Clara

In Chile 32,000 acres of national park forest have been destroyed due to a fire now being blamed on an Israeli tourist’s negligence. There has been a total of 48 fires, 15 of which were not contained as of Sunday. The Israeli denies the charges leveled against him, he is being detained and there is a possibility of a fine ($300) and a 60 day prison sentence. The fires have killed one elderly man, who refused to leave his home, and over 500 have had to evacuate the area.

Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia is located on the Southwest boarder between Argentina and Chile and is an area of Chile that does generally suffer forest fires in the summer season. The drought that has plagued Chile throughout 2010 and 2011 has made this season particularly disastrous. The earthquake in 2010 and the continuing droughts have wreaked havoc, not only on the Chilean landscape, but on the economy. President Sebastian Pinera’s plans to guide Chile into the forefront of the world’s economy have been hard hit in the face of these natural disasters. The drought has devastated avocado crops for two years running, and its side effects, including the recent fires, are equally trying for the country.

On a wider scale, the weather patters shifting around the world are cause for concern and a combined effort to affect policies that will enable global stabilization is definitely needed. Especially because, despite the large scale issues at stake, these challenges are fought, every day, by individuals on the ground.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has had a trying first year. The economic growth numbers came in under the expected rates and the political corruption in her government skyrocketed, even for Brazil. 39 of her ministers left office within her first year. The firings and resignations began to skyrocket after September of 2011, just eight months after Rousseff took office. The main charge of misappropriating public funds was hounded by the media and despite denials, as more and more corruption was brought out into the public eye, the resignations continued.

This is a change for Brazil. A clean record is far from the norm in politics in this state, however, ministers leaving their posts after exposure is. What does this mean for Rousseff and her future as the President? Almost a polar opposite from her predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, this rather uncharismatic woman is a practical leader and an ability to step in political fault lines to build relationships with leaders on other sides of the political spectrum has made her approval ratings soar to a stunning 72%–well above that of Lula, an extremely popular president. Her style, brusque and direct, is counterintuitive for Brazilian politicians, who are used to being wooed.

Her pragmatism has served her well, reintroducing Brazil into international affairs, beginning with a visit early in her tenure from President Obama, loosening tension that reigned at the end of Lula’s administration. But her battles are far from over. The tenuous economic situation still prove difficult to navigate and Brazil’s growth in 2012 is largely based on China’s, their largest trading partner. There are a host of challenges that face Rousseff, but as she works her way through the new year, focusing on domestic infrastructure and public support, we can all pull for this woman, a pragmatic leader who has much to teach many politicians around the world.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16288184
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14680394