The Bolsonaro government freezes funding for self-managed social housing construction, destroys the Ministry of Cities and tries to declare the housing movements as terrorists by Brian Mier* Approximately 7 million Brazilian families live in substandard housing, in shacks or simple brick houses that are often built in areas at risk of flooding or landslides that […]
On the morning of 11th January, a 44 year old Bell B06 JetRanger helicopter carrying TV Bandeirantes News Anchor, Ricardo Boechat crashed in São Paulo, near Anhanguera, as it brought the veteran journalist back from a speech in the neighbouring city of Campinas. Boechat’s death became the latest in a succession of national tragedies to hit […]
The Unions and Social movements successfully blocked Michel Temer’s neoliberal pension reforms but new proposals by the Bolsonaro administration are even worse by Brian Mier In a period marked by destruction of most of Brazil’s labor rights and the first ever lowering of the minimum wage, one of the only glimmers of hope was the […]
Right wing extremist Jair Bolsonaro’s Justice Minister violates article 120 of the Brazilian Criminal Code and denies Lula a right that was respected even during the repressive Military Dictatorship. by Brian Mier On January 29, Genival Inácio “Vavá” da Silva died of cancer at the age of 79. Vavá was former President Lula’s older brother and […]
By Graham Douglas for Sounds and Colours. It was a hot day in the beautiful town of Amarante, the Portuguese base of Brazil’s MIMO festival. I’m chatting to Otto prior to his show at Parque Ribeirinho in the evening and a day after seeing him talk at a forum about the state of new Brazilian […]
As Brazil’s Neofascist President Jair Bolsonaro and his Justice and Security Minister Sérgio Moro address the World Economic Forum at Davos, on the fight against corruption and need for unrestricted foreign investment in Brazil, the clock is already ticking for his administration and his Presidency. “They can label me anything, homophobic, racist….they just can’t call me […]
“All of this talk about democracy in Venezuela, about Maduro being a dictator, in reality, masks very strong commercial interests in accessing the petroleum. It’s the same thing that happened in Iraq. Nobody discusses whether Iraq has democracy or whether the Iraqi people are doing well these days, they have simply forgotten.” Gleisi Hoffmann grew […]
Do not expect rationality and political pragmatism from a government based on Christian fundamentalism and neofascism. Do not expect democratic governability and republicanism from those who promise to exterminate their opponents. by Marcelo Zero It is touching to see the anxious expectation with which the press and certain political sectors expect some conciliatory, republican gesture […]
We are particularly concerned about a number of Bolsonaro’s policy proposals that, if implemented, can be expected to inflict far-reaching and lasting damage on Brazilian communities and on the environment The following Manifesto published on December 27 and signed by 47 US organizations, including the 12 million strong AFL-CIO, warns of risks to Democracy, the […]
On December 19th 2018, Brazil was sent into a frenzy at the news that Supreme Court Judge Marco Aurélio had accepted a petition from PCdoB (Communist Party of Brazil) that called for the freeing of prisoners jailed while their appeals processes were still underway. This meant that former President Lula da Silva, recognised internationally as a political […]