Brazil

Podcast: Inside Rio’s Favelas: The Fallout from an Alleged Gang Rape

Also available for download for Apple iOS and Android. The alleged gang rape of a 16-year-old girl in a Rio de Janeiro favela last month set off national protests against Brazil’s macho culture and shined a harsh spotlight on the city two months before it hosts the 2016 Olympics. But favelas are not the problem, according to Theresa … Read more

Not Impossible: Could Rousseff Return as Brazil’s President?

When Dilma Rousseff was suspended as Brazil’s president last month, Vice President Michel Temer quickly fired the existing cabinet and installed his own team. Though her presidential portraits were put back on the walls after being briefly removed, the message was still clear: Dilma won’t be coming back. But could she? Rousseff’s path back to the … Read more

Judge Moro: Systemic Corruption Can Become a ‘Sad Memory’ of Brazil’s Past

Editor’s note: Moro is the federal judge overseeing “Operation Car Wash,” the historic investigation of corruption at Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras. This piece first appeared in Portuguese in Exame magazine, and can be seen here. The English translation has been lightly edited for clarity, context and length. More than two years after the start … Read more

Podcast: Michel Temer’s Uphill Fight

Also available for download for Apple iOS and Android. Far from over, Brazil’s political crisis will continue to dog Michel Temer, who was installed as Brazil’s interim president on Thursday following the suspension of Dilma Rousseff. “Popularity, it’s a very rare asset these days, not only in Brazil but also in Latin America,” analyst João Augusto de Castro … Read more

A Final Defense of Dilma Rousseff

Back in March 2014, when the Petrobras scandal was just getting started, some of President Dilma Rousseff’s top aides saw a golden opportunity to kill the investigation – or at least badly wound it. Márcio Anselmo, the Federal Police deputy in charge of the probe, had given an interview (which can be seen here) to … Read more

Podcast: Brazil’s House of Cards Is Falling for Cunha and Rousseff

Also available for download for Apple iOS and Android. Brazil’s house of cards is falling. Eduardo Cunha, the speaker of the lower house of Congress – and third in line to the president – was suspended today for obstructing a corruption investigation, days before Dilma Rousseff herself is expected to be suspended. Reuters’ senior correspondent in Brasília Anthony … Read more

How Brazil’s Crisis Is Bleeding into the Rest of South America

Until a few years ago, Brazil possessed one of the most active foreign policies in the developing world. It built an impressive network of embassies and consulates, opening more than 60 posts during the 2000s alone in Africa, Asia and beyond. Brazil also actively engaged in debates ranging from humanitarian intervention in Libya to rethinking … Read more

Film Review: The Second Mother

Val trails nervously behind as her long-estranged daughter, Jéssica, enters the guest room of Carlos and Bárbara, an upper-class São Paulo couple. “So this is where I’ll be staying?” asks Jéssica, as she bounces on the “good mattress.” Jéssica has just arrived from the northeast and has talked her way into getting a tour of … Read more

Podcast: Inside Rousseff’s Trip to New York to Decry a ‘Coup’

Also available for download for Apple iOS and Android. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is visiting New York in a dramatic attempt to convince the international community that she is victim of a “coup d’état without weapons.” Providing an insider’s view of this strategy to save her presidency is Matias Spektor, a professor of international relations … Read more

Brazil’s Economy, Explained in a Pair of Flip-Flops

Havaianas is to Brazil what Apple is to the United States. More than a pair of flip-flops, they are part of the country’s self-image, a product that embodies the idea of Brazil as a carefree country of surf, samba and soccer. So the distressed sale in November of Havaianas’ parent company, Alpargatas S.A., was symbolically … Read more

AQ Top 5 de Chefs Jóvenes: Rodrigo Oliveira

Read in English Por ridículo que pueda parecer, la élite acaudalada de São Paulo tradicionalmente rehuía a los restaurantes “brasileños”. Para esta, una comida de lujo tenía que ser francesa, portuguesa, japonesa o cualquier otra, mientras fuera extranjera –preferencia que era un reflejo de la historia de la ciudad como punto importante de llegada de migrantes, … Read more

Podcast: Cardoso Says Impeachment ‘Not a Happy Day … But It Was Necessary’

Also available for download through the App Store and on all Apple devices. Fernando Henrique Cardoso, president of Brazil from 1995 to 2002 and still an important leader of the opposition, defends the decision by Congress to impeach President Dilma Rousseff. Speaking with AQ editor-in-chief Brian Winter late Sunday as the final votes were being cast, Cardoso … Read more

Podcast: Rousseff Won’t Go Quietly, Even If She Loses Impeachment Vote

Also available for download through the App Store and on all Apple devices. Even if she loses Sunday’s impeachment vote, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is likely to keep fighting for her job, says one of the people who knows her best. Thomas Traumann, a political analyst who until 2015 was Rousseff’s spokesman, explains why investors … Read more

This Week in Brazil Podcast: Brazil’s ‘Que Se Vayan Todos’ Moment

Also available for download through the App Store and on all Apple devices. Is Brazil facing a “lost decade” from dual political and economic crises? AQ’s editor-in-chief Brian Winter answers this question in the latest episode of AQ’s new podcast, This Week in Brazil. After a reporting trip to Brazil this past week, Winter concluded that if there’s … Read more