[color=009c3b][b]Name: [/b][/color]Federative Republic of Brazil/República Federativa do Brasil
[color=009c3b][b]Flag: [/b][/color][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/796405369529434112/797929486431420436/Polish_20210110_121140036.jpg[/img]

[color=009c3b][b]Government: [/b][/color] Although technically a semi-democratic federative republic, Brazil is effectively ruled by Apolônia, and minimal dissent exists due to the personality cult surrounding her. It is, however, still a bicameral legislature in which members of the lower house are elected proportionally, while the upper house, the Senate, rarely sees any senators elected that are not approved by the de-facto dictator. Much like the USSR's Supreme Soviet, the Starlight Movement has extremely wide-ranging power that allows it to legally prevent the rise of political opponents to Brazil's President.

[color=009c3b][b]Territory: [/b][/color]Historical Brazilian Borders
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[color=009c3b][b]History: [/b][/color]

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[*][color=ffdf00][b]Pre-Visitation: [/b][/color] Prior to the visitation, Brazil's history was mostly mundane. Like any other nation seeking to industrialize, it too exploited Langium, seeing the wonder-substance as the means through which the aspiring global power could achieve its goals. These efforts, however, remained relatively until the Vargas coup - at which point the dictator began the exploitation of Brazil's available Langium resources en-masse, taking advantage of its wondrous properties to catapult his country into the modern age. Such aspirations, however, continued to remain horribly distance, and in late 1956, Vargas shot himself in the head, having lost control of his most powerful political allies after an assassination attempt on one of the most prominent opponents of Vargas's regime, Carlos Lacerda. 

Juscelino Kubitschek quickly took power, his presidency marked by even greater exploitation of Langium resources, general industrialization, the founding of Brasilia, and the emergence of a nonreligious cult, led by a young woman by the name of Apolônia Conceicao, a philosopher who was able to take advantage of the tumult surrounding Vargas's death to draw followers, despite her being disadvantaged in Brazil as a woman. Of course, considering Brazil's extensively patriarchal, Catholic society, the cult's growth was relatively slow and was often the target of violence, in no small part due to Conceicao's insistence that aliens were in fact real, and had brought Langium to Earth long ago. In many ways, it was simply any other new-age UFO cult, but Conceicao differed in that she prescribed no religious dogma, instead focusing on preparation for the inevitably soon-to-come alien visitors and the trials they would bring.

[*][color=ffdf00][b]The Visitation: [/b][/color] In 1961, to the surprise of nearly everyone, The Starlight Movement (O Movimento da Luz das Estrelas) was abruptly proven right - apparently, at least. Not only did their leader seem to have been a prophet, but religions across the world were thrown into Chaos by the existence of alien life, and Brazilian varieties of Catholicism were no exception. A country that for the most part was culturally shaped by its faith suddenly found itself with far less, and in the Chaos, many turned to the apparent prophet and her message of cooperation toward a bright, new future. People across the world flocked to Conceicao even as she appeared to vanish, vanishing into the now-anomalous parts of the Amazon Rainforest.

Fortunately for her followers - and unfortunately for the duelling military and civil government factions in the ailing government, Conceicao returned to the public eye little more than a week later, though she had been greatly changed, her body only narrowly recognizable as that of a human. Much like her country, she was scarred, forever changed - but, she claimed, she was far stronger too. For many, she was the only source of direction in a world that had simply stopped making sense, pervasive religious ideals completely upended along with the environmental order of South America. Anomalous zones along the Amazon River and near the Guarani aquifer system meant that vast swathes if Brazil's population were exposed to NLCs, and Conceicao's hometown, Manaus, was one of the worst affected.

Kubitschek, struggling to deal with the crisis, was quickly removed in a military coup, and as increasing numbers of people began to turn to their apparent prophetess for direction, she was named President in an unexpected landslide victory, narrowly averting civil war in the increasingly disunited, directionless populace mere months after the Visitation.

The solution, Conceicao argued, was obvious. NLCs and anomalous zones were a fact of life, and it was time for Brazil to take full advantage of them. NLCs could have devastating effects on the human body, but they could make a man something far greater, too, and so the Brazilian government began to pour massive amounts of funding into funding research on the impacts of the visitation and on supporting a populace that struggled to recover from the devastation. 

Thanks to the aid of organizations like the NHC, vast new Langium resources, and large amounts of research funding, Brazil was able to recover from the impacts of the Visitation and eventually begin to thrive. A rapidly expanded healthcare system, likewise, drastically improved quality of life, serving to help draw large numbers of immigrants to a country that had adapted to the visitation with relative ease and found itself in increasing need of workers to fuel its growth. Perhaps most important, though, was the philosophy Conceicao was drilling into Brazilian society - one of cooperation and togetherness and of bringing mankind into a new, better age. Eventually, mutation by NLC stopped being something to be avoided and gradually became a fad, whether by devout imitators seeking to follow in Conceicao's footsteps or people who simply saw the mildly directed NLC-derived mutagens available in Brazil as too tempting to ignore.

[*][color=ffdf00][b]Recent History:[/b][/color]Brazil was not the only country that experienced trouble in South America, however, and few saw the rise of charismatic demagogues in the same manner as Brazil, leaving them unstable. Some governments had simply collapsed into civil war, while others struggled to maintain control, but, one after the other, they collapsed, often with the unwanted aid of the CIA. Numerous attempts were made on President Conceicao's life, including attempted coups, though all either failed to gain traction, were foiled by the fanaticism that pervaded the country, or, reportedly, by Conceicao herself.

Emboldened by failed American attempts to depose their leadership, Brazil made increasing overtures to act as an inlet for the Soviet Union in South America, simultaneously offering industrial aid to countries in Africa and Europe in an effort to avoid total American dominance over potential trading partners and stay at the forefront of technological development. In particular, Brazil maintained close relations with a number of coastal West African states, including Nigeria, in which it became heavily involved in economic aid. The 1980s also saw the beginning of a full-fledged Brazilian space program, leading to the development of a sort of cultural cosmism that further increased government R&D funding and the country's obsession with its alien visitors. In 1991, the cultural atmosphere of the country is much the same - pervasive popular support of President Conceicao, nearly uncontrolled technological development, and an eye always gazing toward the future.

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[color=002776][b]Pressing Issues: [/b][/color]Out of all the issues it faces, perhaps the most prominent is relative political isolation. While an active participant in the international community, Brazil as it stands lacks any genuinely close military allies aside perhaps Nigeria, though this is little consolation considering that it is nearly surrounded on all sides by relatively hostile governments under the control of the United States. While this does leave Brazil able to exploit its position as a thorn in the US's side for political leverage with countries like the USSR, it still lies on a political fringe that leaves it without genuinely friendly relations with any major power blocs. Additionally, the demands of a rapidly growing populace, few trade partners, and the industry of a burgeoning world power leave it with little available liquid reserves and fewer creditos, meaning there is little available flexibility within the Brazilian budget. Additionally, as it has been ruled by its current President for decades, its direction can often be single minded, lacking diverse outside perspectives.

[color=002776][b]Budget: [/b][/color][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/796405369529434112/797792089802670101/pie-chart4.png[/img]

Note: credit for the flag goes to /u/RegularSloth on Reddit