Category Archives: Jair Bolsonaro

Turf war breaks between Bolsonaro’s sons and Brazil’s vice president

Posted on by

Spat points to ideological rift between two factions while some see it as distraction

A turf war has broken out at the pinnacle of Brazilian politics, pitting a presidential son nicknamed ‘pitbull’ and a Steve Bannon-backed polemicist against a group of retired military chiefs led by Brazil’s vice-president, Hamilton Mourão.

The animosity between the two factions was exposed last week after Carlos Bolsonaro – son of the incumbent far-right president Jair Bolsonaro – repeatedly bashed Mourão on Twitter for urging the US-based Olavo de Carvalho to stop meddling in Brazilian politics and return to his former career as an astrologer.

Continue reading...

Brazil governed by ‘lunatics’ and US ‘lackeys’, says ex-president Lula

Posted on by

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president from 2003 and 2011, is in jail over corruption charges that he disputes

Brazil is being governed by “a bunch of lunatics” and United States “lackeys” who have shattered its international reputation, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has claimed in his first interview since being jailed one year ago.

Lula, Brazil’s president from 2003 and 2011, surrendered himself to police last April after being convicted on corruption charges he disputes.

Continue reading...

Bolsonaro accused of inciting hatred with ‘gay paradise’ comment

Posted on by

Campaigners react strongly to Brazilian president saying he was opposed to gay tourism

Brazil’s far-right president, the self-declared homophobe Jair Bolsonaro, has been accused of inciting hatred towards LGBT people after declaring the South American country should not become a “gay tourism paradise”.

“If you want to come here and have sex with a woman, go for your life,” Bolsonaro reportedly told journalists in the capital, Brasília. “But we can’t let this place become known as a gay tourism paradise. Brazil can’t be a country of the gay world, of gay tourism. We have families,” Bolsonaro added, according to the Brazilian magazine Exame.

Continue reading...

Brazil education minister accused of whitewashing 1964 coup and dictatorship

Posted on by

Ricardo Vélez accused of ‘historical revisionism’ after saying school history books will be rewritten to give ‘a fuller version’

Brazil’s education minister has been accused of “historical revisionism” after saying school history books will be rewritten to give a positive spin to the country’s 1964 coup and 21-year military dictatorship.

Related: Brazil: tortured dissidents appalled by Bolsonaro's praise for dictatorship

Continue reading...

US-China soy trade war could destroy 13 million hectares of rainforest

Posted on by

Study suggests Brazil likely to rush to fill China’s sudden soy shortfall by boosting farming

The Amazon rainforest could be the greatest casualty of the trade war between the United States and China, warns a new study showing how deforestation pressures have surged as a result of the geopolitical jolt in global soy markets.

Up to 13m hectares of forest and savannah – an area the size of Greece – would have to be cleared if Brazil and other exporters were to fill the huge shortfall in soy supply to China that has suddenly appeared since Donald Trump imposed hefty tariffs, according to the paper published in Nature.

US exports of the commodity, primarily used to feed livestock, to China plummeted by 50% last year, which the authors say is an unusually sharp level of decline between two trading partners outside wartime.

Continue reading...

‘Fascist, violent, dangerous’: protests planned as Bolsonaro arrives in Chile

Posted on by

Leftist politicians refuse to attend lunch in honor of Brazil’s far-right leader after instruction for women to wear ‘short dress’

At the end of his first state visit to Washington DC this week, Jair Bolsonaro hailed his meeting with Donald Trump as a “historic moment”, claiming he was returning home with a sensation of “mission accomplished”. Today, Brazil’s far-right leader begins his second official trip – to Chile, where he is poised to receive a much less warm welcome.

Related: Fox News, nepotism and bigotry: Bolsonaro brings his Trump act to DC

Continue reading...

Fox News, nepotism and bigotry: Bolsonaro brings his Trump act to DC

Posted on by

First visit to the US had all the drama of a soap opera – intrigue, betrayal, family, controversy – and left Brazilians divided

Jair Bolsonaro’s first official visit to the US had all the drama of a Brazilian soap opera – intrigue, betrayal, family, controversy.

But viewers back home in Brazil were left divided: a disastrous interview with Fox News prompted starkly contrasting verdicts, captured in the two trending hashtags: #BolsonaroShamesBrazil (#BolsonaroEnvergonhaOBrasil) and #Bolsonaro Pride of Brazil” (#BolsonaroOrgulhoDoBrasil).

Continue reading...

Bolsonaro backs Trump’s border wall ahead of White House meeting

Posted on by

Brazil president endorses hardline US immigration policy, saying ‘Vast majority of … immigrants do not have good intentions’

Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro has endorsed Donald Trump’s immigration agenda on the eve of their first meeting at the White House, saying he supports a wall on the US-Mexico border and that most immigrants to the United States wish to do harm.

Bolsonaro, a far-right congressman who rode to the presidency with a brash, anti-establishment campaign modeled on Trump’s 2016 run, has pledged a new era of pro-American policy in the southern hemisphere’s second-largest country.

Continue reading...

Bolsonaro under fire for smearing reporter who covered scandal involving his son

Posted on by

‘Bolsonaro is Fake News’ became a top hashtag in Brazil after president shared ‘false information’ to attack a journalist

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has provoked a storm of protest after sharing fake news to attack a journalist who has covered a scandal involving a former aide of his son Flávio, a senator who is also under investigation for money laundering.

Leading newspapers, the Brazilian Investigative Journalism Association and the Brazilian Bar Association, criticised the far-right president for sharing a “misrepresentation” and “false information”.

Continue reading...

Outrage after Brazil ministry asks schools to read aloud Bolsonaro slogan

Posted on by

New education minister admits ‘mistake’ after asking schools to film students singing the national anthem and as slogan is read

Brazil’s new education minister has been forced into a humiliating retreat after he asked schools in the country to film students singing the national anthem in front of a Brazilian flag and being read the campaign slogan of new far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro.

“I recognised the mistake,” Ricardo Vélez Rodríguez said on Tuesday, a day after the education ministry emailed his instructions to schools across the country – and provoked a storm of outrage.

Continue reading...

‘The river is dying’: the vast ecological cost of Brazil’s mining disasters

Posted on by

Water resources are tapped with often reckless abandon and poor regulation. And it looks set to go on under new president

The Brazilian government has been urged to step up punishments for environmental crimes after the deadliest mining disaster in decades.

The torrent of mud and iron ore tailings that engulfed the community of Brumadinho on Friday continues to inflict a toll on residents, river systems and freshwater species.

Continue reading...

Fresh warning at Brazil mining site where dam collapsed

Posted on by

People evacuated after high water level warning at another Vale mining dam in Brumadinho

An alarm warning of an imminent mining dam rupture was issued early on Sunday near Brumadinho, the same Brazilian community where the collapse of a dam killed 34 and left hundreds more feared dead.

The alarm, warning of dangerously-high water levels at a dam that is part of the Córrego do Feijão mining complex in south-east Brazil went off at 5:30 am, a statement by the mining company Vale said.

Continue reading...

Brazil’s sole openly gay congressman leaves country after death threats

Posted on by

Jean Wyllys said he was currently outside of the country and had no plans to return after a growing number of threats in past year

Brazil’s first and only openly gay congressman has announced that he is leaving his job – and the country – after receiving death threats.

In a newspaper interview on Thursday, Jean Wyllys said he was currently outside of Brazil and had no plans to return after a growing number of threats over the past year.

Continue reading...

Brazil’s government reveals plans to privatize key shipping route

Posted on by

Jair Bolsonaro plans to overhaul country’s transportation infrastructure despite concerns of increased deforestation on the Trans-Amazonian highway

Brazil’s new government has unveiled plans to privatize the Trans-Amazonian Highway, in a fresh attempt to complete – and fully pave – the dictatorship-era road which has already been blamed for extensive deforestation.

The government also plans to sell to investors a concession to run BR-163, a key northern route for shipping Brazilian grains, adding it along with the Trans-Amazonian to a priority list for privatization at a meeting next month, infrastructure minister Tarcisio Freitas told Reuters in an interview.

Continue reading...

Jair Bolsonaro says he will ‘open up’ Brazil’s economy in pro-business speech at Davos – video

Posted on by

Brazil’s rightwing president Jair Bolsonaro causes alarm among environmentalists after stressing that protecting his country’s unique ecosystem has to be consistent with economic growth. His brief speech to the World Economic Forum outlines a tax-cutting, privatisation agenda. Bolsonaro pledges to bring about economic change, saying that by the end of his term, Brazil will be ‘in the ranking of the 50 best countries to do business with’

Continue reading...

Davos 2019: Prince William interviews Sir David Attenborough – live

Posted on by

Rolling coverage of the first day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, including appearances from Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, Prince William, Sir David Attenborough and New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern

I’m delighted to report that Prince William has cracked a joke.

We’re being shown a dramatic clip from Our Planet, of a glacier ‘calving’ -- a massive skyscraper-sized piece of ice, surging upwards and away from the rest of the sheet (making the most almighty din)

Attenborough is now plugging his new TV venture, Our Planet, created with the World Wildlife Fund.

It’ll be shown on Netflix, Attenborough says excitedly, saying that this will give a new audience for his work.

Now, with Netflix, it is possible for a show to be seen by 150 million people overnight.

Continue reading...

Brazil environment chief accused of ‘war on NGOs’ as partnerships paused

Posted on by

Civil society groups condemn move by minister, appointed by far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, as illegal attack on environment

Brazil’s new environment minister, Ricardo Salles, has suspended all partnerships and agreements with non-governmental organizations for 90 days, in a move that was described as “a war against NGOs”.

Announcing the move, Salles said the three-month suspension was to allow a re-evaluation of such partnerships, but civil society organizations described the move as a blatant and illegal attack on the environment and those working to protect it.

Continue reading...

‘Climate of panic’: bombings in Brazil reveal growing power of gangs | Jo Griffin

Posted on by

Wave of attacks in Ceará state exposes how poverty, lack of policies for young people and creaking prison system add up to perfect storm

Antonio Carlos da Silva was returning home to the Lagoa Redonda district of Fortaleza when two armed men drove past in a black car, ordering businesses to shut and residents to go inside and turn off the lights. Da Silva spent the next day indoors with no drinking water as a wave of unrest engulfed the north-eastern Brazilian city.

“There’s a climate of panic and people are terrified to go out. It’s like you’re a prisoner in your home and even then not safe,” says Da Silva. “These attacks are worse than in the past; they’re attacking shopping centres, bridges. No one knows how it will end.”

Continue reading...

Cesare Battisti arrest highlights rightwing alliance of Italy and Brazil

Posted on by

Matteo Salvini celebrates likely extradition of leftwing militant by Jair Bolsonaro

Cesare Battisti, a former leftwing guerrilla fighter wanted by the Italian authorities over four murders in the late 1970s, has been arrested in Bolivia and has been extradited to Italy.

The prime minister of Italy, Giuseppe Conte, said a government aircraft was on its way to bring Battisti, 63, back to Rome and Brazilian officials later confirmed his extradition. Conte praised the Bolivian and Brazilian authorities for the overnight capture of Battisti, who has been on the run for almost four decades, in the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and said he would begin his life sentences as soon as he lands on Italian soil.

Continue reading...

Jair Bolsonaro launches assault on Amazon rainforest protections

Posted on by

Executive order transfers regulation and creation of indigenous reserves to agriculture ministry controlled by agribusiness lobby

Hours after taking office, Brazil’s new president, Jair Bolsonaro, has launched an assault on environmental and Amazon protections with an executive order transferring the regulation and creation of new indigenous reserves to the agriculture ministry – which is controlled by the powerful agribusiness lobby.

Related: Jair Bolsonaro's inauguration: the day progressive Brazil has dreaded

Continue reading...