Dengue fever is one of the most deadly mosquito-borne diseases – half the world’s population is at risk from it. Adrienne Surprenant’s photos from the World Mosquito Program in Brazil capture the fight against it
Category Archives: Brazil
Brazilian diplomats ‘disgusted’ as Bolsonaro pulverizes foreign policy
Former ambassadors say far-right leader has cuddled up to rightwing nationalists, irked China, infuriated Middle Eastern partners, and jettisoned its position as climate crisis leader
It has long been considered one of the jewels of Latin American statecraft; a shrewd, dependable and highly trained foreign service that helped make Brazil a global climate leader and soft power heavyweight.
But six months into the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, even veteran diplomats struggle to mask their horror at the wrecking ball being taken to the country’s nearly two century-old foreign office, known as Itamaraty after the Rio palace where it was once housed.
Continue reading...The Edge of Democracy review – to the heart of Brazilian politics
Petra Costa’s powerful documentary charts the state’s descent into populism and the fraying of its democratic fabric
Brazilian actor-writer-director Petra Costa is known for mining her personal and family history for material. Her first feature, Elena, turned her search for her absent older sister into a deeply evocative documentary about loss, familial love, rivalry and displacement as it flutters between São Paulo in Brazil and New York City.
Costa’s latest documentary, The Edge of Democracy, finds her intersecting the personal and political on an even bigger public stage, and in the process documents a crisis erupting in slow motion at the heart of Brazilian politics. Thanks to extraordinary access to figures at the centre of the story – former leftist Workers’ Party presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (AKA Lula) and Dilma Rousseff, as well as rightwingers Michel Temer and current president Jair Bolsonaro – Costa manages to craft an intimate primer about the state’s descent into populism and the fraying of the country’s democratic fabric.
Continue reading...Millions across South America hit by massive power cut
Failure leaves people in Argentina and Uruguay without electricity
Tens of millions of people across South America were left without electricity early on Sunday after a massive power failure left Argentina and Uruguay almost completely in the dark.
The Argentine newspaper Clarín said the “gigantic” power collapse – which it called the worst in Argentina’s recent history – had struck at just after 7am local time, affecting virtually the entire country as well as Uruguay, Paraguay and some cities in Chile.
Continue reading...Bolsanaro stabber absolved for reasons of mental illness
Judge rules to convert Adélio Bispo de Oliveira’s detention to internment in state medical facility
A man who stabbed the then Brazilian presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro in the torso last year has been absolved after a judge ruled he was mentally ill.
Adélio Bispo de Oliveira has been in police custody since 6 September 2018 when he was accused of stabbing Bolsonaro while he was campaigning in the streets of Juiz de Fora, a city 115 miles (186km) north of Rio de Janeiro. The blade pierced the candidate’s intestine and put his life in danger. The attacker was beaten badly by Bolsonaro supporters after the stabbing.
Continue reading...Brazil: Bolsonaro fires key moderate who warned of dangers of ‘extremism’
- Government secretary Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz forced out
- News comes as scandal swirls around justice minister Moro
Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has sacked one of the most prominent moderates in his administration for reportedly failing to ideologically align himself with his commander-in-chief’s radical creed.
Gen Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz, Bolsonaro’s secretary of government, had repeatedly locked horns with the president’s crotchety US-based guru, Olavo de Carvalho, and was reportedly relieved of his duties on Thursday afternoon.
Continue reading...Forest twice size of UK destroyed in decade for big consumer brands – report
Greenpeace estimates 50m hectares cleared by 2020, warning companies must evolve to prevent ‘climate breakdown’
An area twice the size of the UK has been destroyed for products such as palm oil and soy over the last decade, according to analysis by Greenpeace International.
In 2010, members of the Consumer Goods Forum, including some of the world’s biggest consumer brands, pledged to eliminate deforestation by 2020, through the sustainable sourcing of four commodities most linked to forest destruction: soya, palm oil, paper and pulp, and cattle.
Continue reading...Brazil reels at claims judge who jailed Lula collaborated with prosecutors
Leaked cellphone chats published by the Intercept suggest Sérgio Moro, now justice minister, steered case against ex-president
Brazil has been rocked by allegations that a prominent judge repeatedly collaborated with prosecutors during high-profile corruption investigations – including the controversial case that imprisoned former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
According to the Intercept, Sérgio Moro gave prosecutors strategic advice, criticism and tips during the sprawling corruption investigation known as Operation Car Wash that jailed hundreds of executives, politicians and middlemen.
Continue reading...The big picture: Miguel Rio Branco captures incongruous city life
Decay and renewal are encapsulated by fresh pastries on a banger’s bonnet
This picture is taken from a book called Maldicidade by the Brazilian photographer Miguel Rio Branco. The title translates literally from the Portuguese as “malice”, but it carries too the echoes of the words “city” and “cursed”. Rio Branco grew up the son of a diplomat, citizen of the world and for half a century his camera has given him similar licence. Though earlier work, photo essays for National Geographic for example, focused on very specific communities – the young fighters of the Santa Rosa Boxing Academy in Rio de Janeiro or the prostitutes and street children of Salvador de Bahia – he has come to reject expected labelling of time and place.
The photographs in Maldicidade are uncaptioned, drawn from a lifetime of wandering the backstreets of New York, Havana, Barcelona and beyond. Rio Branco looks for those contrasts between grimy decay and daily renewal that are the universal fascination of city life. This picture, of a tray of fresh pastries served under the open bonnet of a beaten-up car, depicts exactly the kind of incongruity that his camera waits for. The colour and sweetness of those cakes contrast with the greys of the car and the street.
Continue reading...Brazilian football star Neymar accused of raping woman in Paris hotel
The Paris Saint-Germain star denies claims in a police document that he assaulted a woman last month
The Brazilian footballer Neymar has been accused of raping a woman in a hotel in Paris last month, according to a police document in Brazil.
The player’s father called the accusation by the unidentified woman “a setup” against his son.
Continue reading...Protesters take to Brazil’s streets – in pictures
Tens of thousands of students, academics and teachers have marched throughout the vast South American country in protest against ultraconservative president Jair Bolsonaro’s cuts to education, including moves to dramatically reduce funding for federal universities
Continue reading...Students protest across Brazil over Jair Bolsonaro’s sweeping cuts to education
From Amazon cities to small towns in the deep south, demonstrators turned out to condemn funding cuts
Tens of thousands of students, academics and teachers have taken to the streets of Brazil for their latest mass protest against what they call far-right president Jair Bolsonaro’s assault on education.
Up and down the country – from Amazon cities to small towns in Brazil’s deep south – demonstrators turned out to condemn Bolsonaro’s highly controversial moves to slash funding for public education and science.
Continue reading...Gang violence blamed for dozens of prisoner deaths in Brazil
Killing of 15 people on Sunday followed by further slaughter in three prisons in Manaus
Brazilian authorities have blamed a power struggle between quarrelling Amazon mafiosos for a two-day explosion of prison violence that has left at least 55 prisoners dead.
The slaughter reportedly began at about 11am on Sunday during visiting hours at the Anísio Jobim prison complex in Manaus, the jungle-fringed capital of Amazonas state.
Continue reading...Bolsonaro supporters take to Brazil’s streets as approval ratings drop
Rallies were reported in more than 300 towns and cities, including Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Juiz de Fora
Hardcore devotees of Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, have taken to the streets across the country in their first major show of force since his landslide election victory last October.
“Wake up Brazilian people!!! Today is the day to march,” Carla Zambelli, a prominent Bolsonarista congresswoman, tweeted as supporters of the radical populist began gathering on Sunday morning.
Continue reading...McDonald’s investigated over racism and harassment claims in Brazil
Federal prosecutors say complaint presents ‘worrying evidence’ of sexual harassment and discrimination
It was a busy day at a McDonald’s branch in São Paulo. Marcelo says he was struggling to keep up with demand while manning the chips and white meat stations when the shift boss called him a “damned stupid blackie”.
Marcelo protested and said he would pursue legal action for racism. The store manager fired him the next day, according to his statement in court documents seen by the Guardian.
Continue reading...Brazil bar ‘massacre’: 11 people reportedly killed by group of gunmen
Authorities unable to explain why seven attackers converged on bar in northern city of Belém and then started shooting
A group of gunmen have killed 11 people in a bar in Brazil, according to media reports, with state officials confirming only at “a massacre” had occurred.
The G1 news website reported police reported that seven gunmen were involved in the attack in Belém city in the northern state of Pará, which also wounded one person, who is now in police protection.
Continue reading...‘They have free rein’: Rio residents fear police violence under far-right rule
New governor promised ‘slaughter’ of gangsters, drawing comparisons with bloody Philippines drug war
The residents were chatting outside when the police helicopter swooped over the polluted river at the end of their street in Rio’s sprawling Maré favela complex. They fled as the officers riding in it fired volleys of bullets during a raid to catch a renegade gang boss.
Controlled by two rival drug gangs and a small paramilitary group, this roughshod community has grown used to violence and gunfights. But the police response was extreme even by those standards.
Continue reading...Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro abruptly cancels US visit after protests
Climbdown by far right leader, who was due to receive prestigious award, called ‘a very big embarrassment’
Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has abruptly cancelled a US trip to receive a prestigious award following a storm of protest over his history of homophobic, racist and misogynist remarks and plans to erode environmental protections in the Amazon.
The cancellation, announced suddenly on Friday, came after the original venue ditched the event, the mayor of New York City attacked his presence and major corporate sponsors pulled out. Bolsonaro’s spokesman blamed ideological attacks from interest groups and Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York.
Continue reading...Rio de Janeiro: killings by police hit a record high in Brazilian state
Rise comes under Governor Wilson Witzel, a Bolsonaro ally who has promised a zero-tolerance policy against criminals
Police killings in the state of Rio de Janeiro have hit a record high, rising by 18% in the first three months of this year.
Official data reviewed by the Associated Press on Friday show police forces in Rio killed 434 people during clashes in those months, compared with 368 people in same period last year.
Continue reading...Call for students to film ‘biased’ teachers brings Brazil’s culture wars to classroom
President Bolsonaro has accused schoolteachers of indoctrination but educators say his aim is to stifle critical thinking
Jair Bolsonaro has encouraged school students to film teachers during class if they suspect them of pushing leftist ideas, reigniting a battle in one of the most contested arenas of Brazil’s raging culture wars.
“Teachers need to teach and not indoctrinate,” Bolsonaro tweeted this week as he shared a video shot in class by a student who accused her teacher of criticizing the far-right president.
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