Brasil’s streets have been filled with protests in the last few weeks, evoking similar events taking place earlier in the year. Most of the demonstrators are supporters of the defeated presidential candidate Aécio Neves who have collectively paraded across several parts of the country chanting for the removal of Dilma Rousseff, the sitting president who […]
Não vai ter golpe! (You won’t have a Coup!). Brasil’s ‘Silent Left’ did indeed show themselves, across 25 cities. Did the international media show them showing themselves? For the most part, no. U.S. & U.K. newspapers, which have received criticism for their coverage of political demonstrations across Latin America, were conspicuous by their absence. Going against narrative […]
A toxic rag with an agenda that goes far beyond journalism. – Jon Lee Anderson, veteran reporter at the New Yorker. Last week football legend turned senator Romário Faria made a special announcement to his 2 million Facebook followers. “On Thursday I found out from a Veja magazine story that I have millions of Reais in […]
“Only a crisis, real or perceived, produces real change.” – Milton Friedman. Brasil is having a horrible 2015; a far less favourable global economic situation, a number of policy misjudgements made early in President Rousseff’s first mandate and rolling scandals that have followed 2014’s election have resulted in flurry of headlines both at home and abroad decrying “Brasil in Crisis” or “On […]
The Brazilian organized or “popular” left is made up of labour unions, poor people’s social movements, women’s and Afro-Brasilian movements, religious base organizations and the political parties that they feel best represent them within the confines of a capitalist system. As the corrupt Brazilian media and the conservative middle class, unhappy with last years election results […]
When Napoleon Bonaparte and his troops invaded Portugal the royal family fled to Brazil. In 1822 they declared independence and Dom Pedro I became the head of the western hemisphere’s only monarchy. He declared himself emperor and his family governed Brazil for the next 67 years. They were exiled back to Europe after a coup […]
Written exclusively for Brasil Wire by Marie Declercq. The experience of being a woman in Brasil often seems to be limited to a part in the cliche that it is the country of beautiful beaches, football and women. Although this is often used as a form of praise, it also restricts woman’s role to the […]
Frei Betto, 70, a Dominican Friar and author of 52 books, is one of the central figures in the Brazilian liberation theology movement. Tortured and imprisoned for four years during the military dictatorship, he went on to play a key role in the formation of the CUT labor union federation, the Central de Movimentos Populares […]
In 1947, the Brazilian artist Candido Portinari gave a talk at the Centro de Estudiantes de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires called ‘The social meaning of art.’ The environment was relaxed, with young people clustering around eagerly to hear him speak; later Portinari would refer to the event as a ‘conversation among friends’. Addressing the crowd, […]
By Jan K. Black It was often said in Latin America in the early 1960s that when the United States sneezed, Latin America caught pneumonia. In fact, it was repeated year after year until the fall of 2008, when the United States caught pneumonia and Latin America sneezed. Brazil, in particular, after a short spell […]