Brazil: The Hungry Land

Brazil's enormous northeast bulge has more people—25 million—than Argentina, more land—597,353 sq. mi.—than all of Central America. If the Northeast was a separate nation, it would rank second in population, third in area, in South America. Last week a governor of one of the nine states that make up the Northeast—Aluizio Alves of Rio Grande do Norte—described another feature of the region. "It is," said he, "the biggest blight on the Western Hemisphere, with dangers enough to be six Cubas."

Nature branded a curse on the Northeast. Except in a narrow coastal belt, rain is so scant that 87%...

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