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DEMOCRACY ECONOMY POLITICS SÃO PAULO SOCIAL MOVEMENTS UNDERSTANDING BRASIL VIDEO

Report: National day of Democracy / Anti-Austerity Demonstration

Não vai ter golpe! (You won’t have a Coup!). Brasil’s ‘Silent Left’ did indeed show themselves, across 25 cities. Did the international media show them showing themselves? For the most part, no. U.S. & U.K. newspapers, which have received criticism for their coverage of political demonstrations across Latin America, were conspicuous by their absence. Going against narrative […]

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DEMOCRACY EDITORIAL OPINION POLITICS SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

The Silent Left

Back in October 2014,  a thirty-something, upper-middle class couple carry a large red flag towards a demonstration a few kilometres away, having walked the length of São Paulo’s leafy Rua Oscar Freire – an affluent area lined with boutiques & international chains. By the time the pair reach main artery Avenida Reboucas they are visibly shaken from what […]

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DEMOCRACY OPINION POLITICS

Anti-government protests fizzle: Could this be the end of a cycle?

During a year in which the Brazilian Military Police claimed that the São Paulo gay parade somehow shrunk from its regular crowd of 2.5 million people to 20,000 with no discernible difference in size  it’s hard to treat crowd estimates seriously, especially coming from traditional anti-PT media oligarchies who own Veja Magazine, O Globo and […]

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DEMOCRACY FOREIGN POLICY HISTORY LAVA JATO LAWFARE PATREON ONLY POLITICS UNITED STATES

Mani Pulite: Italy’s “Lava-Jato”

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DEMOCRACY INTERNATIONAL MEDIA LAWFARE MEDIA OPINION POLITICS UNDERSTANDING BRASIL

The Problem With Veja…

A toxic rag with an agenda that goes far beyond journalism. – Jon Lee Anderson, veteran reporter at the New Yorker. Last week football legend turned senator Romário Faria made a special announcement to his 2 million Facebook followers. “On Thursday I found out from a Veja magazine story that I have millions of Reais in […]

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AGÊNCIA PÚBLICA DEMOCRACY FOREIGN POLICY LAWFARE LONGFORM PETROBRAS POLITICS UNITED STATES

The Right’s New Clothes

A network of Conservative Think-tanks & Foundations from the United States, such as Koch, Cato & Templeton, are financing young Latin Americans to fight Left Governments and defend old positions with a new language. “The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior […]

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DEMOCRACY ECONOMY EDITORIAL INTERNATIONAL MEDIA LAVA JATO LAWFARE MEDIA PETROBRAS POLITICS UNDERSTANDING BRASIL

Brasil’s Shock Doctrine

“Only a crisis, real or perceived, produces real change.” – Milton Friedman. Brasil is having a horrible 2015; a far less favourable global economic situation, a number of policy misjudgements made early in President Rousseff’s first mandate and rolling scandals that have followed 2014’s election have resulted in flurry of headlines both at home and abroad decrying “Brasil in Crisis” or “On […]

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AUTHORITARIANISM DEMOCRACY POLITICS SOCIAL MOVEMENTS UNDERSTANDING BRASIL

MST: “There won’t be a Coup without resistance.”

The Brazilian organized or “popular” left is made up of labour unions, poor people’s social  movements, women’s and Afro-Brasilian movements, religious base organizations and the political parties that they feel best represent them within the confines of a capitalist system. As the corrupt Brazilian media and the conservative  middle class, unhappy with last years election results […]

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HISTORY POLITICS UNDERSTANDING BRASIL

The Curious Case of the Brazilian Royal Family

When Napoleon Bonaparte and his troops invaded Portugal the royal family fled to Brazil. In 1822 they declared independence and Dom Pedro I became the head of the western hemisphere’s only monarchy. He declared himself emperor and his family governed Brazil for the next 67 years. They were exiled back to Europe after a coup […]

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OPINION POLITICS SOCIAL MOVEMENTS UNDERSTANDING BRASIL

Brasil: a country made by men who don’t love women

Written exclusively for Brasil Wire by Marie Declercq.  The experience of being a woman in Brasil often seems to be limited to a part in the cliche that it is the country of beautiful beaches, football and women. Although this is often used as a form of praise, it also restricts woman’s role to the […]