If one were to consider the cultural links between Brazil and Africa, Yoruba legacy in the North of Brazil could be the object of focus. However, this exchange was not just in one direction; the Brazilians also has a cultural impact on Africa

Archival records from the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries show the Portuguese knew about Brazil years before 1500, when they officially discovered the South American landmass

Whether as skilled labourers, domestic servants, field hands, or as soldiers in the military, enslaved Africans brought to Brazil not only such important skills but their cultural and religious beliefs and practices that were to blend with European practices and customs. Ultimately it led to an Africanization of Brazil

Brazilians have much to learn from South Africans who hosted the 2010 World Cup in which thousands of South Africans rioted in the streets prior to the games and FIFA took billions in revenues. Will Brazil’s main trade union remain stymied by their alliance to the ruling party like South Africa’s?

Harare stands to benefit a great deal from increasing engagement with Brasilia in energy, mining, agriculture, or poverty alleviation policies. Zimbabwe must now engage the government of Brazil and expand mutually beneficial areas of political, economic and social cooperation between the two nations

The recent protests by social movements, which forced the president to consider certain policy changes, are a clear indication that a great opportunity exists for the progressive forces to strengthen democracy

Vale’s two-handed climate strategy – through which it develops a global extractive business while undertaking profitable offsetting initiatives at home – has allowed it to profit from false solutions to the climate crisis while worsening the problem

The U.S. reprises Iraq, inventing a WMD threat from Syria. The FBI concocts home-grown terror through stings, while the NSA claims it has secretly saved many lives. “Why this steady stream of government-invented terror, if the real thing is so abundant?” And, isn’t the U.S. arming and funding the same jihadists they are supposed to be listening for on our telephones?

Britain’s recent offer of £20 million to survivors of Kenya’s Mau Mau anti-colonial revolt though a somewhat good idea reopens the vexed question of the impact of British colonial rule in Africa and other parts of the world

There seems to be an unspoken foreign goal to prevent control of mining policy throughout Africa from falling into the hands of nationalist, pro-community political forces who will promote a vigorous resource nationalism agenda

cc C AAfrica is lacking a clear and unified policy in terms of how it relates to China. In developing further social, economic and political ties with China, African leaders must develop a coherent and structured plan to promote the interests of Africans

Crawford Young succeeds brilliantly and seductively in inciting a yearning for “another history” of governance in Africa in the last 50 years

Pambazuka News is planning a special issue on ‘BRAZIL IN AFRICA’

As we reach an audience of approximately 26,000 subscribers weekly, we are calling on our readers and writers to submit articles for this special issue to cover any of the following themes (or a theme or issue of your choice):
• The historical links between Brazil and Africa
• South-South geopolitical links between Africa and Brazil via BRICS
• Issues relating to gender, youth, multinationals, social justice, environmental issues, the media, cultural links (i.e. music, literature, the arts) between Brazil and Africa
• Ideas on how to advance greater links and understanding between Brazil and Africa

Texts must be submitted to: or [email][email protected]

WORD LENGTH: Texts must be between 1000-3000 words

DEADLINE: is 30th June 2013 for submission

Your name and a two line bio must be submitted at the end of the article.

THE EDITORS

Hi Colleagues,

Thank you for this edition [Issue 628]. It brings into the public space a phenomenon or cluster of phenomena that we have to label appropriately. For my part I have been calling it 'existential terrorism', meaning the terror that is brought to bear on certain groups by other groups by virtue of the fact that the former group exists in the relation it does to the former. Definitions are notoriously difficult, so it is wonderful that we have found the words to open up this discussion.

Tsitsi Dangarembga
Director
Institute of Creative Arts for Progress in Africa (ICAPA) Trust (incorporating Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe and Nyerai Films)
Founder International Images Film Festival for Women (IIFF)
Harare, Zimbabwe

The workers’ tragedy in Dhaka provides a peek into the landscape of globalization that is mimicked in factories along the US-Mexico border, in Haiti, in Sri Lanka, and in other places that opened their doors to the global garment industry’s savvy use of the new manufacturing and trade order of the 1990s

The richest 300 people on earth have more wealth than the poorest 3 billion – almost half the world’s population. This is in part a result of neo-liberal policies that have ensured massive transfer of resources from the global South to the North

The reasons behind the war crimes suspect’s voluntary surrender to international justice remain unknown. But Ntaganda was not acting alone in destabilising eastern DR Congo. He is a creature of Rwanda, like many other warlords

The Sierra Leonean army will be doing the biding of America’s proxy-war in Africa as mercenaries. This is a case of Africans paid to kill other Africans.

Achebe will be remembered for his literary contributions and his fierce criticism of colonial and post-colonial African society. His books will remain a mainstay of libraries and classrooms for many generations to come.

There are some who see BRICS as ‘the Center’s fifth column’ whilst Russia sees it as an alternative centre of global influence despite the differing ideological viewpoints of its member states. Russia is committed to BRICS as a constraint to the ambitions of the USA, NATO and the world reactionary forces behind them