I'm sure there is good places to fly in Brazil, good schools (maybe in SP or RS), but everything I saw so far, in RJ and MG, it's really low and bad standards. Lots of schools have instructors with 170-200 hours, the CFI course is a total joke, have you ever looked at the INVA book?????? single engine commercial maneuvers???
I us to work for Flight Safety, and we use to train lots of Brazilian pilots coming to the US to get a FAA license, most of the time to fly then a king Air or a CE back to Brazil. Before flying they would have to take a written test, which was pretty much a copy of an ATPL written test and an oral with an ATP CFI, most pilots would not pass the written test and have huge weakness in basic knowledge (examples compass errors, how an attitude indicator works,....) , they would do fine in the Sim, in the plane and they piloting skills were good.
The FAA, unless you have a PLA won't convert your Brazilian pilot license, they give you a PPL (restricted to Day), but you have to take the ME, IR, ME-IR-CPL and if you want it the SE-CPL, and all written tests (you also need an high score in a TOEFL if you go to a 141 school) guess why is that??? We had some students with Australian CPL and all they had to do was an IFR part 61 ride and a ck to get the multi or single add on, not all ICAO is good.
I know and met some really nice pilots, and most pilots do have good skills, like you said by flying old planes and stuff like that.
I'm 100% sure that 10-20 years ago things were a lot better.
The military Aviation in Brazil is really good, and there are some nice standards there, at Flight Safety we use to do UTR training to FAB pilots, they were all really good!!!!!!!
have you tried to get a job in Brazil???
I can bring you the example of my gf, she is Brazilian and American, has over 300TT120ME (120 not 12), has most FAA endorsements, FAA and Brazilian CPL, more then 100 hours in technically advanced planes, is fluent in 4 languages, English level 6, graduate from the best flight school in the US with high grades. She has applied to about 30 companies all over Brazil and went in person to talk to the CP of most taxi aereo in our area. Her dad was a former Varig 747 capt and got her some contacts, but result NO JOB, what does it takes to get hired then??