Writer, geographer and former development professional who has lived in Brazil for 26 years. Former directorate member of the Fórum Nacional de Reforma Urbana (National Urban Reform Forum). Has lived in São Luis, Recife, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Author of “Os Megaeventos Esportivos na Cidade do Rio de Janeiro e o Direito á Cidade” (CEPR: Porto Alegre. 2016). Editor of "Voices of the Brazilian Left" (Sumare: São Paulo. 2018). Editor of "Year of Lead: Washington, Wall Street and the New Imperialism in Brazil" ((Sumare: São Paulo. 2019) Irregular correspondent for the Chicago radio show This is Hell.
After 5 days of ridicule at the hands of Carnaval goers, right wing extremist President makes homophobic rant and tweets porn video to 3 million followers, including thousands of children. Brazil’s 2019 Carnaval will go down in history as one of the most politicized ever. From tributes to slain Rio de Janeiro socialist city councilwoman Marielle Franco […]
Taking lead from right wing Venezuelan opposition leader Brazilian actor declares himself President – challenges Juan Guaidó to debate By Brian Mier On February 25, veteran Brazilian character actor José de Abreu announced on Twitter that he was thinking of taking Juan Guaidó’s lead and declaring himself President of Brazil. Minutes later, in the midst […]
As approval rating falls to 38.9%, Bolsonaro sets record for least popular presidential start of the 21st Century. The poll, by CNT/MDA, began measuring presidential popularity at the two-month mark in 1998. by Brian Mier Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office in January, 2003, in the midst of a currency collapse and one of […]
Generals Santa Cruz and Augusto Heleno warn US is trying to use Brazil as bait to trigger conflict in Venezuela and serve as a buffer during a military intervention. By Brian Mier After pretending that the relatively unknown opposition lawmaker Juan Guaido was the legitimate president of Venezuela failed, the Trump administration engaged in a […]
Cannons and machine guns kill soldiers – embargoes kill women and children. The Americans are specialists. By Brian Mier On Sunday, February 24, Brazilian journalist Fernando Morais received a handwritten letter from his friend Lula. The letter was written from the Curitiba federal police headquarters, where the ex-President has been held in solitary confinement as […]
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 […]
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 […]
Charges so flimsy that they could only be upheld in a State of Exception. by Brian Mier On February 6, interim judge Gabriela Hardt, who recently replaced Sergio Moro in the Operation Car Wash investigation, convicted Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on corruption charges related to alleged illegal reforms on a vacation property in Atibaia, […]
Indigenous people and their supporters protest in 51 cities around the World against the neo-fascist Bolsonaro administration’s dismantling of reservations, cultural and land rights and his supporters’ genocidal threats. by Brian Mier January 31 was marked by protests for Brazilian Indigenous rights in cities across Brazil as people took to the streets to protest a […]
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 […]