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.
On Friday, February 23, Federal Police raided the offices of Dr. Rafael Valim, a prominent academic and author of 20 books on legal theory. Although he was not charged with any crime, Police seized documents related to his private law firm. Valim is one of the most vocal critics of Judge/Prosecutor Sergio Moro and his […]
On February 17, 2018, Brasil Wire editor Brian Mier was interviewed on Chicago radio station WNUR’s This is Hell Program. The following is a transcript, edited for readability. Chuck Mertz: The US has launched a new kind of war on Latin America and it’s called “lawfare”: using the local legal system to oust unfriendly but […]
When I first moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1991 tens of thousands of homeless families lived in cardboard boxes in Copacabana and locals would take a taxi to travel as little as one block to avoid being robbed by gangs of glue sniffing street children, many of whom would go on to be assassinated […]
On Monday, February 19th, as millions of Brazilians participated in a General Strike against the coup government’s proposed retirement reform amendment, Congress announced that it will delay voting on the measure until December. To the Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT/Unified Workers Central), Latin America’s largest labor union federation and largest strike actor, this is a […]
January 24th, 2018. Today marks the culmination of 4 years of US-backed efforts to destroy Brazilian social democracy. Ex-president Lula, who’s Keynesian economic policies, including massive minimum wage increases, lifted 36 million people above the poverty line and ended famine in Brazil, is going up in front of a group of 3 judges to appeal […]
December 22, 2017. After US-backed neoliberal Sebastian Piñera wins the Chilean presidential elections following corruption charges against center-left former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet involving Brazilian construction company Odebrecht as part of the Lava Jato investigation, El Clarin reveals that the US State department has publicly admitted it is collaborating with the operation. The admission, something that Brasil Wire have suspected since the disclosure […]
When Brasilians talk about the organized left, they usually refer to the social movements, labor unions and the organic intellectuals who support them. There is another category of civil society, however, that has a positive influence on progressive advances in Brasilian society, the non-governmental organizations, or NGOs. Over the past few decades a number of […]
by Brian Mier. The Partido Comunista do Brasil (PC do B/Communist Party of Brasil) was founded in 1962 when a group of militants split from the older Partido Comunista Brasileiro (PCB/Brazilian Communist Party). It was criminalised during the Military Dictatorship and as communists were arrested, tortured and executed, 80 party members moved to the remote […]
By Brian Mier. When the Brazilian Military Dictatorship ended in 1985, citizens began a nation wide campaign to petition for people’s amendments to the new constitution, which was ratified in 1988. One of the most important victories, from a popular participation standpoint, were people’s amendments 182 and 183, which guarantee the right for anyone who […]
Lava Jato investigation Prosecutor/Judge Sergio Moro is embroiled in a million dollar cash for sentence reduction scheme. For the past 2 years some of the most prestigious newspapers and think tanks in the US and Britain have uncritically hailed Lava Jato investigation judge and prosecutor Sergio Moro as an impartial hero in the fight against corruption. […]