Quote:
Originally Posted by JMBroad
One thing everyone seems to have either forgotten or is just ignoring - Brasil is a relationship country the same as Portugal - nothing like Spain and I assume therefore quite different from other countries in South America which are more similar to Spain - just guessing there though as I don't know the rest of South America very well yet. The Portuguese and the Spanish are nothing like each other. The Brazilians are very similar to the Portuguese and therefore also nothing like the Spanish. To get something done in Brazil you need to have Brazilian friends. And when I say friends I don't mean "buy a stranger a soda and talk to him condescendingly". A lot of people seem to think that to become friends with the "natives" you need to spend money on them. Not at all true. But you also can't be seen to be an idiot. It's a tough country because you need not only to find the right person to help you but then you need to earn their respect while also giving them your respect. Anything else and you may well get taken for a ride. Oh and if you are the type who goes to Azucar every night to meet the girl of your budget you probably won't be getting much of that respect.
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Mr. Broad, your comments are exactly the way Brazil does business and I already understand this now. Back in 2000, we did not have a grip on Brazil nor the culture. But yes, there`s a lot of truth in your comments and because of that... it takes time to build relationeships, maybe years, and if you are a Gringo, you have to prove yourself more, especially in Rio de Janeiro as all the locals already think you are a "Sexo Toutista" until you prove them wrong and this could takes years. Thanks to all the A*sholes before us, we are paying for that activity and the reputation Gringos now have in Brazil. After years of working hard and proving myself in my home country, the last thing I want is to prove myself in another, arguable a 1st-2nd world country. That said, in neighboring Latin countries it´s a little different and easier therefore our financial interest is targeted there. Our investment group can buy/build/invest and produce a lot of jobs in Brazil.... but the group has a bad taste about Brazil. Quite sad really so they are investing in the US and DR.