If or when PostGlobal’s Amar Bakshi arrives in Brazil with his notebook and video camera, he will realize that there is no such thing in Brazil as a feeling against American culture or the American people. Here -- and everywhere, by the way -- there is growing disagreement with Bush’s government, its methods, attitudes and choices.
American movies completely dominate the movie theater circuit and video store shelves. American series have a large audience of aficionados in pay-per-view cable TV. The Brazilian elite studied in American universities. Since democratization 22 years ago, Ivy League PhDs who earned their degrees under fellowships awarded by U.S. foundations have held key positions in the Brazilian government. Economists from MIT, Yale and Harvard have created economic plans that succeeded in ending the nightmarish period of hyperinflation. In the 1960s, Brazilian musicians mixed samba and jazz, creating a new sound known as bossa-nova. Nowadays in slums, Afro-Brazilian youth mix hip-hop sound and dance with Brazilian music and rhythm; rappers proliferate among the Afro-Brazilian community.
Protesters demonstrated against the U.S. during President Bush’s visit to Brazil, but they rallied only a few leftist militants and true believers. This was seen as typical partisan action with no consequences. The Brazilian press depicted the Venezuelan President’s demonstrations against Bush’s visit to the continent as pathetic and outdated. The funny thing is, Bush and Lula seem to sincerely appreciate each other’s company, but in Lula’s government there remains an echo of the sixties’ anti-imperialist feelings of Latin American nationalism. Roberto Abdenur, a former Brazilian ambassador to Washington, in a recent widely praised interview has denounced what he sees as a trace of old-fashioned anti-Americanism in Brazilian diplomacy.
Of course, Bush’s foreign and environmental policies, as well as the war in Iraq, have very few supporters in Brazil. The 9/11 tragedy galvanized a vast sentiment of solidarity with the American people. After that, persistent constraints and some insults suffered by Brazilian middle class people when applying for tourist visas, confronted by the sometimes-arrogant attitude of American customs officials, have counteracted the solidarity. Resentment has spread and brought back the idea that the U.S. has a prejudice against Latin Americans in general, and Brazilians in particular.
We have a lot in common. The Brazilian and American people share values and principles. However, the neoconservative ideology that dominates Bush’s presidency reinforces the worst side of the U.S. presence in the world. There is no hate here. There is a rejection of Bush administration ideas, values, and decisions. Fortunately, there is no permanent damage from these anti-Bush views in Brazilians’ feelings about America.
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