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10:32 2001-05-15

MARCIA MIRANDA: BLACKOUT BRAZIL

Brazil is facing an unprecedented energy crisis, which threatens to cost the country nearly a million job losses and is set to provoke daily power cuts of up to 4 hours. The reason for this crisis is a tissue of ineptitude and corruption from the Brazilian Social Democratic Party, in government for the last decade. Cutting investment in state companies has been the policy adopted to try to settle a rising budget deficit and a total absence of planning capacity has left President Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s government in an embarrassing situation, one year before the Brazilian general election. The average demand for energy has seen an increase of 4.1% a year over the last decade. However, supply has constantly remained behind, at only 3.3%. This forced factories to use their strategic reserves, according to engineer Ildo Sauer, of S?o Paulo University. More seriously, in the south of Brazil, where 80% of the country’s energy is produced, supply is currently running at 33% of full capacity, when the normal level required is 50%.

With few or no reserves and with a deficient production of energy, President Cardoso and his government prove themselves unable to come up with a solution. First, it was threatened that a fine would be imposed on people who consumed more energy, then the President made a public declaration stating that there would be reductions in tariffs for those who consumed less. With 3 or 4-hour power cuts likely to be the scenario after June, Brazil’s production capacity will suffer, with factories producing less, falling exports and a catastrophic reduction in the job market. One analyst forecast that 800,000 jobs will be lost as a result.

Amid stories of government cover-ups over corruption, with sums being handed out to members of Parliament to suppress the formation of an investigative commission, Brazilians will certainly remember their romantic candle-lit dinners when they take to the polls next year.

MARCIA MIRANDA PRAVDA.Ru BRAZIL

-- Anonymous, May 15, 2001