Richard Brazil
The Minister of Defence is no longer Waldir Pires, and that article is from almost three years ago, so the comments of the good senator might be a little out of date. The comments of Joe Sharkey may well be accurate (or not) but when delivered in a tone of inherent superiority they will not be well received. He is, in the eyes of many Brazilians, a typical loud mouthed, opinionated gringo. IMHO many of his points ARE valid, but nobody will listen because of the delivery. I don't agree with suing him, but there are many who feel very strongly about him, and their views are not positive.
There has been time for change, but this being Brazil the following will probably have happened, much like the TAM accident at Congonhas (in which I was involved in the immediate aftermath).
1. Accident happens.
2. Public outcry about infrastructure failures.
3. Politicians promise to fix everything, if only we give them more money.
4. Time passes.
5. More time passes.
6. Public forgets, another accident happens for example.
7. Nothing is done.
8. Same accident happens again.
9. Go back to step 1.
Bem vindo ao Brasil