MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Orthodox liberal nominated to Brazil's central bank, Roberto Campos Neto
Economist Roberto Campos Neto has accepted an invite to become the head of Brazil's central bank under the government of the incoming president, Jair Bolsonaro, the nation's future economy minister said in a statement on Thursday. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesFIRST, there is a “Project” [badly planned + ridiculously overpriced + unprofessionally executed + no priority at all!]
Nov 16th, 2018 - 01:34 pm - Link - Report abuse +1-For The Project; a capital is required [borrowed from the Govt. Banks, Int'l. Banks, Loan-Schemes, IMF, etc]
-Then there are perfectly justifiable delays inThe Project
-Then there is over-spending [also perfectly justified]
-Then more finance is “absolutely necessary” to complete The Project [most of them remain partially or never completed or they keep making enormous losses]
-Then there are additional loans sanctioned at absurdly high interest-rates
-Then there is “No Capital” to repay the debts
- Also, there is “No Capital” to repay the interests
-Then there is more loan “absolutely necessary” to repay the interests - on account of which, there are either further hikes in taxes or lesser budgets are sanctioned for the Vitally Essential Public Services. [which in other words, mean: further lowering down of the Standard of Living + The Quality of Life of the masses]
Sounds “familiar”?
Mind Boggling - isn't it?
Hence The OBVIOUS Question:
Will ALL these King's Men STOP the Vicious Circle?
http://imguol.com/blogs/89/files/2015/10/juros23.jpg
@:o)
Nov 18th, 2018 - 04:01 am - Link - Report abuse -1Sounds like you are describing the Central Bank under the PT........NOT independent, and subject to the whims of a bunch of incompetent 'petistas'.....Dilma being the “anta-mor”...
@JB
Nov 18th, 2018 - 10:51 am - Link - Report abuse +1REF: “Sounds like .....Dilma being the “anta-mor”...”:
ABSOLUTELY!
THAT brings the next question: Will ALL these King's Men STOP the Vicious Circle?
http://www.chargeonline.com.br/php/DODIA//pelicano.jpg
@:o))
Nov 18th, 2018 - 07:05 pm - Link - Report abuse -1While your 'chargeonline' reflects the short-term impact on Brazil's public health system, more relevant is the fact that Bolsonaro only said he would demand :
1) that the Cuban (‘n other doctors in the “Mais Médicos” program) take the “Revalida” exam.....after all, don't Brazilians have the right to be treatred by professionals with proven qualification?
2) that they get decent salaries ....info from 2017 shows that Brazil pays the OPAS (Organização Pan Americana de Saúde) roughly US$ 3,000 per month/per doctor, of which the ‘doctors’ receive about 30%, the rest going to the Cuban government. Easy to see who is getting the lion’s share.
3) that they be allowed to bring their families to live with them…..Cuba vehemently denied this possibility…..if that happened, there would be no way to force them to return to Cuba, when their ‘mission’ ended.
Cuba reacted badly to perfectly reasonable demands….wonder what’s behind it . Of the roughly 8,000 Cubans here, about 200 wish to remain in Brazil and have requested asylum ….not clear whether they have family in Cuba (which could be a problem for them).
Anyway, the problem with public health in Brazil is not about the lack of medical professionals ; it is related to their bad distribution (concentrated in towns with over 100,000 inhabitants), lousy wages, the blatant lack of decent infrastructure with regards to hospitals, equipment, medicine.
While the presence of the Cubans may have contributed to solving the less serious problems in small towns, distant from the bigger centres, the basic problem persists, as even in the big towns, where there is no shortage of professionals, the above-mentioned problems are the cause of substandard medical attention to the poor.
@JB
Nov 18th, 2018 - 09:15 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I must say that you are right again.
A much better + practical way could have been to position enough number of Brazilian Doctors in the remote areas; FIRST [the Basic Problem which is persistent for years (like any other typically Brazilian Problems)] - before 'TALKING' about “Planning to end” the Treaty, BEFORE sending the Cubans back to Cuba and much BEFORE making the dramatic/farcical announcements to “make waves” through the national & int'l. media!
The Standard of living + the Quality of life of the Cubans [in Cuba] really IS lousy [The Cuban Misery (worse than the Brazilian Misery)] but needn't be THE 1st worrisome Priority of the Brazilian or of any other govt - I think.
@:o))
Nov 18th, 2018 - 10:19 pm - Link - Report abuse -1Perhaps the Brazilian government could offer scholarships to Medical students, in exchange for their irrevocable commitment to relocate to these remote areas....if the students, after graduating, refuse to go, then charge them in full for their tuition....
Just one correction.....NO ONE is “sending” the Cubans home....it is the Cuban government which is ordering them to leave....very different.
Just a side note : IF Cuban 'doctors' are as well prepared as Dilma alleged (motive given to exempt them from the “Revalida” exam - which all other doctors coming to Brazil need to take, AND pass) why did Hugo Chavez die on their watch ?? Would you go to Cuba to be treated for some serious illness, if you had the choice of going to the Sírio-Libanês in SP ?
@JB
Nov 19th, 2018 - 09:41 am - Link - Report abuse 0REF: “it is the Cuban government which is ordering them to leave”:
If Cuba receives huge amounts from Brazil & from many other countries [to sustain their regime]; they'd be the last ones to stop receiving such payments [by recalling the docs - no matter how incompetent the docs are].
And why are they recalling the medics from Brazil alone? In other words, the moment Cuba noted that in the new treaty [or the modifications in the old one], they did not have any benefit [or it was against the interest of their regime]; they saw no alternative but to recall the medics.
It is also quite possible that purposefully [strategically]; many of the Cubans are forced to go away on their own than “sending” them away; to create an illusion that Brazil is victimized by Cuba; thus winning the sympathy from the ignorant + adversely affected masses!
REF: The Competency of the Cuban medics:
Maybe it is exaggerated or over-rated and hence they [also the others from any country - including Brazil] need to be at par with the Int'l - universal - Standards!
But in the present [or near-future event of being left alone without ANY professional assistance at all] circumstances; even a veterinary would do for the First-Aid at least.
Q: Why did Hugo Chavez die on their watch?
A: Even the Rich+Powerful have the right to be stupid!
JB
Nov 19th, 2018 - 09:55 am - Link - Report abuse -1“why did Hugo Chavez die on their” watch begs the question. Just to bring you up to speed, some cancers are terminal regardless of which medical facility is being used.
Interesting:
Nov 19th, 2018 - 11:57 am - Link - Report abuse 0https://lastdayswatchman.blogspot.com/2018/10/supported-by-evangelicals-angry-with.html
@:o))
Nov 19th, 2018 - 07:48 pm - Link - Report abuse -1Only Brazil (Bolsonaro, as of 2019) is demanding they prove they are qualified, are paid decent salaries, be allowed to bring their families....something Cuba is not prepared to do...Cuba cannot afford to have their 'doctors' unmasked for what they really are, 'glorified nurses'.....do you see, or have you heard of any of them performing any type of surgery ? other than perhaps removing a boil from someone's arse ?? Cuba's benefits, if the program were “serious” (qualified doctors, with a minimum of respect from Cuba), should not be its priority.
TH ]
Yes, whatever....I know. But I 'beg' to not argue with idiots......at the Sírio-Libanês his life might have been prolonged, or even saved....look at the toad, who had throat cancer (unfortunately they saved his stupid ass).....but of course, I forgot I'm speaking to a medical expert.....piss-off Terry.
There are plenty of Cuban 'doctors' in VZ, but VZ isn't demanding anything, and is paying Cuba with petrodollars...
@JB
Nov 19th, 2018 - 10:37 pm - Link - Report abuse 0REF: ”Only Brazil (Bolsonaro, as of 2019) is demanding they prove they are qualified, are paid decent salaries”:
Very nice humanitarian gesture indeed!
How about a similar one for the Unemployed Brazilians [or will it be a lip-service only?]?
https://i1.wp.com/www.humorpolitico.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/medicos_internet.jpg?resize=560%2C420&ssl=1
“their 'doctors' unmasked for what they really are, 'glorified nurses'”
Nov 19th, 2018 - 11:34 pm - Link - Report abuse -1My self and my family where assigned a Cuban doctor when we were in a rural location. The Doctor was absolutely competent, we had no complaints.
The irony is it was a Cuban doctor in Bolivia who saved the eyesight of the assassin of Che.
@ :o))
Nov 20th, 2018 - 12:38 am - Link - Report abuse 0It always amazes me what liars these supposed religious people are. Don't they believe their own commandments?
@DT
Nov 20th, 2018 - 09:51 am - Link - Report abuse 0REF: “Don't they believe their own commandments”:
They are supposed to PREACH - not PRACTICE at all!
REF:
https://www.otempo.com.br/image/contentid/policy:1.2069126:1542499438/CHARGE-O-TEMPO.jpg?f=3x2&w=620&$p$f$w=417f229
@TH
Nov 20th, 2018 - 10:27 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“My self and my family where assigned a Cuban doctor when we were in a rural location. The Doctor was absolutely competent, we had no complaints.”
“absolutely competent” ? obviously nothing serious. What did he do, prescribe you a laxative and an aspirin ?
Ever heard of 'feldshers'....Russia, USSR/Cuban relationship after 1960 ? that's what their 'doctors' are.
IF they were on the same level of doctors graduating from good universities in Brazil, US, EU, I fail to see why Dilma was so adamant when she refused to allow the “Conselho Federal de Medicina” to submit them to the “Revalida”. Kinda suspicious, wouldn't you say, Terry dear...
As to the Cuban doctor in Bolivia who - according to you - saved the eyesight of Che's 'assassin', don't see any irony ......I think both he, and the assassin deserved a medal.
She refused to allow the “Conselho Federal de Medicina” to submit them to the “Revalida. Kinda suspicious..”
Nov 21st, 2018 - 12:16 pm - Link - Report abuse -1She was more driven by the necessity to provide adequate medical coverage for those underserved, due to failure of parties to reach an financial agreement without bankrupting the budget.
There's absolutely no surprise that you would approve of extrajudicial killings.
TH
Nov 21st, 2018 - 05:06 pm - Link - Report abuse -1Dilma (PT) was driven by the possibility of getting R$ 11,000 per feldsher' out of Brazil, through OPAS, being that the Brazilian government would pay OPAS, which in turn would transfer 75% to the Cuban govt, and 25 % to the “doctor”.
OPAS was officially responsible for paying the “doctors”, which in a way, exempted the federal government's responsilbility in case of some malpractise suit...and into the bargain, made it possible for the PT to form a 'stash' in Cuba..
If she were so concerned with the quality of medical care in remote regions - and even in big towns - why did it take the glorious PT 10 years to realize public health services were so crappy ?
The program was offered to Brazil by the Cuban government in 2012, and there was a lot of 'under-the-counter' negotiating between the PT and Cuba (in order to not 'anger' the medical class in Brazil) before Dilma announced it in 2013.
The “mais médicos” program was just what the doctor ordered for the PT to swindle Brazil.
“Without bankrupting the bugdet ”? Obviously you have no idea how much the program cost Brazil during the 5-6 years it was in force....a mere R$ 8 billion......more than enough to pay for scholarships for at least 20,000 medical students......but then of course, how would the PT get money out of Brazil ?
You are so naive....badly informed....and stupid, Terry.
“The program was offered”.. “because local doctors could not be found for many positions.”
Nov 21st, 2018 - 06:17 pm - Link - Report abuse -1“Brazil ex-minister: Loss of Cuban doctors will hurt millions
Millions of Brazilians may be left without access to doctors due to the end of a program that brought Cuban physicians to rural and dangerous areas in Brazil, the former health minister who helped create the initiative said Thursday.
Padilha said Cuban doctors were in 2,800 cities and towns — and they were the only doctors in 1,700 of those towns. Padilha said the initiative was launched in 2013 because local doctors could not be found for many positions.”
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/brazil-minister-loss-cuban-doctors-hurt-millions-59222390
@HB
Nov 21st, 2018 - 08:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0REF: “if the students, after graduating, refuse to go, then charge them in full for their tuition”
An excellent idea [>>>THEORETICALLY
@TH
Nov 22nd, 2018 - 07:27 pm - Link - Report abuse -1Alexandre Padilha ??? you mean Dilma's idiotic ex-minister ?? ......nothing to gloat about...in fact, as incompetent as his ex-bosswoman, who is presently making a fool of herself in Argentina....obviously you haven't seen her latest speech.....it was hilarious !
If what Padilha claims were true (and we “know” it isn't), then why were negotiations (during 2012) between Dilma, him, and the Cubans kept secret, and exclude Congress ?
Padilha (like all 'petistas') is lying, and today, it seems that all the PT can do, is to clutch at straws while trying to find something bad to say about Bolsonaro.
The Temer government has just opened up inscriptions for Brazilian (and other) doctors (who have their CRM registrations) who would like to substitute the 8,500 Cuban 'feldshers' - with salaries of R$ 11,800, plus benefits - and seems it's doing quite well.....nearly 40% of the vacancies have been filled.
Suppose that is not good news for you, is it ?
You continue to be naive, badly informed and stupid.
@:o))
If they refuse to go, don't want to pay, then revoke their licence to practise medicine. Under the PT that probably wouldn't happen, but.....the PT is gone.
JB
Nov 22nd, 2018 - 09:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“and we “know” it isn't” The proof of which is not provided.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.” Christopher Hitchens
”ei incumbit probatio, qui dicit, non qui negat (cum per rerum naturam factum negantis probation nulla sit)-the burden of proof lies upon him who affirms, not on him who denies, (since by the nature of things, he who denies a fact cannot produce any proof). The claimant is always bound to prove: the burden of proof lies on him. Upon the one alleging, not upon him denying, rests the duty of proving.“
Soma's Dictionary of Latin Quotations, Maxims and Phrases: A Compendium of ...
”Padilha (like all 'petistas') is lying,“ Well your expert on that, but the onus of which is still on you to prove. Which if you could you would.
”doctors (who have their CRM registrations) who would like to substitute the 8,500 Cuban“
What pity they didn't avail themselves of opportunity when it was presented
”the Federal Government posted all of the job openings for doctors in remote areas, with a just salary of approximately R$13,000/month (around $6500 USD at the time). If the posts were not filled by Brazilians, they would invite Cuban doctors to fill them.”
http://www.brasilwire.com/xenophobic-tweets-end-healthcare-access-for-60-million-brazilians/
TH
Nov 22nd, 2018 - 10:05 pm - Link - Report abuse -1The “proof” is all over the news.....but you don't have access to reliable news sources, do you ?......what sh*t exactly does Lula's site say about it all ? that when his throat cancer returns, he'll go to Cuba to be treated, instead of to the Sirio-Libanês ? I sure hope so.
JB
Nov 22nd, 2018 - 10:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“The “proof” is all over the news.....” The proof of which you have not provided.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.” Christopher Hitchens
”ei incumbit probatio, qui dicit, non qui negat (cum per rerum naturam factum negantis probation nulla sit)-the burden of proof lies upon him who affirms, not on him who denies, (since by the nature of things, he who denies a fact cannot produce any proof). The claimant is always bound to prove: the burden of proof lies on him. Upon the one alleging, not upon him denying, rests the duty of proving.“
Soma's Dictionary of Latin Quotations, Maxims and Phrases: A Compendium of ...
It's noted that your claim ”doctors (who have their CRM registrations) who would like to substitute the 8,500 Cuban“ Has failed to refute the following. ”If the posts were not filled by Brazilians, they would invite Cuban doctors to fill them.”
Incidentally, it's 11,000 not 8,500 Cuban doctors.
@JB
Nov 23rd, 2018 - 10:12 am - Link - Report abuse 0REF: “If they refuse to go, don't want to pay, then revoke their licence to practise medicine”:
I checked and was told that there already ARE [supposed] doctors who [not so clandestinely] practice [AND are thriving] without ANY certificate AT ALL - and that too not necessarily in the remote areas of Brazil.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pmuCHFnW6Js/Vv54MmgdVjI/AAAAAAAAB1g/lhuFCKkBheEOvoGDlmqyeLAWV1f7vzQTg/s1600/charge_falso_medico.jpg
P. S.: WHO NEEDS THE DOCTORS FROM CUBA?
JB
Nov 23rd, 2018 - 11:24 am - Link - Report abuse 0There are two sets of figures for Cuban doctors in Brazil.
The Guardian figure being the most recent.
http://blogs.worldbank.org/health/can-11000-cuban-doctors-improve-health-care-brazil
https://www. theguardian.com/global-development/2018/nov/23/brazil-fears-it-cant-fill-abrupt-vacancies-after-cuban-doctors-withdraw
TH
Nov 23rd, 2018 - 03:15 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The World Bank report is 3 years ago (Oct 2015)
Talks of 11,000 “doctors”......'As of last week', 8,500. The number of municipalities attended by PMM 'was' about 50%, or 2,700.
While PMM, in itself, is obviously beneficial - better than nothing - it is not a long term solution, and not the only option - just a 'fill-in', to make Brazilians in remote regions believe they were getting 1st world medical care....while no serious measures to substitute them were even considered.
Regarding the capital investment figure mentioned, of US$ 1,5 billion....am very skeptical.....no way was that actually 'invested' in infrastructure....daily reports seen on TV, point to a whole different reality in these 'distant', or remote areas, show that healthcare is a shambles.
Also, the statement that 45 river ships, converted to hospitals, attend 4,900 municipalities (only 2,700 were attended by Cubans), sounds dodgy. Brazil has just over 5,700 municipalities, and 85% of them are not bathed by rivers which permit navigation .....especially in the NE where many are drying up.
Seems to me that a paragraph near the end of the article, sums up the situation pretty well :
”While my colleagues and I were assured that there are many initiatives to monitor the impact of the program, we left Brazil with the impression that there is no plan to monitor and report on progress for the program as a whole (including the sensitive training and infrastructure components)“.
The Guardian's article takes on a clearly pessimistic slant, without the slightest consideration to what ”really“ motivated the 'abrupt' departure of the Cubans......but the main question still remains unanswered by those who defend the PMM as the greatest thing that ever happened in Brazil...”why not restructure the health program (including both the original sloppy Brazilian program and the PMM) on a reasonable basis (for patients, as well as the medical professionals), as Bolsonaro suggested ?” Why the problem?
JB
Nov 23rd, 2018 - 05:48 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“Just a 'fill-in', to make Brazilians in remote regions believe they were getting 1st world medical care.”
If the doctors in Brazil to decline to accept rural postings, then the government of day can come up with a wonderful solution. I wait with baited breath, for the incoming administration to provide a better fix.
“Carlos Lula, the health secretary of the dusty, Northeastern state of Maranhão, said that previous attempts to hire Brazilian doctors had floundered, adding that he feared the 471 Cuban doctors currently working there would be hard to replace.”
https://www. theguardian.com/global-development/2018/nov/23/brazil-fears-it-cant-fill-abrupt-vacancies-after-cuban-doctors-withdraw
”Similarly, Cuba trains young physicians worldwide in its Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM). Since its inception in 1998, ELAM has graduated more than 20,000 doctors from over 123 countries. Currently, 11,000 young people from over 120 nations follow a career in medicine at the Cuban institution. According to Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the UN, ELAM is “the world’s most advanced medical school.”
The show began with lots of OOHs+AAHs but may end up by bringing the cubans back to Brazil - obviously under yet another perfectly justifiable motive! Impossible?
Nov 24th, 2018 - 12:47 am - Link - Report abuse 0“Rousseff noted that fewer than 2% of the doctors in Brazil were foreign, compared with rates of 25% in the US and 36% in Canada. The Mais Médicos initiative aims to address the shortage by recruiting health professionals from Portugal, Argentina and elsewhere, but the president said that only the doctors from Havana had been criticised.
Nov 24th, 2018 - 01:29 am - Link - Report abuse 0”We have seen instances of immense prejudice against the Cuban doctors,“ she said. ”I can assure you we will do all we can within the law to bring doctors to places where there are no doctors.“
In the first stage of the programme, Mais Médicos recruited 1,589 doctors, a third of whom were from other nations, including Spain and Russia. But the government has said that almost 10 times this number are needed to fill the gaps in rural areas, particularly in the poor north and north-east of the country.
Juan Delgado, one of the Cuban doctors who was subjected to the ”slave“ chants , told reporters for the newspaper Folha that it would take time for attitudes to change. ”This is not right, we are not slaves,“ he said, adding: ”The Brazilian doctors should do the same as we do: go to assist in the poorest places.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/28/brazil-doctors-jeer-cubans
TH
Nov 24th, 2018 - 09:00 pm - Link - Report abuse 0IF Cuban 'doctors' are so highly qualified, please explain why (note : I said 'explain', not bullsh*t) :
1) Dilma 'n the Cuban health Ministry, in 2012, keep negotiations secret ? (not even Congress was aware...)
2) Dilma, 'n Cuba, were loath to allow the 'doctors' to take the “Revalida” exam? This is clear in the e-mails exchanged at the time....Was Cuba afraid they might not pass the exam, 'n embarrass them ?
3) the 'doctors' received only 25% of what a Brazilian doctor in the same position would get. And the Cuban govt got the rest ? why such low salaries for such highly-qualified professionals ?
4) you claim the Cuban doctors are the best in the world, yet they are only 'exported' to 3rd world countries.....(with left-wing and/or populist governments)
5) the families of the “doctors” were not allowed to visit them, far less accompany them ?
6) about 200 “doctors” had to he shipped back so urgently after the 'deal' fell apart ?
Why the rush ? would investigations show, had they had time to be carried out, that Cuban agents/spies were also infiltrated under the cover of being “doctors” ?
I'm aware that the PT has tried to justify the 'imported' feldshers' presence, by claiming that many Brazilian doctors don't want to go to remote areas - this is true, so (A) why weren't the Cubans working in only these areas, where their qualifications would be sufficient to give basic medical attention ? (B) why were Cubans working in big centres, like S.Paulo, Belo Horizonte, etc, where there is an absurd concentration of Brazilian doctors ? (C) Why did the PT only “wake-up” after 10 years in power, and realize that public health services were the shits ? Instead of inventing non-existent universities, the PT administrations could have given 'free'-scholarships to at least 20,000 medical students, which would have graduated by 2011, at a cost lower than the billions they sent to Cuba ?
The PT, nor you, can answer any of these questions - without lying.
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