Politics, Business & Culture in the Americas

Brazil

Vamos a baixar motosserra

Vamos reduzir o desmatamento a zero. Saiba como.

Read in English Quando Theodore Roosevelt explo­rou a Amazônia um século atrás, ele fi­cou encantado com o poderoso rio que corria “de oeste a leste, do poente à au­rora, dos Andes ao Atlântico”. No diário de viagem do ex-presidente americano, Nas selvas do Brasil, de 1914, ele descreve poeticamente “as frondosas árvores, o ema­ranhado de … Read more

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Let’s Cut Amazon Deforestation to Zero. Here’s How.

This article is adapted from the Fall 2015 print edition of Americas Quarterly. To subscribe, please click here Versão em português When Theodore Roosevelt explored the Amazon a century ago, he was enthralled by the mighty river that ran “from west to east, from the sunset to the sunrise, from the Andes to the Atlantic.” … Read more

Aerial view of deforestation damage

Three Innovations That Might Save the Amazon

This article is adapted from the Fall 2015 print edition of Americas Quarterly. To subscribe, please click here With each passing day, we lose more of our world’s forests to deforestation and degradation. But the good news is that in recent years, we’ve become considerably more sophisticated in how we try to protect the Amazon … Read more

http://americasquarterly.org/content/why-amazon-tribes-are-losing-fight-against-new-dams-again

Why Amazon Tribes Are Losing the Fight Against New Dams – Again

This article is adapted from the Fall 2015 print edition of Americas Quarterly. To subscribe, please click here Versão em português As our boat nudged down the Tapajós river, the hypnotic sameness of the Amazon was shattered by the splash of small bodies. A half-dozen children from the local Munduruku tribe had been dangling from … Read more

Morning in Rio de Janeiro

What an Economic Recovery in Brazil Might Look Like

Now might seem like an odd time to look for signs of hope in Brazil. Dilma Rousseff has an approval rating of just 10 percent, she faces possible impeachment proceedings, scandal has frozen activity at the country’s biggest companies, inflation runs around 10 percent and the economy is expected to shrink 3 percent this year. … Read more

Military Police in Rio de Janeiro

What’s Happening on Rio’s Beaches?

A civil society group is resisting government efforts to restrict access to some Rio de Janeiro beaches, announcing a plan for thousands of the city’s favela residents to travel en masse to a popular Ipanema beach on October 4. Papo Reto Coletivo, an independent media group based in Rio’s expansive Complexo do Alemão favela, is coordinating the event to … Read more

Brazil's police force faces a new front in its war on drugs

Gangsta’s Paradise: How Brazil’s Criminals (and Police) Use Social Media

Rio de Janeiro´s most wanted drug trafficker, Playboy, died in a hail of police gunfire at his girlfriend´s apartment this month. Photographs of his bullet-riddled body began circulating on the Internet within minutes of his demise. So did an audio recording suggesting that he “left the scene alive, but arrived to the hospital dead.” His assassination is yet another pixel … Read more

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No End in Sight for Brazil’s Petrobras Scandal

Brazil’s current political crisis began at a gas station in Brasília. When federal police raided a currency exchange booth in the station on March 17, 2014, they stumbled upon a network of political corruption that has cost state oil giant Petrobras at least $2 billion. Since then, more than 50 politicians have come under federal … Read more

 

The Unsettled Legacy of the Candelária Massacre

On this day in 1783, one of Latin America’s most significant figures, Simón Bolívar, was born in Caracas. While many in the region will celebrate the occasion, today also marks the anniversary of a more chilling episode in Latin American history. Shortly after midnight on July 24, 1993, nine hooded men, including several off-duty police officers, opened … Read more

 

How Brazil’s Funk Music is Challenging Social Norms

Boom CHA-CHA, de boom CHA-CHA, the sound of funk carioca can be heard reverberating loudly throughout Brazil. Unapologetic, brazen and controversial, the music’s percussion-heavy sound forms the backdrop to life in the favelas. But while the genre is sometimes written off as lewd or “cheap,” funk carioca often reflects the harsh reality of life in Brazil’s marginalized communities. That … Read more

 

Brazil’s New Rules to Limit C-Sections

On Monday, Brazil introduced new rules aimed at curbing the country’s unusually high rate of caesarean sections. The rules will require doctors to inform women about the risks of C-sections and ask them to sign a consent form prior to the procedure. Doctors will also have to sign a form justifying the C-section. This is not the … Read more

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