What makes most Brazilians USA fanatics?

Brazilians are kind of crazy about the USA. It could have many reasons, but most of them see the neighboring country in a good way. Not every Brazilian, of course.

The United States was the first nation to recognize Brazil’s independence in 1822. Is it reason enough to have turned most of them into USA fanatics? I don’t think so, but the history indicated the U.S.’s move probably makes room for the commercial and diplomatic relationship between two powerful countries in the American continent. Since then, we’ve been partners in commercial relations, sometimes useful for both, occasionally bad for Brazil, which doesn’t matter for most Brazilians. For them, the USA still the perfect Country they would like Brazil to be. In general, Brazilians see the USA as the North’s wealthy cousin, where life is more accessible and better than in the South of the Continent.

In Brazil, we have built-in our minds long our lifetime, the USA’s image as a perfect country.

It reminds me that years ago, my best friend came from Brazil for some weeks with me in Philadelphia, PA, where I live. It was his first time in the USA, and I could see his face’s disappointment when we noticed homeless people in the center city area. I understand his reaction; homeless people don’t match the perfect United States Brazilians have in mind.

After seven years of living in Pennsylvania, I understand better the Country and I see a Developed Word with Developing Countries' bubbles. The United States still the best Country globally, but isn't perfect, and Brazilians shouldn’t expect it.

I asked some people online on my social media their thoughts about Brazilian people’s admiration for the USA. My friend and photographer, Leandro Martins, answer me back first.

“-Due to the lack of culture and education in the Brazilian middle-class, the American consumerism lifestyle attracts Brazilians”.

I agree with my friend Leo, but the USA has many other things to offer besides shopping.

In the latest months, we’ve to face all problems we need to fix in the USA. Brown and Black communities here are far from having the same opportunities and advantages white people already have. Brazilians are in the same dire situation, but over there, you aren’t safe. You have no car, no house, no money. Even those living undocumented here consider a lousy life better than they currently have in Brazil.

Immigration numbers

According to the Migration Policy Institute, Brazilians start arriving in significant numbers in the 1980s and 1990s, expecting to earn nearly four times as much in the United States as they could have in Brazil. More than 450,000 Brazilian immigrants lived in the USA in 2017; apparently, this is the most updated data.

Brazil is also one of the countries sending more tourists to visit the wealthy cousin from the North. More than two million Brazilian tourists came to the U.S. for a vacation in 2019.

My perception is the USA is the first Brazilian’s choice for their first time outside the Country.

Marcelo Fernandes is a tourist agent in Brazil for the last twenty years. He messages me that most of his clients go to New York and Miami, their favorite places.

My friend Renata Ebert answered me back as she visits DysneyWorld, in Florida, on her first international trip with twenty-one years old. She explains that the USA was the Country everyone was traveling to, not Japan Or Greece. It’s a good point.

The biggest surprise this Country gave me is the American People. I had never imagined how diverse they are and polite and how they respect each other’s space. I love to live in the USA. We grew up watching American movies, and now my feeling is to be living on one of those.