Nationalism and the Multinational In the Brazilian Spring

In Veja’s view, homegrown political process is alienated from its internal constituency — something of a self-fulfilling prophecy

The Brazilian flags and national anthem do not represent a political counterforce to the multinationals, but rather a diffuse protest against corruption and its agents in the public sector.

The [multinational] private sector was never questioned. None of its corruptive influences were mentioned.

Source: CartaCapital.  On corruption as a protest theme and subject of progressive legislation, see

• Dusting Off the Anti-Corruption Law

An essay on Brazilian’s lost generation of young nationalists by João Sicsú, it goes a long way toward what I fund puzzling about my own observations of the MTV generation in a city where anarchists are out to do some serious anarchizing.

The demonstrations of June have grown and turned toward nationalism. The streets have been filled with people. The most recent demonstrations were composed of heterogeneous groups.There were those protesting the quality of urban life, and especially for cheap, efficient public transport, access to public health services and quality education.

And then there were the thousand “groups” composed of  single individuals, calling for the end of taxes, the return of the generals, Lula in jail, public health for animals, the end of the Bolsa-Familia, and so on.

Eike | We Won’t Get Fooled Again

The real plebiscite: Do you agree that Brasília should abandon the far-flung galaxy where it is and return to Brazil?

When VEJA magazine arrives unexpectedly at my doorstop this morning — spoiled fruit of a missed delivery — I give it the sort of occasional browse-through I generally give when waiting for a dentist or such like without having brought my own reading material.

This week, publisher Eurípedes Alcântara challenges himself to explain his own publication’s history of hagiographical treatment of the Rio-based oil, gas, logistics and energy magnate Eike Batista, whose ventures peaked at just the same moment that shares in those companies began a steady decline. For a previous note on the subject, see

• Eike | Constructing The X Man

Like the 500 magazine covers devoted to the “visionary” Steve Jobs during his life and times, this was a high-pressure PR “pump”

In this week’s Letter to the Reader, Alcântara reappears to explain that Veja was just another innocent victim of a superb confidence man.

A report in this issue of VEJA narrates the rise and fall of the businessman who, until not so very long ago, was a symbol of entrepreneurialism and a stronghold of a Brasil that was growing rapidly.