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Brazil to Announce Electric Sector Rules 
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will soon issue a decree 
providing a much needed regulatory framework for Brazil’s electric 
sector, the country’s mines and energy minister said Tuesday. 
Dilma Rousseff said Silva would sign the decree by next week. The 
framework has been eagerly awaited by electricity companies who 
have been reluctant to invest in Brazil because of lack of clear 
rules. 
“The decree puts expansion (of generating capacity) at its center 
and creates a market that is extremely competitive,” said Rousseff, 
who declined to offer further details until the decree is published. 
She said the framework should allow work to go forward on some 
45 stalled projects for electric generation facilities, which have 
been held up by environmental concerns or a lack of financing. 
In 2002, Brazil had to resort to energy rationing because a lack of 
rainfall left the country’s hydroelectric dams well below capacity. 
About 95 percent of Brazil’s electricity comes from hydroelectric 
dams. The government of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso 
responded by implementing an emergency plan to expand the 
country’s electrical generation capacity, mainly through 
thermoelectric plants that do not depend on rainfall. 
But on Tuesday, Rousseff said the emphasis on thermoelectricity 
was misplaced because it would be hard to find enough gas to run 
those plants for the 10 days or so every year when they would be 
needed. She said Brazil’s future remained in hydroelectric 
generation, pointing out that the country uses only 24 percent of its 
hydroelectric potential. By comparison, France uses about 94 
percent of its hydroelectric potential and the United States uses 
over 77 percent, she said. 
(Forbes, July 27, 2004) 
The decree should create an energy market that will 
• A 
be competitive for retailers but not for consumers. 
• B 
cover 24% of the Brazilian territory. 
• C 
decline in some regions due to decentralized production. 
• D 
generate unfair competition among national and international 
investors. 
• E 
fulfill the aim of expanding the energy generating capacity. 
 
145. (FGV /2006) 
TEXTO 2 
BUREAUCRACY BOGS DOWN BRAZIL IN RACE FOR 
GROWTH 
Thu Sep 1, 2005, By Todd Benson 
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) – Brazil is closing the gap in 
the global race for growth and investment, but it still must tackle a 
series of politically sensitive economic reforms to be considered in 
the same league as China and India, analysts and business 
leaders say. 
A decade ago, Brazil was a rising star among emerging markets, 
poised to assert itself as a world economic powerhouse. But since 
1994, Brazil has dropped to 14th place from eighth among the 
world’s largest economies in dollar terms, losing ground to 
countries like China, India and Russia. 
What went wrong? While Brazil has made significant strides in 
recent years in stabilizing its economy by defeating hyperinflation 
and controlling spending, it has struggled to push through a series 
of so-called microeconomic reforms that would create a more 
business-friendly environment and attract the investment needed 
to attain higher growth rates, according to economists and 
corporate leaders at a conference in Rio de Janeiro over 
Wednesday and Thursday. 
“On the macroeconomic side, we’ve done our homework,” said 
Mario Marconini, a senior adviser to the Sao Paulo State 
Federation of Industries, an influential business lobby. “But we 
would probably get two to three times as much investment if we 
focused more on the microeconomic reforms that are needed.” 
RED TAPE THICKET 
One way Brazil could attract more investment would be to simplify 
the thicket of red tape that entrepreneurs must hack through to set 
up shop in South America’s largest economy. According to one 
World Bank study, it takes on average 152 days in Brazil to license 
a new business. By contrast, in Chile it takes 27 days, and just five 
in the United States. 
Other obstacles to more robust economic growth include the 
country’s snail-paced justice system and its rigid labor code, which 
dates back to 1943 and was inspired by fascist Italy. Though the 
cost of labor in Brazil is relatively low, benefits mandated by the 
labor code mean workers end up costing as much as their 
counterparts in some parts of Europe. 
Brazil’s bureaucracy means that many entrepreneurs who try to 
open a business legally often give up. Instead, most simply operate 
off the books, generating an underground economy that is thought 
to be nearly half the size of the official output. 
A bigger problem hamstringing Brazil’s long-term growth prospects 
is education. Though the government has invested heavily in 
primary education over the last decade, Brazil still has a relatively 
small pool of skilled workers, putting it at a disadvantage with 
emerging-market rivals like China and India. “Education is our 
weakest link, no doubt,” said Jose Carlos Grubisich, chief 
executive of petrochemical giant Braskem. 
(http://today.reuters.com/business/newsarticle.aspx. Adaptado) 
In order to increase investment, Brazil should 
• A 
increase the cost of labor as well as the benefits mandated by the 
labor code. 
• B 
protect the entrepreneurs that operate off the books. 
• C 
enforce justice as it is but modernize the outdated labor code. 
• D 
diminish unnecessary bureaucracy that slows down the legal 
process to open a business. 
• E 
punish entrepreneurs who operate the underground economy. 
 
146. (ESPCEX/2020) Leia o texto a seguir e responda às 
questões. 
Prison without guards or weapons in Brazil 
Tatiane Correia de Lima is a 26-year-old mother of two who is 
serving a 12-year sentence in Brazil. The South American country