Firstly, she took over the campaign after Eduardo Campos died in a plane crash. Many people who had supported him, jumped ship. Marina is appealing to the poorer voters because of her stance on the Bolsa Familia etc.She is not capable of running a country like Brazil as she has shown that she can flip flop quite easily on issues. As an ex-petista, for me she is 'flour of the same bag' as the PT, and if you dig a bit into her past, she was also part of the Communist Party at one point. I wouldn't trust her or Dilma for all of the tea in China. This may not be the place to say it, but I feel that if Dilma wins, Brazil will descend into a left wing neo communist dictatorship, along the lines of Venezuela.

This is the time for Brazil to shine and to show the world what a great country it is. The Brazilian people are loud and proud when it comes to the 'Selecao'. My only fear is that with the Cup being a success, Dilma and her posse of left wing pseudo communists will take all of the credit for it and Brazil will elect her for another 4 years. Hopefully the Brazilian public will see beyond her lies and deception and vote her out of office in October. Brazil is a great country and it deserves a great leader. Dilma is not that leader.

It all looks good on paper but the reality is another movie. Until corruption is curbed, these UPP's will not be able to realize their goal. Too much money is involved with the drug trade for the police to be ethical and clean, the temptation is too high. It is unfortunate for the hard working people of the favelas, who just want to live and work in peace. As for education and health, lots of blah blah blah from the politicians, but no concrete actions. The rhetoric will ramp up as it is an election year, but promises delivered will be closer to zero, as per usual. Its sad, Brazil is a great country, but the people that run it are just in it for themselves.

This language situation will be a challenge during the World Cup and the Olympics. English language schools are everywhere here but they are financially out of reach for the majority of Brazilians. I taught English for a while at Berlitz and I really enjoyed creating lessons that had meaning and context for the needs of my students. I was the only native English speaker at the school and was always in demand. I agree that there should be a program for foreigners to come for say 6 months to help fill the gap of unqualified teachers. Who would say no? People here want to speak English and I love to teach them a few words so they can start their journey.Immersion is better than distance learning when it comes to languages. Watching the news in English is also a good way to get one's ears familiar with the language. I learned POrtuguese in a year by watching the 8 oclock Jornal Nacional and the novela and by practicing with anyone who would want to talk to me.