“In a serious country we wouldn’t have an investigation dragging on for four years,”— Marinete da Silva, mother of slain Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman Marielle Franco. RIO DE JANEIRO – Four-plus years after the assassination of Rio de Janeiro councilwoman Marielle Franco (38), social media giant Facebook has yet...
Danger lurks with election of large number of pro-Bolsonaro governors and radicalization of Bolsonaro’s supporters who refuse to accept election results. The impeachment of Peruvian President Pedro Castillo was “carried out within the constitutional framework.” This comment was offered not by Lisa Kenna, the current U.S. Ambassador to Peru and...
“It’s also in your hands to prevent the return of corruption and robbery to take hold of the country…It’s you who can prevent the release of a prisoner convicted of corruption” —Geraldo Alckmin speaking during his 2018 presidential campaign. Four years on, the former governor of São Paulo is...
BRAZIL—Over the past few days and weeks, rumors of war, as if global conflict were an inevitable contagion bound to reach Indoamerica (South or Latin America), swirled at an uncanny, feverish pitch. The case for armed conflict has subsided only slightly. An unspoiled, beautiful region known as Essequibo has taken...
With little variation, as it was 60 years ago, Brazil’s military and political elite, as well as its big business sector—namely agribusiness—are not fond of what could remotely be perceived as progressive, left-wing politics. God forbid their country, harboring Portuguese colonial heritage in every nook and cranny, despite failing to...
“This pact exists throughout Brazil. It’s not privileged to Rio de Janeiro. Truth be said, it’s a very organic, structured relationship between Rio de Janeiro politicians, militia groups and the police. How does it function? Militias control growing amounts of territory. Approximately one million to 1.9 million people (in Rio...
Right-winger Jair Bolsonaro’s claims of election fraud reduced to sour grapes as Brazil’s bulletproof voting process shames the United States’ swiss-cheese system Workers’ Party (PT) candidate, former president Lula da Silva, won the Brazilian presidency with just over 50 percent of the vote in the runoff election held on October...
”It’s state terror / I’m gonna speak up / Maybe my time’s up / The world doesn’t accept trophies I’ve won in battle … / That’s why there’s hate in my words / Explain to a child why his hero is behind bars.”— lyrics from “Anti O.R.U.A.M. Law,” by...
“Blindness that affects the other side also affects us.” — Mano Brown The saying goes: Um negócio pra boi dormir.” Literally, the Brazilian aphorism means: (To give) something for the bull to sleep. In practical layman’s terms it pre-figures social interactions where somebody, a group of people or an entity, says...
He who was born, was born / He who wasn’t born, won’t be born / Get out the way of the bullet train or else you might get torn.—“He Who Was Born, Was Born” by MC G3 Will There Be “Peace, Liberty, And Justice” With Whatever Comes After Brazil? Recorded circa...