The Lula effect: shaking things up in Brazil
Lula's return to the political stage has transformed the discourse, with the centre right and even the military starting to wonder whether to continue their support for Bolsonaro
Brazil: environmental licences close to extinction
The pro-government majority in the lower house of the congress has rushed through a bill (PL3792) which will virtually eliminate the need for Brazil’s environmental licences for a wide range of economic activities, opening the way for widespread exploitation.
The activities which will be freed from licensing include agriculture, cattle raising, logging, dam and road building, sewage plants and water management.
Brazil’s delinquent president
Bolsonaro has sole responsbility for Brazil's soaring Covid death-toll. Utterly indifferent he stages Mussolini-style rallies, unmasked and riding a motorbike, and plans for next year's presidential elections, or a coup.
Brazil’s vaccine underworld
Brazil's CPI senate commission is hearing damning evidence of widespread corruption in the vaccine procurement of the Bolsonaro government, with evidence mounting of the direct involvement of the president himself and his family. One of the main planks of his diminishing reputation is crumbling - his claim to be the clean, anti-corrpution candidate.
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
Brazil is on fire
With crucial votes pending on land rights, Bolsonaro ramps up threats of violence and casts the shadow of coup across the 2022 presidential elections
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.
Brazilians vs Bolsonaro’s ‘Package of Destruction’
The 'packet of destruction' raft of new bills is set to pass in Brazil's congress, with the enthusiastic endorsement of President Bolsonaro. It spells death and destruction for the Amazon and for indigenous communities.
Bolsonaro provokes constitutional crisis to cloak scandals
Mired in scandal, Bolsonaro provokes a constitutional crisis to divert attention. But, as Lula's campaign gears up, the key question is what the military will do.
Dom and Bruno – Bolsonaro’s victims
Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira were murdered in a remote area of the Amazon – almost certainly by or on the orders of those who run the illegal trade in fish, timber, drugs and minerals. President Bolsonaro has fuelled lawlessness by his rhetoric.