Letter from Brazil - Stories by Mario Osava / IPS Inter Press Service

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Saturday, May 10, 2008 00:42 GMT

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Sugarcane Alcohol Tarnished by U.S. Maize Ethanol
By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO - Recent efforts by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to clearly mark the difference between Brazilian ethanol and the agrofuels produced by the United States are an admission that signing an agreement with Washington to promote a global bioethanol market was a serious political mistake, say analysts.
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Controversy Over Indigenous Land and Biofuels
By Mario Osava
BRASILIA - The legal status of an indigenous territory in the far north of Brazil, and biofuels, are two hot potatoes at the Third National Conference on the Environment being held in the capital city, which is focusing on climate change.
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Torture Victim Still Fears Colorado Party ‘Mafia’
By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO - The Colorado Party has become a "criminal mafia" during its 61 years in government in Paraguay, and it will continue to be a force to be reckoned with in spite of its defeat in last month’s elections, says Anuncio Martí, a Paraguayan citizen living in exile in Brazil.
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Activists Opposed to Rebuilding Amazon Highways
By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO - Nearly four decades after they were first planned, three highways through the jungles and swamps of Brazil’s Amazon region are being rebuilt. Neglected in the past when they became economically obsolete, they are once again a focus of environmental criticism.
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Eliminating Poverty at Low Cost
By Mario Osava*
RIO DE JANEIRO - The success of pioneering efforts to reduce inequality and poverty using relatively few resources has led to an expansion in Latin America of direct aid, targeting the most vulnerable families, especially in rural areas.
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What Is Really Causing ‘Agflation’?
By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO - The old laws of the marketplace are no longer working. Food prices have been rising for six years because of surging demand, and increased production is not restoring the balance as it used to in the past. In fact, prices have been going up even faster over the last year.
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Brazil Shares Technology with Africa
By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO - The people of Brazil have reason to believe that they are making a real contribution to reducing hunger and environmental threats in the world by developing agricultural technology that has begun to be shared with poorer countries.
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The Body Beautiful - Women’s Ladder to Success
By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazilians, especially women, are among the global leaders in taking meticulous care of their bodies and exhibiting them to advantage. This is a significant factor in climbing social and economic ladders, establishing identities and competing successfully in markets, from employment to romance.
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Northeast Trades Drought for Floods

By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO - The northeast of Brazil, known for its droughts and poverty, has been drenched by torrential rains since early March. Floods have left over 400,000 people homeless and 33 dead, but the abnormal conditions are not due to global warming, according to meteorologists.
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Amazon Ghost Highway to Be Brought Back to Life
By Mario Osava*
RIO DE JANEIRO - BR-319, a road blazed 35 years ago through the heart of the Amazon jungle and now impassable due to neglect, has sparked a new battle between environmentalists and the Brazilian authorities, who have decided to rebuild it.
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Clean Gasoline Fuels Soybean Production
By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO - The Brazilian government has decided to move up the deadlines for obligatory addition of biofuels to gasoline and diesel fuel, a measure that will boost the production of soybeans, the oilseed crop with the lowest yield and that causes the most environmental damage.
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This Country Reserves the Right of Admission
By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO - Increasing numbers of Brazilians are being refused entry at Spanish airports, sometimes in humiliating fashion, as the influx of Brazilian immigrants to Europe grows, and the deportations are causing diplomatic friction between the two countries.
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Growing Foreign Appetite for Land
By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO - It is a question of "national sovereignty, not xenophobia," said the president of Brazil’s land reform agency, INCRA, explaining the need to regulate foreign land ownership in Brazil.
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Mario Osava, IPS's Brazil correspondent, covers political, economic and social issues, including human rights, labour, environment, poverty, indigenous issues, and sustainable development. He has travelled the corners of Latin America's largest country to bring you these stories.