This is a very difficult question to answer, because nobody knows exactly how
old Brazil is.
The communications media say that Brazil is 500 years old, because they count
from 1500, when the Portuguese invaded Brazil, but Brazil already existed. Almost
nobody remembers that before the Portuguese the Indians already lived here.
When the Portuguese arrived, people were mistreated, they lost their lands,
most of them died, and those who managed to save themselves were enslaved. Even
today they suffer a lot, they are burned alive, and the authorities do nothing
to change the situation.
Brazil, how old are you?
Will we be able to answer that question some day? Because one thing we are
sure of, that Brazil did not begin in 1500. Few things have changed, Brazil
is no longer dependent on Portugal, but on the United States and the IMF. Many
things have gotten worse, like the children living on the streets, who are hungry
and cold. Poverty in Brazil is increasing more and more, and even though we
do not know how old Brazil is we will fight for the situation to change in the
next few years, that the true inhabitants of Brazil may have their rights, that
the chldren have the right to an education, that everyone can work, that no
one goes hungry.
Even not knowing how old Brazil is, we are going to do the impossible, so that
in the next few years the Brazilian situation may change, but change for the
better.
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