Sir, - I refer to the documentary on the landless in Brazil by Ms Mairead Seosaimhin Noone screened by RTE on March 3rd.
That documentary did not add anything new to a serious problem being tackled by the Brazilian government and its agencies. I do, however, regret that the documentary made evident the intention to portray with overtones of sensationalism one side of the problem - land and wealth distribution - that afflicts all responsible citizens. Not a single reference was made to the efforts of the Brazilian government to solve this urgent problem through the legal means of a democratic society.
In fact, RTE and its sponsors saw fit to ignore the settlement of about 240,000 families and the expropriation of areas larger than this island where many more landless people are being settled. The Special Credit Program for Agrarian Reform (PROCERA), for instance, guarantees subsidised resources, half of which the settler will not have to repay to the government.
These resources are for financing the entire productive process: working expenses, investments and payment of the settler's quota to the co-operative to which he belongs. For 1997 the budget was $250 million to assist 50,000 families. Other programs offer essential technical assistance to help families settle and receive professional training. You can well imagine that this process involves hard and sometimes long legal battles with the land-owners and their lawyers. In a country with continental dimensions (8,547,403 kms2]) and a population of 160 million, there are no quick fixes for such problems.
Inequalities can be found everywhere, including in the developed countries. I have had the occasion to witness the ordeals of refugees and immigrants who seek refuge in European countries looking for opportunities to start a new life for themselves and for their children. It is common knowledge what many of them have endured. Apart from biases, racism and intolerance, poor immigrants are often rejected because "they are of no interest ... they do not save because they barely make ends meet ..."
Brazil has proved otherwise. Thanks to the immigration that formed the bulk of a racially democratic society, Brazil is a country with enviable economic indicators. With a GNP of $870 billion (one trillion by the turn of the century) it is the eighth largest world economy. Brazilian social indicators, however, show high discrepancies in the distribution of wealth, and point to the urgency of changes to reduce and hopefully eliminate these inequalities. A fresh look at Brazil will show many positive aspects that deserve a note of respect and admiration. A country that has welcomed to its shores millions of immigrants who found in Brazil the understanding and the opportunities they were denied in their countries of origin does not deserve the kind of documentary presented by RTE.
If the purpose of the RTE documentary and its sponsors was to smear the image of Brazil by focusing on a one-sided view of a serious problem to an audience that know so little about Latin America, RTE has succeeded.
By the same token, RTE and its sponsors have missed a golden opportunity to convey to its Irish audience a clear picture of the realities that are a paramount challenge to all Brazilians. - Yours, etc., Carlos Bettencourt Bueno,
Ambassador of Brazil,
Dublin.