This article is the first of a new partnership between Council of Hemispheric Affairs and Brasil Wire which will investigate allegations of lawfare against the Lava Jato prosecuting team. As ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva continues his appeal against charges of bribery that revolve around the gift of a beachfront apartment which courts were unable to prove he […]
When Luis Inacio Lula da Silva took office in 2003, one of his first moves was to prioritize open source software for the federal government computer systems in order to reduce costs, increase competition, generate jobs and develop the knowledge and intelligence of the country in this area. Although it was never fully adopted by all […]
On Friday, February 23, Federal Police raided the offices of Dr. Rafael Valim, a prominent academic and author of 20 books on legal theory. Although he was not charged with any crime, Police seized documents related to his private law firm. Valim is one of the most vocal critics of Judge/Prosecutor Sergio Moro and his […]
By Elliott Gabriel, MPN. A concerted push is underway in South America that could see one of the world’s largest reserves of fresh water soon fall into the hands of transnational corporations such as Coca-Cola and Nestle. According to reports, talks to privatize the Guarani Aquifer – a vast subterranean water reserve lying beneath Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, […]
On February 17, 2018, Brasil Wire editor Brian Mier was interviewed on Chicago radio station WNUR’s This is Hell Program. The following is a transcript, edited for readability. Chuck Mertz: The US has launched a new kind of war on Latin America and it’s called “lawfare”: using the local legal system to oust unfriendly but […]
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 […]
On March 2 in New York, Wall Street Lobby & Think Tank, AS/COA will hold a special event in New York heralding a supposed “Anti-Corruption movement” in Latin America. Key speaker at the AS/COA event, Operation Lava Jato judge Sérgio Moro will then reportedly be named man of the year at another special event sponsored […]
When I first moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1991 tens of thousands of homeless families lived in cardboard boxes in Copacabana and locals would take a taxi to travel as little as one block to avoid being robbed by gangs of glue sniffing street children, many of whom would go on to be assassinated […]
On Monday, February 19th, as millions of Brazilians participated in a General Strike against the coup government’s proposed retirement reform amendment, Congress announced that it will delay voting on the measure until December. To the Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT/Unified Workers Central), Latin America’s largest labor union federation and largest strike actor, this is a […]
In February 2017, ousted President Dilma Rousseff warned of a second, more radical and more repressive phase of the Coup d’état which removed her from office – akin to the “Institutional Acts” in the years following the Military Coup of 1964. General Sérgio Westphalen Etchegoyen, architect of the 2018 Federal Military Intervention in Rio de Janeiro, personally […]