Brazil

Bahia Empowered in Brazil’s Search for Truth

Brazil’s Comissão Nacional da Verdade (National Truth Commission—CNV), responsible for investigating human rights violations committed by state agents under the country’s military dictatorship between 1964 and 1985, was inaugurated on May 16, 2012 with much fanfare. At the time, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff emphasized the importance of democratic progress, calling the ceremony “a celebration of … Read more

Legislators Move to Restrict NSA Surveillance in Brazil

On Thursday, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff asked legislators to quickly approve a bill that would require technology companies to store private user data on Brazilian-based servers and comply with Brazil’s digital privacy laws. This comes as members of Brazil’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee also announced yesterday that they would seek meetings with Edward J. Snowden, … Read more

Brazil Cancels Preparatory Trip to the U.S. Over Espionage Claims

Brazilian authorities canceled a delegation trip to Washington that had been scheduled to lay the groundwork for President Dilma Rousseff‘s meeting with President Barack Obama in October. The decision was made on Thursday in response to allegations that the Brazilian president was a target of U.S. electronic espionage. The allegations were made on September 1 … Read more

Brazilian Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Diplomatic Scandal

The Brazilian government confirmed Monday night that Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota has resigned after the Brazilian embassy in La Paz facilitated the passage of a Bolivian opposition senator to Brazil. The diplomatic scandal has heightened tensions between Brazil and Bolivia, which accuses Brazil of violating international agreements. Brazil granted Bolivian Senator Roger Pinto asylum last … Read more

Brazil’s Future in the Shadow of the Mensalão

For four months in 2012, like a national soap opera, Brazilians watched the biggest political corruption trial in the country’s history unfold inside Brasilia’s Supreme Federal Court. The complex plot, whose script was based on seven years of investigation, revealed a bribery scheme known as the mensalão—in which members of the Partido dos Trabalhadores (Workers’ … Read more

2014 World Cup Ticket Sales Begin with High Demand

The 2014 FIFA World Cup website went live at 10:00 am GMT (6:00 am EDT) on Tuesday, with over 1 million applications for tickets submitted in just seven hours. Around 3 million tickets will be available for the 64 matches in Brazil scheduled to begin on June 12, 2014, with Brazil playing the opener in … Read more

Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador Discuss Security

Defense Minister Celso Amorim of Brazil met with his counterparts, Juan Carlos Pinzón of Colombia and María Fernanda Espinosa of Ecuador, in the Brazilian city of Manaus Thursday morning. The meeting was focused on strengthening security cooperation between the three nations that border the Amazon. Protecting the Amazon from illegal activities was the main topic of the meeting organized as part of a … Read more

An Assessment of the Brazilian Government’s Response to the Protests

The wave of protests that first spread across Brazil in June may have subsided for the time being, but President Dilma Rousseff is still dealing with the political fallout. To recap, after at first not responding to the protests, President Rousseff finally released a statement on June 21 during a ceremony to launch the new … Read more

Monday Memo: Kerry in Brazil and Colombia – Argentine Primaries – Colombia Peace Talks – Chong Chon Gang – Brazil Dictatorship Spying

Likely top stories this week: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visits Colombia and Brazil; Argentines vote in congressional primary elections; FARC and Colombian government hail progress in peace talks; Panama concludes its inspection of the North Korean ship Chong Chon Gang; and documents reveal details of Brazilian dictatorship-era spying. John Kerry Travels to Brazil … Read more

Monday Memo: Gay Marriage in Uruguay – Venezuela and Paraguay – Cuban Prisoners – Immigration Reform – Carandiru Prison

Likely top stories this week: Gay marriage begins in Uruguay; Venezuela is not invited to the Paraguayan president’s inauguration; Amnesty International demands the release of Cuban prisoners; U.S. House of Representatives Republicans reject Senate approach to immigration reform; Brazilian police officers are sentenced for the 1992 Carandiru massacre. Same Sex Marriage Starts in Uruguay: The … Read more

Thinking Twice about a Brazilian Gas Boom

SAO PAULO – The natural gas industry in Brazil is relatively new—large-scale development only began in 1999—but it has quickly become a key element of the national energy matrix, increasing its share to 11 percent in 2012. Domestic supply has grown on average 5 percent per year over the last decade, but the potential for … Read more

Reforma fiscal e equidade social by Fernando Rezende

For over a decade, Brazil has been a model of fiscal responsibility. Brazil’s success makes it easy to forget that it once suffered from one of the worst fiscal performances in Latin America, complicated by hyperinflation, short-lived currencies, and massive debt-to-GDP ratios. Today’s economic stability also makes it easy to assume that Brazil’s fiscal house … Read more

Is Brazil the Energy Power of the Future (and always will be)?

Read sidebars on wind, solar and geothermal energy. Brazil’s pro-álcool (pro alcohol) policy, which for decades had sought to substitute gasoline with locally produced sugarcane ethanol—a goal once dismissed as folly—suddenly became a world model. Brazil was hailed as the “Saudi Arabia of biofuels,” and massive investment plans were launched. That year, my firm, Garten-Rothkopf, … Read more

Fresh Look Reviews

Fresh, unique perspectives on recent books from across the hemisphere originally published in English, Spanish and Portuguese.