Word: braziller
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Five years ago, the military men who had been governing Brazil since a 1964 coup decided that they would take major steps to return the country to civilian rule. An important move in that direction came in November 1982, when Brazilians were allowed to cast their ballots for both local and state officials as well as for 502 members of the federal Congress. In a major defeat, the government-backed Social Democratic Party (P.D.S.) received only 38% of the popular vote; the governorships often states as well as control of the House of Representatives fell into the hands...
...they began to stage mass demonstrations. Since January, hundreds of thousands of people have turned out in the cities of Curitiba, São Paulo and Belo Horizonte. Even the world's best-known Brazilian, Soccer Star Pelé, has declared his support by dedicating a replica of Brazil's most coveted soccer cup to the cause...
...country's deteriorating economy has added urgency to the political debate. The "miracle" that rapidly industrialized Brazil's economy in the 1960s and early 1970s began to fade when the oil crisis hit and U.S. interest rates skyrocketed. Today the average wage-less than $150 a month-is not enough to feed the average family. Armies of beggars proliferate in city streets and scavenge for food in the refuse of open-air markets. So bad is the situation that last year the mobs took to looting supermarkets in Rio and Sao Paulo. In recent weeks teachers and metalworkers...
Much of the discontent has been generated by austerity measures that the Figueiredo government imposed after the International Monetary Fund came to Brazil's temporary financial rescue in March 1983 with a $4.9 billion loan. The measures include curbs on wage increases, a reduction of food-price subsidies and a tightening of credit. The opposition charges that these policies are far too harsh. At last week's Rio rally, P.M.D.B. President Ulysses Guimaraes accused the government of "wanting to liquidate the riches of Brazil and turn them over to the International Monetary Fund...
...York moneyman. He added, "You've got a lot of people doing the job for the first time down there, and it will just take a while to sort out." Bankers point out that Venezuela (estimated debt: $34 billion) also has untidy bookkeeping, but Mexico ($85 billion) and Brazil ($96 billion) have much better records...