In Brazil, a Moment of Silence against State Incompetence and Corruption

Tomorrow, Friday August 17, at 1:00 pm (local time), our friends at Brazil’s Instituto Liberdade will participate in the campaign “Worn Out,” (Cansei) which will protest the Brazilian government’s ineffectiveness and corruption through a moment of silence, in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city and commercial capital, and Porto Alegre, where IL is based.

In the campaign video below, one of the points of complaint is the country’s chaotic air traffic control system. Of course, in Latin America, fighting state corruption and incompetence of that magnitude is an uphill struggle, to say the least, so any such efforts are welcome.

Earlier this year, CEI collaborated with Instituto Liberdade on the Issue Analysis “The Brazilian Sugarcane Ethanol Experience,” authored by IL analyst Marcus Renato Xavier, which points out the many pitfalls in Brazil’s much-touted ethanol program. (Thanks to IL’s Margaret Tse for Brazilian links.)

The signs in the video translate roughly as:

Tired of….

Air travel chaos
Government collusion with [drug] traffickers
Children on the streets
Corrupt businessmen
Stray bullets
So much corruption
Of doing nothing