“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...
Private interests and foreign influence helped to pave the path toward Brazil’s military dictatorship (1964-1985). The armed forces is not an institution separate from society...It’s a reflection of that violent and authoritarian society. However, they are more dangerous because they have the prerogative to legally use firearms. —Priscila Brandão An...
In Part I of our series, we reflected on some of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s personal and political background, as well as his success during two terms as president of Brazil. We also highlighted one of his long-time political rivals, former São Paulo governor Geraldo Alckmin. Alckmin's sudden...
The elections in Brazil are underway with the first round of votes coming in; leftist candidate Lula De Silva taking 48% of the votes with far-right candidate Bolsonaro behind with 43% of votes. All eyes are on Brazil as the pink tide spreads further across Latin America. We speak with Zoe Alexandra of People’s Dispatch who is on the ground now in Brazil to share with us the mood on the ground and what the results of this first round of voting means for the leftist future in Brazil...
Ten U.S. presidents, 20 CIA directors, and 56 years of covert action screwed over Brazil’s poor and paved the way for the election of Jair Bolsonaro Covid-19, murder, evangelical Christianity, crime, environmental destruction, drugs, shantytowns, inequality, corruption, doesn’t matter what you pick, Brazil is a world leader in them all—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...
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...
The large-scale operation in Rio de Janeiro carried out on October 28, which has already left at least 121 people dead and once again laid bare the logic of war applied to poverty, should not be understood solely as a local public-security issue. It is part of a global control...
Trade warfare and interference in the free functioning of the judiciary are the current expressions of United States interventionism in Latin America, particularly in Brazil. With the largest economy in the region and the eighth-largest in the world, Brazil holds a central strategic importance for the United States in its...
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...