Categories
ECONOMY NEWS PETROBRAS SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Petroleum Workers Gear Up for National Strike

“The Brazilian people are anxious for reductions in gasoline, cooking gas and diesel prices,” says Petroleum workers union leader José Maria Rangel By Andre Accarini The warm up for the petroleum workers’ strike, scheduled to start on Wednesday, May 30th, is now underway with paralyzations, demonstrations and protests across the entire Petrobras system. Petroleum workers […]

Categories
PETROBRAS SOCIAL MOVEMENTS SOVEREIGNTY UNDERSTANDING BRASIL

The Hijacked Truckers’ Strike

By Larissa Jacheta Riberti* I have been writing for a truck driver’s trade newspaper for the past six years but would not risk making a thorough analysis of the current strike. However since many opinions (most notably by people on the “left”) circulating on the social media are beginning to make me feel uncomfortable, I would like to […]

Categories
ECONOMY PETROBRAS SOVEREIGNTY

Trucker Strike: Petrobras’ Dismantlement Leads Brazil to Chaos

by Paulo Kliass* Truck drivers tend to be conservative, but their demands are fair. About the coup, Petrobras’ price policies meet investors wishes but don’t serve the needs of the nation. Note: Petrobras is commonly referred to in the media as a state oil company, but it was partially privatized during the Fernando Henrique Cardoso […]

Categories
DEMOCRACY ELECTION 2018 LAVA JATO LAWFARE SOVEREIGNTY

Lula in Le Monde: I am running to give back the poor and excluded their dignity

Former President and leading 2018 Candidate Lula featured in France’s Le Monde, explaining Brazil’s worrying situation and his determination to run for the Presidency in October, despite his politically motivated imprisonment. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Le Monde 17 May 2018 I am running for the Presidency of Brazil in the October elections because I […]

Categories
DEMOCRACY ELECTION 2018 LAVA JATO LAWFARE SOVEREIGNTY UNITED STATES

Activists, American Unions Protest Award for Brazilian Judge

May 15, New York City, NY – American unions joined the Defend Democracy in Brazil Committee in Manhattan, to protest commemoration of the judge who investigated, prosecuted, convicted and sentenced popular former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula. Lula is appealing the conviction and 12-year jail sentence. Despite his imprisonment, he is seeking the […]

Categories
DEMOCRACY FILM LAWFARE SOVEREIGNTY

O Processo / The Trial – A Review

After it premiered at the Berlinale to a 7 minute standing ovation and won numerous festival awards, a series of pre-screenings for Maria Augusta Ramos’ ‘O Processo’ (The Trial) were held in Brazil ahead of its May 17 theatrical release. The documentary records the illegitimate impeachment of Dilma Rousseff in 2016, a process which was […]

Categories
DEMOCRACY ELECTION 2018 LAVA JATO LAWFARE

Gleisi Hoffman: Why we don’t give up on Lula’s Candidacy

Despite being held as a political prisoner, with no material evidence justifying the charges made against him, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva continues to lead all presidential election polls by a wide margin, with twice the support of his nearest competitor, 6 times more support than any other left candidate, and 30 times the support […]

Categories
CITIES HOUSING MEDIA PAYSANDU FIRE SOCIAL INCLUSION SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

When Living is a Privilege, Occupying is a Right

According to the Brazilian Constitution of 1988, land banking is a crime. Unlike in, for example, the United States, it is illegal for a landlord to hold a building empty for years, without paying real estate taxes or maintaining the property, waiting for real estate values to rise so that he can flip it. If […]

Categories
AUTHORITARIANISM DEMOCRACY ELECTION 2018 LAVA JATO LAWFARE SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

May Day 2018: All roads lead to Curitiba

April 30, 2018. Hundreds of buses have already arrived in Curitiba and hundreds more are traveling in caravans on route to this Southern Brazilian city of 3 million, where ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been held as a political prisoner for three weeks, for what promises to be the largest May Day protest […]

Categories
ACADEMIC AUTHORITARIANISM INTERNATIONAL MEDIA MEDIA

Marielle’s Murder And The Newspapers

When  Rio City Councilwoman Marielle Franco was assassinated on March 14, much of the international coverage omitted the fact that she was a socialist and the most prominent critic of Rio de Janeiro’s federal military occupation. In this article from the Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ) Manchêtometro project, which quantifies bias in media coverage, […]