President Cardoso stabilized Brazil's economy in the 1990s<span> bycutting back on government spending and reducing inflation.</span>
It was home of people of many religions (Islam, different Christian sects) and many ethnic groups (Serbs, Albanians, Croats). Some people identified as members of those groups, but slowly, sometimes a more unified "Yugoslav" identity was emerging - but not everywhere.
There is a number of ways that Portugal and other European nations tried to challenge Spanish power:
1. illegal trade with Spanish colonies - given that Spain forbade any nation to trade with their colonies in the Americas, they had to do it illegally, without Spanish knowledge. Smugglers had a special role in this given that they did most of the work
2. pirates - these nations tried to do everything in their power to diminish the authority Spain had in the Americas. This is why they resorted to privateers - that is just a fancy name for pirates who preyed on Spanish ships in order to steal their treasure
B) Before insurance payouts begin