Latin America Vocabulary + Pictures, Favela Article Questions
What is Brazil's economy ranking compared to the rest of the world?
7th
What is a favela?
A Brazilian equivalent of a shantytown
Describe a baile funk in the favelas that have not been pacified yet
A baile funk is a giant street party organized by drug dealers in a trafficante that has loud music, teenagers walking around with AK-47s, young girls inhailing drugs like cocaine, and lots and lots of dancing.
What do the people look like whom typically live in the favelas? How does this reflect each person's economic status?
A darker complexion
Define junta.
A military or political group that rules a country after taking power by force
About how many favelas are in Rio de Janeiro? About how many people live in them?
About 1.4 million people live in the 630 favelas throughout Brazil
About how many people are in gangs in Rio?
About 30 to 40 thousand people are in gangs in Rio.
What do these cities all have in common?
All of these cities are poor, developing megacities.
What is common on the streets of Sao Paulo?
Armed robbery
favelas
Brazilian shacks or shanty towns; slums
What type of government system is Brazil now?
Democracy
How has the government change influenced the economy?
Everybody - the rich in Leblon and the poor in Rocinha - felt they should benefit from it, and in Brazil, for a time, most people did.
What types of people are typically found in the pacified favela?
Everybody - the rich in Leblon and the poor in Rocinha - felt they should benefit from it, and in Brazil, for a time, most people did.
Why are police helicopters unsafe to fly in over some favelas?
It is probable that the police will get down with anti-aircraft guns.
Define milicias and traficantes.
Milicias syndicates of corrupt police and traficantes are drug gangs.
Where else in the world can police not fly in helicopters?
Nairobi and Caracas also don't allow police to fly over them in helicopters.
What three gangs have controlled Rio for over the past twenty years?
The Red Command, the (Pure) Third Command, and Friends of Friends are the three gangs that have controlled Rio for the past twenty years.
Where does the cocaine come from?
The cocaine in favelas comes from Bolivia and Colombia.
Identify the drugs typically found in a favela.
The drugs typically found in a favela are ecstasy, PCP, and crystal meth.
Where do the AK-47's originate?
The eastern European weapons reach favelas through Paraguay.
What is the life expectancy in favelas compared to the rest of Brazil? Why?
The life expectancy in favelas compared to the rest of Brazil is shaved seven years off, because of the extremely high crime rates
What is pacification and how does this affect the favelas?
The pacification allows states to peacefully enter a high crime area and attempt to reconstruct it to function how it should; the allows favelas ruled by drug traffickers or corrupt police to become under the rule of the state.
Are the police trying to stop the illegal drugs? Why or why not?
The police are not trying to stop the illegal drug trade because they feel that it's more important to focus on stopping the violence involved.
What did the police in Sao Paulo promise?
The police promise to kill "bad guys" for every cop killed.
What two worldwide events is Brazil hosting in the next couple of years?
World Cup and Oylmpics
What language can you translate this article to? Why that language and not Spanish?
You can translate this article to Portuguese. You cannot translate it to Spanish because they do not speak Spanish in Brazil.
voodoo
a black religious cult practiced in the Caribbean and the southern US, characterized by sorcery and spirit possession
cash crop
a crop produced for its commercial value rather than for use by the grower
shantytown
a deprived area on the outskirts of a town consisting of large numbers of crude dwellings
maquiladora
a factory in Mexico run by a foreign company and exporting its products to the country of that company
hacienda
a large estate or plantation with a dwelling house (in Spanish speaking regions)
slash and burn
a method of agriculture in which existing vegetation is cut down and burned off before new seeds are sown, typically used as a method for clearing forest land for farming
isthmus
a narrow strip of land with sea on either side, forming a link between two larger areas of land
creole
a person of mixed European and black descent
mulatto
a person of mixed white and black ancestry
terraced farming
a piece of sloped plane that has been cut into a successively receding flat surfaces or platforms, which resemble steps, for the purposes of more effective farming
plaza
a public square, marketplace, or similar open space in a built-up area
MERCOSUR
a trading block composed of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela, with associate members Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru
cerrado
a type of plains community characterized by vegetation ranging from tropical broadleaf woodlands to schrublands, occurring in extensive areas of Brazil
canal
an artificial waterway constructed to allow the passage of boats or ships inland or to convey water for irrigation
cartel
an association of manufactures or suppliers with the purpose of maintaining prices at a high level and restricting competition
canopy
an ornamental cloth covering hung or held up over something, especially a throne or bed
deforestation
clearing of trees
conquistadores
conquerors, especially one of the Spanish conquerors of Mexico and Peru in the 16th century
barrios
districts of a town in Spain and Spanish-speaking countries
pampas
extensive, treeless plains in South America
What is the particular genre in Brazil?
jazz
What is the cultural lifeblood of Brazil?
music
indigenous
originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native
Why could people live in these favelas when there was a lot of illegal activity?
people left rural areas of Brazil and moved to cities, and since they aren't able to find a place to live, they end up living in favelas.
What types of people being forced out of the favelas?
poor families are pushed out of their neighborhoods to make way for the Olympics
mestizo
someone with mixed Mexican culture
biodiversity
the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem
llanos
treeless grassy plains (in South America)
What type of government system is typically found in a favela?
typically a dictatorship
