Glossary -- Brazil

adelantado: In the sixteenth century, the Spanish crown awarded the office of adelantado to selected individuals who, at their own expense, undertook the discovery and conquest of new overseas territories. Adelantados served as executive officers to govern a region, to act as head of military forces at distant frontier posts, or to command a military expedition.
Alliance for Progress: Established in 1961 at a hemispheric meeting in Punta del Este, Uruguay, under the leadership of President John F. Kennedy as a long-range program to help develop and modernize Latin American states through multisector reforms, particularly in health and education. Involved various forms of foreign aid, including development loans offered at very low or zero interest rates, from the United States to all states of Latin America and the Caribbean, except Cuba.
Andean Group: An economic group, the Andean Common Market, created in 1969 by Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela as a subregional market to improve its members' bargaining power within the Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA) and to encourage increased trade and more rapid development. LAFTA, which dated from 1960, was replaced in 1980 by the Latin American Integration Association (Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración--ALADI), which advocated a regional tariff preference for goods originating in member states. Chile left the Andean Group in 1976. The threat that Peru might withdraw from the pact had receded by August 1992.
audiencia: A high court of justice, exercising some administrative and executive functions in the colonial period.
balance of payments: An annual statistical summary of the monetary value of all economic transactions between one country and the rest of the world, including goods, services, income on investments, and other financial matters, such as credits or loans.
bandeirantes: Colonial Portuguese expeditions made up of adventurers, named after the Portuguese word for flag (bandeira) because they traveled under the bandeira of their leader, who took with him kin, friends, slaves, and friendly Amerindians.
campesino: A Latin American Indian farmer or farm laborer.
capital goods: A factor of production category consisting of manufactured products used in the process of production.
Carta di Lavoro: This electoral model involves "functional representation" by corporate groups; that is, instead of having direct elections for the national legislature by districts or by proportional representation, elections are indirect within corporate management and labor unions.
central bank: Usually a federal government-related institution that is entrusted with control of the commercial banking system and with the issuance of the currency. Responsible for setting the level of credit and money supply in an economy and serving as the banker of last resort for other banks. Also has a major impact on interest rates, inflation, and economic output.
clientelism: Personal relationships that link patrons and clients together in a system in which jobs, favors, and protection are exchanged for labor, support, and loyalty.
"coattails": The process whereby presidential candidates transfer votes and "pull in" candidates of the same party or coalition who are running for governor, senator, and so forth. Thus, "reverse coattails" occurs when candidates for governor, senator, and so forth transfer votes and "pull in" their respective candidates for president.
Common Market of the South (Mercado Comum do Sul--Mercosul): An organization established on March 26, 1991, when the Treaty of Asunción was signed by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay for the purpose of promoting regional economic cooperation. Chile was conspicuously absent because of its insistence that the other four countries first had to lower their tariffs to the Chilean level before Chile could join. Mercosul became operational on January 1, 1995. Chile became an associate member that month and agreed to join as a full member on June 25, 1996. Bolivia was admitted into Mercosul in March 1997. Mercosul is more commonly known by its Spanish acronym, Mercosur (Common Market of the South--Mercado Común del Sur).
comparative advantages: The relative efficiencies with which countries can produce a product or service.
consumer durables: Consumer items or durable goods (q.v.) used for several years, such as automobiles, appliances, or furniture.
consumer price index (CPI): A statistical measure of sustained change in the price level weighted according to spending patterns.
Contadora Support Group: A diplomatic initiative launched by a January 1983 meeting on Contadora Island off the Pacific coast of Panama, by which the "Core Four" mediator countries of Colombia, Mexico, Panama, and Venezuela sought to prevent through negotiations a regional conflagration among the Central American states of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The governments of Argentina, Brazil, Peru, and Uruguay formed the Contadora Support Group in 1985 in an effort to revitalize the faltering talks. The Contadora process was effectively superseded by direct negotiations among the Central American states.
coronelismo: Derives from the honorary title of colonel (coronel; pl., coroneis) in the National Guard that was customarily conferred on a locally dominant political boss, usually a substantial landowner or local justice of the peace. The term eventually became applied to local strongmen or political bosses, especially in rural areas and particularly in poorer Northeastern states. Coronelismo thus was a classic boss system under which control of patronage and minor funds was centralized in the coronel, who would dispense favors in return for political loyalty.
corporatism: The belief that society was, as political scientist Philippe C. Schmitter stated, made up of "a natural hierarchy of social groups, each with its ordained place and its own set of perquisite responsibilities." As a sociopolitical philosophy, corporatism found its most developed expression in Italy under Benito Mussolini. Corporatism is antithetical to both Marxist and liberal democratic political ideals. A corporatist would organize society into industrial and professional corporations that serve as organs of political representation within a hierarchical, centralized polity controlled by the state. A corporatist society is elitist, patrimonial, authoritarian, and statist. Some social science theorists have argued that Latin political tradition has had a fundamental corporatist feature, but others argue that it is but one of many cultural influences in the region.
cruzado: On February 28, 1986, the Brazilian cruzado, equal to 1,000 cruzeiros, was introduced, and the Cruzado Plan to fight inflation was announced. The new cruzado (cruzado novo), equal to 1,000 old cruzados, was introduced on January 15, 1989.
cruzeiro (Cr$): The old national currency, consisting of 100 centavos, which replaced the mil-reis on November 1, 1942. The cruzeiro novo was created on February 8, 1967, to replace the cruzeiro. After August 1968, the cruzeiro novo was adjusted by small amounts at frequent intervals, often every week or two. On May 15, 1970, the currency reverted to the cruzeiro, which remained in effect until 1986 when it was replaced by the cruzado (q.v.). The cruzeiro was reinstituted on March 16, 1990.
cruzeiro real (CR$): On August 1, 1993, the cruzeiro real, equal to 1,000 cruzeiros, was introduced, as the national currency. It was replaced on July 1, 1994, by the real (q.v.).
current account: Current account balance is the difference between (a) exports of goods and services as well as inflows of unrequited transfers but exclusive of foreign aid and (b) imports of goods and services as well as all unrequited transfers to the rest of the world.
debt service: Cash requirement to meet annual interest and principal repayment obligations on total external debt.
degredados: Usually refers to minor Portuguese criminals exiled to Brazil in the sixteenth century as their punishment.
dependency theory: A theory that seeks to explain the continuing problems of Latin American underdevelopment and political conflict by positing the existence of an imperialistic, exploitative relationship between the industrialized countries and the developing nations of Latin America and other developing regions.
d'Hondt method: Also known as the highest-average method of determining the allocation of seats to political parties after an election. It was devised by the Belgian Victor d'Hondt to be used in electoral systems based on proportional representation. In addition to Portugal, the method has been adopted by Austria, Belgium, Finland, and Switzerland. Under this method, voters do not choose a candidate but vote for a party, each of which has published a list of candidates. The party winning the most votes in a constituency is awarded the area's first seat, which goes to the candidate at the top of the winning party's list. The total vote of this party is then divided by two, and this amount is compared with the totals of other parties. The party with the greatest number of votes at this point receives the next seat to be awarded. Each time a party wins a seat, its total is divided by the number of seats it has won plus one. This process continues until all the seats in a constituency are awarded. The d'Hondt method slightly favors large parties. Because there is no minimum threshold for winning a seat, however, small parties can also elect representatives.
durable goods: Goods or consumer durables (q.v.) that have a life extending more than three years, such as automobiles, appliances, and manufacturing equipment.
Ecclesiastical Base Communities (Comunidades Eclesiais de Base--CEBs): Grassroots groups consisting of mostly poor Christian lay people through which advocates of liberation theology (q.v.) mainly work. Members of CEBs meet in small groups to reflect on scripture and discuss its meaning in their lives. They are introduced to a radical interpretation of the Bible, one employing Marxist terminology to analyze and condemn the wide disparities between the wealthy elite and the impoverished masses in most underdeveloped countries. This reflection often leads members to organize and improve their living standards through cooperatives and civic-improvement projects.
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC): A United Nations regional economic commission established on February 25, 1948, as the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA). More commonly known in Latin America as Comisión Económica para América Latina (CEPAL). In 1984 ECLAC expanded its operations and title to include the Caribbean. Main functions are to initiate and coordinate policies aimed at promoting economic development. In addition to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC's forty-one members include Britain, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United States. There are an additional five Caribbean associate members.
elasticity: Usually refers to price elasticity, the ratio of the responsiveness of quantity demanded, or supplied, to a change in price.
European Community (EC--also commonly called the Community): Established on April 8, 1965, the EC comprised three communities: the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Economic Community (EEC), and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). Each community was a legally distinct body, but from 1967 the communities shared common governing institutions. The EC formed more than a framework for free trade and economic cooperation; the signatories to the treaties governing the communities agreed in principle to integrate their economies and ultimately to form a political union. Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) were charter members of the EC. Britain, Denmark, and Ireland joined on January 1, 1973; Greece became a member on January 1, 1981; and Portugal and Spain entered on January 1, 1986. In November 1993, the EC was subsumed under a new organization, the European Union (EU--q.v.).
European Economic Community (EEC): See EC.
European Union (EU): Successor organization to the European Community (EC--q.v.), officially established on November 1, 1993, when the Treaty on European Union went into effect. The goal of the EU is a closer economic union of its member states and the European Monetary Union, a greater unity in matters of justice and domestic affairs, and the development of a common foreign and security policy. To the members of the EC, the EU added Austria, Finland, and Sweden, effective January 1, 1995.
export-led growth: An economic development strategy that emphasizes export promotion as the engine of economic growth. Proponents of this strategy emphasize the correlation between growth in exports and growth in the aggregate economy.
extreme poverty: Those who live below the poverty line, defined as half or less of the family income needed for a minimal level of food and shelter.
factors of production: Land (or natural resources), labor, capital goods, sometimes entrepreneurship, and other resources used in the production of goods and services.
fiscal year (FY): Coincides with calendar year.
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT): A 123-member international organization created on October 30, 1947, to provide a continuing basis for nations to negotiate and regulate commercial policies and promote international trade on a nondiscriminatory basis. Principal activity multinational negotiation for tariff reductions. Seventh and last round of negotiations, held on April 15, 1994, was Uruguay Round, with the aim of liberalizing the world market and promoting intellectual property. GATT was subsumed by World Trade Organization (WTO) on January 1, 1995.
general price index (GPI): A statistical measure of sustained change in the price level (rate of inflation) weighted according to spending patterns.
Gini index or coefficient: A measure of inequality in a country's wealth distribution. It contrasts actual income and property distribution with perfectly equal distribution. The value of the coefficient, or index, can vary from 0 (complete equality) to 1 (complete inequality). Brazil's Gini index in 1991 was 0.6366.
gross domestic product (GDP): The broadest measure of the total value of goods and services produced by the domestic economy during a given period, usually a year. GDP has mainly displaced a similar measurement, the gross national product (GNP--q.v.). GDP is obtained by adding the value contributed by each sector of the economy in the form of profits, compensation to employees, and depreciation (consumption of capital). The income arising from investments and possessions owned abroad is not included, hence the use of the word "domestic" to distinguish GDP from GNP. Real GDP adjusts the value of GDP to exclude the effects of price changes, allowing for measurement of actual yearly increases or decreases in output. Real GDP is the value of GDP when inflation has been taken into account.
gross national product (GNP): Total market value of all final goods (those sold to the final user) and services produced by an economy during a year, plus the value of any net changes in inventories. Measured by adding the gross domestic product (GDP--q.v.), net changes in inventories, and the income received from abroad by residents less payments remitted abroad to nonresidents. Real GNP is the value of GNP when inflation has been taken into account.
Henriques: Militia units named after Henrique Dias, a black Brazilian guerrilla leader who led black troops against the Dutch in Pernambuco in the 1640s.
human development index (HDI): A measurement of human progress introduced by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its Human Development Report 1990. By combining indicators of real purchasing power, education, and health, the HDI provides a more comprehensive measure of development than does the GNP (q.v.) alone.
import-substitution industrialization: An economic development strategy and a form of protectionism that emphasizes the growth of domestic industries by restricting the importation of specific manufactured goods, often by using tariff (q.v.) and nontariff measures, such as import quotas. Theoretically, capital would thus be generated through savings of foreign-exchange earnings. Proponents favor the export of industrial goods over primary products and foreign-exchange considerations. In the post-World War II period, import-substitution industrialization was most prevalent in Latin America. Its chief ideological proponents were the Argentine economist Raúl Prebisch and the Economic Commission for Latin America (q.v.). Main weaknesses in Latin America: the domestic markets in the region were generally too small; goods manufactured domestically were too costly and noncompetitive in the world market; most states in the region had an insufficient variety of resources to build a domestic industry; and most were also too dependent on foreign technology.
indexation: Automatic adjustment of remuneration in accordance with changes in a specific price index.
informal economy: Unofficial or underground sector of economic activity beyond government regulation and taxation, to include street vendors, some domestic servants, and unskilled workers in urban areas.
Inter-American Development Bank (IADB): Also known as Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID). A forty-six-member bank established on December 30, 1959, to promote economic and social development in Latin America.
Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance of 1947.: See Rio Treaty.
intermediate goods: Goods purchased for resale or for use in producing final goods for consumers, or inventories consisting of raw materials, semifinished goods, and finished goods not yet sold to the final consumer. The gross national product (q.v.) does not include sales of intermediate goods or services.
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD): Formal name for the World Bank Group (q.v.) which was conceived at the Bretton Woods Conference on July 22, 1944, and began operations in June 1946. Its primary purpose is to provide technical assistance and loans at market-related rates of interest to developing countries at more advanced stages of development.
International Monetary Fund (IMF): Established on December 27, 1945, the IMF began operating on March 1, 1947. The IMF is a specialized agency affiliated with the United Nations that takes responsibility for stabilizing international exchange rates and payments. The IMF's main business is the provision of loans to its members when they experience balance of payments difficulties. These loans often carry conditions that require substantial internal economic adjustments by the recipients. The IMF's capital resources comprise Special Drawing Rights (a new form of international reserve assets) and currencies that the members pay under quotas calculated for them when they join. These resources are supplemented by borrowing. In 1995 the IMF had 179 members.
international reserves: Some reserves, in the form of gold, currencies of other countries, and Special Drawing Rights, that every country holds to serve as "international money" when a nation faces balance of payments (q.v.) difficulties.
International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (Intelsat): Created in 1964 under a multilateral agreement, Intelsat is a nonprofit cooperative of 134 countries that jointly own and operate a global communications satellite system.
Kardecian spiritualism: Allen Kardec (a pseudonym) founded Kardecism, a spiritualist religion, in mid-nineteenth-century France. Imported into Brazil at the end of the nineteenth century, the religion was adopted by members of Brazil's upper classes eager to identify with French culture. It centers on séances in which the dead return through mediums and give the living advice.
Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA): A regional group founded by the Montevideo Treaty of 1960 to increase trade and foster development. LAFTA's failure to make meaningful progress in liberalizing trade among its members or to move toward more extensive integration prompted the leaders of five Andean states to meet in Bogotá in 1966. This meeting led to the creation in 1969 of the Andean Group (q.v.)--consisting of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela--to serve as a subregional structure within LAFTA. LAFTA was replaced in 1980 by the Latin American Integration Association (Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración--ALADI), which advocated a regional tariff preference for goods originating in member states. ALADI has since declined as a major Latin American integration effort in favor of regional efforts, such as the Common Market of the South (q.v.).
League of Nations: An international organization whose covenant arose out of the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. It was created for the purpose of preserving international peace and security and promoting disarmament by obligating nations to submit their conflicts to arbitration, judicial settlement, or to the League Council for consid-eration. By not signing the Treaty of Versailles, the United States refused to join. Although the fifty-three-member body considered sixty-six disputes and conflicts between 1920 and 1939, it proved ineffective against German, Italian, Japanese, and Soviet aggression in the 1930s. Formally disbanded in April 1946, its functions were transferred to the United Nations.
liberation theology: An activist movement led by Roman Catholic clergy who trace their inspiration to Vatican Council II (1965), when some church procedures were liberalized, and the Latin American Bishops' Conference in Medellín, Colombia (1968), which endorsed greater direct efforts to improve the lot of the poor. Advocates of liberation theology--sometimes referred to as "liberationists"--work mainly through Ecclesiastical Base Communities (q.v.).
marginality: A concept used to explain the poor political, economic, and social conditions of individuals within a society, social classes within a nation, or nations within the larger world community. Refers often to poverty-stricken groups left behind in the modernization process. They are not integrated into the socioeconomic system, and their relative poverty increases. Marginality is sometimes referred to as dualism or the dual-society thesis.
Mercosul: See Common Market of the South.
mestiço (mestizo) or mameluco: Person of mixed racial origin.
Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR): A twenty-five-member organization established in April 1987 to counter missile proliferation by controlling the export of key missile technologies and equipment.
moderating power (poder moderador): The constitutional function of the emperor during Brazil's monarchy era to oversee or moderate the political system by intervening at times of political crisis or institutional deadlock. From the fall of the monarchy in 1889 to the 1964 military coup, the military assumed and delegated the moderating power on an extra-legal basis. Political scientist Alfred A. Stepan uses the term to describe the moderator model of civil-military relations in the sense of "arbiter."
monetarists: Advocates of monetarism, an economic policy based on the control of a country's money supply. Monetarists assume that the quantity of money in an economy determines its economic activity, particularly its rate of inflation. A rapid increase in the money supply creates rising prices, resulting in inflation. To curb inflationary pressures, governments need to reduce the supply of money and raise interest rates. Monetarists believe that conservative monetary policies, by controlling inflation, will increase export earnings and encourage foreign and domestic investments. Monetarists generally have sought support for their policies from the International Monetary Fund (q.v.), the World Bank Group (q.v.), and private enterprise, especially multinational corporations.
nonparticipatory methodology: Unlike the "start from scratch" methodology used in 1987-88 (involving twenty-four subcommittees, eight committees, including a drafting committee, two rounds of floor votes, and extensive popular hearings in the committee stages), the nonparticipatory methodology in the constitutional revision made in 1993-94 was very streamlined, with no hearings or committees. It involved only the reporter's reports article by article, including or excluding the proposed changes, and then a floor vote.
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): A free-trade agreement comprising Canada, Mexico, and the United States. NAFTA was approved by the United States House of Representatives in November 1993. NAFTA exceeds 360 million consumers, whose countries have a combined output of US$6 trillion.
Organization of American States (OAS): Established by the Ninth International Conference of American States held in Bogotá on April 30, 1948, and effective since December 13, 1951. Has served as a major inter-American organization to promote regional peace and security as well as economic and social development in Latin America. Composed of thirty-five members, including most Latin American states and the United States and Canada. Determines common political, defense, economic, and social policies and provides for coordination of various inter-American agencies. Responsible for implementing the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (Rio Treaty) (q.v.), when any threat to the security of the region arises.
personalism: The dominance of a charismatic personality in the political life of a nation. Loyalty is to a political leader rather than to institutions, organizations, or ideals.
plebiscite: A device of direct democracy whereby the electorate can pronounce, usually for or against, some measure put before it by a government. Also known as a referendum.
political culture: The orientation of the citizens of a nation toward politics, and their perceptions of political legitimacy and the traditions of political practice.
"popular" sectors: A term similar to popular culture, referring to the masses of working-class, underemployed, and unemployed citizens.
positivism: The theory that genuine knowledge is acquired by science and that metaphysical speculation has no validity. Positivism, based largely on the ideas of the French philosopher Auguste Comte, was adopted by many Latin American intellectuals in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
primary goods or products: Raw materials, such as ores, logs, and agricultural products, or other products with a high content of natural resources.
primary sector: Agriculture, extractive activities, and fishing.
real (pl., reais; R$): On July 1, 1994, Brazil's sixth currency in nine years, the dollar-linked real (pronounced hay-OW), equal to 2,750 cruzeiro reais, replaced the cruzeiro real (CR$--q.v.). During the transition from the cruzeiro real to the real, Real Value Units (Unidades Reais de Valor--URVs) acted as a temporary currency, beginning on March 1, 1994, with one URV equal to one real or CR$2,750. URVs began gradually replacing indexes used to adjust wages, prices, taxes, contracts, and interest and utility rates. The URV was also part of an economic stabilization plan, the Real Plan (Plano Real), under which prices were gradually converted from cruzeiro reais to URVs. The URV is, by definition, the inflation rate itself. The URV rate is calculated as the average of a basket (cesta) of price indexes. The fluctuation band mechanism set by the Central Bank (q.v.) in March 1995 provided for bank intervention in the interbank exchange markets whenever the buying floor rate of R$0.88 per dollar and the ceiling selling rate of R$0.93 per dollar were affected by the market rates. The Central Bank restructured the real's trading ban on January 15, 1997, to a range of 1.0430 to 1.0480 per dollar, after the currency fell through its previous band. The dollar/real rate on April 13, 1998, was R$1.140.
real exchange rate: The value of foreign exchange corrected for differences between external and domestic inflation.
Rio Treaty (Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance): A regional alliance, signed in Rio de Janeiro in 1947, that established a mutual security system to safeguard the Western Hemisphere from aggression from within or outside the zone. Signatories include the United States and twenty Latin American republics. In 1975 a special conference approved, over United States objections, a Protocol of Amendment to the Rio Treaty that, once ratified, would establish the principle of "ideological pluralism" and would simplify the rescinding of sanctions imposed on an aggressor party.
slash-and-burn agriculture: Method of cultivation whereby areas of the forest are burned and cleared for planting, the ash providing some fertilization. Area is cultivated for several years and then left fallow for a decade or longer. These practices by subsistence farmers could destroy almost half of world's remaining 2.08 billion hectares of tropical forests, according to a study released by Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) in August 1996.
structuralists: Advocates of structuralism, an economic policy that blames chronic inflation primarily on foreign trade dependency, insufficient local production, especially in agriculture, and political struggles among entrenched vested interests over government contracts. Structuralists advocate encouraging economic development and modernization through Keynesian and neo-Keynesian policies of governmental stimulative actions, accompanied by organizational reforms. Structuralists contend that monetarist (q.v.) policies retard growth and support the status quo.
sustainable development: Development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own.
tariff: A tax levied by a government in accordance with its tariff schedule, usually on imported products, but sometimes also on exported goods. May be imposed to protect domestic industries from competitive imported goods and/or to generate revenue. Types include ad valorem, variable, or some combination.
tenentismo: A reform movement among junior army officers that began in the early 1920s and played a significant role in bringing Getúlio Dorneles Vargas (president, 1930-45, 1951-54) to power.
terms of trade: The ratio of a country's index of average export prices and average import prices. In international economics, the concept of "terms of trade" plays an important role in evaluating exchange relationships between nations. The terms of trade shift whenever a country's exports will buy more or fewer imports. An improvement in the terms of trade occurs when export prices rise relative to import prices. The terms of trade turn unfavorable in the event of a slump in export prices relative to import prices.
Third Worldism: An ideology that began in 1947 in which mostly developing nations not committed to either the East or the West in the Cold War professed policies of "neutralism" and "nonalignment." Since the 1970s, Latin American states have moved increasingly from a position of political and economic alignment with the United States to one of sympathy with Third Worldism.
Treaty of Tlatelolco: On being ratified by Cuba in April 1995, the treaty took effect, binding the thirty-three Latin American and Caribbean signatory nations to the peaceful use of nuclear power. Under the treaty, Latin America became the world's first region to prohibit nuclear weapons. The treaty covers all of Latin America, including the Caribbean, from the Mexican border with the United States to Antarctica. It bans the testing, use, manufacture, production, or acquisition of nuclear weapons. Each participating country must negotiate accords with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to facilitate verification.
Treaty of Tordesillas: Under a papal bull issued in 1493, Spain was awarded lands west and south of the line of demarcation, and Portugal received lands east and south. Dissatisfied with this arrangement, however, Portugal and Spain concluded the Treaty of Tordesillas of June 4, 1494, to establish a new line of demarcation 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands, placing all of Africa, India, and later, Brazil, within Portugal's sphere.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP): A thirty-six-member organization, established on November 22, 1965, to provide technical assistance to stimulate economic and social development.
value-added tax (VAT): An incremental tax applied to the value added at each stage of the processing of a raw material or the production and distribution of a commodity. It is calculated as the difference between the product value at a given stage and the cost of all materials and services purchased as inputs. The value-added tax is a form of indirect taxation, and its impact on the ultimate consumer is the same as that of a sales tax.
vertical integration: Merging into a single ownership of firms producing in successive stages of a production process, whether it be forward toward the finished goods market or backward toward raw material producers.
World Bank: Informal name used to designate the World Bank Group of four affiliated international institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD--q.v.), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). The IBRD, established in 1945, has the primary purpose of providing loans to developing countries for productive projects. The IDA, a legally separate loan fund administered by the staff of the IBRD, was established in 1960 to furnish credits to the poorest developing countries on much easier terms than those of conventional IBRD loans. The IFC, founded in 1956, supplements the activities of the IBRD through loans and assistance designed specifically to encourage the growth of productive private enterprises in less developed countries. MIGA, founded in 1988, insures private foreign investment in developing countries against various noncommercial risks. The president and certain senior officers of the IBRD hold the same positions in the IFC. The four institutions are owned by the governments of the countries that subscribe their capital. To participate in the World Bank Group, member states must first belong to the IMF (q.v.). In 1995 the World Bank included 178 member-countries. By the early 1990s, the Latin American and Caribbean region had received more loan aid through the World Bank Group than any other region.
yellow cake: The U308 uranium concentrate used by nuclear power plants in Angra dos Reis in Rio de Janeiro State. It is a radioactive substance made from a low-grade uranium ore.