Living the Brazilian dream

ENAR

The world is watching Brazil. With the World Cup only two weeks from completion, a spotlight has been shone upon Latin America’s largest country. It is a rising force — the world’s seventh largest economy may have slowed down but it is far from dipping into decline. In 2016 it will also host the Olympic games. Yet the role of the Lebanese in the emergence of what will surely prove to be one of the 21st century’s giants has too often been forgotten. While Lebanon itself continues to struggle — seemingly bouncing from crisis to crisis — the 6–8 million strong Lebanese diaspora in Brazil have gone from strength to strength. As our historical analysis shows, since the first Lebanese migrants found their way to Brazil’s shores in the late 1800s, they have risen over several generations from the most basic of tradesmen into some of the top jobs in