One branch of our family moved from Germany to there instead of the Midwest. The southern part of Brazil has a lot of the Japanese-Brazilians, too. It’s a farming area, much like the Midwest US. Not much sugar cane, mostly corn, soybeans and vegetables, so no big centers of slave descendants. A pretty nice area that I would feel comfortable in.
Interesting. A branch of my family were Volga Germans who went to Brazil instead of the US. Then, a couple guys from the Brazil branch came north to the US as well. Eventually the two groups stopped corresponding because they no longer had a common language.
Also, we had a foreign homestay student from that part of Brazil. Lovely person. I could well see her family of small business owners voting for secession. They love Brazil, but it is very dangerous.