Have you been following the news about Brazil?

As a Brazilian living in the United States, I love listening to the news in Portuguese — and during election season, the political headlines are better than any gossip blog. The son of a former president convicted of attempting to overthrow democracy is trying to get reelected; on the other side, the current president is seeking his fourth term and aiming to mark 16 years in power; and nearly half of the Supreme Court justices are facing allegations of connections to a banker who squandered public employees’ retirement savings. As much as Brazil’s current political landscape reflects what is happening around the world, it also says a lot about who we are as a people.

A people full of cultural contradictions, Brazil becomes even more interesting when you look closely at some of them: Afro-Brazilian religions with a strong presence in states where the majority of the population is white; Indigenous peoples who still live in relative isolation; the only country in the Americas whose official language is Portuguese; and a colonial history so peculiar that Brazil was once a colony that, for a period, also became the seat of the Portuguese royal court. Brazil is enormous — not only in size, but also in beauty and in its misfortunes. And perhaps that is precisely where part of its beauty and uniqueness lies. The country is an intriguing invitation to discover its natural landscapes, which are, in themselves, postcards. But it is its people, culture, and history that promise, at the very least, to deliver great stories, surprises, and entertainment for tourists and the curious.

Come discover Brazil.