Why a Reality Tour to Brazil ?

In 2003, an unprecedented event took place in Brazil. Ignacio Lula da Silva, a metalworker and union leader, became the first working class President to be elected in Brazilian history. The victory of this left wing candidate was not only a victory for his party the PT (Workers Party) but also for the millions of Brazilians who cast their vote in hope for a brighter future. Many also consider Brazil's historic election also a popular judgment against the neoliberal economic project in Brazil that has caused the increased impoverishment of millions of Brazilians. The neoliberal agenda, pursued in the last two decades and backed and promoted by such supra-national global institutions as the World Bank, IMF and WTO, has pushed forward the mass privatization of state-owned industries, the explosion of low-wage factory zones, the wide-scale pillaging of Brazil's natural resources and the tripling of Brazil's international debt. Despite holding the tenth largest economy in the world, Brazilians have seen the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, with Brazil containing the widest disparity of wealth in the western hemisphere.

Yet Brazilian social movements are among the strongest and most organized in Latin America in challenging the social, racial, and economic injustices of the neoliberal system. Brazilians have led and organized the internationally known World Social Forum in Porto Alegre where hundreds of thousands of participants have shared the Forum's motto of "Another World is Possible".

You will visit the MST (Landless Workers Movement), the largest social movement in Latin America, who has succeeded in organizing hundreds of land recoveries throughout Brazil, pressuring for land reform and providing land titles to more than 250,000 families. In Recife and Salvador, while most tourists only see the resorts and beautiful beaches, hundreds of thousands of the city's inhabitants live in the notorious favelas (or slums) that are often filled with drug trafficking and violence, and excluded from basic city services such as water and electricity. We will meet with community organizations working from within the favelas to seek peace and justice for what are the homes of most of the city's domestic and hotel employees. You will meet with organizations that work with urban street children who often fall victim to police violence, drug trafficking and sex tourism. Also you will learn about the black rights movement in Brazil's so-called "racial democracy" and hear about the varying perspectives from Afro-Brazilian women and men who struggle for representation and social equality. Meet with youth who use music and art as a form of political protest and expression. You will also learn about the struggle to preserve Brazil's environment and natural resources and how Brazil's thousands of indigenous peoples have been threatened and excluded from having a voice in Brazilian society. Learn about all this while enjoying the beauty of Brazilian music, dance, and breathtaking landscape.

Program Highlights:

• Meet with representatives from strategic governmental agencies, political parties, and NGOs to examine the social, economic and political framework of contemporary Brazil.
• Learn about Brazil's ethnic makeup and the country's African roots and current cultural expressions—from Afro-reggae to spirituality.
• Learn about Brazil's tragic history of military rule that resulted in the torture and disappearance of thousands of activists.
• Meet with members of the Movimiento dos Trabal-hodores Rurais Sem Terra, Brazil's Landless Workers Movement, the largest social movement in the Americas and learn about their experiences in their struggle for land reform and a more just society.
• Meet with members of Lula da Silva's workers party (PT).
• Learn about the impacts of structural adjustments policies of the IMF and World Bank.

Cost: $1000 students $1300 General Public

Price Includes:

• hotel ($200 extra for single room), guest house, or dormitory accommodations; two meals per day; transportation to and from all programmed activities; guides and translators; a qualified trip leader; all program activities; and reading materials.

How to Register:

• You will secure your own air tickets and international airfare is not included in the tour package. All major U.S airlines fly to Brazil, but you can also try some Latin American airlines like Mexicana Airlines, Taca Airlines, Varig Airlines, Copa Airlines, Tam or try a local travel agent specializing in Latin America or an online travel agency like travelocity.com or expedia.com. For South American destinations flights usually leave the night before your actual arrival date. A travel agency in New York that specializes in Brazil travel is BACC travel at 1-800-222-2746. In California you can also try Santini Tours at 1-800-652-8600. Or feel free to contact our Travel agent in Brazil for international and Brazilian domestic flights, accommodations, and excursions: Sandra Hassimoto at s.hassimotto@bol.com.br.

* To travel to Brazil U.S citizens are required to obtain a visa from a Brazilian consulate before leaving the U.S. (if you are a citizen of another country see if your country is exempt with the Brazilian Embassy). There is an additional cost of $100 to obtain this visa with a Brazilian Consulate. I can provide you with a complete list of instructions and consulates in the U.S but Global Exchange cannot obtain the visa for you.

This trip will be as diverse as possible in terms of race, age and life experiences. We strongly urge people of color to apply. In some cases, a limited number of partial scholarships are available for low-income applicants.

Make your reservation online now!

Contact Tanya with any questions about this trip, or call toll-free 1-800-497-1994 ext. 226.