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DEMOCRACY satire SOVEREIGNTY UNDERSTANDING BRASIL

Meet Brazil’s new President: José de Abreu

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 […]

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AUTHORITARIANISM DEMOCRACY POLITICS

Meltdown: Bolsonaro breaks public disapproval record

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 […]

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AUTHORITARIANISM DEMOCRACY FOREIGN POLICY SOVEREIGNTY

PT moves to block support for Trump’s “humanitarianism”

As the Brazilian government subordinates itself to the US, Workers Party Congressmen move to block support for Trump’s mission in Venezuela. On February 21, PT Congressmen Paulo Pimenta and Paulo Teixeira filed orders to summon Defense Minister General Fernando Azevedo e Silva and Foreign Affairs Minister Ernesto Araújo on February 21st, to explain Brazilian government support […]

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ARMED FORCES AUTHORITARIANISM DEMOCRACY

Meet the Military Junta running Brasil

A Junta has taken the power that was left vacant by the cartoon caricatures of Bolsonaro and his sons. Captain Jair may continue living in the Presidential Palace and even play video games in his office in the Capital building. All he has to do is obey his commanding officers, the generals. by Mauro Lopes It was a […]

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DEMOCRACY HOUSING HOUSING MOVEMENTS SOCIAL INCLUSION SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Bolsonaro and the death of social housing

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 […]

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DEMOCRACY LAVA JATO MEDIA UNDERSTANDING BRASIL

Ricardo Boechat, Journalist. 1952-2019.

On the morning of 11th January, a 44 year old Bell B06 JetRanger helicopter carrying TV Bandeirantes News Anchor, Ricardo Boechat crashed in São Paulo, near Anhanguera, as it brought the veteran journalist back from a speech in the neighbouring city of Campinas. Boechat’s death became the latest in a succession of national tragedies to hit […]

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DEMOCRACY SOCIAL INCLUSION SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

The fight begins against Brazil’s draconian pension reforms

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 […]

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AUTHORITARIANISM DEMOCRACY LAVA JATO LAWFARE

Sergio Moro bans Lula from brother’s funeral

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 […]

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CULTURE DEMOCRACY MUSIC

On Music And Politics: An Interview With OTTO

By Graham Douglas for Sounds and Colours. It was a hot day in the beautiful town of Amarante, the Portuguese base of Brazil’s MIMO festival. I’m chatting to Otto prior to his show at Parque Ribeirinho in the evening and a day after seeing him talk at a forum about the state of new Brazilian […]

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AUTHORITARIANISM BLOG CRIME DEMOCRACY

Power, Corruption And Lies: 3 Weeks In, Bolsonaro Regime Is Falling Apart

As Brazil’s Neofascist President Jair Bolsonaro and his Justice and Security Minister Sérgio Moro address the World Economic Forum at Davos, on the fight against corruption and need for unrestricted foreign investment in Brazil, the clock is already ticking for his administration and his Presidency. “They can label me anything, homophobic, racist….they just can’t call me […]