They point to a flood of dollars entering Brazil since 2003 as investors from Wall Street and beyond parked money in the country to get better returns on fixed rate investments than in developed countries.
That has been a key factor in driving the value of the Brazilian real from 3.5 to the dollar in 2003 to 2.1 today, a difference of 40 percent. It means countries with weaker currencies, like Argentina and Paraguay, can offer soy more cheaply to international buyers.
"I'm not an economist, but this exchange rate is killing us, with dollars pouring in here because of the high interest rates," said Sebastiao Vizioli, Visioli's father, though they spell their last names differently. "I was hoping for a big change with Lula, but we didn't get the change we wanted."
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