Brasil

Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world and the largest in South America. It was a Portuguese colony from 1549 to 1822. The Portuguese brought 3.5 million slaves from Africa to Brazil who, together with the indigenous people were forced to work in the plantations. The present federal republic of Brazil was established in 1889. Until 1986, the military were the de facto rulers. From 1900 to 1957, the indigenous population of Brazil dropped from more than a million to less than 200,000. In 2005, they were 750,000, and the black population 75 million. The last military dictatorship, from 1964-1986, was marked by disappearances, torture, political assassinations and attacks on the organizations of the poor. Since the restoration of democracy, Brazil has become one of the leaders of the developing countries, economically and politically. It is the country of the World Social Forum and is part of the G20. Differences between rich and poor remain stark. The Catholic Church is the majority church and has a strong charismatic movement. Evangelical and Pentecostal churches have expanded dramatically in the past decades and are still growing. Pentecostals alone number close to 15 percent of the total number of Christians, and about 25 percent of the Christians are non-Catholics. Brazil has an Evangelical Association which is affiliated with the WEA. The national ecumenical body, CONIC, includes the Catholic Church and the Protestant WCC member churches. The ecumenical movement in Brazil has a long-standing record of solidarity with the poor, e.g. supporting the movement of landless peasants.