Initiative to boost Brazil’s ‘self-esteem’

RIO DE JANEIRO - Unlike Mexico and other nations in Latin America, which encourage their citizens to work in the United States, Brazil is battling to hang on to its would-be migrants by promoting national “self-esteem.”

“Of all the countries in Latin America, Brazilians are the ones with the lowest self-esteem. It’s chronic,” said Mauricio Machado, coordinator of a campaign called “The Best Thing About Brazil is the Brazilians.”

The effort to promote patriotism and self-esteem was inaugurated July 19 with help from President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The private initiative run by the Brazilian Advertising Association comes at a time when the economy is improving, but an increasing number of Brazilians still are looking for an out. Some analysts differ on the self-esteem issue.

“Self-esteem is not a problem,” said Sergio Abranches, a political analyst in Rio de Janeiro. “Country satisfaction is high. If there is any self-esteem problem, it is due to the direct effect of a prolonged recession that has forced Brazilians to look elsewhere.”

There is opportunity, but it’s paying below the national average.

Seven in 10 workers hired this year at cosmetics company Boticario are earning a maximum of $173 monthly, according to the Inter-Trade Union Department of Statistics and Socio-Economic Studies.

The average Brazilian worker earns about $307 a month.

“I like Brazil, but I’m always disappointed,” said 33-year-old Luciana Genta Cordioli, a middle-class executive secretary at Milenia Agro Sciences.

Miss Cordioli, who is single, is more fortunate than most. Her Italian ancestry enabled her to obtain an Italian passport and the right to work just about anywhere in Western Europe.

Still, the pro-Brazil campaign has the support of corporations such as Microsoft and Boticario.

The local press is giving free airtime to the campaign, designed to showcase success stories of common Brazilians. The goal, Mr. Machado says, is to get Brazilians to value their country and the opportunities it offers.

According to pollsters at Instituto Sensus, 62 percent of those interviewed in July said they were satisfied with life in the country, compared with 73 percent in January 2003.

Heading out

The Brazilian Foreign Ministry said emigration numbers are increasing, but “not exploding.”

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