If the US has been the number one enemy of democracy and freedom in Latin America for the past century, why would a new President make any difference? By Brian Mier In a recent interview for the Brazilian business newspaper O Valor, Tom Shannon, who was a key US State Department actor on Latin American […]
Brazilian lawmaker opens inquiry into controversial import tax break extension By Nathália Urban Last week, Brazilian Congressman Ivan Valente (PSOL-SP) revealed a telegram between US Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel and Todd Chapman, US ambassador to Brazil regarding the extension of a controversial ethanol policy to boost President Donald Trump’s electoral chances. In […]
Launched in October 2017, “leadership training and civic engagement initiative” RenovaBR claims to be a response to endemic corruption in politics. Through the “selection and preparation of future leaders”, the neoliberal organisation, backed by a familiar alliance of Wall Street lobbies and Brazilian business elites, seeks to dominate Brazilian political decision making using candidates spread across […]
Unlike Walesa, Lula never lost his class consciousness or political commitment August 31st marks the 40th anniversary of the end of the Gdansk shipyard wildcat strike, led by Lech Walesa, who went on to become Poland’s first post cold war president, collaborating with US intelligence officials and Breton Woods institutions to transforming his nation into […]
“There is no democracy, there is no functioning citizenship, there is no basic humanity while there is hunger.” On one of his final podcasts on July 14th, Michael Brooks made a plea to end hunger. The following is a transcript of that monologue, edited for readibility. By Michael Brooks Let’s talk about ending hunger. I […]
Covid 19 could have been used to consolidate fascism in Brazil, but Bolsonaro’s own incompetence prevented this from happening. by Fernando Horta One of the characteristics that differentiates a fascist government from a purely authoritarian one is the ability of the fascist leadership to be loved and followed by the masses. Wilhelm Reich recognized fascism […]
Will backstabbing opportunists turn the spell against the witch who cast it? By Brian Mier On June 20th, Brazil’s right-wing extremist Education Minister Abraham Weintraub abruptly resigned and fled the country fleeing probable arrest. His destination was Miami, the purgatory of corrupt Latin American politicians and organized crime figures. Although both the Brazilian and international […]
As Brazil’s richest man, Jorge Paulo Lemann, joins forces with fellow supporters of the 2016 coup in a drive to depose the neofascist president who they helped bring to office, former President Lula takes a pass. The PT should not get on the first bus that passes by against Jair Bolsonaro. With this metaphor, former […]
On Sunday May 17, Jair Bolsonaro again joined demonstrations by supporters of his government calling for military intervention and the closure of the Supreme Court and National Congress. Without mentioning the current president, six of Brazil’s former defence ministers have responded by asking the military to follow the Constitution and defend Brazil’s democratic institutions. In a […]
A former ally of Jair Bolsonaro has revealed new evidence of Federal Police collusion during the 2018 presidential election, prompting calls for the result to be annulled and new elections held. The 2018 elections have been mired in controversy since before they began, with the jailing and exclusion of frontrunner Lula da Silva casting a […]