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.
Brazilians do not scare easily, but a media narrative saying so paves the way for northern acceptance of a return to fascism. by Brian Mier In the seminal book, Manufacturing Consent, Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman depict the commercial media as “powerful ideological institutions that carry out a system-supportive propaganda function, by reliance on market […]
Unions claim partial victory as top PSDB insider and Shell executive resign from Petrobras leadership by Brian Mier On May 30th, as a trucker’s strike that paralyzed the country for 9 days began to wind down, Brazilian petroleum workers initiated a 3 day, nationwide “warning strike.” Their demands were: 1) the immediate firing of Royal […]
Ex-President Lula has more voter intention than the sum of his 13 closest rivals in the new poll. Even if there were a second round, he would beat any other candidate. In an unprecedented situation in Western history, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva continues to lead all presidential election polls by a wide margin from behind […]
Manifesto to the Brazilian People The Frente Brasil Popular* (Brazil Popular Front/FBP) denounces the persecution and injustice against Lula and defends his right as a candidate in free and democratic elections 1. A man is being unjustly persecuted because, together with the Brazilian people, he proved that it is possible to build a free, just, […]
Over the past three years the Lava Jato investigation has come under sharp criticism for its apparent refusal to prosecute any politician from the conservative PSDB party, despite mountains of material evidence showing tens of millions of dollars in bribes, while ex-President Lula languishes in solitary confinement for the crime of “undetermined acts” with no […]
By Brian Mier. For the past 25 years, Celso Amorim has been Brazil’s most important diplomat, serving as Foreign Affairs Minister in the governments of Itamar Franco (1993-1995) and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2003-2010), and Minister of Defense for Dilma Rousseff (2011-2015). Born in 1942 in the port city of Santos, Amorim graduated at […]
By Brian Mier. In the early morning of May 1, a 24 story building on Paysandu square in central São Paulo caught fire and collapsed. There are three confirmed deaths and 36 people are still missing. The building was a squat which was home to 140 families. The fire department was quick to the scene […]
Although squatters are frequently treated as criminals in the national and international media, according to article 5 of the 1988 Brazilian Constitution, any citizen who does not own property has the right to occupy any abandoned tax-scofflaw building and pressure the government to convert it to ownership-based social housing. In São Paulo, a dozen buildings […]
In the early hours of Saturday Morning, April 28th, as hundreds of protesters were sleeping in their tents at the Lula Livre Democratic Vigil outside the Parana Federal Police headquarters where Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is being held in solitary confinement, gunmen opened fire injuring two activists, one critically. As in the case of […]
Guaruja, São Paulo. This morning a group of activists from the Homeless Workers Movement (Movimento de Trabalhadores Sem Teto/MTST) and People Without Fear (Povo Sem Medo) the popular front to which they belong, occupied the penthouse apartment that Operation Car Wash prosecutors claim belongs to ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The claim, based entirely […]