Al Jazeera
Sao Paulo - At this time last year, the rainforest in Parauapebas, Brazil, was filled with the sounds of dump trucks, dynamite, and heavy machinery, as the massive quarry outside this rural city in Para state doubled in size, hauling iron ore to the coast to be shipped abroad, primarily to China.
Now, the quarry is empty, abandoned to already encroaching vines as the Brazilian
mining industry - once one of the most profitable markets in the 2.2 trillion dollar GDP nation, continues to contract.
“It’s been dismal” Philippe Alves, a former miner who has been unemployed since the quarry closed, said.
“The entire city is suffering.”
As the Chinese economy contracts and commodity prices remain slumped, Brazilian extractive industries have been forced to cut back across the country.
In February, Vale, Brazil’s largest iron ore mining company, posted an 8.5 billion dollar loss in the fourth quarter, it’s fifth loss in the past six quarters.
Inflation on the Real has broken 10% annually, as has budget deficit per gross domestic product.
While Brazil has made attempts to stop the bleeding, switching finance ministers at the end of last year and pushing for spending cuts and other economic reforms, most of Acting President Michel Temer’s policy goals have stalled in congress, which has soured on her presidency.
“The Worker’s [PT] are pulling one way and the Democratic Movement [PDMB] the other,” said Luiz Fernando Figueiredo, former central bank director, lamenting gridlock in Brasilia.
Aliciana Gimenez, a restaurant manager in Parauapebas who has had to cut down on staff because of a lack of business, had more hostile words.
“What they [The Brazilian Government] are causing is more pain on the Brazilian people,” she said.
“It’s treason, and they know it.”
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