Category Archives: Jair Bolsonaro

The despot dilemma: should architects work for repressive regimes?

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Bjarke Ingels is the go-to golden boy for Big Tech – and now Brazil’s Bolsonaro wants a bit of his magic. But should architects boycott oppressive leaders? Do their buildings glorify their ideology?

Sun-kissed walkways in the sky, platefuls of seafood ceviche, a private helicopter pickup from the beach – the Instagram account of Danish architect Bjarke Ingels has unfolded like an escapist travelogue epic in recent weeks, as his adventures in Latin America have taken their place in his dizzying globetrotting itinerary. But there is one photograph he hasn’t been so keen to share with his 730,000 followers: of him standing next to Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s far-right president, with the uneasy smile of a man who’s just secured his latest big commission from another unsavoury despot, in this case one who has boasted of being “proudly” homophobic.

According to a statement from Brazil’s ministry of tourism, Ingels visited Brazil to tour several states and discuss strategies for developing sustainable tourism on its north-east coast, in partnership with the Nômade Group, which recently built an eco-conscious luxury resort in Tulum, the ruins of a Mayan walled city in Mexico.

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Cacao not gold: ‘chocolate trees’ offer future to Amazon tribes

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In Brazil’s largest indigenous reserve thousands of saplings have been planted as an alternative to profits from illegal gold mining

The villagers walk down the grassy landing strip, past the wooden hut housing the health post and into the thick forest, pointing out the seedlings they planted along the way. For these Ye’kwana indigenous men, the skinny saplings, less than a metre high, aren’t just baby cacao trees but green shoots of hope in a land scarred by the violence, pollution and destruction wrought by illegal gold prospecting. That hope is chocolate.

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Jair Bolsonaro’s racist comment sparks outrage from indigenous groups

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Brazil’s president made anti-indigenous joke on Facebook broadcast, the latest in a succession of discriminatory comments

Indigenous activists have vowed to sue Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, for racism after his latest bigoted outburst.

In one of his weekly Facebook broadcasts on Thursday, Bolsonaro declared: “Indians are undoubtedly changing … They are increasingly becoming human beings just like us.”

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Brazil helped the US and Iran towards peace. Dialogue is the only answer | Lula and Celso Amorim

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As president and foreign minister, we always advocated peace. In war, all victories are pyrrhic ones

The assassination of Qassem Suleimani by drone bombs, at the express request of the president of the United States, has thrown the Middle East – and the world – into the most serious global security crisis since the end of the cold war. By unilaterally ordering the execution of a senior Iranian military on Iraqi soil, Donald Trump violated international law and took a reckless and dangerous step in escalating conflict, with potential impact all over the planet.

Related: Justin Trudeau calls for investigation into Iran plane crash as Canada mourns

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Brazilians on Bolsonaro’s first year: ‘If you disagree, you’re seen as a traitor’

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Six prominent voices from the arts, media, diplomacy and the Amazon give their views on the far-right president’s opening 12 months

It has been a year since a pro-gun, anti-indigenous far-right former army captain took power in Brazil and began sending shockwaves through the country’s government and society.

In those 12 months, Jair Bolsonaro – who is openly homophobic and allied to Brazil’s hardline religious right – has declared war on film-makers, journalists and the environment; put a conspiracy theorist in charge of the foreign service; and greenlit a new era of police repression and rainforest destruction.

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Brazil’s artists lead a chorus of resistance to Jair Bolsonaro

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As the president completes his first year in power, his opponents are finding their voice and fighting back

Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency was still a week away when Edu Krieger penned his first critique – a ballad lamenting the rise of Brazil’s incoming leader and lampooning him over the corruption allegations that continue to haunt his family.

“It’s important for us to counterattack with our art,” said the 45-year-old singer-songwriter who has since become a specialist in musical parodies of the populist provocateur.

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Jair Bolsonaro: Brazilian president says he briefly lost memory after fall

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President’s office said Bolsonaro spent the night in the hospital and was discharged on Tuesday

The Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, said on Tuesday night that he briefly lost his memory after falling at his presidential residence in Brasilia, the capital, earlier this week.

The president’s office disclosed on Monday that Bolsonaro, 64, had suffered a fall and was taken to a hospital Monday night for a brain scan, which detected no abnormalities. Bolsonaro spent the night in the hospital and was discharged on Tuesday.

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Brazil: Bolsonaro in homophobic outburst as corruption scandal swirls

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Critics interpret president’s attack on journalist as attempt to divert attention from spiralling scandal involving son Flávio

Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has launched a homophobic attack on a journalist from one of the country’s top newspapers in an apparent bid to divert attention from a spiraling corruption scandal involving his son.

Related: Murder of Uber drivers may be Brazil gang leader’s ‘revenge’ for cancelled ride

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Brazil: homes of Bolsonaro associates raided in sweeping anti-corruption operation

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Investigators examining Bolsonaro’s senator son Flávio, suspected of overseeing corruption racket during tenure as Rio congressman

Investigators have raided the home of a longstanding friend and associate of the Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, as well as addresses linked to Bolsonaro’s ex-wife, in the latest phase of a politically damaging corruption investigation embroiling his family.

Related: Brazil has become a cautionary tale for the world's democracies | Petra Costa

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Greta Thunberg labelled a ‘brat’ by Brazil’s far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro

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  • Swedish activist tweeted about murders of indigenous people
  • President laments press attention for ‘pirralha [little brat]’

Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has derided Greta Thunberg​ after the teenage climate activist added her voice to growing international condemnation of a surge of anti-indigenous violence in the Amazon.

Related: Amazon indigenous leaders killed in Brazil drive-by shooting

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EU trade deals must not contradict climate goals, says MEP

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Pascal Canfin says he cannot back deal with South American bloc owing to ‘political context’

The EU’s trade deal with four South American countries will not be ratified in its current form because it contradicts Europe’s plans to confront the climate emergency, a leading MEP has said.

Pascal Canfin, a Frenchman who chairs the European parliament’s environment committee, said he could not vote in favour of the EU trade deal with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay (the bloc known as Mercosur).

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Brazil’s president claims DiCaprio paid for Amazon fires

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Jair Bolsonaro falsely accuses actor of funding deliberate destruction of rainforest

Brazil’s president has falsely accused the actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio of bankrolling the deliberate incineration of the Amazon rainforest.

Jair Bolsonaro – a populist nationalist who has vowed to drive environmental NGOs from Brazil – made the claim on Friday, reportedly telling supporters: “This Leonardo DiCaprio’s a cool guy, isn’t he? Giving money for the Amazon to be torched.”

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Amazon deforestation ‘at highest level in a decade’

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Almost 10,000 sq kms lost in year to August, according to Brazilian government data

Deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon has hit the highest annual level in a decade, according to new government data which highlights the impact the president, Jair Bolsonaro, has made on the world’s biggest rainforest.

The new numbers, showing almost 10,000 sq kms were lost in the year to August, were released as emboldened farm owners scuffled with forest defenders in Altamira, the Amazonian city at the heart of the recent devastation.

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Evo Morales ousting brings new hope to Venezuela’s flagging opposition

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Toppling of Bolivian president reignites movement to remove leftist ally Nicolás Maduro

Venezuela’s flagging opposition movement has hit the streets for its first major protests in months, as leaders sought to reignite their campaign to force Nicolás Maduro from power after his leftist ally Evo Morales was toppled in Bolivia.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets on Saturday morning in towns and cities across the crisis-stricken south American country, hoping the dramatic sea change in Bolivian politics might portend similar change in Venezuela.

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Freed Brazilian ex-president Lula speaks to jubilant supporters

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Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told a crowd of thousands that he did not have a ‘thirst for revenge’

Former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has addressed thousands of jubilant supporters outside a union headquarters a day after being released from prison.

Dressed in a black blazer and T-shirt, Lula spoke from a stage outside the union near São Paulo that he once led and that served as the base for his political career. “During 580 days, I prepared myself spiritually, prepared myself to not have hatred, to not have thirst for revenge,” he said on Saturday.

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Rightwing columnist smacks journalist Glenn Greenwald on Brazil radio show

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Greenwald has faced backlash from far right after series of articles damaging to Jair Bolsonaro’s government

Brazil’s bitterly divided politics reached a new low on Thursday, when a rightwing columnist smacked the US journalist Glenn Greenwald in the face on a live radio program.

Greenwald and Augusto Nunes are prominent figures on opposite ends of the political spectrum, but Thursday’s physical violence – which was being livestreamed – left Brazilians stunned.

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Brazilian ‘forest guardian’ killed by illegal loggers in ambush

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Paulo Paulino Guajajara was killed by armed loggers in the Araribóia region in Maranhão

A Brazilian indigenous land defender has been killed in an ambush by illegal loggers in an Amazon frontier region.

According to a statement by the Brazilian Indigenous Peoples Association, Paulo Paulino Guajajara was shot and killed inside the Araribóia indigenous territory in Maranhão state. Another tribesman, Laércio Guajajara, was also shot and hospitalised and a logger has been reported missing. No body has yet been recovered.

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Brazilian president’s son suggests using dictatorship-era tactics on leftist foes

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Eduardo Bolsonaro’s incendiary remarks prompted many across the political spectrum to condemn him

Voices from across Brazil’s political spectrum have condemned the son of the far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, after he suggested hardline dictatorship-era tactics might be needed to crush his father’s leftist foes.

Related: An explosion of protest, a howl of rage – but not a Latin American spring

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Venezuela wins UN human rights council seat despite record of abuses

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Other seat for Latin America went to Brazil, whose far-right leader has expressed contempt for the concept of human rights

Activists have responded with outrage after Venezuela won a fiercely contested vote for a seat on the UN’s human rights council on Thursday, despite its well-documented record of human rights abuses.

The 193-member world body elected 14 members to the 47-member council on Thursday for three-year terms starting in January, with Venezuela claiming one of the two seats allocated to Latin America with 105 votes.

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Brazil’s uncontacted tribes face ‘genocide’ under Bolsonaro, experts warn

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Letter says groups are in danger amid Jair Bolsonaro’s efforts to overturn existing policies to protect indigenous people

Brazil’s last uncontacted tribes face “genocide” thanks to Jair Bolsonaro’s efforts to overturn existing policies to protect the country’s indigenous people, a group of leading experts have warned in an open letter to the far-right president.

The alert came after one of the country’s leading experts on isolated and recently-contacted indigenous people was abruptly dismissed from Brazil’s indigenous affairs agency, with no reason given.

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