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  • In October 2016, hundreds of thousands of people in Southern Brazil voted to break off

  • and form their own country.

  • The unofficial referendum had no legal bearing, but why do Southern Brazilians want independence?

  • Well, those who voted in favor of secession are part of a separatist movement calledThe

  • South Is My Country”.

  • It’s made up of individuals in Brazil’s three southernmost states, who argue that

  • these states are culturally distinct and economically autonomous enough to be completely independent

  • from the rest of Brazil.

  • Separatist movements in Southern Brazil gained momentum in the early 1990’s.

  • Revolutionaries argued that Brazil’s Southern state of Rio de Grande Do Sul was funneling

  • billions of tax dollars into the Brazilian economy but only seeing about 63 percent returned.

  • And this persisted, they said, because the regions that benefitted from it - namely the

  • Northeast and the Amazon - had unfairly secured a majority in Congress.

  • More than two decades later, the root of their argument is largely the same, that is, that

  • the region is paying a large proportion of federal taxes with little return or representation.

  • For instance, Brazil’s northeastern state of Bahia pays less than half the federal taxes

  • of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, even though its population is considerably

  • larger.

  • The South’s ill-feelings toward the central government have intensified in the wake of

  • widespread corruption and economic recession.

  • In recent years, inflation and unemployment have increased dramatically, while many politicians,

  • including recently impeached President Dilma Rousseff and her replacement, Michel Temer,

  • have been embroiled in corruption scandals.

  • But the movement is more than just political and economic.

  • It’s also cultural.

  • Brazil’s southern region was colonized by not only Portuguese but Italian and German

  • immigrants, and today, nearly 80 percent of its population is ethnically European.

  • This is in stark contrast to the rest of Brazil, which is a dynamic melting pot of African,

  • Asian, European and Indigenous populations.

  • There are some cities in the South where German is still the primary language, that even hold

  • their own version of Oktoberfest.

  • Southern Brazilians also tend to be wealthier.

  • Southern Brazil’s recent unofficial referendum carried no legal weight, and the prospect

  • of full independence continues to be fairly dubious.

  • That said, there has been talk of using the movement to push for more state autonomy,

  • and leaders have even cited the U.S. as a model.

  • With another referendum planned for 2017, the message is clear: hundreds of thousands

  • of Southern Brazilians are ready to go it alone.

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  • One of the big reasons Southern Brazilians are looking to split off is due to a total

  • lack of confidence in the former and current president.

  • So, what exactly is going on with the Brazilian head of state?

  • Find out in this video.

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  • every day!

In October 2016, hundreds of thousands of people in Southern Brazil voted to break off

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