By Brian Mier I spent last week in the Brazilian Amazon in Porto Velho, Rondonia, on the edge of what is called the arco do incendios. The “arc of fires” is a region stretching along the yet-to-be-paved highways 319 and 230, between the towns of Humaitá and Apui in Southern Amazonas, a state that still had 98% of […]
Category: ENVIRONMENT
A group of Brazilian academics based in Sweden debunk media and governmental claims that the 2019 Amazonian fires are a “normal” seasonal event. Brazil is currently facing worldwide attention due the fires in the Amazon rainforest. After an extremely polarized 2018’s electoral race which culminates in election of Jair Bolsonaro, Brazilian society is deeply divided […]
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“While Lula and Dilma defended national sovereignty, Bolsonaro encourages deforestation and burning” – Gleisi Hoffman, President Workers Party (PT) Ladies and gentlemen who accompany us on social networks, on TV Câmara and on Rádio Câmara, I come to this assembly today in great sadness, to talk about deforestation in our Amazon jungle, about the fires […]
By Brian Mier I arrived in Porto Velho yesterday and could see plumes of smoke billowing in the distance as the plane descended into city which, in itself, is covered in smoky haze. We grabbed a taxi in from the airport and the driver told us that he doesn’t understand why there are so many […]
The day the sky went out
On Monday afternoon a giant smoke cloud emanating from burning rainforest over 1000 kilometers away engulfed São Paulo in darkness. By Brian Mier On Monday, August 19th, I left my home on the North Side of São Paulo at 2 PM and headed towards the Tieté bus station, the brutalist structure erected by Paulo Maluf […]
Recent poll shows Bolsonaro government’s popularity continues to slide as scandals and unpopular policy measures damage credibility São Paulo – According to a recent poll conducted by Atlas Politico most Brazilians strongly disapprove key policy decisions of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro such as his plan to authorize gold mining in national parks and Indigenous reservations […]
After satellite data from the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research showed an 88% rise in Amazon deforestation, President Bolsonaro denied that it was happening. When the Institute’s director argued back, he was fired. August 2. The director of the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Ricardo Galvão, who revealed data showing a large […]
Bolsonaro administration Brazil fast tracks pesticide legalization, including products containing glyphosate The use of 31 pesticides were approved by the Brazilian Agriculture Ministry on May 21. In all, the Federal Government has already approved use of 197 new pesticides since Jair Bolsonaro took office in January. Among the 31 pesticides registered in May, 29 were […]
Liberals can argue that the national interests are in the Market and developmentalists can say they are in the State. The Bolsonaros, in contrast, don’t have the slightest idea about what the national interests even are. by Luis Nassif Brazil has not yet recovered from the trauma of Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment. The institutional dismantling which […]