The question you ask is legitimate, and I fully agree that conditions in most Asian sweatshops are, well, ridiculously harsh. My point was just to clarify, once more, that even though Brazil belongs to the "BRIC" group of countries, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with them apart from a fast growing economy.
Brazil is and will always be part of the WEST, and has labor requirements which are way higher than those of China. In fact, the US is much closer to China in terms of a virtual absence of job stability or severance rights for private sector employees.
I also don't think Apple's secrecy requirements have anything to do with disgruntled employees at its contractors' premises. If this were the case, we would be having suicides all over the world in industries such as banking, defense or other technology companies.
Fact is: Asian companies pay too little and demand too much from people who are NOT used to protesting, complaining about working conditions or fighting for their rights. This passivity is just not in the DNA of Brazilians, I can assure you.
Well, your kind of criticism is exactly why Brazil is not yet in the group of highly-industrialized countries - the famous "mongrel dog" complex runs high among Brazilians who are only used to criticizing, criticizing and saying NOTHING positive about the country.
I am fully aware of my country's social issues and I know that not everyone down there is rich or living off the fat of the land. But you cannot ignore that, EVEN in terms of inequality (where we used to share the sad title of world champions with South Africa), Brazil has done a FABULOUS job in raising millions out of poverty and improving its Gini coefficient ALMOST to the same level of the US, which, ironically, still is the richest country in the world.
Your comment also seems to imply that Foxconn workers in Brazil will live as the slave-like employees of China, as if we had no labor regulation oversight whatsoever for such a high-profile project. NO. They will be formal workers receiving an average remuneration which will, FOR SURE, be more than triple that of average Chinese sweatshop people (currently USD 300 per month).
I am also aware of the bad two-tiered pension system in Brazil, since my parents, for a long time small business owners, receive very little money for what they've contributed over many years. But how is this different from public employees around the world, including the US and Europe? We all know reforms are necessary to ensure a sustainable pension deficit reduction; but we also should know that these changes take time to implement, and require absolute respect to acquired rights.
And I know how much imported devices cost in Brazil. But if you think that mere liberalization solves all problems in a huge country with diverse lobbies and interests concerning employment and industrial development, you should perhaps look at other examples around the world (including Switzerland) where protectionism is becoming the rule, not the exception.
Even the recent IPI tax raise enacted by the government for imported cars proved that companies DO HAVE an interest in tapping Brazil's huge domestic market, as at least three of them already announced plans to install local factories. Your so-called "protectionism" also allowed companies like Embraer to start and thrive just as high-tech memory chip companies started with government help in South Korea back in the 70s/80s.
So when you say that Foxconn wants a factory because of Brazil's domestic demand, how can you think this is a negative thing? We are, perhaps together with the US and China, the only country in the world that can live by itself and its own demand.
Imports are cheaper in other places? Sure, and why? Because most such places don't even have a competing industry to begin with. On the other hand, try buying Brazilian beef (the world's best) in Switzerland; you won't find any, because the government imposes a 100 to 1000% tariff plus technical barriers just to protect their local cows and farmers...is their beef any better? Of course not, but we have to live with it.
So don't presume Brazil is the only place in the world with problems...not to mention that homicide rates in big US cities like D.C., Detroit, New Orleans and Baltimore are higher than our "super-violent" São Paulo...
Be patient because things ARE much better than before in objective terms - the only ones not seeing that are Brazilians themselves.
