV”
Created in 2008 by a group of professionals from various areas, including journalism, photography, music, radio and television, the PanTV team approaches daily issues in a different and innovative way of education and entertainment. PanTV’s mission is to promote the integration between the English and Portuguese-speaking population in Canada through an online video/TV channel. For the Portuguese speakers, it presents Canada in a way many viewers have never seen, while bringing information about Brazil and other Portuguese-speaking countries to our English-speaking public.
Director and host of PanTv’s Panzine, Sandro Miranda will be sharing his thoughts and insights about the challenges he and his team faced throughout its first year of production. Furthermore, he will elaborate on the content and the style of PanTV’s webcast programs based on researchers and experts' statements that deal with relevant topics involving Canada and Brazil. We encourage participants to visit PanTV’s website prior to Sandro’s talk, to stimulate discussion and feedback: www.pantv.ca .

About Sandro Miranda:
In Toronto, Brazilian born Sandro Miranda has been deeply involved with the Brazilian community and has been working as a journalist, musician, photographer and interpreter. Back in Brazil, he worked as a journalist and photographer reporter. He graduated in Social Communication and Journalism at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas (PUC) and started his carrier in Sumare, Sao Paulo, in 1995. He worked as freelancer in many different publishers in Campinas region and contributed for many local journalistic articles for magazines and tabloids.
Singer and author of lyrics for the Torontonian bands Samba Porrada and Monstro, Sandro has been showing his talent in many cultural events in the city, including the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) and Brazil Fest. Member of the Canadian Association of Journalists, he currently works as a freelance photojournalist for many newspapers and magazines and as an event photographer for the Torontonian private companies and the midia: www.tupiphoto.com and for the last year he has also been the director of the video webcast program Panzine –Pantv: www.pantv.ca/panzine_en.html

Location of the seminar:
Room 280 York Lanes
4700 Keele St.
Canada M3J 1P3
Toronto ON
Canada
time: 12:30 to 2:30pm

3) Frederico Fernandes on February 11th 2009
Title of proposed talk: “Making the Cartography of Oral Poetics in Brazil: Studies and Perspectives on Poetics of voice”
Poetics of voice are understood as every oral expression belonging to an oral culture and depicting a written literature and/or performance such as: plays, polypoetry, video poetry, cyberpoetry, etc. In Brazil, we can
say that the interest in the poetics of voice has developed in the 16th century, when the travelers collected and wrote some myths, legends and others oral stories from the New World. Since then, the textual approaches of oral circulation have changed drastically. The oral narrative analysis of Sílvio Romero (1851-1914), Camara Cascudo (1898-1986), Oswaldo Elias Xidieh (b.1918), and Antonio Candido (b.1918), the most important Brazilian theorists on traditional and oral narratives, reveals different
relationships between scholars and storytellers, as well as diverse approaches to oral texts. They were highlighting social aspects in their criticisms when their thinking became saturated with the influence of
oral narratives during the formation of Brazilian miscegenation.
Since the last decade, the research on poetics of voice has increased in Brazilian graduate courses, mainly in Literature Studies. In this way, the seminar aims to discuss some issues of the project “Cartography of Oral Poetics in Brazil”, undertaken by a network of 15 universities. We use the term “cartography” not as a geographic (spatial) treatment on which we draw the criticisms and illustrate the criticized objects, but as a
description of a set of different views and thoughts in a determined space/time relationship. It is a metacriticism on the art/craft of connecting and analyzing oral poetic texts. Cartography intends to place
the oral poetry researcher in front of different chains of thought and to provoke dialogue among them. Finally, it allows him/her to have a critical view on his own research and to think of concepts and forms of
relationships with his/her research subject.

About Frederico Fernandes:
Frederico Fernandes is a professor of Theory of Literature at Universidade Estadual de Londrina (Paraná - Brasil) and a Visiting International Scholar at Brock University (St. Catharines- ON - Canada). He has been publishing articles in international academic journals, as well as book chapters in refereed academic books. Some of his most recent book publication include: Entre histórias e tererés (2002), Oralidade e Literatura
(2003); Cultura afro-brasileira, expressões religiosas e questões escolares (2006); Oralidade e Literatura 2 (2007); Oralidade e Literatura 3 (2007); A voz e o sentindo (2007).

Location of the seminar:
Room 305 York Lanes
4700 Keele St.
Canada M3J 1P3
Toronto ON
Canada
time: 12:30 to 2:30pm

4) May Bletz on February 18th 2009
Title of proposed talk: “Female poverty in Memórias de Marta, by Júlia Lopes de Almeida”
Around twenty years ago feminist scholars rediscovered the work of the writer and intellectual Júlia Lopes de Almeida (1863-1934), principally through reprinting her novels by Editorial de Mulheres in Florianópolis. This past summer Lopes de Almeida’s first novel Memórias de Marta (1889) was reprinted.
Nicolau Sevcenko, in “A inserção compulsória do Brasil na Belle Époque” has intensitvely studied the so-called “aburguesamento intensivo” of the urban landscape in Rio de Janeiro (33). Urban reforms requested by the mayor Pereira Passos (1903-06), inspired by the works of Baron Haussman in Paris, signalled a growing repression and expulsion of the urban poor.
All of these themes are elaborated in this extraordinary novel, which in great detail destribes the life of a cortiço, where washerwomen, single mothers schoolteachers and prostititures try to survive.

About May Bletz:
May E. Bletz received her BA in Latin American Studies from the University of Leiden, the Netherlands, and her PhD from the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at New York University. She is currently an assistant professor at the Department of Modern languages, Literatures and Cultures at Brock University.

Location of the seminar:
Room 305 York Lanes
4700 Keele St.
Canada M3J 1P3
Toronto ON
Canada
time: 12:30 to 2:30pm

5) Maria Amelia Rodriguez da Silva Enriquez on March 04th 2009
Title of proposed talk: "Curse or blessing? The mineral rent used by the larger mining cities in Brazil"
One of the rare consensus among the different development of resources-base economy’s analytical perspectives concerns to the strategic role of the rent from the mineral extraction, as a decisive tool to assure that the temporary wealth generated in the present can turn into permanent income in the future. For this reason, the evaluation, distribution and use of the mining rent plays a central importance for the perspective of the sustainable development of mining cities. The Brazilian legislation assures to the municipal districts participation in the financial results of the mineral extraction that it is accomplished in their territories, through the Financial Compensation for the Mineral Exploration (CFEM), a type of royalty ad valorem, whose taxes reach up to 3% of the liquid revenue of the mineral production. However, the legislation doesn't determine how those resources should be spent. In that way, the use of that income presents wide variation among the mining Brazilian cities. Starting the study from a sample of the 15 larger mining cities in eight Brazilian states was possible to identify two patterns of use of CFEM that we denominated "sustained use" and " the pitfall of the single treasure." In that sense, the article discusses which the pressure factors that are from behind of those patterns, as well as the institutional arrangements that are more favorable to the sustained use.

About Maria Amelia R. das S. Enriquez:
Maria Amelia R. das S. Enriquez received her doctorate in sustainable development from CDS/UnB (2007), Masters in Geosciences from Universidade Estadual de Campinas (1993), specialization in economic theory from CESEP/PA (1987) and BA in Economy from Universidade Federal do Pará (1986). Currently she is a professor at Universidade da Amazônia and at Universidade Federal do Pará and the president of the Sociedade Brasileira de Economia Ecológica (ECOECO). Her areas of expertise include mining, regional development, strategic planning and her studies encompasses the analysis of sustainable development, mineral industry and regional impacts on municipalities that serve as base for mining in Brazil. Since May 2008, she works as a consultant for the Secretaria de Geologia, Mineração e Transformacão Mineral (SGM) from Ministério das Minas e Energia (MME).

Location of the seminar:
Room 280 York Lanes
4700 Keele St.
Canada M3J 1P3
Toronto ON
Canada
time: 12:30 to 2:30pm

6) Laurentino Gomes on March 18th
Title of proposed talk: “1808: how a mad queen, a fearful prince and a corrupt court deceived Napoleon and changed the History of Portugal and Brazil forever”
Discovered by the Portuguese in 1500, Brazil was truly invented as a country only in 1808, the year the Portuguese royal family arrived at Rio de Janeiro running away from the troops of French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Until then, Brazil not yet existed.
At least, not as it is today: an integrated country, of continental dimensions, borders and culture well defined, and inhabitants who identify themselves as Brazilians. Up to 1807, it was only one great farm, from where Portugal took off primary products, such as sugar, timber and tobacco, as well as gold and diamonds. That is, one extrativist colony, without any notion of national identity.
The coming of the prince regent D. João’s royal court would radically transform this scenario. In only thirteen years, between the arrival, in 1808, and the departure, in 1821, of the Portuguese court, Brazil would change from an isolated, forbidden and ignorant colony to an independent nation. None other period of Brazilian history would witness so deep and decisive changes - in so little time. The result was the Independence, in 1822.
The preservation of the territorial integrity was the great achievement of D. João. Without the arrival of the Portuguese court, the Brazilian regional conflicts would have gone deep, to such a point that the separation between the provinces would be almost inevitable. Brazil would not be this continental country of today, but a territory divided in different nations. Thanks to D. João, Brazil was kept as the country of continental dimensions of today.
This was also an event without precedents in the history of the humanity. Never before had one European court crossed an ocean to live and run an empire in the other side of the world. D. João was the only European sovereign to set the feet in American lands in four centuries of domination.

About Laurentino Gomes:
Journalist with a MBA degree at Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Laurentino Gomes, 53, is the author of 1808: how a mad queen, a fearful prince and a corrupt court deceived Napoleon and changed the History of Portugal and Brazil forever, the last year’s best selling non-fiction book in Portuguese language and winner of the Jabuti literary prize. With over 400 000 copies sold in Brazil and Portugal, the book describes the Portuguese royal family move to Brazil two hundred years ago, fleeing the Napoleon’s army invasion of Portugal. Prior to writing this book, Laurentino worked 28 years as an editor for the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo and VEJA, the leading newsweekly magazine in Brazil. He lives in São Paulo with his wife and four children.

Location of the seminar:
Room 280 York Lanes
4700 Keele St.
Canada M3J 1P3
Toronto ON
Canada
time: 12:30 to 2:30pm

7) Hendrik Kraay at 280 York Lanes on April 01st
Title of proposed talk: “Celebrating September 7th: Official and Popular Celebrations of Brazilian Independence in Rio de Janeiro, 1823-1889”
This presentation examines how Brazilian independence was commemorated in the capital of Rio de Janeiro during the imperial regime (1822-1889). It focuses on three key elements: (1) the press debate about the nature of independence and the political institutions of the constitutional monarchy established in 1822; (2) the evolution of official commemorations of 7 September, constructed as Brazil’s independence day in the first years after 1822; (3) the two periods during which popular celebrations assumed significant proportions, the late 1850s (dominated by the Sociedade Ipiranga) and 1870-1885 (dominated by the Sociedade Comemorativa da Independência do Império). These popular celebrations, particularly those of the Sociedade Comemorativa, reveal an important level of popular patriotism and engagement with the state. Parallels between these civic celebrations and the other popular festivals of these years (carnival and the Holy Spirit festival) indicate a need to conceptualize popular culture more broadly. The upper-class and government reaction to the Sociedade Comemorativa – the society was taken over and completely transformed before 1887’s independence celebrations – came in the context of the ending of slavery (1888) and the popular abolitionist movement, both of which threatened Brazilian social hierarchies.

About Hendrik Kraay:
After completing obtaining his B.A. and M.A. at the University of Toronto, Hendrik Kraay received his doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin in 1995. He subsequently held a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and honorary Killam postdoctoral fellowship at the University of British Columbia. Since 1997, he has taught at the University of Calgary, where he is now an associate professor of history. His principal publications include Race, State, and Armed Forces in Independence-Era Brazil: Bahia, 1790s-1840s (2001); Afro-Brazilian Culture and Politics: Bahia, 1790s-1990s (edited, 1998); Nova História Militar Brasileira (co-edited with Celso Castro and Vitor Izecksohn, 2004); I Die with My Country: Perspectives on the Paraguayan War, 1864-1870 (co-edited with Thomas L. Whigham, 2004); and Negotiating Identities in Modern Latin America (edited, 2007). His is currently completing a book-length study of civic rituals in imperial Brazil, which examines the celebration on the so-called “days of national festivity” commemorated by the imperial regime, 1822-1889. This research has been supported by the Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada and the Brazilian Coordenação do Aperfeiçoamento do Pessoal Superior (through a foreign visiting professor fellowship held at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro).

Location of the seminar:
Room 280 York Lanes
4700 Keele St.
Canada M3J 1P3
Toronto ON
Canada
time: 12:30 to 2:30pm


8) Ivani Vassoler on April 15th
Title of proposed talk: “The Quest for Urban Sustainability in the South: Drawing Lessons from the Governance Process in Curitiba, Brazil”
Many urban areas around the world, and particularly in the developing countries, suffer from similar problems: heavily congested traffic, lack of effective public transportation insufficient housing, overwhelming pollution and the decay of urban spaces. Ineffective government exacerbates these problems.
Going against this trend, the city of Curitiba, capital of the Paraná State in the south of Brazil, found creative ways to transform a small and chaotic town into a thriving metropolis. Exactly how did Curitiba achieve this success? Which policies and programs were effective and which ones weren't? What roles did the public play in the transformation process?
Using interviews with urban planners, politicians, scholars, and residents, and analyzing hundreds of policy documents, pieces of legislation and scholarly studies, this my study on the Curitiba governance process offers an analytical model based on the idea that public entrepreneurs are powerful catalysts for change in the urban arena. The chronicles of Curitiba's journey provide a guide for urban planners and administrators worldwide.

About Ivani Vassoler:
Ivani Vassoler, a U.S.-Brazilian born scholar, is currently an assistant professor of international politics at the State University of New York, Fredonia, where she is also the coordinator of an interdisciplinary academic program in International Studies. Her book Urban Brazil: Visions, Afflictions and Governance Lessons was published in the United States in 2008. She has also published articles on democratization and urbanization, and has made editorial contributions to newspapers and to the Encyclopedia of U.S.-Latin American Relations to be published by the CQ Press of Washington DC. She is involved in international education projects, with the planning, organization and coordination of study abroad programs for undergraduates in Brazil and Mexico. She received a Ph.D. in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, and a Master's Degree in International Relations from the University of San Diego, California. Previous to her life in the academia, professor Vassoler held a successful career in journalism, with work assignments in Brazil, Latin America and the United States. She grew up in São Paulo, where she graduated with a B.A. in Journalism from the Faculdade Cásper Líbero.

Location of the seminar:
Room 280 York Lanes
4700 Keele St.
Canada M3J 1P3
Toronto ON
Canada
time: 12:30 to 2:30pm

Contact
Coordinator Brigitte Grossmann Cairus

979) Bolsas de Acao Afirmativa: preparacao de plano de estudos

Recebi, de um candidato à carreira diplomática, presumivelmente negro, um pedido de ajuda na preparação de um plano de estudos para poder candidatar-se à Bolsa do Programa de Ação Afirmativa do Instituto Rio Branco, que contempla aspirantes afrodescentes com apoio financeiro durante um ano, para a contratação de professores particulares, compra de livros e outros materiais de estudo, pagamento de cursinho, etc.
Devo dizer que sou filosoficamente contrário a esse programa, que me parece inscrever-se num esforço de militantes negros, apoiado pelo próprio governo, para desenvolver uma série de iniciativas de conteúdo racialista, que reputo como especialmente nefasto para o futuro da sociedade brasileira, a introduzir um elemento de apartheid nas relações entre grupos étinicos formadores do povo brasileiro.
Sou a favor de bolsas para aqueles desprovidos de meios, sem qualquer critério racial.
Isso não me impede, contudo, de responder à consulta do candidato, como fiz abaixo, logo em seguida à transcrição da mensagem recebida (devidamente descaracterizada).

PROGRAMA DE AÇÃO AFIRMATIVA DO INSTITUTO RIO BRANCO QUANTO A BOLSAS-PRÊMIO DE VOCAÇÃO PARA A DIPLOMACIA

On 24/12/2008, at 13:14, (XXX) wrote:

Mensagem enviada pelo formulário de Contato do SITE.
Nome: (XXX)
Cidade: São Paulo

Boa Tarde Professor!
Estou escrevendo para pedir um auxilio do senhor quanto ao processo do PROGRAMA DE AÇÃO AFIRMATIVA DO INSTITUTO RIO BRANCO QUANTO A BOLSAS-PRÊMIO DE VOCAÇÃO PARA A DIPLOMACIA.
Defendi meu doutorado em 2007 e desde então venho tentando ingressar nessa honrosa carreira. Desde minha graduação já tinha interesse, mas devido ao meu anseio em terminar meus estudos academicos fui deixando a oportunidade para adiante. Vou fazer o processo agora em 2009 pra tentar uma bolsa, haja visto que infelizmente me encontro desempregado e creio ser uma otima oportunidade para suprir minhas deficiencias (caso consiga). Nesse caso, peço desculpas ao senhor, mas queria saber quanto ao fato de que tenho que montar umn plano de estudos pra enviar ao Instituto Rio Branco, mas não tenho muita segurança de como deve ser esse plano. Se é algo parecido como um plano de pesquisas. Desde já peço desculpas pelo incomodo e agradeço pela atenção dispensada a minha pessoa.
Boas Festas
(XXX)

Minha resposta foi a seguinte:

(XXX),
Eu não tenho muita experiência com esse programa e não sei como e quais são os critérios de selecao, mas suponho, justamente, que muito depende de seu plano de estudos, que deve ser claro, objetivo e conciso.
Creio que uma estrutura ideal seria esta:

A. Informações pessoais
B. Formação academica
C. Avaliação da preparação pessoal ao concurso do IRBr
(pequena avaliacao qualitativa das suas "fortalezas" e "debilidades" em função da formação e das leituras)
D. Plano de Estudos
Dirigidos: curso em SP (custos, tempo, etc)
Pessoais: dedicacação especifica e reforçada em determinadas leituras, em função de C.
Listagem das materias que necessitam preparação reforçada: 1. Portugues; 2. Ingles...etc
E. Custos estimados
(avaliação geral das despesas a serem incorridas com os cursos, compra de livros, professor particular em certas matárias, assinatura de revistas e jornais, internet a cabo, etc)
F. Cronograma tentativo
(distribuição de todas essas atividades ao longo de um ano de bolsa)
G. Declaração final sobre o Programa
(especificar porque e quanto a bolsa seria importante para voce, renda pessoal, situacao familiar, profissional, etc...)

-------------
Paulo Roberto de Almeida

978) Journal de Genève: disponivel online, desde 1826

Maravilha para pesquisadores de historia diplomatica, como eu, por exemplo...
PRA

ARCHIVES: Journal de Genève

Les archives du Journal de Genève sont désormais accessibles en ligne à l’adresse www.letempsarchives.ch

Dans le cadre de son 10ème anniversaire, Le Temps (www.letemps.ch), met en ligne l’intégralité du Journal de Genève, en collaboration avec la Bibliothèque nationale suisse (www.nb.admin.ch) et la Bibliothèque de Genève (www.ville-ge.ch/bge/).

Deux millions d’articles sont désormais consultables sur le web, gratuitement. Pour la première fois en Suisse, la totalité des archives d’un quotidien francophone est numérisée et mise à disposition du public: un défi à la fois technique et financier.
Cette entreprise pionnière a été réalisée en collaboration avec Le corpus compte 172 années de parution (1826-1998), 550'000 pages imprimées et représente 30 mètres linéaires. Fondé par James Fazy, le quotidien a contribué à façonner la Suisse sur le plan politique, économique, culturel et social. Il a été le témoin constant et souvent engagé de ce qui se passait dans le monde, à l’affût permanent du débat d’idées.
Les archives du Journal sont désormais accessibles 24h/24h, à l’adresse suivante : www.letempsarchives.ch. Les recherches par mot-clé, par date ou par jour de la semaine sont proposées, avec des possibilités limitation par période ou par contenu (articles, titres des articles, images, publicité). Vous pouvez ensuite afficher la page ou l’article précis qui vous intéresse.
Précédemment sous exploitée, la collection complète du Journal de Genève ainsi numérisée permet aux utilisateurs de trouver ce qu’ils recherchent sans avoir à connaître dans quels volumes et à quelle période ils doivent mener leurs investigations. Ce vaste programme de valorisation des archives du Journal de Genève a vu le jour grâce à un partenariat conclu entre des institutions publiques et privées permettant ainsi de réunir le financement nécessaire.
Le Temps a également pu compter sur la générosité de mécènes, à savoir la Fondation de famille Sandoz, MIRABAUD & Cie Banquiers privés et Publigroupe.

Genevieve Clavel-Merrin
Coopération nationale et internationale
Département de l’intérieur DFI
Office fédéral de la culture OFC
Bibliothèque nationale suisse BN
Hallwylstr. 15, CH-3003 Berne

Tél +41 31 322 89 36
Fax +41 31 322 84 63
genevieve.clavel@nb.admin.ch
www.nb.admin.ch

"Au début est le verbe – Encyclopédies en Suisse“
www.nb.admin.ch/expositions

977) Uma contribuicao pelo menos estranha: dinheiro de campanha contra a Aids para a Biblioteca Clinton...

Se se confirmar, é de fato bizarro...
Parece estranho que um organismo criado para combater a Aids na Africa possa doar 25 milhoes de dólares para um Fundo destinado a constituir a Biblioteca Clinton, no Arkansas. Pelo menos é o que se deduz da matéria abaixo coletada nos meios de imprensa e na internet.
Primeiro, uma matéria de imprensa sobre as tribulações do casal Clinton sobre as doações à Fundação Clinton e seu possível impacto nas relações exteriores dos EUA, ou pelo menos no trabalho da Secretária de Estado Hillary Clinton.
Depois, uma informação sobre a UnitAid.
A grande interrogante é como se foi chegar a isso…

1) Doações problemáticas…
500M PROBLEMS FOR MADAME SECRETARY
By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN
New York Post, December 19, 2008

Now that Bill Clinton has released the list of his 205,000 donors who have given close to $500 million to his library and foundation, it is clear why he resisted releasing the list while his wife was running for president.
Now, compelled by the Obama transition team to make it public as a condition of his wife's appointment as secretary of state, it becomes clear that the list is a virtual encyclopedia of conflicts of interest for the husband of a senator - to say nothing of the husband of an incoming secretary of state.
The list reveals another key center of conflicts of interest in Kazakhstan, the former Soviet republic, now home to some of the world's greatest mineral deposits and ruled by a corrupt dictator, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who, according to The New York Times, has all but quashed political dissent.
Bill Clinton visited Kazakhstan and met with its president on Sept. 6, 2005, accompanied by Canadian mining financier Frank Giustra.
Soon after, Giustra was awarded a highly lucrative contract to mine uranium there. Now, lo and behold, Frank Giustra turns up having given the library and foundation between $10 million and $25 million and the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative of Canada gave $1 million to $5 million more.
And Clinton got $1 million to $5 million from Lakshmi Mittal, the fourth-wealthiest person on the Forbes billionaire list and a member of the Foreign Investment Council in Kazakhstan.
In addition, Clinton further fished in troubled waters by taking $1 million to $5 million from Victor Pinchuk, the son-in-law of the controversial former president of the Ukraine.
Given the complexities of US policy toward the former Soviet republics in Central Asia, it is hard to see how this massive and incestuous relationship cannot but complicate Hillary's independence.
One of the largest donors to the library and foundation was UNITAID, an international organization largely controlled by France, which donated more than $25 million. And the conflicts of interest are not all just foreign. Corporate bailout recipients and recipient wannabes donated to the Clinton fund. They include AIG, Lehman, Merrill, the Citi Foundation and General Motors.
And, almost as an afterthought, the list reveals a donation of at least $250,000 from Denise Rich, presumably in return for her ex-husband's presidential pardon.
How could a US senator possibly serve dispassionately while her husband was collecting money from these donors on this kind of scale? And how could we have almost elected a president without realizing these conflicts existed? And how on earth can a secretary of state function with these conflicts hanging over her head?

2) Agora a pergunta: por que a UNITAID deveria efetuar uma doação de mais de US$ 25 milhões para a Biblioteca Clinton?

Uma informação da Internet:

Why UNITAID?

For several years, the international community has been looking for new tools to ensure sustained financing for development and the fight against hunger and poverty. .A consensus has emerged on the value of innovative sources of finance to respond to this global challenge. With one child getting HIV/AIDS every 20 seconds and one child dying from malaria every 30 seconds in the developing countries, there is an urgent need to address a global State of emergency, where patients are in the South when medicines are in the North.
In 2004, a group of 44 pioneering countries agreed on the need for additional stable resources for development and committed to develop innovative mechanisms and has started working on implementing innovative development financing mechanisms.
France and Brazil, along with other countries and international organizations, opened a discussion on the need to facilitate access to drugs for the world's poorest people as part of the fight against the major pandemic diseases. In 2006, France, Brazil, Chile, Norway and the United Kingdom decided to create an international drug purchase facility called UNITAID to be financed with sustainable, predictable resources. As an economically neutral tool the tax on air tickets was considered as the most suitable instrument.
This mechanism seeks to fill a critical gap in the global health financing landscape: the need for sustained strategic market intervention to drive price reduction and increases in supply.
UNITAID was officially launched on 19 September 2006 in New York on the occasion of the Opening Session of the United Nations General Assembly by France’s President Jacques Chirac, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, Chile’s Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley Rioseco, Great Britain’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary of International Development Gareth Thomas, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the Republic of the Congo’s President Denis Sassou-Nguesso and the former U.S. President Bill Clinton.


PS.: Um amigo me enviou uma informação reservada que me permito colocar aqui, sem atribuição de origem:
Citando:
"...a discussão sobre como criar um adicional sobre passagens aéreas passou [por órgãos do governo, que me permito suprimir, PRA]. O Lula tinha ido a um encontro internacional e anunciado que o Brasil iria criar esse imposto/adicional sobre passagens, sem consultar ninguém. Acontece que não há previsão constitucional para esse tipo de imposto. A Constituição brasileira não prevê imposto para financiar ajuda internacional.
A ordem [trecho suprimido] é fazer de conta que o discurso não aconteceu. Depois colocamos algo no orçamento para aplacar as críticas."
Fim de citação.
PRA: De fato, o que sei é que o Brasil vem participando do UnitAid com contribuições orçamentárias, provavelmente na rubrica do Ministério das Relações Exteriores.

976) Venezuela: uma interminavel novela politica

Chávez impede que opositores tomem posse
Depois das ameaças com tanques, líder venezuelano tem recorrido às vias civis contra oposição, diz 'El País'
Agências internacionais
Agência Estado

CARACAS - Depois das ameaças com tanques, o presidente venezuelano Hugo Chávez está utilizando as vias civis para impedir que os governadores e prefeitos da oposição que venceram as eleições de 23 de novembro tomem posse, informou nesta sexta-feira, 19, o jornal El País. A aliança de partidos que se opõe a Chávez venceram em cinco dos 22 Estados do país e em prefeituras importantes como a da capital Caracas, mas todos os opositores têm enfrentado dificuldade para assumir o cargo.

Segundo o El País, três semanas depois de vencer o pleito, César Pérez Vivas, governador eleito de Táchira, não pôde tomar posse, porque o Parlamento regional - de maioria chavista - se nega a convocar uma sessão para o juramento. Enquanto isso, continua no poder o governador Ronald Blanco, partidário de Chávez.
Ainda segundo o diário, no Estado de Carabobo acontece uma situação parecida. Diante da rejeição do Parlamento local para convocar a sessão para o juramento, o governador opositor eleito Henrique Salas foi empossado por um juiz. Depois de três dias, esse mesmo juiz foi suspenso de seu cargo por ordens "superiores", e um juizado superior anulou a posse que ele havia outorgado.
Reeleição indefinida

Chávez não poderá ganhar o plebiscito sobre a emenda constitucional para permitir a reeleição presidencial ilimitada sem recorrer à fraude ou o uso da força, assinalou nesta sexta o jornal americano Washington Post. A publicação repercutiu em editorial a aprovação em primeira discussão pela Assembléia Nacional venezuelana de um projeto de emenda constitucional para permitir a reeleição presidencial ilimitada que Chávez tenta aprovar a fim de poder se candidatar pela terceira vez, em 2012, à Presidência da Venezuela.

Chávez quebrou sua palavra de que respeitaria a derrota no referendo de dezembro do ano passado que, caso vencesse, lhe permitira justamente se candidatar novamente. A segunda e última discussão do projeto será votada em 5 de janeiro, e depois será entregue pelo Legislativo ao Conselho Nacional Eleitoral (CNE), que terá que organizar em 30 dias um plebiscito sobre a emenda constitucional.

"Tanto a história como as pesquisas demonstram que ele (Chávez) não pode ganhar este plebiscito sem o uso da força ou a fraude", advertiu o jornal. O Postargumenta que o "futuro do presidente venezuelano não é brilhante" levando em conta os resultados das eleições regionais de novembro.

Além disso, o preço do combustível derivado do petróleo pesado caiu abaixo de US$ 35 por barril, muito inferior ao fixado pelo governo nos orçamentos e do qual analistas independentes estimam que Chávez necessita para manter seu projetos cheios de despesas públicas.

O Post também lembra que em um mês, Chávez perderá de vista seu "inimigo favorito", o presidente de EUA, George W. Bush, e que seu sucessor, o presidente eleito, Barack Obama, poderá ser mais popular que o atual líder americano.

Neste panorama, Chávez poderia ter moderado suas políticas e se aproximado da oposição, mas, ao contrário, apressou-se em "montar" outro plebiscito que eliminaria o limite a sua Presidência, quando já perdeu o ano passado uma aposta semelhante. As pesquisas indicam, além disso, que atualmente só um terço dos venezuelanos apoiariam esta iniciativa.

Veja também:
Emenda de reeleição é aprovada em 1ª discussão na Venezuela

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Depois desta (e de outras que virão, certamente), qualquer um que disser que o Chávez é um democrata, ou que na Venezuela há um excesso de democracia (referindo-se a todas as consultas "populares), estará no minimo zombando da inteligência alheia...
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Paulo Roberto de Almeida

975) Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional, todos os números disponiveis...

Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional
Pesquise número por número...

A mais antiga, certamente nao a mais "velha", revista de politica internacional editada no Brasil, a Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional, tem absolutamente todos os seus números à disposição de todo e qualquer pesquisador.
Trata-se de instrumento indispensável para o conhecimento e a análise de todos os processos relevantes da política internacional nestas últimas cinco décadas, assim como dos lances mais importantes da diplomacia brasileira no período.
Como eu fui um dos responsáveis pela transferência da revista de sua antiga sede editorial, no Rio de Janeiro (1958-1992), para Brasília (a partir de 1993), é com especial prazer que informo essa possibilidade de leitura e pesquisa, graças aos esforço do amigo e colega professor Antonio Carlos Lessa, do IRel-UnB.

Abaixo os links para leitura de cada um dos números da revista, disponíveis em blog proprio, em seis blocos, como segue:


RBPI - Vol. 51 - No. 2/2008
http://pt-br.wordpress.com/tag/rbpi/ (bloco mais recente)

http://pt-br.wordpress.com/tag/rbpi/2/

http://pt-br.wordpress.com/tag/rbpi/3/

http://pt-br.wordpress.com/tag/rbpi/4/

http://pt-br.wordpress.com/tag/rbpi/5/

e http://pt-br.wordpress.com/tag/rbpi/6/ (mais antigo)
RBPI - Vol. 1 - Nº 1 - Março - 1958

Bom proveito aos pesquisadores..
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Paulo Roberto de Almeida

974) Talvez o fascismo seja isto: ocupacoes indiscriminadas e imposicao pela forca...

No post anterior, eu especulava sobre os elementos reais que pudessem justificar uma aproximação do "modelo ideal" (no sentido weberiano, obviamente) do fascismo da atual situação brasileira. Talvez tenhamos um exemplo, como no elemento abaixo.

Via campesina ocupa MME e pede estatização do petróleo
do Boletim Congresso em Foco
Terça-feira, 16 de dezembro de 2008

Cerca de 250 integrantes da Via Campesina – movimento formado por organizações de trabalhadores rurais, entre elas o Movimento dos Sem Terra (MST) – ocupam na manhã desta segunda-feira (15) a entrada do Ministério de Minas e Energia (MME). Em ato simbólico, os movimentos reivindicam o cancelamento da 10ª Rodada de Licitações de Bloco para Exploração e Produção de Petróleo, marcada para 18 de dezembro, no Rio de Janeiro.
Até o momento, a manifestação segue pacífica. Uma comissão de 20 integrantes da Via se reúne agora com o secretário-executivo Márcio Zimmermann. Segundo a assessoria de imprensa dos movimentos, o grupo exige que seja vedada a participação de empresas estrangeiras na exploração do petróleo no Brasil e que os recursos advindos dessa exploração sejam destinados a políticas públicas. Eles argumentam que o petróleo é um bem-público e deve ser de domínio estatal.
No documento da campanha “O petróleo tem que ser nosso”, os campesinos da Via defendem que “o petróleo é um recurso natural estratégico e finito, que deve ficar sob controle do Estado e sua renda deve ser vinculada a investimentos em educação, saúde, trabalho, moradia e reforma agrária, garantindo melhores condições de vida para o povo e um futuro melhor para as próximas gerações de brasileiros”.
De acordo com o documento, no 10° leilão, o governo pretende passar para empresas petroleiras privadas 130 blocos para pesquisa de petróleo e gás natural, com cerca de 70 mil km² divididos em oito setores, em Sergipe-Alagoas, Amazonas, Paraná, Potiguar, Parecis, Recôncavo e São Francisco. (Renata Camargo)

Leia abaixo a íntegra do documento:

O petróleo tem que ser nosso!

Estamos em luta em defesa do cancelamento da 10ª Rodada de Licitações de Blocos para Exploração e Produção de Petróleo e Gás Natural, marcada para 18 de dezembro, no Rio de Janeiro. O petróleo é um recurso natural estratégico e finito, que deve ficar sob controle do Estado e sua renda deve ser vinculada a investimentos em educação, saúde, trabalho, moradia e reforma agrária, garantindo melhores condições de vida para o povo e um futuro melhor para as próximas gerações de brasileiros.

Neste leilão, o governo pretende passar para empresas petroleiras privadas 130 blocos para pesquisa de petróleo e gás natural, com cerca de 70 mil km² divididos em oito setores, em Sergipe-Alagoas, Amazonas, Paraná, Potiguar, Parecis, Recôncavo e São Francisco. O presidente Lula tem a responsabilidade de cumprir o compromisso de que os recursos do petróleo da camada do pré-sal serão voltados para o atendimento das necessidades do povo brasileiro. Agora, cobramos do presidente o cancelamento dessa rodada, sinalizando que o petróleo deixará de ser matéria-prima para os lucros das petroleiras nacionais e estrangeiras.

A discussão sobre o futuro do petróleo, que pode mudar a história do nosso país e contribuir na resolução de problemas sociais históricos, não pode ficar restrita às salas de reunião em Brasília. O povo tem o direito de participar das grandes definições sobre o futuro do petróleo e do país, como aconteceu na campanha "O Petróleo é nosso", que teve como desfecho a criação da Petrobras e o monopólio estatal de exploração e produção.

Nós, centrais sindicais, movimentos populares, estudantes, organizações da sociedade civil, temos propostas para mudanças na regulação do setor do petróleo e do gás. Defendemos mudanças na Lei do Petróleo e o fim do modelo de concessão, que comprometeram gravemente a soberania nacional e entregaram o petróleo para petroleiras privadas, que pagam no nosso país os impostos e participações especiais mais baixos do mundo.

Em 10 anos, o governo federal entregou mais de 500 blocos de petróleo para 72 conglomerados econômicos, sendo a metade estrangeiros. Precisamos retomar o monopólio da União sobre o petróleo, como prevê a Constituição de 1988 (artigo 177). Por isso, a Lei do Petróleo de 1997, uma das heranças malditas do governo Fernando Henrique Cardoso, deve ser revogada e todos os leilões devem ser cancelados.

Defendemos a criação de um fundo soberano, com resguarda constitucional, para garantir que todos os recursos provenientes da renda do petróleo e do gás sejam usados para atender as necessidades do nosso povo e das próximas gerações. Não podemos deixar que os recursos naturais sejam usados para sustentar políticas econômicas neoliberais, com o pagamento do superávit primário. O governo deve fortalecer a Petrobras, aumentando a sua participação acionária a longo prazo, reforçando seu caráter público e nacional. Não podemos deixar que interesses privados controlem os nossos blocos de petróleo e gás nem dirijam a Petrobrás.

O petróleo tem que ser nosso! O pré-sal é do povo brasileiro!
COMITÊ NACIONAL CONTRA A PRIVATIZAÇÃO DO PETRÓLEO E DO GÁS