ABSTRACT
Since 1967 Brazil has been one of the developing world's greatest success stories. Brazil possesses a special affinity for the Portuguese-speaking countries of Africa, Mozambique and Angola, which seems to transcend the vast ideological difference between Brazilian authoritarianism and Angolan-Mozambican radicalism. Brazil's relationships with the communist powers are correct and show no tendency to become either a marriage or a cold war. Since 1964 the military has governed Brazil, exercising pervasive influence throughout the economy and society. The greatest problem on the Brazilian political horizon is that of social inequality. Brazil's future growth rate might be higher if greater attention were paid to social equity. Some of the inequality, and the worsening of that inequality, prove to be a statistical fluke. The statistic most often cited to demonstrate the exacerbation of social inequality under the military regime is the deterioration of the minimum wage.
