The experience was turned by the Brazilian into the book "Passport Secrets" (Segredos de Passaporte), launched by the Literalis publishing house, based in Porto Alegre, capital of Rio Grande do Sul, last month.

The Brazilian's experience in different countries gave birth to 26 stories for the publication. "They are 26 real stories, and each is independent from the others. I describe my contact with people," he says.

Mendes Netto also discusses his participation in events, such as trade fairs, that resulted in the creation of sales networks for the companies with which he worked abroad.

Although he travelled to dozens of different regions, the book focuses on the United States, Australia, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Italy, Germany and the Emirates.

Netto worked with GE for eight years, Philco Ford for two years, Eberle for 16 years, and Weg for another 16 years. In the latter, he remained until 2002. Currently, at 71 years of age, he owns a company named Conosco do Brasil. By means of his enterprise, he provides consultancy services to other companies interested in international expansion.

"I help companies understand what people in other countries are like," he states. The executive holds a degree in Civil and Electric Engineering and another in Business Management from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul.

Netto was born in Caxias do Sul, a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul that was founded by European colonizers, and is a descendent of Italians and Portuguese. The release of his book took place in Caxias do Sul, in the month of March, and in the cities of Jaraguá do Sul, in Santa Catarina, and Porto Alegre, capital of Rio Grande do Sul, this month.

The author says that he also wants to publish his book outside of Brazil, and is already planning a second work, which should be a sequel to the first.

The Emirates became part of the author's curriculum from the 1990s until 2002, when he put an end to 10 years of travelling to and from the country to put together a local sales and services network for products by Weg, a maker of engines and electric equipment based in the state of Santa Catarina in the South of Brazil.

In the Emirates, Netto would usually travel to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and worked in partnership with local company Aikah, which became the representative for the Santa Catarina-based company in the region.

In the book, the executive recounts his experience with everyday life in the Emirates. "The system there is quite different. Banks open very early, at 8 am, because of the heat, therefore large banking operations take place in the morning," says the executive.

Netto describes the Arabs as pleasant and helpful, but states that with them, one must assume that some waiting will be required. "They are not very punctual. In the beginning, I had problems with that. Over time, I became accustomed and would already expect some delay."

Anba – www.anba.com.br

We – above all those of us who occupy positions of public leadership in the three branches of government – are in need of purification.

We, the members of Congress, need to leave behind the corporativism and the quick fix with which we exercise our offices and discover our commitment to Brazil and to the future.

We need to acquire the sensibility to stop offending the public with mensalão (monthly cash for votes), sanguessuga (bribes for ambulance contracts) or salary increases that are shocking to public opinion, detract from the legitimacy of our work, and demoralize the democracy.

The Executive needs purification: to be aware of what is going on around him and not allow corruption to become embedded; to know that he was not elected merely to make accords that will permit him to continue in power or to manipulate public opinion with projects that do not change the face of Brazil; to perceive that his actions and omissions are causing us to lag behind in relation to the rest of the world; to know that history will judge his administration in terms of its concrete results in fulfilling its promises; to understand that Brazil needs to make a historical course correction for a different future, one synchronized with the century in which we are living.

The Judiciary needs to leave behind its zigzagging decisions made according to the pressures and the affinities of the moment or based upon the competency of lawyers hired by the rich. It must demonstrate that it is more concerned with the impartiality of its decisions that affect the citizen and the country and less concerned with its personal benefits.

The tempest of purification is needed to defeat the selfish sins of each social class and each group and the quick-fix attitude of each person. It will end the corruption not merely in behavior but also in priorities. It will eliminate the taste for being misled and for misleading others.

It will stop the lack of follow-through when decisions are made without public spirit, without national sentiment. It will eliminate the hypocrisy with which we commemorate small advances while inequality continues to grow in our society and while our backwardness is consolidating in front of the world’s other countries.

I wish for a transforming tempest to begin in 2007. That tempest of purification will demand multiple actions in all the sectors of national life, principally in politics. But a revolution in education will form the basis of the purification. The purification will only begin when the population mobilizes itself as it has in the past.

All the changes that have occurred in contemporary Brazil originated in mass marches calling for changes – "The Oil is Ours," "Amnesty Now," "Censorship Never Again," "Sovereign Constitutional Assembly," "Torture Never Again," "Impeachment."

But Brazil has never taken to the streets over education. There have been marches demanding more resources for the universities, free bus passage for students, an increase in teachers’ salaries. There has never been a broad, tempestuous march in favor of education.

With slogans like "Abolition of Adult Illiteracy," "Every Child in School until the End of High School," "It is Not Enough to Enroll; We Want Enrollment-Attendance-Promotion-Learning," "Good Salaries for Teachers," "Every School Well Equipped," "An End to the Need for Strikes in the Schools," "Education Is Everything," "Brazil, Country of Knowledge," "Education Now."

May the waters of 2007 bring us a tempest of purification: the surging of a great national movement with the presence of politicians, teachers, students, parents for the Revolution in Education; one, two, one thousand marches through the streets of our cities chanting for a change in Brazil by means of education.

This is my wish for Brazil: that in 2007 a tempest of purification may carry the people to the streets in a Revolution for Education.

Cristovam Buarque has a Ph.D. in economics. He is a PDT senator for the Federal District and was Governor of the Federal District (1995-98) and Minister of Education (2003-04). He was a presidential candidate this year. You can visit his homepage – www.cristovam.com.br – and write to him at cristovam@senador.gov.br.

Translated from the Portuguese by Linda Jerome – LinJerome@cs.com.