In 2003, an unprecedented event took place in Brazil. Ignacio Lula da Silva, a metalworker and union leader, became the first working class President to be elected in Brazilian history. The victory of this left wing candidate was not only a victory for his party the PT (Workers Party) but also for the millions of Brazilians who cast their vote in hope for a brighter future. Many also consider Brazil's historic election also a popular judgment against the neoliberal economic project in Brazil that has caused the increased impoverishment of millions of Brazilians. The neoliberal agenda, pursued in the last two decades and backed and promoted by such supra-national global institutions as the World Bank, IMF and WTO, has pushed forward the mass privatization of state-owned industries, the explosion of low-wage factory zones, the wide-scale pillaging of Brazil's natural resources and the tripling of Brazil's international debt. Despite holding the tenth largest economy in the world, Brazilians have seen the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, with Brazil containing the widest disparity of wealth in the western hemisphere.

Yet Brazilian social movements are among the strongest and most organized in Latin America in challenging the social, racial, and economic injustices of the neoliberal system. Brazilians have led and organized the internationally known World Social Forum in Porto Alegre where hundreds of thousands of participants have shared the Forum's motto of "Another World is Possible".

You will visit the MST (Landless Workers Movement), the largest social movement in Latin America, who has succeeded in organizing hundreds of land recoveries throughout Brazil, pressuring for land reform and providing land titles to more than 250,000 families. In Rio de Janeiro, while most tourists only see the resorts and beautiful beaches, hundreds of thousands of Rio's inhabitants live in the notorious favelas (or slums) that are often filled with drug trafficking and violence, and excluded from basic city services such as water and electricity. We will meet with community organizations working from within the favelas to seek peace and justice for what are the homes of most of Rio's domestic and hotel employees. You will meet with organizations that work with Rio's street children who often fall victim to police violence, drug trafficking and sex tourism.

Also you will learn about the black rights movement in Brazil's so-called "racial democracy" and hear about the varying perspectives from Afro-Brazilian women and men who struggle for representation and social equality. Meet with youth who use music and art as a form of political protest and expression. You will also learn about the struggle to preserve Brazil's environment and natural resources and how Brazil's thousands of indigenous peoples have been threatened and excluded from having a voice in Brazilian society. Learn about all this while enjoying the beauty of Brazilian music, dance, and breathtaking landscape.

Program Highlights:

• Celebrate the coming of a New Year with millions of Brazilians in Rio's traditional carnaval style, on Copacabana beach!
• Meet with representatives from strategic governmental agencies, political parties, and NGOs to examine the social, economic and political framework of contemporary Brazil.
• Visit Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's most beautiful and troubled city. Meet with women's organizations working in the favelas and examine the effects of globalization on the lives of thousands of Brazil's street children.
• Learn about Brazil's ethnic makeup and the country's African roots and current cultural expressions—from Afro-reggae to capoeira.
• Meet with members of the Partido dos Trabalhadores, Brazil's Worker's Party, and members of popular worker's cooperatives, who continue to build alternatives to neoliberalism.
• See some of the beautiful traditional sites of Rio from the Christ Statue, to the Tijuca Forest, to historical museums and monuments, and enjoy Brazilian futbol, the best in the world!

Cost: $1450 (partial scholarships available)

Price Includes:

• Double-room hotel accommodations; two meals per day; transportation to and from all programmed activities including possible domestic flight; guides and translators; a qualified trip leader; all program activities; and reading materials.
• Not included: International airfare, lunches, airport departure taxes, tips, and personal expenses are not included.

How to Register:

ABSOLUTE DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION: DECEMBER 10!

This trip will be as diverse as possible in terms of race, age and life experiences. We strongly urge people of color to apply. Partial scholarships are available for low-income applicants.

Make your reservation online now!

Contact Abby with any questions about this trip, or call toll-free 1-800-497-1994 ext. 252.