A little more than a decade ago, in Brazil, we witnessed the arrival of two large groups of Spaniards hoping to launch business activity in this immense and then unknown Latin American giant. Since 1998, the constant entry into Brazil of direct foreign investment (DFI) originating in Spain has placed Spain in a relevant position in the ranking of participation in Brazilian FDI. At the same time, this recent contribution has had its impact, in addition to various business sectors, in the political, cultural, educational and even gastronomic arenas in exchange and cooperation.Without a doubt this has been a fruitful time and one of much reciprocal interest. Many millions in investment influxes are arriving to Brazil and this is very positive. However, if turn out focus to the exchange of information, mutual knowledge and flow of interpersonal relationships, there is still mucho to be done.In this same context Brazil Spain Magazine was born, where I am currently the Editor-in-Chief. This publication was created with the objective of contributing and promoting more formal Spanish-Brazilian communications with distribution on both sides of the Atlantic. For this reason, I could not be happier with this new collaboration. Our participation in Signium International Iberia’s blog means that we are doing our job well, and that the relationship between the two countries is increasingly closer.
On the other hand, I would like to share some comments about the 2010 elections in Brazil. These took place in a peaceful and orderly fashion; and their result, the victory for Dilma Rousseff, has only been more proof, by popular demand, for the continuation of the administration of President Lula (at the end of his mandate he had an 80% acceptance rate according to various sources).Now that we have the result, there are two facts that deserve being highlighted. The first is that there was a second round of elections due to fact that the President-Elect did not receive an absolute majority of the votes the first time round. Another piece of evidence of the maturity of the Brazilian democracy and the electoral process: if it were the case that the whole of Brazilian society is “dumb”, this fact would have been reflected in these elections, and this was not the case. Our society has shown to be divided politically, fact which unmasks that we are before a pluralist population where it is not as simple to win an election as some believed.In any case, and now in 2011, everyone will be able to decide for themselves the achievements and path followed by the administration of the first female president of Brazil.The second of the facts that I would like to underline is the uprising of the so-called “green front” led by Marina Silva. This presidential candidate from the Green Party gained a level of popular support in these elections not gained in previous ones. This was due in part to the discontent of some population nucleus from within the more traditional political parties and a demand for a more idealist and conscientious policies by younger voters.In these elections we have witnessed the birth of a generalized trend of concern about important issues for the future of our country, issues that have to do with the environment and sustainable development.
In any case, the results of these elections -although expected in some sense-, allow us to enlighten what the future will hold for Brazil. We know that the new government’s agenda is marked by economic and investment questions; we also have been able to imagine what will be the role of our country in the international playing field; and lastly, we have knowledge about coming events already in planning such as the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics.Faced with a situation such as that described, there are many business opportunities that open up for Spanish companies, and these should not let them be passed by. Our predictions of hope for the future are based on this growing tendency towards stronger Brazilian-Spanish relations -which began with the FHC administration and intensified under Lula’s two terms-, and are now reinforced with the arrival of a new wave of Spanish companies interested in forming part of Brazil’s economic launch and growth. We are living in a very special and positive time for Spanish-Brazilian relations. The conditions and environment are highly favorable: the only thing left is to make it happen.
Lylian Loureiro de Lima
Editor-in-Chief Brazil-Spain Magazine
