The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off on June 14. One week later, Brazil still doesn’t seem to be in the mood for football. Unlike other editions of the event, you don’t see many Brazilian flags waving from windows, or many people dressed up in yellow and green. Why is that? In decades prior, the… Read More »
Football remains a sexist environment. Female journalists have to battle harassment from bosses, players, and supporters – to the point that a group of Brazilian women launched a campaign back in March to denounce such incidents. A total of 52 journalists launched the #LetHerWork campaign, which exposed double standards in newsrooms and cases of violence… Read More »
As the U.S. and China continue to raise the tone of their escalating trade war, global markets took a major hit, with major exporting nations being particularly affected. U.S. President Donald Trump decided to slap tariffs on USD 200 billion of Chinese goods – on top of the USD 50 billion previously announced. On the… Read More »
The First Command of the Capital (PCC) was born on October 31, 1993. The organization, which would later become Brazil’s largest criminal empire, was created inside a penitentiary in Taubaté, a city close to São Paulo, by eight inmates. Their goal was to denounce what they saw as “oppression” by the prison system. They also… Read More »
When independent Brazilian truckers staged a 10-day strike late in May, the whole country went on a shutdown mode. As two-thirds of cargo transportation in Brazil is made through roadways, several regions experienced fuel and food shortages, hospitals postponed surgeries, millions of animals died of hunger as their feed never reached its destination. When the… Read More »
Sport and major events such as the World Cup can provide a small economic boom for countries. In Brazil, retailers expect an injection of BRL 20 billion into the economy – a sorely needed stimulus. Besides finance, however, it can also be a tool to spur nationalism and promote political agendas. In Brazil, as in… Read More »
It has been 20 years since Mercosur – the trade bloc that includes Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay (and soon Bolivia) – first entered into negotiations over a free trade agreement with the European Union. The delay is owing to a number of obstacles that seem impossible to overcome, notably geographical indications for various food… Read More »
Janaina Aparecida Quirino is a poor 36-year-old woman. Addicted to drugs, Ms. Quirino has been in jail since November for drug trafficking while she was pregnant with her eighth child. A court ordered her to be sterilized right after birth after a request by state prosecutors from São Paulo. Ms. Quirino, however, wasn’t heard once… Read More »
When Pedro Parente took over as CEO of Petrobras in May 2016, Brazil’s oil and gas company was the most indebted of its kind in the world. Two years later, the company has reclaimed its respectability, despite its recovery owing to a much-criticized pricing policy which pleased investors but infuriated fuel consumers. Now, Mr. Parente… Read More »
Early in April, the now former Governor of São Paulo Geraldo Alckmin inaugurated a metro line connecting São Paulo’s city center to the international airport of Guarulhos, on its outskirts. The line was supposed to have become operational in time for Brazil’s 2014 World Cup. Instead, it took four extra years and an additional BRL… Read More »