Police officers interrogated professors, banned activities, took down banners and seized hard drives By Pedro Ribeiro Nogueira As Brazil’s runoff elections approach, electoral court authorities and federal and military police officers raided public universities across the country following court orders or students’ requests to question, intimidate, seize materials, and order the take down of pro-democracy […]
by Gaía Passarelli. I never thought I’d get here. And sometimes I want to believe that it will not get worse. But then I pinch myself: I did not think Dilma would fall, I did not think Doria would be Mayor of São Paulo, I did not think Trump would be US President. I never […]
On Saturday night, in front of a crowd of 80,000 and to chants of “Free Lula”, Chico Buarque and Gilberto Gil sang the legendary protest song Cálice for the first time together since 1973, on a night when Military Dictatorship censors turned off Buarque’s microphone. It was a highlight of an evening with poetry and […]
by Brian Mier On July 25th, Facebook announced that it was shutting down 196 pages connected to the Koch Brothers/Atlas Foundation supported Movimento Brasil Livre (Free Brazil Movement/MBL) a fake news organization disguised as a social movement that is also funded by the DEM party (which is rooted in the official dictatorship party, ARENA). Since the 2016 Coup, […]
Brasil Wire editor Brian Mier addresses Brazilian Congress on fake news, censorship and the independent media. On Monday morning, June 19th, I was invited to fly to Brasilia to address Congress on the subject of fake news and the independent media. My invitation, extended by the progressive news outlet Brasil 247, was the result of a […]
Judge Sergio Moro’s Curitiba task force, its parallel power and four-year influence on Brazilian politics and economy. By Rodrigo Tacla Duran* Gag. In Portuguese it’s a feminine noun that is synonymous with a muzzle, cloth or any object put in the mouth to impede someone from speaking or screaming. It is also a verb that […]
The Brazilian military took over the state of Rio de Janeiro in 1964 and quickly consolidated its power in a national military coup that ended democratic rule for 25 years. At first, it allowed some democratic processes to continue. Street protests, labor unions and social movements were allowed to continue operating as usual and there […]
In a move adding to growing concerns about the state of Brazilian democracy and freedom of expression, Michel Temer’s Minister of Education, Mendonça Filho (DEM), has instructed the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF), the Federal Attorney General’s Office (AGU), the Federal Comptroller’s Office (CGU) and the Brazilian Court of Audit (TCU) to investigate the new course “the 2016 […]
Two manifestos circulated by North American and European Professors, Intellectuals and Students in support of their Brazilian counterparts, who face a wave of intimidation unseen since the Military Dictatorship of 1964-1985. Those working and studying in Brazilian Universities have our unequivocal solidarity – Editors. Manifesto by North American Professors We, intellectuals, professors, students and directors of academic institutions, proclaim our perplexity […]
On 30th October 2017, there was a new escalation in a cultural conflict which is slowly cauldronizing Brazilian society. Veteran singer songwriter, Caetano Veloso, legend of the Tropicália movement which emerged in a climate of censorship and moralism during the 1960s Military Dictatorship, was prevented from performing for what he said was “the first time in the democratic […]