Bolsonaro — the new Jim Jones
President Bolsonaro is the new 'Jim Jones', says Jan Rocha, comparing the Brazilian president to the cult leader who led his followers in a mass suicide in Guayana in 1978.
Brazil: The courageous work of Clamor
Jan Rocha, author of LAB's widely-read Brazil blogs, has just published a new history of Clamor, the group which took in refugees from the...
Brazil: who’s afraid of Lava Jato?
Main image: police family members protest in Vitória. Their placard reads: We've had no wage increase since 2013 - 40% inflation. The coffin is...
Lula leads the polls
Lula is riding high in the polls, but faces daunting challenges if he is elected. Will Bolsonaro go quietly or imitate Trump. If Bolsonaro wins, the Amazon will be lost.
Brazil’s Grain Railway alarms indigenous groups
The Ferrogrão a 933 km-long line planned to run through the heart of the Amazon rainforest from Sinop to Miritituba, is arousing consternation amont indigenous groups as the project moves ahead without proper consultation
Bolsonaro clowns while poverty soars
In what has become a daily ritual in Brasilia, the sleek black car stops by the band of fervent Bolsonaristas waiting outside the Alvorada...
Brazil: the trial of the century
São Paulo 21 January. Some are calling it the trial of the century. The fate of the man who leads all the polls by...
Brazil protests – shades of the French Revolution?
In her latest blog, Jan Rocha says that, as times goes by, the common thread behind all the demonstrations is becoming clearer.
Brazil: the PT lion roars again
São Paulo, November 10 2019. Following a controversial Supreme Court ruling, Lula has been temporarily freed after 580 days in prison on a corruption...
Brazil: not only bad, but mad
Jair Bolsonaro has launched a frontal assault on the same electoral system which brought him to the presidency. This is part of a three-pronged strategy to discredit Brazil's democracy and refuse to accept any outcome other than his own victory