How Corruption and Pollution by Foreign Companies Has Affected Brazil

Traditionally, the world economies have largely been controlled by the US and Europe. The continued prowess in this sector however traversed over time, reaching many destinations, and with time the developments are increasingly being adopted all over the globe (Yeboah-Assiamah, Asamoah and Osei-kojo, 2014). Thus, investors continue to traverse the globe searching for more viable business locations to set up residence. In the recent history, Brazil has emerged as one of the leading investment destinations in the world. The rich heritage of the country, combined with climate and the nature of the country, makes the nation a preferable tourist destination. Given these statistics, it is correct to concur with research findings that show Brazil to be among the fastest growing economies in the southern America. Although other factors shade the image of this great nation, it still holds great potential for expansion and economic greatness if the right practices are observed. With its huge population and increasing numbers of tourism each year, Brazil has continued to attract a lot of potential investors in the recent past. The country is famed for hosting a lot of foreigners who come into the country for many reasons ranging from, employment like footballers to tourists who pour into the nation seasonally to observe the beautiful sceneries and the culture as well. Nonetheless, the country is marred by a bad image and culture and vices like crime and gangs, drugs and substance abuse among many others that make the nation fearful to many investors. Nonetheless, those who have established themselves in the country have learned to work with these gangs and other community practices. With the potential market, a lot of companies have established and have assimilated into the local practices whereby the law is often overlooked for small individual gains (Eiro, 2016).  With such a structural framework a lot of established companies have taken advantage of the situation and continually used corruption to establish themselves while at the same time using the same power to commit other crimes like pollution. Brazil remains among the top nations whose industries contribute to the highest portion of pollution without much consequences. Given that these companies had used corrupt ways to establish themselves in the country, they continue to operate under limited restrictions which allow them to pollute the environment at the price of limited bribes to a few officials. Therefore, while Brazil might appear as a fast growing economy to the economists and as a must vast destination for the tourists, the country inherently suffers from immense pollution from established companies as well as intense corruption from the top government officials to the least powerful ones. 

Pollution in Brazil is experienced in very way. The once very scenic country has turned into a corrupted center where natural beauty is continually decreasing as national calamities increase. The fact that the state has a vast and continuously growing population has created the viable market for many investors. With the increasing demand from the foreign investors, the Brazilian set up has resulted in corruption whereby the majority of the government official look to benefit from shorthand deals. As such, a majority of the firms that set up in this region do not necessarily contain all the necessary accreditation to operate in the region (Britto and Fiorin, 2016). At the same time, these underhand deals are in a manner that they protect the illegal firms in the country as they remain perpetually safeguarded by the price they offered to the corrupt officials. With these facts, it is correct to state that many of these companies operate as ghost firms whereby they are not recognized under the law nor do they receive any form of repercussions for any of their actions. As a result, these firms operate as they [refer chasing extensive profit margins at the expense of the ordinary Brazilians, the economy and the climate as a whole. Diverse industries, especially in timber lumbering and mining, have established their operations in the country using underhand means (Gusmmo Alves de Brito Neto, 2014). Their actions have left a lot of Brazilians lacking food and the resources that they deservedly should have given the high numbers of investors in the country (Bologna, 2014). As such, it becomes apparent that corruption continues to drag the country into deeper and more miserable economic times for now and in the future. 

Brazil has nonetheless continued to overcome her internal challenges and is still among the most thriving nations regardless of the turmoil caused by corruption. As if the corruption was not enough, Brazil has continued to experience a lot of environmental pollution in the recent past that makes its opportunities of grand economic revolution a difficult task. The increasing number of companies establishing in the country coupled with weak laws regarding the environment and the absolute corruption has made the state a primary location for different production and inconsequential pollution of the environment. The Amazon remains the world largest forest supplying up to 20% of the world’s oxygen (Fleischer, 2016). Nonetheless, the Amazon all over and specifically in Brazil has increasingly reduced in size. The notable reduction has been mostly due to the increase of population which has increased the need for land, especially for cultivation (Laruffa, 2016). Given the conducive climate of the Amazon, deforestation is continually conducted to create cultivation land. As such, the environment is polluted in this manner. Additionally, the Amazon also holds out a lot of minerals whereby a lot of foreign mining companies through fraudulent and legal ways have established themselves in this region. With the shaky administrative authority, these companies have managed to find ways whereby they deforest the Amazon in an endeavor to reach the coveted minerals. With such deforestation, studies reveal shocking details whereby the Amazon is doomed to become deforested in the near future will not only increase desertification in the country but will profoundly create a  difference in the ozone layer (Geddes and Neto, 1992). 

Besides the mining companies, a lot of both local and foreign companies have established themselves in Brazil whereby the major in paper products and lumbering. These companies whereby a majority of them primarily the local and the few international companies have continued to operate above the law. As such, these companies increasingly reduce the percentage of the Amazon on every single occasion. These companies primarily look for profits and overlook the real essence of the forest. As such, a lot of the natural heritage is lost in this manner. Desertification of the country increases with every fallen tree (S. Braga, 2013). Astonishingly, many of these companies and individuals that continue to deforest the countryside go scot-free whereby they only profit without paying their dues to the society. Besides the pleasant farming climate, Brazil also boasts of having a wide variety of wildlife. The Amazon holds an enormous variety of wildlife with the majority of the species found here, being the only remaining species in the world. As such, in the recent past, this aspect has attracted a lot of foreigners who visit the country as tourist seeking to enjoy this natural environment. With the high rate of corruption and lose administration watch a lot of individuals and companies alike have found their way to poaching in the Amazon without any effective consequences (Viana, Frédou and Frédou, 2012). As such, the country continues to lose some of its authentic sources of beauty that it uses to remain ahead of other nations. As such, the number of tourists seeking to view these forms of authentic natural beauty has reduced in their frequency to visit Brazil. As such, in the recent history, the country has continued to lose its tourists as there are no spectacular sites to see. This factor coupled with other domestic vices like high rates of crime have seen the country continue to lose its tourist numbers. 

The country practices a lot of agriculture and fishing to support its growing economy. Mainly, these practices are supported by the climate of the country as well as its location. The viable climate upholds all agricultural efforts whereby the locals exploit their natural surroundings and other sustainable regions to conduct agriculture. Nonetheless, other international countries with the resources and much political power exploit the uncharted areas of the Amazon. In the recent past, they have cleared large potion s of the lowlands in the Amazon to create faring regions (Alencar and Gico, 2010). With the loose regulations, these companies go ahead to use strong pesticides and other farm chemicals to boost growth while fighting infestations with equal amounts of efforts and dedication. While these methods might earn a few individuals in power a lot of returns, they hurt the country in far-reaching ways. These chemicals used in these regions have firstly contributed to these soils becoming barren whereby production can only be sustained using these chemicals. Having exploited these parts, these companies move onto other areas whereby they use similar methods of production without any consequences (Le Tourneau, 2016). With continued practice of the same, the country increasingly becomes bare and barren whereby the ordinary Brazilians cannot produce for themselves from these regions making them a lot more dependable and vulnerable. Additionally, research has established that these chemicals used I these farms increasingly wash into water bodies such as rivers, lake and eventually into the larger water masses (Rodrigo-Caldeira, 2016). These chemicals are notably instrumental in destroying marine life which includes the coral that the marine life depends upon and the entire marine community. Given the location of the country and the climatic condition which combines both warm and cold currents in the indented coastlines, Brazilian coasts hold a lot of fish which the local community depends upon for food and economic support. The large companies that enter the country in fraudulent ways have already fished a lot of fish from these coasts making the shallow shorelines barren of fish (Ometto, Aguiar and Martinelli, 2012). As such the ordinary Brazilians are forced with their shambolic tools to venture into deep water to obtain fish which puts their lives in grave danger. Further, when these chemicals from the farms wash into these water bodies, they profoundly kill the marine life substantially reducing the numbers. With such limited numbers, the locals face a loss of a food income due to the actions of corruption that allow overexploitation and pollution in the very economically viable nation. 

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Given the devastating conditions that both corruption and bad governance have cost Brazil, there was the need to revolutionize the way of life and the manner in which many foreign corporations entered the country. Among the many changes that the state has experienced are tighter security regulations whereby companies have to undergo thorough scrutiny before they are certified to operate in the region. In this manner, Brazil has increased control over the foreign companies that set up in this region. In this way, the foreign companies can be traced and are as well not overcrowded in the region. Additionally, the international community has raised concerns over the increasing pollution rate by Brazil and the overall waste levels (Mayer-Pinto and Junqueira, 2003). With this pressure, the Brazilian authorities have changed the regulations overseeing the safety of the environment and dumping as a whole. With these regulations, the country has managed to trace lawbreakers and those companies that increasingly pollute the environment. These rules also ensure that foreign firms contributing to this type of pollution face the appropriate consequences whereby some of these companies have been terminated alongside massive fines (Regalado, 2014). With the increased surveillance majority of the businesses in the country illegally have been established whereby many of them have been shut down reducing the impact of pollution.